SlickRiptide
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Posts
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Power leveling is about the worst reason I can think of for losing the mission creator.
Those people who are power leveling to 50 in two days? They'd be doing the exact same thing out in the game world. It might take them three days because they had to move around a bit.
There's no helping someone like that. I certainly wouldn't hold an extreme Achiever type up as an example of how the game needs to be changed. Those people are the type that only care about hitting max level. They don't care about playing the game. They only care about the number at the end.
And it IS the end, for them, since this game doesn't have a traditional end game.
Those people do not represent a typical player.
To answer the question, though, you'd make a lot of people angry, and a lot of people indifferent, and the end result would be a loss of content without very much overall effect on the other aspects of the game. -
Actually, they DID go back.
That branch of the timestream prevented the Rikti invasion but it created Praetoria.
Every action has consequences. Just ask Oeidpus.
No, this is not serious. For one thing, Praetorian Marcus Cole killed Stefan Richter as I understand the history there. (Has that been ret-conned since GR launched?) Any messing around with time that split Praetoria off from "our" Universe would have to have happened much farther back.
Still, the point is a good one. A world without a Rikti invasion wouldn't necessarily be a happier world. It might just be a world where a different catastrophe occurred. Say, one where my hero achieved absolute power and destroyed everyone and everything but himself...
One thing we know about time in the "City of" universe: You can look at it as a stream or you can look at it as potential. Ubellman is an example of the former. Recluse's Victory and Orobouros are examples of the latter.
I think that the reason we DON'T have a bunch of people meddling directly with the time stream is that the Metaverse meddles back. It isn't as simple as preventing your enemy's parents from meeting, especially if the desired result requires any kind of subtlety. Attempts at gross changes cause equally gross results, or as in the case of Ubellman, are canceled by the actions of others. -
Quote:Keep in mind also, that was the time period when you essentially got penalized for doing missions. Jack and his team expected people to play CoH the same way that people played Everquest at the time. They expected people to wander around killing everything that moved, and camping spawn points and what not. They bought into SOE's old philosophy that quests were for flavor and for easy rewards. Letting people level up on quests was a kind of easy mode cheating. (To their credit, SOE had already been working on changing that attitude within their own ranks for awhile before that.)Originally Posted by Dalantia
A particularly memorable incident I saw was one person, about a week after launch (I0), saying "I ground to 40 in a couple days. Easy game, not much to do except the grind."
*shrug* Yes, they hadn't done any story arcs, any indoor missions, fought any AVs but.. story wasn't particularly important to that person anyway.
That philosophy resulted in a game where grinding on street spawns was the most rewarding kind of play in terms of XP and loot. It directly caused the creation of the hazard zones like old Faultline and Boomtown that were nothing but acres of street spawns. The mission completion bonuses were a small token amount and you were essentially gimping yourself if you played for the story.
There was actually a hullabaloo on the forums when the dev team decided to retune the game and make missions more rewarding and street sweeping a bit less rewarding. There WERE a lot of players who enjoyed that style of play and they didn't want to switch over to playing for the story in order to achieve maximum rewards.
I think a lot of today's players would be rather amazed at what they saw if they could go back in time and experience the "fresh out of the starting gate" version of the game. -
Rick made the initial pitch. Got the ball rolling. Got design started. Then floundered.
Jack was brought in to help. He took over design. He exhibited competence. He was promoted. Rick was let go.
This sort of thing isn't actually all that unusual.
In a way, Dakan was the Woz to Emmert's Steve Jobs.
The fact is that Jack Emmert DID bring the game to a reasonably successful launch and a reasonably successful first year.
He then inexplicably (to us, anyway) put CoH on the back burner in order to pursue other opportunities. This is why he earns such enmity in the community. It's not really that he was blunt about his ideas or unyielding in believing that his ideas were correct and that players were often wrong. He primarily appeared that way because he bothered to engage with players instead of hide in an ivory tower like most game devs of most games do.
His real "crime" was launching a successful game and then apparently abandoning it for no discernable reason.
This is why NCSoft's purchase of the IP and creation of Paragon Studios was the best thing ever to happen to the game. Renewed investment in the dev team and the game.
Whatever you think of Jack, he's not lying when he says "I launched City of Heroes". He did. Without him, it quite possibly would have been shut down by the investors before it made it to launch. That's an alternate universe and therefore unknowable, but it's a definite possibility for how things could have played out. -
It's got to be tough to be a publisher right now.
