That guy Jay Miller sounds borderline insane lol, i hope he runs a lot of ingame events come release, if his aticles alone can be such a fun and crazy read, he should be interesting to see in action.

Wte system looks amazing, i thought of it more along the lines of the diablo socket system, where you just min/max socketing all the pimp stuff, but it sounds way cooler, starting with generic skills then having the ability to customize and change them to whatever element you like is awesome. I hope they have lightening as an element, word is the elements are Fire, Ice, and earth, hope their are more, or certain combination add more.

That is the way I interpreted it too.  However, since wyr is removeable you should be able to easily trade, craft or buy what you need for a reasonable price.  It is not hard to infer that they are taking the customization aspect of the game to heart and arn't going to limit the population with a few looks.  In other words, I believe unsocked items will be common and easily attained, but that is just my guess.

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Originally posted by Jenuviel
It sounds great, but I do have a question. Early on, it was mentioned that players could tweak and sculpt every possible aspect of their appearance in character creation (appearing as pirates, ninjas, etcetera) independent of their stats, and that was stated in this article as well. However, it was also stated in this article that power was [at least partially] based on the number of Wyr slots you have in your equipment, and that you'll find equipment with more slots as you go along. Wouldn't that mean that if you did  start off as a carefully sculpted pirate or ninja and you found a full metal helm with more slots, you'd still  have to choose between remaining true to your vision (and therefore sacrificing the power of those extra slots) or becoming a pirate, ninja, etcetera with a shiny metal hat?

I'm guessing (and hoping) that I misinterpreted the information presented, but I wanted to bring it up just in case. I'm hoping that part of the crafting system or core mechanics will provide a method of merging new equipment slots into your current gear (applying the extra slots in that new full metal helm to your old pirate hat, ninja hood, etc).

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Part of the EXP system is the gaining of Hero Points. These can be spent on adding extra sockets to various things. Deciding to wear a new item for more sockets is an option if you want to save the points for elsewhere. While I don't know what kind of new item customization, colors and look, we'll have in place. I'm sure we'll most likely add in something.

To answer the question about what kind of things to expect from set bonuses. The Val Zeair set was showcased at E3. When the 2 Wyr are added to the body stat it makes the character sparkle and gives the Heroic Jump ability. Which doubles the characters normal jumping range. Which caused us builders to groan collectively when we saw it because we'd have to go over some old areas to "fix" places that shouldn't be jumped onto.

GM Illuminatis
World Builder
Hero's Journey 

Very cool article. I love this system.  

Question: You give some examples of Wyr with their backstory, effects, etc. Will I be able to tell all that by mousing over or clicking on the wyr? Or will I only be able to tell part of it and the rest concealed, to be discovered some way?

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Originally posted by HJ-Illuminat

Part of the EXP system is the gaining of Hero Points. These can be spent on adding extra sockets to various things. Deciding to wear a new item for more sockets is an option if you want to save the points for elsewhere. While I don't know what kind of new item customization, colors and look, we'll have in place. I'm sure we'll most likely add in something.

To answer the question about what kind of things to expect from set bonuses. The Val Zeair set was showcased at E3. When the 2 Wyr are added to the body stat it makes the character sparkle and gives the Heroic Jump ability. Which doubles the characters normal jumping range. Which caused us builders to groan collectively when we saw it because we'd have to go over some old areas to "fix" places that shouldn't be jumped onto.

GM Illuminatis
World Builder
Hero's Journey 

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I like this article a lot more than the recent ones that were posted about this game.  It gives some actual data which the last few have lacked. I was one of those lurkers who agreed with those posting about wanting more meat with the articles. I'm primarily posting as the writer stated:

Quote:
So here's what I figure I'm gonna do. I'm gonna set a trap. A big one. I'm gonna open Pandora's box and let every last ounce of ooey-gooey Wyr goodness leak out. And then I'm gonna wait. If the Merfolk show up, I'll do a little dance and smite me some more nay-sayers. If not – well – there's always the circus.

I've grown more skeptical about this game as time has gone on; I keep looking for the innovation and what the developers are doing to make the players feel llike they're playing heros.  Wondering what tedious things they are going to revamp or get rid of.

Based on this article, Wyr is certainly an aspect of the game that peaks my interrest.  While not a new concept, the way it's being implemented to match the goals and vision of the game is unique. I'm not one to get all excited and my hopes up about games, but articles like this keep me watching for updates and information.

I'm looking forward to finding out what else this game might offer. Keep the info coming!

