Perpetually Static: Difference between revisions

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# Every [[NPC]] that has a permanent role and a part in the plot is immune to death or otherwise being unable to return to said role.
# Every [[NPC]] that has a permanent role and a part in the plot is immune to death or otherwise being unable to return to said role.
# Every organization with a public face that exists when you start the game will continue to exist no matter what. Kingdoms never fall and companies never go out of business.
# Every organization with a public face that exists when you start the game will continue to exist no matter what. Kingdoms never fall and companies never go out of business.
# There will never be any sort of large geological change. Will that [[Floating Continent]] with the horde of baddies [[No Ontological Inertia|fall after you defeat the dark lord?]] Nope. Will the underground ruins [[Sealed Evil in A Can|sealing off the evil god]] [[Load-Bearing Boss|crumble after you defeat it]] (or probably just seal it off some more)? Nope.
# There will never be any sort of large geological change. Will that [[Floating Continent]] with the horde of baddies [[No Ontological Inertia|fall after you defeat the dark lord?]] Nope. Will the underground ruins [[Sealed Evil in a Can|sealing off the evil god]] [[Load-Bearing Boss|crumble after you defeat it]] (or probably just seal it off some more)? Nope.
# On a similar note, any faction's general outward attitudes will never change during the plot. If they're at war with another faction, they will [[Nineteen Eighty-Four|always be at war]] with that faction.
# On a similar note, any faction's general outward attitudes will never change during the plot. If they're at war with another faction, they will [[Nineteen Eighty-Four|always be at war]] with that faction.
# Similar to the above is that the whole world is at a [[Enforced Cold War|stalemate.]] Will the orcs that have a hideout within less than a mile of the kingdom ever make an attempt to invade? Not in any way where they could possibly succeed or be completely driven out.
# Similar to the above is that the whole world is at a [[Enforced Cold War|stalemate.]] Will the orcs that have a hideout within less than a mile of the kingdom ever make an attempt to invade? Not in any way where they could possibly succeed or be completely driven out.
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== [[MMORPG|MMORPGs]] ==
== [[MMORPG|MMORPGs]] ==
* ''[[Final Fantasy XI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XI]]'' takes this to its logical extreme. While the Conquest system means that imbalance in the nationalities of [[Player Character|Player Characters]] fighting in some regions can lead to those regions changing hands, and there have been attempts to add more spontaneity through Besieged and Campaign, all are still zero sum games in that no permanent changes happen regardless of their outcomes.
* ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' takes this to its logical extreme. While the Conquest system means that imbalance in the nationalities of [[Player Character|Player Characters]] fighting in some regions can lead to those regions changing hands, and there have been attempts to add more spontaneity through Besieged and Campaign, all are still zero sum games in that no permanent changes happen regardless of their outcomes.
** Story Rule 2 is taken to extremes in ''Treasures of Aht Urghan''. It may be annoying that if an NPC there is at least ''somewhat'' competent, you'll be treated like a slab of muscle with the IQ of a turnip... but it's even more annoying when ''[[Idiot Ball|your character's actions actually reflect this]]''. Obviously the author had never heard of the saying, "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."
** Story Rule 2 is taken to extremes in ''Treasures of Aht Urghan''. It may be annoying that if an NPC there is at least ''somewhat'' competent, you'll be treated like a slab of muscle with the IQ of a turnip... but it's even more annoying when ''[[Idiot Ball|your character's actions actually reflect this]]''. Obviously the author had never heard of the saying, "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."
** An interesting consequence occurs from Story Rule 5 due to the extremely plot-heavy nature of ''FFXI'': All events over the course of the game (with the exception of the Crystal War, experienced only through time travel) are effectively contemporary to each other, with linearity only occurring along the course of specific sets of quests or missions. Short-term changes are allowed for the sake of plot development, with a return to a reasonable facsimilie of the status quo by the end. This can sometimes cause oddities not just for the player but for important NPCs, such as Minister Ajido-Marujido representing Windurst in national diplomacy {{spoiler|while under investigation for treason--or possibly even '''while being incarcerated for it'''}}.
