TOP 12 MUST HAVES for SOTA

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by majoria70, Apr 23, 2015.

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  1. Miracle Dragon

    Miracle Dragon Legend of the Hearth

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    Nice post! I especially like #6 here. It's just packed full of great ideas! ;-)
     
  2. Cordelayne

    Cordelayne Bug Hunter

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    1) Deep lore and storyline
    2) Dyeable and customizable armor and clothing
    3) Mounts that can be ridden
    4) I'm poaching this from @Miracle Dragon because it's such a novel idea: NPC love interests (Crazy! I love it, how would that even work? :D)
    5) Making player vendors actually relevant in local economies
    6) LORE, LORE, LORE and more LORE! ;)
     
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  3. Epona

    Epona Avatar

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  4. majoria70

    majoria70 Avatar

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    Please list 12+ or less clearly written things you want to see in SOTA. Think of it like it's like a resume for a job, very important the Devs get your points.**

    Think about, could this just be printed and will it give a clear picture of what is being said. Thinking less is better, don't bog thoughts down. So what is it that you want to say.

    ***Please be respectful and considerate. You are posting an important thing, don't waste it whining. Have your comments make a difference to this game.***

    *****Ok there are rules:*****
    1)Get to the point, That would be, what is the bottom line in what you want to express?
    2)Fact verses Story, be factual, even though it is still your opinion, it is true to you, not drama/story
    3)Let this post read so the development team could look at it and say;"oh I get what they want."
    4)Keep comments to a minimum, sorry I'm no fun ;), well this time, I guess I'm a bit serious:cool:
    5)Pictures can be included as examples or videos also. Truly get your point accross.
    6)After writing the post at the bottom list 3+ games or less that influence your choices or ideas
    For example:
    1- Elder Scrolls online - for combat style and graphics
    2- WOW - Reliability and character skills, best looking dwarf character
    3- Lord of the Rings - Visually interesting, deep lore system

    Consider these types of things when posting your thoughts:
    It's All About Story or is it ?
    Experience is What Makes The Perfect Game ?
    Cohesion - mixture of gameplay and great story ?
    Games that are not worried about trying something new ?
    Games that create a memorable environment and gameplay ?
    Is the game immersive, consistantly fun - visually pleasing, like art, and audio ?
    Has some type of reward and motivate system in place ?
    Has a variety of Systems in place in a game- crafting, fishing, boating, taming, treasure hunting, pvp,
    housing, exploration features (hidden doors, secrets). What's important to you?
    Character design - customization
    Interactivity - with items in the game and the environment, with others (community/guilds) ?

    Ok ready, set, GO......... P.S. **I will post my 12 later ;)
    **********ok keep going here is the post so you don't have to look back. Great responses but spread the word and lets get everyones vision and ideas in one place**********
     
  5. Gregoire Visaard

    Gregoire Visaard Avatar

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    1) Sea Adventures - pirating, full on navel battles for control of shipping lanes between towns, pirates, guilds, ect. fishing fresh and salt, fishing tournaments, sailing races, clubs, treasure hunting, cartography, and mermaids, pretty ones that you can tame, and ride!

    2) Mounts - nice variety of rideable animals with ways to really train them up for different types of task and skills. also make caring for your animals a lot more immersive and skill orientated, greatly effects the value of them when being traded, ability to craft tools they and you can use, like wagons, plows, cannons, types of ridable animals offer different characteristics, elephant is big, slow, but offers you protection from some types of attack, and carries a ton of goods, vs say a horse or donkey, or bear, or lion, or ostrich, or beautiful mermaids!

    3) Player "Created" Towns - more customization and better communication in timely fashion (like 4 - 8 hours live IROC chat every day or same day email reply, or a series of videos.

    4) Invasions by, dragons, monsters, all kinds of creatures.

    5) disease, sickness, injuries, plauges, things that require a doctor, not just a healer or spell that you can cast. But a set of skills as any other crafter! We live in a dangerous world this Novia. Why are their no medical staff!

    6) Boats - lots of kinds, paddle wheel, sailing, rowing, boat/ ship building maintance and repair, make a craft and skill set out of it.

