Good stuff. Not only is there content for multiple play styles, it looks as though we could potentially get "lost" in Titan City just chasing down something as simple as tip missions.

The Doctor wrote:

I clicked on the link just to check it and it said the composition recruiting page couldn’t be found. The update was awesome to read and it was nice to see what exactly goes on with the questing system of the game, I was particularly surprised that the Tip had to pass through so many departments just to get added into the game, but I had never really given it much thought before either.

Fixed

Every time I hear something new about this game, it's like you're reading my mind. Extreme customization. No lockboxes. Now, sagas.

The sagas sound kind of like telltale games, except with real branching possibly. They'll remember what you said, react to you differently, etc. I will definitely be doing these. These are a very much really very good thing!

My question is thus:

It is stated that the villain will remember your mocking them later, does that include other story arcs as well, or just that story arc? Will they "remember" if you are in a tip mission, Saga, or District Story?

If they remember across all of those...wow...I am both excited and impressed.

If not, I'm still impressed that they can remember within the arc...it will make messing with them a bit more fun.

Depict me drooling ...

Questions:
Would be possible for users to create their missions? Aka there will be a tips/epides/sagae editor?
Will users use that same tech?

This is even better than I expected! You seem to be catering to all play-styles, and letting us choose what suits our mood or time-constraints at any point. You guys are the best!

I really like the new terms Episodes, Series, and Sagas. They set CoT apart from the run-of-the-mill MMOs without copying terms from the old game. Kudos for that.

In addition to the hinted future updates on Paths and District Stories, I'd like to know more about how the Clue system will fit with these various elements.

Question: what are folks talking about regarding mocking an enemy and the enemy remembering this? I've searched the KS update page for 'mock' and 'remember' and the only match is on Warcabbit's note on remembering the shutdown anniversary. Has there been an edit since the update was posted?

Cinnder wrote:

Question: what are folks talking about regarding mocking an enemy and the enemy remembering this? I've searched the KS update page for 'mock' and 'remember' and the only match is on Warcabbit's note on remembering the shutdown anniversary. Has there been an edit since the update was posted?

I'm almost completely certain it would be part of the dialog options when talking/interacting with them since it has to be part of the quest system to be "registered". Just doing /e mock wouldn't do it.

Also, I'm sure it's part of the general consequences system, in that certain actions/choices will have consequences later in an arc or saga.

The mocking is taken directly from the update, end of fourth paragraph:

Quote:

For example, if you choose to mock an enemy in front of his cohorts, he’ll remember that mockery later on in a related story and be all the more disposed to revenge.

But the mechanics or system that enables that is most likely the dialog and general consequence system.

*dons beret and walrus mustache* Well, there's your problem. :D

Very nice and informative update to read, thanks guys.

Especially the bit about series and sagas, and choices being "remembered", makes me hope that there'll be a system in place for us to go back to review what we've done. It sometimes takes me longer to get back to a particular game, or a specific series or saga, and I won't recall which choices I'd made (or what precisely they entailed). More so if I'm also playing an alt or two, which will likely be the case.

Darth Fez wrote:

Very nice and informative update to read, thanks guys.
Especially the bit about series and sagas, and choices being "remembered", makes me hope that there'll be a system in place for us to go back to review what we've done. It sometimes takes me longer to get back to a particular game, or a specific series or saga, and I won't recall which choices I'd made (or what precisely they entailed). More so if I'm also playing an alt or two, which will likely be the case.

This is a very good point. And not knowing could actually be a barrier to play such that "it requires too much effort to find out where I was and what I was doing and I don't want to ruin what I was trying to do, so I'll just play another character."

That's an awesome use for a base computer!

+1!

Edit: maybe a base computer could also generate leads based on previous missions. Also could point you towards contacts that deal with similar missions. So you've been fighting a bunch of magic guys? Here's a contact that deals with mystic threats. Been fighting a lot of a certain villain group? Here's a contact that also deals with them. Excreta.

Awesome update. Amazing system. Also appreciated Warcabbit's note.

This system looks robust enough to allow for a Nemesis-type system down the road.

ConundrumofFurballs wrote:

There is a plan for that, though I don't know that it will make it in for launch. I truly hope it makes it in, even though that means more work for us...
Please note: as tips are repeatable, they won't have this functionality, even when we do get this system up and running.

Thanks, CoF! It is the other content I was asking about, since it's more likely that'll see interruptions. The basic mission text should suffice for tips.

Also +1 for the base computer idea. Steal all the ideas from Batman!

