When we think about the Middle Ages, we usually recall the heroic knights in full-plate armour and epic tournaments, majestic castles and frightening mountain fortresses, gruesome battles and dividing the spoils of war. However, we should also be reminded of the less glorious aspects of such an era: plagues, humans struggling against nature, witchcraft and the birth of alchemy. As creating the immersive, credible world is one of the key goals of Gloria Victis’ development, the ways the world affects the player’s character becomes a crucial factor as well.
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As the massive overhaul of the highest priority systems – inventory and guilds – came to an end with only the last fixed to be made before releasing an update to the players, a rework of another important feature of Gloria Victis’ core mechanics has just been started: the buffs and debuffs system. First of all, impact from the weather system on the players’ characters is finally going to be implemented, greatly improving the immersion experienced in the world of Gloria Victis.
As in the Middle Ages, rain will both highly increase the wear of bows and lower their accuracy, as the bow and bowstring lose their elasticity when wet. But rain also increases the air humidity, making it harder to breath, run or fight – and this factor will be reflected as well, effecting in the higher drain of character’s stamina. Speaking of precipitation, let’s mention the snowy aura as well – besides frostbites, when one leaves home without furs in winter, players will need to be aware of slower stamina restoring and wounds healing. Not to mention going to the desert wearing a full-plate armor or brigandine – they offer great protection, but in the end you may experience overheating.
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This leads us to another important factor – surviving in an unpleasant world. Although we consider medieval Europe to be romantic, in fact, hunger was a real plague in those times and unbelievable amounts of people were dying every single day from crops going bad. Gloria Victis will offer a hunger and thirst system, requiring the players to take care of their characters. Thus there is a place for crafters who will cook and brew, earning fair pays for their continuous help given to the countrymen.
Speaking of crafting, let’s mention the herbalism and alchemy as well, which were important disciplines of medieval science and everyday life, although not healthy at all. Players will be able to prepare numerous – either helpful or dangerous – decoctions, ointments or infusions. They will also receive a possibility to prepare various poisons for the cutlers or archers, as well as fuel used by the latter for fire arrows, causing heavy burns to the enemies. However, using the alchemic or herbal remedies will be risky, as they can be very toxic for the organism and cause various unexpected side-effects.
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There also is one factor that was incredibly important in the life of medieval people – spirit. Only the bravest of men could survive in a world tolled by countless battles, where their friends were dying of heavy wounds made with swords, axes, flanged maces or arrows; in times when the medicine was but helpless against intensive bleeding, which would be expected to happen at any moment. But there the heroes were born, inspiring their brothers in arms by achieving the impossible, while standing knee-deep in their own blood and corpses of their friends.
In Gloria Victis you will be able to become a hero of your nation as well, standing against the enemies despite being outnumbered or conquering the lands for the glory of your motherland and, in effect, fill the hearts of your countrymen with a true warrior spirit and an unseen courage, leading them to battle as their general. However, though the ones who slay the enemies and conquer their lands will be rewarded personally, the entire nation will receive various benefits of controlling the territories, making the lives of players easier in one way or another - whether it will be increased chance to gather high quality resources or slight experience boost, it is always beneficial for the players to build up their nation's power. This way, while PVP remains vastly open as in the classic PVP-oriented MMORPGs, players will be additionally rewarded for team play and loyalty.
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As soon as the buffs system rework is done, which will happen within the next few weeks, implementation of the alchemy, survival and heroes systems will start. Thanks to this, players will experience an even more intensive feeling of living in the unpleasant medieval world, which actually affects the gameplay and forces them to take care of their characters. They will be able to get much more interaction with the world itself and experience even more immersion.
