Let's talk about the possible story

[Maelcom404]

You'll mostly be caught in the middle of high corporate sheanigans (most likely Arasaka/Militech one) and will have to make some heads roll to clear yourself out of it (classic cyberpunk story).

Other class/work (media, corps, cop, psychosquad) will, I think, be aviable throught Job.
Being a cop, a corporate white collar or a journalist is more a job than a skill in itself (maybe the reason why they put the "active" roles aviable but not the passive one like being a doctor or a nomad).

 

[Valnir19]

I'm hoping for mostly smaller, street level stories that chain together in true CDPR style. I'm sure there will be grander quests as well, ones that put you in contact with important people and have high stakes outcomes. But I don't want the 'end of the world' stories that you find in most games.

I would like to see a lot of stories that put you in the role of a detective. Someone mentioned a serial killer earlier and I very much second that idea. I would like to take private contracts to track down killers, thieves and other criminals in classic hard-boiled Cyberpunk fashion.

 

[4meg]

I think the story should revolve around the player just trying to get on with their lives as best they can. They're trying to get along in NC as best as they can. They end up getting forced into situations that require action just to keep living. Nothing grand, just keeping your head above water for another day. One situation will lead to another, with actions having repercussions. Small at first, but building until they start to get noticed, for good or ill.

 

[Mekari]

I am betting that V will get caught up in another corporate war.

 

[Valnir19]

I wouldn't be surprised if a corporate war is the overarching narrative of the series. Establishing the players in game one, escalating the conflict in game two and all-out war in game three.

 

[Mekari]

I wouldn't be surprised if a corporate war is the overarching narrative of the series. Establishing the players in game one, escalating the conflict in game two and all-out war in game three.

Yeah I can see that, especially when I think about the ocean war, and the shadow war that led to the full blown 4th corporate war

 

[Metropolice]

While I'm not really a CP lore expert, it seems some big plot revolving around Corporations is likely. It's almost "expected" by many and would make sense from what I gathered loosely about the general lore and some prior (corp) conflicts I heard about.

Still, I for one would prefer if there were many other (sub) plots. I think the feeling I look for is best described when referring to Fallout New Vegas. For me, it was a game that by default offered so many various themes and vibes that were sometimes wildly different, and yet, were all united or part of the same setting or world, just dotted around in different areas. From normal settlements to crazy groups to the seemingly civilized strip and surrounding areas, to the high-tech factions (BOS), to the big war between the NCR and legion, or tribal areas in the North. From the casino heist to the devoid areas of the divide. From wild west to modern war.

I could go on, but that's what I liked about the game. A diverse range of factions, groups, styles, vibes, themes and plots, some bigger, others smaller.

I'm guessing Night City and the setting of CP will offer the same "wild ride" through various themes, vibes, settings, factions and more.

Part of me would not be opposed to some more exotic major plot, however. A corp related conflict or struggle may make sense, but I also would not mind a mild "end of the world" scenario. Just "mild".

And I do hope for good modding support.

With a more persistent city environment like that, it's just screaming "Zombie apocalypse (DLC/mod)", if you ask me.

Heh...

Nightmare City

 

[Restlessdingo32]

I think the story should revolve around the player just trying to get on with their lives as best they can. They're trying to get along in NC as best as they can. They end up getting forced into situations that require action just to keep living. Nothing grand, just keeping your head above water for another day. One situation will lead to another, with actions having repercussions. Small at first, but building until they start to get noticed, for good or ill.

Eh, this is sort of the difference between a GTA story vs a W3 story though, is it not? To elaborate, most RPG's consist of the following types of story lines...

1. Long, game spanning narrative.
2. Various short narratives.

#1 is normally what you would think of as a main plot. #2 is more in line with side quests. It's difficult to build a short narrative with a large amount of depth, substance, arcs, twists, turns, etc.

 

[dimonicus92]

What I know is that these guys have raised the bar with every game they made. I'm certain that CP 2077 will be a step up from the Witcher 3 in terms of storyline,intertwining plots etc.

 

[EngryEngineer]

Personally I think the 'fight the power' theme will be an important part of the game (as it is almost mandatory in cyberpunk games) but that you can steer to which degree and how violent you'll be in resisting the powers that be. Being too destructive might even lead to a backlash of a kind. Perhaps pricehikes and John Doe on the street being out of a job and desperate to feed his family because you blew up the factory where he worked or killed his boss.