So, does this mean the rule is, no killing in fun and exciting ways for the evil anti heroes and villains?

angelo.pampalone wrote:

Depict me drooling ...
Questions:
Would be possible for users to create their missions? Aka there will be a tips/epides/sagae editor?
Will users use that same tech?

Eventually, not for launch.

Cyclops wrote:

Fireheart wrote:

The image of the villain screaming your name all the way to the Hoosegow is compelling! But what about the heroes? Will Anthem know my name and remember the fun times?

Thus far Anthem denies all knowledge of me.

She can't remember your face or name, but Black Falcon's vast cleavage is hard to forget.

Be Well!
Fireheart

I guess Diana should know.
[img]https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51b3dc8ee4b051b96ceb10de/t/55230ac3e4b0c8f3afddaaf9/1428359882732/superman-and-wonder-woman-discuss-bullet-bouncing-in-humorous-comic[/img]

What if we are playing both sides as both a villain and hero (in the more of a independent sense as a mercenary) will actions of working with different sides that are somewhat opposed to each other but not in direct contention at that time bring up notice with other factions during missions/episodes involving them ?

Will there be episodes with a larger scale?

I assume many villains -- I know I will -- will be heads of organizations, countries, races ;) So "go beat up low rate hero" and "go crash the symphony hall" seem a bit beneath say, Lex Luthor or Dr. Doom

My first thought is "obtain an object of use" from a larger organization: TCPD, PIT, Aether Pirates.

One nice thing about villains is that they compete with each other ;) Many "hero" large scale things work fine for villains too.

Just a reminder for players like me who love to mock villains...
all those bosses you mocked just may gather together in a surprise mission [u]just to get you![/u]

[i]"This sure is a lot of experience points just to deliver a newspaper to this elderly gent...WHOA! The Sinister Six?!!!"[/i]

Fireheart wrote:

"Here, take this basket of goodies to grandma's house. Good luck, hero,"
Be Well!
Fireheart

Get jumped by the Big Bad Wolves gang, then later get help from the hero "Woodsman"

StellarAgent wrote:

My son and I were discussing Faction Rep and its myriad possibilities.
One of them is to be passing through a very low level zone and hearing something like: "If we don't move, maybe he won't see us".

That's a good point. In many games, it gets a little silly when a band of highwaymen wearing tunics and wielding makeshift clubs they don't even know how to hold right jump a party of adventurers wearing neigh-invulnerable armor, extremely deadly blood-stained ultra-sharp weapons, and carrying the heads of ten bounties. In what world is jumping them a good idea for the highwaymen? But they sure do it!

Animals in games are even dumber. I'm an animal. I care about food and survival. I'm going to go attack these people wearing armor that I can't bight and torches that will burn me and fight to the death because it's so important to delay them for five minutes because.... reasons? Unless there's a really bad rabies epidemic, this makes no sense.

Hopefully the baddies in CoT will behave as if they aren't actively attempting suicide-by-pc.

Project_Hero wrote:

Fireheart wrote:
"Here, take this basket of goodies to grandma's house. Good luck, hero,"
Be Well!
Fireheart
Get jumped by the Big Bad Wolves gang, then later get help from the hero "Woodsman"

The Big Bad Wolves gang has nothing on me.

That has been debated here and I do hope that it'll be similar to CoH. There a sufficiently high level character could stand in the middle of a group of enemies and they'd do nothing.

That mentioned, I hope the NPCs will react appropriately to their nature. A rabid animal or person (e.g. drug addict) would probably attack without consideration of the consequences.

Doctor Tyche wrote:

My design goal:
*big PC stands in middle of low-end mob*
"Act casual, act casual.... we're not breaking any law...."
"SHIT! RUN FOR IT!"

Outstanding.

Maybe the first diogue if we don't attack, the second if we do? As in: ignore with dialogue if not attacked, feared with dialogue if attacked.

Yeah, you'd have to make the flee script be dependent upon something other than just the proximity of the PC, otherwise higher level players could seriously grief the lower level players by chasing all the mobs away.

I think it would be nice, however, to witness some behavior changes nonetheless based upon the proximity of the character, with the type of behavior dependent upon the relative faction rep. Either friendly, hostile or scared.

If several PCs are approaching some NPC, there would have to be an algorithm to determine which reaction the NPC exhibits. I guess it would make sense to weight several factors, such as reputation, proximity, and power difference, crunch the numbers and see what comes up.

As an example. Two players approach some Rooks. They are both the same level but one has a positive reputation and the other a negative reputation. Running through the possible permutations of character relative level, and how that level affects the proximity before the NPCs start reacting, and the reputation magnitude determining the reaction towards that driving player. We could have a lot of fun with this.
Just a reminder, this is only the dialogue and maybe some in-place animations. Like I said earlier, we wouldn't want the NPCs to run away.

