Alrik's irregular suggestions thread for better immersion, gameplay etc.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

Hello, everyone,

I have come across quite a lot of tiny little bits and pieces that imho ditract from he game's immersion.

I will post them here.

I do hope tht they will be fixed at one day, because they mostly really fall into the category of "polishing" and "fine tuneing".

However, I fear that their fixing will either be done never (too low on the priority list) or at least not in this year (the Expnsion will surely consume quite a LOT of programming power !).

However, if I post them here, no-one will be able to say that I haven't tried.

You can post similar bite here as well. Please not real bug reports, except when they *heavily* distract from the game's immersion. I say this because this thread is meant to be for those little bits and bytes that add or distract from the immersion.

To make it clear : This thread should really be rather about immersion and the in-game logic. Not about items, for example, except when something ith them is corrupting the in-game world logic, for example.


The first thing I choose to begin with is the Harbour quest giver for the quest of "The Captives".

The quest as such is quite good, but the uest giver, is somewhat irritating :

She is running around, crying for help. THis adds very much to the liveliness of the city, so please keep that.

What imho hugely distracts from the city is that each time the quest is cloed, she starts running around crying for help AGAIN.

Thoughts about this :

- That the quest-giver is running around "wie ein aufgescheuchtes Huhn" each time AFTER the quest is closed again, this imho very much distracts from the feeling of accomplishment. And this is imho a big thing. How are people supposed to feel "home" in the Harbour when a quest giver reacts as if the quest's fulfillment actually never has happened ? I fear that this is going to affect the game's underlying Philosophy.

On the other hand, I believe it could be difficult to develop a quest giver who is actually quite calm and reserved to the quest-solver, but not to everyone else. Instantiating (right word ?) a quest-giver alone would be too much work, imho.

A possible solution to it could be to kind of "fix" her after the quest is resolved. Like Kaja Bauerdatter from the Korthos Island is.

Another possibility is that Pearl Drumling, the quest-giver, only acts as she does when a player character approachers her within a certain radius. I have seen NPCs turning towards the player character when the player character approaches them (example : Celaeono Kelle). So this mechnism exists in principle. Pearl Drumling could be crying for help ONLY when a player character approacher her within let's say 10 in-game metres.

Other thoughts on this behaviour of Pearl Drumling :

- Is being kidnapped Lady Azdel's hobby ?
- Does the lady perhaps actually LIKE to be kidnapped ?


Another thing that imho distracts from the game's immersion is, that *all* captives from The Captives rather "glide" than walk. Their running animation must be updated as soon as possible ! Player characters have a real "running" animation, and other NPCs have it, too. So why don't have these Captives have them ?


Another thing that I have found after completing "Fathom The Depths" was that the shaman/quest giver reacts even AFTER completing the whole quest as if the "boss monster" was still alife ! This also hugely distracts from the immersion and the feeling of "fulfillment.
And, of course, the player character should have dialog options to inform him of the death of the "boss monster". To retain the in-game world logic.


More things to come as I update this thread over time, irregularly.

And, besides, should I quit DDO one distant day in the future, please keep it up posting those little things that distract from the in-game's immersion. I hereby allow you to "necro" this thread each time if you have something rather serious & meaningful to add for it.


Alrik

[Bacab]

I agree with what your saying.

An example of where they did it right is"Claw of Vulkoor". It still kinda makes me feel cool when that drider thanks you OUTSIDE of the quest after you beat it. That adds to the whole "I am making a difference" feel.

Sorrowdusk Isle and CO6 has a similar good feeling. The NPCs are grateful to you. If you reset the quest...they of course go back to indifferent. But yeah, I like how those chains go. BTW I think Sorrowdusk and CO6 are my favorite chain.

Another example of how they could "fix" this would be, if the NPC has a "blue" circle over the head (indicating quest completion) they may have different dialogue in say chat. But then again, I get it that say chat from an NPC is seen/heard by everyone in that Harbor/Marketplace/wherever instance.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

Yes, I did The Claw Of Vulkoor yesterday - I found it very, very good that there were real changes to be seen !

Additional bits :

- I'd like to see the quest symbols floating over quest-givers and over these floating "notice boards" to be turned off like character names, too (Alt + Y).

- In The Redwillow Ruins, the in-quest NPC called Redwillow continues to say his words of "revenge" even after this said revenge has been carried out ! I'd like to have a dialog option of informing him with his appropriate response to it.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

I would like to have a real working map for the dungeons of the Caverns Of Korromar. That would help PUGs, too.


Another minor thing : In Redfang The Unruled, sometimes the bag containing the special red-named scorpion's sting (if I remember correctly) from the optional quest goals is placed several in-game metres away from the place where this creature has been slain.

I therefore suggest that the coordinates of the slain creatures are used in the future for placing the bag.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

When I'm in the middle of the Lighthouse quest (Harbour district), and I go back to the door, then the GM's/DM's voice tells me about that ... person ... within the quest, even although he is long gone.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

Regarding in-game immersion, I like the thoughts brought forward in these threads :

Guild Ship Conversations

Personally, I could imagine something like the "banter" that was introduced with the PC game of "Baldur's Gate".

