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Roleplaying (Communitive Storywriting) / Re: Chain of Souls: Soul's Mirror... the story goes on.
« on: July 10, 2009, 02:36:40 am »
I read the story again. Still hoping on a continuation.
Best of luck
Best of luck
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Wish list / Re: Renaming Atheism to Misotheism
« on: June 25, 2009, 11:43:45 pm »
Whether or not players actually know the word should not be too relevant. I find that playing RPG's extended my vocabulary. A lot of the words used aren't thought in English class so I had to look up a lot of them and I still have to from time to time. Personally I think this is what gives fantasy RPG's its mystical atmosphere. Thus I'd simply say pick the one that fits best and don't worry about whether people know the word. They can always look it up or you can place a short description next to it.
I second Hydrolyzer and think agnostic is a good alternative. It can go either way: theism or atheism.
I second Hydrolyzer and think agnostic is a good alternative. It can go either way: theism or atheism.
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Complaint Department / Game Balance
« on: November 13, 2007, 08:03:24 am »
PlaneShift has had balancing problems for as long as I have known it. I have noticed the developers are trying to solve these but each time they try to do so, things don't seem improved.
Let me write down some observations I have had. I have noticed that when you start with a fresh character things don't seem that bad. You can easily gain Tria at least enough for your progression upkeep. But when you have progressed to around level 10-20 in a certain skill, there is a turning point. The upkeep of your progression will then rapidly become higher then the amount of Tria you can make. The impact of this is that progressing becomes harder and harder. If I player sticks with it though there is a second turning point at the higher levels where a player can make more Tria again then is required for his/her progression upkeep. Lately though this has become worse and I am worried PlaneShift will start to loose players at the intermediate levels. Simply because it takes to long to progress. Now I know I haven't mentioned the role-playing element of the game even though this is an essential part, but I simply don't have complains about that.
I think that the core of the problem can be found in the fact that the different walks of live within PlaneShift aren't self-sustaining. That is, if you choose to become a mage. You can't sustain your progression upkeep by just applying magic. Off course you can kill NPC's for loot but compared to the combat skills. Magic is by far not as affective as a plain sword. If you choose to become a crafter especially at the lower levels there is no real way of making either Tria or XP which means that when you are ready to train for the next level. You have to get the XP and Tria with an alternative skill. I would therefore wish to ask the settings team to concentrate on making the different walks of live within PlaneShift self-sustaining. As this would go a long way in making the game balanced. If asked I have ideas about how to accomplish this but these would not fit in a complain thread.
Let me write down some observations I have had. I have noticed that when you start with a fresh character things don't seem that bad. You can easily gain Tria at least enough for your progression upkeep. But when you have progressed to around level 10-20 in a certain skill, there is a turning point. The upkeep of your progression will then rapidly become higher then the amount of Tria you can make. The impact of this is that progressing becomes harder and harder. If I player sticks with it though there is a second turning point at the higher levels where a player can make more Tria again then is required for his/her progression upkeep. Lately though this has become worse and I am worried PlaneShift will start to loose players at the intermediate levels. Simply because it takes to long to progress. Now I know I haven't mentioned the role-playing element of the game even though this is an essential part, but I simply don't have complains about that.
I think that the core of the problem can be found in the fact that the different walks of live within PlaneShift aren't self-sustaining. That is, if you choose to become a mage. You can't sustain your progression upkeep by just applying magic. Off course you can kill NPC's for loot but compared to the combat skills. Magic is by far not as affective as a plain sword. If you choose to become a crafter especially at the lower levels there is no real way of making either Tria or XP which means that when you are ready to train for the next level. You have to get the XP and Tria with an alternative skill. I would therefore wish to ask the settings team to concentrate on making the different walks of live within PlaneShift self-sustaining. As this would go a long way in making the game balanced. If asked I have ideas about how to accomplish this but these would not fit in a complain thread.
