Before Release

Ok I have a thought on something.
This not a criticism thread but an idea thread, get your ideas in one place.
I will post a couple of mine below this as examples, but will add more later.

Darkstarr has spoken . He mentioned he would like to have all of our great ideas in one post, so Wala.

If you have written an idea you love or would love to see in game that is feasible and doable in this type of game, add it here.

Please feel free to copy and paste it from another thread, but please be sure to title it so we can make it searchable for the Devs.

Also Richard Garriott stated at SotaCon that only approximately 20% of the game is left to put in before release. Now is the time to get ideas into the game before release or shortly after release. We need our ideas searchable and findable and all in one place.

I would like to keep this a clean document. So don't forget to name your ideas and don't comment here. I can add topics, just PM me to add anything or for any questions or comments.

What's missing the presence of which will make a difference in Shroud of the Avatar before release.

Here are titles. Select one or more before your idea. (pm me to add your own title if I missed one:

Achievements
Agriculture
Armor
Animations
Astronomy
Avatar
Boating
Buffs and buff ideas
Conditions
Control Points
Conversation
Combat (list pve, pvp, or general)
Crafting
Crafted items
Death
Emotes
Equippable
Experience
Exploration
Food or consumables
Fishing
Game play (how the world connects to tasks, quests,
Gold
Harvesting
Healing
Journal
New Tech or design requests
NPCs
NPC towns
Mounts
Music
Overland Map
Pack Animals
Pets or Summons
Player owned towns (POTS)
Quests
Recipes
Rewards
Roving encounters
Scenes
Sound
Sieges, Invasions
Skills (crafting or combat or list both)
Taming
Thief
Travel
Treasure Hunting
UI
Weapons
Wearable
Weather



Rules:
-No arguing or comments other than ideas or lists on this thread.
-Only use this thread to list ideas for the game
-Also Use this thread to list what's still missing for you in the game
-Be brief as possible with key points
-Give as clear as possible examples for Devs to read.
-Also copy and paste if you need, show pictures, graphs, etc to demonstrate your point
-Edit a post or make a new one if needed
-Don't just say meaningful or immersive give examples
-Stick to the facts, what is the bottom line?

Edited - also this thread revived for many great ideas to keep them all here. Don't forget to copy and paste your great ideas here in 'Before Release' for the opportunity to keep it all in once place. https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/top-12-must-haves-for-sota.24560/page-3#post-359874

 

Title - Crafting and combat skills -
-Crafting and skill quests that teach us recipes and skills are needed.
-At varous points they would give us special recipes or skills and tasks to learn more.
-Less skills are bought or taught but are acquired through tasks and criteria that is met.
-Some discoveries are rare but not teachable unless very low level and then only very few should be.
-Someone who hasn't done the work won't know these things, or be able to know these things
-Very little trading should be done of recipes, they should have been earned.
-Your avatar must do the work or not know how to do it.
-This includes combat skills.
-If teachable is a pledge reward fine, but no more, is not good for the game.
-Masters should not just give us a skill because we found the trainers and bought them. No no no.
-The criteria should be met and then we discover it through our actions.
-Let us earn our skill knowledge and recipe knowledge through game play, do not let it be given away.
edited

 

POTS - My requests for Pots
-more placeable limits
-more placeable items on actual pot not just on lots
-town invasions with challenging creatures

Combat pvp -
-How about having a system in place like a 'criminal points system' earned by "certain criteria'
-What happens through built up criminal points with certain criteria criminal points are earned
-If met this generates a work order wanted posted for your head worth for example 5k
-Wanted posters can be picked up from NPC town bulletin boards as a work order
-The only way to be a criminal is through striving for it
-Just doing pvp for fun does not make you a criminal
-Pvp quests that lead you in this direction are found through interacting with NPCs and choices that are made
-Once your criminal points have reached the required level then the work order appears requesting you to be hunted down and turning in your head will remove the wanted poster
-This could look like Work order type - wanted criminal Evil Max (made up name), 5k reward for his head.
-Once taken Work order is gone from the board, but other criminal work orders would appear as they were generated.
-Completing criminal work orders can give a boost to virtue or other achievement/reward
-This is only an additional fun pvp option to do along with others being implemented

