Let's talk about the possible story

[Yuli-Ban]

Particularly the main storyline and possible alternative ones, just to get away from the talk of Day vs. Night, sunny vs. rainy, TPP vs FPP, and whatnot.

Since the other thread was closed, I'll just repost it here:

Now that we have proper information on the game, I suppose my only "big" fear is that the game will either avoid natural areas entirely or that there's no opportunity to truly screw up the system. That, or you get to fight for anarchist revolution the whole way through only for the story to stop short right when you're about to or right after you pop the Big Bad, leaving only a lukewarm Occupy-friendly "Fight the Power!" story with no consequences.
If I can't systematically execute all Corps, throw their families into a cyber gulag, and establish Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism, the game's basically unplayable /s

In all seriousness, I do feel that there is an opportunity to tell a unique and meaningful story with what we've been given. There are so many topics at play that it makes your head spin. Like, there's no better excuse for having crowds of homeless vagrants than because machines took all jobs. Why not explore that avenue? Maybe there are some gangs who go around smashing robots. Why has nothing been done to alleviate the underclass's plight? Is it possible that many Corps are sympathetic but are prevented from doing anything due to mob lords and corrupt elites who profit off the disparity? Can you get robots to do your bidding?
If it's 2077, certainly the global climate must be completely, catastrophically out of whack. I can only imagine what the weather would be like and how extreme the anarcho-primitivists have gotten.
If cybernetics are a thing, then certainly some people have not stopped at getting a single cybernetic arm with a neon side-shave and called it a day. Certainly some have taken it so far that they are no longer biological at all. And in a world where artificial intelligence is a thing, isn't that the only way to stay competitive? Or has artificial intelligence been deliberately stunted to prevent it from overthrowing humanity? Isn't there a danger of the Powers That Be using cybernetics to stunt the masses' ability to revolt if we're able to do it to machines while also possessing cybernetics?
Won't there be people who see that I'm not fully biological and immediately call me a demon while there are also self-proclaimed transhumanist bodhisattvas who have created an entire New Wave religion around cybernetic transcendence?
If I genuinely fought for revolution, would I get something going or would the typical happen and I wind up attracting the rich peoples' rebellious kids and a few street urchins while everyone standing around flaming barrels for heat calls me a communist moocher?
CAN I FUCK ROBOTS?

My fear is that we don't get anything other than a paint-by-numbers "find the perp" or milquetoast "fight the power" sort of plot.

Even though I always have the most fun fucking about in the open world exploring places and hoping to find secrets, the story of a game can really add meaning to everything and even make you question real things.
What are you hoping to get out of it? What kind of story do you want to see being told? What sort of side stories do you hope to discover?

Some of my favorite side stories in games are those that not only flesh out the world but bring up uncomfortable-yet-necessary questions. Like there was this one sideplot in Deus Ex: Human Revolution that involved rescuing a prostitute's friend because she didn't want to get augmented, even though that's what the market was overwhelmingly preferring. In real life, we're going to see the same thing but with sexbots. Deus Ex never discussed sexbots because automation doesn't seem to exist in that universe (it's uncanny almost), but I'm assuming there's more of a focus on the effects of automation based on CP2020's lore. Already, in 2018, there have been controversies surrounding sexbot brothels that are opening up in Europe and some parts of the US. That hasn't stopped them at all because we are desperate to fuck our computers. How does this affect the world in '77?


Also, if the world is open, do you think that will mean taking out certain people will affect the rest of the world and affect storytelling?
Could I actually get Meki's ultraviolent anarchist Red Terror going?

Spoiler

Or would you be fine with something that's more paint by the numbers and less politically controversial, a well-worn path of romantic rebellion for its own sake triggered by a sinister corporate conspiracy that climaxes either with a grand takedown of a particular power-hungry elite whose lust for power threatens to literal shatter society as we know it?

 

[BaalNergal]

You are paid by a local gang leader to pull off a series of minor crimes, ending with rescuing a mysterious girl wearing clothing in a very ancient style. You will then have to protect her from mercenaries funded by murder elves from another dimension while raiding various corporations for the materials needed to help her find a safe world. Wacky hijinks ensue.

