Suggestions for Improvements?

[BelDragos]

What do you want to see in this game that isn't in or can be improved from the other games you have played?

This should give the Staff a list of ideas so they won't get buried in sticky yellow paper or parking stubbs.

[Edited by BelDragos on 11-18-2000 at 01:10 AM]

[Kymeri mac An Iolar]

Well, we have talked across many threads about many different features and aspects of the game that we all would like to see implemented.

1) A good death system that is not too cumbersome, but yet balanced.
2) A good combat system
3) A good questing system, ie no static quests resulting in camping.
4) A good spawning system, ie no static spawning resulting in camping areas to get good skill experience.
5) A good range of customizability within the games such as camera views, keyboard/mouse, etc.
6) No over abundance of unique items therefore making them not so.
7) Of course wonderful graphics

I think all of this has already been discussed in other threads.

[BelDragos]

I was thinking of making a consolidated list so the staff can find the ideas easier.

[Generic]

What Lady Kymeri posted above looks like a good start to me....

..and I must emphasize again NO DUPLICATES OF UNIQUE ITEMS..I played in a game where three characters met who all had the same unique item and it was a big let down....

[BelDragos]

Unique items should be UNIQUE.

[Kymeri mac An Iolar]

Most definitily. One of the things I hated most in EQ was that there was no truly unique items, difficult to get for some, but easy for high lvl peeps to camp and get over and over and then sell to the lower lvl players. Items should be truly unique and should be neat or fun or just cool looking,but not overwhelming powerful. If craft skills are done right, player made armor/weapons/magic items should be quite good when made by a gm(grandmaster)armor/blacksmith. It was one of the things I did like about UO, the gm armor or weapons were almost as good as the magic ones, just a step or two down.

[Generic]

Thats the way I run in my tabletops...well crafted weapons and armor can be as powerful as magic ones (actually magic items are usually just production line average quality stuff that only has its power due to magic), much better to have a weapon which retains its quality in null magic areas...

[BelDragos]

Smart way of doing things. That way a talented mage could enchant it to fulfill the requirements to slay the Evil Beastie.

[Dravlon]

Beldragos

I think I would like to join your mage guild

[BelDragos]

Welcome to the boards Dravlon. I hope you have the fun that you are looking for. You are welcome to join the guild once I can get it started. Please e-mail me if you want to join.

[Dyson]

Bel, have you started a web page yet? I could do a logo or two, if you need one.

[BelDragos]

I'm still waiting for the info from the staff.

They've been busy and I don't want to bug them if it will delay the game.

Maybe they will get something to me this week.

(hint hint)

[Dyson]

You've got enough info to start. Get some "philosphy of learning magic" paragraphs, set up a Members page with Artwork of the members, etc. Specific details are unnecessary for such things. I'm working on a graphic now.

[BelDragos]

I'll try to get something together this weekend. Depends what comes up.

Never did this on-line, only in tabletops.

[Dyson]

What's your Email, again? I can't access it in the Profiles section.

[Generic]

I can also help with this...I have my own web domain and planty of server space left.....

Youll be on the internet in no time.....and I can give you FTP rights so you can update the page or assign someone to do it for you....

[BelDragos]

beldragos@yahoo.com

You can e-mail me anytime and I will try answering as soon as I can. I'm saving the e-mails to petition for permission to start the guild as an official Guild.

My computer knowledge is nill but I have over 22 years of tabletop under my belt.

All help will be welcome.

[Dravlon]

I will try to e-mail you its is just hard to get online from my house

[IceStorm]

Please let me be able to draw my sword and give me an option of carrying the sword on my side or my back. Also give us ladies useful armor. I really dislike looking at a piece of ringmail only to find out when I put it on it appears as butt-floss.

[Generic]

It would be great if the character looked different depending on armor and that some "special" or magical armor looked different than the regular armor of that type. It would also be nice to be able to purchase accesories to make ones chracter look more unique and in the spirit the player wanted...

[Kymeri mac An Iolar]

Icestorm, Rich, Rolfe, and I already had the dicussion about the bathingsuit armor. They promised that we wouldn't be seeing that.

[BelDragos]

That's a relief.

I like the idea about customizing your apperiance with acceseries. Gauntlets, helms, shoulder/elbow/knee spikes, Ect...

That would make it easier to recognise friends of enemies from a distance and be more realistic.

[Rend]

All the ideas i've read are great. the only thing i can think of is to have some kind of skill levels for the really good equipment. That way it would pretty much eliminate twinking weak characters. Like for example your 2hand sword skill would have to be really high to weild that awesome unique sword. I see way to much twinking going on in other PvP situations, I think something like this would eliminate alot of frustration. Your fighting skills would mean alot more in a duel.

