Something we hold in high regard here at Vatal is dynamic content. There are various forms this type of content can take, from timed events to multi-stage zone objectives, but today I would like to address one particular type: asynchronous group content (AGC). The simplest way to look at AGC is content which allows a player to participate with other players in some fashion even when not logged in at the same time. Anyone who plays online games these days can vouch for how hard it can be to align schedules and complete content in the time those schedules can be secured. So, AGC acts as a way to allow you to play with your friends and guild-mates even if you’re the only one on at 2 in the morning. AGC is not too common quite yet, but one can see that there is more and more creeping into each new batch of online games being released. For common examples, consider guild achievements and guild leveling.
We have already developed a couple of approaches for AGC in Infinities: The Continuum Order. The primary approach is through Guild Quests. Each day, the guild is sent on assignment to kill a particular group of enemies, collect certain rare items, secure an area, or various other objectives. The current objective is randomly generated at the start of the day, however guild leadership can schedule and manually change the assignment from a list of unlocked objectives for reasons of diversity, preferred zones, choice of PvE or PvP, and generally showing interest and action as leaders. As with other recent games, guilds in Infinities level up as they complete content together. In Infinities, guilds raise through two ranking systems: Glory for PvE and Dominance for PvP. Guild quests improve the guild’s rank in the appropriate content type. This means that a guild can focus on being a “PvP guild” by scheduling PvP guild quests every day to maximize their Dominance and their options for PvP-oriented objectives and rewards. The main benefit of this AGC system is that no matter when a member logs in, s/he can contribute to the guild’s quests by joining in the ongoing effort or picking up where others have left off.
Another AGC system we’ve put some time into is Campaigns. This content is more of a long-term goal for us—almost certainly in post-release patches or expansion; the reason for this is because of the concept’s sheer scale. Without belaboring too much detail, Campaigns will involve a faction deploying troops from their home area across several zones over the matter of weeks to capture a location, raze a city, or neutralize a powerful individual. As the troops make their way into zones, dynamic content populates there for players, such as reinforcing the troops in battle, collecting supplies to build structures or weapons, and collecting intelligence about the enemy’s footholds in that zone. When a zone is completed by the campaign force, it moves onward to the next zone and repeats this until the destination is reached. This AGC extends beyond the guild level and rises to a player contributing and participating on a faction level. When s/he logs in, the player may find that the campaign’s progress is at a standstill and needs help on the frontline. Conversely, perhaps the current zone is about to be completed and just needs a final push against a particular objective. The player would hurry over to the objective and help his/her allies finish the zone. There’s a great deal that can be done with the campaign system, and once it is in place it is likely to enhance zone replayability with even more dynamic content being present and diversify content across the board entirely.
There are other AGC concepts we’ve put pins in, such as being able to send friends unfinished craft items to complete and reward both players, setting up an automated merchant stand for goods to collect money from other players while you are offline, and so forth. And then there’s guild halls . . . an elephant-in-the-room topic for another day. We’re very excited to push the MMO scene forward to include more dynamic content versus linearity, and AGC is a significant step in that march. Thanks for reading and don’t hesitate to leave a comment with your thoughts!