Features you'd like to see in Shroud of the Avatar

Richard told us that he listen to us the players, so my guess is that nothing is set in stone yet and the game will continue to evolve.

I have a suggestion on PvP that will almost keep all playstyles happy.

Make PvP hardcore as before trammel or before Age of Shadows for the ones wanting that kind of game, that kind of thrill. Make it optional. If you dont want to participate then dont. Do your thing without fear getting dragged into something you want to avoid.

There will be guildwars and i would like to see an option for real consequences in the game. Remember it would be optional. The ones that enjoy a risk vs reward game, full loot and maybe even statloss for PK:s and while i think of it a bounty board could have those features that only affects them, noone else.

Such an option would suit a wider playerbase. All you guys have to remember that the really old UO players that experienced Ultima Online before trammel and Age of Shadows have been looking for a new similar MMO since 2003. These oldtimers that loved Richard Garriott old UO more then anything else would finally find a new home. And dont get me wrong i loved being a crafter, roleplay, tame and even planted flowers.=) A game need to be more then PvP.

This suggestion would not interfere with the casual player that dont want anything to do with PvP.
I really hope this fantastic developer team at least think about what i suggest. Feels like this might be my last hope getting my old game back, i miss it.

 

I would also like to see some form of player-provided questing. Of course, this can be done right now, I can ask for a scale from the tail of a dragon and off you go, but I mean something to make it somewhat easier. I need my scale for a crafting project, so I hire a herald to announce this and pay for the item or service when it is done, after which a messenger informs me that the deed is done and delivers the goods, if any.

 

I'd like:

1. Dual wielding of weapons.

2. Combat animations that become better and more "cool" looking as your skill with that weapon type goes up.

3. A skill system with weapon types that goes up with use of that weapon.

4. Random "masters" (these are npcs) in a weapon type that travel the world which you can come across and even if you are "max skilled" in a weapon type they can teach you a new attack type that has its own cool animation.

 

Totally agree with CorlagTheBard

I would love to see more advancements toward gathering in mining, gem minging, stone quarrying. Actually having to prospect a spot yourself, and stake claim on the land, mine the area with all the dangers; rockslides, weather, thieves, and claim stalkers.

It would fit nicely with more dangers = better rewards and give a much better development of reality toward something so simple.

 

I had a couple of more ideas earlier in regards to combat. I would like there to be a real benefit to using different fighting styles within the same weapon type.....

For example, a player wielding a one handed sword should have at least three variations to benefits from how they fight.....

1) Sword and Large Shield (Kite Shield) on the off hand.

2) Sword and Small Shield (Buckler) on the off hand.

3) Sword and No Shield on the off hand.

The benefits could be as simple as stat changes. For example, a player wielding a Kite Shield would be able to block easier, and block more effectively than a player with a Buckler, but would also be much slower, as the larger shield would prevent quick movements. A player with a Buckler wouldn't be able to block as easily, but would be much more agile. Then a player with no shield would be even more agile, would have a much harder time blocking since they are only using a sword, but would also find it easier to parry an attack and counter, due to the fact that they are not weighted down by a shield......

I'm saying this due to the fact that too many games that I've played provide no advantage for players who would rather forgo a shield, or use a smaller one. Too often, a lack of a shield simply means a lowering of defense, with no gain what-so-ever......

 

Alas, I remembered another thing I have always liked the thought of.

In my play of tabletops games, especially as a GM, one of my favorite things to do was flip thru the Monstrous Compendium. There was, of course, the standardized information you might expect fitting it into a gaming system, but besides that there were artistically rendered pictures, illustrating the beasts that set your mind ablaze. There were written descriptions, sometimes written like it was from the words of an expert, sometimes witness accounts, sometimes historical or mythological description.

In other games, if there even is a monsters codex, it fills itself in automatically defeating the certain beast. In other games, the information seems to automatically fill the pages, as if in a single instant you knew everything about the beast you have never seen before.

I like the idea of each player having their own monsters compendium. At the beginning of a person's quest, it is blank (or at least mostly blank) as the person knows nothing of the beasts of the wild and around the world. On meeting new monsters, the compendium updates, but only a name and a picture. On meeting the beast many more times, and more information fills in. Or information might appear when a player hears the tale of a witness or expert. Or certain pages might be bought, others found, or even copied from ancient tomes or books within a library.

