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Get better writers in this game, and some humor
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Strigonde Kite
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#1 - 2012-01-05 23:49:48 UTC
Agent conversations, dialogues in the game are so bland, so boring, that the style fits seamlessly with the default font. Seeing both, I'm ready for bed any time. I've stopped reading what's on the left on those screens, I just look at the Objectives and get on. Unless this is intended (so that players spend more time with each other and less with the NPC), CCP should send in some writers. GET writers, actually, because I can't call even the official fiction, the Chronicles, all that Pulitzer, and forget the items' descriptions! You might say there are none. The world as a whole has the features to be interesting, but it's not. If you take away the hustle and bustle of players, what will remain is the deadest shell of a storyverse, with the coldest stars, and barely developed.

Take the Amarr. They are lordly and godly, they are fanatical, or supposed to be, with a rich history - a gold mine, literally, of character and interaction, but where is any of that in the game? A few features do exist to let one pretend he is, say, an Amarran crusader, e.g. he could join the militia. But the designers' design to keep all four sides as equal as possible ends up producing just that sort of figure - the square.

Of course, an empty universe maximizes player space. Theoretically that should spur players' imagination, but I have seen only increased activity because of it. Any role-playing must really be held up by the ears. Pretend HARD. Now it's an interesting experiment to have a game that's nothing but a sandbox, and there's no better place to dig than a sandbox, if digging is an end unto itself (okay, you can also trade for the next kid's pretty bucket, or beat him away from it, or try to look for lost pennies), but there's something demeaning about having nothing but that. Another association I have is the subway - where there is totally nothing, and no scenery but the walls, and nothing going on outside of passengers coming in, getting out, jumping the turnstyle, cops combing for bums etc. That there's activity and noise is not in doubt, but who would want to live there?

Getting better writers, some humor into the missions - not the water cooler sort - is the least CCP can do. Will they do it?
Jask Avan
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#2 - 2012-01-05 23:56:19 UTC
I really have to agree. Much of the in-game stuff is rather bland, and most of the out-of-game stuff is either purely informative or bland "Oh god it sucks so much here."
Reicine Ceer
State War Academy
Caldari State
#3 - 2012-01-06 02:03:10 UTC
Love the idea, but where do you begin, and how do you scale it?

With a game as large as EVE Online, the issue here comes down to what you mentioned regarding the square. Adding, for example, a god-fearing angle to the Amarr, and a capitalistic military bent to the Caldari (etc etc) feel to the conversations forces you back into that same square. Just, 4 squares within the square. It'd need to be triangles instead to work effectively, and based initially at random for all agents;

Pick only 2 of the three to generate an agent persona:
a) Racial tone
b) Humour
c) Bland/Bored

...actually I'm a genius. I think that'd work brilliantly for ALL agents.

HOWEVER! Not everyone is the same, and across regions, countries, hell - even continents - people differ wildly in their outlook on life. Taking the Amarr for example; i should imagine their religious fervour is somewhat stronger in their core systems than toward their borders with other, less god-fearing territories. This would then require a further level of scale, toward local attitudes towards things. And even then, to make it more interesting would require perhaps a deeper level (this is getting more and more like Inception as i go on) where many of the agents aboard a station had the same worldview, because they're all chilling out with each other for the rest of the time no one is talking to them, with maybe one or two that're different.

After that, i suppose it's just a matter of writing all the content. And remember - something YOU find funny is not always funny to other people, especially when that is translated into another language. Nightmare. Unless, of course, you get the EVE community in on it and get them writing the dialogue :D
Corina Jarr
en Welle Shipping Inc.
#4 - 2012-01-06 02:22:42 UTC
This would be awesome. As it is, not only are agents dull sounding, but some are ridiculously out of character (especially when saying goodbye).


CCP does have some funny jokes... the names of meta TPs for example. But it woudl be nice to see some IU humor.
tankus2
HeartVenom Inc.
#5 - 2012-01-06 02:50:01 UTC
I shall quote the game itself:

"This certificate represents an elite level of competence in the infamous practice of "hull tanking". It certifies that the holder can fully use all modules relating to hull tanking. The holder is aware that "real men hull tank", and also that hull tanking is really dumb. With this certificate, you've maximised your ability to rely on your structural systems to absorb damage, although hopefully you're smart enough to know what a daft idea that is."

Where the science gets done
Mars Theran
Foreign Interloper
#6 - 2012-01-06 04:27:51 UTC  |  Edited by: Mars Theran
I don't really mission much, and maybe that's why I see the character of the agents. Not everybody needs to be a Martin Lawrence to get noticed, (or have a personality). I suppose if you've run the same mission scenario 300 times, it'd start looking stale though.

I like CCPs sense of humour, and get a good laugh out of it here and there. For all that I hate pop-ups, you get some rather amusing ones.

I think the primary issue with agent interaction, is they don't shut up. My biggest problem has always been that they have way to much dialogue. I don't want to read a half page of mostly uninformative dialogue, before I go out and run a mission. Especially when I have want to have a habit of making sure there are no missing details in there

The only time there are; I probably missed them and got spaced. Essentially, I need format.

Random, short dialogue - "Nobody has come back with their ship yet."

Mission Objective - This is a big one

Potential Hazards - Also good, and very useful if the mission intends to pod you.

Map - I know: wierd right. But I want a Deadspace map. All pockets; all objectives.

Believe it or not, the map is more useful than any text entry. Jumping multiple pockets without knowing when a mission is going to end is not my idea of fun. Is this going to take half and hour, or 3?

Not being able to warp out without doing 65 m/s over 32 km 4 times to get back where you were? Also not fun.

Even at 230 m/s it's not fun.

No need to bookmark. Just open map; Select Objective, and Warp to. Last completed objective would be fine; so long as reaching the next Acceleration gate is considered an objective.

edit: Actually, one thing that might really help; is if Agent Dialogue-short or not-was dependent on personal, corp, and faction standing. Every 1.0 + or - modifies the agent conversation for or against you. Each agent would have priorities of course, with some preferring better Faction, Corp or Personal Standings.

In essence, Agents would show where their priorities lay over time. Loyalists would be impressed by Faction standings increases; Corporate White-Collars by Corp standing increases; Blue Collars by repeated business and association. I suppose most would still be impressed by increases to personal standings like the Blue-Collars; but the former two would be less effected; and the latter less affected by the former, and so on.

Huge load of data to modify though. I don't know how many agents there are in EVE; but I do know it's an unrealistic number to start playing with in such a fashion.
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