Quests
- would have multiple choices and rewards and punishments
-Some quests can be failed if a timer runs out.
-Avatars should be aware time is running out on some tasks
-A'worry' debuff appears on some tasks we have
-To cure 'worry' we may drink certain consumables that sooth us like wine (but beware of over drinking for a negative effect), also or apple juice for example.
-These buffs are temporary buffs, only completing the task will remove 'worry'
-Also not completing the task with a hit for example -1 health in small incriments).
-Drinking wine or apple juice for example can have a soothing, calming effect temparily to kill the dragon, but worry will come back until task is completed or failed.
-If failed a sound lets us know, but 'worry' debuff is the warning

 

THIS !

 

1. I would love to see someone playing the pianos at the inns . (Of course when not occupied by avatars)

2. A Maestro emote for all music lovers.

3. Clowns (around here we all float muhaha)

4. Whales in our waters.(with spouts)

5. Ninja Kobalds

6. Fine china for our guest.

7. Ladders to repair our roof tops.

8. Birthday Balloons we can give our birthday avatars.

9. A grand magic equivalent to 'Fel'. ( preferably not green)

10. Mage glow for mage robes.

11. Drop Dead to Die For Assorted Weapons, Wands, Pole Arms , Etc.

 

I added Exploration to the the categories. I have some more thoughts. I keep a note pad as I wander the game and think of things. Then I can add ideas Also I just added 'conditions'

 

enchantments that make wearables glow like the virtue cloak
flaming arrows
more blood
wallpaper for interior home walls
paint for exterior home walls
climbing animations
wine glasses
marijuana as a crop
midgets
evil clowns
seasonal decorations in the NPC cities
more NPC activities in NPC cities
NPC festivals

 

OVERLAND MAP

Different map layers that you can check off/on, such as

HIDE NPC Towns
HIDE PRT Towns
HIDE POTs
HIDE Random Encounters (if you want to be surprised by them, not avoid them)

Right now the world feels too small because there's a town every three steps. I'd like hide things temporarily when I'm not interested in them.

 

Titles: Conditions and Avatar

Avatar - I'd like to see our avatar notice things in the world by comments and visuals and debuffs that need action taken such as these and I will continue the list:

-worry- can contract 'worry' when player has undone timed quests still pending. Worry gives a small debuff like for example -.01 dropping that can be temporarily helped with using appropriate liquid with soothing properties (such as wine or apple juice)also the character may show signs of cowering occasionally or nervousness out of combat.

-cursed - can be contracted from various places such as touching a cursed item that was fished up that has clues to fix.

-Starving- will reduce health by a really small amount until fed

-Well Rested- a slight buff that lasts up to four hours, some foods or drinks may help like coffee or caffeinated drinks and teas to allieviate 'tired' that starts to come after the 4 hours is up, but a nap would help more. Player gets 'well rested' 4 hour buff the next day after logging off to sleep in some bed or sleeping bag located in various campgrounds found through out the game.
-As the day goes by 'well rested' starts to wear off.
- Naps, food or drink can temporarily alleviated some symptoms of 'tired' setting

-Tired or Fatigue- explained above a little but it happens to our avatars if:
-we did not put your character to bed before logging off and no buff for 'well rested' will be earned the next day
- A nap will help a little and food and drinks a little, well unless they have some negative properties to them.

Drunk- self explanatory
- contracted after drinking too much alcohol
- or 'drunk' can also happen from drinking too many potions made with alcohol.
-Drinking spiked punch at a party without knowing it could cause this .
-effects - Can cause sleepiness, wooziness, staggering, puking and lowered stats. -Perhaps coffee or caffeine tea or foods would help this condition *hint, *hint*
-but beware some foods or drinks may have a negative twist and puking could happen.
-perhaps a 'sleep it off'' cat nap would help

edited again

 

Music boxes. Always liked the one in U7.

