This is more of a thread poking for some developer response, but maybe there’s information floating out there in the Immaterium that a Psyker can pluck out for me. How is Darktide going to handle it’s story and world progression over the course of the game’s lifespan?
I’ll be blunt: My opinion is the story presented to us during our character progression is as thick as single-ply toilet paper and does not serve to really pull us into the world or its characters. There is no narrative that is deeper than surface-level as we go from 1-30 with a payoff to match.
-BUT- Darktide has a lot of things going for it that can elevate what I’m hoping for in the future. The game has great atmosphere, some notable characters, and an enormous hive city where we can see the progression of deeper narratives, with potential for events that can shape the course of the war for Tertium.
In my mind, here is what I would love to see in Darktide; an evolving narrative that drops every 3-6 months with smaller limited-time events that players can participate in to whet their appetite. If you are looking for an example, reference Rare’s Sea of Thieves and their content cadence. This provides opportunities abound for more stories, NPC development, introduction of new characters, game mechanics, etc. I also see a separate terminal where we can choose from narrative missions if players want to focus on story arcs and not have it mixed in with the random pool.
I understand I may be shooting in the dark here, (my lasgun doesn’t have a tactical flashlight) but I would like to see conversation or developer commentary on what they are planning and where they plan to go. Cheers!
TL;DR: We need better story to really utilize the 40K atmosphere FS has set up. Thoughts?
They did mention that they were going with ‘episodic storytelling’, so we’re going to be drip fed whatever story they had over the next year or so with tiny bits here and there.
The problem that I personally have with this is that this storytelling type has stories that is just… lost. FOMO is alive and well in this, and when events are over that chunk is going to be just gone for players. We start having the issue that Destiny 2 has, where new players are absolutely lost because they missed so much stuff, returning players are lost because they didn’t hit the events, and players can’t revisit their favorite moments in game because they’re just gone.
Any storytelling that requires us to use outside sources to get the complete story (Youtube) is a failure of storytelling IMO.
Thank you for clarifying the ‘episodic storytelling’ bit. At least I have a better idea now of the intent.
I agree that FOMO is definitely an element. This could be allayed somewhat with a separate terminal where you (or a team) can play past narrative missions to learn more on what’s happened or catch up. They can even be presented in such a way as they mimic VT2 (Acts 1,2,3, etc). I hate to see unique moments in gaming being lost to vaulting, even if some time-sensitive rewards are no longer there. Granted, if you drop into the middle of the current arc you may not be able to access everything until the next arc starts to get the full picture, but that’s part of the cons of live service games, IMO.
TBH I’m not expecting much. Heck, I missed what would’ve been my favorite moment in Destiny 2 if I played the game during that time (the rescue of Saint-14), and only caught it from Youtube videos.
Even with a terminal that we could replay highlights, the problem is that the terminal isn’t going to (by design) catch everything so that FOMO is still there pressuring us. The problem is the ‘missing out’ part that seems to be a core design feature of DT means just that, missing out. There’s going to be moments that unless we obsess over the game we’re just not going to see. They’re not going to archive everything, because that’s a lot of work for no monetization.
I think they should have the maps evolve and continue to grow nurgle rot until players complete a specific map(modifier).
Have a community event where the entire community needs to complete 10000 missions of the same map in a weekend or kill 1 billion poxwalkers. (random numbers but you get the idea)
This would allow us to feel like we are fighting back the tide, as a community. It would immerse us in the scope of it all. this isn’t 4 people doing all this but thousands of penal solider fighting and dying for the cause.
True, the game needs to be profitable. The items/sets that are introduced during a story arc would likely be added into the cash shop rotation. It would be a shame though if those were the ONLY things preserved.
I’m going to flirt with being Devil’s Advocate here and say that an element of FOMO is a good thing. The developer wants people to actively play their game, and limited-time content with a unique reward or two is a way to bring players in. So how about if a balance was struck? The overall major story arc is preserved and archived for play, while the smaller time-sensitive events are ended and done for good. In a way, it’s a reward for active players and serves as an enticement to draw in new players, assuming the content is good and serves to flesh out the game as a whole.
I realize maintaining and growing a game is a balancing act, and as a player my perspective is limited. I want the developer to succeed in their goals as a business and the players in theirs by enjoying the content and time spent in the game. We can assume we won’t get everything we want, but I certainly want to see the scales tip in favor of adding more meaty storytelling. And you can do SO MUCH with the setting. Heck, there are already voice lines talking about specific notable characters that beg for more details, and it will be a shame if they don’t deliver. I believe it will only serve to boost the game’s longevity.
That’s a neat idea. A map might have a corruption gauge with stages that show more plague growth with progressively higher stages. Enemies could get new modifiers, perhaps? I’m not sure how that would tie into character stories, but it would definitely fit into the overall story arc of Tertium.
Absolutely. I wonder if they will introduce community goals (similar to the weeklies from Sire Melk) that are tied to seasons. It would be interesting to see what they come up with. Watch them ask for us to slay 1 million Daemonhosts on Malice difficulty or higher. XD
The map will visually change, and rot infested areas will block pathways and other routes. It could change the whole idea of a mission where instead of scanning pathogens, we are burning filth purging the rot with holy fire!
I Hope FS evolves the current missions to have some more unique aspects. Instead of going from A-B we hold and fight against waves. In any event, Im exciting for the potential this game has.
Nah, I’m not a fan of FOMO in general, much less in the actual storytelling. FOMO just make me realize that the devs don’t have confidence in whatever has it.
What you describe as a compromise is what Destiny 2 had before vaulting, and it absolutely left moments like Saint-14’s rescue as a ‘smaller moment’, despite having him absolutely go off about the Fallen as a character defining moment (which tbf they completely ignored in later instances).
The ability to not have parts of your story in your story is just… bad storytelling.
Content for this kind of game is usually static; once a feature/item is done they move on to the next item in the pipeline and leave the thing they just finished until it breaks/needs an update so badly they can’t ignore it anymore.
I think it’s healthier to keep an open mind, and not build the best version of the game in your mind before you experience it in reality.
Those are just static models/shader changes that can be thrown together with minimal effort, like the the “lights out” condition in-game right now. Well, all the current conditions in game are kind of minimal-effort tweaks at the moment.
I agree that we should keep an open mind, and definitely avoid raising expectations too high. I also believe we should make our desires known so the devs have visibility (hence the conversation). For my part, I want to see more focus on stories and character development. It’s easy to get derailed on how the game should be managed, features, checks/balances, and so on, but in the end I will be more likely to play the game seeing Tertium become a bit more immersive.