[Kymeri mac An Iolar]

Thats a very good idea to institute on unique pieces Rend. I don't mind people giving others a hand up with giving them stuff, but it is a little much when you see a 3rd Lv PC with a full set of special armor that you know that person super powerful charactor went out and got for him.
BHT has already said that unique will mean UNIQUE. I think putting a skill lvl on it would make that even better.

[BelDragos]

Good point.
You would have to learn to use the item before you can try using it without hurting yourself. Good reason to boost your skills. Even better.

[Su'ulMorda]

Or perhaps a certain combination of two or more attributes at certain levels. If it is a unique item it should not be too easy to use, no? And, a character may need a certain amount of strength to bear a certain weapon or wear a type of armour, or even enough agility to move around in it. A single attribute or even combining attributes and skills for it.
Such a thing would definitely keep brand new characters from equiping the most potent items immediately, making us all have to work for them.

[Generic]

They have systems like that in Ultima IX and in Vampire: Redemption.

They work rather well....

[BelDragos]

I'll have to check them out sometime.

[Schadow]

Unique Items, Highly customizable player made Items(Including magic Items, by mages). Monsters that actually drop what they are carrying. A variety of Normal Items in abundance. Also Items that do not have their stats on them. That is what "Identify" is for. Plus My favorite Magic Items that do not have a label that reads "Magic"

Schadow Walker

[Su'ulMorda]

Agreed, that would make it so much more difficul...er interesting.
I do prefer a more challenging system.

[Rend]

One thing i really liked about weapons and armor in Diablo 2 is that there are different stats on the same items. Like for example all daggers would look the same but, some would do more damage and others would be a little faster or more durable. A system like that keeps everyones weapons unique. Three players could all use a steel sword and they would all be a little different. It could also cross into the weapons players make.

[UBIK]

agreed. that was one of my fav parts about it too

[BelDragos]

Never played Diablo but random stats on items makes sense. It would make each weapon worth investigating.

[Su'ulMorda]

Virually everything in Diablo has a random element, from dungeons to landscapes to items... A nice trait for replay, I think.

[Schadow]

Also I would like to see Spell books be actually just that. A book. When you die, it is considered equipment. Whichever system is used for equipment loss upon death. The same applies to the spell book. You can add pages to the book, which also increases it's weight. It would be cool if you could cast from the book as well. Possibly with a High Multiplier to casting time. This would balance out the magic users a little. I always hated it how Magic users had their most powerfull equipment on them always.

This would also create the need for a backup book. Just like a good warrior has a stash of backup equipment.

Schadow Walker

[BelDragos]

Spell books are covered in the FAQ.

[Schadow]

Cool, I usually do not play a caster. So I didn't remember that part. It is pretty cool being able to cast from the book. But I would like the book treated as an Item. I didn't find that in the FAQ. If it is else where please let me know.

Thanks
Schadow

[Kintoun]

One great aspect of games that I've only seen in text based MMORPG's is the ability for one character to "train" another chacater in a skill/spell. I think that would be a greta addition as it would add player interaction as well as a whole new way to make in-game profit. Possibly a PC can learn a spell from another PC but the version is not as effective? Or maybe it is only temporarely learned, almost as if enchanting the person with the ability of casting a certain spell. Another idea would be to make these "trained" spells/skills less effecitive than the original... I dunno, someone expand on my idea...

[Su'ulMorda]

Were spellbooks treated as items that could be lost and were required for casting... losing it would leave the magus defenseless.
To be realistic, the average magus is more of a scholar than anything, in other words not usually physically impressive. An unarmed warrior, on the other hand, is still tougher even without the weapon. It's still quite the loss for him, but he's not helpless... That's how I see it anyway.

[Dyson]

I like the idea of spellbooks as a storage medium, but a wizard shouldn't necessarily forget his spells just because his book is lost. Perhaps for every day you don't "review" a particular spell from a spell book, there's a cumulative 1% chance for the spell to fail next time its cast. With each spell failure, an Intelligence check must be made; if it fails, that spell is forgotten and must be re-learned.
This way, most wizards will be sure to review their spells on a regular basis, but the absence of their book won't be immediately crippling (though a long-time loss of a rare text could be).

This system work for everybody?

[BelDragos]

Training other PCs is a question I asked some time ago but haven't received an answer yet. It's still up in the air I guess.

Remember that in this game there is no "classes". The player chooses what skills their character possesses. If you want a high strength you can put the points into it. The more points you put into a few atributes, the lower the remaining will be. There is no reason a spellcaster can't have a decent Str. The drawback is what will the extra points be diverted from.