 

[Yuli-Ban]

You are paid by a local gang leader to pull off a series of minor crimes, ending with rescuing a mysterious girl wearing clothing in a very ancient style. You will then have to protect her from mercenaries funded by murder elves from another dimension while raiding various corporations for the materials needed to help her find a safe world. Wacky hijinks ensue.

Wow, now if that were the story, heads might actually roll in Poland considering the incredible backlash to the fact the trailer showed a bit of a mysterious unknown ball of plasma in the sky.

 

[Metropolice]

From what I gather or assume so far, the game lets you off the hook as relative nobody. You may or may not start with some known contacts, possibly also depending on what "background" you select. I think before people, at least some, me somewhat included, wondered if you'd start as "nobody" (think of TES games where you are set loose as 'prisoner', a relative nobody) or if you select a distinct background or starting point and maybe affiliation from the start, like in some games.

Meaning that, as implied by other statements, you mostly decide where the journey goes from that starting point.
Can't start with or reveal a potential grand plot right away, so it needs good build-up. I mostly hope it doesn't become too "cliché". It's subjective, I know. No clue as to what could specifically happen, not counting power struggles or influence changes between various groups. The "faction politics", I mean.

I mostly hope for a world where you can have different impacts on the big picture and aren't eventually forced into a streamlined plot resolve or end no matter prior choices that may perhaps be limited and only affect a small scale that might be forgotten or so. Ideally, notable changes can be made to the world, but do not have to necessarily.

I also hope there is distinct "faction affiliation" possible, letting you work with / join different factions and maybe have them influence some kind of larger (main) plot from their view or side, instead of just being some kind of vessel or the early or mid-game.

In other words, I imagine picking sides to be something that will likely last throughout the game, influencing things mostly all the time.

I could go on with my ramblings or assumptions, but in the end, time will tell. In perhaps a year, we will know vastly more - at the latest.

 

[moldavia_801]

Also, if the world is open, do you think that will mean taking out certain people will affect the rest of the world and affect storytelling?

This absolutely better happen.
If you fail to protect an important fixer or client, or they get killed in a firefight, you should loose part of the story, if not the ability to finish. Frustrating? Yes, but realistic.

 

[Kuboniusz]

This absolutely better happen.
If you fail to protect an important fixer or client, or they get killed in a firefight, you should loose part of the story, if not the ability to finish. Frustrating? Yes, but realistic.

Inability to finish the game is probably a bit too much but I think killing a certain NPC should most of the time result in i the quest simply failing. Though it would be nice to see Fallout 3’s Megaton kind of approach (in some cases) where even killing the quest giver didn’t cancel the quest

 

[BaalNergal]

From what I gather or assume so far, the game lets you off the hook as relative nobody. You may or may not start with some known contacts, possibly also depending on what "background" you select. I think before people, at least some, me somewhat included, wondered if you'd start as "nobody" (think of TES games where you are set loose as 'prisoner', a relative nobody) or if you select a distinct background or starting point and maybe affiliation from the start, like in some games.

Meaning that, as implied by other statements, you mostly decide where the journey goes from that starting point.
Can't start with or reveal a potential grand plot right away, so it needs good build-up. I mostly hope it doesn't become too "cliché". It's subjective, I know. No clue as to what could specifically happen, not counting power struggles or influence changes between various groups. The "faction politics", I mean.

I mostly hope for a world where you can have different impacts on the big picture and aren't eventually forced into a streamlined plot resolve or end no matter prior choices that may perhaps be limited and only affect a small scale that might be forgotten or so. Ideally, notable changes can be made to the world, but do not have to necessarily.

I also hope there is distinct "faction affiliation" possible, letting you work with / join different factions and maybe have them influence some kind of larger (main) plot from their view or side, instead of just being some kind of vessel or the early or mid-game.

In other words, I imagine picking sides to be something that will likely last throughout the game, influencing things mostly all the time.

I could go on with my ramblings or assumptions, but in the end, time will tell. In perhaps a year, we will know vastly more - at the latest.

