Would you rather...

[Peppwyn]

After reading through all the information about Simutronics F2P model, I can't help but think they totally missed the point. I am curious about starting a project and wanted to know some opinions. It looks like a lot of people have tried to create games before, but they are either not running anymore or aren't very appealing to me. I think a lot of it has to do with lack of funding and lack of professional development experience.

Would you rather play a free to play text game that allowed you to purchase things like houses, custom character modifications, etc. (things that dont give you an advantage in game) or a game where you pay a monthly fee and all things can be obtained in the game somehow?

Would you rather play a game that required you to download a client, run a Silverlight/Flash client on a browser or use an existing client like Mushclient?

What features draw you to Gemstone? Is it the combat systems, crafting systems (hahahah), nostalgia, time/money you've already spent, volume of content available? I don't think any game out there right now can compete with Gemstone on the nostalgia or volume of content ... but their combat/magic/crafting systems are mediocre at best in my opinion.

[Astray]

I'd rather have a game with true F2P, rather than being prompted to buy an item to improve on mechanics that are standard to a subscription.

That's where they fucked things up. Had this been a legit F2P with subscription restricted Cash Shop items and not a limited, restricted, and nickle diming operation, the reception would be almost entirely favorable. The only people who would be bitching up a storm would be the ones who disagree with Exp boosters.

[Androidpk]

For me it is generally the combat system that brings me back. Similar to a hack and slash game like Diablo, only in text form.

[Silvean]

I played a lot of MUDs back in their heyday and I never found a combat system as sophisticated as the one Gemstone uses. Most of them were focused on dealing damage and didn't have the system for injuries that GS uses. As I think I mentioned the last time we had a conversation on here about the Top Mud listings, a lot of MUDs used the same code as a base and were pretty silly. You'd run around killing smurfs and whatnot.

The big distinction, as I recall, is between MUSHes and MUDs. MUSHes often allowed you to design your own rooms and either give powers directly to your character or let you petition GMs for powers based on roleplaying. They were more explicit venues for running heavily story/RP focused games like Vampire: The Masquerade. I used to like playing mortals in these games because it was a nice contrast to the flood of gritty tough guy posturing that passed for RP in GS3.

If you're going to put a lot of effort into a project like this, I would recommend making a single-player text game like Zork or other Infocom titles. If it's creative and especially well written, I could see something like that generating a little internet buzz. It would be a much more manageable project than trying to break into an extremely limited market for MUDs.

[Androidpk]

WH40k MUD :)

[Astray]

WH40k MUD :)

Yes.

[Androidpk]

>glance

You are holding a Godwyn Mark Vb pattern bolter in your right hand and a krakentooth frostblade in your left hand.

[Peppwyn]

Unfortunately I don't know anything about warhammer 40k :(

[Peppwyn]

Is it like a standard game system like Dungeons and Dragons or something that is mostly made up as you play?

[Peppwyn]

I was thinking basing most of it on Rolemaster ... which seems to be what Gemstone is modeled after.

[Androidpk]

Cyberpunk 2077!

[Silvean]

Cyberpunk 2077!

>report I have just achieved level 100 and finished your game after a couple decades. Please wipe the server and get something with a cyberpunk theme going for me to play tomorrow.
REPORT should only be used to notify the GemStone IV staff of emergency situations or gamewide technical errors. Please use ASSIST for general support.

>
A bolt of lightning streaks down from the sky and strikes you!
... 30 points of damage!
Electric blast goes right to the heart! You'll miss that steady beat.
The brilliant luminescence fades from around you.
The silvery luminescence fades from around you.
You feel less confident than before.
A dark shadow seems to detach itself from your body, swiftly dissipating into the air.
The tingling sensation and sense of security leaves you.
The bright luminescence fades from around you.
The very powerful look leaves you.
The white light leaves you.
The deep blue glow leaves you.
The powerful look leaves you.
The air calms down around you.
The light blue glow leaves you.

It seems you have died, my friend. Although you cannot do anything, you are keenly aware of what is going on around you...

You mentally give a sigh of relief as you remember that the Goddess Lorminstra owes you a favor.

...departing in 10 mins...

A tremendous crack of thunder follows instantly!

[Taernath]

Is that real? I want that to be real.

[Androidpk]

Is that real? I want that to be real.

It is real.

[Candor]

It is real.

Good. And I hope your character was killed at least twice.

[Androidpk]

Good. And I hope your character was killed at least twice.

Who peed in your metamucil?

[JackWhisper]

Who peed in your metamucil?

He can't tell you. That would be tattling.

[Jarvan]

Cyberpunk 2077!

I think I would rather have a Shadowrun mud myself, but Cyberpunk would be a close second.

[Latrinsorm]

I haven't seen any companies' books, so I can't say what the most successful financial model is. But there's no game without community, and the most successful model I've seen at building a community is the GW2 model. Up front flat purchase, then free forever, robust store whose currency can be purchased with $$$ or in-game currency. Whether this model worked because of itself or because the game is good, who knows.

To your specific questions:

1. The former.
2. Either of the first two are fine. I don't like needing third party software to use a game.
3a. I think you sell the combat system a little short. It is rubbish for grouping but its ratio of hits per kill is way way way way way higher than most games, which gives each one more impact. Obviously the ratio of hits per second is about that much lower, but still. As Silvean says the granularity of the system outdoes even modern games.
3b. What draws me most to Gemstone is customization, both mechanical and cosmetic. Again, no game has the mechanical granularity of GS. Heck, you can't even customize your character's stats in GW2, only gear's. Cosmetically obviously nobody is even close.

[Peppwyn]

Thanks for all the input. What I am thinking right now is a linear design where you get n points per level to spread among your stats. Each stat lending itself to different offensive/defensive/auxiliary things in the game. I am not a fan of class-less games or level-less games, so I am leaning towards having each class have particular skills that make them unique and useful. For example, mages can create portals for fast travel, rogues can open boxes, priests can raise the dead, etc.

Most of the game would revolve around getting new gear as you hunt. I really enjoy the customization of Gemstone, but it ended up kind of boring that I would get the bow I was going to use for the rest of my gaming experience at like level 20. Unless I went ahead and purchased some silvers on here and bought one of the crazy expensive godly items that some people have for sale.

I prefer the Diablo model. You kill stuff and have a random chance to find gear that is useful. Most of the time it is crap, but sometimes it is really good. It allows for characters to continue to grow in both items and stats practically forever... as long there is content. The one drawback of course is how do you do the alteration type stuff that Gemstone does? One thought was that you can take an item to some vendor and 'exchange' descriptions. This way you can purchase the alteration token, get your alteration at level 10 and keep having the same alteration with your level 20 gear, your level 30 gear, etc.

[Latrinsorm]

Not to beat a dead horse but in GW2 the system they use is that once a skin is unlocked, it is unlocked for your entire account. Then you can spend a Transmutation Charge to apply the skin to whatever appropriate item, and Transmutation Charges can be accrued in game through various activities or bought in the in-game store. This is a little trickier in a text-based environment but you could make the model work.

