It is to soon for a comprehensive list of things to make better in this DLC, but there are three things that stand out to me:
As things stand now, by the time a player works his way down the focus tree to something substantial the world map can change to a point where fighting a major faction for small gains is required. Even then, the player may or may not get what he needs due to the outdated peace conference system.
Number two and three above share the same issue; lack of clarity from inside the game. Players are having to look outside the game to see why events or focuses are not activating.
Recommendations:
Reevaluate the time it takes to get to the major goals of the focus trees and then work backwards to reduce the days for each focus leading there, as balance and need dictates. At first glance, it seems the rule of 70/35 days is the main hiccup in the new focus trees. This DLC may be a good time to remove that rule and give content providers the freedom they need to make timelines work well when adding interesting new focuses.
Give the content providers a narrative window attached to each decision and focus where they can type in clear explanations of what a decision or focus hopes to accomplish and what is required to make it fire. It could be a small icon that players can click on, if they want to, to get more information. This would hide a wall of words from those who just want to click a focus and move on. For those who want to read, it would provide an opportunity for the content providers to tell us the story they want us to experience and what this specific focus or decision should do in the story. As it is now, trying to understand what may or may not happen can get tedious to the point a player no longer sees the creative content and only wants to see what mechanical thing the focus provides so he can move on.
- In to many instances, focus trees take to much time to reach something of substance.
- To many focuses are not clear enough in what is required to activate them or what effects they produce.
- Some of the newer decision types need clearer explanations of what they do.
As things stand now, by the time a player works his way down the focus tree to something substantial the world map can change to a point where fighting a major faction for small gains is required. Even then, the player may or may not get what he needs due to the outdated peace conference system.
Number two and three above share the same issue; lack of clarity from inside the game. Players are having to look outside the game to see why events or focuses are not activating.
Recommendations:
Reevaluate the time it takes to get to the major goals of the focus trees and then work backwards to reduce the days for each focus leading there, as balance and need dictates. At first glance, it seems the rule of 70/35 days is the main hiccup in the new focus trees. This DLC may be a good time to remove that rule and give content providers the freedom they need to make timelines work well when adding interesting new focuses.
Give the content providers a narrative window attached to each decision and focus where they can type in clear explanations of what a decision or focus hopes to accomplish and what is required to make it fire. It could be a small icon that players can click on, if they want to, to get more information. This would hide a wall of words from those who just want to click a focus and move on. For those who want to read, it would provide an opportunity for the content providers to tell us the story they want us to experience and what this specific focus or decision should do in the story. As it is now, trying to understand what may or may not happen can get tedious to the point a player no longer sees the creative content and only wants to see what mechanical thing the focus provides so he can move on.
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