Gemstone IV

[Weedmage Princess]

The story's short so this will be brief. What are your thoughts on Gemstone IV?

[Pax]

I don't have an older character who is really effected by the changes, so I can't give that point of view.

As someone returning to Gemstone, I'm really looking forward to all of the changes. I may not necessarily agree with all of them, but they aren't set in stone yet and will undoubtedly likely go through many changes. Not like anything is completely implemented yet, so I'm still waiting to try everything with open arms. I, for one, am also glad they finally got around to doing a lot of those "real soon now" items.

Edit: I don't consider this ending Gemstone III as your "no" option indicates. This is just the next step in an ever-evolving game. This is the Gemstone III "fix", in my opinion.

[Edited on 8-18-2003 by Pax]

[CrystalTears]

Gemstone III was fine and would have been much better if they would have just fixed what was wrong with it, such as the justice system, breakage, the spells lists and such. Creating a whole new system just clouds everyone from the problems by giving them a "fresh" perspective. It may work for a little while, but I'm sure that system won't be flawless either and it will be another endless sea of problems there as well.

[Artha]

That's pretty much what GSIV is. They're fixing so much stuff, and adding so much stuff that it becomes, practically, a new game.

Personally, I'm counting the days.

[Weedmage Princess]

Very interesting, Pax...

I can't remember where or when I read it, but Whatley was talking about Gemstone and it's different phases (From Gemstone, to GS II, III and so on..) and I do recall him saying "..and Gemstone III was born"

For that reason, I do think it's a new game, based on a lot of old concepts maybe, but there are going to be many changes, major changes...they won't even call it Gemstone III anymore. But what you are saying makes a lot of sense too.

For the record, I agree with Crystal Tears. I think it's going to be a disaster. That's me..ever the optimist..heh.

[Edited on 8-18-2003 by Weedmage Princess]

[Pax]

I can see your point of view and think it applies as equally as mine. Either or works.

With that being said, I don't disagree that there will be at least some low-magnitude disasters in Gemstone IV. It's going to be a tough transition, but things WILL get worked out no matter how dire it looks right now. Best you can do is hope, and maybe, just MAYBE, Gemstone IV will be even better.

[Betheny]

I'm told, worst case scenario, that if IV is horrible and undoable they'll go back to GS3.

Other than that, I'm liking some of the changes, and not liking others. But all in all, it'll be a positive thing (Even if I'm not going to like going back to my noob days and figuring everything out again.)

I wish they had more documentation on what's going to happen.

[Scott]

I'm waiting until GS4 until I make my decision. I can't really make an decision about something I've never tried....

[Edited on 8-18-2003 by Gemstone101]

[Taernath]

I think GSIV will be filled with bugs on it's initial release. I'd prefer they fixed and updated all they have right now rather than starting a whole new session of bugfixing.

[ogurty]

I'm pretty excited because I'm a statistics wh0re and there's so many more to think about in the new game. I don't think many problems will arise.

Hunter

[AnticorRifling]

I'm with Sintik, how can you pass judgement on something that isn't out?

-Well we can look at what they've done in the past....

Let me show you some of my drawings from the 1st grade. Then I want you to pass judgement on what kind of drawing I would make now without ever seeing one. Following what alot of people think currently you would say my next drawing will just be a bigger version of the last failure. I say it will be 100% better. Either way you never know until it's taken shape.

Just wait and see.

[Warriorbird]

I think it'll be nice to have new races, and new classes in 2005. I look forward to breakage. I like some of the new spells. I dread evasion/block/parry.

I dread the massive slowdowns to advancement.

It's gonna be hit and miss to me, I think. Some good, some bad. All in all, I'm glad they've got a new code base the most. That means that maybe they'll reverse some of the stupid things after massive player initiative.

[Artha]

The new races are actually going to be there as soon as GSIV starts up. The slowdown to advancement sucks, but level has a lot less meaning with interlevel skill advancement and skill migration, as well as the fact that there'll be alot more stuff to hunt.

[peam]

I think once everything's worked out, the game will be fine. As stated by GMs time and time again, GS3's code is outdated and hard to work with, hence the long ass time it takes to create new things.

I've never been much of a level/power monger, so I'm looking forward to the new possibilities it puts into the game from a roleplaying standpoint, not the "I'm going to be less powerful than before" one.

The only holdup I can see is Simu's infamous reputation for meeting deadlines. We might be enjoying GS4 in full swing by Spring 2009.

[Warriorbird]

I could see it. And the bit I'm most interested in (the professions) will be AT LEAST 2005.

[Bestatte]

When I started playing GSIII, people didn't "title" in a week or two. Usually it took months, because they spent time RPing with each other and weren't in a rush to get that next level. There were a few folks who would go nuts with the code in exchange for RP, but you rarely interacted with them; they kept mostly to themselves.

I think the advent of the Wizard kinda messed some of that laid back feeling up. With the Wizard, scripting was easier to do for people who might be tempted to try it out. So you no longer had people trying to figure out the blacksmith's "mini-quest" for making iron - just plug in a script, go grab some coffee, and by the time you're done reading the mail, your character has some iron.

I think people became lazy and spoiled and started expecting to have everything done for them automatically. People were titling in weeks instead of months, and eventually the majority of the characters were beyond level 50, which was once considered a "big deal."

I think the new advancement system is going to be the kick in the pants that the game needs to bring people back to roleplaying. You will no longer be able to advance as fast as you could before. It's a fact, get used to it, and chill out and enjoy the game in the way it was meant to be enjoyed.

Stop looking for those scripts that prevent you from ever having to once look at a room description. Stop plugging in hunting scripts that keep you from ever having to RP with the critters or the people you're hunting with. Rushing won't help anymore. I think that can only be a good thing.

Now if they'd just get rid of the experience absorption system and implement something else, so that going AFK while your character "naps" won't do you a damned bit of good, that'll be another great kick to get people RPing with each other.

[imported_Kranar]

<< Usually it took months, because they spent time RPing with each other and weren't in a rush to get that next level. >>

That's just a lie though. The reason people didn't title in weeks was due to the extreme costs of playing the game. It takes a tad bit over 362 hours of hunting to get to level 20, that's not exactly something most people could afford every month in order to level in a month or even in two months, heck that's 1000 dollars worth of hunting in the game, and that's ONLY if one hunts nonstop.

Those who did play for hours upon hours did power hunt, infact many (relatively speaking given that GS was pretty small back then) raced in levels. I forget the names, but I'm pretty sure there was an famous race among Darthagan and some other guy to get levels, and that rumours existed that Darthagan even cheated to get ahead.

All this garbage about how GS used to not be about levels and was all about the roleplaying is really just that, garbage.

GSIV won't change that one bit, and people will still continue powerhunting, power levelling, getting to level 20 in 15-16 days, and scripting like usual.

[Lord Whirlin]

There are some good things, there are some bad things. I think the changes in the lands will add for a lot more specialization within each character class to correctly accomadate a playing style. For example:
Wizards. Right now: Pure casters, or secondary swingers
After GS4 release: Elemental preference, pure caster, staff user, secondary swingers,
It can be drawn across the boards with every profession, Expecially with the CM changes.

Aditionally, the coding for GS3 is OLD to say the least, I'm sure with a new system, they can be faster to fix things. Maybe we won't have to wait for 2 years to get two new rooms added. Maybe we won't have to wait another 5 years for the unreleased spells.
I agree that it will be buggy when it is first released, and I also agree that the new progression system is slow and undesireable for the older players in the lands. But player run shops, layered clothing, a weather system that impacts gaming. It will make the lands more like 'lands'