Everything is changing (except for war – war never changes), and the world of Gloria Victis is evolving as well, filling up with breathtaking locations, more credible reactions of its inhabitants to the actions performed by the players, and new ways of building up the immersion.
Two new events have been implemented over the past month – Valley of Death and The Forsaken Path. Each of them offers numerous new possibilities of creating a credible and living medieval open world.
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Valley of Death is a cyclic PVP tournament held twice a day on each server, encouraging players from both nations – honorable Midlanders in their splendid coats of plates and proud Ismirs, driven by their lust for blood – to fight for control over the valley to earn precious rewards, including helpful buffs for the entire nation. It is not only a good introduction for the newcomers to the Gloria Victis’ gruesome PVP battles but also a great tool allowing us to properly test recent changes in combat mechanics and territory control system, and to adjust them on the run.
The Forsaken Path is the very first PVE event implemented in Gloria Victis. Players from the entire nation have to stop the cultists who have sailed from their unwelcoming island to the shores of Stoneholm in order to bring pain and suffering to the children of the Forefather. The cultists believe that the Forefather is not the original creator of the world but just a usurper who tricked their god, Chort, the only true creator. Now, as they have settled themselves at the Forsaken Path – an ancient underground complex of halls and corridors – they are preparing to start summoning creatures not belonging to the sublunary world. The players’ objective is to interrupt the rite.
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The next step, which is going to be realized in January, is the implementation of dynamic events. For instance, when reaching a farm which has been pillaged and burnt by players from the enemy nation, players might be asked to put out the fire in a burning house. When it’s done, the next objective would be to help rebuild the house and to farm cereals in the nearby fields, and ? eventually ? to harvest them. This way the world is going to react more and more to the actions performed by the players, becoming even more alive. Beggars fighting each other for a piece of bread, poachers hunting wild animals, bandits attacking travelers on the road – all of these are to be expected in the world of Gloria Victis. Therefore, dynamic events will not only bring much more life to the world but they will greatly increase immersion as well.
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Dynamic events will also be used to keep both nations aware all the time ? in the case of a clear hegemony in the territorial war, towns, castles and outposts controlled by the dominating nation will be attacked by NPC raiders. Moreover, gone are the times of inexhaustible resource nodes – with the upcoming update, players will be able to deplete them and they will be replaced with other resources, so the gatherers will have to continuously seek the best spots.
The world will be changing dynamically according to the decisions of the players, which will greatly increase immersion and the feel of a credible medieval world. It is a world where NPCs are not just the background, where players have impact on the surrounding reality, where their actions have a true meaning – as it should be in a sandbox MMORPG.
