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Progress in the last 3 years https://www.genesismud.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=1208 |
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Author: | gorboth [ 19 Oct 2010 11:54 ] |
Post subject: | Progress in the last 3 years |
Esteemed colleagues, When I first came on as Keeper, there were a number of things I wanted to do right away. These included:
This was three years ago. I want to share with you, for those of you who may not remember the specifics of that period of time, the list that was generated. What has become all too clear to me is that not enough information has been shared since this time of collaboration. We wizards have been hard at work on the list, but we (read, I) have done a poor job of late of sharing with you the process. So, here is the list, printed in it's entirety, from 2007 with the following colour coating: Completed changes appear in BLUE text. Changes that are in process appear in RED text. Changes that have not been undertaken appear in normal text. The goal here is to consider the progress that has been made. And so ... here is the list! II. Game Design Renovation.
2. Link to Forum on login screen. 3. Preconfigured client. 4. Newbie area created on Forum. 5. Allow players to login as guests to:
b. Get right to some sort of action. c. Use a newbie chatline based on race and gender. 7. Make Sparkle a natural "first step" into the real game for newbies. (see item C2). 8. Give newbies a book with:
b. A list of guilds, their themes and their locations. c. Suggestions on how to make money. d. Locations for good newbie questmasters. e. Common player hangouts. f. A list of names of people they can mail for personalized help and advice. each newly created player:
b. Giving them information/access to pre-defined clients with useful scripts/maps/etcetera for the game. c. Giving them useful advice on how to get started. 11. Give maps to newbies. 12. Provide newbies with some sort of gamecontent "hook" that grabs them immediately in the first minutes of gameplay. 13. Poll players on the following:
b. What were their first thoughts on the game when they created their characters? c. What did they find appealing? d. What was the cause of reaction and emotion?
2. Implement global versions of stun, block, and poisons. 3. Increase player death.
b. Make it easier to trap a player. thus giving certain players the option to enjoy the game in peace.
b. Remove all shiplines between domains. An alternative would be to have inter-domain travel not through Sparkle require far more money in price and take far longer in terms of the duration of the boatride. c. Domains can still have shiplines to other areas within the same domain. (e.g. Grey Havens to Pelargir) d. Reduce the time that boatrides require. Travel is not fun or even interesting.
b. Killing grounds with neutral aligned stuff to kill. c. Npc to follow player around, offering help. because of the shipping lanes:
b. Move unique content from other cities and have it be only offered in Sparkle:
2) Tattoos 3) Parties, etcetera somesuch (see point J) under or near to Sparkle. 4. Make Sparkle a special place with excellent descriptions, design, and content that represent the finest the game has to offer. D. Centralize quest code into a master object.
domain. 2. Recode all quests to have the master object deal with bits, rewards, etcetera. 3. Allow quest hints for those who want to use them.
their npcs and factions into. 2. Slowly phase out the good/evil alignment system. solutions:
b. Make sure that benefits continue for grinders so there is still something to work for for hardcore players.
2) Increased titles 3) Elite area only for those players
2. Instead, rework and improve existing areas.
2. Increases conflict between certain themes.
2. Gives players something other than grinding to focus on. model:
2. Monsters drop nifty equipment and treasure randomly based on droptables that scale with monster level. 3. Progressive-combination model:
2) Small localized goals accomplished through grinding. 3) Alignment neutral npcs
abilities. 2. Change the way stats are used to calculate combat damage.
b) Dex is no longer king. 3. Update the combat system to be more straightforward. 4. Normalize the difference between normal attacks and special attacks in terms of damage potential. 5. Add more randomness to combat so that victory is not pre- determined by stat size. 6. Rework the death penalty either by:
b) Having consequences be something other than exp loss c) Creating a resurrection quest whereby players can very soon be back to where they were. (death recovery) normal combat damage. 8. Improve the benefits of a two-handed weapon. Currently, no one uses them because they are a horrible tradeoff vs. a one-hander and shield.
