dexterward on 23/7/2011 at 00:12

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Lol, careful now, "they" might steal the idea...

jtr7 on 23/7/2011 at 01:44

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"They" are not entirely in charge of the decision-making. ;)

Dii on 24/7/2011 at 03:07

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Ok ive given this some thought, my initial thought at this thread was OH HELL NO, i can see peoples reactions mimic'd my own first thought. however, it could end up something very diverse and living. there are of course so many factors involved in an online gaming environment that its impossible to list them all here, but heres what i thought of.

It could work if there was The City, all its parts, and i mean -all- of its parts, including the abandoned old quarter section.

it would have to be a roleplaying server, otherwise it would be boring as hell.

you play the role of a member of a faction or civilian in The City, and then continue your life as your character would for that faction, do you aspire to be a police Captain? or a Master forger of the order of the Hammer? a master theif or a crime boss?

you can pick to be whatever faction you wanted each has their own skills, classes and an designated Area of influence.


City Watch
The main lawful force in The City, a contingent of highly trained (yet somewhat discontent) officers and their commanders, seeking to destroy the criminal element of The City and lock up anything else that looks suspicious. "Hells Bells! hold it taffer!"

Diplomacy
Hostile: Anyone caught tresspassing who shouldnt be, Known criminals, Pagans
Neutral: Hammerites, Mechanist Remnants
Friendly: Civilians

Forces (gaining strength as rank increases)
Constable
Sergeant
Inspector
Superintendent
Captain

Base and Area of Influence
All of The City topside.


Civilian
the masses of The City, keeping it running 24/7 a veriety of cultures, jobs, vocabulary and accents. are you a trader? a bard? a bar wench by day and a thief by night? gotta pay the rent right? or maybe you are the land lord and somebody isnt paying you the rent?

Diplomacy
Hostile: Pagans, Anyone caught tresspassing who shouldnt be.
Neutral: Civilians, Hammerites, Mechanist Remnant, Criminal underground factions.
Friendly: City Watch Officers

Forces
Trader (stall) (makes money from stall vending)
Salesman (door to door) (makes money from door to door sales)
Criminal underground (faction 1) (assorted Gangster)
Criminal underground (faction 2 'would hate faction 1') ( " " )
Aspiring Thief(s) (since there is only 1 Garrett)

Base and Area of Influence
Anywhere they are allowed to go (assigned by each faction).



Pagan
Followers of the Trickster, and bound to do his bidding un destroying the city and returning mankind to the darkness of the forest. speaks in Leafish (lol made that up) at all times
Diplomacy
Hostile: Everyone.
Neutral to: Some Civilians
Friendly: Pagans

Forces
Human Soldier (weak melee class)
Human Sorcerer (mediocre magic class)
Rat Men (mediocre melee class)
Bugbeast (very strong magic class)
Crayman (Very strong melee class)
Spiders (very fast and agile stealth class, can walk on walls)

Base and Area of Influence
Most of the Sewer system, Constantines old mansion.


Order of the Hammer,
Worshippers of the Master Builder, upholders of the righteousness of mans ability to conquer the elements. Hammerites speak in archaic english at all times

Dipomacy
Hostile: Mechanists, Pagans, Heretics and asorted Criminals
Neutral: Civilians, City Watch
Friendly: Hammerites

Forces
Hammer Soldier (mediocre/strong Melee class)
Hammer Mage (mediocre Magic class)
Master Forger (Very strong Magic class)
(insert more classes here since there would be a few if it were really going to happe)

Base and Area of Influence
all of The City top side generally, but mostly only around concerned Hammerite Properties.



