After two years of playing this game, here are a few suggestions.

[Janner]

1. Arena should be run by an arena master, who has ? trainers under him, 2 per room in arena. you go to arena master and ask if a trainer is free in, melee,  magic, ranged or defence. then pay the trainer (tria and pp automatically deducted at this point) who points out a NPC / target, for you to train on, you do not kill the NPC but you do fight it, receiving small damage and giving small blows, at some point you yield to NPC, [when training is completed on the level you have paid for. This will probably happen automatically.] A level per day in that arena can be set, so player has to go to a new town to do more training or wait till next day. No loot from monsters in arena, this should be obtained out in the countryside or dungeons / sewers.

2. The same sort of system can be implemented for alchemy / herbal, and other skills such as glass blowing / cooking / tailoring. etc. By this I mean a building used to train in these skills, with a master and trainers. In the future it would be nice to see trade guilds set up for training their particular trade/skill.

3. This brings me to obtaining loot / tria. in the times this is set in it would be very hard to come by in large amounts, so it should be a lot harder to find monsters to kill and when you do you should get something, skin tooth nail etc. if you are fighting a rogue etc. you should at least get a weapon or item of armour. It should be more practical to earn your tria through mining, crafting, fishing etc.
[ I know this involves a lot of skills yet to be implemented, but it should be kept in mind that as it is at the moment you are sending out the message this is a fighting game first and foremost, not a role-play game.]

4. GM events, we all love to take part in them and enjoy the experience of role-play, but I feel the lack of a story to go with them is very disappointing, it would be better if they run into days or weeks.[ this is a suggestion for the future rather than now.]

5. Quests, these are slowly improving, [dialogue] but feel they should be very much harder to obtain, rather than just repeating "may i help you" till you get one, You should get them from lengthy chats with the NPC. Also you should get one based on your current stats / skills, [by this I mean; when you are new to game find or get me an apple is ok, but not get me two steel stock. To obtain them through your own means would normally take you a week or two of intense training, mining and killing / looting.]

6. Guilds, come on you have to be blind to see any fool can make a guild, name it whatever they like and get muppets to join it. Lets have some very serious guide lines made for this. Tria to form one is a joke 20,000, at the moment would take me about an hour to get that much. There should be at least four active members and guild leader, that's a joke, A guild should be an active part of the community, either role play or a working skill type guild or mercenary type [ for defence of the guild leader's interest.]
Suggested guide lines:
A. Been a active person in game for at least six months.
B. Have a minimum of 10% of members on line in a 24 hour normal day time not game time, [exemptions at public holidays.]
C. Pay a monthly fee to local government. [To be taken from Guild leader or nominated Treasurer]
D. Recruiting should not be done in game openly it should be done in an interview with guild leader or spokes person for guild. [This should encourage more in depth guild descriptions in the forums.]

7. Locations of traders needs to be reconsidered, for example tannery. in Ojavada is ok for players looting hides there, but if for example you are in the country on way to Bronze Doors, one has a long way to go to sell them, and to be honest not worth the trip as the prise for them is extremely low. [ This I fell is not very newbe friendly as they are encouraged to kill / loot rats to start with, also most races start life in game in Haydlaa.]

8. PvP. This is a tuff one to tackle, how do we not encourage it to get out of control.
Suggested guide lines:
A. No in town PvP, unless prior approval is given from a GM, [ for RP purposes, no penalty on death ]
B. Total loss of all tria on death, if on same day second time loss of all PP.[ This is to encourage a lot of thought into excepting a challenge or giving one, as there is a lot to lose if you are a wealthy person.] Also would like to point out this is meant to be as close to real life as posable, on death you would lose all your worldly possessions, now in game so we can continue playing this I feel would be more realistic.
C. RP deaths should not have a penalty.
D. Guild wars the loosing guild should pay a fixed sum to government.

[Parallo]

Why so much paying to the government? I don't think they'd reward people for winning guild wars either. That seems silly. Apart from that seems constructive enough. Nothing I strongly agree or disagree with... Except

RP deaths should not have a penalty.

I hate that idea. Someone dies in an rp and the next minute they're walking around the plaza. I'd say more for rp deaths even. That way when people are most aiming for emmersivness its not ruined by deas stalking the lands as though alive.

[Janner]

Why so much paying to the government? I don't think they'd reward people for winning guild wars either. That seems silly. Apart from that seems constructive enough. Nothing I strongly agree or disagree with... Except

RP deaths should not have a penalty.

I hate that idea. Someone dies in an rp and the next minute they're walking around the plaza. I'd say more for rp deaths even. That way when people are most aiming for emmersivness its not ruined by deas stalking the lands as though alive.

