*Discussion* What is your pimary focus/objective when playing offline?

[Legacy__Guile]

               A lot of players play offline / single player modules, therefore I'd like to know what your primary focus is when playing offline...

Do you seek to become powerful or advance your character in levels?

Do you seek to just beat the game, e.g., follow the plot to complete all of the quests/plots...?

The reason I ask is because everyone plays the game differently I suppose, and I'd like to build a single player module (my first) for the community, though, I wanted to make it focused on what player's intend to do mainly while playing offline, instead of just making a broadened focused module that follows a particular style, I'd like to incorporate multiple styles & focuses into the game, that way it's not so linear in the extreme.


Discuss...
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Bannor Bloodfist]

               1) Fill my time
2) Exploration
3) Advance the character to some extent, preferably be somewhere around 10-15 to start, and finish at whatever level is required for the final boss scene.
4) Follow the story, hopefully an engaging one.
5) Finish all side plots before final plot scene.

Those are just the overall things to do, not necessarily in a particular order, just things that I look for.  

if the story is too boring, too predictable, and if the areas that are there to explore are too boring, the rest of the goals are worthless as I will not likely finish the mod.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_jmlzemaggo]

               

_Guile wrote...
I'd like to build a single player module (my first) for the community

Build it for yourself. The only way to build it for us. 
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_WebShaman]

               I play to have fun.  I also normally prefer to play PWs that I have modified for SP play (because most PWs are "open end").
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_NWVaultQSW]

               |Depends on my mood really. Sometimes I play with a powerful PC so I can have a challenging high level fight; normally when I want to get frustrations out!

Most of the time, I play because I want to be engaged, in a story, in battles that make sense. If I play a lvl 1 mod, I want to be able to customise my PC, I want to see interesting items that I aspire to own...and will need to use later on in the game. I enjoy cutscenes, but only those that move the story along...and I want the option to exit those cutscenes. The wors thing you can do to me as a player is force me to watch or say something I don't want to.

Visually the module should be stimulating. You don't have to use custom tilesets, but if you don't, then you'll need to be creative with your areas. Atention to detail is important to me, I gain as much enjoyment examining all sorts of placeables and item descriptions.

That's what fun means to me...well, I'm sure there are other things, but my fingers are itching to hold a cuppa right now '>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Mystery X]

               I like leveling up.  Not necessarily becoming more powerful; just advancing my character.

Of course, the plot is important too.  I don't look at it so much as "beating the game."  But I want my character- through the choices I make- to make a meaningful difference in the world.

The formulae for the official campaigns is a good one.  Have a great overall story, multiple paths to achieve goals (good / evil options, strength / finesse options, roleplaying choices), and steady level advancement.

The one tweak to the formula, though, would be less level advancement through grinding through lots of easy combats, and more toward gearing each combat to be tough, with level advancement regulated through higher rewards for each combat or significant rewards for plot advancement.  (Aielund does this pretty well- fewer overall combats, but none are easy, and level advancement is fairly rapid because of increase xp from the combats and big plot bonus xp.)

It's probably harder to make a module that can potentially take a character through many levels rather than a few, but if you can pull off something that allows for more advancement, that's a plus.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_HipMaestro]

               I enjoy innovation best. 

For me, combat is combat, some tougher than others, but essentially the same dynamic in most modules.   Padding a small poignant well-conceived formula into an unnecessarily tedious adventure is a turn-off.  Best to just leave it stand on its innate merit.

Naturally, a brand new, immersive tale is worth a lot but am equally impressed by an author who finds a unique way to tell a classic tale in the NWN style. 

I prefer content that melds the development of combat effectiveness with environment-specific resourcefulness.  There is a lot of value in being able to interact in every nook and cranny of any portion of the adventure. The best modules are those that encourage replay-ability in order for a player to "fine tune" a PC to most fully experience all the author provided.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par HipMaestro, 29 septembre 2011 - 10:34 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_bokhi]

               Plot and characterization. I want to play through a story that draws me in and keeps me until the very end. Character development of the NPCs are a must (though romances are not). Aside from that, I enjoy exploring a new world with it's own lore, and I do have a tendency to seek out and complete all sidequests (perfectionist, can't help it). Not too big on loot, but do appreciate unique items that are tied into that particular world (as a part of the world-building).

On the more technical side: presentation counts. Shoddy grammar and spelling are immediate turn offs. Areas should be interesting and well-made (or at least made thoughtfully so the terrain has some sort of logic to it); I don't mind a lack of custom haks, and in fact, often prefer it. Gigantic empty areas are a huge pet peeve, largely because I, once more, feel the irresistible urge to explore all blackened areas on the map. Music should be atmospheric but non-interfering. Combat should be balanced but challenging enough and integrated into the storyline.

With all that being said, I have to agree with jmlzemaggo: first and foremost, you should build for yourself. You can't please everyone, so you may as well please yourself; once that's done, others with similar tastes will likely follow.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MingWolf]

               I play SP modules like I'm reading a book.  I want to become immersed in some beautiful crafted work of narrative and lose myself for a time.  

I prefer combat with moderation.  I get tired of modules that consist of box after box of pure dialogue with no walk for talk.  I also get tired of an excessive kill-counts that tops even Diablo 2.  

I prefer to complete all side quests and provided main plots so long as there are not too many detracting my attention.  I don't mind open-ended worlds, though I prefer to have a bit of linearity when a story is told.  

I like having a world to explore and new characters to meet as long as it all makes sense.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MrPenfold6666]

               i aim to beat it in the most amsuing way possible. like beat the final boss with a paladin in blood sailers uniform '>