What is the state of the thief in SotA? 7/20/14

RG says thief will not be a viable career in SotA???? =(
Now im sad. Why?? Why does he hate thievery? I guess he wants us to all be good avatars.
When im bored of mining, lumberjacking, smithing, and killing monsters, maybe ill want to try robbing some houses and castles(NPC owned of course). I guess the most ill probably get is some sort of locksmithing skill were you recall to dungeons and unlock chests, or treasure hunting. This was all fun but i'd like to see it developed more than what it was in UO. It was even fun picking those little boxes in the stores in the towns too and grabbing the semi-rares in them. But I want more detail and quest design put into this sort of thing.

 

now, please remember, this was "in chat" and therefore not official by any means. Someone will pop up and say something about lawyers and bros.

that being said -
im guessing its more of a "oh we didn't really consider that, and it seems like too much work to add into the design at this point"

which i suppose I can understand, but it's a pretty big letdown for me.

in my opinion, being able to play as a real thief should be a staple of ALL rpgs. Especially Ultimate ones.

 

It should be, but I havent found an MMO where theiving was developed well enough. Hoping SotA will be. UO was great, but the theivery system was terrible. It had everything down real good. And a well developed theiving system would have improved it be time.

 

I think a good way to do rouges would be to do away with stealth turning you invisible. Just make it have your character get low to the ground and increase your speed. So that you can quickly go from cover to cover and so that you can run in and ambush. I never got the idea of the rouge being slow and invisible it removes all skill involved. Maybe invisibility stuff if you stand still in the shadows and can only be activated if you aren't in line of sight of anything or if you want to get real classic you can pretty much do a hide skill check, but invisibility when you have the ability to move as well always breaks rouges to the point where it's just annoying to fight one because even if they don't kill you nine times out of ten they will get away alive.

 

Give us thieving and stealing.

 

Currently working on putting together a presentation for theft in SotA.. ^_^

 

Another good skill for a rogue/assassin is the good 'ol escape artist skill. This could be a skill like Knight's Grace, that can get you out of a root, but it could also function if you are ever locked up in chains, or tied up some how.

Escape artist could be the skill of escaping.

 

Somebody in another thread I came across mentioned that the Hiding skill could cause us to act like a chameleon, and blend in by taking on some of the color of the surrounding. I think that is a good idea. Maybe if it obscured us a little bit too, depending upon our skill level.

I don't like the UO hide skill where you disapear, and nobody can cast a spell on you until you are revealed. The trained eye should be able to see somebody hiding in shadows if they are looking right at them from 5 feet away. Yet, being able to blend in, with an already interesting environment where people can hide naturally. Imagine how difficult it would be to see a rogue blending in a bit, and their name tag GONE.

 

We've gone around and around on this. If you can't see someone, guess what? YOU CAN'T SEE THEM. How do you simulate that in a game? You make it so YOU CAN'T SEE THEM, and you have to do something to change that. That might involve just getting closer, when you then have a chance of revealing them. Or, in a game with magic, a reveal spell seems like something some enterprising wizard researched long ago and taught others.

 

Yet another reason for peering gems to be in the game.

 

How about make them difficult to see, but not invisible. A successful skill check helps the character blend in better than the average character, and also removes the NAME BAR from over their heads.

However the other character(s) should still be able to notice something moving if the rogue is stupid enough to move at the wrong time.

So this way it doesn't make you truly invisible, and it still leaves actual skill in the hands of the player, not just a hiding/invisibilty skill. Let mages turn invisible. I want to hide intelligently. I want to be a good rogue, because I'm good at being a rogue, not only because my skills say so.

 

You mean like the predator light bending effect.

 

If you were to try to spot a trained Marine sniper, you'd have a hard time spotting them, which renders them effectively invisible. In a game simulation, if they are still visible, they that is a piss poor simulation of you not being able to see them, because....YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEE THEM.

What are you going to do when you see the visible guy who's suppose to be invisible? Pretend you don't see them?

 

either that or take on a little bit of the cover you are using. If you're next to a rock then maybe be a little bit rocklike. Chameleon effect. Maybe not entirely like the predator. maybe the head or other parts might not totally blend in.

Who knows. Something that seems realistic. I definitely don't want to be invisible so that nobody can see me 5 feet away, but it should be somewhat hidden. Skills like that could work in daylight, but probably at farther distances.

 

Marine snipers have been walked over, unobserved.

That takes a significant degree of skill, which should require a significant expenditure of skill points. If it's worth it to you, make the investment.

 

I was able to hide this weekend really well. People walked right past me. I didn't need to be invisible. All I need is cover. If I had some dark colors or some camouflage clothing, and then had a skill that blended me into the surrounding it would essentially be just like being invisible... AGIAN NO BIG RED NAME PLATES.

My compromise:

I don't think it should be easy for people to see you. I'm all for being totally invisible if it is more than 15 to 20 feet though. Nobody should be able to see a rogue being stealth farther than 15 to 20 feet away, otherwise it is a weak skill. But closer than that it would be nice if it is more camouflage than total invisibility.

For example, in UO if you knew somebody was hidden in the spot next to you, you couldn't attack there you had to use a reveal to see the person first. I say if the person knows you're there they should be able to swing at you or cast a spell.

 

Honestly I don't think many people will spot you unless they are really looking hard. I would just like part of the hiding to be personal skill based as well as skill points.

That way some rogues will genuinely be better than others.

 

I do believe they have a camouflage skill in the light armor tree. It just has not been implemented yet. But that will not save you from me!!! muhahahahahaah!

 

Well then, by all means, invest your XP points in something other than hiding, which is a viable approach if you want to use terrain concealment. Assassins might want something more active, and will invest the points rather than use them elsewhere.

 

Scroll down to the light armor tree in this post from Darkstarr. https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/magic-combat-and-crafting-skills.3937/