Post
by nils » 10 Mar 2020 17:54
This idea is the equivalent of a band-aid on a cancer-ridden nutsack. The problem isn’t solely guild design, as we see other guilds flourishing that have join restrictions. I will assume you will leave both the Army of Angmar and the Dragonarmies well out of these draconian future plans that serve nothing else than diminish my motivation to stay in this world of ours, there is a real one outside. Or so I’ve heard.
I think there are other forces at play, and that they all play some role in what we’re seeing.
Alignment
I’ve said many times that the way alignment works in Genesis is inherently flawed. It basically allows evil to kill whatever and goodies to kill only evil mobs. In the beginning this is fine. In whatever we call the “end game” the game itself is too small to not be able to kill both.
A better solution would be that alignment is chosen at character creation, but can be changed upon death (like race, desc etc today). It would remove the limits set on Knights, Calians etc, making them more feasible in the end game, at least until admin green-lights a lot more grinders for myths and above. Some would say it’s bad roleplaying for a knight to kill kids in Drakmere, but it’s equally bad roleplay for any soldier in the Dragonarmy to kill dragonarmy guards, or angmarrims killing orcs. I think bad roleplay is preferred over game mechanical STOP-signs.
It’s also possible to concoct some way of blocking evils of killing good mobs and vice versa on a character-level, echoing something like: “You don’t want to kill your friends, do you?” but I’d argue that one would ruin a lot when it comes to other aspects of the game part from grinding alone.
Races
We all know the goblin is the superior fighter-race in Genesis. If you want to min-max, you go goblin. Period. In the same way the ogre is technically neutral, it’s viewed as inherently evil, the goblin is inherently evil and subsequently not a natural choice for a good character.
Now people would scream “SO NERF THE GOBLIN!”, but that wouldn’t sit well with the goblins now would it? Nerfing is always bad, but upgrading usually welcomed. I think the good side is missing a goblin-type fighter option, and I think the dwarf qualifies. Like the goblin, the dwarf is ugly and has social limitations. The problem is, and always has been, the horrible penalty to dexterity and it’s “wasted” bonus on the dump-stat discipline.
I have a hard time believing anyone would protest the dwarf getting, like the goblin, human-like dexterity (no penalty, no bonus). That change alone turns the dwarf into a natural good aligned fighter and the game is more balanced for it.
I’ve also suggested making human more customizable, dividing it into three types: “Normal”, “Warrior” and “Mage” with logical stat distribution accordingly.
This change would make dwarves excellent Calian and Knights, and for the roleplayers, the “Fighter-human” is a bit toned down but still eligible choice, for all guilds I might add.
Player size, differences thereof
I’ve also advocated an adjustment to how the growth curve can change. The quick version is making it easier to grow to myth, but equal time to reach “super-myth”. Quicker progression early on, slower in the end. No “super-myth” would protest this, as long as it takes just as long in total to end up on “the Best” on the rankings. The game needs new players the same way Calians and Knights need new members. The gap between the new and the really big could benefit from some shrinkage. It’s not the only solution, but definitely part of it.
Calians
Part from the issues above, another problem with the Calians specifically is their dependency on others in order to function properly. If the guild is dormant/poorly populated they’re their own undoing by nature of its design. A way around this is enabling another class of Calians with a special attack, but obviously not nearly as heavy-hitting as the swarm. The hows’ and the whats’ in how one can step in and out of this class I leave up to those in charge of designing it, but I definitely think that’s a good alternative route to simply opening it up, thereby removing some of the “magic”.
Greneth pointed out there’s no use for teaming in a game where everything can be done solo, hence there’s no need to team. I completely disagree – Even though I can solo most of the game already, it’s MUCH MORE profitable doing it in teams. I can make one progress level in 20 minutes on a team, and the same progress level takes 50 minutes solo. Anyone basing their growth on solo play will find it taking more than twice as long as if they teamed up.
The problem with CAID on special attacks that still hasn’t been solved.
Now I can’t be bothered to find the thread regarding this issue, but in short it’s true that special attacks do a lot more damage than they’re supposed to and because of it we live in a “special attack is king”-world. Correcting this would make “soloing the world” harder, promote teaming even more, giving team-oriented guilds a boost and actually become a boost for guilds specializing in using two weapons.
Opening up guilds vs making changes to leadership.
This one is obviously more work than simply opening up a guild, but it’s been a pet-peeve of mine for as long as I can remember. Some people are able to sit the throne on a guild for decades, or a crew of friends keeping a guild hostage (see Rangers, Calians, and previously the Neidars) and it’s detrimental to not only the guild itself, but the game as a whole. There should always be more than one way for guild power to transfer to other players. Some guilds have it, some don’t. Some are half-assed and easily gamed. Attempting to make it game-proof might end up a futile mission, but a combination of ways for power to be lost (and subsequently claimed by others) should always exist, in all guilds.
A side note,
PvP
Gawd, I’m so bored of people pointing fingers yelling “bloodlust” and putting other silly labels on people who enjoy PvP. Come on people. It’s a game where PvP is enabled. You act like an ass, you get killed. You steal, you get killed. You refuse to acquiesce when someone able to murder your entire guild make a simple demand, you get killed. You pick a side, you get killed by the other. Deal with it. I certainly wouldn’t play this game with PvP disabled.
Nil Mortifi Sine Lucre