There are a bunch of games that are just now reaching "ready to launch" stage, that were begun at a time when subscriptions were the accepted way to run a game. After 2-4 years of development, they're ready to launch and the market has changed on them in the meantime.
What do you do in that case?
Personally, at this point the games that I'd be willing to subscribe to is a number that can be counted on a couple of fingers.
I much prefer being able to pick and choose how much content I want. The plain truth is that I don't have tons of money or tons of time. I can't maintain multiple subscriptions and feel like I'm getting value for my money. The biggest problem with subscriptions is that it locks you into that one game to a great extent.
I would prefer it every new game adopted the "buy once, play forever" model. Price it like a console game. Fill the company store with compelling content and make the rest of your money there.
It's funny. There is another game I frequent, which I won't name. I mention it because there's a fellow on the forum for this game. He complains bitterly about what a rip-off this game is BECAUSE HE SPENT SO MUCH MONEY IN THE COMPANY STORE.
That's right. This guy's constant complaint is that he plays a subscription game now and he's spending so much less on the subscription than he spent in the company store for the freemium game in which he had a lifetime membership (so, pay once and full access, no subscription fees). He sees this as the publisher taking advantage of him and victimizing him in some fashion.
It's really a perfect example of how people can spend MORE on a game when they feel they are making a free choice to spend and buy the things they desire instead of being forced into "paying the entrance fee".
I will not be surprised at all if this year and maybe next year are the last that we ever see the launch of a game with a subscription-only based membership. -
Oh, well, the low level game is already so fast at this point that it hardly seems like a desirable thing to speed it up even more.
Maybe they'll just eventually have an option to start as level 22. -
Topic drift appears to have set in, so I guess I might as well play along.
What are these special IO's that are being mentioned? I pre-ordered the electronic version of GR, and I purchased the item pack. I don't recall being handed a bunch of special IO's.
ObF2P:
From what I can see, CoH is already halfway to being a freemium game. Look at all of the things you can already buy that would show up in a NC Coin store:
Extra character slots
Ten different add-on packs
Three different major content areas (Paragon City, Rogue Isles, Praetoria)
Server transfers
Now, look at all of the existing content that could be easily ported to a NC Coin store:
Arena/PvP Zones access
Temporary powers
Mission Architect
Veteran's rewards
Pool Powers
Inherent Powers
Patron/Ancillary Power Pools
Basic Archetypes
Epic Archetypes
Incarnate slot
Powersets
Power Customization
Invention System
Market
Costume Sets
Capes
Auras
And then there's the possibility of apportioning the existing city zones into a set of F2P zones and an ancillary set of "pay to play" zones.
I could imagine a world where they could shut down subscriptions entirely and simply sell access to the current game content ala carte and potentially make as much money as they currently do while still offering a compelling F2P experience. -
Quote:Oh, I agree about the appropriateness. It's just that the original story was about revenge and divine retribution. Jefferson Hope only challenged the guilty parties to make the choice, and he himself did not know which pill was which.Originally Posted by Dr_Darkspeed
Actually, the Princess Bride is known very well over here. However, personally , since the whole 'one poison, one safe' pills thing was in the original Study in Scarlet, it was perfectly fine to include such a scene.
It was the switch of having the killer challenge Holmes himself, along with the manner in which he did it, that brought out comparisons to Vizzini. -
Excerpted from the article linked in Pumbumbler's post:
Quote:This is a lesson that I'd imagine our own devs have learned already, but it's a valuable one. Some F2P models involve starting with a very open game for the non-subscribers, and then retrenched after several months and broadened the free players access in one way while severely limiting it in a different way. The limitations become great enough that they amounted to taking away the F2P portion of the game and replacing it with a kind of trial account."It's obviously easier to put more gates up and take them away than the alternative, whereas if you put free stuff in and then decide to charge for it that's clearly not the way to go," he told Ars. "It gives us a lot of flexibility to adjust based on player feedback."
Needless to say, the players will find this displeasing and the complain and feel betrayed . The only saving grace is that they recently implemented a lifetime subscription at a price that makes it obviously a much better choice than a monthly subscription. Essentially, they've converted the game to the "buy once, play forever" model, while leaving a subscription and/or limited F2P access as an option for anyone who can't bring themselves to pony up the "purchase" price.
That makes the "trial membership" a better business decision that it otherwise had been.
It remains to be seen whether it will erase the bad feelings in the player base. So far, it doesn't look that way.