ALL governments have taxes and duty to be paid, why not this one, more over how if no taxes are raised do they perform, let alone stay in office.
AS for guilds, look at it as a back-hander, to tern a blind eye. to a small privet army. [ or do you expect guilds to stay loyal to there leaders and go forth time and again and die lose tria die lose PP ]
AS for RP death, would be a big tern off to lose hard earned tria, just for the sake of making a good RP.

[The Shadow Nose]

AS for RP death, would be a big tern off to lose hard earned tria, just for the sake of making a good RP.

One minor note: Since this is supposed to be an online Role-Playing Game, wouldn't technically anything you do be considered role-playing? I understand that right now the game seems to consist of either power-levelers (basically anyone who considers the games current combat and leveling system to be the real 'game' and focuses on that) or Role-players who ignore the combat system in favor of what basically amounts to chatting with avatars.

Hopefully, once the game mechanics get finished and cleaned up then there won't be such a chasm between the two types of play, so RP vs. normal death won't be such a deal because it would basically be the same thing. Plus, if you are RPing, you could just store your tria with a friend so you don't lose it.

7. Locations of traders needs to be reconsidered, for example tannery. in Ojavada is ok for players looting hides there, but if for example you are in the country on way to Bronze Doors, one has a long way to go to sell them, and to be honest not worth the trip as the prise for them is extremely low. [ This I fell is not very newbe friendly as they are encouraged to kill / loot rats to start with, also most races start life in game in Haydlaa.]

Well, I used to play as a merchant-type character and buy hides in Hydlaa and then travel to Oja to sell them (I play an Enkid named Orac) I made some decent money that way and helped new players but quit after a while when I realised that I HATE having to walk that really long trip from Oja to Hydlaa... plus I didn't get any XP for any of that and mining both can make more cash and is used to craft items.

Personally, I woudn't say that its a matter of changing the position of the NPC merchants... more like it would be nice if there was a way to make tradeing routes more interesting, faster (guess the pletosaur mounts will do that when they are implemented), or less frequent (like have bags of holding or carts to carry more sellable items). Make it a bit more fun to play a trade merchant and things could improve for everyone. (Though the bronze doors area... don't know if there is really anything special around there that would make the trip there worth while... there aren't even any races that spawn there).


just my 2 cents

[Ralleyon]

1. I like this idea very much as it makes sense both in character and out of character. Still needs some thinking and tweaking, but overall 

2. Same as bove.

3. Implementing new skills is requires some time for the most part, but some of them already have the code in since it's a matter of generic processes (take crafting and alchemy - they use the same game mechanics, it can be implemented very easily).

As for the difficulty in killing most of the monsters and turning it into a more job-oriented game instead of a powerleveller's paradise, again, I agree. The system only needs minor tweaking to achieve this, but the prior studies needed to put in these game rules require some time. Or... one can simply play by ear and modify it as it unfolds... which can be very well done with the existing system.

4. I like the current GM events and the stories behind them, I just wish they had more permanent consequences when it is a major RP. Once we'll have a track of time and the passing of years, I'd love to see RP's that advance a story over time.

5. Interesting suggestion, but I think that it already has the code to perform a skill check already, it's just not used at this time. In any event, I feel that questing is a subject in itself and there's a LOT to be discussed on the side of this subject. I'll try to whip up a discussion to encompass all the aspects on this topic sometime... Anyway, again, it requires advance of the game mechanics to produce a more interesting and immersive experience.

6. Some of the arguments you brought about guilds are very good, other still need some thinking. For example, I like and agree with: C and D. A... maybe, but it introduces a barrier and pehaps it's not such a good idea. B however, I don't like. People can't be active at any time, with the same free time on their hands throughout the year... and it just feels like forcing someone to play in order to keep a guild alive, which... I don't know, but this one doesn't feel right at all.

I have always felt that creating a guild should be more in character, thus helping the immersiveness and incouraging the players in a role-play fashion to think about their reasons for creating one. This is one of the places where the actual involvement of the government should be seen and taken into account.

7. Agree. As it is now, it adds an unnecessary difficulty to the game whilst we don't have a proper transportation system. I'm one of the few folks that enjoy travelling, but it does become stale when I'm not going somewhere for fun and when I actually need to solve something or speak to someone IC for example. It's just time wasted on nothing.

8. A and C Definitely! For B, I do agree with a penalty to death, but your idea doesn't quite sound right...  D I also feel that the Yliakum governing body should be involved more indeed in guild matters. MUCH more actually.