    7) contracts and legal documents for in game. If you are going to have a tax system, put in a tax collectors office

    8) Children in the game. At least some NPC'S
     
  6. Galder

    Galder Avatar

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    Definitely mounts, thievery and full loot pvp to begin with.
     
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  7. Alexander

    Alexander Avatar

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    1. Good solid and complex story. One that will compel the player to eagerly play the game from start to finish and having him/her asking questions such as 'I wonder whats going to happen next'.

    2. NPCs and companions that 'feel' alive and which one can actually connect with on an emotional level ( eg. U7 Serpent Isle). This generally involves in-depth conversation trees for the NPCs and
    how they interact with the players, depending on the players verbal responses and actions with the game.

    3. Lots of books with information on the land, NPCs, history, lore, etc. This is part of what makes a game come to life. Spending the time leafing through every book with a chance discovery of some bit of information
    not found anywhere else either in game or outside of the game. More information on the back story in-game not found in BOTA.

    4. The chance encounter of ruins that tell a story about the past. Some encounters may not have enough information about it's history or purpose that may spin off speculation of what it is and why is it there.
    (In some cases, such information may be obtained in books - see #3).

    5. A single player experience that is truly a single player experience. One should be able to finish the game (story) from start to finish without having to rely on other players to get through it.

    6. This is good enough for now :)
     
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  8. Beolthain

    Beolthain Avatar

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    1. Exploration - to have that feeling that you are the first one to see this
    2. Crafting - crafted items are better than bought.
    3. Player made components to crafting - Items crafted with player made components are superior.
    4. Immersion - birds, frogs, animals, wind, rain
    5. Seasons - My jaw dropped to floor when I first played Might and Magic VII
    6. Player-driven economy
    7. Mounts
    8. Activities / Hobbies - to have something to do when you just don't want to fight
    9. More quests
    10. Taming
    11. More and better NPC's
    That's my 11. Lots of those come from two games I loved; Star Wars Galaxies and Lotro. In Lotro there was always something to do, even just walking on the Shire was enjoyable. SWG had by far, hands down, the best crafting system ever. It wasn't easiest, but it sucked you in. If you were good, then your items were famous.
     
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  9. Grave Dragon

    Grave Dragon Avatar

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    1. 24 hour (or however long) skill bonus or XP buffs that result from and encourage players congragating in taverns for an hour or more and penalties for logging out outside an Inn or home you have some kind of rights to.

    2. Mobile temporary shop tables that can be set up only in the town market areas. These would be glass case style tables players could set up on the fly and stand behind to cry out their offerings but must stay within 30ft+/- or they return to players backpack. Players will get together for impromptu flea markets. The cases/tables would contain the crafter's wares and can be purchased from. Think UO Brit bank, spamming of wares and all.

    3. Static player storefronts, similar to houses but uniquely identifiable as a blacksmith shop, a tailor shop, a general store, a bakery, a butcher shop, etc. A storefront instead of a house full of vendors standing around.

    4. Mannequins for displaying armor/weapons. Clickable to open as a paperdoll where people can view the armor/weapon stats and makers mark.

    5. A flirt emote with text that identifies the flirter and the flirtee (Grave GodsHammer flirts with Tokyo Rose) and a voice sound effect attached that says "How you doin?" Voice matching gender obviously.

    6. A functional door Chime or knocker to announce you're at another players front door.

    7. Mailboxes for leaving messages/items for friends who are offline.

    8. Weapons and sheilds that store visibly on the avatars body and are not pulled out of thin air.

    9. Custom engraving and/or embroidery of a guilds or persons sigil/coat of arms on the backs of cloaks and the front of sheilds.

    10. Full character customization options post creation. Gender changes, name changes, full physical appearance changes etc. Don't charge us an arm and a leg, it should be free a number of times per month per pledge level.

    11. Armor vanity/appearance slots.

    12. Looped animation NPC servants who stand at an item appearing to do work, fixing a meal at a counter, setting a table, moping a floor...etc.. only moderate interaction required, "I'm not certain my Lord, you might check with the master (or madame) of the house ".

    13. An in-game clock that displays server time and another you can set to your own time zone.

    14. An interactive in-game calendar for world and guild events.

    15. A working rickshaw or wagon a player can sit in, pulled by another player for faster transport between cities. "Don't forget to tip your driver".