[Peppwyn]

Sounds like a good idea. I think everyone can understand that running a game takes money. With that money you can purchase help to grow the content of the game. I am a strong opponent of pay to win models but would like to find some way of paying staff to help build the game with some items that are interesting to players like alterations, housing, custom appearances, etc.

[Warriorbird]

Sounds like a good idea. I think everyone can understand that running a game takes money. With that money you can purchase help to grow the content of the game. I am a strong opponent of pay to win models but would like to find some way of paying staff to help build the game with some items that are interesting to players like alterations, housing, custom appearances, etc.

I think you can do a lot by looking to GW2 and LOL AND exploiting customer labor like GS/DR.

Marketing, the sheer speed that young people can type on phones/devices, the power of fitness trackers and the like could all make for an interesting mix.

[Deathravin]

When you look at what GW2 does, and how they do it, I think you can learn a lot about how a successful F2P system works. First, most everything you can buy in the F2P system can be acquired in the world in natural gameplay - some more rarely than others. Also, it's important to note that absolutely nothing in GW2 is out of the possibility for a Free player to obtain, even in decent amounts through diligent play. Especially since you can purchase Gems with Coins and vise-versa.

Most of GW2's gemstore is permanent access. People don't tend to buy temporary boosts. People want permanent storage slots, permanent character slots, permanent gathering tools, etc. Make the temp things come in larger packs, and give them for free by completing quests or tasks so people will hoard and then get hooked on them.

One problem with GS4's store is that it's not F2P. As much as I might be shocked by 20 years of Simu half-assing a solution, it's a half-assed solution for F2P. It's 'I want F2P, but I also want a subscription base'. Their constant half-assing is a big part of their problem over the last couple of decades. They've long ago whittled their playerbase to the absolute diehard core. Let's release profession guilds! For warrior... and rogue... and maybe sorcerer when we have to 10 years later... But that's a whole other topic.

Here's (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Gem_Store) the GW2 gemstore - So looking at that, here's some ideas that, if we ere to use the GW2 model, might be a bonus.


What you don't get in GW2 for money
ANY tangible skill benefit over F2P customers - a huge part of GW2 is WvW and PvP, you don't get to offset bad skills with money. You don't get access to special skills with money.
Access to any area, dungeon, instance, quest or merchant.

What you do get in GW2 for money
Fluff
Aesthetics
Storage
Character Slots
Colors
Unlimited harvesting tools with a fluff animation rather than the standard tool with durability.
Death sickness alleviation
'Keys' to open chests with random gemstore items inside.
Non-interacting pets (toys)
Dancing / Song-making items
Area-interactive games & toys
PvP/WvW 'finishing' moves
Instant access to your locker from anywhere
Ability to have more than 2 crafting talents at once.

What isn't easily transferrable to GS4?

Well, first... GW2 was simply built with F2P in mind, and with symmetry in mind. You don't have 3 professions with a guild and the other 6 left out. You don't have 3 somewhat polished crafting systems and 6 others forgotten. You don't have the un-coordinated patchwork quilt that Gemstone is. And those patches aren't separate systems with both useful and fluff threads running through them.

And second, a lot of the people who are here have known about this game for 20 years. You're unlikely to get NEW players as much as you're likely to entice old players to rejoin. The current F2P system isn't going to do that. And any GW2-style system will only do that if they don't already have established characters who are already decked out in the things you want to start charging for.

So what can we easily transfer to GS4?

1. Instead of obtaining an automatic weekly XP bonus, make the XP bonus an account-bound occasional drop. Then allow the player to purchase more from the store at say a dollar per.

2. No more free cosmetic alters. Standard scriptable alterations should be purchasable through the store for say $1. Custom alters could be sold for $5 per item.

3. No more silver-based dying. Dyes are purchasable through the store or are random drops in game.

4. Drop the per-month character slot fee. Make it a one-time purchase - same with Shattered inclusion. A 1 time fee of 50-60 bucks and you get shattered access forever. A 1 time fee of $8 and you get a character slot forever.

5. Severely limit the number of character descriptions you can add. Instead of 20 hair colors, make it 3. And then charge for access to certain stations in the pavilion, and have another to access the entire pavilions.

6. Pull back on special loot drops. Standard gems, coins, weapons, armor, etc drop. Have a system where you are given an account-bound item similar to the XP booster that you can boost your rare drops rate for a given amount of time. Say you can earn one of these once a week or so, but you can buy one for $5 per hour (price depending on how special the loot is).

7. Lockers limited to 20 items. You can access your locker through ANY locker in the world. You can purchase 10 permanent extra slots for $5 and 100 slots for $45. Max is 2500 slots.

8. All purchasable and dropping containers capped at 1/2 carrying capacity. You may purchase permanent boosts you can slot into your bags that will increase how much they hold, and how much what they hold affects your encumbrance. And special dropped bags from the loot system might be deeper or lighter.

9. All purchasable and dropping weapons and armor capped at 2x their standard weight. They are never crit weighted, damage weighted, or enhancive. You may purchase permanent boosts you can slot in weapons & armor to make them lighter.

10. No more functional alters. You may purchase weighting and enhansive items you can slot into your armor & weapons to give them weighting, protections, flares, and enhancive properties.

11. Personalized or special fluff... Titles, special spell preps, special fluff verbs, tattoos, and the like are all just ripe for the picking.

12. Bankbooks & Locker manifests - but not a lease, they must be permanent items. You can release more with different designs and scripts and abilities to try to get people to upgrade.

13. Maybe multi-account access. You know our IP. And yes, it might unfairly target some multi-family or proxy-players, but you know our IP. Charge us for more than 2 accounts online at once. Let us pay $20 for another concurrent connection.

14. FLUFF... Pipes, cigars, runestaff wristlets, stunning skulls, candles, censors... the sheer number of fluff items simu should be exploiting is amazing.

What we could transfer to F2P if we did some work on GS4 systems

1. Lots of guild skills are cosmetic and fluff. Lockpick mastery for example. Calipers, Wedges, Sense, Pick appraising, etc are all pretty necessary for being a locksmith. BUT Calibrating your calipers without picking a box, PTricks, Repairing picks, Relocking a box, Clasping, Creating locks, extracting components, creating picks, customizing picks, and keyrings are all perfect perks that can be exploited for F2P. But you can't do any of that if you have it so intertwined inside a necessary system that is also intertwined inside another necessary (or at least benefit-giving) system (sweep, stun maneuvers, etc).

2. There are a lot of things in the Adventurer's guild that could be exploited, but since there aren't any other quests in the game it can't be completely put behind a pay wall. Instead of limiting the # of tasks per hour, why not extract out those perks that are huge benefits and put them elsewhere. Besides, the Adventurer's guild is the perfect place to put all those enticing random drops of free account-bound perks that you'd usually have to pay for. (The first hit is always free)

3. Take enchanting away from Wizards. Take loresinging away from bards. Take all of those special profession skills away from the professions. Package them into the artisan skill system, and sell boosts and shortcuts for skilling those skills, for creating special creations, and for unlocking the ability to have more than 1-2 artisan skills.