2. Possibly include an expanded system of banking via player- to-player loans, etc.
centralized location where players can define their own abilities to define their character. b) Implement a "point-based" system by which players can buy the abilities they want. c) Joining a guild no longer a requirement for successful competetive play. Rather, it is now an optional feature intended to promote roleplay of a specific background. d) Guilds can still offer unique abilities, but these are not more powerful (i.e. required for competetive play) than those offered by the centralized system. The same "point system" is used to buy guild-based abilities.
b) Remove redundancy among guilds so that each guild is in some way uniquely valuable to the game. c) Establish which guilds should have each unique ability (i.e. block, stun, disarm, poison, cleanse, move-behind, rescue, etc) and make sure that only one guild from each alignment faction offers it. d) Close certain guilds:
communities. 2.) Increases player interaction. 3.) Removes redundancy of guild themes. 4.) We can always increase the number of guilds once the playerbase grows O. Relocate all magical item files to a centralized location for update and maintenance. P. Change Darkness to 3 levels: twilight, darkness, magical darkness Q. Allow items to be saved on players until they break. R. Remove the difference between quest and normal experience points, and do away with brutality as a concept. S. Implement protocolization:
want protocolization turned on. It is off by default. 2. Protocolization sends messages to a pre-programmed client that can then present the game in a more up-to-date fashion that might cater to today's young playerbase in a more immediately friendly and familiar fashion. 3. This can include both graphics and sound. 4. This will require very little actual change of code, for the main changes would be very deep in the base routines. T. Occasionally, have wizards control npcs to interact with mortals for the purposes of story/roleplay promotion. U. Find a way to deal with guilds with inactive councils which bar new and eager players from joining. V. Find ways to make the game cater to casual players. W. Standardize dps (penetration) calculations for weapons. X. Implement a system of diety worship and divine rewards.
2. Combat implications if a god intervenes in time of need.
2. e.g. Bring me 30 Ogre teeth, 12 buffalo hides, and 40 gnome purses! 3. Random cash, exp, and unique item rewards. III. Promotion.
1. Give it a more professional look.
b. Better content
2. Determine our selling point. a. What can we offer that MMORPGS can't?
2) Combination of popular fantasy settings (Krynn vs. ME) 3) Nominal system requirements
b. Track the hits from each URL. c. Calculate monthly winners, and give them some in-game reward. 3. Trailer for YouTube. 4. Create a name for the campaign to increase excitement, interest. 5. Utilize facebook.com 6. Build a connection through Second Life.
both populations deserve. Neither could exist without the support and enthusiasm of the other. 2. Keep lines of communication open and friendly. 3. Favoritism must be eliminated in terms of:
b. Playstyle c. Roleplay ability Help!! Information Overload! ![]() Quite so! Aren't design choices crazy? So, the purpose of this monstrous list is to review what we came to 3 years ago, and to see where we've come. Remember, the BLUE text shows us things that didn't used to exist, but now do thanks to lots of hard work. The RED things show us things that are in process and may be quite far along, but might be still quite a long way from completion. Quite a few things that have happened are not in this list at all, but were things we found needed doing, and they got done. One specific area that appears only in a few lines in the list, but that has taken a bulk of wizard development effort has been the balance recode of all guilds - a massive undertaking, and over half complete! I do feel we have a lot to be grateful for. A huge amount of progress has been made, and I am so appreciative of the many hands that have been involved. A big thank you, also to the players who have stuck with us through this process. Many things remain to be done (and some of the ideas on the above list just don't make the cut - and in hindsight probably aren't worth doing at all) but I feel energized by how much has been accomplished. I will be following up soon with more posts and threads in this section to detail the future of the game as we are envisioning it. Onward, upward, and to a greater game! G. |
Author: | Ilrahil [ 19 Oct 2010 17:08 ] |
Post subject: | Re: Progress in the last 3 years |
I'll be the first one to bite the bullet and comment. I noticed in there that the idea for the stat cap is on the queue? Or is it just a possibility. If its a possibility or on the queue I'd love a little more information on that. I also wanted to bring up the shiplines. In your note it is highlighted in Blue. I am fine with the current amount of ships in Sparkle, and we dn't need more, but most of the inter-domain ships in krynn and Middle-earth were never updated to be on the new timetables. |
Author: | gorboth [ 19 Oct 2010 19:08 ] | ||||||||||||||||||
Post subject: | Re: Progress in the last 3 years | ||||||||||||||||||
Nice bullet-biting, Ilrahil! Thanks for taking the plunge along with me. ![]() Let me clarify what this list represents. When I became Keeper, I asked everyone to mail me their ideas for what the top priorities for game development would be. Here is the quote from way back then that details what this list was and how it came to be:
Thus, not all of these ideas are things that actually merited action. Rather, this was simply the list of things that players and wizards who gave me feedback listed as important to them. From this point, I asked every player to rank the ideas most important to them, and send me detailed feedback on what was the *most* important. This was the result:
So if we go with the same color codes (BLUE = done, RED = in process, BLACK = no developments), we can analyze the priorities that were landed upon:
Ongoing development of "PLAY NOW" web-client Development of the Magic Map to assist new players Development of Newbie Grinder Dungeon Near Sparkle (in process)
Strength taken into account for melee damage, rather than dex alone.
