I think I would be most enthusiastic about scary or fear based content if it were utilized in potential cut scenes.
Will Pantheon be doing occasional cut scenes? Perhaps when a player approaches a new city (epic / majestic themed), enters the darkest depths of a dungeon, or meets a big bad rare spawn / dungeon boss (fear themed as to the topic of this thread).
High def cut scenes have enhanced many games in my opinion, right back to my first RPG love, Final Fantasy 7. While I can see how cut scenes don't fit in MMOs, it would be an enhancement to the gaming experience if executed well.
Many MMOs have Halloween-themed events or even areas. My hope, as always, is that if Pantheon goes down this well trodden path it will not simply do a real-world event with a few Pantheon elements but will do a Terminus event with at most a few real world resemblances.
Athen - to me the best part of FFXIV was the cut scenes but this works best in a high budget MMO that can afford to divert resources without sacrificing things like getting to launch.
Maybe a super rare jump scare. I recall EQ2 had a super cheesy one in their reimagining of the EQ dungeon The Estate of Unrest. The boss of the dungeon (I don't recall who it was) looked at your character and realized it was just an Avatar for you, the player. He started to speak to you, the player, and at one point suddenly your screen went all static and his big ass face ripped through the static and said "I see you!"
It was super lame and I loved it.
Otherwise jump scares are pretty dumb and cheap.
Real fear is the unknown. Mist and shadows that seem to stretch forever. Eyes watching you from the dark. Voices you can't quite hear. You throw your torch at the formless dark, only to hit a wall you couldn't see. Your torch spits and sputters from the ground at your feet. You've ruined your night vision now, for nothing. You hear something and spin away from the torch, sword raised, only for the smoky light to disappear. The noise sounds again, closer. You take a few steps back to place yourself up against the wall. A few steps turn into a dozen. Two dozen. Only for you to realize too late there is no wall and never was. One last step you take, into the darkness below.
Hitchcock described suspense as something like: The audience knows there is a ticking bomb under the table, the audience also knows that the character sitting at the table is not aware of the ticking bomb under the table. That is how you create suspense.
I am not a fan of jump scares - they are cheesy and churlish. However player driven "jump scares" predicated by suspense are more thrilling. For instance, you know going into a dungeon there is danger somewhere you just dont know where, this makes turning a sharp corner or opening a door an ASMR event in itself because you are creating your own jump scare. tension created when you open the door and more created when the thing on the other side- through some fluke of pathing- doesn't see you.
Escalation: running in the open and you are avoiding those things over there, constantly keeping an eye on them and keeping them at a distance, you run over a rock or hill and there is something ELSE right there that you didnt see. either it sees you and chases, or you are able to avoid but to avoid it you have to run towards THEM- that you were keeping at a safe distance...decisions, decisions.
Gambling: If you KNOW those observable post-holes may have a beast inside them that can pop out, you just dont know which one until you stand on it- but you and the party need to cross that field full of post-holes thats fear building (unless someone happens to be side-questing like a mofo and took time out to do a "useless" quest with Ogre young-lings where they played "toad-smush" and played along with their stupid rhyming chant "smash-smash their heads, smash their heads" to the right, to the right, to the right, to the left, to the left, to the left, now smush, now smush, now kick, now walk it by your self-walk it by yourself) which just so happens to be a clue on how to navigate this area.
Bring on the fear/scary zones. Supernatural darkness/thick fog and shapes or creepy sounds in the distance.
Or give us a first-person locked server and the normal zones. I'd bet many would find themselves getting spooked if not soiled while exploring through dungeons, especially the puller.
Not sure about "scary" zones, but I definitely love atmospheric zones. Music can really help there too (imagine walking along some corridor, suspenseful music plays...and when you come to the end, the music suddenly stops...and then! ;)
Weather can also really help. One of the scariest moments I remember from EQ was East Karana, on that hill with the spiders and giants. I was there on my human pally. It was night, and suddenly it began to rain. Nighttime was already bad with humans, but with the rain, visibility dropped to near zero...the monitor was basically pitch black. But I could still hear creatures around me (do you remember that distintive sound the huge spiders made in EQ?). And then I heard the stomping of a giant...fearing it would come close enough to attack. That were some nerve-wracking minutes!
In FFXIV, I really like the "dry" thunderstorm you can experience in some zones, in particular in the Black Shroud. Thunderstorm at night in a forest...must be a flashback to that experience above! Here's a link to a video with the effects: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYL6OWKaegc
I am a much bigger fan of suspense than of startlement. Suspense has a much greater re-playability IMO as well. A dark, foggy zone with a variety of dangers that can't be seen until they are almost upon me is great. A random mob jumping out of nowhere is much less enjoyable.
Though I still would love to have some forest areas that have some eucalyptus trees growing in them, and in those areas one is at risk of Drop Bears!! Perhaps Rangers (and maybe Keepers) would have the ability to recognize the trees, based on skill level.
Unlooked for calamity being a real possibility is quite enjoyable (after the fact).