---------

The bottom line - If I could play Gemstone IV for free, I would jump at the chance. This current release is a severely limited scope Free Trial, not a F2P. Right now, a standard subscription IS a "F2P" account - and the perks given by premium are the perks you should be charging micro-transactions for.

You're putting your worst foot forward. If you dropped the subscription service (except for maybe the 10 people who play Plat), then you could offer all of those wonderful subscription and premium perks to people as micro-transactions, then your playerbase might actually increase. But it'd certainly be a gamble.

Anyway - that's my 2 cents. I think I'll go not log in for another 5 years.

[Warriorbird]

When you look at what GW2 does, and how they do it, I think you can learn a lot about how a successful F2P system works. First, most everything you can buy in the F2P system can be acquired in the world in natural gameplay - some more rarely than others. Also, it's important to note that absolutely nothing in GW2 is out of the possibility for a Free player to obtain, even in decent amounts through diligent play. Especially since you can purchase Gems with Coins and vise-versa.

Most of GW2's gemstore is permanent access. People don't tend to buy temporary boosts. People want permanent storage slots, permanent character slots, permanent gathering tools, etc. Make the temp things come in larger packs, and give them for free by completing quests or tasks so people will hoard and then get hooked on them.

One problem with GS4's store is that it's not F2P. As much as I might be shocked by 20 years of Simu half-assing a solution, it's a half-assed solution for F2P. It's 'I want F2P, but I also want a subscription base'. Their constant half-assing is a big part of their problem over the last couple of decades. They've long ago whittled their playerbase to the absolute diehard core. Let's release profession guilds! For warrior... and rogue... and maybe sorcerer when we have to 10 years later... But that's a whole other topic.

Here's (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Gem_Store) the GW2 gemstore - So looking at that, here's some ideas that, if we ere to use the GW2 model, might be a bonus.


What you don't get in GW2 for money
ANY tangible skill benefit over F2P customers - a huge part of GW2 is WvW and PvP, you don't get to offset bad skills with money. You don't get access to special skills with money.
Access to any area, dungeon, instance, quest or merchant.

What you do get in GW2 for money
Fluff
Aesthetics
Storage
Character Slots
Colors
Unlimited harvesting tools with a fluff animation rather than the standard tool with durability.
Death sickness alleviation
'Keys' to open chests with random gemstore items inside.
Non-interacting pets (toys)
Dancing / Song-making items
Area-interactive games & toys
PvP/WvW 'finishing' moves
Instant access to your locker from anywhere
Ability to have more than 2 crafting talents at once.

What isn't easily transferrable to GS4?

Well, first... GW2 was simply built with F2P in mind, and with symmetry in mind. You don't have 3 professions with a guild and the other 6 left out. You don't have 3 somewhat polished crafting systems and 6 others forgotten. You don't have the un-coordinated patchwork quilt that Gemstone is. And those patches aren't separate systems with both useful and fluff threads running through them.

And second, a lot of the people who are here have known about this game for 20 years. You're unlikely to get NEW players as much as you're likely to entice old players to rejoin. The current F2P system isn't going to do that. And any GW2-style system will only do that if they don't already have established characters who are already decked out in the things you want to start charging for.

So what can we easily transfer to GS4?

1. Instead of obtaining an automatic weekly XP bonus, make the XP bonus an account-bound occasional drop. Then allow the player to purchase more from the store at say a dollar per.

2. No more free cosmetic alters. Standard scriptable alterations should be purchasable through the store for say $1. Custom alters could be sold for $5 per item.

3. No more silver-based dying. Dyes are purchasable through the store or are random drops in game.

4. Drop the per-month character slot fee. Make it a one-time purchase - same with Shattered inclusion. A 1 time fee of 50-60 bucks and you get shattered access forever. A 1 time fee of $8 and you get a character slot forever.

5. Severely limit the number of character descriptions you can add. Instead of 20 hair colors, make it 3. And then charge for access to certain stations in the pavilion, and have another to access the entire pavilions.

6. Pull back on special loot drops. Standard gems, coins, weapons, armor, etc drop. Have a system where you are given an account-bound item similar to the XP booster that you can boost your rare drops rate for a given amount of time. Say you can earn one of these once a week or so, but you can buy one for $5 per hour (price depending on how special the loot is).

7. Lockers limited to 20 items. You can access your locker through ANY locker in the world. You can purchase 10 permanent extra slots for $5 and 100 slots for $45. Max is 2500 slots.

8. All purchasable and dropping containers capped at 1/2 carrying capacity. You may purchase permanent boosts you can slot into your bags that will increase how much they hold, and how much what they hold affects your encumbrance. And special dropped bags from the loot system might be deeper or lighter.

9. All purchasable and dropping weapons and armor capped at 2x their standard weight. They are never crit weighted, damage weighted, or enhancive. You may purchase permanent boosts you can slot in weapons & armor to make them lighter.

10. No more functional alters. You may purchase weighting and enhansive items you can slot into your armor & weapons to give them weighting, protections, flares, and enhancive properties.

11. Personalized or special fluff... Titles, special spell preps, special fluff verbs, tattoos, and the like are all just ripe for the picking.

12. Bankbooks & Locker manifests - but not a lease, they must be permanent items. You can release more with different designs and scripts and abilities to try to get people to upgrade.

13. Maybe multi-account access. You know our IP. And yes, it might unfairly target some multi-family or proxy-players, but you know our IP. Charge us for more than 2 accounts online at once. Let us pay $20 for another concurrent connection.

What we could transfer to F2P if we did some work on GS4 systems

1. Lots of guild skills are cosmetic and fluff. Lockpick mastery for example. Calipers, Wedges, Sense, Pick appraising, etc are all pretty necessary for being a locksmith. BUT Calibrating your calipers without picking a box, PTricks, Repairing picks, Relocking a box, Clasping, Creating locks, extracting components, creating picks, customizing picks, and keyrings are all perfect perks that can be exploited for F2P. But you can't do any of that if you have it so intertwined inside a necessary system that is also intertwined inside another necessary (or at least benefit-giving) system (sweep, stun maneuvers, etc).

2. There are a lot of things in the Adventurer's guild that could be exploited, but since there aren't any other quests in the game it can't be completely put behind a pay wall. Instead of limiting the # of tasks per hour, why not extract out those perks that are huge benefits and put them elsewhere. Besides, the Adventurer's guild is the perfect place to put all those enticing random drops of free account-bound perks that you'd usually have to pay for. (The first hit is always free)

---------

The bottom line - If I could play Gemstone IV for free, I would jump at the chance. This current release is a severely limited scope Free Trial, not a F2P. Right now, a standard subscription IS a "F2P" account - and the perks given by premium are the perks you should be charging micro-transactions for.

You're putting your worst foot forward. If you dropped the subscription service (except for maybe the 10 people who play Plat), then you could offer all of those wonderful subscription and premium perks to people ask micro-transactions, then your playerbase might actually increase. But it'd certainly be a gamble.

Anyway - that's my 2 cents. I think I'll go not log in for another 5 years.