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Wish list / Re: Economics in PlaneShift
« on: September 14, 2007, 10:47:47 am »
I have been thinking on this subject a bit more and would like to make a few comments.
A barter system would properly violate the settings in PS. Since Yliakum is already pretty evolved socially, having a strong goverment and a lot of trading, not having currency would be illogical. As far as I know, though not being a historian, all societies at this stage of development had currency. It remains a nice idea but I don't really think it would fit in with the current settings. Ultimately this is off course up to the settings team.
A closed system: there is no need to have a closed system. In real economies, money flows in and out regularly through import/export. Also money is lost and new money is created. Someone not logging in for a while is pretty much the same as having a savings account. Though it is always better for an economy if everyone simply spent most of his/her money, this isn't necessary. An economy can deal with it. In the real world this contributes to inflation.
My only question is wether the development team wishes to have a self-regulating economy or rather work with fixed prices. If the lather is true all that needs to be done is balance the prices. Though this is a bit tricky. A self-regulating economy is more difficult to implement but has the benefit of regulating the prices. The only thing is that supply must be limited (like oil) or supply must spoil/wear out (like for most goods) or be consumed/converted (like the hours you work, or through by producing products) and there must be demand. But this has already been stated. Note that an economy is nothing more than an elaborate way to divide resources between the participants wether this is a barter economy or using reference resource (money).
I guess at this time it is pretty much a question of which way the development team wishes to go. Several practical suggestions have been made for a self-regulating economy. So I leave it at this for now.
A barter system would properly violate the settings in PS. Since Yliakum is already pretty evolved socially, having a strong goverment and a lot of trading, not having currency would be illogical. As far as I know, though not being a historian, all societies at this stage of development had currency. It remains a nice idea but I don't really think it would fit in with the current settings. Ultimately this is off course up to the settings team.
A closed system: there is no need to have a closed system. In real economies, money flows in and out regularly through import/export. Also money is lost and new money is created. Someone not logging in for a while is pretty much the same as having a savings account. Though it is always better for an economy if everyone simply spent most of his/her money, this isn't necessary. An economy can deal with it. In the real world this contributes to inflation.
My only question is wether the development team wishes to have a self-regulating economy or rather work with fixed prices. If the lather is true all that needs to be done is balance the prices. Though this is a bit tricky. A self-regulating economy is more difficult to implement but has the benefit of regulating the prices. The only thing is that supply must be limited (like oil) or supply must spoil/wear out (like for most goods) or be consumed/converted (like the hours you work, or through by producing products) and there must be demand. But this has already been stated. Note that an economy is nothing more than an elaborate way to divide resources between the participants wether this is a barter economy or using reference resource (money).
I guess at this time it is pretty much a question of which way the development team wishes to go. Several practical suggestions have been made for a self-regulating economy. So I leave it at this for now.
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PvP,PK and Thieving / A idea for thieving and pvp
« on: September 14, 2007, 08:49:14 am »
Hi Everyone,
I have been reading serveral threads here and a lot of them have good ideas. I would like to add one of my own. Now some of it comes from other threads so there is no need to say you already thought of it.
Personally I don't think having a PvP/PK/Thieving system without a players consent is a good idea. It will most likely allow for ways to be abused. Even if complex counter measures are put in place. Therefore I think players should have a choice in the matter. I would instead like to offer the following suggestion. Always allow PvP/PK/Thieving in guild wars, groups and between buddy's. If you don't want this you can leave a guild/group or dismiss a budy. Note that for the buddy system anyone you make a buddy is allowed to PvP/PK/Thieve you not the otherway around. For guilds I would suggest this can be either turned on or off. It might even be a nice feature if a picking order feature. When turned on any guild member who kills or wins a challange from higher guild member will gets his/her rank. The higher guild member would get demoted to a lower rank. If the guild member looses he has to pay a price which might be fixable in the guild settings window.
