I don't think I'm underestimating any fictional scientists. So you have a character that's smarter than the entire population of Earth. Okay then, some of my NPCs are smarter than the population of five Earths. Or maybe the thing they have many resources, as many are as available-- but not all the resources needed to accomplish this goal are available.
What stops characters like that from finding a way to develop interdimensional travel in their own canons, or in games already? Canon I can't say, but in games, when you boil it down-- nothing but the mods saying "no" or "not now" or "it wouldn't work like that in this setting". These characters already exist in games where interdimensional travel is clearly possible but inaccessible to the characters, either because the mods have put something in mechanically that makes it impossible, or have just straight up said they won't be able to do it, with no deeper explanation. Maybe there are power nerfs in play. These are all possibilities here as well.
But yeah that is effectively what I want to create. I want to have faith in the player base that they'll want to play in the game and not find every way to break it. Maybe that's foolish of me, but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And I want to be able to say, hey characters can absolutely look into these options in their free time, they'll be given resources, there will be downtime, and that the setting overall will make that the most appealing option over all others.
So maybe that could become an arc of the game for a while too, and I'd be alright with that, if that's the way it goes. I think I'd still be in a position to set the pace and the ultimate outcome so that we don't hit endgame in three months and everyone goes home, but there's no reason that some of the missions can't be actively trying to get all these poor people home who don't really want to be there. That's absolutely something Space Greenpeace would be all about.
But maybe I'm also misunderstanding the problem other people have with the "gotta go home" conundrum. My understanding of the problem is that it's less about characters wanting to go home, and more a matter of fixation. That it becomes a huge thing in game. I don't want to take it off the table, I just want to put it in a position where it doesn't interfere with gameplay.
It's something that does bug me too, but particularly because it's an IC problem that has no satisfying IC answer. I think it's going to be something that always exists, I've even seen it in world destruction games so even that won't curtail it entirely. If telling people they literally have no home to go back to won't stop them, maybe the answer is not to try and stop them but to go with them. Just make it so that the most appealing option for doing that is the one that keeps them within the setting of the game.
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What stops characters like that from finding a way to develop interdimensional travel in their own canons, or in games already? Canon I can't say, but in games, when you boil it down-- nothing but the mods saying "no" or "not now" or "it wouldn't work like that in this setting". These characters already exist in games where interdimensional travel is clearly possible but inaccessible to the characters, either because the mods have put something in mechanically that makes it impossible, or have just straight up said they won't be able to do it, with no deeper explanation. Maybe there are power nerfs in play. These are all possibilities here as well.
But yeah that is effectively what I want to create. I want to have faith in the player base that they'll want to play in the game and not find every way to break it. Maybe that's foolish of me, but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And I want to be able to say, hey characters can absolutely look into these options in their free time, they'll be given resources, there will be downtime, and that the setting overall will make that the most appealing option over all others.
So maybe that could become an arc of the game for a while too, and I'd be alright with that, if that's the way it goes. I think I'd still be in a position to set the pace and the ultimate outcome so that we don't hit endgame in three months and everyone goes home, but there's no reason that some of the missions can't be actively trying to get all these poor people home who don't really want to be there. That's absolutely something Space Greenpeace would be all about.
But maybe I'm also misunderstanding the problem other people have with the "gotta go home" conundrum. My understanding of the problem is that it's less about characters wanting to go home, and more a matter of fixation. That it becomes a huge thing in game. I don't want to take it off the table, I just want to put it in a position where it doesn't interfere with gameplay.
It's something that does bug me too, but particularly because it's an IC problem that has no satisfying IC answer. I think it's going to be something that always exists, I've even seen it in world destruction games so even that won't curtail it entirely. If telling people they literally have no home to go back to won't stop them, maybe the answer is not to try and stop them but to go with them. Just make it so that the most appealing option for doing that is the one that keeps them within the setting of the game.