I think this kind of project would be best for GMs and various staff. Players becoming monsters creates a pvp environment, and I'm pretty sure the devs said they aren't looking to develop a PvP game. Not that I would mind...I enjoy PvP quite a bit and would happily become an orc pawn! Just a personal observation any kind of open world player vs player in MMORPGs...when there are no referees you can expect some serious abuse. That's why I think it would be best a project like this was operated by Visionary Realms staff. They would be less inclined to abuse and more likely to try to create a fun experience for the newbies.
Maybe there could be some special GM events where certain popular zones could have regular players become monsters for a few hours. Player monsters would be restricted to that zone or maybe even a small area such as a room in a dungeon. The key is a tight leash if you are going to have regular players as monsters.
Re-read it all - every page. Still love this idea. I was thinking of something more: What if (my favorite words) the cards you use/win during diplo (i know, nothing says it will be there at all...) could be exchanged for spawning as a mob? You have too many Goblin grunt cards? Spend one and log in as a goblin grunt. You FINALY get that ultra-rare Nagafin card? Um, not sure anyone would spend that card, but....
I loved this feature in EQ while it lasted. The positives outweighed the negatives imo. I sorta-kinda brought up a similar-ish idea in the "Pantheon App" thread about being able to do a watered down version of this in a phone app to help keep people connected to the game while AFK.
Nephretiti said:A long time ago in EQ there was a limited timed project that allowed us to log in as the mobs in Everquest. It was nothing short of awesome. I logged in as a Lizardman Shaman in Rathe Mountains. I seem to recall the restrictions were that you could use the abilities and spells of the random mob you logged in as. In this case - I was a lizardman shaman and had full use of all the sahmmy spells plus a few racial things I dont recall. Another restriction was that you could play and even level up your mob - all the way up until you logged out - or was hunted down and killed by EQ players. So I leveled. and leveled. I had an absolute AMAZING time! I think I would up with 21 levels before a group of players from Freeport HUNTED me down and killed me. Oh! Another restriction! NO ZONING! Another time, I logged in as a Koalindil fish. I only had a few abilities and it was in Qeynos. But I was NOT limited to just being in the fountain under the Temple of Life. I got out and was running around all over the place (Qeynos). This area is a low-level starter area too (if you recall right outside the front gates where Fippy did his thing) So I would run* up to a noob player and KICK him and run away. As the mob was soooo tiny there was almost never anyway to catch me or kill me. Eventually though a small swarm of noobs decided that THIS lvl 4 fish HAD TO DIE - and they spent a good 20 minutes tracking me down and killing me. Again - one of the fondest moments I had.
I would LOVE to see a new project with this in mind. I would LOVE to be a goblin and to be able to level up and maybe be able to use goblin merchants etc. And to keep the gobbie beyond zoning and logging etc. I realize for all prectical purposes that I am asking for another "playable race/class" but I am not. I also realize the propensity for misuse. I mean, If I logged in as Nagafin and then ran around the dungeon and staying away from folks etc. until my guildies showed up - and then just didn't fight back while they killed me etc. - that would be bad.
So - let's say there WAS a monster Project. What rules would there need to be? I'll start:
1. A specific mob list would need to be created. First rule of Project M would be - NO RAID BOSSES!
This has been done a few times in games and is always a blast as an event.
After watching the last stream I started thinking about the mobs we "could" log in too. What if we logged in as one of those mobs in the tower? More specifically, I am thinking of the factions associated with all the possible mobs and mob types. If you're one of the sentries etc. the first thing i woulkd do is go pick a fight with a group (of players) and then run to the top of the tower to get more friends (faction friendly NPCs). A LOT of more friends. This might be bad - or this might cause a spontaneous area-wide raid with all the players deciding to bring that tower down... and since we wouldnt be able to control mob respawns - it might not be so bad after all...
Zeem said:I experienced this back in the day, I remember being an Orc in Oasis.
Oh that would have been a good one to play! May be too many Players looking for Orc Skulls though... and the giants. And the skellies. Sharks. Hmm....
Something else I used to like to do was to Bind Sight on my pet and then let him loose. I wonder if we could have a login option to bind sight a random mob - almost anywhere - and then watch them and their behavior. We would certainly be bale to learn a the pathing of a mob. Maybe even learn if there are any factions associated with it (bind sight a guard near the Tower and see if he has an issue with nearby opcs, etc.). Then again, knowing my luck - I would be the one guy that continuously logins in to a_rat (lvl 1) near the noobie spawn area...
And yet another thought! What if spending a mile in a mobs shoes get you your L&L for that mob?
I'm a PvE player because I just don't enjoy confrontations with other humans. For me it's all about working together, and it ruins my day when somebody out there on the internet gets enjoyment out of causing problems for me--in the broadest possible sense.