For other RP goals I would suggest to have like public groups (should have a better name). Anyone within a group is allowed to PvP/PK/Thieve eachother without consent. These groups would be persistent and anyone can join one or more of them without consent. An in-game window may list all available and mention the RP purpose of the these groups. Making use of character descriptions could aid in this form of RP-ing. Off course some players should be assigned master and be able to kick players out who are not keeping to the RP purpose. Players should be able to create these groups. The one to create it is master. Any master can make other players master. Masters can edit the RP goal of the group. If no player is left it is disbanded. Maybe these groups could be listed in the events window.
My thoughts on regions. Many threads suggest that certain regions should allow PvP/PK/Thieving. Personally I wouldn't vote for that. Since levels within PS differ a lot, one would never know how dangerous a region is. If a power leveler is lurking around he/she would be able to kill most. There wouldn't be much a player could do about that. However I can imagine that NPC's would make certain area's dangerous, like it is now. But instead of just killing you, they may also decide to steal from you. If you wish to get it back you have to loot the NPC. Also NPC would run away if they can't win the fight or call upon other NPC's to aid them. Another nice feature would be that charisma matters in these regions. Having a high charisma will make NPC's hestitate to attack you. I think this would allow for dangerous region's with a fixed danger level. Off course NPC must be aggresive in these area's. Also factions may come into play. If you have a high faction level with for instance trepors they don't attack you. Though I don't know how one may accomplish this.
Some thoughts on thieving.
I don't know if the developers have thought about how to implement this yet. However I would like to offer the following idea.
Currently we have everything in our inventory and the simplest way to implement thieving would be to allow a random loot at a lower level and a choice at a higher level. Another way that might be interesting is to replace the inventory with sacks. A player could then have a belt which can hold a number of sacks. There could be different kind of sacks. For instance a money sack, a weapons sack, glyph sack we have already, one for general items, one for books, ... . A player could have any amount and any combinations of these sacks limited to how many fit on a belt. A player with the pick pocket skill would only be able to steal a sack without knowing what is in it. At a lower skill level the player steals a random sack, at a higher skill level a player can choose between sacks, at even a higher level he/she may be able to identify the type of sack. Now there may be different belts, one may be able to hold more sacks than others. Also a belt may be able to contain a few items (glyphs) of it's own which can't be stolen. Also a belt may be warded by magic. Requiring a thieve to have a certain level of anti-magic to be able to steal or suffer the consequences. Also other types of clothing may be able to hold some items that can't be stolen, like for instance bracers. This would allow for a rich way to store your items and would make thieving a bit more difficult. Also this would allow certain special items to not get stolen. Glyphs for instance are very important to a mage. The small inventory window could still show everything you have to make trading and such easier.
Now these are just some thoughts you may disagree, but please mention reasons.
I have been reading serveral threads here and a lot of them have good ideas. I would like to add one of my own. Now some of it comes from other threads so there is no need to say you already thought of it.
Personally I don't think having a PvP/PK/Thieving system without a players consent is a good idea. It will most likely allow for ways to be abused. Even if complex counter measures are put in place. Therefore I think players should have a choice in the matter. I would instead like to offer the following suggestion. Always allow PvP/PK/Thieving in guild wars, groups and between buddy's. If you don't want this you can leave a guild/group or dismiss a budy. Note that for the buddy system anyone you make a buddy is allowed to PvP/PK/Thieve you not the otherway around. For guilds I would suggest this can be either turned on or off. It might even be a nice feature if a picking order feature. When turned on any guild member who kills or wins a challange from higher guild member will gets his/her rank. The higher guild member would get demoted to a lower rank. If the guild member looses he has to pay a price which might be fixable in the guild settings window.
