Profile: Greymain
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• • What input does MMO magic want to see?

  • I like to have Alts, I find I learn how to play the game with my first character then experiment with my second  alt. My third Alt is most likely to become my Main character. If slots allow another Alt becomes my banker. depending on grouping rules the might be a low level Alt to play with new members. If I end up as Guild Master then that would most likely require another Alt that lives in the guild house.

    Alts and their misuse lead onto another Hot subject that of character naming. It seems to me tha C0S is a bit more RPG than a lot of recent games and so perhaps needs a strong naming policy.

    I would like 4 names for a character  Title,  Player forename, Player Clan name and guild  Name

    The title would have to be earned

    The two Player name combination should be unique to extend the options to use popular names like Hawk or Strongbow

    Guild name would not have to be the full Guild title a guild could agree on a guild name ie "The Grand Order of the wild Rose" could adopt "wildrose" as the guild suffix to members names.

    I always spend time naming my characters and It can be frustrating for those joining an established game as it seems all the preferred names are taken. Many game companies retain names for the life of the game even those of players who have quit. They are kept in hopes that they can persuade them to rejoin. I think they should be made available 12 months after a player has quit.

    There are a number of Name generators on the internet. Such a program could be used to help those with little time and limited imagination to produce an acceptable name.

  • Posted: 5/13/08 4:29 AM
    Citadel of Sorcery
• • What input does MMO magic want to see?

  •  

    you want thoughts on abilities

    What is an ability? It means something you can do if you want to. normally you cannot gain an ability. a deaf person has not the ability to hear and no amount of training will restore that ability. you have the ability to swim or ride a horse but must learn the skill. Not all swimmers can swim the same distance or speed since the level of their ability to swim varies. abilities are set at birth (character generation) and they cannot change. At least I have never thought of a game character becoming deaf or losing limbs permanently. So players could allocate a weighting to a range of abilities during character generation although this would be limited to prevent creation of useless templates. This will prevent "god like" characters since they would limited in skill level they have the ability to reach.

    The thing players increase is skills.  Skill levels are limited by abilities for example a good sense of smell and keen eyesight is essential for becoming a master hunter or scout.  some stats can be increased by training such as strength, dexterity, stamina etc.

    Skills should increase by using them and be boosted by training but are limited by ability, for example the ability to concentrate would limit magic users eventual limit or the power of the spells you could learn, but not stop a player learning spells,

    I must admit that sorting out what is an ability a stat and a skill could be fun.

    see, smell, hear, determination, courage, concentration, stubboness, intelligence, commonsense would be abilities

    you could have weakness's fear of hights, enclosed places, water, darkness, light

    stats which can change strength, dexterity, stamina

    skills such as swimming, rideing, weapons, spells etc

    Also not sure where character levels fit in since this usually boosts stats in a totally artificial way

  • Posted: 5/10/08 8:00 AM
    Citadel of Sorcery
• • What input does MMO magic want to see?

  • The debate about selling Guilds does raise a question. Many guilds seem to have a lifespan. Start small grow quite quickly stabilize for a month or 3 then slowly decline as some members get attracted to a new game or the most active players leave the rest behind and look for high level guilds doing end game stuff.

    What is needed is a way for small declining guild which still has a core of dedicated members to merge with another guild smoothly and with dignity. Perhaps officers retain status in merge, the leadership issue is addressed. possibly it could be possible to change the guild name and select which guild house the newly formed guild will use.

     

  • Posted: 5/09/08 3:49 AM
    Citadel of Sorcery
• • What input does MMO magic want to see?

  • My Guild was created in 1999 and has survived moving from game to game until today. 

    It should not be difficult or expensive to create a guild the challenge should be in building up the guilds status.

    I want a guilds to be able to make themselves unique. a tribe, clan, unit, gang, society. This means they have an Identity and ethos. The rules should allow a wide range of guild formats. From a loose group of  friends all of equal status to a highly regimented military style unit.  This requires flexibility, for instance you should be able to name the members functions within the guild ie Officer, Veteran, Quarter master, Boss, Chief, Enforcer and so on. As to what information should be available to members the answer is as much as possible but provide the Guild Master with the means to pick and choose what information will be available at what level in hierarchy. It could be that a guild wants to play at being a secrete society of assassins where information about other guild members is very restricted. Other formats may be encourage competition between members and more details are needed.

    Information could include

    Listing names, Date Joined, Rank, Class, Nickname, Online/offline, Guild awards, location, last on, Main or Alt, Notes

    Guilds should be restricted to 100 main characters plus that 100 main characters Alts. Very large guilds become impersonal and difficult to manage. However formal alliances of 2 or more guilds should be possible allowing the to share access to guild houses

    All in favour of guild coat of arms for use on standards shields etc. Not difficult to program if using a wide range of defined symbols. A nice touch would be to have buffs attached to Guild symbols earned  through Guild actions.

    A guild house should start out out as a small hut which can be enlarged and enhanced through guild members efforts and activities.

    Activities possible in Guild house could include crafting, Training, Sparing, eating and drinking although the Guild house would have to enlarged to permit such activities.

    Trophies are good perhaps it may be possible to capture enemy Standards as well.

    I assume guild houses would be instanced so be a bit generous with the plot of land

    Within a guild house you could have your own private instanced room with storage. 

    Instant free access from any portal  to Guild house and return to location.  

    NPC's that appear when the facilities are provided such as a guild banker, Traders, Trainers and guards

     

     

  • Posted: 4/24/08 4:58 AM
    Citadel of Sorcery
• • What input does MMO magic want to see?

  • In many games Death penaltes seem to be a punishment for playing solo. Groups usually have a class to can ressurrect dead players and offset health penalties. Death is a normal result of players pushing themselves and they should be encouraged.

    I suggest death is a matter for Divine intervention. Either you build up favour with your god in which case you could ask it to ressurect you. If you can not call due to lack of favour or to limit cost,  be portted to the nearest shrine and a small loss of favour is removed. If you are out of favour with your  God then a penalty in terms of ability and or health is incurred until you are back in favour. Allowing favour to be "bought" by contributing or sacrificing money or items at altars would prevent penalties  getting too harsh. you could still have class/characters who could use their favour to get you resurrected.

    I dont like corpse runs they tend to be time wasters and disincentives. they punish solo players again. no problem getting corpse run group after a group wipe.  harder to find help when there is nothing in it for the helper.

  • Posted: 4/08/08 9:53 AM
    Citadel of Sorcery