    16. Multi-Player functional trampolines.

    17. A MyUO style out-of-game character and guild/faction search tool.

    18. Temp Ban alternative where the player is locked in the Owls head Clink for 72 hours and can have visitors to talk but no trading/physical interactions.

    19. Bring back the character profile scroll and add factual notes to warn other players of previous ban's for scamming/cheating. Pre/Post temp ban punishment?

    20. Auto-Brokered betting on 1v1 PvP Duels. Expandable toggle on the duel offer/accept window that allows both players to type in a bet (bet amounts must match)... -3% brokering fee. Winner of duel gets the pot deposited into his bank.

    21. Texas Holdem Poker table where multiple players sit down, in-game and play texas holdem or blackjack for real gold bets. (Should be Easy for the Casino Portalarium Devs).

    22. Wedding rings and decorations for in-game weddings.

    That's all I can think of for now. :)

    Grave
     
  10. Ravenclaw [BEAR]

    Ravenclaw [BEAR] Avatar

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    1 - Exploration and Discovery. I love finding unexpected hidden areas. A quiet garden, unusual scene, enemy stronghold, rare giant half buried statue, whatever. The more difficult it is to find these areas, the more sense of joy from the discovery when they are found.

    2 - Risk. I need to know that although great reward might lie within a certain area, at the same time I may lose more than I gain trying to retrieve it. For example, right now there is no real sense of loss when we die in game as we simply respawn at the start with all our stuff. There is no risk and as such nowhere I fear to go. We need to add risk.

    3 - Change - From what I understand, this is already part of the plans. When something remains the same for too long, no matter how challenging or rewarding, eventually it becomes stale. Change is essential to keep the game attractive to players and make them constantly re-explore old areas as well as new ones.

    4 - Purpose - A craftsman can only make so many swords or armour pieces before he grows board doing so. Crafting needs to have a purpose. An adventurer can only slay so many creatures before wondering at its purpose. A story can take players on a ride for a while but ultimately I think there needs to be more in the way of community goals. Competition and tracking between players, reputation with in game characters and other players (reputation fades so needs to be renewed), better crafted items for players that craft certain amounts of an item over a certain time period and maintain that level. (Example, players who make x amount of armour become better at making armour but need to maintain those amounts to keep the bonus or it fades. )

    5 - Goals - As players accumulate 'stuff' (money, artifacts, collectibles, rares, etc.) They need to be able to do things with it. Show off or display their goods in their homes, spend money to build defenses, improve their knowledge, gain collectibles through auction or in some other way sink their money back into the economy. What is the goal of all of a persons efforts except to gain more, but what do you do with it all once you've got it? We need to have goals that we collect for.

    6 - Judicial System - Maybe not a critical system but one that, if done properly, could add a lot of flavor to the game, especially in PvP enabled towns where some type of 'law enforcement' may exist, or in the wilds with a bounty system. Finding the right balance of fun punishment vs a system which can be abused is difficult though so I won't hold my breath on this one. Still seeing a jail break occur from time to time might be interesting.

    7 - Ocean Travel - Plotting a course and facing the hardships of the ocean as opposed to teleporting from harbor to harbor would be a definite boon. This may be something we have to look forward to but I hope it does not get lost or forgotten along the way as that would be a shame.

    8 - Fashion - As much as I am not a fashion efficiado, I still think it is important that we have enough variety that everyone can uniquely create their character in game in a way that make them easily identifiable on sight. Example, a specific colored sash or style of vest. ( Speaking of which I'm still hoping for a derby hat, like what was in UO) A unique look or style can identify us to people as easily as the nameplates above our heads after a while.

    That's it for now, I reserve the last four for another time.
     
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  11. majoria70

    majoria70 Avatar

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    If you haven't posted your top 12 or more must haves for SOTA keep them coming. There is really wonderful feedback and ideas on this thread. It is so fun to read.:)
     
  12. Kit Kimberlin

    Kit Kimberlin Avatar

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    Love all the imagination here. I sure some of these have been covered, but I'll add my votes as well. ;)

    1) In depth rich lore. I am here to RP. Quick and to the point...:p
    2) Player tailored / leather-worked / metal-worked fashion including dyeable clothes. I'm dieing for some decent clothes.

