MMORPG SotA Column: Concerns Worthy of Note

Feedback about what happens in the game is a basic necessity in any role playing game. Also, I think the game should first and foremost be a game. The role playing is optional the game part is not. If it is not a game but just a chat window for role players it will be very empty.

 

And yet, computer chess games don't require card systems nor text typing. I know, that bothersome power chess gamer, who really should be typing in text his next move rather than clicking on chess pieces and squares.

 

Probably something similar to what you'd expect SOTA to do. I think the taming collar is a good RP device. The part about damaging an animal or monster to "low hit points" so you can put an taming collar on them...that's all min/max power gamer nonsense to me though. Instead, wouldn't it make more sense to have to trap the animal? Or how about using magic, we're doing that for everything else.

See, that to me is another great example of where the RP line is....one solution is all about hit points and numbers. You can already see the wheels turning in people's heads. "So if just wait for the hit point bar to go down far enough, that's when I put my taming collar on!" Where as if you're trapping an animal, you have to build the trap, set it in the right place, have the right bait, wait....it's a process that has really nothing to do with numbers. Maybe everyone in the world thinks the trap idea is lame...that's fine, but at least it's closer to creating a roleplaying friendly environment than beating up animals you want to make a pet.

 

Bah, witchcraft! The only way true to the roots of low level PvP chess is to sent one move every 3 days by snail mail.

 

Caliya...I'm not going to snark back and forth with you. People can talk the entire time they play chess (online or in person). It's not much of a roleplaying game, but it's certainly a PVP game. Again, technology has nothing to do with PVP - that was my point.

 

Sounds like Pokemon. :>

 

Civilization 2 had a play by email feature. Maybe we can incorporate this into SotA pvp.

 

Hells ya. Text typing intensive.

 

You may want to look at the thread Pets, Taming and ranching .. you may find some of your ideas are already there by other forum members (not i of course , but its up to the devs to move in that direction)

I would love to trap / mmm that may have been suggested as well

and some of my ideas are gamey but they are meant in good fun ... lol

 

I'm sure it's great. Crafting and those types of skills have been wonderful.

But I think that's because the people that care the most about that stuff are the roleplayers and they have been very vocal. Where roleplayers are less vocal is in the combat system. I'd personally love to be able to roleplay while I'm in combat. The fact that RG can't perform combat well should be a red flag to everyone that the combat system is one sided and generally favors people that could care less about roleplaying. I'm sure there are great roleplayers that are still great using this combat system, but I'm not one of them.

Even in my wildest dreams if I were to get great at the combat system (and that may happen over time) it's not designed for me to roleplay. During combat, SOTA stops being an RPG and starts being something else that I don't enjoy as much.

 

Indeed what you say in the chat system is only in your imagination and has nothing whatsoever to do with role playing as it is between you and a machine and the machine only understand the keywords and will react the same to "Hello nice lady" and "Hello you <insert vulgar insult>" if the keyword is hello.

Yet somehow doing that different was bad for role playing?

 

Although the idea of "dominating" an animal in some sort of way makes sense-ish in the process of taming, its also a cruel approach to taming. Though it would be one way to incapacitate an animal, another way would be a trap. In the end it would sense if you could "befriend" the animal though, say through offering it some food or herb the animal likes. Give your horsey some special apple. Whether you use a carrot or a stick approach to taming should affect the temperament of the animal.

And of course, rangers and elves (eh) would have skills at taming.

 

Moving away from the roleplay topic, the hex zones are way too small. They need to be increased by probably 2-3 times in size.

 

Hire someone in China to take commands for you. You let them have access to your account, and give them a description of what you want them to do with your character for the day. He sends you a report on the results, and you send him payment.

 

No. If you read what I stated earlier to Caliya, I agreed with her assessment of the situation. There are major flaws with NPC's in SOTA.

But that doesn't mean that we stop trying to make it better for roleplaying and put in buttons that help you bypass the conversations because that's "less boring". We search for a new and better solution that helps roleplaying. But we don't search to make the game less boring for people that don't care to read what the NPC's are saying because they don't care about roleplaying. If those two things intertwine and all sides are happy with the solution, that's great! But we don't actively search for a solution to power gamers problems when they clearly don't impact roleplaying.

 

Yeah - but the combat system - is really a way to emulate / role based / turn based combat ... its not really a "twitch" mechanic .. it resembles the combat system of U7 - in the sense that you activate certain abilities but you are still very much in a % change to hit/miss oriented system / not in full control over your actions ...

 

Too much work. Pay your $45, download the game, and then close your eyes and imagine how you want your gaming session to go. 100% satisfaction.

 

I fail to see how making an outrageous scenario, out of thinking typing text is antiquated and old technology, is useful to the discussion.

 

Just some humor :>

 

Again I think role playing is entirely second to this game. First and foremost has to be that it is a game. If the game part is not enjoyable it is dead from the get go. So I disagree with your premise that role playing should be first. The game should be.
Personally I do not even need any role playing. A sand box would be enough for my taste. UO was such a sandbox where role playing was entirely optional.