I think that this bantering could be expanded to other parts of the game where NPCs are.

It's practical use, however, is a bit weak, imho, because most people just run by NPCs and rarely talk to them.

I wish there would be some kinds of "hidden rewards" or "easter eggs" for talking to NPCs no-one expects them to talk to.


The second suggesion thread I - personally - find very useful is this : Would you like a trasure room ?

My opinion is, that it could be a house, too. Just take the model of the instanciated Guild Ship and make a house out of it, with the entrance being somewhere in a Stormreach district. Frankly, I don't see much difference between the interieur of an Guild Ship and a House at all.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

A thing I never understood is, why the Harbour Lighthouse quest is bestowed by a member of The Twelve (and she only refers to The Twelve in everything she says after the quest completion), but the favour of that quest is NOT for The Twelve ??? *scratches head*

[CaptainSpacePony]

A thing I never understood is, why the Harbour Lighthouse quest is bestowed by a member of The Twelve (and she only refers to The Twelve in everything she says after the quest completion), but the favour of that quest is NOT for The Twelve ??? *scratches head*

Yeah! What he said!

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

I found it odd that in Three-Barrel-Cove there no vendors within the village ... Absolutely none ! - Except the bartender, of course.

[Rian]

It's a pirate explorer area, what would you need aside from a bar?

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

I had expected Pirates selling stolen stuff.
And Rum !

Especially since quite a lot of Pirates there just look as if they were ... "secret traders" or smugglers.

At least there is an awful lot of barrels (not just three !) and crates. So I thought : "There must be something in them, no ?"

[Ravoc-DDO]

It's a pirate explorer area, what would you need aside from a bar?

Salty wenches, lots of em!

[LeadHero5]

There needs to be a set of stairs in Marketplace on the middle tier when heading south past Bookbinders house to the bank. Its so undignified to have to jump and climb there. I expected to see Drusen d'Jorasco after saving her in Necromancers Doom. Add her somewhere in House J.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

There needs to be a set of stairs in Marketplace on the middle tier when heading south past Bookbinders house to the bank. Its so undignified to have to jump and climb there.

Yes. ON the other hand, this is like some sort of weak jok, too.

I expected to see Drusen d'Jorasco after saving her in Necromancers Doom. Add her somewhere in House J.

I wanted to write this as well. Thank you for expressing this thought I had already forgotten again.

Especially because she says so : "Visit me in House Jorasco !" or so ...

At least I was glad that I could find that Heyton in the Cannith Enclave ... They did it right, there.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

I think that's interesting, too : http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=366793

Besides, since U13 (at least, I don't remember whether it appeared earlier or not), the marketplace tent guard standing next to the female collector Dwarf doesn't say anymore that he has been explicitely paid to say his greeting.

I want that back, because it adds more to the immersion of the market place as a "living area".

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

- Some arena bystanders who are standing within the arena Under The Big Top look differently within the focus orb than they do as actual figures !

- The story of Made To Order does not make any sense for the F2P player.
It *only* makes sense for the P2P player after having played the commercial P2P pack "Vault Of Night" !

[Galeria]

I'm sick and tired of the guard in Lordmarch Bank asking me by name to come pick up a message, only he's griefing and he has no message! He oughta be banned...

[Xynot2]

I had expected Pirates selling stolen stuff.
And Rum !

Especially since quite a lot of Pirates there just look as if they were ... "secret traders" or smugglers.

At least there is an awful lot of barrels (not just three !) and crates. So I thought : "There must be something in them, no ?"

And if you buy something from them, no one else will buy it and there is a chance that if you try to auction it, the *police* will figure out it's stolen and you lose the item.

[PinkDragonJr]

AND WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE LOCK LARS HAYTON'S DIALOGUE OPTION DURING COMBAT SO THAT CLICKING ON HIM ACCIDENTALLY INSTEAD OF THE FISH RIPPING OFF HIS FACE, WON'T OPEN HIS CONVERSATION BOX THAT YOU HAVE TO WASTE SEVERAL PRECIOUS SECONDS GETTING OUT OF AGAIN. THIS BECAME AN ISSUE DURING UPDATE 5 AND IS TILL PLAGUING THE QUEST!

huff, huff.

OK. now that i have that out of my system.
another thing i though of while playing Gladewatch today was, why not put health bars for players that you have to protect under the related quest goal message in the quest box. this will help significantly in keeping an eye on how direly they need assistance without having to target them every few moments to check. great for the ones that have a bad habit of running off to senselessly endanger themselves on a regular basis.

[PinkDragonJr]

I expected to see Drusen d'Jorasco after saving her in Necromancers Doom. Add her somewhere in House J.

good idea. she does say to meet her there.

i would suggest she gives you another quest. something like : Jacoby just won't go gown and is stalking her again for vengeance. you have to go into his lair and kill him and destroy the necromancic artifact that he is using to continually resurrect himself. I'd say mid level jurasco so about lvl 8