I'm sure that anybody developing a new freemium model is watching these sorts of experiment closely to see how they pan out.
*EDIT*
I thank I ran afoul of forum regs there. I'll leave it the way it is, and live with the choppiness. Thanks for not deleting outright. -
On another note, I have to agree that when Holmes finally confronts the serial killer, I couldn't help expecting the killer to say "Now it is down to you, and now it is down to me..."
The challenge placed before Holmes is SO much a carbon copy of the same scene in the Princess Bride that it becomes unintentionally funny if you let it. I have to attribute this to the show being a British production, so that "The Princess Bride" isn't the big deal for the British audience as it is for an American audience in which almost all could be expected to be familiar with that scene. It probably felt wonderfully original and apropos to the British writers to have an intellectual duel between Holmes and the killer instead of a physical duel.
Alas, to an American audience, that duel can't help but create echoes of Wesley and Vizzini. It's a tribute to the quality of the program that, for me at least, it managed to rise past that unintentionally comic comparison and keep my interest anyway. -
This is a great take on the Holmes/Watson mythos.
I was skeptical at first, but within five minutes of "A Study in Pink", I was hooked. The producers have really outdone themselves at offering a modern-day re-imagining of Holmes and Watson, while still managing to pay homage to the original material.
Watson, in particular, is correctly portrayed as an able companion to Holmes and a foil that he comes to depend upon very quickly. They do an cute scene in "The Blind Banker" where Holmes introduces Watson to the client as "My friend, Doctor John Watson", at which Watson adds "Colleague, actually", earning a look from Holmes that speaks volumes. ;-)
The stories are brand new, yet they draw upon the originals for recognizable inspiration.
"A Study in Pink" is, obviously, inspired by "A Study in Scarlet". The original story was really two stories in one: The case that brings Holmes and Watson into the mystery, and what amounts to a separate novelette about the story of Jefferson Hope and what drove him to murder.
"A Study in Pink" imagines the case as a straight-forward serial killer, albeit one who seems to convince his victims to commit suicide. The original clues are given new meanings and the last quarter of the case necessarily goes in a different direction entirely than the original.
It speaks volumes that I'm a bit of a purist, despite embracing most of the variants ("Without a Clue" being one of the best) and I thoroughly enjoyed "Sherlock".
The additions are often amusing - As in the original, our first introduction to Holmes has him beating a corpse to determine how long bruises can be caused after death. He gets away with desecrating said corpse because the university coroner is a mousy young woman who has a crush on Holmes; one that he isn't above exploiting when it suits him. It's quite clear that the poor girl is barking up the wrong tree, however.
The show even toys with the idea that Holmes might be gay, though they mostly keep the canon that Holmes is far too dedicated to his work to be interested in such things at all. The gay theme is mostly a comical way to discomfit Watson for a while as many people imagine that two men taking up residence together must be a couple, and as Seinfeld would put it, "not that there's anything wrong with that..."
The best thing about the show is Watson. If there was an opposite to Nigel Bruce, this is it. The show goes to pains to point up the fact that Watson is, in fact, capable and competent as an adventurer. This is brought home in a couple of interesting ways.
On the one hand, Watson is semi-forcibly taken to meet with a mysterious, urbane gentleman who wants to keep tabs on Holmes and is willing to pay Watson handsomely to spy on him. This gentlemen is intimidating, but Watson rises to the challenge and refuses him despite his obvious danger. At this, the gentleman releases him, but not before pointing out that he should fire his psychiatrist for reasons that I won't spoil here. Suffice to say that this man shows him evidence that his problem is not that his nerves are shattered by the danger he experienced as a soldier in Afghanistan. His problem is that he misses the excitement of being in harm's way on a daily basis.
On the other hand, towards the end of the show, Watson rescues Holmes from an imminent threat to his life. Holmes has no idea what happened, and while "recovering" ("Why do they keep putting this blanket on me?" "You're in shock, you just nearly lost your life") he ends up advising Lestrade to search for someone with nerves of steel, a crack shot, and probably an ex-soldier... at which he sees Watson standing outside the police line and realizes who he is describing. He then waves off the perplexed Lestrade ("Ignore everything I said. I'm in shock. Look, I have blanket on me!") With only a few lines, we establish Watson's competency, Holmes' admiration of him, and his loyalty to someone he barely yet knows but who has proven that he can be counted on when it matters.
This density of writing, if you will, is carried on through the entire program. These are men worth admiring and if they aren't the originals, they're cast from the same molds and it shows.
