Update on the racial rebalance project

[nils]

Damnit.

[Budwise]

You get to enjoy your beer, tho. So silver linings for all.

[Cherek]

Hello,

Armageddon is getting closer and it's time for an update. We will NOT launch the new racial system this Armageddon, however, I am 99.9% sure we will launch it next Armageddon. So, in about 17-ish days from now.

Everything is more or less done. All abilities are coded and almost all messaging and text is written. The reasons we are not launching now is:

1. My RL was really busy this week so I had little time for Genesis.
2. Now that everything is in place I want to really try to break things, check for loopholes, typos, etc, and I feel I haven't had proper time for that yet. This is a big change and I did not want to rush-test it when I really did not have the time due to RL stuff.

What remains to be done now is:

- More testing of everything. Abilities, character creation, Thaumaturgist free change, etc. We have of course tested things while working on it, but it's when everything is in place you can really try to break it and see if it holds up.
- Writing new help files for races.
- Update the tutorial race change room and the tutorial sign(s) that mention races.

So, a really short list of things, which means we are really close now!

[zelie]

This is very exciting, for us but also for you. I know this project has been important to you for a long time, and it sounds like it's going to be great. I commend you for being upfront about your plans, for listening, for responding to feedback graciously (a skill many never learn), for being patient and understanding, and for putting up with some ridiculous, unfortunate comments and insults. Thank you, and congratulations! It's not complete yet, but I hope you savor this time. Putting the finishing touches on a major, long-term project is a very satisfying process, for me anyway. Enjoy it, and once again thank you, and all the wizards, for the work and heart and soul you put into our game.

[Drazson]

Damn, Zelie stole the show. I will simply add my thanks for the updates!

[Thalric]

Would it be possible to change the transmutation guy to actually show what stats one would end up with?

Same, slightly better, better, much better is very vague. Specially when one has become real big.

It would be nice if this free transmutation allowed for us to see how our stats would look at various settings, like when we go meditate. Then we can make changes based on real knowledge and not just guesses.
I think that would be quite fair, honestly.

[Budwise]

Do we even need a visit? If the ability to focus on some stats remain
when meditating one can balance them over time? Or will the differences be huge?
I guess we will see the Armie after this.

[Cherek]

Would it be possible to change the transmutation guy to actually show what stats one would end up with?

Same, slightly better, better, much better is very vague. Specially when one has become real big.

It would be nice if this free transmutation allowed for us to see how our stats would look at various settings, like when we go meditate. Then we can make changes based on real knowledge and not just guesses.
I think that would be quite fair, honestly.

When me and Zizuph made the Thaumaturgist a few years(?) ago we decided on the current way because we felt it should mimic the pretty vague adventurer guild's <set> system. I also think it fits the overall "vagueness" that we have in Genesis. I think it is nice that the change is gradual, and that you see your stats change over time, rather than knowing exactly where you will end up from the start. It's also meant to be a money sink, so if you don't like how things turned out you can always pay again and redo it. It was never meant to be "here you go, this is you new exact stats". Obviously there are hundreds of ways we could have done it and your idea would have worked too, but we chose this one. It's meant to be an improvement over suiciding to veteran at Sparkle giants. and I personally like it as it is.

I am not sure if you are suggesting a permanent change to how he works, though, or a change that's only available once after the racial rebalance? I definitely don't want to change him permanently since I like the current design, and while changing him temporarily would be a nice gesture to the players, it would also mean Zizuph hurriedly needs to do a big recode of the Thaumaturgist (and then I need to find time for more testing as well). There is nothing wrong with the idea of a temporary change like the one you suggested, however, just like on any big project there will always be things that can be improved and polished for eternity, but at some point you gotta say "Ok, this is fine, let's launch it".

[TaranGoatWalker]

Any chance we could see what the perks entail now that they're finalised?

[Cherek]

Any chance we could see what the perks entail now that they're finalised?

I figured I would present it when I have written the new help files. Which I haven't yet.