For other RP goals I would suggest to have like public groups (should have a better name). Anyone within a group is allowed to PvP/PK/Thieve eachother without consent. These groups would be persistent and anyone can join one or more of them without consent. An in-game window may list all available and mention the RP purpose of the these groups. Making use of character descriptions could aid in this form of RP-ing. Off course some players should be assigned master and be able to kick players out who are not keeping to the RP purpose. Players should be able to create these groups. The one to create it is master. Any master can make other players master. Masters can edit the RP goal of the group. If no player is left it is disbanded. Maybe these groups could be listed in the events window.
My thoughts on regions. Many threads suggest that certain regions should allow PvP/PK/Thieving. Personally I wouldn't vote for that. Since levels within PS differ a lot, one would never know how dangerous a region is. If a power leveler is lurking around he/she would be able to kill most. There wouldn't be much a player could do about that. However I can imagine that NPC's would make certain area's dangerous, like it is now. But instead of just killing you, they may also decide to steal from you. If you wish to get it back you have to loot the NPC. Also NPC would run away if they can't win the fight or call upon other NPC's to aid them. Another nice feature would be that charisma matters in these regions. Having a high charisma will make NPC's hestitate to attack you. I think this would allow for dangerous region's with a fixed danger level. Off course NPC must be aggresive in these area's. Also factions may come into play. If you have a high faction level with for instance trepors they don't attack you. Though I don't know how one may accomplish this.
Some thoughts on thieving.
I don't know if the developers have thought about how to implement this yet. However I would like to offer the following idea.
Currently we have everything in our inventory and the simplest way to implement thieving would be to allow a random loot at a lower level and a choice at a higher level. Another way that might be interesting is to replace the inventory with sacks. A player could then have a belt which can hold a number of sacks. There could be different kind of sacks. For instance a money sack, a weapons sack, glyph sack we have already, one for general items, one for books, ... . A player could have any amount and any combinations of these sacks limited to how many fit on a belt. A player with the pick pocket skill would only be able to steal a sack without knowing what is in it. At a lower skill level the player steals a random sack, at a higher skill level a player can choose between sacks, at even a higher level he/she may be able to identify the type of sack. Now there may be different belts, one may be able to hold more sacks than others. Also a belt may be able to contain a few items (glyphs) of it's own which can't be stolen. Also a belt may be warded by magic. Requiring a thieve to have a certain level of anti-magic to be able to steal or suffer the consequences. Also other types of clothing may be able to hold some items that can't be stolen, like for instance bracers. This would allow for a rich way to store your items and would make thieving a bit more difficult. Also this would allow certain special items to not get stolen. Glyphs for instance are very important to a mage. The small inventory window could still show everything you have to make trading and such easier.
Now these are just some thoughts you may disagree, but please mention reasons.
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Roleplaying (Communitive Storywriting) / Re: Chain of Souls: Soul's Mirror... the story goes on.
« on: September 13, 2007, 10:38:43 am »
Are you still at it? This story demands to be finished.
Good work by the way.
Good work by the way.
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Wish list / Re: Economics in PlaneShift
« on: September 03, 2007, 10:13:09 am »
Though all if this is true, i really think an ecomony should be introduced gracefully. Right now we dont really have an economy based on true supply and demand. But since this is rather hard to get right it is best to first gain experience using something that doesnt effect game play in a too big a way. If monster drops or mining where to be altered to would have a huge impact. That is why I suggest the devs start with something not really relevant to game play. The food suggestion is this one way. I thought it would fit in nicely with what we have.
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Wish list / Re: Economics in PlaneShift
« on: August 30, 2007, 11:27:48 am »
I am afraid one thing is being overlooked. An economy is basically driven by supply and demand as we all know. However most players simply sell stuff to NPC's. I, for instance, almost never buy anything from NPC's as most I need I either already have or loot from monsters. If this is true for most players than the proposed economy would collapse rather quickly having a lot of supply but very little demand. If an economy were to be introduced. A demand must be created. I suggest the devs start out be experimenting with food to get an economy going. All players could easily be required to eat food to sustain them self. For instance to regenerate there physical stamina which can be made to not regenerate without food or only regenerated partially and requiring food to regenerate fully. In this way there will always be a demand. Taverns can then be made to sell prepared food and players could sell basic ingredients to taverns. Though to make things not too complicated we could start out with just meat in the economy. Other kinds of food like apples and bread would simply be left untouched and would have litte effect on regenerating your physical stamina.
