Brainstorming: Possible Jobs?

Luisedgm

Deepscanner
Jul 27, 2016
103
149
43
#1
When i say jobs i don't mean classes or fixed roles, but actions players can perform to make a living, this is the most important aspect of a sandbox MMO, more even than combat, as combat may be involved in some of those, but not all.

Soldier: This could be the base job for starters, maybe a character background start, you begin employed by the NPC main faction army and earn money per kill on frontlines or a salary when taking part in events, the registered soldier could have some limitations when it comes to freedom (has to stay near the frontlines while on duty), but would receive bigger rewards or rewards at all when doing event objectives.

Crafter: A good sandbox has its economy based on player crafting, and should offer not only plenty different kinds of crafting (from cooking to architect to vehicle mechanic) but must also offer great depth in its crafting systems, no fixed recipes, trial and error or research should play a big part in finding out the best material/parts combination for an item. The best crafters of the server would keep their best recipes secret and be as recognized as the best fighters in the server.

Scavenger: This requires a large world and no easy fast travel, an explorer should be able to evade combat or seek it while looking for treasures, rare creatures/plants or crashed spacecrafts

Explorer: Mapping Terrain modifications, enemy troop movement, rare animals spotted, rare asteroid or spaceship crashes, and the most important: best mining nodes should be extremelly valuable information, mapping areas to sell this info could be a profession

Builder/Mechanic: Every good sandbox has housing or base/city building (as well as vehicles), this is vital, knowing how to do this well or having the skills to do so defines this profession

Bounty Hunter: depending on how heavy the death penality is, bounties can be viable, but this can only work if there is open pvp or pvp zones. Ember could have a mechanic similar to SWG jedi training, where jedi had to keep their power hidden or their presence would be announced to bounty hunters, getting killed as a jedi was a huge XP penality and greatly delayed your training.
We could have something similar with illegal implants, they could be very expensive implants a doctor can apply to you, they are not detectable unless you use them, but if you use them near other people you could pop up as a bounty to BH players, getting killed would cause you to lose all illegal implants.

Doctors: Death could cause permanent scars and wounds, player doctors could be able to fix them, also create implants and chemicals that greatly boost players and might or not be legal.
Also plastic surgery, changing someone's face/name to evade a bounty or just for cosmetics sake could also be a doctor job.

Entertainers: Just like in SWG http://swg.wikia.com/wiki/Entertainer

I think Ember can take great inspiration from SWG (pre-patch-of-doom) and that some jobs could not have any combat involved into it.
 

EvilKitten

Well-Known Member
Ark Liege
Jul 26, 2016
777
1,557
93
#2
players can perform to make a living, this is the most important aspect of a sandbox MMO, more even than combat, as combat may be involved in some of those, but not all.
While obviously everyone has their own opinions I rather take exception to this one...Ember is intended to be a First Person Shooter, that is will also have sandbox elements does not take away from what it's focus should be. I see the main gameplay aspects being (not in any particular order):
Exploring (and shooting the crap out of stuff you find)
Thumping (while shooting the crap out of stuff that comes to investigate)
Patrolling (to find more crap to shoot the stuffing out of)
Building (planet wide shooting the crap out of stuff mega event when a building is completed)
Engineering (dealing with environmental hazards that any planet has, which sadly can't really be shot at to fix but perhaps someone can find a way)

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ember-forums-website-art-videogames#/
 
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EvilKitten

Well-Known Member
Ark Liege
Jul 26, 2016
777
1,557
93
#4
Shooting stuff all day gets repetitive unless the there is a human element behind it to make it interesting.
I feel that I can completely agree with you on this and yet still hold my original position. I think the big thing is that you are going to be shooting with friends...well people you enjoy hanging out with on the internet...or at least put up with...

Solving problems and overcoming hurdles as a group is IMO what Ember should be about, but a lot of that is going to involve shooting.
 

Luisedgm

Deepscanner
Jul 27, 2016
103
149
43
#5
You know how that works on practice right? people have real life problems and schedules they can't change sometimes, you are bound to play alone now and then. You can't count on friends to keep the game interesting all the time.
Besides anything is fun with friends, even throwing rocks.
 

EvilKitten

Well-Known Member
Ark Liege
Jul 26, 2016
777
1,557
93
#6
You know how that works on practice right? people have real life problems and schedules they can't change sometimes, you are bound to play alone now and then. You can't count on friends to keep the game interesting all the time.
Besides anything is fun with friends, even throwing rocks.
I think a lot of the problem with that is that most MMO's aren't a global group but instead a bunch of cliquish circles that tend to spend all their time together. It is simply a natural progression of any MMO style game I think, after all you tend to have more fun hanging out with people you know and like. On the other hand I feel that this mentality also tends to suck the fun out of games because you set up expectations.

I myself am guilty of this on many occasions. Gee nobody on my friends list is online, guess I'll just solo...

Sometimes I have wondered if having a friends list should be done away with in MMO's, simply to force you to rejoin the greater whole and avoid some of the cliquishness that is part of the natural human psyche.
 

NitroMidgets

Tsi-Hu Hunter
Jul 27, 2016
590
474
63
Dupont, WA
#9
Well, they already fired me as an NCO.

