[dev1141] Monstrosity (Play-as-a-Monster)

i had a dream that they did this right, it was a very... moist dream... auto-attack based on enmity, "charged" based TP moves to avoid the obvious, and then they ninja'd in real PvP and everyone had a war in rolanberry fields [S] on the walls to jeuno... i'm going back to sleep

I'm at a toss up on this subject...

It would be cool to roam around as a monster, being on the other side of the battle. make it more challenging to the players. (AI can be predictable most of the time.) and be able to lvl up also.

Downside... getting bothered by some annoying rabbit while i fish out in west ronnie. doing quests or Chocobo Hot n' Cold Game, harvesting, mining... along with other hobbies that is done outdoors.

I'm not a big fan of PvP unless its consensual. thats why i picked FFXI to play instead of some other MMOs.

All those BSTs and Dancers that think they can solo me. Well not anymore! I'm a smart NM now!

I'm gonna be a soulflayer. Finally. After all these years.

And Healing Breath DRGs. We'd attack their wyvern first.

what do you think, when will they release this? I guess it wont be this year, maybe firstt update in early 2013?

they should update the roadmap, with the current roadmap the monster thing would release 2012, but that wont happen, most other things on the road map should be ready in the next update
http://dl.square-enix.co.jp/ffxi/US/2012roadmap.jpg

this will be interesting. I suggested this in 2009. I wonder if its my idea being implemented.
It was a long system im just going to copy the bits that matter.



"- Create a new instanced event/dungeon such as salvage/nyzul isle/einherjar etc, where a group of players are required to ascend any kind of tiered floors. Much like Nyzul Isle.

- Allow OTHER individual players to sign up for battle system where they will be playing a Boss Character vs the previously mentioned group. Basically allowing some to play the role of the villain, giving them access to some tremendous abilities and levels. Since it will be a minimum of 6 vs 1, the players playing the villain should get ridiculously good job abilities and weapon skill access.
Eg. Mage type Boss gets access to "Death" as a 2 hour. Just please do not give players playing the roles of villains access to anything too overpowered such as Chainspell Meteor. Your AV is AI. A human player with access to AV's spells would be impossible to beat.

-Rewards: As this will probably be the most entertaining and fun event in FFXI history, I believe the rewards for this should be great. Human players will prove to be far more capable than any of your AI. The player base has already destroyed everything you've thrown at them. You have, several times, had to make changes to the game based on how quickly the player base was able to advance through your content.

For the player(s) playing villains, they should gain access to some sort of exp after both losses and wins as well as unique equipment. there has to be incentive for the players playing the villains to win, otherwise you will have everyone letting the players playing their own characters win for gear."

Might be drivel. I think I wrote that drunk. but I think the above set this in motion. Time will prove me wrong, or maybe not.

Design Principles for "Play As a Monster"

Hello!

In regards to the play as a monster system, I got some comments from the person in charge of development, so I will directly copy them here. For now, we're talking just about the basic design principles for the system. Please refer to the quoted text below.
_________

Hello. This is Iwakami {{I think that's what it translates to, but there are a couple possibilities}} and I'm in charge of the play as a monster system.

For play as a monster, we don't want to be bound by the previous FFXI experience, so we are developing this content with the mindset that anyone can play it starting from scratch with a completely fresh feeling.

At this time, we want to talk about the basic design policies for play as a monster.

First, a few notes:

The information here is based on the current development and may be changed in the future. I will use iffy words like "intend to," "plan to," "believe that," etc., to emphasize this, while also noting which points are most important. The message I'm trying to convey, mostly, is what we are trying to achieve with the content.

Thank you in advance.


Basic Policy

*Playability is the same for everyone

Regardless of players' jobs and current levels, and factors like the equipment they've received or the spells they've learned, in the play as a monster system, everyone will start from the same baseline.

Therefore, even the players who only meet the minimum requirements to participate can still be on the same playing field as veteran players.

That said, we're considering the addition of certain atma-like elements which reward adventurers for previously having gone through difficult challenges, but these will by no means be essential.

*A Pleasant Play Experience

*New elements will be released at a good pace.
*We plan to generate excitement around the release of new elements.
*You can start participation whenever you want, rather than needing a specific location or time.
*You can choose to stop participating in the content whenever you like.
*There is no limit to challenges, playtime, or replayability.

I have noted these points as they will be implemented for sure.

The basic premise of the play as a monster system is to live the life of a monster. You can become that monster and run through the fields, once in a while trying to fight adventurers or other monsters; I want to work hard to be able to extend the experience of living the life of a monster to all of FFXI.

In the basic system, we want to be able to provide light play elements and more challenging play elements, as well as elements designed to play alone and others designed to play together.

Without saying specific things like "this element is designed for players," we want players to want to enjoy it in the form it is introduced with, with the goal being to allow each and every player to play as the monster inside of them.

For the next steps, we are considering multiplayer items like team competitions and battlefields for which we believe we can design content to apply to the play as a monster battle system. First, though, we're just aiming to get the basic system going.

I am truly sorry to have kept you waiting; moving forward, I want to give out information for a regular basis and I want to thank you again!

If it's PVP-related I want nothing to do with it and if it's something that I'm forced to deal with through griefers or other random "attacks" by people trying to PVP everything in site, I will be quite cross.