Chapter 946: Character Identity
Qian Kun scratched his head. "Let players play as NPCs? Wow, that's a great idea."
Indeed, how could players be confused with NPCs? Since NPCs' intelligence wasn't sufficient to play as players, the only option was to reverse it—let players play as NPCs.
In other words, 24 players would collectively play as over 100 martial arts figures, with only one final victor ascending to the throne of Martial Alliance Leader or Martial Overlord.
Chen Mo continued, "To help players better 'blend in' with NPCs, we need to provide some mechanisms."
"First, remove the voice chat function in the game. Only players in the same team can privately chat, and the content is completely confidential. All interactions between martial arts figures will be automatically handled by the system."
"That means when players encounter each other, the dialogues triggered will follow the exact same rules as when players encounter NPCs. Daily conversations and pleasantries will be entirely handled by AI. When choices need to be made, only the relevant options will be provided to the player."
"When such choices are triggered, players only have a few seconds to decide. Correspondingly, NPCs will also take a random amount of time to react. For example, if a Wudang disciple asks a Shaolin disciple to explore a location together, the Shaolin disciple has 10 seconds to choose from multiple options. After selecting, the corresponding plot dialogue will be automatically triggered, with all dialogue content completed by AI."
"Note that here, the Wudang disciple and Shaolin disciple could both be players or NPCs. If the player doesn't actively reveal their identity, it's impossible to determine their true identity based on game mechanics."
"The above is just one scenario—'disguise.' Relationships between martial arts figures can also be hostile. Players can attack any martial arts figure arbitrarily, whether they are NPCs or players, but doing so comes with consequences. For example, making enemies, being hunted and retaliated against by that sect, and so on."
"Players cannot determine how many of the 24 players remain; they can only know how many of the over 100 martial arts figures are left. When a martial arts figure is killed, if their body is discovered or they go missing for a long time, the news will spread, letting all players know."
"In other words, for players, the core content of this game is:"
"Survive to the end, acquire sufficiently powerful martial arts, and compete for the position of Martial Alliance Leader or Martial Overlord."
"As for the strategies players adopt, there are no restrictions. Players can disguise themselves as NPCs, lie low from start to finish, possess extraordinary skills but look like an ordinary nobody. Or they can boldly reveal their player identity from the start and go on a killing spree against various martial arts figures."
"To help players better achieve the goal of disguising as NPCs, we will provide a comprehensive AI assistance system. For example, when Player A's strength (including internal energy and techniques) far exceeds Player B's, if Player B tries to ambush Player A, even if Player A doesn't notice, their character will automatically perform a dodge action to reduce damage taken. Because, logically, a weakling trying to ambush a highly skilled martial arts master is almost impossible to succeed."
"So in cases of a huge power gap, using force to overcome a stronger opponent won't work. Players must either use life skills, like advanced poisons, or rely on numbers to surround and attack."
"Next is the issue of player identity."
"All players will play as young heroes just starting out, born into a specific sect."
"The sects in the game include: Shaolin, Wudang, Beggar's Sect, Carefree Sect, Emei, Tang Clan, Huashan, Eight Trigrams Sect, Hidden Sword Manor, Five Poison Sect, Heavenly Dragon Sect, and Flower-Shifting Palace."
"Nine righteous sects and three evil sects. A player's sect attribute will be bound to them throughout the game, requiring them to always wear their sect's clothing. In other words, players and NPCs' identities are directly marked throughout the game. When a player acts contrary to their sect's stance, they risk exposure."
"Each sect has initial martial arts and advanced martial arts. When a player contributes enough to their sect, they can learn advanced techniques from their master. Additionally, the map is scattered with various encounters, including martial arts, weapons, special items, etc., with their distribution completely random. Killing a martial arts figure allows the player to loot all their items."
"Next is the player's 'birth rule.' With 12 sects and 24 players, each sect will have 2 players. Players in the same team won't necessarily be assigned to the same sect. As long as one player from a team survives to the end, the entire team wins. That means a team might be split between righteous and evil sects. Whether to follow the righteous or evil path is entirely up to the player."
"Players' initial combat power is completely equal, meaning the initial martial arts of these 12 sects are balanced. However, righteousness and evil cannot coexist. The default goal for righteous sects is the Martial Alliance Leader, while the default goal for evil sects is the Martial Overlord. Righteous and evil sects are unconditionally opposed. Cooperation between them is equivalent to betraying one's sect."
"Players born into righteous sects who want to achieve the Martial Overlord ending (or vice versa) must betray their sect. After the first betrayal, the opposing faction will unconditionally accept them. They can betray again, but then they'll be alone."
"Considering that evil sects only have three factions and are at a disadvantage, the game mechanics will provide corresponding balance."
"First, from the overall game background, the martial world is in turmoil, and all famous righteous sects face crises. For example, the Shaolin Sutra Pavilion is stolen from, the Wudang Sect Leader is poisoned, the Beggar's Sect Leader is missing, and so on. At this time, the Five Poison, Heavenly Dragon, and Flower-Shifting Palace—three major demonic cults—are eyeing the Central Plains martial world, coveting the position of Martial Overlord."
"Players born into righteous sects can not only search for encounters on the map but also complete sect missions. For example, retrieving the stolen sutras for Shaolin rewards them with advanced mental cultivation methods; curing the Wudang Sect Leader's poison rewards them with the Tai Chi Sword Technique, and so on. Meanwhile, evil sect players must do everything possible to cause trouble, such as finding and destroying the herbs that could cure the Wudang Sect Leader. After completing missions, they can also obtain items or demand more advanced martial arts from the demonic cult leaders."
"This righteous-evil opposition is essentially an 'unfair PvP.' The righteous have more people but are scattered and unstable; the evil have fewer people but more minions, can freely use various schemes, and remain hidden, holding the initiative. From a macro perspective, the power of righteous and evil factions is roughly balanced, with the key being the performance of players on both sides."