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I've recently tried out SWTOR, and I was thinking - why not make a "sidekick" mechanic that functions similar to the companions mechanic TOR has? Star Trek Online also has a similar mechanic with Bridge Officers. I think it would be cool to customize a personal sidekick for yourself.
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SWTOR and Star Trek stole their sidekicking functions from City of Heroes. So, it's pretty likely we'll have a robust sidekicking feature. :)
Former Online Community Manager & Forum Moderator
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There was nothing like Bridge Officers or TOR's companions in CoH, unless you mean Masterminds, so I'm a little confused by that reply. I mean a customizable secondary NPC character that follows you around, possibly has their own story arcs, and follows you into combat. My vision is much more like TOR's companions than STO's officers, but the idea of having an NPC "crew" or sidekick is what I'm getting at.
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Zom must have meant the CoH Sidekicking system where players got level-adjusted up or down closer to the team leader's level. I don't have much experience with TOR or SO so I can't speak on whether or not similar systems are in those games.
The world is a mess and I just ... need to rule it.
Yes, I was talking about CoH's sidekicking which meant level adjustment. If that term has been appropriated by later MMOs to mean NPC companions/minions, then that's a different thing entirely. CoH had NPC companions with Pet Powers, Mastermind Henchman Powers, and Temporary NPC Pets Powers. Being able to 'hire' an NPC like Guild Wars does is a possibility, but nowhere near something that has been determined will or will not be in TPP. A Mastermind-like class is definitely slated for TPP.
Former Online Community Manager & Forum Moderator
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It had best be. A metallic legion of one lacks the necessary menace.
The world is a mess and I just ... need to rule it.
I guess that was my bad for not being clear on the terms. Thinking about it, it might not work for this game, since in STO and TOR it's basically hard coded in that you have a companion or crew with you except when teamed up (and even then you can still have NPCs). But I really think there's potential for an actual NPC sidekick that follows you through your career. You would customize him / her, they would give you missions, and could even eventually be exported as a new character for you to play, having become a full-fledged hero in their own right.
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I guess the companion/follower would be programmed in more as a Pet than what we term as "sidekick". RP-wise, your Pet could be your actual sidekick or something. CoH did have these, on some archetypes. Many controllers had pets, Masterminds had them and could even give them dialogue. It's not impossible to program so that a pet is attached to a player character, and can have several commands to it, including to follow, attack, and whose player could type special commands that send a line of text or emote through it.
I think he meant stepping away from the whole pet system a bit, and actually fleshing them out as game elements, much like SWTOR does, but not having them define YOUR story, make them pieces of the puzzle, something you can choose to freely have, or go without.
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Since we're just tossing ideas around anyway, I'll mention something I'd enjoy in terms of having an NPC sidekick: Actually being able to design up a character and them be your partner. Perhaps make it a level thing that would allow squishier players to not have to group up all the time once they unlocked this "perk." Potentially see about having them "go back to the base" if you decide to team up with other people so it's balanced.
I wouldn't expect speech programmed in for them, but I know I'd personally enjoy having my main actually be able to run around with her sidekick (another character of mine) and do missions, if anything, just for the squee factor. I got a little bit of it from the Mission Architect when I'd run my one mission with my main and had her sidekick as a programmed NPC. Was a little bit awkward to have my main talking to herself though as the mission contact...
I'm not expecting anything to come out of my suggestion cause it seems unnecessarily complex and if anything would be a later addition to the game, but since the discussion of sidekicks brought up NPC partners, I felt it would be a good idea to toss out.
Ha, I was just thinking that!
To be able to call up one of your own alts for a sidekick!
Steve
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"Listen, and understand. City of Titans is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely [i]will not stop, ever,[/i] until we are live!"
Warcabbit
We discussed that one, it had its own thread. It was deemed more or less unusable. For one thing, that would require the game to somehow automatically scale your characters down to pet size power. But every character would be so different, that alone could be impossible to do reliably. We could make it just for looks, but we weren't too sure having your strong hero or villain suddenly some kind of decoration was a great idea either...there were just a lot of problems, cool as the idea is.
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[center][color=#ff0000]Interior Map Lead and UI Designer[/color][/center]
So what have we tossed around in terms an actual sidekick/companion system?
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I personally like the idea of players being able to put their offline characters into a pool that would allow them to be available as an AI NPC in instances, This version would still take up a 'player' spot in a team. Who you got out of the pool would be random to prevent using it to grief.
There are still issues with this version, of course.