** An interesting consequence occurs from Story Rule 5 due to the extremely plot-heavy nature of ''FFXI'': All events over the course of the game (with the exception of the Crystal War, experienced only through time travel) are effectively contemporary to each other, with linearity only occurring along the course of specific sets of quests or missions. Short-term changes are allowed for the sake of plot development, with a return to a reasonable facsimilie of the status quo by the end. This can sometimes cause oddities not just for the player but for important NPCs, such as Minister Ajido-Marujido representing Windurst in national diplomacy {{spoiler|while under investigation for treason--or possibly even '''while being incarcerated for it'''}}.
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* ''[[Asherons Call|Asheron's Call]]'' illustrated why this is almost necessary for MMORPGs. For the main plot event of one month, characters were left with one crystal keeping [[Big Bad]] in check. Great rewards were given to those who destroyed the crystal and set him free. However, players were also empowered to fight each other and defend the crystal. In most servers a half-hearted defense was mounted and the crystal was quickly destroyed, but in one, they were able to mount a round-the-clock vigilant defense. Unfortunately [[Off the Rails|the developers had expected the crystal to be destroyed for plot purposes]], and thus were forced to intervene to keep all of the servers on the same page. Never let the players have control of the plot.
* ''[[Asherons Call|Asheron's Call]]'' illustrated why this is almost necessary for MMORPGs. For the main plot event of one month, characters were left with one crystal keeping [[Big Bad]] in check. Great rewards were given to those who destroyed the crystal and set him free. However, players were also empowered to fight each other and defend the crystal. In most servers a half-hearted defense was mounted and the crystal was quickly destroyed, but in one, they were able to mount a round-the-clock vigilant defense. Unfortunately [[Off the Rails|the developers had expected the crystal to be destroyed for plot purposes]], and thus were forced to intervene to keep all of the servers on the same page. Never let the players have control of the plot.
** I think an alternative lesson to be learned here is "Plan for all eventualities". Or: "Don't pretend to give people control without something to back it up". No point blaming the players for playing the game.
** I think an alternative lesson to be learned here is "Plan for all eventualities". Or: "Don't pretend to give people control without something to back it up". No point blaming the players for playing the game.
* [[Bio Ware]] is trying desperately to avert this with their upcoming Star Wars MMOG ''[[Knights of the Old Republic|The Old Republic]]'' by adding unique storylines that change depending on player class, alignment, and faction, and even adding NPC party members. Many gamers remain skeptic.
* [[BioWare]] is trying desperately to avert this with their upcoming Star Wars MMOG ''[[Knights of the Old Republic|The Old Republic]]'' by adding unique storylines that change depending on player class, alignment, and faction, and even adding NPC party members. Many gamers remain skeptic.
* ''[[Perfect World]] Online'' has a rather more malleable world than most, with player guilds being able to take and lose territories if they are strong enough. However, there isn't much of an overarching plot for this chaos to mess up.
* ''[[Perfect World]] Online'' has a rather more malleable world than most, with player guilds being able to take and lose territories if they are strong enough. However, there isn't much of an overarching plot for this chaos to mess up.
* ''[[Guild Wars]]'' easily averts this by meshing its MMORPG with a single-player RPG's plot structure and geography, just with a lot more sidequests and side areas and other players to team up with (the plot pretends you have the same team the whole game). The only real side effect is that with the exception of the Searing (which transforms the tutorial areas into the start of the main game), you can freely move backward in time by just visiting an earlier area--everything will be as if all plot points since then never happened (including [[Face Heel Turn|Face Heel Turners]] chatting amicably rather than stabbing you) and there will often be no logical way you could've gotten back there, storywise (since a large part of the plot was getting OUT of Ascalon, how did I just get back from that desert island into a fort in the middle of it?).
* ''[[Guild Wars]]'' easily averts this by meshing its MMORPG with a single-player RPG's plot structure and geography, just with a lot more sidequests and side areas and other players to team up with (the plot pretends you have the same team the whole game). The only real side effect is that with the exception of the Searing (which transforms the tutorial areas into the start of the main game), you can freely move backward in time by just visiting an earlier area--everything will be as if all plot points since then never happened (including [[Face Heel Turn|Face Heel Turners]] chatting amicably rather than stabbing you) and there will often be no logical way you could've gotten back there, storywise (since a large part of the plot was getting OUT of Ascalon, how did I just get back from that desert island into a fort in the middle of it?).
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** Fought furiously by ''[[Nexus War]]'', the [[Fan Sequel]] to [[Urban Dead]]. The game usually managed to avoid this due to its status as an open beta - there was usually a good explanation for anything the PCs could do, and the regular infusion of new stuff shook up the gamemap on a continual basis. All of that came to a halt when the developer was contractually forced into stopping the updates. Rather than submit to this trope, he took the game [[Off the Rails]] for an epic finale.
