Taernath
06-23-2003, 10:00 PM
Thought I\'d babble a bit about the new races and why we chose them...
First, we decided to move forward with new races because they\'re a good way to draw new customers, as well as revitalize the interest that old customers have in the game. While adding a new profession adds an entire new career path for a player to explore, adding a new race adds an entire new cultural path that was unavailable before.
The number of races we added was determined by the type of work which would be necessary to add them. The number we were tossing around originally was three. But then it was determined that if we were gonna create three races, four would be just as easy. Then we noticed that five wasn\'t much more difficult than that. At five races, we figured we had enough though.
The leading determining factor for choosing a race was the difficulty of implementation. All races going in Phase I of GemStone III were required to be entirely humanoid. Unfortunately, handling non-humanoids would have a substantial effect on the combat system ... and we didn\'t have the resources to deal with that. (It may interest you to know that it turned out that adding *humanoid* races was much easier than we expected. In fact, in terms of mechanics it was fairly easy ... the part that takes a bit more time is developing the character and background of the races. Of course, the shapeshifter race that is forthcoming will be a great deal more difficult.)
We had some other elements we were worried about:
#1. We didn\'t want any of the new races to affect the overall feel of GemStone III.
#2. We didn\'t want any anthropomorphic races.
Here are the five races and why they were chosen:
Half-Krolvin
The half-krolvin was chosen to fill the standard stereo-type of a \"brute.\" In GemStone III the giantman was originally intended to fill this role. Unfortunately, it\'s strong resemblance to humans as well as it\'s past history associated with the ICE \"High Man\" prevented it from entirely hitting the \"brute\" mark. Really, a mixed-breed is best when you\'re dealing with a brute because you don\'t want your brute-type to be too lovable. So Half-Krolvin is in essence your Half-Orc ... but it\'s Krolvin heritage makes it much more suitable to the GemStone environment. Additionally, Krolvin are a well known element in GemStone. They have a history, culture and community of their own. As a result half-krolvin already belong in this world ... and as such they balance out some of the newer races that are much more foreign.
I\'m pretty excited about this race, because I think it\'s the best example of us taking an primary element from the world and developing it to further enhance the product.
Gnomes (Burghal/Forest)
Gnomes also fill a standard fantasy role. This was a race that was strongly considered when GS de-ICEed, but for one reason or another didn\'t make the cut. One of the reasons I particularly liked it is that it\'s a name that is easily recognizable. In that sense it has good marketability. A new user who comes into GS will likely see Aelotoi and say \"What the heck?\" but the Gnome race will be familiar and comforting. Additionally gnomes are a familiar element in the world of GS. They\'ve been used frequently as NPCs ... and their less developed cousins (Cave Gnomes) have been hunted throughout GS history. So once again this is a race that is familiar to not only the world of GemStone, but also the overall game theme. In general we try not to stray too much from traditional fantasy in GS.
At the risk, tho, of being criticized, I\'ll tell you exactly why we made two races of Gnomes. Specifically, we had a conflict in design ideals. GemStone III has a tradition of using Gnomes as tinkers. While some of us preferred the grittier Gnome who was a fiesty little fighter. When we were discussing how this could be handled we determined that we could truly differentiate them by simply applying separate bonuses. As we have multiple human types (human/giantman) and we have multiple elven types (elf, dark elf, sylvan), we believed that the precident was set, so we went with it.
Erithian
The Erithian was one of the first races suggested because we were excited about what we could do with it. Actually, I\'m happy folks have already noticed the connection these Erithians (from Eloth\'Ra) have with the DragonRealms race the Elotheans. I\'m not gonna be coy ... we didn\'t make a major effort to disguise the connection between the two races. However, we did have some interest in making sure that DR\'s development team didn\'t feel any pressure to be affected by what we did over here. If they really want to they can tell all their players that GS doesn\'t know what we\'re talking about ... that the Erithians and the Elotheans have nothing in common.
It\'s interesting that this debate about whether or not they have any relationship to Elves has started so quickly. In the world of DragonRealms the origination of this race is hotly debated. A number of races suggest that Elotheans are the unnatural spawn of Elven/Human breeding (dirty Half-Elves!) Of course, the Elotheans reject this and claim that they are the special creation of their god.