But then we get into the situation where a high level character who is greatly feared by the Rooks is standing next to a couple low level Rooks NPCs. Those NPCs are intimidated by the character and are all but subdued. What happens if a low level hero walks up? Would we expect the Rooks to just ignore the high level PC and attack the low level player? That wouldn't be very realistic. It would make more sense that the NPCs continue to be pacified by the high level PC, even if they don't run away. And nothing is preventing them from defending themselves if the low level PC attacks them. So I guess this could still work without it being considered griefing.

CallmeBlue wrote:

While poor reasoning skills are certainly a prominent reason for people attacking opponents much beyond their ability, inadequate information in general, and misidentification in particular, play equally large roles in the real world. Presumably the same applies to plausible fictional ones as well. Most NPCs probably don't carry copies of _Jane's Fighting Supers_, after all.
"Look, who's that?"
"Er...I think it's GenericHero118474 and the Bastards of the Universe."
"I have a little girl; let's get them!"

*HammerDrop*

Project_Hero wrote:

I get that a lot in Skyrim. "A heavily armed and armored warrior approaches! Why his gear is glowing it must be magical and worth a fortune! I'm sure I, in my rags, with my crappy axe, and miniscule combat training and proficiency can take this guy!"

[img]http://www.spookingtons.com/spresents/spresent900001.jpg[/img]

*cough*Dust*cough*

Titans Lore has 'Chaser', which makes people burst into flame?

Be Well!
Fireheart

Project_Hero wrote:

Wonder if we're going to have something similar to MGH in Titans lore.
For those not in the know MGH is Mutant Growth Hormone which gives normal people super powers for a while. It's an illegal narcotic in the Marvel universe.

I'd be shocked if they didn't have something like that. At the core of it, there's always going to be a supersoldier thing, right? Well, what happens when said supersoldier serum works improperly, such as being temporary or having mental side-effects? If it's inexpensive enough for production, you can form a drug empire around it.

Another interesting idea would be an ancient vampire that feeds his mortal inner circle little bits of his blood to amp them up before a fight.

Project_Hero wrote:

Wonder if we're going to have something similar to MGH in Titans lore.
For those not in the know MGH is Mutant Growth Hormone which gives normal people super powers for a while. It's an illegal narcotic in the Marvel universe.

Oh, the plans we have...

Chaser, Dust....and the fun things we can do with them.

Halae wrote:

I'd be shocked if they didn't have something like that. At the core of it, there's always going to be a supersoldier thing, right?

Yeah, we've got that, too.

We have more plans for things than you can imagine. There are, at present, 781 pages on our internal wiki. And that's not nearly the number of things written, much less what [i]isn't[/i] written...

We've discussed in the past how to "train" appropriate responses into mobs vs players of different groups. My suggestion was a hidden AOE buff that would roughly simulate fear/fortitude. It's a stacking buff and every npc would give it off. If a group of 20 level 7 mobs are together they would have 20 stacks of level 7 fortitude, 140points. A player group of 3 level 20s would have a fear factor AOE of 60 points. The npcs would not be intimidated, but wouldn't fight unless they had a fortitude of say triple,...until the player characters attack. This would increase the players fear factor to 120. After a few of the level 7s fall their group buff would fall below 120 and they would then run. Obviously the numbers are just samples and would have to be tuned, but that is about how it would work, roughly. There are some interesting ways you could play with such a system to get some more interesting behaviors out of the npcs.

That said it sounds like they are using an AI to train the NPCs so that should make things quite interesting. I think DT said they were "too smart" and had to be dialed back.

On topic. I'm surprised that there is always a demand for more lore writers. I guess it makes sense since there are only volunteers working. throughput must not be very high. I get it. I can hardly find the time to write on the forums much less do iterative creative writing.

Back to the OP.
I was just playing [b]Wakfu[/b], which is far better than I thought it would be, by the way. And they've taken an interesting tack on resource farming.

First, let me explain that it is a gear-based game. And all the gear is made from materials collected from monsters or from mining/farming/etc. But here's the interesting thing: you don't need to kill the monsters to get stuff from them. You can get fur and stuff from live monsters without having to fight them. Of course, you will still need to kill them to get meat and skin and bones.