This is a way to make a variety of different characters. Many tabletop systems employ the same concept.

[Su'ulMorda]

Specialization has it's drawbacks of course, but losing one's spell capacity just seems a little crippling for a dedicated magus.

[BelDragos]

It would be loke a fighter type loosing his STR and HP whenever he looses his sword.

[Su'ulMorda]

Which I cannot see happening, the strength and health of a warrior is not in the blade after all... :)

[BelDragos]

Like the knowledge and understanding of the cosmos can be written down for just anybody to pick up and use. The loss of the book does not erase memory and understanding.

[Su'ulMorda]

Exactement.
I'm glad we're on the same track.

[BelDragos]

That's why I made that post, to make people think how silly it would be and then compare it to the spellcasters.

[Generic]

I don't see why you would lose your spell capacity as the spells you had memorized when you lost the book would still be in your mind (consider them like lines of a play to an actor). You would not forget them just because you lost the script unless you stopped performing the play. You would on the other hand not be able to change which spells you had memorized until you had somewhere new to get them from.

On the other hand if this is a system where you can cast any spell in your book if you have the points then there has to be a penalty for not having the book or it becomes meaningless except as a list of spells someone gets when they kill you....

And I do think that a mage without his spells is just as well off as a fighter without his weapon..the fighter can still fight but the mage will be able to outwit or think his way out of situations. Both have strengths left even if there main source of conflict resolution is removed.....

And who says the mage cant fight unarmed ;)

[Su'ulMorda]

From what I've heard it's going to be a cast and expend system, once cast it's gone. Once the spells are cast you have nothing, and if you lose the spell book chances are, you've cast most if not all of them.
And the Mage does not, generally, have the attributes to effectively use physical attacks, armed or otherwise to fend off attacks. To change that would be to signifigantly drop arcane skills and mental attributes in favour of physical ones, tuning him into a warrior with some spells.
Now, if we were to have that idea of a certain number of spells (not the whole of the repetoire) memorized all the time. And, you had to study to change your Grimoire(active spell list, yes I like that idea. From last count though, I don't think that's what's happening.
Hmm, think I'll take another look around.

[Edited by Su'ulMorda on 01-06-2001 at 02:41 PM]

[Su'ulMorda]

Hmmm, it's not in the faq, did I miss something decided on the boards then?

[BelDragos]

The FAQ doesn't specifically state what systen we are using. We will have to wait until we get the word from Rich, Rolfe, or Slitherrr.

[Slitherrr]

More likely Rolfe or Rich, Saint Faucet and I would hear about it only slightly before they'd post it on the boards.

[BelDragos]

Sorry, could you please pass it along?

Thanks

[Dyson]

The idea of a memorization "slate" sounds reasonable to me; ie, you study your book, "picking" which spells will be in your repitoire until you study and change them. The actual casting of the spells, however, is governed by a "magical energy" system. Let me give an example of how I see this working (note that I remain aware of the fact that there are no classes, and by "level" I mean level of power, rather than a static numerical level; also, all spells in the following example are assumed to drain the same amount of
"energy" from the mage):

Pip is a low-level wizard; he has successful learned 6 spells, and all are transcribed in his spell book (Sleep, Minor Illusion, Gout of Flame, Finger of Ice, Control Small Animals, Etheral Armoring).

At his level, Pip is able to have a repetoire of 3 spells at any one time. He studies his book and chooses Sleep, Gout of Flame, and Finger of Ice (as he's been hunting goblins lately). Now, the amount of spells Pip can actually CAST is governed by his stats and modified by his level. Let's say that Pip, at his best, can cast something like 3 spells in succession before getting exhausted; 4 spells if he paced himself REALLY well (ie, stepping out of battle and hiding behind a companion until he 'caught his breath', etc) maaaaybe he could squeeze out a 5th spell if he really pushed it, but runs the risk of passing out or dying.

The spells Pip can choose from are those he's "memorized," ie, Sleep, Flame, and Ice. There is no limit on how he casts them- he could cast 3 Sleeps, or 2 Flames and 1 Ice, or whatever. Once memorized, Pip doesn't "lose" his 3 spells after casting- he could leave his book at the guild tower and go out on a goblin-hunting trip if he so desires. The only drawback is he won't have access to his other 3 spells (Control Animals, Illusion, Armor).

Now, in all likelihood, Pip will take his book with him whevever he goes, so he can whip it out and "manually cast" if the need so arises ('hey, Pip, move that bear away from the campsite,' or 'hey, Pip, hook me up with some Armoring magic before I sneak up on that sleeping orc'). If he loses his book, or it gets destroyed, Pip won't be able to change his spell repitoire, but he won't lose access to the spells he's already had memorized.