But why bring Elotheans to GS3?
While Elves have played the role of lore-keepers in their past, their race isn\'t very well focused on it. Elotheans don\'t have that difficulty ... they are an inwardly-focused, quiet race. Less interested in world-domination, and more interested in self-actualization. We are about to bring into the world a new type of magic: mentalism. And two new professions that take advantage of that magic: monk and savant. The Eritheans (Elotheans) are an excellent race to take advantage of this sphere.
Additionally, if you know anything about the DR Elotheans you know that they have an eastern/oriental slant. For years we have heard the request that we introduce eastern/oriental elements into the game. Yet, we were unsure how to do that in a manner that was consistent with our own definition of the world. Erithians are an excellent segue. Now we\'ll be more free to introduce eastern/oriental elements without feeling that they\'re unnatural in the world.
And those eastern/oriental elements also easily tie back into the whole Erithian focus on self-actualization ... which ties back into Monks and Savants. (And weren\'t some Elotheans called Savants in DR?) See? It\'s all a neat little tidy package.
Here\'s what makes this race even more attractive to ME, personally. The Elves ... they\'ve had it far too easy, in my opinion. First, the Arkati favored them. Then they have this whole longevity thing going for them. And yet time after time they\'ve really messed it all up, haven\'t they? And they don\'t have any excuses. Still, they look at these humans and see no threat because they feel that if they (the Elves) pulled themselves together they could stomp these folks out in short order. I\'m rather excited about introducing an equally snotty race that can tout all the same benefits of the Elves ... yet have chosen to take the higher moral ground. What will happen? Will the Elves look at the Erithians and see companions they can finally trust? Or will they see the Erithians as a threat? And what will happen to the Erithians now that they\'re in the open? What would they do if the Elves were to wage war?
Ah ... the possibilities ... Wow, this got to be a long section, didn\'t it?
Aelotoi
First, I\'m not distressed about the whole concept of them coming from another world. There are few other fantasy worlds that don\'t take advantage of other worlds. Even Tolkein had the Elves leaving Middle Earth to go off and live in some other nifty Realm that wasn\'t a part of this world. It\'s all about presentation.
When we were considering races, we didn\'t want them ALL to be too conservative. The Aelotoi is clearly the most fundamentally different and foreign of the races we chose. Yet, we *DID* chose them because of their association with our world. Now, I\'m not gonna give away the backstory to these creatures ... it wasn\'t a part of the War of Nations because we wanted to run a separate little storyline for them. However, they are relevant to the world of Elanthia in a way you guys don\'t know yet.
And while these folks do not have the instant recognition that Gnomes do. Nor do they fill a needed role like the half-Krolvin do ... they do provide one thing: something VERY different from our other options. One of our goals was to provide more RP options and we believed that the Aelotoi are about as different as we\'ll allow ourselves to go.
The Aelotoi are also another example where we have taken an element from GemStone and expanded upon it to further define the world as a whole. We think these folks (tho seemingly the most foreign) will further serve to enrich the environement, and provide all sorts of interesting RP opportunities.
Other Races
Half-Orcs/Half-Trolls ... we did that already with Half-Krolvin.
Lots of folks would want to know why we didn\'t choose the Shan. Actually, that was a race I was strongly in favor of. However, we had already taken two huntable races (Krolvin and Gnomes) and made huntable races out of them. Shan are also very ... furry. Not that Krolvin aren\'t furry ... but we can un-fur those Krolvin somewhat by making them half-breeds (which is very important actually, so that they\'re intelligent enough to be a PC race.) But the Shan ... are especially furry. I really didn\'t want an anthropomorphic game.
Maybe if we can overcome that problem somehow, we might consider adding the Shan as a race in the future ... but that would only happen if we perceive that Shan would be a race that everyone in the game would prefer to play rather than hunt. And only if it\'s perceived to be a strongly desired option. ANd only if we have the time.
</babble>
Feel free to tell me why our thinking was wrong. BTW, these races are done and have been completed for some time.