But what does this have to do with City of Titans? Imagine that you don't have to defeat opponents to get some manner of victory from them. Maybe if you just go hassle them for a bit, they will give you bits of information instead. This information can be used to form clues and/or open up different mission options. This could help discriminate a character's placement along the violent/non-violent alignment axis. Some missions or resources will require direct physical confrontation, but maybe not all missions and resources. Maybe sometimes getting enough information from enough opponents will accomplish the mission too, and maybe certain augment ingredients can be obtained merely by talking to the opponents instead of beating them up. What would make this even more interesting is for the mobs who act aggressively towards characters, maybe we can give the characters some sort of "I come in Peace" emote that lets them approach to talk without automatically starting a physical conflict. This should be a basic ability granted at first level but which can be mastered and/or augmented as well.

To go even further:
in Wakfu, each zone has an environmentalist kind of caretaker/governor who will send out zone-wide messages that there are too many monsters, or not enough monsters, or too many trees or not enough trees, etc. The governor will reward you extra for killing monsters when he wants you to, or penalize your reputation if you kill them when he doesn't want you to. So whether you cut the trees down, prune the trees, or plant new trees will depend on the prevailing volume of actions performed by the playerbase in that zone. Interestingly, this also has a direct leveling effect on the resource markets. Well done, Ankama.

Would there be some way of doing the same kind of thing in CoT? It would be interesting if each zone's police station (or safehouse or mob den or other form of control center appropriate to that neighborhood) informs player characters that the number of Rooks in the neighborhood has really been in decline lately due to all the other players swarming the area. The jail cells and detention facilities are full. Instead of bringing them all in, why don't you just find out if they're up to something. Then when the natural respawn rate of the Rooks mobs rebounds and floods the area because (most) players stopped defeating them in combat, the combat restriction is lifted and reputation rewards are back to normal.

I realize that this kind of mechanic really needs a resource-based economy to make itworthwhile and reach its true potential. So, that begets the question:
[indent]will CoT have a resource-based economy such that farming the mobs will become a necessity not for the experience, but for the loot drops?[/indent]

jtpaull wrote:

Will there be the ability to change the difficulty of any given tip/episodes/series?

All episodes will have a set difficulty level. However, I believe you're asking about a game mechanic whereby the level at which the PC plays can be varied. That is a mechanic that is planned for, though I don't know anything regarding the feasibility of it being in at launch. That's a gameplay thing, not a comp thing, and not a thing that affects comp's work (therefore not on the extremely long list of ones that I need to pay attention to).

TitansCity wrote:

Do you have an influence on how the NPC is staying ? the behaviour he/she/it must have during the dialogue ? Or even, the circumstances in where we meet them ?
Indeed (or in fact, i never remember ^^) : what is your area of influence for each NPC in the game ?

I'm not entirely certain what your question is here, but I will attempt an answer anyway.

As part of the dialogue we write, we can make certain statements available or unavailable depending on certain conditions, primarily (at least for now) what the PC has or has not done in the past. Part of those statements are the behavior and animations that go with those statements, and we aim to make those reasonable for the statements and the overall intent of the dialogue.

I don't know if this is even close to what was being asked, but there you go.

OathboundOne wrote:

Hey, CoF, can I make a request?
Please don't let the dialogue tell me what my character is feeling/how my character is supposed to feel.
ESO does this a lot "I know you are angry." or "Oh don't look so surprised." or forcing me to click a dialogue option that says "It's hard to believe..." in order to advance the storyline.
No, I am not angry (or at least I wasn't until you railroaded me into being angry by insisting that I WAS angry), no I was not surprised (seriously I saw this "tweest!" ending coming 10 levels ago), and no, it really isn't hard to believe, I already suspected as much.
It's frankly infuriating.

+1
That and the summary answers like "Looking good" which have a dialogue like "Thank you for telling me this tips. I will arrest those villains and the city will be safiest"... You know, this kind of short answer which doesn't really tell you at all what will be your real answer. I so much dislike that kind of dialogue like in Mass effect or Dragon age...

By the way, sorry if my question was not really clear :/ You answered some part ^^
By example, do you have an influence on the way the NPC gives us the mission ? Like "M. Tea shout out to the PC which just passed in front of him and runs to it. When arrived in front of the PC, M. Tea is out-of-breath, his hat is on the side of his head like it's about falling and he hold his long black english style umbrella. M. Tea get his breath back by putting his hands on his knees and his head toward the floor and says "You…really…[run/fly/jump]…too fast…for…me. Just…let me…take…my breath…back. - After 1 or 2 secondes) Woouuuhhh, well, thank you for stopping. I'm sorry but i need your help blablablablablalba"
My question was, do you influence the game in giving precisions like those one ? or do you just give the text and the story events without other precision on the game ? (An english style, an umbrella, the fact he shout out the PC, the fact he runs after the PC, the way is taking his breath back, etc etc)