It would, then, be a game within the game, for someone to collect a complete compendium, and it means something for a person, and their sense of self-accomplish, to look back in their compendium and see full pages.

 

A lot of good ideas here new/and old. Moving forward though, I hope the following concepts which made UO so memorable will make it into the game:

1) Housing decay - There's renters.. and kickstarters who won't pay rent.. with housing so limited, I would really hope there's other components in place to keep the game fresh. For instance, if someone hasn't logged in in X time, the home should naturally begin to decay. Housing decay was one of the highest highs and lowest lows in the game(if it happened to you, and it sure did happen to me) of the game - and I loved every minute of it it. Any loot in the home should be lootable if it falls.

2) Open PvP (Blue/Grey/Red ect..) - Make it work. Tramel killed UO as we knew it. Do what ever you need to do to be fair and balanced but put open pvp in the game. I don't remember a bounty system pre-trammel but sounds like a good idea.

3) Server wars - Who doesn't remember staying up to 5am EST waiting for all hell to break loose? Anything goes within a 1 hour period because progress within that hour isn't saved. Some of the most unforgettable UO experiences happened here.

4) Skill based progression - I take it that's already in. However, in UO, once you reached 100 'Grandmaster', you pretty much had it made. To keep things fresh, it would be interesting to offer a small bonus to players use those skills frequently.

Example:
Have a harder grind from 100-105 where attacks you use, things you craft or spells you cast are just slightly more powerful. The grind to stay from 100-105 would be harder to keep up and it's really a bonus to those who play use those skills on a frequent basis. I also see this as a slight deterrent for people who want to create multiple characters and GM them all to 100. Sure you could do that...but if you want to be the best of the best at any given moment, you've got to constantly and continually use your skills.

5) Poisoning skill - Poisoning weapons, food ect.. I loved that.

6) Boats - They are a must. Destroying boats ect.. would only be a bonus.

7) Make the characters, armor ect.. as unique/interesting as possible.

 

What I always loved about dungeon exploring in general was the discovery of a sercret door/passage what so ever you only find with a certain skill or high enough stat/attribute. Really like to see that ingame. A pathfinder skill that shows you hints about footprints leading to a hidden cave etc.

 

Just remembered something else that I would really like to see in the game, and that is the ability to reallocate your skill points. This is especially important if we are only allowed to have a single character for use online. Say for example, you started out your career as a blacksmith, but now much latter into your character's life you want to change and become a farmer. The problem is that you've hit the cap, and can't put any skill points into farming due to them all being stuck in skills related to blacksmithing. Likewise in combat, say you put all of your skill points into special attacks or weapon trees that were much more useful to you early on, but now that you are a big time adventurer you are fighting enemies that those early skills are much less useful against, yet you don't have any more points to allocate into new, more useful skills.....

I am by no means saying that we should be able to max out every skill tree, as that would allow every player to completely be self sufficient latter on, which would in turn make it pointless for players to play different roles past a certain point. All I'm saying is that there should be an option to respec your character if you so choose.....

This option should of course have major consequences, such as a high fee, no experience gain for a limited time, and/or greatly decreased health and defense for a limited time. With each new use of this option on the same character, the penalties will continue to scale to absurd limits, such as costing millions of gold, no experience gain of any sort for weeks, and always being left with 1 HP.......

Another, but more tricky option, is to only allow a character to reallocate his/her points once a month. The reason that I say this is more tricky is because it will cause characters who reallocated poorly to simply not play for a month, where as the other version will give them a goal they have to work towards to be able to fix their mistake.......

One more thing that I would like to see is the idea of your skill points not being set until you exit the level up menu. The reason I say this is because anyone who plays a lot of RPGs knows the frustration of accidentally putting a point into the wrong skill, only to be unable to change it even though they haven't even left the menu. A good example of how to do this well is the Mass Effect series, where you have the option to undo your recent point allocation so long as you haven't left the level up screen.....

 

I think that along with already existing in-game towns, players should be able to get together to build their own towns that players and Npcs can live in.
In compliance to that a Craft/Trade system that would have players work together to make things i.e a miner gets ore and brings them to the black smith who gives them to the armorer to sell.

 

As Royal Artisan I receive Iolo's Crossbow. Please make weapons upgradeable (by crafting?) so that I can keep the design throughout the game and don't need to equip the (ugly) Crossbow of Trollsmitering later to stand a chance in combat.