Melissa
First, we decided to move forward with new races because they\'re a good way to draw new customers, as well as revitalize the interest that old customers have in the game. While adding a new profession adds an entire new career path for a player to explore, adding a new race adds an entire new cultural path that was unavailable before.
The number of races we added was determined by the type of work which would be necessary to add them. The number we were tossing around originally was three. But then it was determined that if we were gonna create three races, four would be just as easy. Then we noticed that five wasn\'t much more difficult than that. At five races, we figured we had enough though.
The leading determining factor for choosing a race was the difficulty of implementation. All races going in Phase I of GemStone III were required to be entirely humanoid. Unfortunately, handling non-humanoids would have a substantial effect on the combat system ... and we didn\'t have the resources to deal with that. (It may interest you to know that it turned out that adding *humanoid* races was much easier than we expected. In fact, in terms of mechanics it was fairly easy ... the part that takes a bit more time is developing the character and background of the races. Of course, the shapeshifter race that is forthcoming will be a great deal more difficult.)
We had some other elements we were worried about:
#1. We didn\'t want any of the new races to affect the overall feel of GemStone III.
#2. We didn\'t want any anthropomorphic races.
Here are the five races and why they were chosen:
Half-Krolvin
The half-krolvin was chosen to fill the standard stereo-type of a \"brute.\" In GemStone III the giantman was originally intended to fill this role. Unfortunately, it\'s strong resemblance to humans as well as it\'s past history associated with the ICE \"High Man\" prevented it from entirely hitting the \"brute\" mark. Really, a mixed-breed is best when you\'re dealing with a brute because you don\'t want your brute-type to be too lovable. So Half-Krolvin is in essence your Half-Orc ... but it\'s Krolvin heritage makes it much more suitable to the GemStone environment. Additionally, Krolvin are a well known element in GemStone. They have a history, culture and community of their own. As a result half-krolvin already belong in this world ... and as such they balance out some of the newer races that are much more foreign.
I\'m pretty excited about this race, because I think it\'s the best example of us taking an primary element from the world and developing it to further enhance the product.
Gnomes (Burghal/Forest)
Gnomes also fill a standard fantasy role. This was a race that was strongly considered when GS de-ICEed, but for one reason or another didn\'t make the cut. One of the reasons I particularly liked it is that it\'s a name that is easily recognizable. In that sense it has good marketability. A new user who comes into GS will likely see Aelotoi and say \"What the heck?\" but the Gnome race will be familiar and comforting. Additionally gnomes are a familiar element in the world of GS. They\'ve been used frequently as NPCs ... and their less developed cousins (Cave Gnomes) have been hunted throughout GS history. So once again this is a race that is familiar to not only the world of GemStone, but also the overall game theme. In general we try not to stray too much from traditional fantasy in GS.
At the risk, tho, of being criticized, I\'ll tell you exactly why we made two races of Gnomes. Specifically, we had a conflict in design ideals. GemStone III has a tradition of using Gnomes as tinkers. While some of us preferred the grittier Gnome who was a fiesty little fighter. When we were discussing how this could be handled we determined that we could truly differentiate them by simply applying separate bonuses. As we have multiple human types (human/giantman) and we have multiple elven types (elf, dark elf, sylvan), we believed that the precident was set, so we went with it.
Erithian
The Erithian was one of the first races suggested because we were excited about what we could do with it. Actually, I\'m happy folks have already noticed the connection these Erithians (from Eloth\'Ra) have with the DragonRealms race the Elotheans. I\'m not gonna be coy ... we didn\'t make a major effort to disguise the connection between the two races. However, we did have some interest in making sure that DR\'s development team didn\'t feel any pressure to be affected by what we did over here. If they really want to they can tell all their players that GS doesn\'t know what we\'re talking about ... that the Erithians and the Elotheans have nothing in common.
It\'s interesting that this debate about whether or not they have any relationship to Elves has started so quickly. In the world of DragonRealms the origination of this race is hotly debated. A number of races suggest that Elotheans are the unnatural spawn of Elven/Human breeding (dirty Half-Elves!) Of course, the Elotheans reject this and claim that they are the special creation of their god.