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[color=#ff0000]Composition Assistant Director, Composition Team[/color]
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Great idea.
Yeah, hopefully though it also depends on the ignore list. It would a symbolic annoyance to have someone you don't even like helping ya in a mish, AI controlled or not.
Also, what would happen if the person that is controlling the AI NPC version of the player just so happen to log in while that AI NPC version is in a mish? I imagine it wont make a difference and there would be two of that person at the time but say the off chance that AI controlled NPC of the player just happen to join that mish? would the AI NPC version despawn immediately or would there be two of them running around?
And in relation to another thread - while your NPC self is not being used as a lackey it should be patrolling the streets in civilian clothes waiting for Would-be Heroes or Skulking Villains to start beating up thugs/civvies.
Tamorand
Tamorand = (Tahm-o-rand) This name originated from the days of Ultima Online. My first character was a Tamer and a Minstrel and an Archer and a Mage - I couldn't figure out a name to portray all skills in a single word. Hence **Tamer + And ** /shrug
As long as the offline NPC self we are referring to is an "optional" feature, I like the idea.
[color=#FF9933]A new beginning, forged from[/color][color=#0000FF][b][i] hope[/color][/b][/i][color=#FF9933] never ending[/color][color=red]!![/color]
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The offline NPC was originally suggested for handing out your AE missions, so players could actually find new missions in game via NPCs, which would be awesome integration of player material. But these other directions you guys are taking it are also great. The idea of them actually patrolling, with the capacity to automatically enforce the law in some ways, would be pretty darn cool.
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[center][color=#ff0000]Interior Map Lead and UI Designer[/color][/center]
That's really what I was trying to get at. An entirely separate character, that you make, that accompanies you.
And if you did want to make an alt, they would use the same costumes, so you would theoretically be able to just save their costume and load it up.
As far as missions go, they would mostly just follow you around. It would be great if there were several missions that addressed sidekicks only, but I'm not sure it would be worth it. In TOR, each companion has their own storyline to follow, but in a game where you create the sidekick from the ground up, forcing them into a specific storyline wouldn't be ideal.
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What if your offline self is just a wandering civilian? Like at the character creation screen, have a Secret Identity costume... Plain clothes.
To take this idea in a slightly different direction, it could be cool if there are were optional story arcs that involve mentoring. These could involve showing a new hero the ropes or doing work to help and/or support some good cause (orphanage, Red Cross equivalent, fund raising for a hospital in a poor part of the city, etc.).
Otherwise I agree that a companion system, such as exists in TOR, would step on the toes of any AT that is dedicated to having pets/companions.
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Support [url=http://cityoftitans.com/comment/52149#comment-52149]trap clowns[/url] for CoT!
That might be a better idea - once you become an established hero, you can unlock "sidekick missions". Create a sidekick (or press "random") and then you have them appear in a series of missions where you have to train (or rescue) them.
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HI, lots of great ideas. I don't want to derail with to much digression but I had this thought while reading...
A power type like a mastermind character, but instead it would be a "Group Leader"
- Lets say I create 5 different characters on my account
- Logging in with one of those characters I create a super group, making this character the leader
- I can enroll up-to 3 of my other characters into the group
- All of my "Group Leader" powers are to send commands to the others in the group
- Other characters in the group would be level managed up or down to be the same as the primary
- Other characters get a share of the XP
Not sure if that does the sort of thing the Op was interested in.
Anyway, cheers
I concur that using the SW:TOR or CoH multi-henchmen feature would step on the toes of pet-class ATs -- *if* there were five NPCs who showed up to help you. If you only have the one Sidekick, though, I think that would be more than equitable, since it would not unduly unbalance things.
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Speaking of Masterminds, Sidekicks and Followers: Duplicates. I'd like to be able to have a character who's able to create duplicates of himself and be his own strike force.
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"My attention span doesn't wander. It takes long trips to exotic locales where it meets strange women that leave it crying and broken in the hot, hot sun."
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A sidekick would be cool, perhaps as a toggle-able power, like a pet. Well, he would be a pet. Perhaps they can institute it that way. You could get it as a power option, or purchase it in the game store, or get it through special missions, etc.
I would want it so I could build it, just like a character. You could set them to defend, attack, or do nothing, and so on.
I also see every-friggin'-body having one, just like a car if we get them. ;)
Steve
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"Listen, and understand. City of Titans is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely [i]will not stop, ever,[/i] until we are live!"