I know Oblivion suggests that your character literally did not exist prior to you making them. It comes up when you ask about why you are in the cell.

Perhaps an induced amnesia version of that?

 

[Metropolice]

Perhaps an induced amnesia version of that?

After reading another article referring to the gameplay journalists could see during E3, it seems unlikely in my eyes.

It is mentioned that the game will allow you to select a "background" during character creation. I'm thinking more along the lines of Dragon Age 1 now, where you can select different backgrounds during creation and / or depending on race. Then you play some kind of "prologue" that has effects in parts of the later game here and there.

It seems apparent CP2077 will go that route. Whether you'll be able to play through some kind of prologue depending on your background is uncertain or wasn't really mentioned or ruled out, however.

So either you select some particular background where you might be known or did specific things and then play through a bit of that unique background and then end up in the city, or it will simply be a "paper option" meaning you end up in the city right away with your background set, triggering various options or responses later on. I'm guessing backgrounds will be numerous, at least 3 to 6, maybe more, and some indicate some struggles in prior life or particular skills while not being known to something akin to a known merc, rockstar, hacker / netrunner, assassin, maybe cop (corporate or state).

It's kind of wild to realize that the game is ideally a year away (based on some news from March, I think) or closer to release. "Just" one year, back when the future of the game was uncertain 2013 and onwards when all we had was the trailer.

I'm mostly happy if I get the following:

• Ability to tailor a character at the start visually, via stats and at least rough or loose background (pretty much confirmed)
• A dystopian, cyberpunky world that feels like one, with various districts (pretty much given)
• Simulated city life, beyond the artificial (lack of) persistence you see in GTA games where you could clear a street of people at night, drive around the block and have them respawn just because you went around two to three corners within not even a minute (heavily hinted at or likely)
• The ability to at the very least closely work with, but ideally formally or quasi join different factions
• Specifically, I look for the ability to join police-like groups, corporate or state or city-based
• A (main) story that is interesting and draws you in, while ideally considering or integrating specific faction choices and maybe offering multiple 'endings'
• Perhaps some kind of open - end after conclusion of some big plot, maybe with changes to the political or real landscape of the city

It's one of the few games I am very eager or, in "newspeak", very hyped about simply due to setting and design. I never played the Witcher games but they got good credit and so far what I heard, it doesn't seem this one will disappoint. DLCs and potential modding will even open up even more possibilities, I think (inb4 zombie apocalypse simulator).

I'll at the very least smirk heavily if one of the DLCs will actually involve zombies or some virus, and I don't mean some computer virus. It might seem unlikely so far and I'm not sure if this was ever covered in CP2020 and so on. Perhaps it might not exactly fit into the setting according to many.

But it would still be fun to see, I mean - some kind of zombie apocalypse that starts and grows, afflicting the city over time. Hey, that's also one kind of a (sub-)story, I guess! Maybe modders can make it possible if the devs refrain from covering this later on.

It reminds me of a crazy mod from TES IV: Oblivion. Some modder or team of modders actually made a mod that simulated a zombie outbreak. You could pick from various scenarios, e.g. "Patient Zero" and it would at least loosely calculate the spread based on point of origin, climate, and so on. In addition, news papers placed all over would update you on what was going on, from first sightings to whole cities falling. When the number of zombies would cross some pre-defined number in cities, the particular city would change visually, with fires, broken areas and barricades.

Prior CP2077 interviews or statements heavily indicate or confirm that area damage will be a thing. So that's something modders could already utilize if it comes "by default".

Okay, enough text for now.

TL;DR: Pick a background, do not necessarily start as "nobody".

 

[moldavia_801]

But it would still be fun to see, I mean - some kind of zombie apocalypse that starts and grows, afflicting the city over time. Hey, that's also one kind of a (sub-)story, I guess! Maybe modders can make it possible if the devs refrain from covering this later on.


TL;DR: Pick a background, do not necessarily start as "nobody".

Please, no more zombie games.. It's been done enough. The only way I would accept a "zombie" mod, is if it's a bunch of cyberpsychos.