Man, the days of Launch Padding people and drawing critters into the towns, that sure was fun.
That was up there with watching some random player go down and running up to them only to just set off fireworks rather then help them.
 

TankHunter678

Well-Known Member
Jul 26, 2016
369
311
63
#10
Give me the resources and capability to do it and I will spend a lot of time turning bases or cities into turret nests for invasion defense.

Ok sure maybe the artillery battery of 155mm howitzers is not necessary for a good base defense... its still fun.


Well one thing that could be done, as something to do besides go out looking for resources, killing things, or building bases, is that the printer could have a set of stock Crixia Spaceship models and a holotable where we can play Crixia with our friends in game.
 

Alfonso

Commander
Jul 29, 2016
39
14
8
#11
When i say jobs i don't mean classes or fixed roles, but actions players can perform to make a living, this is the most important aspect of a sandbox MMO, more even than combat, as combat may be involved in some of those, but not all.
Yes, that. I don't want preset-classess. Ember is not going to be F2P so completely horizontal progression with fully customizeable character is possible. SWG is a good example but I personally want more freedom on selecting professions.
In SWG I tried Bio engineer/combat medic but they shared the basic professions.
In UO I was blacksmith/swordman. Ability to fight was useful to survive in muderer attack but those two were not really related.
 

Alfonso

Commander
Jul 29, 2016
39
14
8
#12
Give me the resources and capability to do it and I will spend a lot of time turning bases or cities into turret nests for invasion defense.

Ok sure maybe the artillery battery of 155mm howitzers is not necessary for a good base defense... its still fun.


Well one thing that could be done, as something to do besides go out looking for resources, killing things, or building bases, is that the printer could have a set of stock Crixia Spaceship models and a holotable where we can play Crixia with our friends in game.
Maybe not 155mm but the Obelisk!
 

Ammara

Active Member
Jul 26, 2016
363
224
43
32
#13
I am on favour with this one. Vindictus did it and it is working well. It also goes further than jobs and allows players to go fishing and do other things that are not directly related to its game-play style of cutting things, but can still help as a side thing. It added more diversity and fun to the game.

I don't see why Ember shouldn't expand as well. Plus, these things are optional. If some are not interested, they need not engage in them nor not allow those interested to do so.
 

Wintersiege

Firstclaimer
Jul 26, 2016
64
28
18
51
Hebron, ND USA
#14
Sometimes I have wondered if having a friends list should be done away with in MMO's, simply to force you to rejoin the greater whole and avoid some of the cliquishness that is part of the natural human psyche.
I think the bigger problem then a friends list is most MMO's complete aversion to anything that cant be solo'd outside of dungeons/raids. Everquest 1 and even vanilla world of warcraft had content that was more or less group content. Hell, the majority of EQ1 was group related and WoW had that entire troll area with a huge quest hub that used to be all elite ranked mobs meant for open world group questing. I have mentioned it in another thread on this forum already, but all the conveniences in your modern MMO's like group finder, raid finder, near 100% solo content, instant teleporting to dungeons/raids simply errode your typical gaming community. The impact of this phenomenon, I feel, is one of the big reasons the genre is struggling right now.
 

Beerdog6

Firstclaimer
Aug 1, 2016
32
15
8
#15
While obviously everyone has their own opinions I rather take exception to this one...Ember is intended to be a First Person Shooter, that is will also have sandbox elements does not take away from what it's focus should be. I see the main gameplay aspects being (not in any particular order):
Exploring (and shooting the crap out of stuff you find)
Thumping (while shooting the crap out of stuff that comes to investigate)
Patrolling (to find more crap to shoot the stuffing out of)
Building (planet wide shooting the crap out of stuff mega event when a building is completed)
Engineering (dealing with environmental hazards that any planet has, which sadly can't really be shot at to fix but perhaps someone can find a way)

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ember-forums-website-art-videogames#/
I agree. I don't want fixed classes. Maybe you get one or two free base frames on startup and you can earn through play or just buy (insert microtransaction here) additional frames, and they can be built out like you want.
 

EvilKitten

Well-Known Member
Ark Liege
Jul 26, 2016
777
1,557
93
#16
I think the bigger problem then a friends list is most MMO's complete aversion to anything that cant be solo'd outside of dungeons/raids. Everquest 1 and even vanilla world of warcraft had content that was more or less group content. Hell, the majority of EQ1 was group related and WoW had that entire troll area with a huge quest hub that used to be all elite ranked mobs meant for open world group questing. I have mentioned it in another thread on this forum already, but all the conveniences in your modern MMO's like group finder, raid finder, near 100% solo content, instant teleporting to dungeons/raids simply errode your typical gaming community. The impact of this phenomenon, I feel, is one of the big reasons the genre is struggling right now.
This has a lot to do with the more casual nature of MMO's these days. Back when they first started your standard mmo player was most likely an "outcast nerd" who had a lot of time on his (Cause you know there are no girlz on the internetz) hands and could play for hours. These days there are a wide variety of people who play MMO's, and many of them have a lot of other things to take up their time, families, jobs, social life...sleep...So games have gotten more "solo" friendly so that these people can log in for shorter amounts of time.

I am not entirely sure whether this is a good thing or not. Obviously I do expect some solo content in Ember, but I really do hope we can figure out a way to allow for both short time players while still promoting group play.