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Pantheon: Aprils News Letter & Perception System video
Nanfoodle
Member LegendaryPosts: 10,617
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Nanfoodle
Member LegendaryPosts: 10,617
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Crafting and Harvesting!
Posted date / 04.12.17
Pantheon’s crafting and harvesting in this internal pre-alpha is currently a very simple system. With it we can combine two or more items in a container to return a new item. Combinations use a skill associated with the materials, such as Blacksmithing for metals, Alchemy for potions, Tailoring for cloth, and so forth. It is functional, but we feel it lacks impact and depth.
So, where do we go from here?
An Overview of Crafting
A major goal of the Crafting system is to provide players with a means to gear up through the power of choice. Dropped and quested items come with set stats but crafted items can be customized. The offset to this power of choice is that crafting will require effort to gather the necessary materials for particular results, whereas dropped items are a (potentially) simpler matter of killing the requisite NPCs to get your gear.
For example if Gereon wants a Silvered Longsword. He plans to be fighting wererats in the City Underneath in a few days with his guildmates so he has two choices:
In this scenario, perhaps Gereon doesn’t have easy access to NPCs that drop Silvered weapons. He has been killing the wrong city’s guards so it is safer and faster for him to find a player to help him out. Crafting gives players like Gereon alternate avenues to acquire those items they need while serving a dual purpose: socializing between players through Economy, and giving players avenues to some solo content (the Crafter or Harvester).
Crafting will also allow us the opportunity to further improve almost any items to be better suited to specific situations.
For example:
Gereon has acquired his Silvered Longsword:
The trouble is that his Silvered Longsword isn’t so great against the other vermin or the slimes inhabiting the particular area of the Waterworks near the wererat lair. Gereon really wants to have an edge fighting at least one of the two additional types of enemies in the Waterworks that he knows of. He could:
Depending on Gereon's playstyle, it may be more beneficial to farm the desired item or to farm materials to have the desired item crafted.
Additionally, crafting needs to compliment the other areas of gameplay. One big way that crafting will figure into this is most of the items that come from quests, NPC loot, or crafting can be further upgraded. Doing this requires "customizing" the item(s) to the recipient, unlocking additional stats at the cost of causing the item to be bound to that player.
As far as what professions are concerned, we're considering the following as our professions: Alchemist, Blacksmith, Woodworker, Outfitter, Provisioner, Stonemason, and Scribe. Each profession will have a specialization. Players will be limited to one profession, and one associated specialization.
An Overview of Harvesting
The goal of the Harvesting system is to provide the components through which players will craft a variety of items. These Harvesting materials will be provided in a variety of ways.
One method of Harvesting is the aforementioned traditional "find a node, and interact with it to receive Harvested loot". This is done by finding an ore vein and mining it, finding a tree and cutting it down, and so forth. Rather than having materials for more advanced Crafting recipes be gated by level content in a zone as has been done in some other MMORPGs, we will have the nodes and the items they provide exist in sensible locations within their ecology.
Another way Harvesting will come into play is through Salvaging, a method for players to break down existing items and receive components in return. Salvaging items can result in a mix of raw materials and/or crafting components. In our crafting example above with Gareon and his Silvered Longsword, say he’s outgrown the need for the item. He could choose to Salvage it, possibly resulting in silver chunks, a silvered blade, or a hilt.
While the idea certainly isn't a new one, we will also have some crafting components sold only in specific cities. Many of these local materials will tie directly in with cultural based recipes. For example, special glass making materials might be found with the Dark Myr, so if players want to craft the Myr type of glass items they have to have the faction to buy the items there or find another player that has the faction that’s willing to sell them the materials from there.
Similar to locale-based materials for purchase, harvesting nodes will exist by local ecologies, even if those areas lean towards the exotic or fantastical, such as colored mana-rich areas… Rather than providing harvesting opportunities by perceived difficulty of a zone or the content around it, we'll be placing them where they naturally make the most sense. You’ll also find harvesting opportunities within civilized areas, such as gardens, parks, and the like, as well in the wilds.
Our line of thinking in terms of access to harvesting is that all players will be able utilize all of the available skills as they wish, provided they have an appropriate harvesting tool. All material types will already be coming from Salvaging and looting materials directly from NPCs, so limiting players’ access to individual skills felt arbitrary. Pantheon’s current harvesting skills are as follows: Fishing, Gathering, Logging, Mining, and Skinning.
In Closing…
There are more details to come as we implement, test, and refine the systems but the above information should cover a number of the highlights. Keep an eye open for upcoming info regarding the motions required to craft, Work Orders, Recipes, and Experimentation!
