System controlled caravans.
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Greetings.
I would like to suggest an idea about gaming caravans. I would like to see the supply of NPS to merchants carried out through caravans passing from the main cities (or from specializing in something) to secondary ones.And I propose to create a network of Caravans to be managed by the NPS. They will issue group requests to guard the Caravan with a certain frequency, and depending on the success or failure of the mission, the city will receive the necessary resources (though it is necessary for this that the merchants have money and merchandise).
Perhaps I could not convey the correct information - for this I will write an example.
So, let's imagine we have 5 cities:
- Capital
- City of Metallurgists - which is engaged in metal processing.
- The city of miners - which extracts minerals.
- City of Leather - which mines and processes leather goods.
- Weaving city - which creates clothes.
and of course we would like that the city of Metallurgists constantly had resources (ore, wood ...) for permanent work and the Weaving City also did not sit idle. As well as the capital needs all kinds of resources because of the large abundance of players.
Consider one way
The NPS trader creates a caravan from the city of Miners - to - the city of Metallurgists due to a shortage of copper ore, and hangs up an ad asking you to accompany the caravan of our respectable players.
A group of players is recruited and at a certain time the caravan begins its journey, and here 2 possible options may arise.
1 - Everything will go well and the necessary or ending resources will be provided to the city.2 - The caravan will be plundered by the players who took up the order or simply rogues, and then a crisis begins in the city, because The merchant already bought their own goods from the NPS, and the caravan did not arrive. Here, the players themselves should start problem-solving (in fact, this part has not been thought out yet
...)I apologize for the clumsy translation, try to answer questions (if they will)
I will be glad to read the proposals and criticism, Thank you for your attention.
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@33hp Roads usually have less monsters than in their biomes, respectively, during the caravans, developers will have to register the team are at an increased spawn of monsters in the route of the caravan or susceptivity spawn in several points (which is not very cool, because monotonous, and I wish every outing was interestingly generated). An infinite number of resources in certain cities will break the economy, so the idea disappears. Caravans NPC, should still be NPC guards, because the player is additional protection, and the system NPC caravans should be automated in such a way that she could do without the participation of the players . Thus, the world will be alive and resources will really be delivered to the city from different places, and not magically appear in the cities by generating I'd.
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but that prevents players from doing it.
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@jetah No, it will make the game more realistic, but to make it will unfortunately not be real. Few people in solo will be able to collect enough funds and resources at the initial level, and in this way you can even transport your goods - to make a reward for the place for the escort, transportation and your goods in the caravan (if there is a place).
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I think something like this is already planned. It was mentioned somewhere (I think one of the Q&A's) that establishing trade routes and NPC traders will be a part of town management.
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@muker
realistic is no NPCs at all. but there has to be some.i hate when npc's do things that players should do. crafters and transportation should be a players job, not an npc. I'd prefer if only players were merchants but i hate being a player store to sell goods.
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I dont like the idea of system controlled caravans, takes too much away from the players. If we have system controlled caravans this will destroy town placement selection. Do I build next to the miners?Do we form a hive with allied guilds? Trade might improve but it would be easier for neighboring guilds to overthrow our town... Do I build my town on the sea where there are valuable rare resources? Well if I have automated caravans.... why not?
Where you build your town should be a critical decision. From a non-beastman standpoint, people should consider where they build and trade should be one of, if not the most important factor, along with defense, offense and resources.
However, I do love the idea of merchant NPCs who sell player items at fixed locations.
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@jetah I mean a realistic "live" world, where you can just walk and you at the meeting could drive the caravan with NPCs and sell you something for example. The game has limited resources, and if they just will spawn in stores. But again, if it were, a few co-operative guilds would be able to kill all the caravans for a certain city and thus reduce its "efficiency" and thus ruin economically.
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@muker
it's bad when you take a sandbox game and have AI controlled caravans when players should be doing it.
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@jetah No, caravans go by themselves, you just join their protection, or organize caravans themselves
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I like the idea of caravans controlled by AI, but I would also like to see the players controlling the caravans, it would be nice to have both options.