Mechanist Remnant,
The hidden remains of the Mechanists, those that escaped the Hammerite Herecy Trials, would have a small but powerful force, can ally with criminal elements for supplies to remain hidden)

Diplomacy
Hostile: Hammerites, Pagans, Anyone caught tresspassing who shouldnt be.
Neutral: Civilians, Criminal underground factions
Friendly: Mechanists

Forces
Gear Soldier (weak/mediocre Melee class)
Gear Wizard (mediocre Magic class)
Servant (fast agile scout class)
Large Mech (very strong Melee class)
Small Mech (cant remember what these do lol :P )

Base and Area of Influence
Certain Sewer sections of The City and the lost City


Keepers
The ones that keep the forces of the city in balance, have ability to move invisibly through the city at will, maintain a small but very powerful force of combatants that can remove most threats quickly before imbalance is made ireversable

Diplomacy
Hostile: Anyone caught tresspassing who shouldnt be.
Neutral: Everyone else
Friendly: Keepers

Forces
Enforcer (Extremely strong Melee and Magic class)(even though people greatly dislike the idea of them as canon but still include them in this hypothetical idea for now)
Greater Thief? (agile and invisible scout) (received keeper training and is thus a much better thief than the standard civilian thief)

Base and Area of Influence
Wherever there is Unbalance
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this is what i thought of, also there wouldnt be a "leveling up" system, it would be purely weapon and skill based, affording weapons and the like is where the "grind" would come in. so no "suddenly a level 8745075 appears and rapes the crap out of everyone" type bs, everyone is equal to more or less the same degree, some people will just know how to use melee/magic better than others, still giving the new players a chance to kill a experianced player without having to grind for 30 years to get something to do damage.

.:Hypothetical senario:.
So you start as a civilian trader or door to door sales man, you work your way up to having a horse and cart to trade a higher quantity. you now have some high quality goods that can sell really well on the other part of town to the rich folk in Auldale, you get your horse and cart and you make off for the destination in order to sell your cargo and make some good money, on the way you are held up by some underground gangsters/thugs who want some of your money or they will kill you, you have no choice but to pay them, suddenly a police man arrives with others in tow, the criminals take you hostage and tell the police to back off, lest your neck be sliced, suddenly the man with the knife to your throat is taken down by an arrow from above, on the roof tops, who was it? maybe a police archer? a vigilante rouge? or a member of a rival guild? either way the police move in and begin combat with the criminals, and you whip your horses reins and speed out of there as fast as possible, but be careful not to kill anyone in your haste, or the Watch will be after you too...

Jarvis on 25/7/2011 at 00:34

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I've said this before, but I'll step up to the plate again for multiplayer. Hands down it's true that single player Thief is amazing and shouldn't go away. I don't want a multiplayer only thief (though I would absolutely love a multiplayer only stealth game done in the spirit of Thief).

But for those of you who say that a multiplayer Thief is no different than a FPS, you are wrong. Stealth in multiplayer introduces an element to gameplay that changes the game so much. Particularly if your objectives to win include ways that don't require killing anyone. Sure, there will always be the players out there who don't know how to sit still and will "run and gun".

But that doesn't mean you have to.

There is absolutely nothing else in the gaming world quite like using stealth against a thinking human being. As much as I love Thief 1 and 2, I put a ton more hours into Thievery because artificial intelligence just doesn't compare to real intelligence. I still play Metal Gear Online, which is about as "shooter" as it gets. But just because of small things like going prone and CQC, I've managed to turn it into a stealth game even with it's stupidly small levels. It allows me to defeat opponents with undeniably greater twitch skills, just by applying a little patience and intelligence. That's what multiplayer stealth games are all about, victory through wit. I'd much rather have a game meant for stealthers though, that allow me to win with out "attacking" anyone or anything.

... and let the run and gunners run amok, they'll keep the guards so preoccupied that often you can use your patience to find your entrance.

There's always been a bias in this community against multiplayer Thief, and even against multiplayer stealth in general. I think it's unfounded. I'm dying for another great multiplayer stealth game. This community gave my TuT, but I fear this bias will prevent anyone from ever doing something like that again.

Dii on 25/7/2011 at 01:14

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A Superintendent is a mid level rank in the British police

:)