I discussed this in the development forums as well. But...i'd like to see input from the community at large.
So, after watching the most recent developer/Cohhcarnage stream, we got to see the perception system in action. I liked it, it truly did give it a specific atmosphere as if your adventure were being narrated. However, during the stream the question was asked if the perception would occur once or multiple times. The team responded with a random idea of a potential timer, or something of that nature.
I have a more immersive approach.
Why not have a journal system?
When your character triggers that perception, their character quickly pulls out a small leatherback journal and scribbles quickly. Then they put the journal away. If you're in combat, the animation shouldn't occur.
You'll have an option on the UI to open that journal. The journal records the date, and time, and copies that perception into it. That way players have the option to go back and review it? Perceptions essentially are thoughts or mental images. People use journals to notarize their thoughts or mental images.
This would be a relatively easy way to track perceptions, in-case you get interrupted and miss it as it scrolls by. It adds an element of immersion as well.
People have played many MMORPG's with a "journal" that tracks their quests. But, the perception system being unique. I do not believe the journal's simplicity will detract from the perception system experience. Instead, it will enhance it. It's not a quest log telling you where to go. It's just a journal -- point blank.
Great idea, as I think that would be a more elegant solution. Figuring out the best timer for each seems like a shot in the dark and would possibly lead to not allowing someone to re-read a message when they are trying to.
Instead of a timer to dictate when you get to 'perceive' something again, I think it would make sense to show a more sublte indicator (maybe at the top middle - same spot as the perception messages). Perhaps a journal icon of sorts. That lets you know that you would be triggering a previously discovered 'perception', but doesn't bombard you with the message over and over. Then you could choose to click the journal icon and read it again, or if you don't care or know what it is, choose to ignore it. One of the big pros here is that if you come right back to something, or miss reading it in combat, you don't have to wait for the timer.
Not sure how I feel about accessing the journal and reading all previous messages. I think maybe that is a bit too much information with little context. You'd have thousands of journal entries by the end I would think.
i think how VR did their perception system is perfect it incourages exploration and curiousity.
I didnt see anything like quest journal, current quest logs, or active quest, etc or i must have enjoyed the stream way to much to over look it...otherwise this was very refreshing and a must after our beloved passing.
Aye, they have mentioned a personal log that relates to the perception pings received during your journeys. It would be something to fall back on.
So it should already be something that is down the pipeline already.
I haven't seen it in a stream, but its mentioned in the game FAQs, Section 17.1
Honestly, I think this is a great idea especially if you trigger something and it is missed because you aggro or your group decides to pull at that exact same moment.
Another good idea in addition to this would be if one person triggers the perception ping the members who are in range (or a set range) of this group member would also see the perception ping. This would lead to a more uniformed grouping experience as well as a more unified exploration experience. A design choice like this would allow the group as a whole to make a more situationally informed decision if they wanted to continue to dive deeper or if they wanted to break off the beaten path and instead ascend upwards by use of the climbing system/ class abilities that relate to pathing (such as the druids vine bridge) VS a situation where only one person saw the perception ping.
Baldur said:Honestly, I think this is a great idea especially if you trigger something and it is missed because you aggro or your group decides to pull at that exact same moment.
They (Joppa I think) did say in the stream that triggers would re-occur after a period so if you missed them in combat you could get them again.
Baldur said:Another good idea in addition to this would be if one person triggers the perception ping the members who are in range (or a set range) of this group member would also see the perception ping. This would lead to a more uniformed grouping experience as well as a more unified exploration experience. A design choice like this would allow the group as a whole to make a more situationally informed decision if they wanted to continue to dive deeper or if they wanted to break off the beaten path and instead ascend upwards by use of the climbing system/ class abilities that relate to pathing (such as the druids vine bridge) VS a situation where only one person saw the perception ping.
Hmm not sure about that. I kinda think it's part of the 'cool' factor of a Keeper that they get the detailed lore-related message and have to communicate to pass that on. They could role-play around it and have fun with it. They could embellish with other info they know. It's an opportunity for interaction/interdependency and lots of nice MMORPG stuff.
Hmm I'm not so sure about a journal. I guess it does no harm as long as it is just a recording of the message.
It's a bit like maps. I would like one of those in game as long as it was basic and in-keeping with art direction and lore and players would annotate it themselves except for perhaps the most obvious of things as they discover them.
No automated 'logging' system should be too extensive or give too much convenience at the expense of player effort.
I think the journal is an okay idea, as you have to find the area/object to interact with to even trigger the preception system to begin with, so i don't see how your using less effort to have such a thing, it would be no different if i did it myself if they didn't add it in, but this is just me. Plus it would fix the whole issue of if i was in combat so i couldn't pay attention to it and now i either might be out of luck or have to wait for another time and for it to happen again if you are unlucky.
So i think it would be a nice addition to the game, especially if it was something important and you actually needed the system to tell you what to do next, it would of really sucked if you missed it simply becuase something else caught your attention at the same time.
I think the journal was in a stream,
The all stars stream iirc.
At the end , the hooded Joppa took one and ported him somewhere and he talked to an NPC and his journal popped up, recording the dialogue from the NPC.
If not the all stars it was one of the streamers streams in BlackRose keep. Streamer named T-something? was a ranger I think.
Manouk said:I think the journal was in a stream,
The all stars stream iirc.
At the end , the hooded Joppa took one and ported him somewhere and he talked to an NPC and his journal popped up, recording the dialogue from the NPC.
If not the all stars it was one of the streamers streams in BlackRose keep. Streamer named T-something? was a ranger I think.
Thanks, I may browse thru the streams today and see if I can find it.
All Stars was in BRK and Joppa played Wiz in a hooded robe.