Excellent post. Worth doing for all the other successful examples if you're gonna make a game your focus, Peppwyn.

[Deathravin]

Well, it can't really happen. Savants are only 12 years late for chist's sake. But it's something to think about if they ever decide to re-double their focus on making an MMO.

[Jhynnifer]

Well, it can't really happen. Savants are only 12 years late for chist's sake. But it's something to think about if they ever decide to re-double their focus on making an MMO.

Let's be honest... with the epic letdown of monks... do people still really want to see simu come out with another profession? Personally, I would rather continue to dream about just how amazing Savants could be then to be disappointed again.

[Astray]

Let's be honest... with the epic letdown of monks... do people still really want to see simu come out with another profession?

Ninja profession. Go Simu, ruin Ninjas forever.

[Taernath]

Excellent post. Worth doing for all the other successful examples if you're gonna make a game your focus, Peppwyn.

Amen. GW2 is far and above the best f2p system I've experienced. Past the initial purchase, you don't have to buy anything else to enjoy the full game and you never feel nerfed if you don't buy anything. The biggest criticism I can level at GW2 is that they have some character slot silliness like GS, but it's a single purchase not a recurring fee. I felt comfortable enough with it that I bought a set of their permanent resource harvesters, something I would never do if it were recurring or a 'pass'.

[Warriorbird]

Well, it can't really happen. Savants are only 12 years late for chist's sake. But it's something to think about if they ever decide to re-double their focus on making an MMO.

Yeah. Simu doesn't have the organizational fortitude. The time for it was a long time ago.


Amen. GW2 is far and above the best f2p system I've experienced. Past the initial purchase, you don't have to buy anything else to enjoy the full game and you never feel nerfed if you don't buy anything. The biggest criticism I can level at GW2 is that they have some character slot silliness like GS, but it's a single purchase not a recurring fee. I felt comfortable enough with it that I bought a set of their permanent resource harvesters, something I would never do if it were recurring or a 'pass'.

It's a hell of a game. I've enjoyed it each time I've played through. I'll probably buy the expansion.

[Gelston]

It is B2P you dirty n00bs.

[Taernath]

It is B2P you dirty n00bs.

My balls are f2p for you.

[Gelston]

My balls are f2p for you.

I don't play f2p games, sorry bud lol.

[Deathravin]

Amen. GW2 is far and above the best f2p system I've experienced. Past the initial purchase, you don't have to buy anything else to enjoy the full game and you never feel nerfed if you don't buy anything. The biggest criticism I can level at GW2 is that they have some character slot silliness like GS, but it's a single purchase not a recurring fee. I felt comfortable enough with it that I bought a set of their permanent resource harvesters, something I would never do if it were recurring or a 'pass'.

Whenever I go back and play GW2, I always end up paying around ~$10 a month just for gems to buy coins or for some cool outfit they released or something. The fact that I don't HAVE to pay, and that I don't have to remember to cancel my subscription and that at any time I can just open it up and play it is very freeing.

Unfortunately in order for GS4 to be moved to a decent F2P model, a ton of very serious reworks would need to be done.

Honestly, I just wish Simu would get some major success with an MMO or their engine that flopped so we could get Prime as F2P and Premium boosts as a subscription or micro-transaction.

[Latrinsorm]

I gotta disagree with Deathravin on two points.

The F2P Gemstone you describe to me is MUCH worse than the current option. Points 2, 3, 5, 8, 9 would be catastrophic; the first three because they gut the one true strength Gemstone has in customization, the last two because they ridiculously impinge on the hunting experience. Double weight weapons and armor and half carrying capacity? C'mon. I don't care about leveling at 1/10th the rate. I do care about 12 second roundtimes.

PvP in GW2 neutralizes gear, but WvW and PvE does not. A super rich person can get the top armor and weapons on day one. I never bought anything in game and a year later I'm just barely grinding out a full set now. I would call that a tangible skill benefit. I also don't care about it, but I think the distinction people want to make about P2W is a lot fuzzier than it seems.

[Taernath]

I gotta disagree with Deathravin on two points.

The F2P Gemstone you describe to me is MUCH worse than the current option. Points 2, 3, 5, 8, 9 would be catastrophic; the first three because they gut the one true strength Gemstone has in customization, the last two because they ridiculously impinge on the hunting experience. Double weight weapons and armor and half carrying capacity? C'mon. I don't care about leveling at 1/10th the rate. I do care about 12 second roundtimes.

I disagree. If Simu monetized non-merchant, available-at-any-time alterations they would be available to -more- players... and make so. much. money. The only downside for them would be the amount of alters they'd have to process.

[Latrinsorm]

He's not (just) talking about what we call alterations, though, he's talking about the feature pavilion (and the options in the mangler itself) and the dye tent, and possibly off-the-shelf options.

[Taernath]

He's not (just) talking about what we call alterations, though, he's talking about the feature pavilion (and the options in the mangler itself) and the dye tent, and possibly off-the-shelf options.

Make them linked to F2P accounts and it's a great idea.

[Deathravin]

A super rich person can get the top armor and weapons on day one.

Well on day one in WvW you still are level 1 and you can't have level 80 gear - and now you still have to get all of your skills.

The game should be tweaked so a character with decent strength can carry a cloak, backpack, appropriate armor, appropriate weapons, boots, maybe some fluff pants, shirt, etc and still not have any encumbrance. And be able to carry a standard hunt's worth of drops without too much trouble. Maybe two boxes or so would get you to 'somewhat'

Then you can get your containers deepened and lightened by 30% using crafting systems. You can get custom armor and weapons and lighten and enchant them via crafting systems. And you can carry more.

But a person paying micro-transactions or gathering tons of silver so they can buy points can get a special item that lets you super-power a crafter to extra-deepen and extra-lighten to say 50%.

Your gear is 'A heavy backpack' or 'A plain cloak'. Dyes drop from mobs are are found in boxes - more interesting dyes are more rare. The rarest dyes are available via the store with random rare dye packs. Adjectives and materials are also dropped and can be inserted into gear in a similar way via crafting systems. 'faenor-edged', 'invar-bound', linen, suede, reinforced, etc. More interesting adjustments are rare drops - 'tied with a silver cord' etc.

Completely custom alters are available via GM work sold on the store and found as tokens rarely as drops.

------

This way the game can be played fine without anything special. But if you want to be able to walk around with 5-10 boxes on you and a bunch of fluff on your person and in your containers, then you're going to need a crafter or a rare drop (or buy it from the store).

If you want to look like 'just another jerkoff player' you don't need to spend a dollar. But if you want to look interesting, you need a good amount of time playing and/or a crafter. If you want to look MORE interesting, you need a lot of time playing, and/or a crafter and rare/store drops, and if you want to look great, you need very rare or store drops (GM alters).

[Peppwyn]

Thanks for the feedback! So the thinking is that ALL accounts are F2P, with a limited number of options when creating your character (5 hair styles, 5 eye colors, 5 item locker, 5 characters, etc.). Then you can purchase additional options via some store. None of the options in the store would give you an advantage over anyone in the game. For example, you wouldn't be able to purchase weighting on a weapon if you could not purchase the same thing in the game via in-game currency or a task or something. I am not a big fan of allowing people to purchase things that actually give them power in the game ...