Warcabbit
How about using the sidekick NPC as an endgame option. After you lvl max, your sidekick, which you design, shows up. Your sidekick would do no damage, or very little, but would allow for another story arc without affecting MM pets or PC sidekicks.
Looking at the classifications and specifications, perhaps a 'sidekick npc' of this sort could be where Pets as a specification/secondary could fit in?
Just please dont make it like Marvel Vs Capcom 3, where you can be 3 people and they jump in at arbitrary times :/
If these sidekicks are anything like SWTOR Companions, then they add about 3/5 ths of a Player to the team. Content would have to be scaled to 'Player + Sidekick' and any player that did Not have a sidekick would be badly handicapped.
I'm not saying that it's a bad idea! I'm just suggesting that if the 'Sidekick' was any sort of significant addition to a player character's power, then it would/could unbalance things.
I do think that a single 'Brute' might make an interesting Mastermind pet-set. There was some discussion of this idea on the MWM Forums.
Be Well!
Fireheart
My one concern with sidekicks is PLing. I know it'll happen eventually but personally I think it detracted from the game. I think that Sidekicks should have to stay within a certain radius of their Mentor rather than door camping. Just sayin...
I remember when Star Wars was cool...a long, long time ago...
CoX had that for a long while. It was a royal pain on open-air maps, not too bad on internal ones. (although definitely conducive to insta-death should your mentor get out of range while you were in combat)
Having the sidekicking be stable no matter the distance works better, in my opinion. If you want to avoid door camping, there's always the option of having rewards only be granted if you are within a certain range of your mentor instead.
Stable? Sorry but my geekspeak fails me.
I remember when Star Wars was cool...a long, long time ago...
"Stable" meaning the sidekick / mentor mechanic works no matter where the two players are. Of course, that's with player to player sidekicking - this thread is intended to address having an NPC that you design become a sidekick, like SWTOR's companions, or even STO's bridge crew. I think a huge thing regardless of how any sidekicking happens is to make sure there's a name difference between sidekicking players (CoH style) and having an NPC sidekick (SWTOR style), if it happens.
Based on this thread I'm leaning towards a story arc or set of stories that incorporates an NPC sidekick that we can create (I guess like CO's nemesis system? I don't know, having never played). I say this mostly because of the nature of the "Mastermind" class type - the other games I mention don't have the same sort of pet-based class, and their NPC companions are integral to the mechanics in different ways. I just thought it would be cool to have an actual sidekick, rather than another player in a temporary relationship.
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Something in how you were talking provided a suggestion idea to me: How about we get one of the options for Master that will be a single pet as opposed to multiple pets. With the options they seem to be offering the solitary Master could have all manner of potential pets, just that there is only one that grows in power as you level.
That gives Me an idea!
In that [i]other[/i] game, you got one pet a first level, gain a few levels, you got a second one, a few more, a third. Then a big one. What if each one could be customized with it's own power set, eventually making your own mini super team!
Sort of like the group the Illusionist could call forth.
___
"Listen, and understand. City of Titans is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely [i]will not stop, ever,[/i] until we are live!"
Warcabbit
...That would be awesome. And if you got to costume them >.> <.<
[B]Revenge is motivation enough. At least it's honest...[/B]
Roleplayer; Esteemed Villain
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Precisely.
___
"Listen, and understand. City of Titans is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely [i]will not stop, ever,[/i] until we are live!"
Warcabbit
My illusion controller likes this idea.
Any chance in CoT, the Mind Controller could actually Control the mind of a Enemy, making him/her a Pet for the next 4 to 5 minutes? Call the power "Subserve". ;)
Guild Wars had from the start the ability to choose NPCs to fill out your party. Eventually they added the Hero NPCs and then the ability to use "one" of your alts mixed in with the Heroes. It was a truly gleeful moment when I was able to add my main as a support character to one of my Alt's parties. I always wished that CoX had something where you could build your own team with a set group of NPCs that could include at least one of your alts. The game play style in CoX wasn't ideal for it and I image it would break entirely if someone decided to have too many MMs in their custom group (Although I suppose that was a problem in regular play at times).
Still, like the ability to create and manage an Arch Enemy, being able to create your own legit sidekick or companion from costume to abilities would be very very cool. I would probably do it so that my sidekick betrayed me and became my Nemesis and a new sidekick was created. Such fun RP to consider.
I kamehameha'd your mom
That also reminds me of TOR's "legacy" system. One of the coolest things was the "family tree" - you could tie all your characters on a server to one another as family members, allies, enemies, things like that. It was pure visual fluff, but it was fun for the RP side of me.
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