Business And Economy Archive
Thread: A brainstorm on Player Cities and NPC Cities. How can they co-exist without undermining each other?
Since everything is static in a NPC city, you can't really differentiate anything, so what's the point of player control? And I doubt the devs would like you to be able to ban anyone from a NPC city like you can with a player city.
The idea of states is interesting, but we already have some systems for player conflict, namely the guild and faction systems. I don't think the concept of states is a good idea, unless some more mechanisms were put in to show that there were states like clearly defined borders. What I do think should happen is that more of the NPC faction should become real factions like the rebels and imperials. That way more intrigue can occur as the smaller factions run their own mini-game which can change allegiances to the imps and rebs or be opposed to both, i.e. criminals/bountyhounters/Hutt/Trade Federation.
They wouldnt be able to ban people from the city.I dont mean that kind of control. Building permits arent given by the Overseer. The player just registers for the city and they are given a building permit to build inside the State zone.
I think this has just as much relativity in this forum since one of the main aspects of it deals with the flow of money, and how expensive or inexpensive the outflow is. People think Business and Economy is just how they make money. It also has to do with how much money is in circulation or how much is sinking out of circulation. This is probably in fact more important than how much money you make Also, how is this not related to business? If a city doesnt have a Hospital, then its porbably more than likely not going to attract very many Medical Personnel to the region (given were teorizing on this proposed system). If they dont live in the region, they dont sell their goods in the region. Thus resulting in a market shift in the area to favor another Profession. Theres more to it than just skin deep words here. You have to look at whats really going on. The bottom line is this. Some professions make more money, or I should say, can potentially make more money than other professions. This isnt too hard to figure out. If more of the richer professions tend to group in relatively closer zones, then it would be logical to think that these places coul dafford and or acheive a higher quality experience in their city. How is this not an economic issue?
Also, it wouldnt be as laggy as you might suspect. In fact, it would probably be less laggy all around. Or I should say a better flow of consistancy, since there is always some degree of it. Instead of having Hot spots where you run really well, and spots where you run really terribly, you run reasonably well, all the time. Right now, there are three cities where everyone gathers - MO (Dantooine), Theed, and Coronet. The objective isnt to lag everywhere else, but to spread the over all lag from these places to the other places, creating a better flow wherever you are. Granted, Dantooine will probably always be crowded with hunters and grinders, but that doesnt mean everywhere else will be or has to be. The whole XP gain really was an off the top of my head idea, but the main objective was to allow the players to have a since of ownership of the NPC Cities and not just their Player Cities, and to create a very agreeable and worth while reason to visit it. bottom line, crafters grind. And I guarantee you that they will use anything in their power to make that grind as short and easy as possible. This is already appearant which recursive macros. An XP bonus is something trivial yeah, but its something everyone doesntmind having. This doesnt mean its the only thing that could be an advantage to them however.
The idea behind a more intricate Faction system has already been addressed. The Developers have already stated they are interested with the idea, but want to focus on making the Imperial vs Rebel war a priority at the moment, and to make it a more promimnent and involving aspect of the game before intrducing more complex factions. Personally, I feel this is a perfect opportunity to allow this to happen. Right now, there is the whole Guild/Faction war. This isnt a bad thing. its actually pretty good. I actually wrote an article about City Liberation a long time ago. I would like to think something I wrote influenced this, but anyways. It wasnt designed and implemented exactly like I imagined it, but it was a great step in the right direction. The trouble is, the reward for winning the City Liberation is pointless since the NPC Cities arent owned by the people. So really, its pointless.
Im not proposing that the Overseer have power over the people - in an overt way. He has influencing powers. He controls the flow of money into and out of the NPC City Capital. Whats important here is that there is a lot of political warfare potential here. Maybe the Overseer does something that his guild favors, but the rest of the community doesnt like it. Basically, hes created a tyrannical law where the big dog wins, and the little dog has to fight for scraps. Maybe an Imperial Overseer comes into office where they have lost the City Liberation process, and are in danger of losing their Imperial support throughout the city. Should he put more money into the Police system and have more NPCs around to reinforce their reign. Or should he spend the money to put more emphasis on other parts of the city to ensure his faction regains control over the Cities?