The Fel Reaver roaming Hellfire Peninsula and the Devilsaur looking for snacks in Un'Goro Crater.
Watching the sun sink in a zone like Kitichor Forest and knowing your time is short is a great and much-used example.
Turning a corner in Fallout and coming face to face with a Deathclaw ranks high as well.
Not long ago there was a clip of fog rolling in. Wondering what lurks in that fog is something to ponder as the light loses its power.
These inflection points during routine gameplay often leave an indelible mark in a gamer's (after the fact) fondly remembered experience.
YES, there is a place for these memory-forming events.
Kilsin said:Community Opinion - Scary and Fear - Do you think there is a place for scares and fear in MMORPGs and if so, would you like to see the odd scary zone, quest or jump scare mob in Pantheon? #MMORPG #CommunityMatters #games
Nothing is ever truly scary or fearful in an MMO because there is no true risk of loss. You die, you respawn and any number of mechanics will be present to let you retrieve what stuff you left on your body and you'll just regain that XP somewhere else.
I'm all for ambiance though, where the environment in which you find yourself minimizes one or more of your senses to disorient you or where the design of the zone forces a decision:
1. Fog that severaly restricts the distance you can see, allowing for NPCs to get much closer before you spot them and for you to get lost/turned around.
2. Actual, real night/dark blind that cannot be cheesed by adjusting monitor gamma settings.
3. Sounds of NPCs and nearby activities for which you cannot see the source. The original RunnyEye and HighPass Hold were great for this because you could hear groups fighting something somewhere but you just didn't know what or where.
4. Points of no return. You know that if you step over that line you are committed to going forward. Kaesora, The Hole, Crypt of Dalnir all had this and I saw plenty of groups who would stare at the drop down only to turn around and walk away.
5. Entrances are not exits. You can go in that way, but getting out means you need to work your way to that exit. Sebilis, Temple of Veeshan, Chardok, and Charasis had this and it was funny to see a someone (or many someones) without the ability to gate (or who didn't carry potions) zone in and get stuck.
I think all zones should be scary hard. You could die anywhere. That's scary. Please dear programmer no Halloween events, on Terminus. There's 9 or 10 cultures on Terminus. Surely you can come up with different festivals. VR has shown us great night times. That's a great start. VR has shown great fog! Good going. Flickering torches...Yay! Yes to especially scary zones.
Kilsin said:...would you like to see the odd scary zone, quest or jump scare mob in Pantheon?...
A scary zone or two or three would be awesome. Scary quests, sure! Jump scare I'm not so interested in, but the world should be big enough for anything! I'm totally fine with content existing that I'm not interested in; I might experience it a few times and just choose to not go there again. The world doesn't need to meet all my needs, I'll find my place in it though!
I'm a huge fan of horror and would absolutely love to have some of that in Pantheon. I'd especially hope for a whole zone somewhere to be built for this. It could be made doubly interesting by having it appear all idyllic and peaceful during daytime, but it becomes terrifying after dark. This would create a fun sense of dread, especially if you get delayed and caught outside as the sun sets.
Jump scares are cheap but can be fun, provided they feel appropriate to the world. Anarchy-Online had a giant sand worm creature that would jump out of the ground right next to you. It created quite the startle.
Kilsin said:Community Opinion - Scary and Fear - Do you think there is a place for scares and fear in MMORPGs and if so, would you like to see the odd scary zone, quest or jump scare mob in Pantheon? #MMORPG #CommunityMatters #games
I had to look up what jump scare was, and no, by definition that I found there is no place for it in Pantheon.
HOWEVER, the effect truely has a place, if done "naturally" and the one experiance I can give to describe what I'm talking is in EQ, The Commonlands (not sure whitch one) and you sit down to med after a big fight and a some high level griffion attacks you... rarely, but enough so the first time you think "WTF???" but from there on you would be listining for that "woopa woopa woopa" of his wings flapping if you were medding.
I'm Counting on VR to give us these types of "Jump Scares". As for a cut screen..... leave that for the B-Movies
Vandraad said:...Sounds of NPCs and nearby activities for which you cannot see the source. The original RunnyEye and HighPass Hold were great for this because you could hear groups fighting something somewhere but you just didn't know what or where...
Oh my, this was so good in EQ! Hearing the echoing gurgling 'voices' of goblins in the tunnels and caves of Solusek was fantastic! The hooting of ghouls in the corridors of Unrest mansion!
If, in Pantheon, you could hear things before you could see them, and even be able to distinguish what they are from the sound, when you get familiar, would be so great!
In Back 4 Blood - a zombie shooter - every 'special' mutated zombie has it's own distinct cries that you often hear well before they appear. It is fantastic from not only a tension and anticipation viewpoint, but is a really good, functional mechanic that those how know what noise means what can feel great about knowing. (they actually have subtitles that prompt you too, but doing it by the sound alone means you have a split second more notice and often you miss a subtitle while being attacked by zombies!).
"Graaawlaaargh-gibber-chatter"
"There's a Snitch in the cave to our right guys... Move slowly and quiet weapons only until we're clear!..."