[Latrinsorm]

Well on day one in WvW you still are level 1 and you can't have level 80 gear - and now you still have to get all of your skills.WvW and PvP automatically up-levels all characters to 80. In PvP you also have all skills and almost all traits unlocked. WvW doesn't for traits, I don't remember if it does for skills or not. None of which is relevant to my point, which was that GW2 does let you buy gear.
The game should be tweaked so a character with decent strength can carry a cloak, backpack, appropriate armor, appropriate weapons, boots, maybe some fluff pants, shirt, etc and still not have any encumbrance. And be able to carry a standard hunt's worth of drops without too much trouble. Maybe two boxes or so would get you to 'somewhat'

Then you can get your containers deepened and lightened by 30% using crafting systems. You can get custom armor and weapons and lighten and enchant them via crafting systems. And you can carry more.

But a person paying micro-transactions or gathering tons of silver so they can buy points can get a special item that lets you super-power a crafter to extra-deepen and extra-lighten to say 50%.

Your gear is 'A heavy backpack' or 'A plain cloak'. Dyes drop from mobs are are found in boxes - more interesting dyes are more rare. The rarest dyes are available via the store with random rare dye packs. Adjectives and materials are also dropped and can be inserted into gear in a similar way via crafting systems. 'faenor-edged', 'invar-bound', linen, suede, reinforced, etc. More interesting adjustments are rare drops - 'tied with a silver cord' etc.

Completely custom alters are available via GM work sold on the store and found as tokens rarely as drops.

------

This way the game can be played fine without anything special. But if you want to be able to walk around with 5-10 boxes on you and a bunch of fluff on your person and in your containers, then you're going to need a crafter or a rare drop (or buy it from the store).

If you want to look like 'just another jerkoff player' you don't need to spend a dollar. But if you want to look interesting, you need a good amount of time playing and/or a crafter. If you want to look MORE interesting, you need a lot of time playing, and/or a crafter and rare/store drops, and if you want to look great, you need very rare or store drops (GM alters).I suspect that you care more about the combat in GS than the customization, hence "can be played fine". I just want you to realize that these priorities are not universally shared.
Thanks for the feedback! So the thinking is that ALL accounts are F2P, with a limited number of options when creating your character (5 hair styles, 5 eye colors, 5 item locker, 5 characters, etc.). Then you can purchase additional options via some store. None of the options in the store would give you an advantage over anyone in the game. For example, you wouldn't be able to purchase weighting on a weapon if you could not purchase the same thing in the game via in-game currency or a task or something. I am not a big fan of allowing people to purchase things that actually give them power in the game ...As above. It's really baffling to me how people draw an absolute line at selling somewhat damage weighting but have no problem crippling cosmetic customization. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying that you're unwittingly restricting your potential audience.

[Peppwyn]

People abuse power ... giving them a means of purchasing power is allowing people to purchase the ability to ruin other players enjoyment. You have a really cool looking scarf doesn't hinder my enjoyment of the game.

[Latrinsorm]

How does you having somewhat damage weighting hinder my enjoyment of the game? Heck, how does you having 10x umpty ump weighting rotten bubble flares hinder my enjoyment of the game? If someone's gonna grief me, they don't need a weapon to do it.

[Deathravin]

But it does manipulate you into wanting a cool looking scarf of your own. And Simu can and should capitalize on that desire.

I'm just saying that the current F2P isn't F2P, it's F2 Trial. And that trial is showing the worst of the worst of the game. They're trying to capitalize on things that people aren't jealous of, and giving away the jealousy-inducing things to the people who have always gotten it - the elite players.

You can change F2P to a system where not only do you get to be somewhat relevant again, but also that all players can have the chance at those interesting items.

You can turn it into a system where you can play the game fine without paying a dollar, but if you want to look the way you want, if you want some mild to even extreme conveniences, if you want to get where you want to go faster, then you can pay dollars, or if you are a hardcore F2P player, then you can take the silver you earn and buy those conveniences and more interesting fluff at a rather high premium.

That's the target they should be looking toward. And this initial offering is a good step in the right direction in many ways, and a very troubling step in the wrong direction in many others.

[Latrinsorm]

But it does manipulate you into wanting a cool looking scarf of your own. And Simu can and should capitalize on that desire.

I'm just saying that the current F2P isn't F2P, it's F2 Trial. And that trial is showing the worst of the worst of the game. They're trying to capitalize on things that people aren't jealous of, and giving away the jealousy-inducing things to the people who have always gotten it - the elite players.

You can change F2P to a system where not only do you get to be somewhat relevant again, but also that all players can have the chance at those interesting items.

You can turn it into a system where you can play the game fine without paying a dollar, but if you want to look the way you want, if you want some mild to even extreme conveniences, if you want to get where you want to go faster, then you can pay dollars, or if you are a hardcore F2P player, then you can take the silver you earn and buy those conveniences and more interesting fluff at a rather high premium.

That's the target they should be looking toward. And this initial offering is a good step in the right direction in many ways, and a very troubling step in the wrong direction in many others.This is what I disagree with you on, though. I look at Simu's F2P offering and say I can play the game fine. I look at yours and say I can't.

[Deathravin]

With the current settings in the encumrance and weight systems, yes. They'd have to be adjusted. So that 'normal' is more F2P. The current F2P restrictions on weight and item #'s is too restrictive.

[Latrinsorm]

With the current settings in the encumrance and weight systems, yes. They'd have to be adjusted. So that 'normal' is more F2P. The current F2P restrictions on weight and item #'s is too restrictive.That's a start, but the customization aspect is more important. Here's the way I'm seeing it:

Simu F2P
You need a lot more hunts to get to level X.
But you can get those hunts done just as well as the baseline P2P player (4x gear, masses, etc.) except for society benefits.
And you have just as many look options as that player.

Deathravin F2P
You need the same number of hunts to get to level X.
But it's much harder to perform those hunts.
And you have a tiny fraction of the look options as the P2P crowd.

I would play and am playing the first one. I would not play the second.

[Gelston]

Well on day one in WvW you still are level 1 and you can't have level 80 gear - and now you still have to get all of your skills.
.

Incorrect, you can get to level 80 in under an hour via crafting.

[TheEschaton]

GW2 is horrible from a gameplay standpoint. All the classes feel the same because no one wanted to tie players hands into "roles" or "responsibilities" or even "melee" vs. "ranged." My RANGER can use a longsword. My guardian (think paladin) can use a spellstaff. No one wanted to be hindered by bad gear, so gear is, for the most part, equalized, and the grind for better gear ekes out so little gain in power that doing it isn't worth the time. In the end, all its endgame PvE consists of is grinding out the prettiest outfit.

But its pay model is pretty boss. I haven't paid a dime for GW2 besides the initial $60. But that's because there's no powerful stuff to buy. That being said, I play GW2 like every 3 months.

