I noticed that NPCs offer choices but they really are just saying “do you want to do this quest [yes or no]” If you say yes the quest begins if you say no, well nothing happens and you are eventually forced to do the quest.
I think that allowing a player to interact with NPCs and make their own choices will help with questing to some degree. Some players just mindlessly click thru the dialogue and follow the prompts (not a bad thing) and targets on their maps. Imagine for just a moment the following scenario
Player stumbles upon an NPC
NPC says: sir can you please escort me to the town?
Player choice 1: sure I just happen to be headed that way
Outcome= Npc turns out to be town mayor and gives player 10k silver and opens a new quest line that leads to a special weapon
Player choice 2: Not a chance I have enough to worry about
Outcome= NPC is killed, player is later ambushed by the demons that killed the npc. Defeating the demons will get the player 20k silver but the special quest and its weapon are now inaccessible
Player choice 3: yes I will help you but let me finish what I’m doing
Outcome= npc will be saved by player during demon ambush, player receives 1 status point and 15k silver
I would like to offer a suggestion in the form of a story telling concept.
Choose Your Path, Concept where the player has a choice in the dialog with npcs that have benefits as well as consequences. This method of story telling is more interactive for players. A player can go thru the same game with multiple characters (different builds as you intended), while each can still have their own individual experience.
This would not need to be done for every part of the games dialogue (as that would be quite a lot of story writing) but this method of story telling could be used in the following ways:
-adopted for new plots in the game
-used to reward players for heroic acts during their travels
-it can also be developed into a NPC friend system (players who are friends with NPCs can be given Stat benefits like +1 CON or +1 STR)
-it can be a good way to introduce quest but still allow players a choice.
-add humor to the game by adding funny responses for the player to choose from
My hope for this suggestion its the change the reaction of players from
PLAYER1 “yeah I did all the revelation quest for 6 chars in 3 hours”
PLAYER2 “yeah me too, I just click thru and follow the map points” the boss was hard though
to something more like…
PLAYER1 I did the Good Guy Quest but I got 3 hidden quest that gave me a pretty good weapon and 3 additional status points and some silver.
PLAYER2 Really what response did you choose, I chose option 3 (I will help you later) and only got money
PLAYER1 I choose option 1 (ill protect you for a while)
PLAYER2 I will pick that option on my next character
I love your game but I think this suggestion would add yet another dimension to your game’s story telling ability. Any one can tell a story but a story becomes an adventure when the reader gets to truly make decisions that could have consequences that may or may not effect a player throughout that characters lifetime.