Standardization of stun effects Standardization of scry effects
Quest hints implemented for quest in all domains.
Army of Darkness (Ogres) Calian Warriors Clan of Niedar Warriors Dragonarmies Gladiators Kender (Secret Society) Knights of Solamnia Mages of Morgul Mercenaries Monks (Dragon Order) Priests of Takhisis Rangers Spirit Circle (Scop) Union of Shadow
Army of Angmar Blademasters of Khalakhor Heralds of the Valar Mariners Militia of Thornlin Minotaurs Minstrels Monks (Dragon Order) Necromancers Pirates of the Bloodsea Shield Bearers Templar Knights Thief Cabal Tricksters Worshippers (Elemental)
Numerous guild openings or major redisigns have been launched with event-like npc encounters, or thematic scenarios. I hope reading this list gets you feeling what I am feeling - that despite the fact that energy seems low at times, a TON of progress has been made. The progress has been systematic, ongoing, and fairly steady. As with any volunteer workforce, we wizards are beset with RL interference that at times must take precedence over the efforts we put forth in Genesis. But! I am quite happy to announce that I myself am finally feeling some of these shackles fall away after many months of hampered efforts! If you have read every word I have typed, you get a sticker. ![]() Much more to come! G. |
Author: | Tapakah [ 19 Oct 2010 21:56 ] |
Post subject: | Re: Progress in the last 3 years |
Re: Ships AFAIK all Middle Earth ships except the Anduin-crossing boat now appear on timetables. As of Krynn, yes, we've been delayed there. There's at least one ship that would require a massive recoding, and I've been procrastinating all the rest, for what I beg pardon. One ship (Sparkle berth 4) is ported though. T. |
Author: | Rhynox [ 20 Oct 2010 07:27 ] |
Post subject: | Re: Progress in the last 3 years |
I may reply to the original post later, but I am curious about Tapakah's riddle. Would that be the thief's ship? |
Author: | Tapakah [ 20 Oct 2010 10:04 ] |
Post subject: | Re: Progress in the last 3 years |
It isn't a riddle. It is the Flotsam-Sparkle route - the ship has a lot of rooms. T. |
Author: | Rhynox [ 20 Oct 2010 20:08 ] |
Post subject: | Re: Progress in the last 3 years |
Knew it wasn't a riddle, but since you didn't mention it, it became one per se. Didn't think it would be that hard to code just because of the amount of rooms. I thought it was the thief's one because it sails to every domain... |
Author: | Tapakah [ 20 Oct 2010 20:49 ] |
Post subject: | Re: Progress in the last 3 years |
no, not hard. Time consuming. As for the thief ship we may leave it unchanged, like the boat in Avenir and the boat across Anduin. |
Author: | Creed [ 21 Apr 2011 21:02 ] |
Post subject: | Re: Progress in the last 3 years |
Can we get an update here? Its been 6 months since the Keeper last visited his Korner... |
Author: | Kitriana [ 03 Jul 2016 03:14 ] |
Post subject: | Re: Progress in the last 3 years |
Since Cherek linked to this post .. maybe we could get an update here? |
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