 

chat - different names have different colors so you know better who you are talking to or who is talking to you. I many times reply to the wrong blue person since everyone talking to me is blue if in whisper

Group - I would like to have 12 possible to joining a group. We are always having to turn people away from control points we are doing.

Exploration -make exploration a viable time sync. When exploring nightshade pass/hilt area today and climbing rocks, there were so many discovery opportunities such as a bear cave. How about earning exploration points or making achievements for exploration.

Cool trick it looks like Majoria is looking up.

 

Maybe also :

-- Diseased (Troll pox, Britannian Measles, Elven flu, kobald fleas, plague, etc) - be nice to have medic NPCs that sell cure potions, heal potions, and will cure diseases.

 

Reminds me of Project Gorgon. My character in that game is still running around with lice and I can't figure out how to get rid of them.

 

Here's an idea- get rid of the combat system.

 

mainly i d like more skills.

musician skill tree
home decorator skill tree
merchand skill tree
athletic skill tree
deeper gathering skill trees and diferent qualitys for each material
a teacher skill tree for teaching recipes
indeed all action be related to a skill.

i would like an evolving mining underground under my house. Hire some Npc to help me do research on high quality ore and build my own custom mine over time.

also :
player owned tax free auctioner
player titles related to skill level
a guild bank and allow donation to guild
some fishing contest tools

a real player driven economy : npc no longer buying ressources for gold. maybe just npc converting cotos to gold.
or convert gold ore to gold coin.

 

Title: Fishing
Lord Baldrith created this thread some time ago. Full of great fishing ideas
Feel free to add your fishing ideas as well.
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/fishing-ideas.37725/#post-428926
Here is the OP from Lord Baldrith on the Thread

Since Fishing is showing up in the game in R22 I think it would be good to rehash these ideas I had a while back so that our in game fishing is deep and fun!

I do not want fishing to just be click and cast and click to reel in your catch. I want to see a more complex and exciting fishing system. I have been doing fishing in games since Ultima Online and have some ideas based on past experiences and new ideas I have been thinking about.

A system where different types of fish had different ways to be caught was one fun system that I played. (Vanguard). It worked like this: Trout for example. You would cast, get a trout on your line (It would recognize the fish and label it) and you have to figure out how to 'fight' with it using the arrow keys. Up, Right, Left, Down. If you figured out the combo then the fish took damage. If not the fish could figure out your combo, and work at getting away. If you did enough damage, the fish was caught. You would have to learn the combo for each fish type. Now, that's an easy enough one to 'wiki' the movement of each fish (or make note as you discover it), or our game could create random combo movements, making each fish unique and hence not obvious. This could be tedious...and I would guess higher fishing skill could alleviate some of the annoyance of losing fish after fish . Perhaps you could even specialize in certain fish.

Another system that I considered great fun was one in which you started out with very few skills. At first all you could do was cast the line and reel it in. Once you gained skill in fishing, you would develop new abilities. There was an ability in one game that allowed you to catch a fish, and then use that fish on your line to try and catch a bigger fish. (called mooching) I would hope you could eventually develop the ability to do spearfishing, net fishing, lure fishing, fly fishing, worm fishing, ice fishing (YIPEE)

That brings me to another detail in fishing which could effect other skills of our character. Creation of bait thru cooking. Also, lures, flies, and nets could be crafted in one of the current skillsets. Traps for crabs and other forms of water creatures would also be a nice craft able item. I remember creating many pieces of bait from small minnows that I could catch at first, enabling me to catch better fish for cooking recipes and for better bait recipes. Also, worm catching could be a part of Gardening/Agriculture in that, when picking your veggies or regents out of the garden, you catch a pile of worms. Perhaps worms could also be obtained on public gardening spots, or just a creature that you could pick up at random times during your travels. The worms would probably have a limited life span (If we wanted to see more realism) which could be increased with the crafting of bait boxes, or some kind of place to store the worms.

A great idea suggested by Avatar Acid: Putting out a lantern or some kind of heat source could also attract fish to your line...perhaps other forms of luring could be enabled.