I think this system is well balanced and fair; spellcasters don't become totally crippled with the loss of a book, but a spellbook still is important enough that wizards will be sure to take VERY good care of it, and probably spend the money for some backup texts stashed away here and there.

What do you guys think?

[Rend]

I really like your idea Dyson. I don't like the whole D&D version of spell casting where ou cast and the spell is gone until you rest. I don't think that kind of casing will work well in a game like arcanity. Downtime sucks, I think everyone agrees on that. Your idea is a good mix between the D&D and EQ ways of magic casting.

[Kintoun]

Hmmmm... I don't think I agree with this loseable spellbook. I'd rather the book be a part of the mage which cannot be lost (ex: EQ). For that fact I would like that items on a character are near imposssible to lose. I think that a game which penalizes your death by taking an item are a bit overboard (ex: AC). If it is made easy to lose an item then you would encounter a situation where the majority of players would be running around with easily obtainable and replaceable items instead of their more powerful ones. And this is all beside the fact that you could have just completed a quest that took a week for a truly "unique" item. Only to be killed by player "KewlDood"'s train of monsters. It's moments like that which make me despise wasting my time for the past week. Altho this may seem more "realistic"... One must remember that realism needs to take a backseat sometimes in a video game to make room for whats more fun. After all, thats what we are playing, a game, for fun. And in this situation I would choose the fun factor over the realism factor.

About the part on which one can lose a item brings up a whole new debate that I won't delve into on this post.

[DreamWeaver]

I agree about not losing stuff on death. I don't really need that much realism in my game and it would really suck if you had spent lots of time getting equipment. I do like the idea of high end equipment being no drop so it is harder to twink characters. I always hated to see newbie characters with better stuff than I had. :)

[z_man93]

Here's my thoughts on what has been discussed on a couple of items throughout this thread. And I mentioned this in one other post but once again I am fairly inexperienced with the MMORPG genre so some of my thoughts might already be common place.

First, related to this spell book discussion.
I think it might be good to think of spells like phone numbers and the spell book like your planner. When you first get someones number you need to write it down and dial from what you have written. So when you first learn a spell you would have to cast it from a scroll. After a while you will memorize the number and no longer need to look in your planner when dialing. After using the scroll for a while you will memorize the spell and no longer need the scroll to cast the spell, but the scroll will still be in your spell book. But after a while of nonuse you will start to forget the number and need to look back into your planner. So if you do not use a particular spell very often you will forget it and need to look in your spellbook to cast it. If you have lost your planner you no longer have the numbers that you have forgotten. And if you lose your spell book you would have to get new scrolls for all spell that you did not have memorized.

Second, earlier in the thread people were discussing unique apperances
This is what might already exist in games and I am not aware of. But I was thinking that it would be interesting if your physical apperance would change depending on your stats. Like if one person had a great deal of strength they might look big and strong compared to an individual with great agility that might look very toned. If a person kept all their stats fairly even they might retain the typical apperance but if they go heavy on strength they might get a bit taller and more bulky. And possibly older characters that have been playing for a while might start showing some grey hairs or something.
My reasoning for this is that in real life if two people are wearing the same shirt and shoes you can still tell a lot about the people by their physical traits. And it should be the same in the simulation. If a really high level and powerful warrior wants to wear a low level leather armor you should still be able to see that he is much more experienced than a newbie in the same outfit.

Lastly, again regarding unique apperances
Was wondering what people thought about guilds being able to create a coat-of-arms that could be painted on shields or woven into clothing or armor. This would not only create more uniqueness but also more roleplaying scenarios. If someone from my guild died and Fred went and grabed his shield with our coat-of-arms on it, I would certainly ask Fred to give it back or else.

Well, thank you for the space, hope these ideas are original and beneficial

[Su'ulMorda]

Ah, Ithink you've about hit what Ive been trying to get at. that's about how i'm hoping it works from my understanding of it. And the ability to lose such a book is not so bad, one simply puts the book on the list of "untouchables", so as not t lose it. A warrior will want to keep his favourite sword, me,I wanna keep my musty,old tome.

Hmm, yes, on the unique appearances, I noted that when I beta-tested Mechwarrior 4(a bit of violent fun, multiplayer only) that it was possible to place one's own customizeable decals on the mech, there was in fact a large storehouse in the download of just these things.. the point being that it should be possible, somehow, to do it. I think it depends on how Brickhouse sets up their system some annoying detail might get in the way or it might be easy, dunno, I leave that to the techies... ;)



[Edited by Su'ulMorda on 01-10-2001 at 12:14 AM]

[Generic]

Mechwarrior rules!!!..sorry, back to the topic....