"The Blind Banker" is also a good yarn, and while it's less recognizably based on the canon, it keeps enough faith with its origins that the story is recognizably a Holmes and Watson story. The story borrows elements from both "The Sign of Four" and "The Adventure of the Dancing Men",but creates a new storyline of its own. It's not quite as engaging as "A Study in Pink" but I had no complaints. The one trend I hope they are not going to pursue overmuch is the idea of Watson attempting to have a normal social and personal life with Holmes constantly breaking in on his attempts to do so and causing him various consternations as a result.
If you're a Holmes fan, I recommend the show highly. There's one more episode that will air on Sunday night. Meanwhile, if you missed the first two episodes, you can watch them online at the "Masterpiece Mystery!" website until December 7.
If you're interested in detailed information about the show, as well as links to supporting websites such as Holmes' and Watson's blogs, there is an informative wiki entry about it. -
Quote:Heh. Okay, then, missed the forest for the trees.Originally Posted by Jophiel
You set the bar pretty low for "over reaction"
It's a fact that many people will be made unhappy by a switch to freemium. Telling the Powers That Be what they already know doesn't serve any constructive purpose, even if it makes the poster feel a little better for having voiced his or her opinion.
A better use of the thread, in my opinion, is imagining what sorts of freemium models would work for City of Heroes. Especially, what sorts of freemium models could there be developed that would be uniquely suited to this game?
This was why I brought up the "pay by the zone" model used by another successful game company. It's a unique idea that builds upon the way that players progress through their game, while acknowledging that many players would never progress all the way through it. Those players get an option to "own" as much of the game as they would ever use, and the game publisher gets roughly the amount of revenue that they would have taken from that player if he'd subscribed for a few months and then quit because he was tired of paying for stuff that he never used.
I'd like to see some ideas for how City of Heroes could implement a freemium system that would take advantage of its strengths while being different from the typical tiered model.
Your mileage may vary, of course. I wouldn't tell anyone that they shouldn't sound off about what makes them unhappy. I just don't see it as very useful, unless there's a way to address it in some manner besides "don't change to freemium at all". -
Quote:You know, I'm trying my best to figure out where you got that from, and I just don't see it. Sorry. I think you over-reacted.Originally Posted by Jophiel
So don't bother talking about it if it's happening and don't bother talking about it if it's not happening. Got it.
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Quote:You'd think so, but no, it really does not.Originally Posted by Flarstux
Not even as the tip of the proverbial iceberg?
I can remember having this driven home rather pointedly back in the day, when I was on a mailing list for a niche-subject CCG that had been taken over by a name-brand publisher. (This was long enough ago that the World Wide Web was not yet the de facto gathering place for communities.)
There was a lot of input from the players of the game under the old publisher, and debate and arguing, and when things became heated, the most vociferous folks put forward the theory that they were bound by principle to argue for their ideas because they represented the player base at large. They felt that, statistically, they were the "tip of the iceberg" that indicated a larger unrest and/or desire for the things that they were arguing for.
The community rep/story guy rather flatly informed them that all they represented was a self-selected group of people who are willing to discuss a game on a mailing list.
I wish I still had the original email so I could quote it verbatim. It opened my eyes to a reality that most of us forumites like to ignore or that we simply don't see.
We are NOT the tip of the iceberg. We are not a cross-section of the player base. Far from it, in fact. We are a tiny portion of the player base and we are a skewed cross-section, not a balanced cross-section.
What we represent is the portion of the player base that likes to participate in a community centered around the game. We are dwarfed by the chunk of the player base that does NOT care about being in a community.
We may sometimes echo the concerns of that "silent majority", but as often as not we have our own concerns that we just like to think are reflections of the concerns of those other people.
It's terrific that the devs at Paragon Studios give us as much influence as we have. However, don't make the mistake of believing that having some influence means that we have very much of it. When all is said and done, we forumites are just one small piece of a very large puzzle. We're useful for getting news out when it needs to be disseminated. We're useful for trotting out to press and investors as evidence that the game is thriving and generating interest. We're useful for the occasional good idea that one of actually has. We're useful because some of us turn out to be rational, thoughtful, and talented and thus helpful to them.
Beyond that, though, we don't have much influence at all, nor do we deserve it. Any decisions about major changes to the game have to be made by finding out what the silent majority wants and how to please them and their friends. Sometimes our interests coincide with theirs, but more often, our interests merely reflect OUR interests alone.