    [​IMG]

    3) Quest and veteran reward fashion and home appearance items.
    4) CUSTOM EMOTES... /e smiles at the soldier in front of her. i.e. Kit Kimberlin smiles at the soldier in front of her.
    5) Custom moods /mood warm /mood sad /mood happy /mood excited etc...
    6) Custom emotes with mood ... /mood warm /e smiles at the soldier in front of her. i.e. Kit Kimberlin smiles at the soldier in front of her warmly.
    7) Custom emote targeted ( Duke Friday is the target ) /e smiles i.e. Kit Kimberlin smiles at Duke Friday.
    8) Targeted conversation with mood (Duke Friday is the target) /mood happy (in local chat) hello Duke Friday. i.e. Kit Kimberlin says to Duke Friday, "Hello Duke Friday" with a smile.
     
  13. Mordraig

    Mordraig Avatar

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    Still relatively new around here but I have some things I would really like to see.

    1) Character: More character creation options to allow people to truly diversify their characters appearance.

    2) Crafting: A "style" system for crafters that achieve a high enough rank that allows them to create the appearance of the crafted item much like the character creation process allows us to customize our appearance.

    3) Housing: Housing components in addition to the prebuilt houses that exist. Then people could purchase or craft those components (ie: exterior wall section) and "build" their own house over time. This would give places a more vibrant and lived in feel than just plop, there goes a house.

    4) Guilds: I have given a lot of thought on this since there will be guild conflict here. I think being able to have a guild, an alliance (that the guild is a member of), and a secret society to belong to would give players more dynamic guild options so that people could still group and organize with friends that may be in another guild. To go with this, alliance and guild tools that allow a tremendous amount of control, and allow taxation, penalties, rewards, ribbons or metals etc.

    5) Random Encounters: Add an exploration random encounter type where you see something in the distance that catches your eye. You zone in to the dialog or perhaps even an npc with information. There can still be combat near lucrative objectives but should be some without. Perhaps find recipes or maps to resource rich areas.

    6) Chest limits: I had to cringe a bit as I wrote this since it kills me to say since I'm a packrat, but putting an infinite number of items in a chest bugs me. If I can make and place a chest in my house, then I can make and place another if that one is not big enough to hold everything. Having a small industrial cities worth of raw materials swimming in a magic box the size of a footlocker just irritates me in some way that's hard to describe.

    That's all for now, I'm sure I will think of more in time. It was great reading all the other thoughts here.
     
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  14. Razimus

    Razimus Avatar

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    Must haves are understood by fans of Ultima VII...

    * Glowing = Magic, Non-Glowing = Non-Magic
    * All containers are openable, (No Donkey Kong breakable barrels & crates)
    * All NPC containers spawn items that are stealable
    * Systems of Initiation for Higher Magics; Must complete X quests to even be worthy to have access to higher level spells
    * Cities having their own unique culture & unique architecture, not cookie cutter looking exactly the same.
    * Currency; physical currency, different currencies
    * Quests; elaborate quests that cause the quester to solve riddles & puzzles
    * Elaborate underworld, underworld city, catacombs that actually resemble catacombs.
    * Rare NPCs such as a phoenix that produces a rare reagent such as a phoenix egg.
    * Rare weapons that are non-craftable

    I could go on and on, those that are not fans of the above either never played Ultima VII or if they did they either didn't enjoy the game or didn't notice that these things were uniquely outstanding.
     
  15. ThurisazSheol

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    1. craftable underpants.
    2. dyable codpieces.
    3. finished crafting systems.
    4. kilts, including appropriate tartans, AND battle kilts.
    5. go carts, to go with the new fez's and beer mugs.
    6. separate brewing and still stations, to go along with the aging barrels.
    7. more than 3 types of mugs. where are the craftable copper ones?
    8. the ability to jump in the over-world map.
    9. in-game VOIP system.
    10. multiple organizations (1. guild. 2. community 3. societies)
    11. ability to "share ownership" in a lot, so multiple people can travel home.
    12. permissions to rooms, items, and doors within a home.

    and because 5 was a farce:
    13. windows phone support for Matterios SOTA app...


    Please note, I am still protesting the fact that #4 is not yet implemented
     
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