[Rend]

Yes the phone book example hits it right on the money.

[Kintoun]

Ooooh yes visual changing stats would be nice indeed! Since someone can make their chacarter anything that they wanted to it would be hard to tell without asking or maybe examining a person to see what they are generally studying ( Clerical, Wizardy, Warrior-type, Psionics ). By chaning physical apperance you not only increase the realism of this game but you also allow other players to identify what school of art you are probably studying in. For instane a warrior type would be larger in build, and maybe even have a rugged look too all his clothing ( clothes that say, I'm a melee hardened warrior ). And a psionicist would maybe have a blue glow emminating from his forhead, and be thin in build. A Cleric type would be of medium to small build, and have holy looking clothing ( maybe even the highest rank Preist classes would have halos or glowing bodies ).

By using this method you can even distinguish between a mage type that has more melee experience than another mage type ( he would be larger in build ).

Ooooh man do I like this idea!

[z_man93]

Exactly, and I really like your halo idea. I didn't think of that. Basically there is a lot that can be done with this idea and I think it would add great depth to the game.

[BelDragos]

If Psi's have halos like you suggested, they should have the option of shutting it off. This is a rpg and something like that would blow their cover if they are trying to disguise themselves for any reason.

[Generic]

I agree...and it would kinda suck to look like a thief if you were trained in rogue skills.

[Kintoun]

Heh true. But I'd rather sacrifice the ability to "blend" in, in order to have cool class specific looks. In EQ the only thing that distinguished one character from another was their race. And of course their attire. I wish this could be taken a bit further.

In what cases would one want to hide his class? I would assume for PvP, or someone that just wants to stay anonymous. Could someone elaborate on this please?

As for myself, I would love to flaunt my power. I mean levitating around in a bursting aura shows that you are of status. Hmmm but at the same time I like the ability to be the "underdog". One that looks weak but is full of power. So the ability to turn class specific effects on or off would be GREAT. It would add a lot of diversity to the game, but at the same time allow players to be anonymous when wanted.

[BelDragos]

Here is one example

You were commanded by the local ruler to infiltrate the local evil lair and bring back intelligence on the next raid against his holdings without them knowing. The frghters who allways look like fighters, the psi's who have this distracting halo that they can't get rid of, the priests who have this holy/unholy aura surrounding them at all times, ECT...

Get the picture I'm drawing? Since this game doesn't have "classes" this cannot happen. If you have skills on auto-mechanics does that mean that you have to have greese under your nails all the time? How about wearing scrubs or white lab coats if you are a doctor or nurse in a hospital?

If I'm a character with something from all skill types what would I look like?

The choice of skills should not determine what we look like, It should depend on the look we chose during creation.

[Morte]

It should not just depend on the look you choose when you created the character, but should be customizable during the game. (clothes, at least)

[BelDragos]

Yes, but sterotypical halos, circles of power, giant size fighters, and slippery and shadowy theives would limit the way players want their characters to appear and erase any subtly of actions they want to try.

[Morte]

I wholeheartedly agree. I am all fro customizability. It would be fun if you could, if you so desire, let your mage emit a bright shiny halo.

[BelDragos]

Everybody must have full control over their characters appearance. If they are in disguise they might even want to use a different name.

[Morte]

Should be careful with using a different name. It would be very unpleasant if someone was doing all sorts of evil and using your name, so you will get the blame.

[BelDragos]

If you were that type of character it would effect your Karma level but if you were a do-gooder it wouldn't change anything especially after you track then down and clear your name.

Look, a plot line......

[Morte]

True, but it might be difficult to track someone down you don't know anything about. And as the person you're trying to find is killing and stealing in your name, don't expect any cooperation. Remember that as long as you have not cleared your name, you ARE evil, because everyone thinks you are. And how are you going to prove that you are innocent? If you track the culprit down and kill him, people might be inclined not to believe you, as you are evil, and the person you killed is just be your latest victim. Hunting parties will hunt you, as they don't know you're innocent, and it is very hard to prove you are.
If you run, they'll think you did it, if you fight, they'll think you did it, so the only thing you can do is surrender and hope they don't kill you.

[BelDragos]

Go to the magistrate with evidence that you didn't commit some of the crimes to make a formal complaint of purgery under oath backed by their choice of truth magic. That would buy the chance to clear your name. You could travel in disguise or under a false name or they could issue a writ that you carry or a mark on your hand that grants you hunting rites without persicution by the victumes.

[Morte]

But how will you get the evidence to prove your innocence? Unless you have a convincing (in game) alibi, what evidence is there to find. Of course, a truth spell should work, if they put it in the game. If they give you a hearing.

