I want to be a man who uses unarmed combat, a combination of healing/buffing and damage magic, and who can jump and run and move quickly.  Any idea on what to call such a man?

Yes, but us rocket-asses (i.e. fast people) would like to download the whole shebang.  Make it an option.

Originally posted by Vengeance
As far as unsolved puzzles go, I am under no illusion that any puzzle in the game will remain a secret for long, unfortunately.

- Venge

Yeah, that\'s a shame really.  But, it would still be fun to solve a puzzle, even if it\'s already known how to solve it.


As for \"the answer\" I completely understand.  I\'ve never seen this \"dungeon instancing\" idea in action, but it could be good or bad.  You have to find a way to make the dungeons special that won\'t interfere with the overall game.  Besides not being able to share the dungeon with other people/groups, what about dungeon instancing do you not like?

Yeah, no point in putting monsters in the game.  Because if there\'s no levels, there\'s no progression.  Right?  Wrong.  Fighting enemies will still give you experience.  It\'s just that instead of lumping all your experience together and giving you a massive boost once it reaches a certain amount, it gives you experience in certain skills based on what you do.  It\'s the difference between a level-based system, and a skill-based system.  PS is skill-based.  I don\'t see why that wouldn\'t appeal to anyone at least the same as levels, but to each his own I guess.  Personally, I think without levels, you don\'t have levelling (like you said) and that\'s a good thing in my book because it means more actually PLAYING instead of mindlessly pulling ad nauseum.

The FAQ states that \"at char creation you can define basic stats (strength, agility, will, etc...), skills, advantages, jobs.
Later on you will be able to define also the look of your char (Hair style, hair color, skin color, Body type (thin, built, heavy))\".  So, in the future we may see customization on the level you\'re talking about.  Maybe on an even higher level.

Originally posted by no_dammagE
The easiest way would be to show the character\'s age (in the game). I mean, to show the netto time the Char was playing. This way you can determine how strong or weak the char is.

Just show such a line:
An adventurer since: 3 days (baby char)
And here I mean 3 game days and not 3 calendar days

What if they don\'t spend a lot of time improving their skills in game?  That could be very misleading.  But, it\'s a good start.  Maybe it could keep track of how much time they had actually spent upping their skills, eh?  That would work.

But I really don\'t see what\'s wrong with right clicking and getting stats like Captain said.  What would be \"crazy\" about it?  Would an anonymity setting fix the craziness?

Originally posted by zaphar
the problem with having instanced dungeons in a game like this is: \"where does the dungeon begin and the rest of the game end?\"

Monsters may be found almost anywhere in the game with the exception of the cities. Are you going to make everything but the cities instanced? That would destroy the community of the game. If not then how do you decide what areas are dungeons and what areas are not. What if an area that would fit the description of dungeon for \"Good\" aligned players actually fits the description of home sweet home for \"evil\" aligned players?

No I tend to think for a game like this one dungeons should be kept in the community.  If overcrowding is a worry then you can always set maximum occupancy but instancing I think would begin to turn the game into more of an FPS or Diablo type of idea. You log on find a group and then go off and play by yourselves. Doesn\'t really appeal to me sorry.

URGH!!  The idea seemed like aces to me the way I thought of it, and the way I thought of it you missed the point entirely!

Outdoor areas and dungeons are very different. In an outdoor area (where there are monsters but they\'re spread about and instancing is not necessary at all), let\'s say you form the party. Then you go to the dungeon (thickly populated by monsters, where instancing is not necessary, but in this case is implemented). Your party is on their own. This would work if the rest of the game helped it work that way. For example, if you die in the dungeon and don\'t have a rezzer, maybe you get shot out of the dungeon and have to find your party again, but at no other penalty? The way I see it, if the dungeon is an instance for individuals and individual parties, that just opens up more possibilities for the dungeon\'s design.

When is a dungeon a community? When is a dungeon even a part of a community? When you\'re already in a party, you\'re enjoying the community of it. When you\'re soloing, and see another party, it only adds a community aspect if you want to join them. What are you doing soloing in a dungeon? You\'re either looking for a group there, or you want to fight alone with no one bothering you. The dungeon is instanced; here are YOUR monsters. Enjoy fighting them. Having the dungeon as your own or your party\'s own does not destroy the game\'s community aspect. It might limit it a little bit, but quite frankly I think MMORPGs nowadays sacrifice gameplay to focus too much on community. Besides, that \"destroying the community\" that you mention could be helped by adding good \"looking for group\" systems that cater toward dungeon exploring parties.

\"Good\" alligned players and \"Evil\" alligned players both deserve good gameplay. Plenty of world areas would be nice \"hang out spots\" for both of these people. When they get together, they might eventually decide they want to go to a dungeon. This is where it would get good if such an idea is implemented.

Implemented properly, this could prove to be a good idea.  A BAD idea, however, is a maximum occupancy. Is there ever a maximum occupancy for dungeons in these types of games? This would make groups very disappointed when they get to a dungeon and can\'t even go into it. Think of the possibilities of an idea before you shoot it down, please.

What about showing their names with different colors to depict their skill level vs. yours?  Red or purple could mean that they\'re too powerful to duel.  Yellow or white could mean that they\'re about the same.  Green could mean they\'re too weak.  It could accompany this with a little phrase in the buffer like \"This character would have an advantage in a duel\" or \"This character is too strong for you!\"  This would also be helpful in forming groups.