It sucks, but that's reality. -
Quote:If you read my post as "shut up about freemium" then you missed the point, IMO.Originally Posted by Jophiel
And if they're not yet, then this would be the perfect time to speak against it, huh? Seeing as how we don't know what they're doing, remaining silent now because my "vote" might be wasted seems kind of silly.
If it's going to happen then it won't matter that some people on the forums didn't want it to.
If it's not yet happening, then arguing against it is a waste of energy. The decision to do it or not do it won't be made based on "no votes" from the forum. The forum does NOT represent the game playing population at large, and it certainly does not represent the gamers out in the larger world who are not currently playing CoH but might if it was freemium. -
Quote:We don't know what happened with BaBs and probably never will. The most likely scenario is that he moved to a new project within Paragon Studios, and was let go when that project was canned. If true, then the primary reason to move to that new project in the first place was to stretch his horizons, something that wasn't going to happen if he returned to CoH.Originally Posted by thgebull0425
Did I read correctly that BABs went to the other game? He finished this project, trained a new guy, then moved on to the competition. Either they weren't paying him well, or, they weren't paying him well. If he was good, end of project or not, they would have kept him, unless the price wasn't right. Doesn't make sense.
I shouldn't be surprised if the the leave-taking was sort of mutual in that case, but as I say, we don't know and we're unlikely to ever know. -
Personally, I'm all for freemium pricing on games. If CoH eventually goes freemium, I'm not going to cry foul. I'm going to say "Yay, I can play without a subscription now."
I am one of the old-timers who barely plays the game any more. I keep my subscription alive more because of inertia and the occasional chance to play with friends I've made.
Freemium means that I get a wider array of games. Especially if the game has a buy-in that lets me pay a single price to play. If I want bells and whistles and more character slots and more content, it's available to me. If all I ever do is putter around the first few pieces of content, then I don't pay for the privilege of access to content that I never actually use.
CoH is much that way for me. After six years I have one (1) level 50 character. I'll play with him some now that I-19 is on the horizon, but if I never played him again, I wouldn't count it a huge loss.
I'd say that anyone who is reacting negatively to the idea of a freemium CoH is someone who is putting the cart ahead of the horse, in any case. You can't judge what you haven't seen. Until we know what kind of revenue/membership model Paragon Studios might propose, we have nothing at all to talk about other than a lot of vaporous imaginings of players who are boxing with shadows.
There are many ways to do freemium. One successful young game has a unique model that works for them. They let you buy a monthly sub if you want access to everything. They let you play the opening content areas for free without a sub. They also let you buy individual content areas at a more or less fixed cost per area. (The price varies on the level and the amount of area; I can't be more specific without running afoul of forum regs.)
This model would work fine with City of Heroes, especially since there is a lot of duplication in content at the low end of the scale. Everyone would get Atlas Park and Perez Park. Those who wanted more but chose not to subscribe, could buy each of the other zones at a fixed price of a couple of dollars per zone. Effectively, they would have a lifetime subscription to only the parts of the city that they actually used.
The point is not that it should be done that way, or that there should be a freemium CoH at all. The point is that the player reaction to that sort of a freemium model would be quite different than the reaction to a model like one of the other persistent worlds that could be considered competitors of CoH.
There's no point is crying "foul" about something when you have no idea if there's something to shout about, and just what it is that you're shouting down.
There's a saying: "The avalanche is rolling. It's too late for the pebbles to vote."
All of us are pebbles. I get that some people here are trying to vote on preventing the avalanche entirely, but that's not really an option with an avalanche, is it? If the management of NCSoft/Paragon Studios is even working on a freemium model, it's because they've already decided that it's going to happen. It's already too late to voice your displeasure. They're well aware that some people will be displeased. They're weighing that against results with other games where revenue has doubled or even quintupled. The displeasure of a fraction of the player-base is not going to stop them if they think that succeeding will make that displeasure irrelevant.
My advice:
Assume that CoH IS going freemium, at some point in the future. Figure out what shape it would have if you had a say in it, keeping in mind that "no freemium at all" is not one of the boxes on the ballot.