Backstory isn't such a big issue. In 2020 you rolled for your lifepath to give you some backstory. I imagine it might have a lot of the same.

 

[boazbuk]

Some side quests first :
I want a serial killer side quest (long one, where he kills several times until i get enough clues to track him) where when i go after him and get clues to where he is and that stuff i find out he knows who i am , he then starts tracking ME! i get messages at my apartment and mails and whatever , if i continue to track him he goes ahead and kills one of my fav NPC , then of course i find him and take his f****k head off.
I want someone to kidnap me and put me in a jail cell , once i get out I unleash hell on him and his keen or corp or whatever - this is where you let me go crazy killing entire floor of office ppl of that corp that tried to imprison ME!
Main quest :
Mega corp is doing nasty things and have this goal of enslaving everyone we know by using their aug`s , this i find out after several random ppl are going on killing sprees , somehow it relates to me cuz one of them is killing someone i care about ?
In any case i try to take down this corp by either going up the ranks in it until i am high enough to exact my vengence from the inside going fight club and bombing the entire mega building , or i go with some kind of rebel group and chip away at them in all kind of areas , executing their leaders , hurting their corp things and so forth until of course i blow them to hell as well.
In the first Arch i will be doing some bad things to ppl as i go up the ladder as i will need to prove my self , so i will have a lot of bad things to do to the good ppl and will see the world from that POV.
If i go the other way i will be in the "simple man" camp and try to bring down the mega corp.

 

[Sunder]

I certainly hope one particular chain of quests lets us explore the theme of cyberpsychosis and rehabilitation from such. I'd love it if it could be tied into the main character's progression through the game as well, depending on the amount of cyberware you implant in V. After all, that's what the teaser trailer was about, wasn't it? Cyberpsycho on the loose, capture and containment and eventual rehabilitation.

 

[moldavia_801]

I certainly hope one particular chain of quests lets us explore the theme of cyberpsychosis and rehabilitation from such. I'd love it if it could be tied into the main character's progression through the game as well, depending on the amount of cyberware you implant in V. After all, that's what the teaser trailer was about, wasn't it? Cyberpsycho on the loose, capture and containment and eventual rehabilitation.

I hope the DLC or a follow up game allows you to play as a cop on the PhychoSquad.
Speaking of, I am seriously hoping this game does so well, that it spawns a franchise of CP games. First of which would be a persistent multiplayer Night City.

 

[BaalNergal]

After reading another article referring to the gameplay journalists could see during E3, it seems unlikely in my eyes.

It is mentioned that the game will allow you to select a "background" during character creation. I'm thinking more along the lines of Dragon Age 1 now, where you can select different backgrounds during creation and / or depending on race. Then you play some kind of "prologue" that has effects in parts of the later game here and there.

It seems apparent CP2077 will go that route. Whether you'll be able to play through some kind of prologue depending on your background is uncertain or wasn't really mentioned or ruled out, however.

So either you select some particular background where you might be known or did specific things and then play through a bit of that unique background and then end up in the city, or it will simply be a "paper option" meaning you end up in the city right away with your background set, triggering various options or responses later on. I'm guessing backgrounds will be numerous, at least 3 to 6, maybe more, and some indicate some struggles in prior life or particular skills while not being known to something akin to a known merc, rockstar, hacker / netrunner, assassin, maybe cop (corporate or state).

It's kind of wild to realize that the game is ideally a year away (based on some news from March, I think) or closer to release. "Just" one year, back when the future of the game was uncertain 2013 and onwards when all we had was the trailer.

I'm mostly happy if I get the following:

• Ability to tailor a character at the start visually, via stats and at least rough or loose background (pretty much confirmed)
• A dystopian, cyberpunky world that feels like one, with various districts (pretty much given)
• Simulated city life, beyond the artificial (lack of) persistence you see in GTA games where you could clear a street of people at night, drive around the block and have them respawn just because you went around two to three corners within not even a minute (heavily hinted at or likely)
• The ability to at the very least closely work with, but ideally formally or quasi join different factions
• Specifically, I look for the ability to join police-like groups, corporate or state or city-based
• A (main) story that is interesting and draws you in, while ideally considering or integrating specific faction choices and maybe offering multiple 'endings'
• Perhaps some kind of open - end after conclusion of some big plot, maybe with changes to the political or real landscape of the city

It's one of the few games I am very eager or, in "newspeak", very hyped about simply due to setting and design. I never played the Witcher games but they got good credit and so far what I heard, it doesn't seem this one will disappoint. DLCs and potential modding will even open up even more possibilities, I think (inb4 zombie apocalypse simulator).

