So I've done a thread about Street Cred Classes and talked about Cyberpsychosis and Humanity in another, now I think I want to talk about BDs and Perception. Some of this spills with the SC Classes, but not required reading. As before, not entirely complete and not directed for 2077, but maybe its sequel. I know my suggestions might sound like feature creep, but again, I like opening new discussions on gameplay and story, plus I'm hoping at least one idea might stick on the wall and is implemented in some way. Would improve the future experience of the series. Long write-up as usual.
ISSUE: BDs SEQUENCES SUCK
So I'm not a big fan of the BD sequences, it kind of just interrupts gameplay with some boring point and clicking that feels pretty lackluster in terms of storytelling. Don't think most people would disagree with what I've said so far, but maybe there is a way to improve on it somehow that is satisfying and promotes a new way of playing the (next) game, as there is some potential in it.
SOLUTION: BDs AS MEDIA-/INVESTIGATION-BASED GAMEPLAY
So the primary point of the BD sequences in the current game is to find clues and figure out the story, and that should still be the primary point of them. After all, you can't get much better than getting direct video and audio from the POV of a victim/killer/bystander in a mystery. Plus, I kinda liked Witcher's system of starting an investigation before getting to the action of killing a monster. Something felt nice about having to figure what's the best way of taking out the creature before fighting it. Creates a bit more commitment and story in these missions.
So what I suggest is using BDs more directly in gigs, either as optional content or an alternative way to discover a solution and finish the mission. In terms of optional content, it could satisfy investigative/story-oriented players that want to discover little stories that occur around NC that would be an improvement to the current approach (i.e. couple shards here and there about some no names) and might identify some hidden stashes that the players can discover as extra reward. This could be tied to a side storyline with Danger Girl, or at least some parties interested in the content of the BDs. For example, Danger Girl (an investigation company run by Saburo's granddaughter) posts a job for the perceptive Solo looking for some EDs, offering reward for finding evidence and the story behind the problem. The player finds the BD of the victim having been gruesomely slaughtered by some cyberpsycho. However, a local XBD artist offers a higher reward for returning the BD to him. Gives the player a chance to make some moral choices and maybe you could vary the types of reward based who's offering for the BD. Moreover, your choices in who to turn the BD could influence some background chatter (e.g. give it to Danger Girl and get a special bulletin report on the news about the high profile case, maybe extra details about the victim OR give it to the XBD Artist and get advertisements on the XBD and maybe a chance to watch it yourself again).
In terms of an alternative solution, it would be interesting to be able to find BDs that might be able to influence persuasion checks/choices in main missions. Say a main mission requires you to talk to an Arasaka Corpo and "persuade" them to give you some special equipment. You could do it forcefully, stealth it, or with diplomacy (i.e. blackmail). Let's do it "diplomatically". Player gets intel (maybe as a reward for helping Danger Girl) that the corpo was involved in some recent murder. You go to the crime scene and gather the BD from the victim (avoiding NCPD), and can use it as a diplomatic advantage over the Arasaka corpo. Now your investigative skills are rewarded two-fold and BDs have a place in story and gameplay.
DETAILS: BD GAMEPLAY AND PERCEPTION AS INTELLIGENCE SKILL
So core BD gameplay would still be the same as the current game (i.e. scan around the BD for details and clues), but with some modifications. For example, the introduction of a Perception intelligence tree. Perception would be not solely tied to BD sequences (i.e. tree related to critical hits/timed parries environmental damage bonuses, extra loot from containers, etc.) but I'll limit it to BDs for now. In terms of BDs, perception could gate being able to identify certain especially hidden clues about the scene, maybe even leading to a true conclusion of the mystery (e.g. victim of cyberpsycho attack had been actually diluting their suppressants). However, maybe this seems unfair for characters that don't want to put too many points in a skill that influences a relatively minor point of gameplay. Which is fine and reasonable. Each skill could be tied directly to a BD gameplay skill and a secondary skill, so there is some usefulness outside of BD sequences.
