[Rough Draft] Flavorful Reputation & Roleplay System
Based on a discussion between me, EnablerThe, Sloth and Zauikurron on the official Absolver discord, this is a very rough idea.
We were discussing ways in this game to feel like a villain or a hero. It came out of a discussion about whether manhunt modes or punishments for deaths would be beneficial to the game.
I explained how I liked it if I challenged someone and bowed to them. That I liked that bit of roleplay. I springboarded off of that with saying that it'd be nice if NPCs reacted to emotes. The discussion that followed is what resulted in this thread.
I'm going to post a more thorough version of this same thing for easier reading by the devs.
Honor can be a fickle thing. Morality systems often boil down in games to being simply multiple choice questions. That is NOT what this is. This is more like a reputation that you build, more so than actual morality. More the way you treat people than whether you are good or evil.
When I say 'honor', I mean treating your opponents with honor and respect and word traveling among the prospects that you are treating them like human beings rather than training dummies. Or, alternatively, 'dishonor', where you act more rogueish. Someone who doesn't care about frivolity and takes every opportunity to get ahead.
In other words; good manners versus bad manners.
One thing that we thought of was rewarding players with differently colored 'Flash-Frames'/'Gold chain' colors. Like flashing you being green or blue. We also discussed the idea of providing color variations for feints. It's possible, though, that changing these colors provides too much incentive for bad manner against actual players.
Another way might be to give someone a modifier to their nickname, like "Honorable " or "Roguish ".
A more complex one would be how sometimes NPCs react to your presence in the world. Some acting impressed with how you treat their kind and initiating a bow before they fight you, others scoffing at your manners, or those who shake their fist at you in anger for disrespecting their comrades, or those who taunt you in good humor at seeing a kindred spirit. None of this changes whether they will engage with you; they all want to fight, kind of like in any other martial arts movie.
The changes are all very minimal. It's purely flavor and it's supposed to be way for you to see yourself more like a part of this world.
We were discussing ways in this game to feel like a villain or a hero. It came out of a discussion about whether manhunt modes or punishments for deaths would be beneficial to the game.
I explained how I liked it if I challenged someone and bowed to them. That I liked that bit of roleplay. I springboarded off of that with saying that it'd be nice if NPCs reacted to emotes. The discussion that followed is what resulted in this thread.
I'm going to post a more thorough version of this same thing for easier reading by the devs.
Honor
Honor can be a fickle thing. Morality systems often boil down in games to being simply multiple choice questions. That is NOT what this is. This is more like a reputation that you build, more so than actual morality. More the way you treat people than whether you are good or evil.
When I say 'honor', I mean treating your opponents with honor and respect and word traveling among the prospects that you are treating them like human beings rather than training dummies. Or, alternatively, 'dishonor', where you act more rogueish. Someone who doesn't care about frivolity and takes every opportunity to get ahead.
In other words; good manners versus bad manners.
Possible Ways to gain/lose honor
- Bowing to a Lost Prospect gains you honor. The Lost Prospect will bow back to you. If you attack while they are bowing back, you lose honor.
- Taunting a Lost Prospects loses you honor.
- When a Lost Prospect taunts you and you interrupt him or her, you gain honor points.
- Losing your temper and threatening someone loses you honor.
- Reviving someone versus not reviving them (this can be tracked by dividing the amount of revives you've given someone versus how many people you've killed).
Benefits
The specifics of this idea is that this is purely a flavor aspect of the game. It's about encouraging you to roleplay either a hero or a heel. To create a narrative from how you act.Another way might be to give someone a modifier to their nickname, like "Honorable " or "Roguish ".
A more complex one would be how sometimes NPCs react to your presence in the world. Some acting impressed with how you treat their kind and initiating a bow before they fight you, others scoffing at your manners, or those who shake their fist at you in anger for disrespecting their comrades, or those who taunt you in good humor at seeing a kindred spirit. None of this changes whether they will engage with you; they all want to fight, kind of like in any other martial arts movie.
The changes are all very minimal. It's purely flavor and it's supposed to be way for you to see yourself more like a part of this world.
Comments
Not so sure about interactions with NPCs having anything to do with it though-- other players sure, but your mission as an Absolver is to Absolve the everloving shit out of Lost Prospects in the first place.
I'm not as familiar with the story yet, but I figure that you can absolve lost prospects with wry frankness (dishonor) or a respectful send-off (honor). Or just being efficient (neutral).
I do still like the idea, though.
A good way could also be to add item (gears) that you can or can't wear because of your alignment/path. Those items would be purely cosmetic (no broken stats) and you could see at the first look if the prospect/absolver you meet is a friend or foe. And guess there will be still some surprises