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

Most of my suggestions here will deal with realism, because I think its a great asset to RPGs, it increases the atmosphere and the need for actual role-playing. Obviously there are limits in making a fun game, but I think pushing against the limits is always good

* Everything that exists in the game should be craftable by players, including books, rugs, tables, even skiffs. Mr. Garriot has always said a key goal of the "ultimate RPG" is to have every item be usable. I would like to add a key goal that every item should be craftable too. I agree with the book publishing suggestion above. Player written books could be submitted to a publisher, which could either be a PC or NPC.

* Everything that exists and is craftable, should have an NPC crafter at least somewhere in the game world. There should be candlemakers/soapmakers (chandlers), millers, bookbinders, potters, masons, brewers, winemakers. (a crossbow maker is actually an artillator)

* I know for some people this will be a turnoff given past experience with how this has been implemented ("Feed me", etc.), but personally, I would like some necessity given for food and sleep during the game, rather than it being optional. This doesn't need to be complicated. Lack of these things could just put an increasing cap on stamina, which would be lifted when they're addressed. That way, they wouldn't be game-killers. But they still would open up role-playing possibilities, like the having a party of hunters needing to stage a camp in the wilderness.

* Day/night cycles like in single-player Ultimas, with NPCs going to their beds, and a necessity to use things like lanterns. Seasons which would not just be visual fx, but would also effect the game world.

* Hunting based on tracking skills, finding tracks in the wild. Berry and fruit bushes in the wild, to be foraged. Also herbs that may or may not be reagents.

* More far out suggestions that I wouldn't hold my hopes up for: localized injuries, like a wound to an arm; animal husbandry.

* I don't want the game to limit danger by limiting the ability of rogue PCs to murder you, but realistic limits on everything in the game should help restrain this. If its not easy to be super-wealthy, if its not easy to be super-skilled, and if its not easy to use magic, then its a harder job for someone to be a PK. Also, if PC have to worry about things like eating, etc. that also puts a dent in the PK-business. Think about it. Why aren't many people PKs in real life? Because they have their own life to worry about.

If anyone enjoys realism in RPGs, btw, try out UnReal World at http://www.unrealworld.fi/ , its a survival-type game that takes place in Iron Age Finland.

 

One more thing that I would really love to see is the idea of "vanity" clothes over-riding the armor you have equipped. I know that this will take some of the realism out of the game, (which is what most people seem to be looking forward to), but at the same time it would greatly improve the players' ability to differentiate themselves....

What I mean is that, (and this will sound familiar for those of you who play Terraria), you would have to separate equipment slots for all armor/clothing. One for the actual stat-boosting equipment, and the other for what visually appears on your character. I know that a lot of games do have this, but at the same time, I'd rather not just assume that this was the devs' first idea when they started making armor. I've played too many games where you either had no vanity items, or you were forced to wait until you had very healthy sums of money before you could buy "special" items that would work in this slot. The result usually meant that for a long time, players who were near the same level all had a very similar appearance, because they all had the same type of armor equipped because it was the best for that level....

I'm not really worried about something like this happening with SotA, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Being able to outfit your character without worrying about how it's going to affect your stats may not seem like that big of a deal to some people, but frankly I'd hate to have to give up some clothing I think looks good just because the stupid looking armor gives me better defense.......

 

Gamer3427,

I'd think you could achieve the same thing without vanity items by just by, first, having a lot of variations on items, and second, having a lot of customization that would go beyond color dyes. For instance, shields and surcoats could have emblems, helmets could have feathers, cuirasses and other metal plate armor could be etched or emblazoned with relief, cloth and leather could have embroidery and other decoration added to them.

Of course, this is work of the game devs, but I'd rather see that personally than separate items for buffs and for vanity.

 

Although I've spend a great deal of effort collecting item "skins" in Aion, GW, WoW, RIFT, the better solution is just to leave the stats off the gear.

 

@redfish:

I don't mean for them to be separate item types by any means, I simply mean that I would like to be able to use my old, now weak, equipment for visual purposes, rather than simply needing to get rid of it because something much better came along. I fully support your idea of having the regular armor having a large variety in appearance, but that still has the problem of everyone who wants good defense being stuck with appearing with a variant of heavy armor. All I'm saying is that it would be nice to true variety to how people can choose to look while maintaining similar levels of defensibility, without having to rely on the usual idea of "oh, I want good defense, so my character will just have to walk around in a giant suit of armor."

Like I said, I know that this will take some of the "realism" out of the game because it will mean that that players can wear whatever without their actual equipment showing up. Still, I'd rather loose some realism than walk into an area filled with warriors and simply see a few variations of the same style......

