Armour revamp ideas

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Rhaegar
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Armour revamp ideas

Post by Rhaegar » 15 May 2010 18:32

Hi there,

It's been a long while since I last roamed the realms and now I'm back in new form. There is one thing I'd like to address that might enhance the game a bit if implemented (note: everything I'm writing here is just my opinion, I don't claim it to be some revealed truth that has to be the best, it's something I think would be great and would like to see the others opinion on the matter too). Another thing worth noting is that while at higher mortal levels, when people have really high stats, you don't really notice armour weight, but when you're small (like me) it becomes a concern.

Armour classes:

Not so much as classes per-se but distinction between armour weight that could be implemented on a global scale with relative ease.
In your typical games you have various armour classes with their respective strengths and weaknesses, there is no such distinction on Genesis, and there should be in my opinion.

RP-wise: People sneaking around in full-plate armour don't look to good, just like a knight charging into battle wearing just his shirt would look ridiculous.

What I mean here, is that armour weight should impose certain effects on people. The heavier the armour, the more protection in gives, but at the same time it reduces your ability to move and hence drops your defence and parry skills (as you rely on your armour to soak up blows instead of dodging them) as well as your ability to hide, sneak and cast spells (this would have to be made for spells with higher difficulty levels, as not to punish people who are in occ fighter guild and lay magic). Enclosed and/or heavy helmets reducing your awareness etc.

Combat-wise: In combat it would put light-armoured foe on par with heavy-armoured one (dodge more vs soak more) but heavy-armoured person would have a definite advantage when fighting multiple enemies (with more enemies you're bound to get hit more often, that's where your damage soaking surpasses dodging).

Alternative not-so-cool idea:

Make armours impose encumbrance unrelated to the strength/weight relation. Wearing full platemail would burden even the strongest.

Summary:

Light armour: unrestricted movement, when you get hit it hurts.
Heavy armour: restricted movement, you get hit more often but for little damage.

Shields:

That's not as pressing matter, but I strongly believe that shields should get their skill and work on that, completely blocking blows, instead of acting as just more armour.
I fear no evil for I am fear incarnate.

Bale
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Re: Armour revamp ideas

Post by Bale » 15 May 2010 19:15

Rhaegar wrote:People sneaking around in full-plate armour don't look to good
I'm with you, but I'm more concerned about the people getting drunk into oblivion in preparation for fighting battle. Maybe we should change health to morale and make Lars the donut's preferred therapist.

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Rhaegar
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Re: Armour revamp ideas

Post by Rhaegar » 15 May 2010 20:30

You mean like in the LotRO? You haven't got health there but morale. Liquid courage would make much more sense then :)

One more thing that comes to mind is splitting weapons to more types: one- and two-handed, chain weapons etc.

But that's all off-topic.
I fear no evil for I am fear incarnate.

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petros
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Re: Armour revamp ideas

Post by petros » 15 May 2010 20:32

Heavy armours already impose a certain amount of restrictions. There are some armours out there which are not completely balanced in their weight/ac ratio. Those are being looked at one by one and will be set to standards eventually.

One thought I had after reading this post was to perhaps implement the restrictions that exists in other games like D&D. For example, wearing heavy armour would impose skill penalties, and there is a maximum dex bonus that one can gain from it. By actually implementing this, there would be real tradeoffs that players would have to make in determining which armour to wear.

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Rhaegar
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Re: Armour revamp ideas

Post by Rhaegar » 15 May 2010 20:37

Exactly what I had in mind. Just getting 'free armour' (as in, there is no tradeoff for wearing full-plate as opposed to leather armour, thus everyone will be using the plate if their str allows) isn't the best of systems.
I fear no evil for I am fear incarnate.

Ilrahil

Re: Armour revamp ideas

Post by Ilrahil » 15 May 2010 21:12

Part of why I like the idea behind deep blue fullplate.

Quite heavy, quite good protection, but with a penalty on something (that I won't say.)

I like this idea

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Mersereau
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Re: Armour revamp ideas

Post by Mersereau » 17 May 2010 00:51

Lars a very long time ago made the edict that alcoholic consumption should never be a hindrance.
"Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die."
-Mel Brooks

Rhynox
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Re: Armour revamp ideas

Post by Rhynox » 17 May 2010 02:59

Then ogres and dwarves would be damned because they already carry dexterity penalties, plus they use mostly heavy armours. If the trade off for light armours is lesser protection, though, I would agree with it. Also, shield modifications so that small races are covered better by shields than larger races (a light tower shield should also protect head for small races even if it doesn't for other races).

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petros
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Re: Armour revamp ideas

Post by petros » 17 May 2010 03:39

Rhynox wrote:Then ogres and dwarves would be damned because they already carry dexterity penalties, plus they use mostly heavy armours. If the trade off for light armours is lesser protection, though, I would agree with it. Also, shield modifications so that small races are covered better by shields than larger races (a light tower shield should also protect head for small races even if it doesn't for other races).
Certain guilds would obviously be able to wear heavy armour as medium armour, just as in D&D.

Makfly
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Re: Armour revamp ideas

Post by Makfly » 17 May 2010 07:04

Personally, it sounds like a complicated system to mimic reality for realisms sake.
It's a game, and yea alot of it is unrealistic such as swimming or sneaking around in full plate armour, but what _isn't_ unrealistic in this game?

Have all development focus on making the game more fun, not more realistic, please.

Also what Mersereu says is one of the founding laws of the game, so let's not mess with that :)
Mortimor Makfly - Gnomish Xeno-Anthropologist

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