Off course a few more things must be thought out before this could work. The danger and having any economy in a game is oversupplying by players. Therefore supply must be limited somehow. Otherwise goods would loose there value and NPC's would be forced to sell goods at a loss and go bankrupted, so to speak. In the real world food is naturally limited simply because if to much livestock is killed there wouldn't be anything left. This concept could be introduced in Planeshift as well. By allowing only certain creatures to have raw meat to loot and to not have them respawn after they are killed, oversupplying the economy wouldn't be possible. Off course these creatures would have to be able to propagate. Also there should be some protecting against overhunting these creatures. Otherwise we will have no livestock and all get stuck. The best way to do this is to create safe heavens where these creatures can propagate and if to many are there to migrate to not so safe places for as to hunt. In this way there will always be creatures to hunt but if to many are killed the price for meat drops and afterwards increases because of little supply.
Safe heavens for these creatures could at first be virtual places. At a later stage these might be very difficult to access terrains with lots of rivers and mountains requiring players to have special skills to cross these and maybe very strong and powerfull monsters that are swift to kill anything in their domain. This would only allow skilled and strong players to hunt these players. The difficulty of entering the terrain could also be made to rise as you go further into it, to get some more realism.
Off course a few more things must be thought out before this could work. The danger and having any economy in a game is oversupplying by players. Therefore supply must be limited somehow. Otherwise goods would loose there value and NPC's would be forced to sell goods at a loss and go bankrupted, so to speak. In the real world food is naturally limited simply because if to much livestock is killed there wouldn't be anything left. This concept could be introduced in Planeshift as well. By allowing only certain creatures to have raw meat to loot and to not have them respawn after they are killed, oversupplying the economy wouldn't be possible. Off course these creatures would have to be able to propagate. Also there should be some protecting against overhunting these creatures. Otherwise we will have no livestock and all get stuck. The best way to do this is to create safe heavens where these creatures can propagate and if to many are there to migrate to not so safe places for as to hunt. In this way there will always be creatures to hunt but if to many are killed the price for meat drops and afterwards increases because of little supply.
Safe heavens for these creatures could at first be virtual places. At a later stage these might be very difficult to access terrains with lots of rivers and mountains requiring players to have special skills to cross these and maybe very strong and powerfull monsters that are swift to kill anything in their domain. This would only allow skilled and strong players to hunt these players. The difficulty of entering the terrain could also be made to rise as you go further into it, to get some more realism.
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Technical Help: IN GAME bugs (after loading world) / Re: crashes while in bd area
« on: January 13, 2007, 06:09:24 am »
I am having this same problem. This a sulotion yet available?
EDIT: never mind found the answer.
EDIT: never mind found the answer.
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General Discussion / Re: Kran armor (split from clothing thread)
« on: October 23, 2006, 10:36:43 am »
Thank you so much for answering my question. I got but one more question. When I equip leathor armor it increases my defensive value eg. when I take a defensive stand against four or so clackers then with leather armor equiped I get no damage but without I get marginal damage. Is this intended since Kran should not wear leather armor?
EDIT: This seems to be no longer true, tested it again today. Or maybe my level is to high now to make a difference.
EDIT: This seems to be no longer true, tested it again today. Or maybe my level is to high now to make a difference.
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General Discussion / Re: Kran armor (split from clothing thread)
« on: October 22, 2006, 08:20:28 am »
I just read this thread. Before I was under the assumption that leather armor had to be equiped to protect yourself as a Kran. But now I know this is not the case. But now I wonder wether Kran armor is the same as light armor and can therefore be trained with the light armor skill? Can someone confirm this?
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