One might say, well, there are more Rebels (or Imperials) than there are the other faction. Yeah, its possible that one faction could rule an entire planet, but you must remember that each player, or I should say account, can only be part of one City Cencus at a time. One could also say that one faction coul djust populate one City and who cares about the rest? Well, thats possible too. But, Id be willing to bet, just as Player Cities are a hint, that people like the fact of controlling something for themselves. Or at least having more ownership in something then less. I beleive people would want to have as close, tight knit community as possible, rather than to have one large mega corporation where no one has the power to do anything except the Overseer and his chosen few.
This is just the tip of the iceberg here. Im not saying its fail proof. But I am saying its a great place to start. This is something I really feel could add a new layer to the game that people would really care about, or at least participate in. I really dont see how something like this could hurt the game. It promotes a healthy GCW. It helps toreleive hot spot lag issues. It gives players a more sense of responsibility. It creates a healthy game element in that it would be competitive. Its not perfect, but I think there is a lot of meat here that could and should be given serious thought.
Message Edited by Col_Osiris on 06-25-2005 06:25 PM
I think player political participation in NPC cities and planets is a good idea, but not in the way that is suggested. I think a system based on faction points is better, and being an active current mayor should not be required (but having at least some politician experience is a reasonable requirement). I think engaging in an NPC faction-related political game is a fine way to introduce BH missions on players: do badly enough (or well enough) in NPC politics and you risk becoming a bounty hunter target, and successful assassination makes you lose your job and lose faction points.
I once had the idea of NPC city spots for player vendors. These would be time-limited rentals, with a cost ultimately determined by demand via bidding or auction. Space in the most popular places would be extremely expensive. I think it could be introduced without adding new graphics or increasing lag for everyone very much, by opening up a few city buildings as shopping centers.
Saego, Wanderhome.
Poldano wrote:
I think player political participation in NPC cities and planets is a good idea, but not in the way that is suggested. I think a system based on faction points is better, and being an active current mayor should not be required (but having at least some politician experience is a reasonable requirement). I think engaging in an NPC faction-related political game is a fine way to introduce BH missions on players: do badly enough (or well enough) in NPC politics and you risk becoming a bounty hunter target, and successful assassination makes you lose your job and lose faction points.
I once had the idea of NPC city spots for player vendors. These would be time-limited rentals, with a cost ultimately determined by demand via bidding or auction. Space in the most popular places would be extremely expensive. I think it could be introduced without adding new graphics or increasing lag for everyone very much, by opening up a few city buildings as shopping centers.
Saego, Wanderhome.
Well, I thought about the whole Faction Points thing. But then, I also knew there was more than just the Imperial vs Rebel war going on. This proposed system allows for a majority rules type scenario. The more Imperials in a location, the less Rebels there will be, if any at all. The thing is, Imperials wont so much as vote for the same thing, but they will vote for anything against the Rebels. it owuldnt matter if the Rebels were right. Imperials, I beleive, just wont live under Rebel rule, and visa versa.
The whole thing about Master Politician is that its a way for people to know that you arent just some run of the mill player there to screw everything up. To be Master Politician, you had to have at least been the Mayor of a Player City for a while. So youve had some experience. Not to mention, anything less would be kind of rediculous since if you cant run a small town, how are you going to run an entire territory?
However, I do see your point on the whole, everyone should be abel to at least run. And I suppose thats something I didnt really think about. Still, there could always be other ways to level up in Politician. Perhaps youre appointed to be some kind of a City Official, and you dont have to bea Player City Mayor to level up in Politician. Theres lots of stuff that could be done.