 

Thievery! Loot! Make property actually worth something. People shouldn't be safe in the deep dark woods all alone from the bad men. A world without bandits and villains is not a dangerous world at all.

 

Optional PvP please. If I wanted a hardcore PvP game I'd have backed Camelot Unchained instead.

That being said I am not against resources or perks being given to PvPers, that's fine. Just don't force me to be on high alert every time I step outside of my house...that's not a realistic world and not a pleasant gameplay experience.

 

I agree with Chivalry regarding the optional PvP.
The joy to band up with your pals in order to venture out on a joint adventure searching and destroying some evil creature and be rewarded by great treasures is for me the most important reason to continue playing an RPG even after the story line of the single player has ended.
But, being exposed to continuous man-hunting is just boring and after a while rather sick and should be really optional for those who enjoy hard competition and/or destroying/looting someone elses hard earned merrits.
Nothing against some meaness in the game like stealing, poisoning, or mugging, but the damage should be kept in a certain range, which is acceptable and can be recovered from in a short time.
Once, you have been raided 2-3 times of all your precious armor, weapons and goods, your motivation to start over again and again sinks swiftly against zero...



Cheers

 

here are my bulletpoints:

Nostalgia:
1. A basic story. Start small, but have enough to build on it. An easy way to do it is have the great battle between the avatar and the guardian reshaped the land and it's been a period of relative peach, but an ancient artifact from that war has been unleashed.

2. Ren faire level tech: I like cannons, ships and powder kegs, but that's about as far as I want the tech...at least to begin with.

3. shout outs: I want skittles, smithy, and pretty much as many of the following characters as they can.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ultima_characters

4. A party: I want a rag tag group of people to be required to full fill the quest.

5. Virtues and Shrines: They really need to play a part in the game

6. Gateways: I've always loved this mode of transport.

Fixes:

1. quick spellcasting: I have no problem with regents and silly phrases, but it should be easy to hot key them so spellcasters can actually cast spells in combat.

2. better inventory management: honestly, ultima iv is where it reached its zenieth in this regard and I like the idea of "party goods" that takes the excess space and strength of the party into account.

the last thing I want is a "bag quest"

3. Combat Control: I don't want automated combat, I want to pick my targets and hit them with my funky stuff.

Misc:

I kinda want a multispecies world: Humans would be a default race, but I definately want gargoyles as well.

elves, while an add on for ultima online, I wouldn't mind.

and part of me wants to finally see what a bobbit or a fuzzy is .

 

two other things (feel free to merge with previous post...I'm not seeing a modify)

single player option that doesn't require a constant internet connection (see diablo 3 and the recent simcity for why).

honestly, the best game of the original series was ultima v, but that was quite a while ago and things change. however, there was a lot to mine for great game design.

 

There is one thing I really want for this game: eye patches. very small, but the game isn't the same without it.

 

- Player Run towns/shops, even the ability to own shops within the major cities would be great.
- Player versus player with consequence, "pre-tram"
- Regular events that shape the world.

 

1. Full loot PvP
2. Statloss for PK:s or something similar cause there need to be consequences to die as a PK. Being a PK should be hard and only for the most skilled players
3. A working bounty board which is hard to get cause friends to the PK could get the reward instead of the bountyhunters
4. Some sort of guildranking for the warring guilds
5. Timed spells like the ones we saw in Ultima Online. explosion-e-bolt-poison-harm-harm-harm-dead=).Spellsystem in Ultima Online was so much better then any other i seen afterwards and it would be just awsome if something similar could be achieved for SotA.
6. Factions with strongholds that give some benefits for the holder
7. Bulk orders for crafters as in Ultima Online
8. Fishing
9. Treasure hunting with maps found in chests or on monsters
10. Thiefs, not read if they already is in the game otherwise they is good fun and also annoying.=)
11. Skills from 0-100 and 100 is Grand Master as in UO. 100 could also tag the item as made by a Grand Master.
12. Open PvP for the ones that enjoy that type of gameplay. Should be optional.

 

When it comes to optional PVP, I start to think how WoW did on PvE servers. Default was that you could not be killed by others, since you were on a PvE server. But you could issue a PvP command and make yourself available for attacks. This of course came with a timer, so you couldn't jump back and forth. I think the timer was an hour or something, and then you could go back to PvE mode.