Alternatively, maybe perception could also shortcut clues that would require extra investigation had you not invested points in perception. Say during the Arasaka corpo encounter, the BD in question does not actually involve the corpo in the murder but instead a hitman, and requires the player to somehow connect the hitman to the corpo. A perception-invested player might have a clue be able to pop up (if they look in the right places) that identifies the hitman during the BD (e.g. corpo business card left on the table/in the hitman's pocket, idk). A player who did not invest in perception might instead need to find some extra documents at the police investigation, requiring additional risk of being seen by NCPD (e.g. documents that suggest it was some kind of hit instead of a random murder). Both options focus on some kind of investigative ability, but one rewards with an easier time at it. Not a perfect system, but something. Again, players could still complete this mission the more direct ways, but this pathway offers a bit more story and puzzles for people who want it, while making BDs more useful.
BDs could also become more minigame-like, maybe if there was some score for discovering enough/all the clues for the investigation under a certain time limit for an additional bonus. Maybe give the player an option to splice BDs together if they find multiple BDs within the same crime scene in order to find clues from multiple angles in order to improve their score (e.g. cyberpsycho BD and victim BD). This aspect is definitely more of an optional suggestion, as I don't think it really makes sense and investigation gameplay with time limits are more stressful than fun. But people like numbers for some reason.
Final note: a Media-based SCC class. Maybe one of the reasons your character is so famous is their ability to investigate and solve crimes and mysteries, like some sort of Terminator Sherlock Holmes. Maybe SC Media skills could be connected with your ability to persuade your way into a crime scene (i.e. can investigate directly into NCPD crime scenes without having to lurk around), or have a better eye during the BD sequences (i.e. most visible clues). Maybe your player is rewarded better by XBD artists, Danger Girl, or even NCPD based on the type of perks you choose (e.g. get additional "royalties" from XBD artists, better gear from NCPD, more initial eddies from Danger Girl). I'm not attached to making this a full class (maybe fixer sub-type) but it would basically benefit a gameplay style that is more investigative and maybe wants to find some "peaceful" solutions for pacifist gameplay.
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Long post, I know, but again discussion is better when people know exactly what to criticize when offering a new suggestion. Again, not a suggestion for the current game but for the next, and not completely fleshed out. AND especially not something I would see actually happening in the next game either, as it would be hard to implement, but maybe just a thought at least for more diplomatic gameplay that might be fun.
ISSUE: BDs SEQUENCES SUCK
So I'm not a big fan of the BD sequences, it kind of just interrupts gameplay with some boring point and clicking that feels pretty lackluster in terms of storytelling. Don't think most people would disagree with what I've said so far, but maybe there is a way to improve on it somehow that is satisfying and promotes a new way of playing the (next) game, as there is some potential in it.
SOLUTION: BDs AS MEDIA-/INVESTIGATION-BASED GAMEPLAY
So the primary point of the BD sequences in the current game is to find clues and figure out the story, and that should still be the primary point of them. After all, you can't get much better than getting direct video and audio from the POV of a victim/killer/bystander in a mystery. Plus, I kinda liked Witcher's system of starting an investigation before getting to the action of killing a monster. Something felt nice about having to figure what's the best way of taking out the creature before fighting it. Creates a bit more commitment and story in these missions.
So what I suggest is using BDs more directly in gigs, either as optional content or an alternative way to discover a solution and finish the mission. In terms of optional content, it could satisfy investigative/story-oriented players that want to discover little stories that occur around NC that would be an improvement to the current approach (i.e. couple shards here and there about some no names) and might identify some hidden stashes that the players can discover as extra reward. This could be tied to a side storyline with Danger Girl, or at least some parties interested in the content of the BDs. For example, Danger Girl (an investigation company run by Saburo's granddaughter) posts a job for the perceptive Solo looking for some EDs, offering reward for finding evidence and the story behind the problem. The player finds the BD of the victim having been gruesomely slaughtered by some cyberpsycho. However, a local XBD artist offers a higher reward for returning the BD to him. Gives the player a chance to make some moral choices and maybe you could vary the types of reward based who's offering for the BD. Moreover, your choices in who to turn the BD could influence some background chatter (e.g. give it to Danger Girl and get a special bulletin report on the news about the high profile case, maybe extra details about the victim OR give it to the XBD Artist and get advertisements on the XBD and maybe a chance to watch it yourself again).