Regards,
Gabriel

I am wondering if each Wyr is unique to a server - or will every player doing quest X get the same wyr as a reward?

Or do you have a wyr random name/stat/ description generation tool, so when a player gets wyr it randomly generates everything?

What I wouldnt want is every player being able to get the set of wyr that gives them heroic jump.

Yes, I have been a huge supporter of HJ since I heard of it.

I would hope that certain quests would be rare/unobtainable unless you were to gain some amazing factions, or maybe completed some very rare and hard to complete tasks (say some tasks are only obtainable at certain times because of rotating NPCs and such, maybe because of seasons, who knows) or maybe some quests will take months to complete because of season changes where an NPC only comes out at say winter, but needs something that you can only get in spring, but he only comes back out at winter, etc.

I just simply hope that mechanics will be in place to try and balance the number of unique items available. Again, everyone being able to readily achieve every special item just by knowing where it is or how to get it shouldn't be enough. Think of how hard it was to get Jedi status in old SWG. Something along those lines should be how hard it should be to get special Wyr sets.

Also, as far as spending hero points on extra slots... I think it wouldn't be that hard to balance. Sure, that helm gives you more slots than your ninja armor, but your ninja armor might give you some advantage over that helm. Therefore, if you have the ninja armor you might have to buy slots, but with that helm you might have to buy more stealth or the like. Just random thoughts though.

Can't wait, as always

Quote:
Also, as far as spending hero points on extra slots... I think it wouldn't be that hard to balance. Sure, that helm gives you more slots than your ninja armor, but your ninja armor might give you some advantage over that helm. Therefore, if you have the ninja armor you might have to buy slots, but with that helm you might have to buy more stealth or the like. Just random thoughts though.

The main problem I see with spending Hero Points on equipment slots is that those points might be better spent in other areas.  A couple of questions surround this:

1. If Hero Points are spent on equipment slots, what happens if you get rid of that piece of equipment?
2. What else can Hero Points be spent on?  Will people think that spending points on equipment is a non-effecient way to maximize the effeciency of their characters?

It may balance itself out, but there's really not enough information available to determine this. Simutronics may not care too much if it doesn't balance itself out as they would see it as offering alternatives to help those that want to role-play.  As long as they are providing alternatives, they may not care what the players are choosing to give up.

There have been plenty of games where choices like this were added where the developers weren't too concerned about balance. Their goal was to provide alternatives for those that wanted to role-play and if the cost to the role-players was the inability to get XYZ, then so be it. It's the player's choice afterall.

Regards,
Gabriel

I agree - as its a PvE game it doesnt matter if particular choices are a bit unbalanced. So you could choose to have armour with less slots becuase you like the look without it handicapping you too much.

But if I want to play a monk running around in a loin cloth and sandals can I use Hero Points to add slots to my body? Kind of like - tattoos?

From my understanding the points can be spent on anything that has sockets. That way you can provide more boosts to your abilities and stats. Also the sockets added to items are permenent. So you could in theory sell an item you added a bunch of sockets to.

One thing that wasn't touched upon in the article but we discussed at E3 was that Wyr have point values based off their commonality. In reality when you add sockets or have an item with X sockets. It's not really a bunch of empty slots. It's a point value. So if you had a 5 Socket item. You could place 5 common (1pt) Wyr in it,  one Rare (5pt) socket, or any combination up to 5 pts. (Points values are just off the top of my head, and shouldn't be thought of as real.)

When you get an item, ability, or look at your stats. You'll see no sockets on them at first, but you will see a small solid circle. You click on the circle and then select the point value of the socket you want it to be. If any points are leftover a new circle will appear below the socket and you can then select it and add another socket. If you wanted to change a sockets value you could click on it when empty and change it's value or even remove it to free up points for another socket.

Also there will be rare and unique Wyr. How rare and unique will they be? I don't know since it's not my area of development. I'm pretty sure there will be some awarded as prizes at special events.

On the topic of rares. It was also mentioned at E3 that some of the rare and powerful Wyr will not be removeable without destroying them. I can't go into much detail on this, because again it's not my area of development.

Shadowmage. I'll see if I can find out how we're handling empty item slots for those who want to go without some clothing. How you choose to look isn't supposed to hinder how powerful you are. So I don't see them making it so the naked ones have less socketing options.

GM Illuminatis
World Builder
Hero's Journey

I think something not as well understood is that there is not a limited amount of hero points you can gain.

Therefore there isn't really any need to save them for something special, if they are used for anything else besides Wyr. (I don't know too much about them so I can't say..)