The key to F2P is not to make people feel actively hindered by not having a sub. Games like LOTRO had horrible F2P models, GW2 you don't feel hindered if you don't pay. I never think to myself, "Oh man, I will never grind out all these color dyes" in GW2. But giving subs a higher EXP rate, or less encumbrance, or higher carrying capacity...not paying for that will make people resent your model. And if you have any sort of end-game cooperative gameplay, having such "perks" for subs will make subs necessary for any sort of raider or group player.

Thematically, I played a game on AOL in the mid-90s called Federation. It was loosely a space trading game. In my mind, I see Firefly as kind of the universe this game was set in (of course, the game came waaaaaaay before Firefly, I often wonder if Joss Whedon played). You start out as a lowly ship captain with a loan and a lemon for a ship, and you do trading runs to first pay off your loan, and then buy bigger and better ships. Instead of levels, you had ranks, and there were only 15. The first was Groundhog, IE a shipless noob. We had whole communities of RPing Groundhogs who just played on the (text-based) planets. Then the first echelon of ranks were ship captains, first rank being Captain. The second echelon of ranks were the landed elite, starting with Merchants, who could own factories on planets, including player-owned and written planets. And the third and final echelon (ranks 11-15) were the planet owners. You could literally write your own planets in this game, room by room (sort of like what the ALAE was supposed to do), script events in them, make puzzles, make secret labyrinths, make objects in the room that you could interact with, and of course, run a stock exchange. The last rank in the game, Duke/Duchess, owned their own planet, but were also the leader of a Duchy, a confederation of planets working together, whether it was economically or militarily or just socially. And it took yeaaaaaaaaaars to get. Rank promotion was sometimes monetary, but not always. The movement from the last rank of landed elites (Journeyman) to PO (Planet Owner) involved an intricate, almost Indiana-Jones-esque puzzle which involved getting objects unique in the world (IE, only one spawned in the game at a time), a team of people of various ranks, including a Groundhog, getting them to Mars (very difficult for a Groundhog, ie), and activating an ancient Martian ruin in the proper order with the proper people.

In addition to wondering if Joss Whedon played Federation, I sometimes wonder if the guys over at CCP played it when they made EVE Online. EVE reminded me a lot of the text-based Federation, except Federation was more economic/trading centered, and not PvP-oriented. War, in Federation, was often too expensive (not only from lost commerce/merchandise, but in the light of coalition embargoes/blockades) to do without a huge provocation. Before the end of AOL gaming, there was a coalescing towards a Universe-wide government. It was intense. You should check it out, it was published by an English company called IBGames.

[Latrinsorm]

GW2 is horrible from a gameplay standpoint. All the classes feel the same because no one wanted to tie players hands into "roles" or "responsibilities" or even "melee" vs. "ranged." My RANGER can use a longsword. My guardian (think paladin) can use a spellstaff. No one wanted to be hindered by bad gear, so gear is, for the most part, equalized, and the grind for better gear ekes out so little gain in power that doing it isn't worth the time. In the end, all its endgame PvE consists of is grinding out the prettiest outfit.First of all, grinding out the prettiest outfit is a gosh darn noble endeavor.

But first of all, there are absolutely different roles in GW2. Some builds are tough, some builds are strong. Some builds are great at ranged range, some builds are great at melee range. Some builds are great 1v1 but fall apart 2v2, some builds get stronger the bigger the battles. Even with the same dagger/dagger weapons, a power thief vs. a vitality necro are completely different play styles with completely different uses to the group.

And first of all, dropping responsibilities is what makes the gameplay elite. You never have to wait for a healer, because you are your own healer. You never have to wait for a tank, because without threat gear there's no such thing. Any group of five can succeed in a dungeon or PvP match. The best game is always the one you play, not the one you wait around to play.

Finally, first of all Strider used a sword regularly so there goes your theory up s***'s creek.

[Kalishar]

Federation was the game that actually got me into text-based games. I only played it a few hours though over the course of a couple days, never realized it got so deep. Then I was like, let me try this other game here called Gemstone III....

[Thondalar]

After reading through all the information about Simutronics F2P model, I can't help but think they totally missed the point. I am curious about starting a project and wanted to know some opinions. It looks like a lot of people have tried to create games before, but they are either not running anymore or aren't very appealing to me. I think a lot of it has to do with lack of funding and lack of professional development experience.

Would you rather play a free to play text game that allowed you to purchase things like houses, custom character modifications, etc. (things that dont give you an advantage in game) or a game where you pay a monthly fee and all things can be obtained in the game somehow?

Would you rather play a game that required you to download a client, run a Silverlight/Flash client on a browser or use an existing client like Mushclient?

What features draw you to Gemstone? Is it the combat systems, crafting systems (hahahah), nostalgia, time/money you've already spent, volume of content available? I don't think any game out there right now can compete with Gemstone on the nostalgia or volume of content ... but their combat/magic/crafting systems are mediocre at best in my opinion.

For what its worth, nostalgia and a genuine love of gemstone itself is what keeps me here. I don't spend every possible waking hour in-game anymore, like I tried to do in middle school in the early 90's (which, after the Great Dad's Credit Card Debacle of 1991 meant a LOT of trial characters...) but I still play quite often, and being a chairman of the largest CHE in the game gives me somewhat of a vested interest in the game, as much as can be, anyway. While I agree with your assessment of the crafting system, my main complaints there I guess would be the amount of work required for the desired end result...forging and alchemy come to mind in that respect. The potential end benefits really aren't worth the trouble to get there, more often than not. As far as magic and combat goes, in my experience Gemstone offers more variety than any graphic MMO I've ever played, especially in the area of hiding/sneaking/ambushing. I admit I haven't played many other MUDs though, mainly because, even as a veteran GS player, I still find a new MUD difficult to get in to.

As far as the f2p vs. sub scenario, as a player I'm partial to the sub. I want the game as-is for everyone involved, and you either pay the sub and play it or you don't. Expendable income in the area of $15-$80 (I use that range because I currently pay two premium GS accounts per month, and have for many years now) isn't at all an issue for me, so its easy to say that, I suppose. My main thing is that with f2p games, I always find myself spending more in the long run than I do on straight subs. As a business model, this would be the superior route for two reasons...1) You're going to get a lot of people who get in to the game at various times, have expendable income right then and there, and spend it because they're caught up in a new game. I've done this many times...most recently with MWO (Mechwarrior Online), where I dropped about $200 in the first week I played. That's a win for them, because whether I keep playing or not, they already got more money from me than they would have from a $15/month sub for a year. 2) Most people don't play any MMO full-time for longer than 2 years or so. People are more likely to keep an f2p account active and just purchase things while they're playing, whereas a person playing a sub game is more likely to let their sub lapse and then never pick it up again down the road because they don't want to deal with reactivating the sub.

my 20 cents.

[Peppwyn]

In attempt to gather some thoughts on what people would like to see in a game and not detract from the Gemstone focus of this board, i have made a forum here (http://www.shadowlance.com/forum/). Feel free to drop by and share your thoughts.