Let the devs know your vote on the path the avalanche should roll down, because voting against the avalanche is just an exercise in futility. -
Quote:It seems that Amazon.ca does not sell mp3 downloads. Sucks to be Canadian, at least if you refuse to use the Canadian iTunes store.Originally Posted by Dr_HR
Actually if thats the case DKellis, how come the UK site has it listed also
http://www.amazon.co.uk/City-Heroes-...9020572&sr=8-1 -
I'll cast a vote for the return of cargo pants (and all other styles) that had separately patterned top and bottom halves. You do still have the option to do this with "tights/pants" but the result looks REALLY weird because they are tights. Jeans and cargo pants are not naturally form fitting, so seeing the outline s of your calves and thighs in jeans makes your character look emaciated.
I'm unaware of an explanation for the change but I'd really like to get my old pants back.
Honestly, there have been so many little changes over the years that I don't remember them all any more. I mostly become aware of them when I take an older char and try to change them and realize that half their costume is not showing up in the customization screen.
Yes, also, to the old thigh high boots. They were a little slutty, but as has been pointed out, they looked and felt like real boots and not like painted on boots.
In fact, if you could just undo most of the "streamlining" that happened around issue six or seven, and bring back the old suit jackets weren't layered on top of a chest object, that would be fantastic. I don't think I have a copy of the old jacket any more, but I'll take a look this weekend. -
Thus spaketh Foo:
Quote:Consider it done! Oh, and happy anniversary the day you were dropped kicking and screaming into this mess of a world. :-)@Bubbawheat I did see it! I tweeted before asking someone with an active account to post there saying thanks, but YOU ALL FAILED ME. -
I'm with Adeon_Hawkwood. I'm having trouble parsing the OP's original complaint.
After nearly six years as a subscriber, (vet-wise, chronologically I go back to beta) I have one level fifty, blue-side. I barely played on red-side. Despite that, I seem to have unlocked epic archetypes on red-side. Unless there was a rule change that says "Any level 50 unlocks EAT's on both sides" (it could be, I've been lax the last year or so) then I'm benefitting from a nice bug in my favor.
Either way, I'm having fun on red-side for the first time ever as a Soldier of Arachnos. My character looks badass and plays badass and I have a slew of options available as far as his buildouts.
Based on my personal experience, I can only see benefits to making epics easily unlockable for everyone. It honestly renewed my interest in the game when I'd pretty much stopped playing or even visiting the forum. The only real problem is that a brand new player is likely to ask "So, where are my wonderful goodies for levels 30, 40, and 50? What do you mean I only get an aura? Wait, I got to fifty and I don't get anything at all?" -
Gothess is temporarily away from computer.
I dunno about your clocks, I'm only showing that it's just now 5:15. Logging in, though and I'm willing to if there's a group. -
That was a fun, if pretty long, strike force. I think I would have preferred to fight through the ship initially, rather than ghosting it.
Two memorable moments on the platform:
First, when Debbie and I (Dorn Dannison,the Soldier) got separated from the main group and ended up back-to-back fighting against three successive waves of Sky Raiders. I fired everything I had and popped pretty much my whole inspiration tray. Just when it seemed that we'd beaten them back and could regroup, the fourth wave arrived and sent us packing. *heh* I think that the main group collapsed about that time too, so maybe there was a fresh wave that hit everyone.
Second was fighting on the top platform and realizing that I seemed to be fighting alone (yeah, I sorta had that problem a lot, sorry team) and I realized I was getting hit HARD. "What's with this purple name? Oh, Hi there, Colonel Duray." Dirtnap.
I was a little disappointed that he went down so easily once the team regrouped and hit him all together.
All in all, good fun and I think I gained three levels. Woot for double XP weekend. *heh* -
That's it. None of this is earth-shattering, but some of it is certainly thought-provoking and some of it is stuff that I've just never seen referenced anywhere else.
Lesson - When Going Rogue hits the shelves, if you buy a box (since many of us have already pre-ordered digitally and will never see a manual) then flip to the back of the game manual and make sure that you acquaint yourself with whatever you find there. Then report it to the rest of us so we know. *heh* -
Shivans
The meteors that crashed into Bloody Bare are actually pieces of a massive creature from the depths of space. The shards of the meteorite retain that creature's consciousness and are capable of raising 'servants' from the corpses of the dead via long tendrils snaking through the soil. These new beings are not undead, however. They simply use the bones, memories, and essence of corpses to create a new being made of protoplasmic energy.
____________________________
Wow, again!
At the time that the manual was printed, the lore on Shiva was scanty The meteors are pieces of it? That puts a whole new spin on things in Bloody Bay. Maybe even on the Coming Storm.
The official website DOES give some details about Shiva and suggests (rather than baldly stating as this does) that the meteors might be pieces of the creature. Shivans Backgrounder