I'll at the very least smirk heavily if one of the DLCs will actually involve zombies or some virus, and I don't mean some computer virus. It might seem unlikely so far and I'm not sure if this was ever covered in CP2020 and so on. Perhaps it might not exactly fit into the setting according to many.

But it would still be fun to see, I mean - some kind of zombie apocalypse that starts and grows, afflicting the city over time. Hey, that's also one kind of a (sub-)story, I guess! Maybe modders can make it possible if the devs refrain from covering this later on.

It reminds me of a crazy mod from TES IV: Oblivion. Some modder or team of modders actually made a mod that simulated a zombie outbreak. You could pick from various scenarios, e.g. "Patient Zero" and it would at least loosely calculate the spread based on point of origin, climate, and so on. In addition, news papers placed all over would update you on what was going on, from first sightings to whole cities falling. When the number of zombies would cross some pre-defined number in cities, the particular city would change visually, with fires, broken areas and barricades.

Prior CP2077 interviews or statements heavily indicate or confirm that area damage will be a thing. So that's something modders could already utilize if it comes "by default".

Okay, enough text for now.

TL;DR: Pick a background, do not necessarily start as "nobody".

Honestly, I love this version. It would be perfect.

 

[delverion]

I certainly hope one particular chain of quests lets us explore the theme of cyberpsychosis and rehabilitation from such. I'd love it if it could be tied into the main character's progression through the game as well, depending on the amount of cyberware you implant in V. After all, that's what the teaser trailer was about, wasn't it? Cyberpsycho on the loose, capture and containment and eventual rehabilitation.

Cool thought. (Also the cop idea someone else said was interesting). I want a complete story with a satisfying ending and then maybe a DLC with a different protagonist(a different role in society).

 

[Sunder]

I hope the DLC or a follow up game allows you to play as a cop on the PhychoSquad.

That would be too limiting, IMO. Don't misunderstand, I want to play as part of the PsychoSquad myself (have us start bordering cyberpsychosis, getting captured and then becoming part of PS), especially since the game is going from first person perspective and this would be one way to live out my cyberpunk SWAT 4 dream game. But other people would definitely want DLC/expansions focused on something else entirely - someone might want Techie-focused, others would go Corporate and so on. If CDPR could actually pull it off though, I'd love nothing better, but despite their best intentions and efforts, they can only do so much.

 

[GW84]

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.

Besides that are plenty of questions that can be explored, even if they might sound a bit unoriginal at first. Take robotics and cybernetics. Do they add or diminish humanity. Still remember the character Racter from the excellent Shadowrun Hong Kong. A transhumanist with a deep conviction his research would advance humanity, but also a high functioning sociopath with a philosophy that was equal measure fascinating and horrifying.

 

[Sunder]

Personally I think the 'fight the power' theme will be an important part of the game (as it is almost mandatory in cyberpunk games

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.

 

[delverion]

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.

+++

 

[GW84]

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.

Didn't mean to suggest a story about you taking down an entire corporation, which is indeed too big and powerful. Just taking down a particulatrly nasty branch or employee for a reason of your choosing.

 

[atomowyturysta]

I hope for a complex story with intertwined subplots and side stories that in many cases can go full circle and bite in the ass. With complex, three dimentional characters, with bad guys turning out good and good guys turning up shitty and bad guys staying bad guys and good guys staying good guys. With interdepandancies, multilayer alliances, treachery and loyalty going side by side. With dificult choices but also easy ones. Corporations vs Corporations vs Gvmt vs gangs vs Street vs Individual. And, as it is CDPR, I'm possitive I'm getting that.