[Androidpk]

In attempt to gather some thoughts on what people would like to see in a game and not detract from the Gemstone focus of this board, i have made a forum here (http://www.shadowlance.com/forum/). Feel free to drop by and share your thoughts.

Funniest thing I've read all week.

[Peppwyn]

Or don't drop by and share your thoughts ...

[JackWhisper]

It gave me a major error when I tried to register Pepp =(

[Peppwyn]

Should be good to go ... I hate using open source software packages, but I don't feel like writing a forum on top of the game!

[Peppwyn]

7367

[Peppwyn]

In an effort to focus on game development instead of client development, alpha and beta will be using a widely used client called MushClient. You should also be able to use zMud to connect.

http://www.gammon.com.au/downloads/dlmushclient.htm
http://www.zuggsoft.com/index.php

[Peppwyn]

My non-profit commitments have ended and I am back playing around with this idea. I am thinking about how to deal with wounds. Originally I was thinking of doing things like WoW and other MMOs do it in that you get damage/bleeds/disease/etc. that reduce your HP eventually to zero. Then I was thinking of making a wound system like GS where you can remove limbs and whatnot.

What would you rather see?

[Latrinsorm]

The GW2 system is I think a good balance between the intricate GS system and the more bland "damage is done to you" x infinity of other games. It has direct damage, it has conditions that do damage over time, and it has conditions that debilitate (stun, reduce healing, increase round time, etc.). Removing limbs, instant kills, anything that doesn't disappear over time makes for a significantly different combat model, and imo an inferior one.

[Peppwyn]

If I am reading that correctly, you would prefer a combat system that does not allow for instant kills and limb removal?

[Latrinsorm]

Yes. I've enjoyed systems like GS and like DDO which blend HP/damage with instant kill abilities, but I enjoy the GW2 system more and from what I can tell it's much, much, much easier to design from the balance perspective.

[Peppwyn]

I think one of the things that annoys me the most with Gemstone is the instant kill system. Having things pop out of the ground and kill you without you being able to defend or anything is just annoying. Maybe it was more fun when there was a larger population.

[SHAFT]

I think one of the things that annoys me the most with Gemstone is the instant kill system. Having things pop out of the ground and kill you without you being able to defend or anything is just annoying. Maybe it was more fun when there was a larger population.

That's what makes it fun!

[Androidpk]

That's what makes it fun!

+1

[Jhynnifer]

I'd rather have a game with true F2P, rather than being prompted to buy an item to improve on mechanics that are standard to a subscription.

That's where they fucked things up. Had this been a legit F2P with subscription restricted Cash Shop items and not a limited, restricted, and nickle diming operation, the reception would be almost entirely favorable. The only people who would be bitching up a storm would be the ones who disagree with Exp boosters.

I'm curious which F2P model you've played where you're not prompted in any way to upgrade your account or buy items to put you on par with subscribers. I've never seen one that doesn't.

[Latrinsorm]

I'm curious which F2P model you've played where you're not prompted in any way to upgrade your account or buy items to put you on par with subscribers. I've never seen one that doesn't.I think I can speak for Astray when I say Guild Wars 2.

[Warriorbird]

I think I can speak for Astray when I say Guild Wars 2.

Path of Exile also.

[Peppwyn]

Okay what about a mechanic where you theoretically could be killed at any moment if someone was sufficiently lucky. Such as open rolls?

[JackWhisper]

Okay what about a mechanic where you theoretically could be killed at any moment if someone was sufficiently lucky. Such as open rolls?

[LNet]-You: "HEY JERIL"
[LNet]-You: "How do you honestly feel about... OPEN ROLLS???"
[LNet]-GSIV:Jeril: "I WILL CUT A HOLE IN YOUR STOMACH AND FUCK IT AS THE LIFE BLEEDS FROM YOUR EYES"

[Latrinsorm]

Okay what about a mechanic where you theoretically could be killed at any moment if someone was sufficiently lucky. Such as open rolls?I strongly dislike all versions of open rolls, positive and negative.

[Peppwyn]

Only reason I would go open rolls is to allow for 'really lucky' events ... such as a level 5 getting a hit on a level 20? I am thinking of allowing combat to have open rolls in both offense and defense ... that way you could be really lucky and get a hit, or be really unlucky and miss. What do you not like about open roll systems?

[Latrinsorm]

When Aragorn faced 1000 orcs, he was never hit. If we're talking like a level 5 doing 2 damage that doesn't mean anything, that doesn't bother me, but if it doesn't matter why bother implementing it?

[Peppwyn]

If you had 100 level 5s ... that might kill you

[lichyen]

I think I can speak for Astray when I say Guild Wars 2.

Technically Guild Wars 2 is "Buy-to-play" starting at $39.99 or cheaper on a steam sale. But the box price is a part of the revenue stream, where as Gemstone has no box price. This guarantees that for each new person playing the company is guaranteed a certain amount of revenue. That said, I'm not sure what benefit the current system has, other than to give established players something to explore. As it currently stands, I don't see how a "long term" MuD such as gemstone can offer this model in a better way without a new instance to quell the complaints of imbalance (which would defeat any purpose of bringing new players into existing instances). I think the point was to give people a taste so they'll reactivate characters, it worked on me!

[Gelston]

If you had 100 level 5s ... that might kill you

Spike Thorn use to guarantee to hit for 2 damage or so. Theoretically you could kill anyone in the game if you got 100 rangers around. No one ever did this though, that I saw, and this was back when GS had over 1000 people on all the time.

[lichyen]

Spike Thorn use to guarantee to hit for 2 damage or so. Theoretically you could kill anyone in the game if you got 100 rangers around. No one ever did this though, that I saw, and this was back when GS had over 1000 people on all the time.

Heh hopefully you'd leave after the first 20 showed up.... Too many rangers in one place.. :up:

[Fallen]

Or just e-wave.

[Peppwyn]

Started poking around this project again if anyone is interested.

[Peppwyn]

The experience system in GS requires you to "wait" while your experience is absorbed. Obviously this was intended to make the game take longer, but also encourage socializing. Other games like WoW allow you to power hunt all you want and gain experience ... providing a boost to those that take the game at a slower pace. I don't plan on having a level cap in the game and would like to encourage people to play as much as their heart desires. I am leaning towards the "absorb" mechanism but thought I would ask if anyone had some more interesting ideas?

[Latrinsorm]

Another paradigm I've seen is the DDO model, where experience is awarded (mostly) only for completing a quest, and repeating the same quest produces continually diminishing returns until you get 0. That version is very stupid, but the idea of temporary diminishing returns for repeated tasks might help to spread out the gameplay experience (horizontally and vertically), which in turn encourages interaction.

I feel like doing things together encourages socializing between strangers way more than doing nothing together. Once people are in a relationship, you don't need to prompt them together.

[Peppwyn]

I feel like doing things together encourages socializing between strangers way more than doing nothing together

I couldn't agree more. That is the main reason I don't like the 'absorb' mechanic. I saturate my character, then I tab out ...