Quote:
I think something not as well understood is that there is not a limited amount of hero points you can gain.
Therefore there isn't really any need to save them for something special, if they are used for anything else besides Wyr. (I don't know too much about them so I can't say..)

I would love to see an article on Hero Points now. 

Something else that bugs me that I haven't addressed yet:

I played DragonRealms from Simutronics for over 6 years, starting from the end of it's beta. I saw a lot of changes in the game, was one of the players who was well known and seen as a leader. I tried to change the game from a player's standpoint, starting when AOL went to their flat rate plan which saw the game flooded with players. For a game that never expected players to get past level 20, there were a lot of things that happened.

I did what I could, and the game changed it's vision to something that I found difficult to change in myself. I eventually left the game as it's vision was too different from what I was led to expect and I couldn't succesfully change myself to match it. Nothing like condioning offline-scripting, even for a short period of time.

What I fear with Hero's Journey is that the elitism that exists in other Simutronics games (which I took part in), the favoritism (which I was a participant in), and the dynamics of having hundreds of GMs who are all shaping the game will create a game that doesn't have a cohesive vision that will stand through time. 

I have no doubt that this is a concern of the head GMs and executivies, but I do not know what they are doing to address these issues.  For some, they see it as a good thing.  It's easy to see it as a good thing when you're on top.  It's different to see it as a good thing as a peon in a dynamic environment such as these virtual worlds.

I do not know, as an ex-Simutronics fan, if I want to even dedicate a small percentage of my time to Hero's Journey.

I'll end this post with a wish to see 2 new articles:

1. Hero Points - explaination, what they can be used for, etc
2. How Hero's Journey will address elitism, favoritism, etc in a massive online game where the player base is thousands (hopefully hundres of thousands) more than they are used to dealing with while still maintaining an army of volunteer GMs

Regards,
Gabriel

A GM said this, when talking about other games:

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Originally posted by HJ-DEZORIN

Hmm, sounds like World of Warcraft to me... I believe that's called a "forced item upgrade" system, where your skill will take you from point A to point C, but your items will take you from point C to point Z.  Or something like that.  Very item dependent, and the only thing that keeps you playing is the hope you'll get the sword that drops off a weekly boss 0.2% of the time.

[...]

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Originally posted by Dyng-Johan

A GM said this, when talking about other games:

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Originally posted by HJ-DEZORIN

Hmm, sounds like World of Warcraft to me... I believe that's called a "forced item upgrade" system, where your skill will take you from point A to point C, but your items will take you from point C to point Z.  Or something like that.  Very item dependent, and the only thing that keeps you playing is the hope you'll get the sword that drops off a weekly boss 0.2% of the time.

[...]

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Nothing in this Developer Journal tells me it WONT become a "Forced Wyr Upgrade"-system in HJ.
..and if thats the case, isnt it just the same old, but in different colour?

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I dunno.  As a player, I don't mind forced upgrades.  Forced generalities make me nuts.  I don't mind that my level 20 sword will need to be replaced by a level 30 sword, but I do mind that my sword's design rests with a weaponsmith GM's template rather than with me.  I would welcome the chance to determine my weapon's (or anything else's) stats and looks so that it can do any variety of things to compensate for my character flaws!

And yes, Jim is wild, isn't he?  I loved reading that article, it was like a roller coaster ride

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Originally posted by hj-sylveria

I dunno.  As a player, I don't mind forced upgrades.  Forced generalities make me nuts.  I don't mind that my level 20 sword will need to be replaced by a level 30 sword, but I do mind that my sword's design rests with a weaponsmith GM's template rather than with me.  I would welcome the chance to determine my weapon's (or anything else's) stats and looks so that it can do any variety of things to compensate for my character flaws!

And yes, Jim is wild, isn't he?  I loved reading that article, it was like a roller coaster ride

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Every game has this dilemma.  This happens because content, however dynamic, is finite; it has to be finished at some point so it can be published.  If you reach the end of the game quickly, you'll find yourself twiddling your thumbs until the expansion arrives.  Since the expansion usually includes additional material for the highest-level users as part of its offer, the game doesn't really end at the original top levels, but players still consider the original end to be the "end game."

And I agree with you, there's nothing worse than getting to level "whatever" only to find that the thing you've been reaching for is a raid.  I want responsibility and influence!  I want to be able to affect the physical, political, and social landscapes!  I want to dooooo stuff, not sit in my house spamming the LFG channel out of boredom!

But this topic is about wyr, so I'm gonna stay there