But why bring Elotheans to GS3?
While Elves have played the role of lore-keepers in their past, their race isn\'t very well focused on it. Elotheans don\'t have that difficulty ... they are an inwardly-focused, quiet race. Less interested in world-domination, and more interested in self-actualization. We are about to bring into the world a new type of magic: mentalism. And two new professions that take advantage of that magic: monk and savant. The Eritheans (Elotheans) are an excellent race to take advantage of this sphere.
Additionally, if you know anything about the DR Elotheans you know that they have an eastern/oriental slant. For years we have heard the request that we introduce eastern/oriental elements into the game. Yet, we were unsure how to do that in a manner that was consistent with our own definition of the world. Erithians are an excellent segue. Now we\'ll be more free to introduce eastern/oriental elements without feeling that they\'re unnatural in the world.
And those eastern/oriental elements also easily tie back into the whole Erithian focus on self-actualization ... which ties back into Monks and Savants. (And weren\'t some Elotheans called Savants in DR?) See? It\'s all a neat little tidy package.
Here\'s what makes this race even more attractive to ME, personally. The Elves ... they\'ve had it far too easy, in my opinion. First, the Arkati favored them. Then they have this whole longevity thing going for them. And yet time after time they\'ve really messed it all up, haven\'t they? And they don\'t have any excuses. Still, they look at these humans and see no threat because they feel that if they (the Elves) pulled themselves together they could stomp these folks out in short order. I\'m rather excited about introducing an equally snotty race that can tout all the same benefits of the Elves ... yet have chosen to take the higher moral ground. What will happen? Will the Elves look at the Erithians and see companions they can finally trust? Or will they see the Erithians as a threat? And what will happen to the Erithians now that they\'re in the open? What would they do if the Elves were to wage war?
Ah ... the possibilities ... Wow, this got to be a long section, didn\'t it?
Aelotoi
First, I\'m not distressed about the whole concept of them coming from another world. There are few other fantasy worlds that don\'t take advantage of other worlds. Even Tolkein had the Elves leaving Middle Earth to go off and live in some other nifty Realm that wasn\'t a part of this world. It\'s all about presentation.
When we were considering races, we didn\'t want them ALL to be too conservative. The Aelotoi is clearly the most fundamentally different and foreign of the races we chose. Yet, we *DID* chose them because of their association with our world. Now, I\'m not gonna give away the backstory to these creatures ... it wasn\'t a part of the War of Nations because we wanted to run a separate little storyline for them. However, they are relevant to the world of Elanthia in a way you guys don\'t know yet.
And while these folks do not have the instant recognition that Gnomes do. Nor do they fill a needed role like the half-Krolvin do ... they do provide one thing: something VERY different from our other options. One of our goals was to provide more RP options and we believed that the Aelotoi are about as different as we\'ll allow ourselves to go.
The Aelotoi are also another example where we have taken an element from GemStone and expanded upon it to further define the world as a whole. We think these folks (tho seemingly the most foreign) will further serve to enrich the environement, and provide all sorts of interesting RP opportunities.
Other Races
Half-Orcs/Half-Trolls ... we did that already with Half-Krolvin.
Lots of folks would want to know why we didn\'t choose the Shan. Actually, that was a race I was strongly in favor of. However, we had already taken two huntable races (Krolvin and Gnomes) and made huntable races out of them. Shan are also very ... furry. Not that Krolvin aren\'t furry ... but we can un-fur those Krolvin somewhat by making them half-breeds (which is very important actually, so that they\'re intelligent enough to be a PC race.) But the Shan ... are especially furry. I really didn\'t want an anthropomorphic game.
Maybe if we can overcome that problem somehow, we might consider adding the Shan as a race in the future ... but that would only happen if we perceive that Shan would be a race that everyone in the game would prefer to play rather than hunt. And only if it\'s perceived to be a strongly desired option. ANd only if we have the time.
</babble>
Feel free to tell me why our thinking was wrong. BTW, these races are done and have been completed for some time.
Melissa