** Fought furiously by ''[[Nexus War]]'', the [[Fan Sequel]] to [[Urban Dead]]. The game usually managed to avoid this due to its status as an open beta - there was usually a good explanation for anything the PCs could do, and the regular infusion of new stuff shook up the gamemap on a continual basis. All of that came to a halt when the developer was contractually forced into stopping the updates. Rather than submit to this trope, he took the game [[Off the Rails]] for an epic finale.
** Averted even more in ''[[Shintolin]]'', where every building, weapon, and slice of huckleberry pie is player-created, mighty empires rise and fall, the Glyph of Marquai was carved into a forest, and so on.
** Averted even more in ''[[Shintolin]]'', where every building, weapon, and slice of huckleberry pie is player-created, mighty empires rise and fall, the Glyph of Marquai was carved into a forest, and so on.
* Averted by a one time glitch in ''[[Planet Side]]'' that allowed one team's main base to be captured, effectively eliminating the faction from the server (as romanticized [http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/09/05/planetside-the-1/ here] ).
* Averted by a one time glitch in ''[[PlanetSide]]'' that allowed one team's main base to be captured, effectively eliminating the faction from the server (as romanticized [http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/09/05/planetside-the-1/ here] ).
* ''[[The Lord of the Rings Online (Video Game)|The Lord of the Rings Online]]'' started as fully embracing this trope, as the main storyline is tied to the story of the Fellowship. Each Region is locked in time, so it's always September 3018 in the Shire, December 3018 in Rivendell, February 3019 in Lothlorien etc. As a result, many characters can appear in different locations simultaneously - because they are also in different time periods, sometimes down to a specific date assigned to the room they're in. Any missions taking place on landscape as opposed to dungeons were actually set in instanced spaces designed to look like open world, with the world itself unchanged by your actions. The part of the story you're supposed to affect lived to the trope as well: characters who died or permanently moved away were simply hidden behind suddenly impassible doors, locations you supposedly cleared of enemies were still crawling with mooks and Big Bads of group instances could be defeated repeatedly even despite sometimes surviving and opposing you in encounters later down the storyline as well. Lately, however, the designers have been experimenting with Phasing to a great effect: characters in open world can now appear and disappear by moving along the landscape with you or even be [[Killed Off for Real]] and the world itself can be affected by your actions, so the village being burned or overrun by brigands can be freed and rebuild after you save it - while other people walking around see different things depending on their own progress. This feature, however, is only implemented in recently added regions of Enedwaith, Dunland and Isengard, while the rest of the world still employs static rules. While developers have expressed their desire to eventually bring the rest of the world to date, it's admittedly not of the top priority.
* ''[[The Lord of the Rings Online]]'' started as fully embracing this trope, as the main storyline is tied to the story of the Fellowship. Each Region is locked in time, so it's always September 3018 in the Shire, December 3018 in Rivendell, February 3019 in Lothlorien etc. As a result, many characters can appear in different locations simultaneously - because they are also in different time periods, sometimes down to a specific date assigned to the room they're in. Any missions taking place on landscape as opposed to dungeons were actually set in instanced spaces designed to look like open world, with the world itself unchanged by your actions. The part of the story you're supposed to affect lived to the trope as well: characters who died or permanently moved away were simply hidden behind suddenly impassible doors, locations you supposedly cleared of enemies were still crawling with mooks and Big Bads of group instances could be defeated repeatedly even despite sometimes surviving and opposing you in encounters later down the storyline as well. Lately, however, the designers have been experimenting with Phasing to a great effect: characters in open world can now appear and disappear by moving along the landscape with you or even be [[Killed Off for Real]] and the world itself can be affected by your actions, so the village being burned or overrun by brigands can be freed and rebuild after you save it - while other people walking around see different things depending on their own progress. This feature, however, is only implemented in recently added regions of Enedwaith, Dunland and Isengard, while the rest of the world still employs static rules. While developers have expressed their desire to eventually bring the rest of the world to date, it's admittedly not of the top priority.
* Averted in ''[[Dungeons and Dragons Online (Video Game)|Dungeons and Dragons Online]]'', where the starting area changes in appearance on a player-by-player basis once you've completed its main quest line.