[BelDragos]

With the abundance of spellcasters in the game there should be a NPC that works for the magestrate just for that purpoise alone. If you didn't do the crime, you must be somewhare else with a party of adventurers or a NPC who can provide an alibi.

[Morte]

You could have been offline at the time, or if you are not with a party you could be alone. If you were offline at the time you don't ahve an alibi, and although the server will register this, an (N)PC magistrate won't know.

[BelDragos]

What about Divination magic? The magistrate will use their own oath bound Diviners.

[Jaguar]

There is something I have never seen in another mmorpg is some sort of musical instrument! it would be cool to be able to play some music for everyone to hear, maybe it could be a quest or something.

[Morte]

If they put musical instruments in the game, they should make magical ones in as well, to make the related skill more worthwile and fun. You should be able to give crappy musicians an encouraging punch in the face unpunished, tho.

[BelDragos]

You could start a Bardic College.

[Su'ulMorda]

Hey, that's a cool idea, you could play a battle them while your buddies wade into battle, giving them some sort of morale bonus...
It would be an interesting thing to just start up in the middle of town square, even.
Very interesting.

[z_man93]

Regarding your objections to dynamic physical apperances. If you are a high power mage I think it would be interesting if you glowed or had a halo or something. I think it would be cool to see a wiz that is so powerful he glows. Or to be an aspiring warrior ond look up to an experienced warrior who is taller than me and has shoulders as wide as I am tall. True, it might be hard for that warrior to infiltrate a mages guild, but that is why rogues exist. Or if that warrior specializes in intel than maybe he isn't real big on str and therefore his apperance isn't as big as someone that spends all day slaying goblins. And if you are a mage that is so powerful you glow, I would assume you have a spell or ability that allows you to change or hide your apperance.
I am sure this would be horribly difficult from a technical standpoint at this time, but hopefully it will be incorporated in next gen MMORPGs.

[BelDragos]

The biggest problem with that is when a group of PKers see you they will shout "XP BONUS" and try to kill you for what they might imagine you could give them.

In otherwords, it makes you stick out like a sore thumb.

[Rend]

I real life bad ass looks no different than a punk. Its just that they kick ass.

[BelDragos]

They don't glow like z_man would like. If they did the government would lock them up fearing radiation poisoning.

[z_man93]

But in the real world there are no magic wielding mages. There are however people. And people look different depending on their lifestyle.Why did Arnold Schwartzenager (I know my spelling is off but you know who I'm talking about)have a different physical apperance than Pee-Wee Herman or Bruce Lee. Arnold is much larger than Bruce, but for all I know Bruce could have whooped him, and neither of them would have a problem dispatching Pee-Wee. However, the physical difference between Pee-Wee and Bruce is less obvious than that of Arnold. I am not saying that I want every mage to glow a bright blue or every warrior to stand 10 feet tall. What I would like is the apperance of a person to reflect their activities. I believe that would add depth, because people in the real world are not cookie-cutter patterns with different clothes and hair color which is how a lot of games portray them. Anyways, this subject is getting beatin to death, I still believe it would be a good idea.

[Morte]

Maybe they should only glow when casting spells, with more powerful spells generating more light. A wizard casting a really powerfull spell would be like a walking solar flare, and therefore more difficult to hit in combat.

[Kintoun]

Now you guys are talking. I just want some sort of way for the appearance, be it a spell being cast, or physical appearance, to portray the strength of the character. I sure don't wanna work my way up to getting a meteor spell only to have it look the same as my rank 1 spell flamelick.

[deam0]

i'd like to see merchants buy up foraged items, like in EQ if you forage up some berries, yeah you can use them in brewing or something, but what about selling them for a profit...like 6cp...but 6cp adds up ya know...just a thought, later

[Morte]

I don't think items should be sold and purchased at a fixed price, but rather a price influenced by supply and demand. I also think a merchant should not just buy everything you offer him. I mean, what is a blacksmith going to do with twenty rusty short swords. For that matter, why would he buy any sword, unless it is a very special sword or there is a high demand for rusty short swords.

