[quote][b]5) Exotic Abilities[/b][/quote]So before we launch into this task of concepting different exotic abilities and evaluating how they'll work out in Destiny, I feel that it's very important to point out that Game Design is not a science. This is good, because it means that we are not constrained to a singular mathematically optimized way of designing games to be fun, but it also means that it's very hard to guarantee the success or failure of any particular mechanic we choose to implement without first prototyping it extensively. As a result I plan to keep my ideas in this section as broad and flexible as possible, as nailing down specific details will only limit the creative process. I'm not here today to say with absolute certainty that any particular ability must or must not be in Destiny for it to be a success, this thread is just a thought experiment to help us set up expectations for the potential of Destiny's exotic sandbox. I hope that the reader will be able to follow my train of thought and understand the mindset I'm using to generate and evaluate these ideas. ____________________________________________________________ Inspired by the example of Closing Time, the original concept for this thread had me designing several different abilities which would work well on an exotic sniper. I soon realized that focusing exclusively on snipers limited my ideas too much, and so I expanded the thread to encompass the entire sandbox, but I kept many of the original ideas I came up with because they brought out different thematic aspects of the sniper fantasy. The first ability that I came up with tried to support the fantasy of a scouting sniper, a Guardian who uses the scope on his sniper rifle to spot enemy forces and call out their positions to the rest of his fire team:[quote]1) Enemies become marked with a temporary team-wide waypoint when spotted through this weapon's sights.[/quote]Knowledge is power, and the information that this ability could provide to a fireteam makes it exotic worthy in my opinion. Though as anyone who has played Halo 3 VIP knows, it really sucks to fight with a perpetual waypoint over your head as your opponents can anticipate your every movement. Striking the right balance between the time it takes for the waypoint to decay when the line of sight is broken and how often a player can be marked with a waypoint is essential for the success of the ability. Now this scouting ability wouldn't work terribly well on a close range weapon like the shotgun because you won't usually find yourself scanning through your sights for an opponent. With a little adaptation though, you could reconfigure the ability to look something like this:[quote]2) Causing damage with this weapon marks the enemy with a temporary personal waypoint.[/quote]Look at how changing a few aspects of the original ability can drastically change the flavor and function of the end result. Rather than being the weapon of choice for a scout, a shotgun with this ability would be favored moreso by a predator who is tracking down his wounded prey. Whenever you change a component of an ability, think about how that impacts the way that people will view and use it. Back to snipers. While I love the design of Closing Time, it doesn't really appeal to me as a sniper because it's simply not dynamic enough for my tastes. I designed the next two abilities to cater to a far more mobile playstyle, a hit and run skirmisher sniper who flanks for a kill before vanishing to a different vantage point to acquire his next target:[quote]3) Kills with this weapon grant temporary cloaking and movement speed.[/quote][quote]4) The last round in a magazine creates a smoke screen on contact.[/quote]As you can see, both these abilities encourage a rapid departure by the player after they've expended their magazine killing enemies. If that's not enough motivation, perhaps increasing the time it takes to reload said sniper would do the trick. The point of these abilities is to create a theme, if players are ignoring that theme to use it as a strictly better sniper, then I feel the exotic isn't working as well as it should be. I'm rather fond of these abilities, and there are many knobs that can be twisted to balance it into the right power level while keeping the thematics intact. Hopefully from these four examples the reader can see how the theme can inform the mechanics or how the mechanics can inform the theme. We refer to these design approaches as top down and bottom up design respectively, and they are frequently used in all aspects of design. ____________________________________________________________ With regards to mechanics that are fun for the sake of being fun, another viable direction of exploration might focus on abilities which heavily manipulate the physics of the game. As Halo's Gravity Hammer has shown us, even a minor (and honestly somewhat gimicky) physics-related ability can lead to surprisingly fun shenanigans and gametypes. I unfortunately haven't had many particularly amazing ideas for abilities that emulate the same sort of chaos that the gravity hammer could cause, but here's a stab in the dark to get the creative juices flowing:[quote]5) Projectiles fired by this weapon are shrouded in a cone of force which lightly repels projectiles, players, and vehicles.[/quote]Are several Guardians spamming grenades at your position? Simply fire a rocket from a weapon possessing this ability and sweep them all back towards their source! Is that Pike idling too close to a cliff? Give him a quick push to his death! I strongly feel that there are a diversity of players who will play this game for many reasons, and I don't believe that every exotic needs to be catered to be useful in the most hardcore of Crucible or Raid experiences. If the ability is fun without being terribly annoying or obnoxious, I feel that it would ultimately be a harmless addition to the game. It can sometimes be a fine line to balance, but that's why extensive prototyping and testing is required to ensure that these abilities are a good choice for the game's health. ____________________________________________________________ It's hard to talk about weapon abilities without eventually mentioning elemental effects. So far there are three elemental types in Destiny: Solar, Arc, and Void, and they've appeared on many sub-exotic weapons in the Alpha and are baked into the core identities of every Guardian subclass. But with regards to exotics, I feel that the trope of an elemental weapon needs to be kicked up a notch to be truly considered exotic. Shooting fire, electricity, or emptiness for the sake of shooting fire, electricity, or emptiness is well and good, but as I've said previously about Thunderlord, in my mind exotic weapons should aspire to a higher fantasy and cohesion than simply just being more damaging versions of their sub-exotic counterparts. That's not to say that exotic elemental weapons shouldn't be pursued, it's just that if you're going to do the fantasy justice, then you should add serious thematic utility to complement the elemental damage. For example, consider the following abilities for Arc, Solar, and Void weapons respectively:[quote]6) Precision kills with this weapon deals bonus arc damage to nearby enemies.[/quote][quote]7) The last round in a magazine creates a blinding flash when fired.[/quote][quote]8) Causing damage with this weapon dampens the target's auditory senses.[/quote]Trying to come up with effects which complement the theme of a given element goes a long ways towards achieving a more satisfying experience overall. It takes a lot of extra effort, but it helps your game to avoid the all too common trap of becoming a glorified rock paper scissors match of elemental damage and resistances. ____________________________________________________________ As much as I'd love to go hyper in depth with numerous more ideas I have, it's time to start bringing this thread to a close. [b]Destiny Speculation: Exotic Abilities continues on the next post. [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/65973172]Please click this Hyperlink to continue reading![/url][/b] [spoiler][b]Table of Contents 1) [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/65973135/0/0]Introduction[/url] 2) [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/65973146]Closing Time: a Case Study[/url] 3) [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/65973153] A Brief Intermission and Apology[/url] 4) [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/65973163]25 Sub-Exotic Abilities from the Alpha[/url] 5) >> Exotic Abilities << 6) [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/65973172]Epilogue[/url][/b][/spoiler]