* Averted in ''[[Dungeons and Dragons Online]]'', where the starting area changes in appearance on a player-by-player basis once you've completed its main quest line.
* Some mild aversions in ''[[Star Trek Online]]'' to certain aspects of this. Specifically:
* Some mild aversions in ''[[Star Trek Online]]'' to certain aspects of this. Specifically:
** Several NPCs have moved on or been promoted, much like the players (Commander Akira Sulu being a notable example.)
** Several NPCs have moved on or been promoted, much like the players (Commander Akira Sulu being a notable example.)
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*** Confirmed, sort of. For the one-year anniversary of the game, Q arrived on the station, decided it didn't look right for a party, and altered it, making it look smoother and revamping the interior entirely. So the station wasn't destroyed, and wasn't completely replaced, but it WAS changed massively.
*** Confirmed, sort of. For the one-year anniversary of the game, Q arrived on the station, decided it didn't look right for a party, and altered it, making it look smoother and revamping the interior entirely. So the station wasn't destroyed, and wasn't completely replaced, but it WAS changed massively.
** As your character levels up and the threats become more dire, there's progress made in relations with certain other factions. In Gamma Orionis sector (Borg space), the Klingons and Federation have called a truce because they realize it's to their mutual benefit to keep the Borg from interfering in their war. As missions in the area are completed, there's some noteworthy improvement in Federation-Klingon relations. However, the trope is still played straight in that the war continues to rage for low level characters and in the form of PVP. There has been talk of ending the war since it quickly loses focus to more important issues in the Federation storyline, but nothing confirmed.
** As your character levels up and the threats become more dire, there's progress made in relations with certain other factions. In Gamma Orionis sector (Borg space), the Klingons and Federation have called a truce because they realize it's to their mutual benefit to keep the Borg from interfering in their war. As missions in the area are completed, there's some noteworthy improvement in Federation-Klingon relations. However, the trope is still played straight in that the war continues to rage for low level characters and in the form of PVP. There has been talk of ending the war since it quickly loses focus to more important issues in the Federation storyline, but nothing confirmed.
* Supposedly, ''[[Final Fantasy XIV (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XIV]]'' is geared towards averting this somewhat. But since that game is a truly incomprehensible mess at this time, no one really knows for sure.
* Supposedly, ''[[Final Fantasy XIV]]'' is geared towards averting this somewhat. But since that game is a truly incomprehensible mess at this time, no one really knows for sure.
* ''[[Aion]]'' falls hard into this one, so much so that you wonder why they bothered to set it up that way. The overarching story is that the world of Atreia has been shattered into two halves by the Balaur, resulting in two factions constantly at war, the Elyos and the Asmodians, and both are at war with the Balaur, who only exist in the center of the shattered world. However, the breaking of the world means that the lifeblood of all three races, Aether, is disappearing, and the game goes so far as to state that the constant warfare is ''accelerating'' the loss of Aether, with cataclysmic consequences if the Aether gets too low. What effect does this have on gameplay? ''None at all'' (except for the PvPvE).
* ''[[Aion]]'' falls hard into this one, so much so that you wonder why they bothered to set it up that way. The overarching story is that the world of Atreia has been shattered into two halves by the Balaur, resulting in two factions constantly at war, the Elyos and the Asmodians, and both are at war with the Balaur, who only exist in the center of the shattered world. However, the breaking of the world means that the lifeblood of all three races, Aether, is disappearing, and the game goes so far as to state that the constant warfare is ''accelerating'' the loss of Aether, with cataclysmic consequences if the Aether gets too low. What effect does this have on gameplay? ''None at all'' (except for the PvPvE).
* ''[[Runescape]]'' had this thing going on for years and is still present with the same in-game year (169) being for eternity and majority of NPC folk treat you as the hero. However, about in 2005, permanent character changes were made. For an example, completing a quest may result many NPC s die permanently and there are even a few which are skill-related. Some of the updates (like revenants) were also written into in-game timeline. Also, the player character would also gain some personality which varies per quest or task.
* ''[[Runescape]]'' had this thing going on for years and is still present with the same in-game year (169) being for eternity and majority of NPC folk treat you as the hero. However, about in 2005, permanent character changes were made. For an example, completing a quest may result many NPC s die permanently and there are even a few which are skill-related. Some of the updates (like revenants) were also written into in-game timeline. Also, the player character would also gain some personality which varies per quest or task.
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