[Edited by Morte on 01-18-2001 at 10:02 AM]

[deam0]

i totally agree on the mobs dropping what they are wearing...like you see a mob wearing some chainmail or leather armor...and im sure they have the chainmail or leather armor registered into there ac and all that...and then when you goto loot it, it doesnt have it...its such a disapointment.

i'd like to see npc's talk about a lil more then they are "suppose" to...ya know, like in EQ you know a certain npc was for a quest, but you gotta get him to say the rite stuff, but its so easy...i'd like it to be more if a challenge to get info from npc's, make it more realistic, later

[deam0]

ok, once again...i was reading up on your sky stuff...that is cool and all, but this is suppose to have a realistic medievil earth setting and all..well, we all know earth has hurricanes and tornados....so y not have a hurricane once every 6 years in game time or a tornado somewhere, im sure i'd be pretty tough to do that and all....and plus what i really hate in EQ...running around in the freaking "desert" of ro...it rains there almost as much as the karanas, anyone who plays or has played EQ knows that...it doesnt freaking rain in the desert...i mean come on, it should be a lush rain forests as much as it rains there...hah, anyways...i'll try not to b!tch anymore, but just thought i'd let you guys know what i feel...but that hurricane / tornado thing would be pretty tight, laterz

[BelDragos]

IDEA!!

Hou about a seperate skill that allows spellcasters to customize the visuals of their magic? That way a priest of a fire deity could have their cure spells "burn" the dammage away for one example.

[avengin]

What I would like in a RGP game,in no specific order:

1. First person view to draw you in
2. Limited PVP, protection for newbies
3. No character level based systems, nothing I hate more
than a 40th level character that can not be took out by
2 25th level characters.
4. Must have good money sinks or a set amount of money in
the economy.
5. Eye-candy, of course
6. Trade skills that are actually worth having, like the
ability to make better armor than banded, unlike a
popular game we know.
7. A lot of interaction from people (CM's) playing the NPC
characters, that way you just never know what is going
to happen.
8. NO spawning
9. No repeat quests
10. Let us have some potions
11. World that keeps expanding
12. Steads to ride w/wagons
13. No spoiler maps and guides
14. Characters need to look different with height, weight,
skin, hair, and eyes.
15. The power of spells built on the spell and the magic
user's power and not just by finding a new more
powerful spell that does the same thing. It
seems like extra programing anyways. (i.e. Magic bolt
does 1-3 points of damage at first level, then 10-30 at
10th level...)

This list is very do-able and is mostly an example of where EQ has failed. Just my 2 cents!

[Morte]

There is a FAQ on the main site. You might want to read it, as it gives a lot of info about the aspects you mention in regard to Arcanity.

[Wrentia]

1. First person view to draw you in

Yep, and 3rd person moveable cameras for getting cool screen grabs, etc...3rd person does come in handy for some things. Arcanity will have both

2. Limited PVP, protection for newbies

Depends on what you mean by limited. The game will not make newbies unkillable, but the npc's will be smart enough to recognize when a strong person is attacking a weak person and react to it, and the Karma system will make sure that those who prey on the weak are unable to move around towns safely, thus protecting the newbies.

3. No character level based systems, nothing I hate more
than a 40th level character that can not be took out by
2 25th level characters.

Allready planned part of the game.


4. Must have good money sinks or a set amount of money in
the economy.

One of my main points as well. In fact I kinda like the idea of a global set amount of money in the economy.


5. Eye-candy, of course

Of course, the 3D engine should be quite good from some of the early world builder screen shots I have seen.


6. Trade skills that are actually worth having, like the
ability to make better armor than banded, unlike a
popular game we know.

Well, in that game we know, they have added the ability to make plate, even plate imbued with magic. However I agree here. I hate the idea of taking components, make something, and sell it back at less that the cost of the components. However, NPC merchants should be smart enough to not buy those 500 skewers you just made. They might buy a few, but they don't need 500.

7. A lot of interaction from people (CM's) playing the NPC
characters, that way you just never know what is going
to happen.

Planned part of the game.

8. NO spawning

Planned part of the game.


9. No repeat quests

Difficult to implement. There would almost have to be some "repeat" quests. Especially on the newbie side of things. Another idea is for a NPC that gives quests to have a small "list" of quests for various "levels" of players. Each time you approach the NPC will have different duties for you.


10. Let us have some potions

There's an alchemy thread around somewhere....Alchemy will have a large part in the game

11. World that keeps expanding

Planned. One world/one server, that expands as needed.


12. Steads to ride w/wagons

The idea has been presented. Horses will probably not be in at release. However a wagon transportation system is a possibility. Similar to ship travel but on land. Would probably connect a few major cities

13. No spoiler maps and guides

Heh, won't happen. Just don't go to those sites.


14. Characters need to look different with height, weight,
skin, hair, and eyes.

Planned part of the game. What a character wears will also help. Things all depends on the minimum requirements of the game. EQ requires an 8MB graphics card, and each zones textures must fit it that 8MB. With no zones in arcanity things need to be handled differently. Since I don't know the technical details of Arcanity I can't really explain how things will be done. My idea is a "character zone". Basicially a large circular area around each character. When new items/people/etc... enter the zone around a character, the client calls up the texture information needed. The zone should be fairly large....say 10-20 times the area the character can actually see.