I hope you can choose not just how you'd approach fighting the power, but also to what degree you'd choose to do so. Many of these games assume that they've presented the oppressive corporation in such a way that the only choice would be to fight it, but often that's not the case. I would love to be able to choose to agree or fight the corp (other options like walking away from the conflict are valid but aren't very useful for a video game narrative, like maybe allow but the current is pulling you in and if you don't choose to swim in some direction you are going to get sucked under).

I certainly hope not. Because in Cyberpunk 2020, or 2077 in this case, there is no 'fight the power'. It's simply not viable. The megacorps are too powerful. You could harm one section of some corp, sure, but then you're on their shitlist and their funds are far larger than yours, which would ensure your lifespan would be critically diminished.

You're not going to change the world, you can't save it, your goal is to survive and to look out for yourself (and those around you, I suppose, that your character cares about). This is, if I'm not mistaken, something that Mike Pondsmith talked about in the past.

I agree that the idea of "fighting the power" in Cyperpunk is almost assuredly futile, but I think it is something that people in that world would actively try to do, and would be enough of a conversation among fringe citizens that I think it would be worth exploring in the story so long as you don't assume automatic buy-in. If it is included as a central part of the story, I think the ideal way of handling it is to have multiple endings where you could show the range of possible outcomes like the super super successful anti-corp campaign had no lasting impact, maybe your efforts had some effect which motivated the corp to assassinate or imprison anyone with any connection to you, expose the damage you've done to the economy along with the lives you've ended or worsened turning public opinion against you and empowering the corp, or maybe you successfully eliminate a whole series of corruption while empowering the right people and make the world a little better, but it shouldn't just be you are now a revolutionary and you will fully succeed & everything will be perfect forever.

Post automatically merged: Jul 26, 2018

Eh, this is sort of the difference between a GTA story vs a W3 story though, is it not? To elaborate, most RPG's consist of the following types of story lines...

1. Long, game spanning narrative.
2. Various short narratives.

#1 is normally what you would think of as a main plot. #2 is more in line with side quests. It's difficult to build a short narrative with a large amount of depth, substance, arcs, twists, turns, etc.

As strictly stated here I agree with these sentiments, but these aren't the only two options. It is absolutely possible to tell a "long, game spanning narrative" through what feel like "various short narratives." This is often portrayed through a behind the scenes conspiracy that tie them all together which is fine, but also isn't the only (or preferred) way of pulling this off. The key is that the game understands that while these events may be independent they do not exist in a vacuum and your action or inaction will change you and the world around you. In Rockstar games these events don't usually change the world in a meaningful way, sure maybe you can clean the gang out of the factory and then buy it, but in the end it just gives you recurring income or some random unlock. Compare this to Fallout 2 where there is an overall plot, but most of the game is side missions and those side missions have more of an impact on the world around you than the main quest does like one settlement may collapse, flourish, or start raiding or enslaving the other communities. Since your actions have concrete effects that can interact with & influence other events a cohesive game spanning narrative can be formed through the confluence of these independent streams of consequence.

 

[Ouroboros612]

It will be hard to pull off a super memorable ultra-awesome ending imo because... this is a sci-fi without aliens like Mass Effect. The limitation of the CP universe is that the main antagonist/s are probably human or rogue AIs or something. This means that the more traditional "epic" enemies are out of the question. I really can't even start to guess the story but a boring story like "A merc climbing to the top" would be to GTA'esque and trope'ish.

They would have to:

1) Truly invest in character building on a deep level and...
2) Not make the antagonist/s predictable (as to who they are)

So imo... there needs to be both a story and a villain/s that are given time to grow, and will give a meaningful conclusion. Like I said, can't even begin to guess and with the CP universe I don't even know what I want - only what I don't want. So I'm simply putting my trust in CDPR without too much "this is what I want..." or guessing.

 

[Loostreaks]

I hope they stay away from " Player discovers a gimmick that Powers that be want and now you get to play an errand boy/girl and choose which one you want to support": New Vegas or Bloodlines is good example of this.

Mike is right on this: Make it personal, no pain no gain. Events and how you make waves in social/political stratum should deeply affect you and your friends/allies, and how you deal with npcs should have a huge impact on the plot.

