After having played this game for an unhealthy amount of hours I find that most of the fun and satisfaction of it simply comes through achieving a minor objective, for example securing a kill. Sometimes I get to be a part of something a bit bigger, for example lets say a feat achieved with a combination of skill and luck, like a good SADAR shot or a defining screech. In these moments you get to sit back for a second and realise what you have achieved. A second to admire it. However I feel that we can get more out of the game, and of course I want to get more out of the game. So how does one do that?
I guess I can grasp a general direction to follow in order to achieve that. Of course such thing would be possible only through admin intervention aka events. The standard game mode alone simply wonât cut it, since it is simply too small, it leaves no space for anything else besides the familiar marines vs xenos braul we all know. Even in a lot of the events I have participated in thereâs still a pattern matching that of the HvX. That being two sides fighting for total superiority as their primary and only objective. It feels like having two animals in a cage that are forced to mindlessly tear at each other until one is no more. Thereâs nothing more to it than that. Thereâs nothing beyond that at stake. But what if there was? What if this event wasnât as stale as to only kill each other?
Stakes. Stakes and consequences. For such things to exist a well established base needs to exist. A story with a past, so that the actions of the now will matter in the future. So that the now becomes important. You canât simply grab a man, tell them that this and that is happening, and expect they will give it their all on a whim lets say. You need to cultivate an expectation, something for the player to look forward to. If that something is threatened the stakes are heightened. Failure has more consequences. In response, the player will rush forth, more selfless than before and with some luck, that act will bear fruit. That success will be meaningful. Not just to him, but to everyone around him. It would make everyone who was a part of it share that success. That meaningfulness is what makes you memories out of this game. It is what makes you memories in every game. It is fun. And what more do you need when you have to sides determined to selflessly put themselves forth to achieve a cause they believe in. This brings us to the next issue. How do you get a side to relate to a cause? What does that cause need to be in the framework of this game so that the players can relate to it?
The cause. It cannot be something small or average. It needs to be an exception. An extreme. Something that would require one to give it their all. Letâs be real, however. The current framework of megacorporations that sink entire planets into misery, requiring the corp to come butcher any resistance doesnât make for a good and relatable cause. The clashing of the corp with other forces of similar utility like the UPP isnât very relatable either. You could relate to it via RP as many continue to remind you, most commonly by the phrases âcommiesâ, âcapitalist dogsâ and âcorposâ but in that case you essentially depend on the playerâs willingness to RP in order to make their own fun. And as you probably noticed, not everyone is willing to do that. And that is not what I am going for either. The point is to create an environment that doesnât rely on the player alone to make fun. So what could the cause be? Maybe it is preventing a disaster that will affect humanity itself. Thatâs the most common, involving and relatable cause there is I think. Itâs the one I see the most in every franchise that has made a name of itself. In this case it is probably the most suitable considering where the player stands in the game. Thereâs a lot of room for specifics on what, where, how and why, multiple parties, existing or new ones that can partake or even be the threat itself. So what remains is for these to be set, which also tends to be my favourite part of a good story.
