Should the players become their own live events team?

[Manic Velocity]

/soapbox

/longpost

/unnecessaryuseofnon-existantslashcommands

I spent a great deal of money on a new computer just to play MxO, and damnit, I plan on getting my money's worth.

More and more it looks like live events are dying ever so slowly and ever so painfully.  I shouldn't have to keep telling myself, "Hang in there!  They aren't officially dead yet!"  But the word "yet" still scares me.  Will the live events continue on forever?  Will the rainbow never end?  I'm a realist, so I will say of course not.  There has to be some point in time where this game simply fades away.  I just don't think it has to be so soon.

So I'm looking ahead and searching for some kind of good that can come out of all this.  Player-designed content seems like the only logical answer to our worries.  There is a concerted effort on the part of a small percentage of the community to get the ball rolling on this.  People have organized scavenger hunts, "Hunt for So-And-So" events, assassinations, funerals/weddings, etc.  There is so much potential for this that I feel is being undermined.

Pros:

• Players get together to create their own live events.  Writing stories to be played out in-game, just like any live event produced by Paul Chadwick and executed by the developers and live events team.
• Cooperation between different and/or opposing factions can be arranged to help tell a story.  Temporary truces or KoS agreements that are in effect, within the guidelines of the story.
• People stop complaining about what's wrong with the game, and start doing something about it!

Cons:

• Not everyone is into RP, so not everyone will be motivated to create their own live events.  It could end up getting to the point where 20% of the players are relied upon to create content by the other 80% who only want to participate in said content.
• Too many stories occuring at once.  What happens when two or more stories use the same in-game location(s) to help tell their respective stories?
• Lack of organization.  Setting too many guidelines on how to properly tell a story would discourage people from writing them in the first place.  But setting too few guidelines could cause people's stories to begin running amok.

Perhaps this is just a pipe dream.  It would be great if the majority of the community could jump on board for something like this.  But it seems that too many players (not anyone in this faction of course ) are expecting Monolith or Sony or whoever to provide all the content for them.

In the MxO trailer, the question is asked "How does the story end?" and the reply is given, "You tell us".  Obviously we can't tell the story by fighting in Mara Central every day.

Could something like this work?  Would it be possible to gather members from every prominent faction (regardless of org) to work together for a common goal?  With our powers combined, could the players begin to make MxO everything they hoped and dreamed for?

Or am I simply screaming that Soylent Green is people?

Let me know what you think.

[Anonymous]

exactly. lol, just posted something brief about this sorta in the end of LET thread. good post manic.

[Anonymous]

I'm with you Manic.  When I took my FA interview I was asked "what would make you leave MxO?" and I said "If they stopped live events".  The reason I said it was I liked the idea that the events happening in the universe weren't totally scripted, that someone was pulling the strings somewhere.

If we had a decent RP system in place where players/factions could submit their storylines and play them out, with the help of special characters if it was appropriate, I'd be cool with that.  I think a lot of players would.

What I most want to see?  New moves, new weapons, new characters, limited edition items.  That would keep it fresh enough for me.  In other communities I've been involved in, getting something you knew wouldn't be around for long was an extremely important aspect in staying involved.

[Styan]

All very valid points Manic.  I think its possible for player run events to such a scale.  We've seen them steming from the actual events (meeting where seraph came out of no where). They just have to be well thought / planned out.

[Tbone]

We could have fun RPing, but we wouldn't really feel like we are affecting the storyline. Seraph isn't going to pop up at a meeting...Ookami isn't going to try to assassinate you...

[Eroz]

No, but lets not try and get it where Agents or Zionist have to should up. Why not Gallius shows up to kill us? Why not Tbone to show up at a meeting? I say screw the live events team, or everyone take a flight into Portland and we all go Mac Panter on SOE (CAD joke, in short raid SOE)

[Anonymous]

BAH

eroz, if those words EVER come out of youir mouth AGAIN

*nightmares*

[Anonymous]

/wishesbestformxo

[Anonymous]

... agreed