I'm thinking something closer to Alpha Protocol, minus the cliche Bond villain trying to plunge the world into war and only you can save it!

I enjoyed a lot more how npcs and factions were vowen into the plot, how interacting with them affected it, they had their own motivations and connections with one another. Characters should matter, not future of the world/Night City.

In terms of plot structure, again: Alpha Protocol. I think Rpgs need to have a degree of linearity to give a sense of progression with story And the world...freeform sandbox is far more suited for action games ( without char progression) and non narrative driven games.

So, A-> B and/or C and/or D ( in whatever order)->E...etc

This would be a good mix of game having enough main story focus, decent pacing but without player feeling "on rails"/restricted.

Also, this is a small thing, but it helps a lot: let some time pass between main story missions.

Enderal did this well and it was such a simple thing to do, and avoided typical open world narrative/exploration dissonance

Main story was your typical Save the world NOW!... but after almost every mission, they would say you should come back in a day or so ( to set up a meeting, call in someone, etc).

This was a nice wink to the player: "Now, take some time off from the main story and go and explore", so the player doesn't feel "guilty" wandering around while the main plot stresses urgency at every turn.

 

[Jarred_Blaauw]

Maybe CD projekt should get some people from forums/community to for one ask what they want in a side quest/main mission and maybe have a workshop where the community try to make some side quests for the game and then CD projekt red with choose top 10 stories and work with writers and creative team to make the stories the best that they can be.

P.S The people whoms stories get chosen should be put in the credits.

Post automatically merged: Aug 18, 2018

Maybe CD projekt should get some people from forums/community to for one ask what they want in a side quest/main mission and maybe have a workshop where the community try to make some side quests for the game and then CD projekt red with choose top 10 stories and work with writers and creative team to make the stories the best that they can be.

P.S The people whoms stories get chosen should be put in the credits.

 

[Mat.R]

I'd like a story we can end any time, one with no boogeyman or mcguffin, no earth-shattering revelations. Just V becoming whoever the player wants. Working for whoever, or ourselves. A noir, closer to The Long Goodbye than Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, or a string of jobs that just give us good gameplay and maybe even cash.

 

[Garrison72]

One interesting note: a journo mentioned to one of the writers that the demo reminded him of The Wire and he seemed pleased about that. And I just remembered they did cite that show as an influence several years ago. Also, who do you guys think the man with the red dots on his forehead is? There's a promo image that shows his face next to Eredin's, which makes me think he's possibly the main villain.

He certainly looks the part.

 

[Mat.R]

Maybe its Eredin

 

[Kuboniusz]

One interesting note: a journo mentioned to one of the writers that the demo reminded him of The Wire and he seemed pleased about that. And I just remembered they did cite that show as an influence several years ago. Also, who do you guys think the man with the red dots on his forehead is? There's a promo image that shows his face next to Eredin's, which makes me think he's possibly the main villain.

He certainly looks the part.

He’s one of the Maelstrom gang. Think it’s Royce, their leader. You know the spider-bot/deal-gone-wrong guys

 

[Secretz]

This is slightly off topic, but hear me out.
Back in the days of the 2020 pen and paper game, there were sourcebooks, one called Night's Edge being the most popular, which introduced rules on how to incorporate vampires, cyber-vampires, lycans/werewolves and vampire hunters into the Cyberpunk world. It also introduced psychic powers and other ways, both natural and supernatural, to make a Cyberpunk game even darker.

Strange as it sounds, it actually worked out pretty well and made for some rather interesting games. Would you be interested in a DLC that brought that into the game, something to change up the base game after you've played it ad nauseam?

 

[Syware]

I like a story where everyone has their own agendas even your own best allies. Eventually, V's character becomes rich and has a make a choice about his/her old friends and new friends.

 

[Mat.R]

This is slightly off topic, but hear me out.
Back in the days of the 2020 pen and paper game, there were sourcebooks, one called Night's Edge being the most popular, which introduced rules on how to incorporate vampires, cyber-vampires, lycans/werewolves and vampire hunters into the Cyberpunk world. It also introduced psychic powers and other ways, both natural and supernatural, to make a Cyberpunk game even darker.

Strange as it sounds, it actually worked out pretty well and made for some rather interesting games. Would you be interested in a DLC that brought that into the game, something to change up the base game after you've played it ad nauseam?

World of Darkness classic meets Cyberpunk.