Community Spotlight
Posted date / 04.12.17
1) What is your main character's in-game name and how did you come up with it?
My main character's name will definitely be Bazgrim. It comes from the Dwarvish phrase "baz grim," which literally translates to "fire eternal." Not only does it sound sufficiently imposing, but it also serves as a nifty metaphor for my ceaseless passion for gaming. It's important to me that my characters have short names that are easy to remember, spell, and pronounce, but also have some sort of hidden symbolism. I haven't yet decided if I want my main to have a last name. I think there's something about a character with just a first name that looks legendary. But maybe that's too "Madonna" :P If I do have a last name, it will probably be Barak'uzgul, which comes from another Dwarvish phrase that means "Death's Door." I gravitate toward class roles where I can act as the final arbiter of who lives and who dies.
2) What interests you the most about Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen?
The first thing that really stood out to me was actually how wisely Brad and the rest of Visionary Realms was handling an open development process. I find it so refreshingly unusual that the company is more concerned about making a quality game for a specific, neglected but avid demographic, rather than whatever will make the most money. I think any game made with such love and passion and care will be a game worth playing.
3) What will your main race and class be and why?
As you may have been able to guess by my main character's name, he will be a Dwarf Cleric. I love how Dwarves tend to be small in stature, but big in personality. The lore of the Dwarves in Terminus looks really intriguing to me. I also think the architecture of Dwarven fortresses is really amazing. Furthermore, I am so glad that Clerics (and all classes, for that matter) will have a very specific and needed group role in Pantheon. Too many games make it so that every class can self-heal, making dedicated healers obsolete. I thrive in the pressure of the main healing role, knowing that I can make or break a group. I love feeling like the group is depending on me and when things get chaotic, I have the chance to shine and be the one that holds it all together.
4) What is your favourite system, mechanic or feature so far in Pantheon?
I am most excited about the Climate system. I feel like this is something that has definitely been lacking in other MMOs. It seems like the perfect way to add some realism, and at the same time, make adventuring more challenging. It's a really interesting way to make players plan more about where they're going and how to compensate for the difficulties they're likely to face on their journey.
5) If you could enter the game and visit anywhere in Terminus for an hour, where would you go and why?
Assuming I was of an appropriate level, I'd explore as much of the Tower of the Reckless Magician as possible. I can't wait to see it in the next stream, because I've been excited about the zone ever since I saw it on the atlas. For one thing, I really like dungeons that are far from civilization. Sometimes the journey to the dungeon is just as much, if not more memorable than the dungeon itself. It also makes you think ahead about not only your destination, but also about the path to get there and make sure you have enough supplies to last the whole trip. Hopefully it's a two-way trip, because once you do arrive, you really feel the need to avoid death even more, as it would take you so long just to get back to your corpse. But of course with great risk comes great reward, so those dungeons also usually hold the best loot! Another reason would be that the term "Reckless Magician" seems to suggest that all sorts of crazy things can happen there. I can imagine it being something like a mix between the Plane of Mischief and the Tower of Frozen Shadow in EverQuest. It's so much fun to explore zones where it feels like the dungeon itself is actively trying to trick you and kill you. Memories are made when you have no idea what might happen next and it may take weeks or months to learn the area.
6) Finally, if you had to choose between being strapped to the back of a Griffon or strapped to the back of a Giant in-game for 24 hours, what would you choose and why?
Well, I like the idea of a Dwarf riding on the shoulders of a Giant, telling him where to go and who to step on. Kind of like Master Blaster from Mad Max. But since I only have 24 hours and Giants tend to be pretty stupid, I feel like I'd have a better chance at training the Griffon. That also comes with the added benefit of the Griffon being able to give me a bird's eye view of Terminus. The haters would say I'm trivializing content with my flying mount, but the Griffon and I would quickly become best friends.
ICYMI
Posted date / 04.12.17
Our team was hard at work in March as we delved into some pretty major in-game additions and continued preparations for our upcoming live-stream events. We still did manage to come up for air a few times, and here are some of the highlights.
The Official Pantheon Wiki over at Gamepedia got a major overhaul, with the most current information added and expanded. The newly improved wiki now features over 400 pages dedicated to 95 seperate articles. With more content being added as soon as it’s made available, this guide is now the most concise and comprehensive Pantheon resource available. A big thank you to the community team who set upon the wiki and populated all those pages!
Brad McQuaid posted a State of the Game update on our old Kickstarter page, and while the game and team have undergone major updates and upgrades since those days, we still remember the incredible push from those early days. Here is some of what he had to say:
"Start up companies are hard... But through persistence, stubbornness, and all of the support so many of you gave us via encouraging emails, supportive posts, and more, we tenaciously kept the ball rolling, continued developing the game, and have grown the team to over 15 developers!"