I just skimmed the entire thread for the first time and being a grumpy old PvE-only player, I have my reservations. The vast majority of posts have been positive towards the concept, but I sense that it's because the posters see it as an opportunity to be doing something completely different than what the standard PvE game offers, and that something would have a resemblence to PvP. @Nephretiti even said that griefing was the intended role of such a player (paraphrased).
I have found little about how such a feature would improve the game experience for those who dislike PvP and stick to playing their PCs, but I'm willing to listen and learn.
Ziegfried said:I think this kind of project would be best for GMs and various staff. [.....] That's why I think it would be best a project like this was operated by Visionary Realms staff. They would be less inclined to abuse and more likely to try to create a fun experience for the newbies.
I recall Aradune saying they learned alot from that experiment. I agree, this shoud be a Perk for VR staff, they get to log in as an NPC and this can come with a certain degree of freedom with somewhat loose guidlines, so long as nothing really bad comes back, or that traces are completely blurred, sort of like a reverse turing test if you will.
Rough meeting? bad day? log in as a ...orc pawn with....low HP but ooddly high AC or something, like the staff will be able to "overclock" the NPC's to a degree, but turning up one stat will turn down another. Likewise quest NPC's too so they can create specialized quests.
Very cool screenshot. I would often help newbies attack mobs and act as a pet rather than an enemy. Many of them would get it and /say messages of thanks. I enjoyed playing the mobs a lot.
I remember if you were a skeleten you could actually do some emotes, like /wave. I remember doing that to taunt people.
I'm all for VR throwing things like this in for special events or holidays.
Janus said:Alexander said: This is an -awesome- program. Could keep it only on PvP servers.It was only on PvP servers if I recall in EQ.
No, I'm pretty sure I played with it on the PVE server Innoruuk.
It's possible I created an alt on a PVP to play with it. But as I recall my first experience with it was coming across a level 3 Orc Pawn that behaved quite out of the ordinary while on my teen level main on Innoruuk. He tried to hide from me behind a tree.
So long ago I could be imagining it.
Zorkon said:Janus said:Alexander said: This is an -awesome- program. Could keep it only on PvP servers.It was only on PvP servers if I recall in EQ.
No, I'm pretty sure I played with it on the PVE server Innoruuk.
It's possible I created an alt on a PVP to play with it. But as I recall my first experience with it was coming across a level 3 Orc Pawn that behaved quite out of the ordinary while on my teen level main on Innoruuk. He tried to hide from me behind a tree.
So long ago I could be imagining it.
Patch notes from November 2001 when it was implemented. THey mentioned about implementing it on PvE servers but it never went that far and was ended a few months later only to reappear in Depths of Darkhollow expansion in a different form.
Project M Implemented:
Tonight we have patched something to the PvP servers that many players have been waiting for. The ability to play that gnoll, orc, or the cute and fuzzy rat. On your character select screen you will notice another button in the upper right part of your screen called "Monster". Clicking this button will randomly place you in a low-level NPC in a random zone. You will be given full control of the creature to do with it what you like. You may hunt and kill other creatures. You may even attack other players.
Some things to remember when playing your own personal monster (NPC).
You will not be able to interact with players or NPC's other than moving and hitting attack.
You cannot speak, trade, sell, or do anything else that a player can do.
You will spawn with normal loot for the monster you are playing and Player Characters will be able to kill you for loot and experience.
If you are a spell casting monster you might want to take a moment to memorize some spells.
Once you die, you will return to the character select screen where you may choose to return as another NPC or play your normal character.
You may gain experience, levels, and skills as this NPC, but once you die, it is all lost. You will need to start over the next time you choose to be a NPC character.
You can't zone as a monster. If you try to cross a zone-boarder you will lose your progress and return to the character-select screen.
Monster PCs (MPCs) can not loot, sell, or gain items. They only get what they start out with.
This ability to play a monster is being implemented for PvP servers only as we have no plans to implement non-consensual PvP on a non PvP server.
However, we are still working with this system. We may find other ways to implement Project M on the non-PvP servers that are acceptable. We aren't done looking at the possible uses of this new feature.
When asked why it didn't work:
"First, Project M didn't fit into the immersive world of EverQuest as players were expertly choosing a random NPC at character select (such as a moss snake). In addition, a small majority of players used Project M as it was intended which introduced a PvP element on PvE servers. As you can imagine, the only people who typically had fun were the cool people and even then it was a short term play-style as players never earned rewards."
Wish I was there for the event. Should of made it to where you could do mid level range mobs also. Would of loved to be a hag in unrest and just snipe people with spells in the tower lol.