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@jetah said in System controlled caravans.:
@muker
it's bad when you take a sandbox game and have AI controlled caravans when players should be doing it."Sandbox" and "players should be doing it" conflict, in my view.
I don't mind NPCs doing repetitive tasks to free up players to do more interesting tasks (especially if the players can do those repetitive tasks if they want to).Fundamentally, I get the impression players like to be the "heroes" in games, but if everyone's the hero, then no-one is, so a population of NPCs can help with that.
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@muker
caravans is just 1 or more vehicles hauling materials. it doesn't mean it's automated. players should be driving the ox (or other animal) with the cart while players are protecting said cargo.@Roccandil
this isn't a theme park game where everyone is a hero. this is a sandbox where everyone is a nobody just trying to survive in the world(s). if you want to pay someone to transport your profession goods to another town then you should need a human to do that not an AI.
don't get me wrong, if DS comes in here and say there will be AI transportation then you bet i'll be there to steal everything!
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@jetah said in System controlled caravans.:
this isn't a theme park game where everyone is a hero. this is a sandbox where everyone is a nobody just trying to survive in the world(s). if you want to pay someone to transport your profession goods to another town then you should need a human to do that not an AI.
"Sandbox" and "should" don't go together for me.
Granted, I'm currently playing an MMO with low pop, so there simply aren't the people to do all the menial tasks humans "should" be doing (and AI transport was recently introduced on the PvE side).
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Think the main points of the argument here are sound.. and ultimately, caravans should be player run and guarded.. Don't forget that guilds and players will have their own towns and their own resource needs. Naturally in order to keep things interesting and lively, it would be in the best interests of player groups to have such things as 'quest boards.' I actually plan to have this setup in my city to where goods, both raw material and finished products can see escorted transport to neighboring communities.
With Fractured aiming to be a sandbox where players rule the economy, that should include the entire chain of consumerism, from gathering to production to logistics to retail. Things have to be engaging, fun and interactive for players to feel like what they do matters.. and honestly, it does especially when you're reliant on trade and that income to fund certain tavern...things.
On the subject, I don't think the npc towns should become more than wayposts for players to make a quick rest at.. The problem with npcs is that it creates a false market, where players will base certain items and their corresponding prices.. especially if the devs decide to have some npcs that sell higher grade or essential items like skill books. Even basic resources can easily flood the market.
Runescape is a classic example of this issue. Before there was a centralized auction site, (Grand Exchange for those unfamiliar) trades were done by players, for players and used the forums and community postings for keeping up with prices. There was a general store with minimal supplies that was used as an easy way to make quick gold. It was easier and at the same time a little more fun for people to create markets for commodities, such as wood and ore that incentivised players to shop around. Now its years later and most players just hang around the ge all day and...trade.. allll day. Not even bothering to leave to visit a bank, because hey, banks right there.
My point is, could there be npc run caravans? Absolutely.. The question becomes whether or not it would add more immersion, more incentive for players to help with ai ran trade routes rather than taking the time to flesh their own routes and thus open new avenues of exploration and adventure?
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@33hp said in System controlled caravans.:
NPS
Okay, sorry - I know NPC, MC, PC - is NPS a non-player system? never seen that abbreviation before...
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@therippyone He wrote the НПС in Russian, and the translator could translate as "с"(Russian) = "s" (English)
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Greetings.
@Jetah
I understand and fully agree that players should engage in caravans, but think for yourself, as a GM of the trade guild, I naturally will prefer caravans, but other solo players will sit and wait until some guild delivers the caravan to their small town?Just if you remove AI caravans, are people ready to send full caravans every 5-10 hours?
Then the thought slipped that the goods should be necessary both for the activities of the city itself and for the newcomers who settled there (medicines, food, tools ...) and more is not needed.
And another proposal for this component to influence the city as a whole. That is, if you block supply routes to the city, it will begin to decline, but this is guild wars already ...
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The question becomes "Do we have NPCs that are a major factor in production?"
If yes, they should work to supply their own crafts with needed goods via transport of other materials to some extent. If no, then players should be moving the needed goods, and indeed the DEMAND for such should inspire some players to take up the effort for profits.
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@muker ah - thank you for that.