Also fish schools could be in some waters, and deep waters would hold bigger fish and bigger dangers. The possibility of catching a shark that would quickly endanger your life would make for a more exciting fishing experience...but perhaps that could be on a deep sea adventure and you'd kind of be prepared for that type of situation.

Also, treasure chests, small boxes, rusty junk should all be possible to catch on your line. Perhaps even some rare materials and items could find it's way on your line...

Fishing contests and quests are also a fun way to work fishing! A fun way to earn great fishing related rewards as well.

An Outline Format on the skills for fishing (Thanks Avatar Acid)

1. Fishing Style Skills
A. Fly Fishing
B. Ice Fishing
C. Lure Fishing
D. Net Fishing
E. Worm Fishing
F. Trap Setting
G. Spear Fishing
H. Mooching
2. Fishing Technique Skills
A. Casting
B. Reeling
C. Trapping
D. Luring
3. Bait
A. Minnow Ball (cooking skill)
B. Trout Ball (cooking skill)
C. Cheesy Ball (cooking skill)
D. Worm Ball (cooking skill)
E. Lures (carpentry skill?)
F. Nets (tailoring skill)
G. Fishing Spear (blacksmithing skill)


I could go on and on and on but I will leave it here for discussion/comments.

Thanks so much for reading!

 

My suggestions:

Taming:
-Animal Charm should be moved out of Moon Tree and into Taming Tree; Animal Charm should be Tier One spell leading to Tame Creature which should be Tier Two
-Taming should then optionally be a two-tiered approach using combination of Animal Charm and Tame Creature skill; thus not having to harm the animal to tame it and not get beat up in the process. Of course, one could just use Tame Creature skill and beat on creature but creature is not as responsive or loyal as when 'nice' method is used.

Combat Pets:
-Pet targeting needs a keybind so application of buffs and healing is easier.

The Epitaph:
-Widen corridors so pets and creatures don't have path finding issues or get stuck in doorways

 

Exploration:
- Give us more to discover and to find in the scenes so that it is fun exploring them.

Quests:
- Please find a solution the problem with housing and choices with consequences. Let us see consequences to our action - maybe with phasing or separate instances for story and housing scenes. But it is unsatisfying to not be able to see what we did and it doesn't create any sense of achiement. It makes quests and story just a "filler" instead of the focus. If my actions don't have any impact then why should I follow the story?
- Quests should be more than just running around, talking to NPCs and reading notes. There should be things happening, there should be some action involved. Take a look at the quests of the Witcher 3. This is exciting questing.
- Create a "flow" to the game so that we can play through the story by just following the quests and without having to grind in between.

 

Journal -
-Our journal notes when we talk to someone who gives important or interesting information
-Journal might note NPC X thinks something is suspicious in Ravensmoor
-Our journal notices things we see while adventuring and doing tasks and makes a note
-Our journal doesn't have to tell us what to do or how to do it but is should notice and make notes
-Our journal tracks important interactions points of interest, dead bodies we see etc (like you spot a dead body in black blade pass and read the note on it)
-Journal does say things like 'Perhaps you should ask someone about it'
-Journals make note if we 'failed' a quest line because we ran out of time with the alert or failed' on them (see 'worry' under 'conditions' idea above)
-For example A small alert will be heard as well when we have 'failed' notation appearing in our journal
-if we 'ignore' the signs of 'worry this is when we see the'fail'notation or hear the fail sound and don't deal with our 'worry' in time
-(see quests and conditions for worry idea)

 

Scenes
-such as Ravensmoor let us circle around it, perhaps it has a hidden underwater cave
-exploring further we climb a rock jutting out in the ocean and see a fellow explorer who had lost his/footing
-perhaps we should take his belongings to the persons name written in his notes, it could mention a sister's name for example
-Having a scene end and load out when it looks interesting to go further is disappointing
-Let us explore a scene and find secrets and many discoveries
-leaving the scene would be our choice by us using exits not forced out with a load screen