I also don't want there to be pre-made visual "skins" that you can show up as rather than in your equipment, which is what quite a few games do if they choose to let you override your default appearance.......

 

Also, I've been reading through the posts in this thread, and have seen that quite a few people want a good day/night cycle for the in game world. One of the things that I've noticed is that some people want it to be localized to a time zone, so that when it is night there it's night in game, and vice versa. There is one problem I have with this though, and that is the fact that people who can only get on latter at night, (because of work, or school, ect), will as such only be able to play the game when it is night in game......

My suggestion is to implement the day and night cycle, but not have it based off of real time. Perhaps by having it based on a half-hour or an hour system, so that every half hour it will transition between day and night. This would allow every player to experience the different in game times, and the benefits or dangers associated with them, rather than just the people who get on at certain times......

 

I can't imagine day/night cycle on real time. I suspect a great many people are playing for 2-3 hours a day after work, rather than sitting around all day in from of the computer. I think 6x speed is what many games do.

 

I hate that the more I think on this game, the less I stick to my original philosophy of only posting a couple of my ideas. Oh well, screw it, that was a dumb philosophy anyhow....

A couple more ideas....

1) A banking system.

Most people seem to want an item banking system, but I'm much more interested in a system for the currency itself. This is especially important if there will be PK-ing or money/item drops upon death. I plan on playing as a traveling merchant, and nothing would be more frustrating than being killed and losing both all my items, and all my money, simply because there wasn't a good system to store my gold somewhere that I could retrieve it between cities.....

I'm an advocate of allowing PK-ing, since it will add a real threat to travel, rather than simply a chance of random encounters. That being said, I would very much like to store my money instead of carrying it all around with me at all times. But what's to stop all the players from storing all their money at all times?

My idea on the subject is that there should be some sort of incentive to keeping the money with you and not simply storing it when you're done only to immediately withdraw it. Perhaps by making there be a certain delay between when you store it in one city and when it can be withdrawn in another......

More so, make it so that based on the amount you wish to withdraw, it will take a certain time for the bank to withdraw the full amount for you. In other words, someone who wants to get 100 gold out of the bank will be able to get it a lot quicker than someone who wants to get 1 million gold out of the bank. This would give players an incentive to keep a decent sum on them at all times so that they could buy items at a whim, rather than have to wait for their withdrawal to go through......

2) Purchasable Horse and Cart

Since it is likely that players will have a limited amount of inventory space, it will be difficult for merchants or artisans to transport a large amount of goods from one location to another. I propose adding a horse and car system that players will be able to buy in order to transport materials, wares, ect. over long distances without having to make several trips. It would act as a mobile storage that would hold roughly 100 times the amount of the player's inventory....

Needless to say, these would not be cheap, could be looted by attackers, and would move slower than a player on foot, as well as being incapable of traveling off road without consequences. A high price would mean that some players could purchase and rent out carts to other players, thus making a profit in the long run. And the fact that they would be lootable and slow moving would give players an incentive to hire guards, travel as a caravan, or most likely both......

 

Make it possible to interact with a blank easel to draw a painting which will in turn create an in-game framed painting you can hang in houses for decoration, with the option to tag paintings just like you could tag crafted items in UO. Thus having exceptionally well made paintings could make the artist well known and bring more profit to his future works.

 

I couldnt find the weather update forum. but i did have a comment on it


when rain is comming:

*the aminal life should feel its presence befor ti gets to you.

*The aminals should run and hide in their burrows, caves, mountains, hills, Forest ect.

*they shoudld have a purpose and not just roam the world untill you come and kill them.

*i would like to see an actual Hunter with skills take place!

that would be cool.

is that asking to much?

Thanks: Enoch of GL The one and ONLY!

 

One point I forgot on realism:

* You shouldn't be able to change your armor in the middle of combat.

 

Think of those of us who cannot commit to playing every day.

- Give NPCs personalities. Make how you interact with them count. I liked the idea that you can act in certain ways that encourage groups to trust or distrust you.

- I also like the idea that settlements and villages can work on growing as a community, maybe also working on fortifications and grow into a market town, a hub for knowledge or schooling, places for crafts exchange, some of these both in single player and multiplayer online mode?

- I really like the ideas of seasonal events or places - areas that can only be reached at full moon, general festivals celebrated throughout the land, but also local cults, or things such as the Irish gathering.

- NPC friends or partners would be fun, and give a larger range of interactions than them simply keeping your house clean.

