Hello everyone,
I'd like to share some ideas I had and see if people agree. Maybe we're lucky and some game designer from CDPR will read and get inspired?
1) I was thinking about the "classic quest system" we are used to in practically all RPGs: when an NPC offers you a quest, you don't even think about accepting it or not, because you know you will get a "positive reward" (exp., loot, money...). We don't take any risk when accepting, worst case scenario we will get some exp. and level up. Why don't we have some quests where you get also some "negative reward" when completed? Why can't we have an (secondary) NPC dead because we accepted the quest, or a loss of in-game money with no chanche to recover it? It would be great to start a quest and after is completed you realize you fucked up; next time you'll think twice before accepting another quest. I want this kind of thrill when taking a decision and not the "oh, well, I'll still get a level 35 rare rifle and 1000 exp" feeling. I made sooooo many bad decisions I regretted in my life, but not even 1 in videogames.
2) I know, people won't like this: exp. and leveling up. In the witcher 3 (game I LOVED) you are playing as Geralt, master witcher, who is at level 3 and is completely smashed by a random level 9 wolf because he cannot wear a level 12 armor he found in a chest. What's the meaning of that? I thought I was a professional monster-slayer, not a stupid guy who has an sword in his hand and says "well, it's waaaay too powerful for me, I'll keep it in my bag for the future". This kind of things destroy the immersivity, and we know how immersive the developers want cyberpunk to be (first-person vs third-person fight, anyone?). Now, I understand that classic RPGs have always had this system, I understand that it's a "cheap" way to make the player feel rewarded and improved while palying, but would it be that bad to change this kind of system? Why can't you just give the player a better gear without assigning a level to it? Why can't I wear a level 7 jacket? I found it, I can use it. Ok, in cyberpunk this could be justified somehow (on the contrary to the witcher series), but do we really need it? If I were good enough to find a weapon before I was supposed to find it, why should I be punished by the game? Just make it harder to find, decrease the loot or make it very expensive to buy with in-game credits, don't make it impossible to use by numbers.
And again, why do I have to gain exp. when completing a mission? Just give me credits and I'll buy a better gear/mod and get stronger through that. I don't need to unlock a perk to increase my damage with guns by 15%, I can just buy a better gun or install a mod for higher precision! It's an action-RPG, not a turn-base RPG, we can beat the game through skills, not just math. On the contrary, I love the idea of getting exp when using guns, or some skills and stuff like that (e.g. like in Skyrim). For example, I will reload my gun faster after I reloaded guns 1000 times, but no need to make it unlockable via exp.
(this to me was the only real flaw of the witcher 3, together with the day-one-bugs)
And what do you guys think? Do you like these thoughts? Do you have anything to add?
I'd like to share some ideas I had and see if people agree. Maybe we're lucky and some game designer from CDPR will read and get inspired?
1) I was thinking about the "classic quest system" we are used to in practically all RPGs: when an NPC offers you a quest, you don't even think about accepting it or not, because you know you will get a "positive reward" (exp., loot, money...). We don't take any risk when accepting, worst case scenario we will get some exp. and level up. Why don't we have some quests where you get also some "negative reward" when completed? Why can't we have an (secondary) NPC dead because we accepted the quest, or a loss of in-game money with no chanche to recover it? It would be great to start a quest and after is completed you realize you fucked up; next time you'll think twice before accepting another quest. I want this kind of thrill when taking a decision and not the "oh, well, I'll still get a level 35 rare rifle and 1000 exp" feeling. I made sooooo many bad decisions I regretted in my life, but not even 1 in videogames.
2) I know, people won't like this: exp. and leveling up. In the witcher 3 (game I LOVED) you are playing as Geralt, master witcher, who is at level 3 and is completely smashed by a random level 9 wolf because he cannot wear a level 12 armor he found in a chest. What's the meaning of that? I thought I was a professional monster-slayer, not a stupid guy who has an sword in his hand and says "well, it's waaaay too powerful for me, I'll keep it in my bag for the future". This kind of things destroy the immersivity, and we know how immersive the developers want cyberpunk to be (first-person vs third-person fight, anyone?). Now, I understand that classic RPGs have always had this system, I understand that it's a "cheap" way to make the player feel rewarded and improved while palying, but would it be that bad to change this kind of system? Why can't you just give the player a better gear without assigning a level to it? Why can't I wear a level 7 jacket? I found it, I can use it. Ok, in cyberpunk this could be justified somehow (on the contrary to the witcher series), but do we really need it? If I were good enough to find a weapon before I was supposed to find it, why should I be punished by the game? Just make it harder to find, decrease the loot or make it very expensive to buy with in-game credits, don't make it impossible to use by numbers.
And again, why do I have to gain exp. when completing a mission? Just give me credits and I'll buy a better gear/mod and get stronger through that. I don't need to unlock a perk to increase my damage with guns by 15%, I can just buy a better gun or install a mod for higher precision! It's an action-RPG, not a turn-base RPG, we can beat the game through skills, not just math. On the contrary, I love the idea of getting exp when using guns, or some skills and stuff like that (e.g. like in Skyrim). For example, I will reload my gun faster after I reloaded guns 1000 times, but no need to make it unlockable via exp.
(this to me was the only real flaw of the witcher 3, together with the day-one-bugs)
And what do you guys think? Do you like these thoughts? Do you have anything to add?