Our main focus in March were the many additions, enhancements, refinements and improvements made to the game client, and you'll be able to see a lot of that work at our next live stream with CohhCarnage Thursday, April 27th at 11am PDT with part two streaming Tuesday, May 2nd at 11am PDT on his channel at twitch.tv/cohhcarnage.
The perception system sounds promising.
Good lore based storytelling for those of us who choose to participate, no glowing trails leading everywhere, and decisions that sound like they will have real consequences.
Cannot wait to see how this plays out in-game.
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.
Benjamin Franklin
Except the Wizard's Table in the photo will set you back $5 in SotA.
~~ postlarval ~~
As to similar items,i saw that even way back in the Everquest series,lots of corner cutting by utilizing the same icons,same armor but using a different name etc etc.
I was just thinking of something i did not like ,VERY boring simple narrow path dungeons.Personally i don't like boring rock texture dungeons,i find it is lazy work, i want an immersive world well beyond simple repeating trees and grass.This is what i expect from budget games,the EASY route,dungeons/instances are EASY and why i despise that "other" game for having a big budget but aimed for the lazy cheap route of instance gaming.
I hope this team can pull it off,there is pretty much nothing that escapes my eyes,i have seen it all before.Something new and fresh would be icing on the cake,sort of similar to that political game they had in Vanguard,something unique.That is what drew me to and kept me in my favorite game for so many years,tons and tons ofd unique game play and ideas that no other game had done before.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Next live stream with CohhCarnage Thursday, April 27th at 11am PDT with part two streaming Tuesday, May 2nd at 11am PDT on his channel at twitch.tv/cohhcarnage.
Current female doesn't look like a boy, it's just hard to tell wearing plate armor that isn't shaped like a bikini.
Would be cool to see models wearing normal clothing rather than armors or robes.
EQ1 had better female models and were showing no skin. So far all the female models have been horrid.
When I watched the streams, I had no idea there was female avatars. Was not till Kilsin said so in a post that I had to go back for a second look.
I want this
I dont want
The female form can be shown without being trashy.
Maybe they were trying to avoid the over exaggerated fantasy element between male and female armor? Even the first image you posted doesn't resemble what would be used. I realize we're not talking about real life here, but being a bit realistic makes sense.
Considering the fact that the human, ogre, gnome and archai models have matched the original artwork to a T, I would say we're in for some good things.
I really love the look of the gnome.
It's honestly the best gnome i've ever seen. And I normally don't like gnomes at all lol.
Got to love how VR's example of Gereon and Crafting assumes that he knows ahead of time what type of opponents he will face. Conclusion: Gereon must frequent a spoiler site.
Please, can we forget the idea that crafting will drive player trading? Anyone who wants a Silvered Longsword is going to first try to make it themselves. The only thing crafting will drive is outlandish prices on mats used in crafting. There won't be a market for crafted weapons or items (except for very early in the game). It's been that way in every MMORPG to date, and there's no indication of anything that will seriously upset that.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
That a bit presumptive. If I want a silver longsword I'm going to buy it.
Not everyone likes crafting (I despise it).
As far as whether he knows what he needs to know from a spoiler site, well "maybe". Or maybe someone told him or maybe he first tried and realized that something was wrong and the game allows for some research if one "discovers" a peculiarity about a monster/creature/race.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
I guess you never played SWG. Not every MMO plays the same.
RARE supports crafting as well as needing DEPTH.It is really tough for me to explain without writing a book,a quality dev just needs to understand it and having played MANY different games to see what works and doesn't.
You need systems and again tough to explain the entire design,all i can say is if you played and know FFXI ,you understand how to tie rare/systems/depth all together to make it so NOT everyone will just craft their own.
So to simplify it, NODES need to be rare,crafting recipes need to be rare,things need to be discovered ,factions and favor,quest lines,it all ties into making a robust system that can last a long time.
One area i feel needs to be better in game designs is the concept of rare=Boss.
You do NOT need the Boss concept,again just make it RARE.Bosses usually require a group,well a group is not going to be dedicated to spending a whole day farming rare items to craft,that is why more systems and depth works better than just "to get the best ,you need to fight the best bosses and with a raid".\
Bottom line is if you create THAT other superficial type of design then it will ruin an entire game and turn it into nothing more than Wow 2.0 ..24/7 instance raiding.I want a game/world experience,not a 24/7 raiding game for loot.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.