Breakfast Topic: Choose your own adventure
by Jake Evers 
Nov 10th 2011 at 8:00AM
In many games, plot outcomes are affected by choices the player makes throughout the course of the game. This is obviously not the case in WoW -- but what if it were?
Currently there are actually a few decisions for players to make in the game. For instance, a quest in Eastern Plaguelands gives players the option of adding varying amounts of a solution to a plague cauldron, with different results depending on the player's choice. The option to associate with either the Aldor or the Scryers was a key dilemma players faced in The Burning Crusade. Similarly, in Wrath, players had to decide whether they would assist the Oracles or the Frenzyheart tribe, with each faction offering different rewards.
None of these choices influenced the unfolding story, however. So imagine how much more compelling it would be if the decision to support the Oracles or Frenzyheart tribe had some effect on, say, the Icecrown raid. What if the Oracles showed up and played a song on their instruments to paralyze the Lich King for a short time? And what if the Frenzyheart charged in and set traps that made him take more damage when triggered? Raids groups would then need to have at least one player supporting each faction in order to have them both show up.
Which storylines and events would you want to influence if player decisions really mattered? Would you have voted for someone besides Garrosh to become the new Warchief? Would you try to promote peace and cooperation between the Horde and the Alliance? Or would you pledge allegiance to the Old Gods and stymie the efforts made by other players to stop Deathwing and his ilk?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
MattKrotzer Nov 10th 2011 8:11AM
I'd certainly have cleaned up Gnomeregan and ousted Sicco Thermaplugg by now.
Wayne Nov 10th 2011 8:13AM
"Or would you pledge allegiance to the Old Gods and stymie the efforts made by other players to stop Deathwing and his ilk? "
Sorry guys, I honestly don't see the fire...I'm sorry I keep causing us to wipe!
(I think some players already have)
firebreathinggamer Nov 10th 2011 9:43AM
best comment ever.
Revrant Nov 10th 2011 8:21AM
"What if the Oracles showed up and played a song on their instruments to paralyze the Lich King for a short time?"
Okay, sure, that's an idea, but let's you know, go down another path...
And we're going, and we're leaving, and we take a deep breath, and we exhale.
Stellar.
That was mostly for me!
Now as for what could have been done in the vein of permanent story decisions given to the player in the form of forks, I'm not sure how you'd handle it on a server-wide scale, but here's an idea. The idea of two distinct factions with their own stories affecting outcomes elsewhere is nifty, let's just Do It Overpowered and assume players en masse on both sides going one way or the other affected the entire story by way of that section being told.
I'll imagine how the story could be shaped by way of the Frenzyheart, assume for a moment this momentous, if localized, story shift started in Borean Tundra. The players on both sides reach a point where the Frenzyheart are chosen, this opens up the rest of the zone to the expansion of their storyline as it is intertwined with the factions. The Frenzyheart afford players faction status, fun-oriented dailies, rewards, the usual stuff, but more impressively with the help of improved phasing you get to press forward the story of the zone and see it change as you reach pivotal moments therein.
We've already seen just how extensive phasing can be, and impressive, thanks to Cataclysm, so there's no more technical failings to worry about, I think. After choosing this faction and seeing its unique story unfold through the entire zone perhaps the next zone would feature two more factions with their own stories. Dragonblight for instance might feature the Nerubians who seek to push back against the squatters in Azjol-Nerub(Doorward questing area unlocked, hot) and a segment of the Scarlet Crusade that recognizes they are utterly lost in their cause and wish to find their way(Scarlet Redemption!) again. Your choice here would be more important and the story would be even more rewarding, faction stuff included, all of this mounting to the inevitable end of the expansion.
You ask yourself "Well, sure, but what if I want to do the other storyline!" and therein lies the problem, it's that old "Half the content isn't accessible" problem, I'd bet money the developers hate thinking the Horde or Alliance storylines are inaccessible to so many. Further dividing that story would probably hurt it, so perhaps you could go all Nozdormu on that mother and let players "peek" into the alternate timeline for some kind of advancement with the flights or something.
How crazy is all of that! I think that's an Overpowered approach, so whaddya think?
Noyou Nov 10th 2011 8:22AM
I think it would be fricken awesome if they could put in some kind of tracker at the end of an epic quest, and have it play out later on in the expac. Say, you get to choose to support or work against the current faction leader, then buy the majority of peoples choices, put it in a patch or two later. Plus major lore happenings would happen in game, where they should :)
Durinthal Nov 10th 2011 8:29AM
I want a splinter faction of Forsaken to join that would attempt to convert all of the living, Alliance and Horde alike. Yes, we'd be the bad guys.
My dream would be decision paths that affect the future of the server. For example, there was a race to claim the new island in Vashj'ir; I want to have a patch-long struggle for it (maybe something similar to the AQ war effort) where the winning faction gets a town there. Have it scale to the number of players of each faction so the outcome's not obvious for unbalanced servers.
A full-PVP event like the Shard of the Herald assault/defense from Asheron's Call would be more difficult to pull off but also amazing: http://www.ethblue.com/acpaper/page2.htm
Al Nov 10th 2011 9:59PM
So, in other words, you want to play Forsaken?
Durinthal Nov 10th 2011 10:27PM
If I get the option to kill Garrosh and Varian in turn, sure.
Funkysocks Nov 10th 2011 8:31AM
Im picturing it now.
LF1M ICC, must be exalted with frenzyheart!
I'm having a hard time seeing how "heavy choices" could be implemented. Players who play together are bound to have made different choices, and story collisions would look very odd. The lich king example, the oracles suddenly show up and help one of their own, and one of their sworn enemy at the same time.