 

- 2-3 Hot keys for saved camera angles.
- Since weather will be used. What about wind blowing flapping cloths.
- Hoods on or off.
- Fighting techniques.
- Activate yelling at the enemy during combat. Create your own and import or use some ingame.
- Combine spells for additional effects. Grease and fire etc.
- Alternate fighting. Punching, smashing, kicking etc.
- Top down or behind the shoulder or first person view.
- Walk between towns in the above view using speed walk, speed run to hasten the pace.

 

I've made the following suggestion many times, to many a large scale multi-player game (MMO).

Too often do we see games changed, by the voice of the people who spend more time on forums complaining, than playing. Too often the "big post" is taken to heart by the game designers, a large change is made and then the next big post comes from those upset by the change.

I have yet to see a game try and get a true feel of what the players want. I'm not talking about pre-design btw, I'm talking about once the game is live and someone wants x buffed or y nerfed, etc.

My recommendation is to offer a short survey or poll just after login. It's completely optional and a quick click could make it go away, for those who don't want to deal with it. But by doing so, it's kind of hard for them to have a valid complaint if it was ignored. Also if you do this at login, it's the actual players of the game that will be influencing your decisions.

This poll/survey could give you a real feel for how your players are enjoying the game. Things they would like to see changed. Things they might think are broken, etc.

Polls/surveys could be tailored to specific players as well, where the question is relevant. If you want to know how your players feel about blacksmithing, then you involve players in the poll that have a certain level of the skill blacksmithing. The last person you need feedback from on a skill or system is the person who doesn't even use it. (unless you're trying to figure out why people don't use a specific skill possibly)

Surveys could be a simple, "Are you enjoying the game?" yes/no. Add comments of what they really like or don't like. If you find the majority don't like some aspect, then you can rectify it. Or if they do like an aspect, what can you do to expand upon that.

Happy players will bring more people into the game. And if a player feels like they have some impact into game design, they will tend to feel like they have a more vested interest into the game.

Anyway, a small feature to consider that could help improve the game overtime, in such a way that they players would like, without having to guess what they would really like.

 

Hmm, what is it I want to see?

Well, SotA is a combination of single player and multiplayer experience.

I loved the atmosphere of the <b>single player RPGs Ultima I-VII.

The feeling of a living world. There was day and night, the NPCs had a daily routine, a job, a house went to bed and stood up (on different times) to have a meal and go to work.

You had to eat to maintain your strength - you did not die but the game gave you clear signals to eat something.

Of course there was a great story, millions of small secrets to explore, A LOT OF loot, magic, weapons and all those things. But it was the realism and the details who really made Ultima a faszinating game to me.

I also played (the early) Ultima Online and this <b>multiplayer</b> experience was faszinating, too, but different. We soon had a guild and the open world and the palyer interaction was something. PVP was new, annoying but it really brought us together. We had some intense moments there. We had a fortress, a small army of PK hunters, guild uniforms, special tinkered armor (in a special color you could not buy) and we all trained tactics and skills.

So it would be nice to have some of those strengths of both worlds in SotA:

- How about basic needs like food, drink and sleep? You can buy your basic food for a small amount but you can also grow plants and learn to prepare special food and even sell it on the market.


This is a unique feature in online games and should - in my humble opinion - be implemented in the core game. Later updates could transfer this basic system to clothes (you can make your own clothes in various difficulty levels and sell them) and even breeding (pets of different quality levels).


- A second thought: SotA tells - as most RPGs - a fantastic story with the hero who fights through hordes of enemies and wins the day in the end. This means a lot of combat, a lot of loot and of course a lot of item collecting. But even the best RPG has the point when all enemies are slain, even the best loot has been found and the hero has climbed the top of his fame. What now?

If we are really serious in creating a living world, then we must consider, what a real hero would do. He would:

- buy a big house, expensive interior, fine horses, etc.
- buy another house, a bigger one, a farm, a house in town, a ship, etc.
- get a piece of land, a barony, a reign for himself

With more property comes more administration work. So the next step would be to have servants (NPCs or even players??) work for him.

Example:

Player A is an acomplished adventurer and has a lot of gold. He buys himself a farm and starts growing crops. He collects his harvest and sells it in town. He has fun for some time but then he wants to do something else.

So he offers his farm for lease (forum, blackboard in town, something like that). Player B wants to specialize in farming. He rents the farm and specializes in crops. Player A adds a bakery to his farm (with his gold) and Player B makes a living with it, specializing even more in fine cakes or whatever.

Maybe there are NPCs to do some basic renting but only PC specialists can create more expensive products with special features.

There are countless possibilities from farming to smithing, carpentry, etc.

