Dynamic Events...what would you like to see?

[Cyber]

So let's talk about dynamic events. It seems pretty clear from the information on the main site about the "Arkfall" events that Defiance will use a random event system similar to the rifts in Rift. The Arkfall events will provide a challenging situation for players to tackle and will be rewarded in some way for successfully completing the event.

Any thoughts about this out there? In particular:
For those that played Rift, how did you like the rift events? Did they work well?
What suggestions would you make for the Defiance events?
If the events are ignored should there be negative consequences?

I rather liked the invasion random event I saw at PAX Prime last year in Firefall. Alien ships appear above part of the world (even a city) and start dropping in, requiring players to battle back and repel them. Similar events were seen in Tabula Rasa, and not repelling the invaders meant losing control of an area. Guild Wars 2 also use a type of dynamic event with negative consequences, although it the case of GW2 the location isn't random.

In any case...thoughts?

[fuzzynaru]

I thought the rift events worked well (but that was the beta so i dont know) they were pretty fun

[Cyber]

Yeah I was in the Rift beta too (but didn't play it after launch) and for the most part they seemed enjoyable, although at one point they seemed so frequent that it kind of got old quickly, and many players started ignoring them. Not a big deal if there isn't any negative consequences, but if there are and the can't be ignored, it could get annoying to need to drop what you are doing to go and deal with the event. So I guess the moral of the story is that the events need to be fun enough that no one mind dropping their current activity to go and help out.

[Adsinonimous]

Well I actually didn't play RIFT but it sounds like something that happened in a game I've played. ( I can't remember the name)

Is it just like certain mobs in an area of the map and people are notified by something like a pop-up on the screen and those who take part in killing the horde or boss get certain rewards?

Or am I talking about a load of hocus pocus?

[Cyber]

There have been a number of games of late that have dabbled by dynamic or random events, with varying degrees of success, from WARs open party quest system to Rift's rift events. However, Defiance could be attempting to push the boundaries of dynamic systems since they have claimed to be including a gaming world that changes over time due to events both in the game world and within the TV show (I will see if I can dig up where I read that).

[Adsinonimous]

Well, what I really want to see is a boss fight big enough for 100s of people to fight it at the same time. Maybe whilst pvping? See what faction or group can kill the boss first. I have always been into that sort of thing!

[fuzzynaru]

Sounds good regardless

[Cyber]

Well, what I really want to see is a boss fight big enough for 100s of people to fight it at the same time. Maybe whilst pvping? See what faction or group can kill the boss first. I have always been into that sort of thing!

Mixing random PvE events with open world PvP would lead to a lot of problems in terms of griefing, and gamers often get very annoyed at having their efforts thwarted by some PvPers. Even if the event is in a designated PvP zone, it would have to be something that involves fighting directly rather than fighting an NPC, because the fight would almost always devolve into the two factions fighting each other first and worrying about the NPC last, which means you might have well left that type of event for the PvE areas.

Note that I am not saying that dynamic PvP events can't work, only that they are often very tricky.

[fuzzynaru]

For example beta rift there were high level characters in an opposing factions starting zone owning kids

[Cyber]

For example beta rift there were high level characters in an opposing factions starting zone owning kids

Yeah "noob crushing" is a common problem in many MMOs, even without the added frustration of having it happen on top of dynamic events where one is hoping to get loot for completing it