In-Game News Correspondents: What do you think?

[Malorn]

Invulnerability? So you want to give each empire an invulnerable spy/scout that they can send anywhere to get intel? That's a very poor idea and what I was referring to about potential for abuse.

You want to report and not do anything else? Infiltration suit. Stay cloaked the entire time, don't fight and your deaths will be minimal.

They don't need to change the game one bit to enable in-game news correspondants for fan sites. Infiltrator opens the door for them. Sure they'll die a few times and that shouldn't really impact their story in a significant way. If they missed something they can ask other people who were alive at the time.

[Stardouser]

Originally Posted by Malorn

Invulnerability? So you want to give each empire an invulnerable spy/scout that they can send anywhere to get intel? That's a very poor idea and what I was referring to about potential for abuse.

You want to report and not do anything else? Infiltration suit. Stay cloaked the entire time, don't fight and your deaths will be minimal.

They don't need to change the game one bit to enable in-game news correspondants for fan sites. Infiltrator opens the door for them. Sure they'll die a few times and that shouldn't really impact their story in a significant way. If they missed something they can ask other people who were alive at the time.

Please re-read what I said. They can't go anywhere unless a live player from their assigned empire is already there. Bolded for your quick review:

Alrighty, I guess I need to put more thought into this instead of just assuming we would trust the devs to figure it out. To that end, then:
Has a physical avatar that is visible to all nearby, and cannot be killed, but is attached to a specific empire. Cannot go anywhere where that empire does not have at least 1 player. Thus, they cannot ghost the enemy. Only their assigned empire.
This, by the way, would mean that there would be 3 assigned reporters per server, one per empire.

The purpose of giving him a physical avatar instead of a complete ghost like in my original post is SO that everyone can see him.

[Malorn]

It doesn't matter, they don't need it.

[Vancha]

Originally Posted by Malorn

they don't need it.

Lots of things aren't needed, that's not a valid reason for their non-existence.

[Malorn]

Originally Posted by Vancha

Lots of things aren't needed, that's not a valid reason for their non-existence.

There is so much fail in that statement that I just don't know where to begin.

[Vancha]

Originally Posted by Malorn

There is so much fail in that statement that I just don't know where to begin.

I go out of my way to express my thoughts politely and that's what I get. Thank you Mal, you brightened up my day.

[Garem]

I'm 100% against any "mechanical" changes to make war correspondents work.

I'm very much in favor of any systemic ways of reporting battles and the lore that will inevitably rise from a game as awesome as PS2 ought to be. And I look forward to putting my writing to use for such a purpose, either with the player-run projects happening or somehow else.

[Lonehunter]

Stardouser I understand your mechanic but still agree with Malorn. You're intention is to not let this reporter into an area unless it's occupied by a friendly right? So now you have to implement zone walls just for this reporter. That's a huge deal in Planetside when the only zone wall is over the ocean, even if that where possible. He can STILL relay vital information, that's the problem with live reporting. Doing it as a cloaker is one thing, but any special perks I'm starting to think can't work. Any reporter with invulnerability or special perks would have to be done by SOE

[Stardouser]

Originally Posted by Lonehunter

Stardouser I understand your mechanic but still agree with Malorn. You're intention is to not let this reporter into an area unless it's occupied by a friendly right? So now you have to implement zone walls just for this reporter. That's a huge deal in Planetside when the only zone wall is over the ocean, even if that where possible. He can STILL relay vital information, that's the problem with live reporting. Doing it as a cloaker is one thing, but any special perks I'm starting to think can't work. Any reporter with invulnerability or special perks would have to be done by SOE

OK, then we go back to ghosting, except now he can only ghost a single empire's players. The very mechanic of ghosting means your view is locked to within a few feet of the player you're locked on to, so that won't require zone walls.

Instead of trying to think of ways to make it work, you guys are concentrating on saying it can't. Malorn I understand, because having read his manifesto and as a commander, he sees this as a security risk and, no matter what's done to reduce it, he has evaluated it, decided that since he wouldn't stoop to exploiting it(which, if it's single empire ghosting, it very nearly cannot be exploited), he wants it totally exterminated to avoid even a 1 in a billion chance of it being exploited.

[Lonehunter]

I just don't think I can really get what I'm implying in text clearly or something.
Edit: I'm just gonna try to not comment much more

Originally Posted by Stardouser

...to avoid even a 1 in a billion chance of it being exploited.

If it can be exploited, it'll be a lot more common then you think

I've all ready mentioned I'd like to see this work, it would be awesome for the community. I just worry about the potential for exploitation.

[Graywolves]

I wouldn't mind giving 3rd person war updates occasionally.

[Stardouser]

Originally Posted by Lonehunter

I just don't think I can't really get what I'm implying in text clearly or something.

"Ghosting" wouldn't be a problem, that's just spectating. But if you give anyone invisibility, invulnerability, flying, what ever, it will be exploited.


If said bonuses are in, it's not 1 in a billion

So ghosting/spectating isn't a problem then, especially if limited to one empire only? OK, I guess we're all set.

The only bonus could be that if the person you are ghosting dies, you can remain on his death spot a few more minutes before you spectate someone else, that way to get uninterrupted recordings of the battle.

That's not much different than a dead player sitting there a few minutes waiting for a revive.

[CutterJohn]

I can't decide if people worried about someone giving intel away have ever actually played PS1... Intel about individual units was almost worthless. Its not like real life, where months of planning can be upset by a secret being spilled. If you're severely unlucky, 5 minutes of planning can be upset, and then you respawn and change your plans.

[Malorn]

Originally Posted by CutterJohn

I can't decide if people worried about someone giving intel away have ever actually played PS1... Intel about individual units was almost worthless. Its not like real life, where months of planning can be upset by a secret being spilled. If you're severely unlucky, 5 minutes of planning can be upset, and then you respawn and change your plans.

In PS1 15 seconds of intel could mean the difference between a successful gal drop & resecure vs a killfarm.

[CuddlyChud]

Didn't someone in Planetside 1 try to do this? I vaguely remember there being some sort of news project along those lines, where people wrote about the more memorable battles. I don't think it would do well though, since unlike in EVE there's nothing deeper than the battle, and in order to capture the interesting part of it you'd kinda need to know everything that happened, not just one person's perceptive.