Really interesting discussion! I agree with a lot of what Tiamo and Money are saying.
I totally disagree that the staff should somehow create stories. That is a perfectly valid game design and is available in plenty of games, but Cantr is trying to do something different. We can talk about why it might not really be working as intended, and what we can do to change that, but just saying lets drop the core design and make it more like any other game online, that to me is not a solution at all.
So ambition is what I really seem to be missing in the game. Yes, you can as a solo player achieve a lot in a very materialistic sense - as long as you persist long enough you can build whatever you want - but where is then the social or political ambition?
So can I ask, what do you think are really great episodes in the game that did involve leadership and larger group mobilization?
Klojt Festival is a great example. When was the last one of that? The Ladvicitavoi / Naron wars are a good example. I think some conflicts near Kwor (?) were a good example. What are other ones?
And why are they so rare?
Tiamo wrote:If people would be more dependant on each other for some key things, community play would prosper automatically.
I agree and that's an interesting point. Some things should not be possible to make on your own (e.g. a car) and perhaps need a minimum number of participants to progress at all. Would be simple to implement, I guess, and could have major impact on the game.
Especially when combined with more deterioration - as currently anything we change to how fast or easily one can build is irrelevant, because there are too many unused vehicles and buildings in the game.
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Tiamo wrote:What also would help immensely is if players would somehow be 'rewarded' for memorable feats their characters accomplish(ed) within the game. Some kind of character fame points, player influence points, history highlights hall of fame, or whatever.
This is something I had thought about before. I do not want to award points for particular gameplay, but I was thinking about some kind of voting system. Players can vote for characters they encounter in game, on things like "funniest character", "most accomplished character", "best roleplay", etc., and by limiting the number of votes (e.g. one vote per player per month) it would be a real challenge to acquire points. We could then publish top scorer lists.
There are downsides, though, like revealing in-game information that breaches game rules; inability to score highly when living in a smaller town; etc. But there is something to it, maybe.
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I'm splitting this in two new conversations under suggestions. So lets continue to focus here on the general discussion, while if you want to comment on those two ideas, use the suggestions forum.