Project_Hero wrote:

This stuff reminds me of when I played Dragon Age origins recently. I had been asked to help out a mage, I told them I didn't want to get involved, had a quest marker on another mage talked to them, then without being able to say no I was now working for that mage against the first. Then later I tell the first mage that I spoke to the second and the dialogue made it look like it was all my idea. Huff.
I hate dialogue options that get people stuck. I played fallout 3 once and met a person. They asked if I was sent by a character I don't know, so I said I didn't know them, then I ask about them and why they're there, then I get there options. Tell them I'm going to tell the person I don't know about them, tell them I'm not going to tell the person I don't know about them, or try to extort this person into giving me stuff so I won't tell the person I don't know. No way to just get out of the conversation. So I end up telling them I won't tell on them. I later find the person they were talking about, no way to talk about the other person and no way to tell this person I now know about the other. Huff.
TL;DR: please don't make conversations that lock your character into a specific course of action when it makes no sense.

I imagine this is difficult since they can't have a write-in option. They have to put in dialogue for you to choose from and there are only so many options you can choose from.

Why not go in the opposite direction and have an NPC force a player into all kinds of situations
NPC: I want you to stop dating my daughter!
Player (who? what?)
only player options:
A) she is a great girl! I will never stop!
B) she is a great girl! I will never stop!
C) She is a great girl! I will never stop!

NPC: Then be an honorable man and Marry her!

(out comes Wanda, the world's ugliest girl from In LIving Color)
Wanda: I'm gonna rock your world!
Player (throws up in mouth) (hits abort mission)

Devs laugh as their April Fools mission is a success

OathboundOne wrote:

Hey, CoF, can I make a request?
Please don't let the dialogue tell me what my character is feeling/how my character is supposed to feel.

This is one of the mandates we put on all missions from the beginning. Player autonomy is key for us. We acknowledge that some players are "button mashers" (just want to punch things and don't care about the text), some people want to see all the text and know all the lore, but from a detached point of view, and some will be role playing their way through the game. We are intentionally accommodating any and all variations with our dialogue options.
We will not tell you how your PC feels. Sometimes it is something that the NPC will imply based on their perception of what you are theoretically saying, such as "I am sure that this is difficult" or "You're probably angry" but we will never tell you how your PC feels.

Another thing we are not doing is telling you what your PC actually says. We provide you with the general concept of what you're saying so that the NPC can respond appropriately, but we won't explicitly say the words. You can make up whatever you want to say to actually get the point across.

Example:

[Tip Contact Briefing dialogue: ...] Amy, one of my regular running buddies, called me earlier today and said she won’t run in the Wood until whatever it is gets resolved; if the reports are true, I don’t blame her one bit. Could you please have a look through the Wood, and make sure that everything is copacetic? If it’s not, I would greatly appreciate it if you could make it that way. Please?”

Options1
A - Tell her you'll get right on it
B - Ask her if she has any details on what might be going on
C - Ask her if Amy is taken, and if not then could you have her number
D - Ask about the Park Rangers
E - Tell her you can’t right now

Results1
A - Thank you so much. It may be nothing, but it never hurts to check.
B - I only heard bits and pieces. One guy said something about someone disappearing behind a bush, another said a tree tried to grab her, and an older couple said the path they were on just disappeared. There really isn’t anything specific to go on, which is why the Rangers haven’t started any sort of investigation. [Return to Options1]
C - Amy? Yeah, ummm...I can’t give you her number. That just wouldn’t be right. I can give her yours though, if you’d like? [Go to Options2]
D - [general information about the park rangers, then Return to Options1]
E - It’s all right. I understand. Everyone and everything, all vying for your attention at the same time. You have to prioritize, just like the Rangers do. Let me know when you’re ready to take on the Wood some more. There’s always something going on…

Options2
A - Tell her that’d be great
B - Tell her you’d rather she didn’t
C - Give her a dejected shrug

Results2
A - All right, I’ll text it to her shortly. [Return to Options1]
B - You don’t want to give her your number, and yet you wanted me to give you hers? Double-standard much? [Return to Options1]
C - I’ll take that as a no. [Return to Options1]

I've obviously redacted this a bit. I don't want to give away any information about the content, just the structure.
You will notice that the tone of the NPC's reply, though hard to tell from text alone, varies depending on what the PC says; you will also notice that we let you as the player pick the exact words that the PC says, we just imply the overall type of response.
You can also see that there are some options that are pure flavor instead of being tied directly to the mission, such as option 1C. Obviously the button mashers won't care about such a response being available, but role players likely will. We aim to make the game interesting for all play styles whenever possible.