[Peppwyn]

Taking some time to think about how people will interact with the game. Gemstone has a very classic interface of typing in commands (ie. get my broadsword from my cloak), whereas a few other games have interfaces like WoW where you click and drag icons around to accomplish things. Clicking on targets and pressing 1, 2, 3 to do your attacks vs. typing attack kobold, sweep kobold, tackle kobold. Wondering what interface and interacting dynamic people enjoy?

[Peppwyn]

[A dark cooridor, Starting Area]
Obvious exits: north
>
nod
You nod.
>
info
Name: Peppwyn Race: Halfling Class: Warrior
Gender: Male Age: 45 Level: 1

Agility (AGI): 25 ...... 25
Aura (AUR): 25 ...... 25
Dexterity (DEX): 25 ...... 25
Intellect (INT): 25 ...... 25
Spirit (SPI): 25 ...... 25
Stamina (STA): 25 ...... 25
Strength (STR): 25 ...... 25
Wisdom (WIS): 25 ...... 25

Armor: 0 ( 0% ) | Resist: 0 ( 0% )
>
at pep
You swing a copper longsword at Peppwyn!
AS: +28 vs. DS +28 with d100(Open): +13 = +13
... and completely miss!
>
Peppwyn swings a copper longsword at Peppwyn!
AS: +28 vs. DS +28 with d100(Open): +13 = +13
... and completely misses!
>
Peppwyn swings a copper longsword at you!
AS: +28 vs. DS +28 with d100(Open): +13 = +13
... and completely misses!
>
inv
You are holding a copper longsword and a wooden shield.
You are wearing some mail boots, some mail leggings, a leather cloak and a mail jerkin.
>

Got a few things in so far. Going to add some combat mechanics to see how some of the ideas flesh out.

[Peppwyn]

Name: Peppwyn Race: Halfling Class: Warrior
Gender: Male Age: 45 Level: 1

Agility (AGI): 25 ...... 25
Aura (AUR): 25 ...... 25
Dexterity (DEX): 25 ...... 25
Intellect (INT): 25 ...... 25
Presence (PRE): 25 ...... 25
Spirit (SPI): 25 ...... 25
Stamina (STA): 25 ...... 25
Strength (STR): 25 ...... 25
Vitality (VIT): 25 ...... 25
Wisdom (WIS): 25 ...... 25

Armor: 0 ( 0% ) | Resist: 0 ( 0% )

Added Vitality and Presence. Vitality will determine how much HP you can have, and Presence will help determine some other things!

[Peppwyn]

I am trying to move away from roundtime in the game. Unfortunately I think the mechanic will still exist for some things, but they will be flat times that are introduced to just remove exploits. For example, when you attack the 'cooldown' is applied to your weapon. Daggers have a 1 second cooldown, whereas broadswords have a 3 second cooldown. Now, if you're dual wielding you would swing them at different rates. So I have introduced roundtime for things like removing and wearing items, to make it less productive to attack, put your broadsword in your backpack, get another broadsword, and attack again.

I am open to other ideas. I am hoping to make the game much more interactive and provide more 'action' and 'choices' to the player.

[Peppwyn]

Looking at some different combat options. Right now I am toying with the traditional MMO plan where you hit MOST of the time and it is really just a race to use the right skills in the right order to do the most damage.


Peppwyn swings a copper broadsword at a giant rat!
[Roll result: 118 (open d100: 93)]
... and hits for 36 damage!


A giant rat scratches at you with some razor sharp claws!
[Roll result: 59 (open d100: 39)]
a clean miss!

[Peppwyn]

Some combat!



at rat
You swing a copper broadsword at a giant rat!
[Roll result: 29 (open d100: 5)]
A clean miss!
Cooldown: 2 sec.
>
H: 88/106 A: 100/106 E: 100/106>
at rat
... wait 1 seconds.
>
H: 88/106 A: 100/106 E: 100/106>
at rat
You swing a copper broadsword at a giant rat!
[Roll result: 50 (open d100: 26)]
A clean miss!
Cooldown: 2 sec.
>
H: 88/106 A: 100/106 E: 100/106>
at rat
... wait 1 seconds.
>
H: 88/106 A: 100/106 E: 100/106>
A giant rat scratches at you with some razor sharp claws!
[Roll result: 61 (open d100: 41)]
a clean miss!
>
H: 88/106 A: 100/106 E: 100/106>
at rat
You swing a copper broadsword at a giant rat!
[Roll result: 91 (open d100: 67)]
... and hits for 37 damage!
Cooldown: 2 sec.
>
H: 88/106 A: 100/106 E: 100/106>
A giant rat scratches at you with some razor sharp claws!
[Roll result: 118 (open d100: 98)]
... and hits for 20 damage!
>
H: 68/106 A: 100/106 E: 100/106>
at rat
... wait 1 seconds.
>
H: 68/106 A: 100/106 E: 100/106>
at rat
You swing a copper broadsword at a giant rat!
[Roll result: 102 (open d100: 78)]
... and hits for 33 damage!
A giant rat falls to the ground motionless.
Cooldown: 2 sec.
>
H: 68/106 A: 100/106 E: 100/106>
search rat
You search a giant rat...
The giant rat had nothing else of value.
>
H: 68/106 A: 100/106 E: 100/106>
A giant rat decays into compost.
>
H: 68/106 A: 100/106 E: 100/106>
You gain some inner strength.
>
H[106/106] A[106/106] E[106/106]>
at pep
You swing a copper broadsword at Peppwyn!
[Roll result: 137 (open d100: 38)]
... and hits for 149 damage!
Peppwyn's inner strength fades.
Peppwyn falls to the ground motionless.
>
H[-43/106] A[106/106] E[106/106]>
Peppwyn swings a copper broadsword at you!
[Roll result: 137 (open d100: 38)]
... and hits for 149 damage!
Your inner strength fades.
Your body falls to the ground motionless.
>
H[-43/106] A[106/106] E[106/106]>

[Peppwyn]

I've just freed up some of my time and am back to playing on this project.



A giant rat just went east.
>
A giant rat just arrived.
>
A giant rat scratches at you with its sharp claws!
[Roll result: -461 (open d100: 39)]
A clean miss!
>
A giant rat scratches at you with its sharp claws!
[Roll result: -402 (open d100: 98)]
A clean miss!
>
A giant rat scratches at you with its sharp claws!
[Roll result: -402 (open d100: 98)]
A clean miss!
>
A giant rat just went south.
>
A giant rat scratches at you with its sharp claws!
[Roll result: -436 (open d100: 64)]
A clean miss!

[Peppwyn]

Would you rather play a game that offered an HTML based client or download mushclient or download a custom client?

[Latrinsorm]

Always html based. Make the barrier to entry as low as possible imo.

[Peppwyn]

For those interested, i've updated the website to use HTML5 for the client. You can create accounts and characters and see what you think.

www.shadowlance.com

[Peppwyn]

I'm starting work on this project again if anyone is interested in providing some feedback/suggestions.

[Peppwyn]

It's been awhile, that's for sure, but I am heading back into this project. After leaving my last company because of incompetent product management and leadership, I am taking some time to do my own thing if not just to cool down.