Going Beyond
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Going Beyond —
Going Beyond — Feature Two
An early view of ARISE;
Our epic community roleplay platform.
Hey, I’m Fox - Creative Director here at Those Beyond.
In this ongoing series Going Beyond, we’ll be exploring our platform ARISE - giving a behind-the-scenes look at our content, technology - and even playable prototypes for you to get hands on.
Before we get started, it is important to understand that Project Nightshade is our own IP for our platform - developed to showcase the very best of ARISE. However, ARISE itself is built to host hundreds of Epic Community Roleplay worlds.
Part One
What’s next for the Roblox generation?
“The way we socialize will also evolve. […] Instead of making plans around specific entertainment activities, […] we’ll be free to explore the virtual realm as a shared experience with friends—and trust the AI to fill in the rest.” Jonathan Lai
The Roblox, Fortnite and Minecraft generations have reshaped the landscape of entertainment and changed what it means to feel socially connected in today’s young culture.
Playing games, exploring, and roleplaying together in these mediums is the new paradigm of play - and as these generations mature, their expectations and desires in the realm of digital entertainment are also evolving.
While they have already reshaped the landscape with their love for interactivity, community, and creativity, what can we expect from them as they seek deeper, more immersive worlds?
Rich Worldbuilding + Mythologies
This generation has grown up in a world of interconnected stories and universes. They've embraced franchises like Marvel, LOTR and Harry Potter, which have meticulously crafted intricate lore. As they mature, they will likely seek out entertainment experiences that offer similarly rich and expansive worlds.
Deeper Stakes and Jeopardy
As this generation grow older, they may look for narratives that offer deeper stakes and real jeopardy for their characters. This could mean exploring darker themes, complex moral dilemmas, and consequences that have a lasting impact on the story and its characters.
Deepened Social Involvement
Social interaction has always been at the heart of the digital culture this generation embodies. As they mature, they will likely seek even deeper social involvement where they can collaborate, strategise, and make meaningful decisions together - as well as participate in community events.
Adaptive Storytelling
Moving away from cookie-cutter play, adaptive storytelling, where the narrative responds to the choices and actions of the player, creating a more immersive and individualised experience, will become the status-quo.
Inclusivity + Representation
This generation places a strong emphasis on inclusivity and representation. IPs that prioritize diversity in characters and narratives will resonate more with this audience as they become more discerning consumers. Authentic and diverse storytelling will be crucial for maintaining their interest.
While there is a lot of speculation involved, we must anticipate the evolution of this generation's preferences to remain relevant to their expectations. In this sense, we don't view ARISE as just a game but rather as a social hub where players can enjoy themselves and stay connected, whilst catering to their developing maturity as an audience.
Building a platform where the power of imagination is paramount.
Systemic adventuring system
One of the main features of ARISE is our systemic adventuring system - which allows our roleplayers to deeply interact with the environment around them.
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ARISE uses a never-seen-before item system that instantiates deeply interactive items in seconds.
Items can be collected, broken down into components, re-crafted into new items, or used in conjunction with any environmental object. -
In ARISE, a door isn’t simply a door. Sure, it can be opened, but wouldn’t you rather blow it to pieces with a makeshift grenade? Or perhaps melt down the hinges with an acid made of household items? Perhaps pick the lock with a hairpin you found earlier?
Environments in ARISE are deeply interactive, and roleplayers are free to use their imaginations to overcome any obstacle in their way.
Roleplaying with NPCs
Roleplaying with NPCs has always been integral to the immersion of RPGs and ARISE. Here, we apply AI carefully to create clear, mission-driven objectives and NPCs that are not simply conversational entities but deeply tied to the player objectives, quests and character progression.
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Our AI-driven NPCs in ARISE flood our worlds with intriguing, realistic characters for you to meet.
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Chatting to AI agents is novelty, but it’s not inherently fun. In ARISE, we apply AI carefully to keep objectives in mind, such as convincing an NPC to let you out of prison, or bartering with a shopkeeper to lower their prices.
These objective-based NPC interactions is where AI becomes genuinely useful to gameplay, as our NPCs can use their own logic to make realistic choices.
Taking the adventure off the rails with procedural storytelling.
Multiplayer Trials - Determining outcomes
Party-play style interactivity, mini-games and mind-bending puzzles push our ARISE roleplayers into procedural storylines that can change or adapt at a moments notice.
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Our ‘trials’ system tests the squads skills, teamwork and proficiency, the outcome of which can change the story outcome.
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In ARISE, there are four categories of trials, each testing players in different ways. These range from competitive trials, to co-operation trials where players must work closely to overcome a puzzle or task.
Dice rolls
Dice are fundamental to many roleplaying games, and for ARISE, we’ve created a modernised dice system that’s both deeply connected to play and easy to use.
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Dice are used to decide the outcomes of different actions, to give players a true sense of risk and reward.
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It wouldn’t be a good heist if everything went to plan. Using dice in ARISE, negative outcomes create fun hurdles that players will have to strategise, workaround, or overcome together.
A deeply social setting
Reimagining roleplay spaces
By bringing questing, chatrooms, and community competitions together on one map, we create a deeply social roleplay experience that never breaks the immersion.
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Reminiscent of popular platforms like Discord, ARISE features purely social locations - such as chatrooms.
Chatrooms come to life as immersive in-world locations, such as bustling bars and cozy taverns, teeming with real players. These virtual hotspots serve as vibrant social hubs where players can engage in real-time conversations, meet fellow adventurers, and forge connections. -
There are plenty of ways to pick up a new companion - from in-story matchmaking, to locating a bar or tavern.
So if you decide you need an extra pair of hands, you can always locate someone willing to help.
Lore feature: Muninn; the silent watchers.
Muninn operates as a covert hacking collective and criminal syndicate, gaining notoriety for their strong disdain towards corporations, the media, and government entities.
Led by master system hackers known as "Prophets" and bolstered by a loyal army of loyal footsoldiers, Muninn is driven by a mission to unveil corruption in the mainstream world. Their objective is to liberate citizens from the clutches of pervasive surveillance, corrupt governance, and constrictive living conditions.
Hiding in plain sight
In a world where anonymity is their most prized possession and capture would likely result in death, Muninn members must blend in to survive.
Prophets
Akin to modern-day shamans, Prophets possess an unparalleled connection to the digital realm, allowing them to navigate the vast, labyrinthine data landscapes of the city. They possess minds finely tuned and augmented to process staggering amounts of data at once - without losing themselves in the process.