I would personally like to see the minimum card for the game be 32MB. Most people that will play Arcanity will be hardcore gamers, the majority of which have 32MB cards.

15. The power of spells built on the spell and the magic
user's power and not just by finding a new more
powerful spell that does the same thing. It
seems like extra programing anyways. (i.e. Magic bolt
does 1-3 points of damage at first level, then 10-30 at
10th level...)

Planned part of the game.



-Wrentia

[Kintoun]

<cough>FAQ<cough>

[avengin]

<cough>they were not questions<cough>

Another thing I would like to see in the game is people that have a sense of maturity, yes that would be nice!

[Kintoun]

=P

[Xylenix]

Being an "artist" I have to say that the thing that I would want most is the ability to design what my charachter would look like, or maybe to have the ability to change or make items that would distinguish myself from "every other female warrior" in the game.... It would be possible to have something completely unique to me so that when someone is walking along and sees me they'll know "hey! It's Xylenix!"
Just a thought!

-Xylenix

[BelDragos]

I understand that there will be lots of options for character appearence but there will not be any skins. They put their foot down when somebody wanted to wear a Homer Simpson skin.

[Kintoun]

But a huge array of pre-made body parts would be awesome. I know for sure that during Beta phase or after release, when the art team doesn't have much to do, they would love to add to the selection of body parts that one would piece together to make their character. By body parts I mean, torso, legs, arms(hand), head(hair,eyes,mouth,nose), etc.

[BelDragos]

Rick and Rolfe mentioned once that you could choose your basics like that.

[Kymeri mac An Iolar]

Aye, I believe alot of players are looking for more customization of their charactors, we have all played UO, EQ,or AC. I hate the limitations of those games. At least, with UO and AC you have the ability to dye clothes and armor any color for more diversity, but it is my charactor that I want to look more unique. Besides having the more common skin tones, why not be able to use any color? for skin or hair? for those players that are developing back stories with not quite human parentage?

[Kintoun]

Not a bad idea Kymeri, after watching so much anime and being taught that any color can be considered a "natural" hair color, I know that most combinations don't really look that bad even tho you may think so. Just give us a color slider for choosing skin and hair.

[z_man93]

I agree with Xylenix, I would like to be able to customize my characters apperance to the point that people would know who I am by just looking at me. I spoke a lot about this subject elsewhere on the boards, so I won't get into that again, but I would like to see more than just a few choices of hair color.

[Eltharion]

Well I read the FAQ and a bit on the board.
Heres my list of ideas/questions ...

- fully extensive customizable look for the
players avatar. I want cloaks! and real robes
not the spandex(TM) look of EQ or AC...

- no loot item should be more powerful than an item
made by PC crafter/mages. No single blacksmith should make a magic weapon, but a master blacksmith in cooperation
with a archmage...

- real necromancy - I want to raise the corpses of the
fallen to do my bidding. Even an Army of the dead.
But I should be prepared to pay the price.
(Warhammer anyone?)

- Summoning demons ...

- skill and stat restrictions on items.
If these restrictions are not met the item should be less
effective.
But a newbie should be able to wield the item,though.
Why should he not wield the mighty dragonslayer his father
gave him, even if he can't hit the broad side of a barn with it

well these are the first few ideas, more to follow ...
after you ripped them apart ;-)

Eltharion




[Edited by Eltharion on 03-13-2001 at 10:35 AM]

[iggut]

OOOOOOhhhhhhhhhh you have a mage guid and I ...I have not herd of it...your trully evil!!
oh well i love to roleplay mages so if i can count me in!

[Kintoun]

Heh heh. I'm not sure if you've been asked this alrdy Iggut, but what type of mage are you exactly planning on being? As in what will your specialization be?

[iggut]

i think i'l be a hardcore mage, i'l sepify my self in damege dealing magic, and probably some healing, but more damege than healing.

[iggut]

the one that uses mana not blood thing and not druid

[Morte]

In Arcanity all forms of magic use mana, although the source the mana is drawn from if different.

[iggut]

i guess i dont like to read and when i actually read..i get it all wrong :)

now may you plz be kind and explain?

[BelDragos]

It's all in the FAQ page. Just click on it at the left side of your screen.



[Edited by BelDragos on 04-11-2001 at 02:24 PM]

[BelDragos]

Does anybody else have any more ideas?

[z_man93]

I have an idea. Maybe they can update the homepage with some new news. heheh

I haven't been around in the last few weeks, and was suprised when I saw the same news from March 6.

BHT, WHAT'S HAPPENING????? I can't take the suspense!!!

[BelDragos]

You heard the man, what's happening?