In terms of an alternative solution, it would be interesting to be able to find BDs that might be able to influence persuasion checks/choices in main missions. Say a main mission requires you to talk to an Arasaka Corpo and "persuade" them to give you some special equipment. You could do it forcefully, stealth it, or with diplomacy (i.e. blackmail). Let's do it "diplomatically". Player gets intel (maybe as a reward for helping Danger Girl) that the corpo was involved in some recent murder. You go to the crime scene and gather the BD from the victim (avoiding NCPD), and can use it as a diplomatic advantage over the Arasaka corpo. Now your investigative skills are rewarded two-fold and BDs have a place in story and gameplay.
DETAILS: BD GAMEPLAY AND PERCEPTION AS INTELLIGENCE SKILL
So core BD gameplay would still be the same as the current game (i.e. scan around the BD for details and clues), but with some modifications. For example, the introduction of a Perception intelligence tree. Perception would be not solely tied to BD sequences (i.e. tree related to critical hits/timed parries environmental damage bonuses, extra loot from containers, etc.) but I'll limit it to BDs for now. In terms of BDs, perception could gate being able to identify certain especially hidden clues about the scene, maybe even leading to a true conclusion of the mystery (e.g. victim of cyberpsycho attack had been actually diluting their suppressants). However, maybe this seems unfair for characters that don't want to put too many points in a skill that influences a relatively minor point of gameplay. Which is fine and reasonable. Each skill could be tied directly to a BD gameplay skill and a secondary skill, so there is some usefulness outside of BD sequences.
Alternatively, maybe perception could also shortcut clues that would require extra investigation had you not invested points in perception. Say during the Arasaka corpo encounter, the BD in question does not actually involve the corpo in the murder but instead a hitman, and requires the player to somehow connect the hitman to the corpo. A perception-invested player might have a clue be able to pop up (if they look in the right places) that identifies the hitman during the BD (e.g. corpo business card left on the table/in the hitman's pocket, idk). A player who did not invest in perception might instead need to find some extra documents at the police investigation, requiring additional risk of being seen by NCPD (e.g. documents that suggest it was some kind of hit instead of a random murder). Both options focus on some kind of investigative ability, but one rewards with an easier time at it. Not a perfect system, but something. Again, players could still complete this mission the more direct ways, but this pathway offers a bit more story and puzzles for people who want it, while making BDs more useful.
BDs could also become more minigame-like, maybe if there was some score for discovering enough/all the clues for the investigation under a certain time limit for an additional bonus. Maybe give the player an option to splice BDs together if they find multiple BDs within the same crime scene in order to find clues from multiple angles in order to improve their score (e.g. cyberpsycho BD and victim BD). This aspect is definitely more of an optional suggestion, as I don't think it really makes sense and investigation gameplay with time limits are more stressful than fun. But people like numbers for some reason.
Final note: a Media-based SCC class. Maybe one of the reasons your character is so famous is their ability to investigate and solve crimes and mysteries, like some sort of Terminator Sherlock Holmes. Maybe SC Media skills could be connected with your ability to persuade your way into a crime scene (i.e. can investigate directly into NCPD crime scenes without having to lurk around), or have a better eye during the BD sequences (i.e. most visible clues). Maybe your player is rewarded better by XBD artists, Danger Girl, or even NCPD based on the type of perks you choose (e.g. get additional "royalties" from XBD artists, better gear from NCPD, more initial eddies from Danger Girl). I'm not attached to making this a full class (maybe fixer sub-type) but it would basically benefit a gameplay style that is more investigative and maybe wants to find some "peaceful" solutions for pacifist gameplay.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Long post, I know, but again discussion is better when people know exactly what to criticize when offering a new suggestion. Again, not a suggestion for the current game but for the next, and not completely fleshed out. AND especially not something I would see actually happening in the next game either, as it would be hard to implement, but maybe just a thought at least for more diplomatic gameplay that might be fun.
