One of many unlucky impact of video video games falling into lazy trope wells in growth is that they begin to carbon-copy and dilute attention-grabbing concepts into the realm of the tasteless. Take factions, for instance.
Aligning your self with a faction — or factions, plural — may very well be a very fascinating a part of your recreation expertise. You would begin out with out being aligned to any of them, and as you be taught extra about them, you would pledge allegiance to a number of and interact in overt and covert actions to help them.
Or you would simply decide a “pink” or “blue” aspect at launch from the 2 sides that the builders current, which suggests virtually nothing greater than the colour of your character’s hair to you. You’re choosing a aspect with no context or private expertise, simply because the devs figured that PvP wants an “us vs. them” setup. If it’s a elaborate MMO, it will get three sides, not two.
I’m significantly uninterested in this. I believe an entire lot of gamers couldn’t care much less about their factions. Yearly at BlizzCon, cries of “For the alliance!” and “For the horde!” sound an entire lot weaker than the yr earlier. That’s as a result of even die-hard followers know that it doesn’t actually *imply* something. Horde has been unhealthy after which good after which unhealthy once more. Alliance has completed the identical. Each side have been allies after which heated enemies after which allies relying on no matter nonsensical story beat is being performed out.
I simply don’t assume that devs choosing our sides for us in MMOs is efficient, particularly at character creation. Factions may very well be realized in thrilling methods, particularly in a creating recreation world. Think about if one month when you’re enjoying a recreation and a brand new faction emerges after rumors have been spreading. Individuals debate this faction’s intentions, and there’s a scramble to work for or in opposition to it — and even to analyze its workings and promote that data to the very best bidder.
Gamers may very well be double-agents between factions. Gamers may very well be empowered to create factions which can be a stage greater than guilds. Factions might supply actual stigma and penalties when you ally with one in every of them. Factions might even be destroyed, creating but extra recollections of gamers recalling previous regimes.
I don’t assume we will water down factions any extra, however studios definitely might seize upon the thought and construct them up into one thing helpful, participating, and extra sophisticated than an Orc shouting at a Human or a Klingon getting all testy with a Vulcan.
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