Genesis Forums

Guild Specials Transparency

I'm sure many of us mortals have had dicussions at some point in their career about the mechanics of how various abilities work and what one might focus on improving to increase the effectiveness of a certain ability. You can search discord and see alot of information about this, perhaps finding accurate? information for your ability. There are a few people who present convincing information with numbers and percentage breakdowns, clearly they have connections that are informing them. I am not asking for all this information, but I would like to close the gap for the average Joe without presenting numbers. I recommend adding some dialog to NPC trainers or guild NPCs that guild members may converse with using appropriate phrases or keywords to learn about their own abilities. Here are some examples that quickly came to mind:

ask bda trainer slash
TRAINER says to you Ahh yes looking to improve your slash eh? Listen up. Slash is more effective for those soldiers who are strong, dexterous, and wise. Using a blade with more penetration will also help one score powerful slashes.

ask knight trainer block.
TRAINER says to you Yes Sir, interested in perfecting your block? I recommend working on your strength, dexterity and discpline for maximum effectiveness. There are some other considerations for improving your block as well. Or were you wondering about resistance to block?

ask knight trainer block (other) considerations
TRAINER whispers in your ear: Its noticeably easier to block those who are unable to see, perhaps because of darkness or blinding. Also indoor areas have less room to maneuver which helps slightly with blocking.

ask knight trainer block resistance
TRAINER says We have found those with high dexterity and intelligence more difficult to block.

ask minotaur trainer gore
TRAINER says Wondering about gore eh? Some of the fools out there think its all strength, but thats not quite true, the best gores are from those who also have high dexterity and significant experience as a minotaur.

These are just some examples that came to mind, my explanations are likely wrong. I think this would be good for the game to have this information available to those members of the guild in a thematically appropriate way while reducing the gap between those who somehow know and the average player.

Thanks,
TK's player.

I really agree with this. A newbie on the ntell line was asking about block and getting around block the other day and nobody really was able to offer a good answer on how to best get around it etc.

I think this is a very good idea and I would definitely support guildmasters/lieges who would like to implement something like this for their guilds.

Yes! I was reading a layman guild helpfile recently and it noted two specific stats that affect the success of the guild special. I would love to be able to divine this info for my own guilds.
I like Tarlok's suggestion, and add a thought that for occ guilds the info could be "unlocked" at completion of the guru quest

This would all become public knowledge eventually and be great for min/maxers... but all players, new and old, wonder where to focus our stats, and do it pretty blindly (or based on dodgy intel or complex mental gymnastics).

What about doing something similar with all skills? I seem to recall the help files not being so helpful..

For the second time today, I find your idea excellent and am fully behind it in cheers and hope.

This is a fantastic idea, not only for specific specials but for all skills in general. The newbie line and discord are full of such questions and the tips and hints gained from them are usually contradictive. I'd say such a feature presents the players with reliable and truthful information about how to best train to be proficient at their skills of choice while also maintaining the philosophy of 'no numbers' that so characterizes Genesis.

Perhaps the respective magic and fighting trainers in Gelan could offer this information to inquisitive newcomers, while also remaining available for others. Now, since it is possible that an enemy of Calia is blocked from Gelan, I'd add the same feature to a mercenary trainer. All of this for 'general' skills, and then go on to motivate Lieges and Guildmasters to implement similar features for their trainers. For such specialized information, however, I'd limit it to members of the guild so that others can't just go and learn how best to defeat their enemy.

I think it's time we find ways to be more transparent with the game's mechanics without straying too far from Genesis tradition.

There are plenty of such global changes that would make the game more accessible and also encourage newcomers to find this information within the game so as to lessen the hold that ooc chats have on them. I believe that most of the pitfalls in Genesis are of human nature, and the more ways we find to automate processes the better we will be for it. A small, limited government with a free economy could be far more engaging for a game in terms of alliances, pvp, and making the world feel alive than the strict human council method of old which has proven to be a bottleneck to success.

Vyasa wrote: ↑

16 Feb 2020 12:28

I think it's time we find ways to be more transparent with the game's mechanics without straying too far from Genesis tradition.

You made some great points, but I want to highlight this. Tradition in Genesis isn't so much the hiding of information, it's that only a select few get special access to wizard information. I understand, imagine if we had a paid wizard staff with NDAs, but for as long as the game has existed, there have been the informed and uninformed. New tradition might be that with a new keeper comes more information to the masses? Just a thought.

You could also have books in the sparkle library to detail general skills. Since there is already guild information there.. or perhaps there's an old retired adventurer in the new pub that you might be able to pry the information out of. Whether that's challengin them at arm wrestling to get an answer, or filling them full of drinks to get talking..

Anfalas wrote: ↑

16 Feb 2020 14:48

You could also have books in the sparkle library to detail general skills. Since there is already guild information there.. or perhaps there's an old retired adventurer in the new pub that you might be able to pry the information out of. Whether that's challengin them at arm wrestling to get an answer, or filling them full of drinks to get talking..

This is a great idea. The armwrestling is interesting, and promotes socializing, and the room with the cushions is a nice, comfortable, safe space. But honestly I'd hoped there would be more to the bar area itself, and this could add to the ambiance while addressing the concerns about transparency and skills.