So if we will see crafting, houses and all that cool stuff from UO please give them a meaning to exist. All players will be adventurers first hand, but they will love to have special food, special clothes, special furniture, PLAYERMADE items they cannot buy or find. And they will pay a good price for them.

What do you think?

 

I'd like to see fur lined armor. During the crafting process if you add different types of fur when creating armor it will create fur lined armor that will give you increased protection or resistance in cold weather environments.

 

Dialogue tree and key words.

They want to be able to implement keywords to start a conversation. One way to do it is add a ?Something else? option in a dialogue tree for an NPC. This option is present in all NPC conversations, so you may never know if they have a keyword trigger or none. How it would is simple (sounds simple top me anyways) A person clicks on this option and it would allow them to enter a keyword,? Pearls.? This would trigger a whole new dialogue tree which opens up or completes a quest. For those NPCs who don?t have a keyword or the wrong one is entered then clicking on the ?Something else? option would cause them to respond ,?Eh, come again.? Or ?Pardon I don?t know what you speak of.?

Finally the ?Something else? option could also be a placeholder. So one week the person doesn?t have a keyword trigger at all but the following week they do.

 

LB mentioned several times that he doesn't want quest givers with exclamation points over their heads and a log that simply points you to your destination. Any chance of adding a log that the players can type in and organize so they don't have to rely on such a log or their own notebook? I think it would be great to add that old school feel of the player being responsible for remembering where to go, what questions to ask, etc.

 

@Siwar,

I would like a log book not only allow you to type notes, but also have other features, like be able to transfer maps to pages with your cartography skill, do illustrations, have loose leaflets and other items hidden between the pages and also have bookmarks. Then these books could be sold or copied between players, like any other book.

 

One thing I think would be pretty cool would be the ability to plant a fruit tree on my property. I don't know if any of you grow fruit trees,... but once a year they blossom with beautiful flowers (which would increase the beauty of cities, towns and villages), and then you get to yield a harvest of whatever type of fruit you are growing for quite awhile.

I would hope that they don't make it so people can break into my house and steal my stuff,... but if they do... I think I should be able to spend a bunch of money to upgrade my doors and windows to make it virtually impossible to get in,... and then have a safe inside which I could put my most valued items so that they are forever secure.

As far as housing goes, I think it could be cool to have the lower floor of your house be a shop for your profession, and an upstairs for your living quarters. I think you should be able to have some options when it comes to designing the layout of your building,... I personally would want a roof deck (or balcony) so I can get up on my roof and look out upon my town from an elevated height.

I know lots of people hate Ultima 8 and 9,... but personally (minus all the glitches and bugs) they were my favorites. One thing I loved about 9 was when you get out on the Balcony of Lord British's castle and just look out on the skyline from up high. Also the maze outside the castle was sort of cool,... it would be really cool if you had a huge maze that you could actually get lost in like the maze from the movie 'The Shining'. And perhaps if you get too lost in it there could be some kind of safety escape to bring you back to the entrance. The things I liked least about 9 was its linear feel,... I like the open-ended freedom of 7 and the previous Ultimas.

I believe it was Ultima 6 when you were in buccaneers den, there was a little casino where you could earn quite a bit of money. It would be pretty cool to have a really big casino (Vegas style) where the players could gamble with each other in various games (real life games or specifically created for this world). This Casino could be in one of the shadier towns where more of the evil virtued characters live.

Definitely boats would be cool. And I think it would be cool if it was possible to get an airship for transportation but I think the cost should be so ridiculous that it would take years and years of playing to acquire an airship. Or perhaps a magic carpet like in Ultima 6 and 7. Either way I think it should be extremely rare and difficult to obtain. Whatever the mode of transportation, I think you should be able to carry quite a large number of passangers on the larger vehicles such as boats or and airship. Perhaps you could also tame a dragon and use it for transportation and a pet. I think one of the coolest things about Final Fantasy Games was always the various modes of transportation you could use (chocobos, boats, airships, dragons). For me those things just make the game a lot more fun.

I am going to say a few things about what I don't like about modern games.

Repetitiveness.

I played games like world of warcraft, and dungeons and dragons online for awhile.... but as soon as these games became repetitive I would quickly loose interest. Dungeons and Dragons was actually quite a bit cooler than world of Warcraft because the dungeons were not so linear and they had more interactiveness to them. I loved how getting thru the dungeons in ultima 8 and 9 was like a puzzle that had to be figured out. I personally don't want my experience to be all about combat. I want to have some degree of figuring stuff out.

Okay, I think I have said enough... fer now!