My main concern for Adventure mode (And potentially factions)

[Kriegson]

Will the playerbase be able to support it?

Lets not beat around the bush, we're a small niche community. If the maps are too expansive and the factions too numerous, you might end up with a handful of ships per faction, which based around the mechanics that are supposed to power the economy, may not be enough to make the world-go-round so to speak.

Your thoughts?

[Skrimskraw]

valid question you have.

I'd rather have the choice between 2 and have a lot on each, instead of ending up like the mid-lvl planets in swtor, no one was on them.

[Kriegson]

Personally I prefer 3, that way conflicts are never entirely one sided as the other two can join against the stronger.

[Mill Wilkinson]

If the  playerbase is a problem, vut the map in half and yell "have at!".
Even while it'd hurt to lose the option to play a Fjordlander, the western side of the map would be more suited for starting th e adventure mode.

Unless you can be a fjordlander, even if cosmetic, and be just restricted to the western side of the map with the Yeshans and angleans and whatnot.

[HamsterIV]

I thought the Adventure mode was going to be instance based like Left 4 Dead. So if a player identifies with the Ashari league they can still join a Chaladon vs Baronies instance on either side but will not help or harm their faction. It would be silly to align yourself with a faction and instantly loose access to 5/6ths of the game's content.

[awkm]

Don't worry.  We are of course designing a system that will be scalable based on our player base.  It's so important that it is being designed right into the systems themselves from square one.  In regards to the number of factions, we're pretty set on what we have now.  Again, it will be designed to a point where each will feel populated.

[Dev Bubbles]

Also, just keep in mind that we're looking to design something that can support a large player population, after all that's what we all want right?  And if we want that, we have to design for it.  The flip side is we design for a few hundred concurrent, and we have a bunch of concurrents, then we're in trouble just the same  

Also, to Hamster's point, with factions, the choice is yours, so it's hopefully more dynamic than just you picking a faction and call it a day. 

Thanks! 

[HamsterIV]

Have you guys made the decision between instanced play sessions vs persistent play sessions? The instanced example was just a guess/wild speculation.

[MasX]

Sounds good cant wait

[Sennan Farguard IV]

I hate to resurrect an old thread, though it's still on the front page here in the World section, but I have some insight into this specific topic based on my experience in another game with a smaller player-base and it may keep some of the newer players around.

I was an avid VTOL pilot in MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf. In the multiplayer Conquest mode, the Inner Sphere factions were each given a set of planets at the start, and factions fought for control of further systems via CTF/deathmatch (each system had a gametype specifically chosen for it). Five factions existed, and the player-base, though small, seemed quite stable and actually increased slightly after the initial mass exodus from the game. The release of the Xbox 360 doomed the multiplayer aspect of the game almost entirely, but I wouldn't worry about that scenario for GoIO. Lots of PC exposure seems to really be effectively getting the word out to players, and as soon as the influx of trolls and miscreants die down, I think we'll enjoy a stable community that increases gradually.

[Squidslinger Gilder]

valid question you have.

I'd rather have the choice between 2 and have a lot on each, instead of ending up like the mid-lvl planets in swtor, no one was on them.

That wasn't why mid level worlds in SWTOR got empty at times. That was all due to the fact that people have the attention spans of only a few hours. It is enough to do the starting areas and homeworlds but after that they see something shiny and go off. Add the fact that some of the mid level worlds aren't that interesting and you have another factor. Plus also to get the full effect of the mid levels, you have to play both sides to see the before and after of both Taris and Balmorra. F2P limitations don't help that as it takes a lot more work to do each world than it should.

I've been a staunch advocate of subs or level 50 legacy folk getting perma double XP then bring F2P xp to normal levels. I'd probably play my alts a lot more often and level up more toons if I had that. Or we at least get double XP monthly.

If AM has the ability to play all the factions or make multiple toons then having 6 factions would be wonderful. But it is difficult. Doing the lore for all 6 factions and storylines is difficult. The VN team has seen how complex it can get since we are developing 6 storylines. I'd suspect that stuff will be minimal in AM. Just the basic idea down and then let the players create it from there.