[Parallo]

But what is being suggested is that regardless of the circumstances the losing guild has to pay out in a guild war to an imaginary government. I can see it working when there is a player run government in some cases but having it hardcoded as what happens is a bad idea. It may suit some guilds but will completely conflict with some others.

[zanzibar]

I like the idea of having interactive trainers that actually act like trainers.




I do not like the idea of guilds having monthly payments.  I don't even like the idea of the 20,000 trias fee.  If the fee becomes more expensive, then we'll see even less roleplaying happening.  Guilds will lack colour and instead they'll devote their resources to making money.  Making money is both boring and antisocial.

[Janner]

The way I see it, no government would tolerate a guild [privet army] openly, so it would sanction them only if they payed for the right to exist, of course as in real life you could always go secret, but there is a even bigger price to pay if discovered.

[zanzibar]

The way I see it, no government would tolerate a guild [privet army] openly, so it would sanction them only if they payed for the right to exist, of course as in real life you could always go secret, but there is a even bigger price to pay if discovered.

Ok, but what if all it takes for a guild to be a guild is for a group of people to call themselves a guild?

Said more simply:  I have some friends.  We decide that we are a guild.  If we say we are a guild, then are we not a guild?

[bilbous]

That is a kind of simplistic question, if I say I am an Apple does that make Gwynneth Paltrow my mother?
As I have said before the whole guild thing is OOC and there should be strictly defined guilds which are tied into the setting which players can join and possibly aspire to lead. New guilds should not be allowed to be created. There could be some sort of accommodation for user created groups such as you want but really are they not better served outside the game? If you and your friends want to glom onto each other and chat amongst yourselves set up a jabber server and all subscribe to it, run your game in windowed mode so you can multi-task.
As far as private armies go there might be room for some kind of Unit facility that would be similar to a guild in current functionality although any army trying to operate out of any town where they do not pay tribute should be vigorously opposed by the town guard.

[zanzibar]

I've only been in about 20 different guilds, so maybe I'm not in a position to say anything, but guilds come and go and I think that's ok.  If we were stuck with the same guilds we had two years ago, things would be stale.

[Parallo]

Haveing guilds like miners guild and crafters guild and such permenant would be okay but they'd be no substitute for the varity of guilds out there. That would, to put it frankly, be crap. Having run of the mill crafting organisations fixed and the same system, maybe somewhat more strict on standards, would be nice. We don't need seven crafting guilds. That destroys the purpose of a guild(when in the traditional sence, not PS sence, of the word) Having multipule companies which the guild members work for would work. Apply that same thinking to more than crafting and it might work out.

[bilbous]

I've only been in about 20 different guilds, so maybe I'm not in a position to say anything, but guilds come and go and I think that's ok.  If we were stuck with the same guilds we had two years ago, things would be stale.

Well I have one character, that I rarely load, in a guild (mostly defunct -- Klyros of Fury) and never joined another but I am more than happy to theorize. Guild is just the name we give to the agglomeration of characters that has been implemented in the game, might just as easily be called "street gangs." Some try to tailor their essence to the game with varying levels of success but it appears to me that most simply force their preconceptions onto the world regardless of how well they fit. This may be a necessary evil as the settings are still largely undeveloped, there are some people who think because their guild has been running for a long time that it should be incorporated into the settings regardless of how well it meshes.

Guilds themselves have a role to play in the official settings but they are different from these user created street gangs and should not be confused with them.

I am, of course, just one voice crying in the wilderness.

[Janner]

I've only been in about 20 different guilds, so maybe I'm not in a position to say anything, but guilds come and go and I think that's ok.  If we were stuck with the same guilds we had two years ago, things would be stale.

Being in a guild and running a guild is two different things, so much for that.
  At the moment take a look round and try to count the number of guilds in game, far to many for the number of players we have on line at any one time, and the theme of these guilds, in the main nothing. not all guilds have no main reason for being, but they should have, NO government would allow such numbers of senseless guilds.

 In time there will be such things as fishing clubs etc, bands etc, groups of friends and others, Until these become available, there should be a limit as to how many guilds are allowed, also some hard rules to being allowed to. At the moment, any Tom or Tomette can make a guild and give no reason for its being.

 I made it clear from the start my guild was not a guild, but a group of like minded individuals, who had no option but to form a guild to be together when online, BUT I still stuck to the rules of a guild, hence the reason for disbanding, as in the main, I was the only one online.

[zanzibar]

Being in a guild and running a guild is two different things, so much for that.

Most of the guilds I've been in I've helped to run by being second in command or substitute leader.  So much for you.



Bad guilds will attract bad players.  I don't see why anyone should care.