Choices like this would almost always be derived down to "what gives ME the best rewards". Which kind of isn't a very good way to push a story into the mix.
If i could vote between garrosh, putricide and hogger for warchief. I would pick the guy who gives me the best rewards, if there are no rewards then players will most likely fly by it.
A hard thing to implement indeed
alzeer Nov 10th 2011 8:33AM
i would make my character give heart warming speech in front of deathwing
and plead him to change his mind about destroying the world.
one by one the raid members each will say how they love him and at the end he will start crying and offer his loot table as a gift.
extra : you will fly to Pandaria on his back.
Aro Nov 10th 2011 8:37AM
I would have joined the Defias and overthrown the Stormwind hierarchy.
MattKrotzer Nov 10th 2011 9:15AM
At the time, the Stormwind Hierarchy included Onyxia. How many level 15 bandits would it take to defeat Onyxia?
More than you could bring.
VioletArrows Nov 10th 2011 11:31AM
@MattKrotzer I dunno... I've seen the WHU do some crazy stuff with a crap ton of level 1s.
kulhanek.jeff Nov 10th 2011 8:56AM
Regarding choices in video games I present you with this:
http://www.cracked.com/article/190_5-plot-devices-that-make-good-video-games-suck_p2/
From the article:
Real choices, the kind you get in real life where the consequences completely change the trajectory of every event that follows, will never be practical in video games. It costs enough to program a full-length game that will keep you entertained throughout. They're not going to program the equivalent of 10 or 20 games just to give you a whole bunch of branching paths that 90 percent of gamers will never see since they'll only play through once.
Given WoW has more playability, but an entire expansion would be all about choices and have no other content. People would whine about the lack of content...
Mortenebra Nov 10th 2011 9:01AM
Hahahaha, I remember that article. And it's completely true. Especially with Blizzard's games that are usually very story-driven, it wouldn't fly if there were choices in WoW akin to those in, for example, Knights of the Old Republic. There's a specific story they want to tell. And even in the example of KotOR, they have to differentiate between canon and non-canon. I don't think Blizzard would ever want to go through such a headache of separating out the threads of probabilities in their stories.
Mortenebra Nov 10th 2011 8:56AM
You guys are probably tired of hearing me say this, but... Third faction of mercenaries with no Horde/Alliance allegiances. The only reason we'd not kill each other is a mutual respect and like-mindedness as far as politics are concerned; most likely, it's the fact that we hate politics and just want to save the world, help folks out, that sort of thing.
Had my hunter been able to choose her own adventure during Cata, she would have thrown her Horde tabard at the feet of Garrosh (I'm not so brash-- or rude-- as to throw it in his face) and said, "You are no Warchief of mine." Oddly, I think those are the same words that Vol'jin and Carine uttered to Garrosh as well. As she rode/flew out of Orgrimmar, she'd make her way back to Silvermoon and report the tidings to her beloved Regent Lord. Then, somewhere along the way, a representative of this third "faction" would contact her after watching her actions for some time and offer assistance, fellowship, and support of their colleagues.
... And many adventures and shenanigans ensued. The end! :D
Chetti Nov 10th 2011 9:32AM
Those are kind of the words Vol'jin uses near the end of the troll starting zone before he sends baby trolls on their way to da big city. :) But, I digress.. I often wondered if there could be a neutral faction. With the way that it seems that some races are only allied with their faction because there's no other option, it'd be interesting to see what would happen if there was another option.
Grovinofdarkhour Nov 10th 2011 11:09AM
I'll keep saying it - to go from 6v6 races to 4v4v4, you have to pull two from each current faction. I've looked at pretty much every logical combination, and lorewise, night elves, blood elves, tauren and worgen could be pulled together based on the shared history each other race has with the night elves. It doesn't hurt that the "Reconciliation of the Elves" could be build up as a massive lore event.
Darnassus currently sucks as a "capital" travel-wise (though if you fiddled with the public transit system a little - boats, zeppelins, whatever - it becomes as accessible as anywhere else), but factor in the centralized location and I start leaning toward Thunder Bluff as the theoretical faction capital.
Philster043 Nov 10th 2011 11:28AM
I agree that in your 4v4v4 version, night elves, blood elves, tauren, and worgen would make a certain amount of sense but it'd also be a bit boring. They'd work together too well. There would be no drama.
I think the worgen should stick to the Alliance and the blood elves stay over at the Horde. The worgen are formerly humans. The blood elves have too much invested in their relationships with the Horde and I don't think the night elves would welcome them too much, despite their redemption.
Instead, have the gnomes join the faction (I mean.. WHAT do they really care about the Alliance, anyway? They've always kind of looked out for themselves more than anything. And the third faction needs a shorty race - the Alliance would still have the dwarves, and the Horde goblins). On the other side, have the Darkspear trolls come over. The trolls under Vol'jin would obviously want out of Garrosh's Horde. They'd also want to learn more about druids alongside the races most known for it. And being the ancestors of the Kaldorei, no doubt the night elves will kind of feel a kinship with them.
The only problem I see is this would mean the Horde would be left without a single race that could be druids. Orcs, blood elves, goblins, and forsaken.
Noyou Nov 10th 2011 11:47AM
I have the Night Elves, Worgen, Tauren and Trolls. Basically all the druid classes, joining a Cenarion type faction that would be true neutral. They would be "yellow" to you unless attacked/flagged. Just like neutral mobs. Pandaren would be the X-factor, being able to join all 3 factions. As far as guilds would go, you would still be able to have the neutral faction that used to be on your original side.