Super Fantastic Poll

[jiisu]

Hello all! I know those of you who visit these boards are waiting patiently and dutifully for us to release some magic in the form of screens and videos, but alas that time has not arrived just yet. There surely is alot going on behind the scenes that unfortunately can't be shared, but rest assured that we're working diligently to bring an amazing experience to your monitors in the future. It will be well worth the wait.

With that said, here's an obligatory mmo-related poll for you to chime in on!

[Moloch]

The usefulness of pets depends on the game design.

Your merc 'pet' in D2LOD was indispensible - although like most pet designs there were really only one or two that made sense in the end game.

In the PvP of a few games I've played the pets were almost useless as you would mez/root/stun them and shred the caster.

The pet system in WoW is fairly complex with Hunter pets being able to be trained, the drop pets, and the crafted pets offering something for everyone. Using pets to pull mobs was/is <cough> open to exploiting tho.

Make pets customisable in some way and their appeal goes up.

It seems to me that the game mechanic of a pet fits in well with the KW background. They could be enslaved, disciples, lost souls, demons or Barney on a rampage - regardless, a pet class(es) seem to fit.

One of the more complex classes to balance DPS and PvE/PvP utility. Good luck with that.

Oh yeah, and if you want to encourage grouping and don't want your pet classes to be exiles, then don't have an XP penalty if pets are used.

[jiisu]

Well, everyone seems to think that pets are completely awesome. Sweet!

[Vali]

Well, everyone seems to think that pets are completely awesome. Sweet!


I agree with Moloch in that it depends alot on the application. Pets can easily be problimatic - Pathing issues are a regular occurance in many games (MMO's as well as single player games). Secondly, Ive also seen a few balance problems as well.

SWG is a good example, in that it had both problems at release in regards to pets. WoW also had a few issues with pets and balance during closed + beta.

But alas, balance is tricky no matter what your talking about. Pets just add another element. Ive only really seen Pets two ways. Either their primary function is to mitigate damage, or increase damage. Too little, they are deemed worthless. Too great and they become overpowered.

SWG at release, a few of the pets mitigated way to much damage - rendering the player virtually untouchable. WoW beta pets had an issue holding aggro - therefore mitigating virtually no damage- or requiring the player to scale back their damage to a significant degree (making the system, tiresome and boring).

But alas - Balance is one of those fun joys of gaming. I guess the only way you can tell if you get it right is if your players are up in arms in debate -) Heh.


(Shameless Plug) To be honest, what Im really, REALLY interested in is how MMO's will support guilds in the future - because as an industry I think its been almost a complete failure. Most MMO's provide a chat line, a guild tag and thats about it. EQ2 is the only MMO I know thats actually looked at ways to improve guild support within the game system - and thats not, in my opinion, up to where we should be.

With it, I see a definate area that needs attention. But as a strong PVP game, I think Kaos War has the potential to come in big, in thsi regard.


My second big question is in the realm of player housing. Traditionally Player Housing, again - my opinion, has been sub-par. Its seems almost after-thought ish. UO / EQ2 (to a degree) / AO / SWG all basically focused around making a players house pretty. But none really delve into the functionality. Giving credit where its due - SWG did do a bit more, but not in the same sense as what I believe it deserves. Will future MMO's have a gaming environment where player housing actually gives tangible gaming benefits to the player?

Can Kaos War.. I think so.

-V

[Damon]

Hey Vali! Nice to see you again. About pets, boy do we have something awesome in store for everyone! A few weeks ago I sat down with Loren and we talked about how our technology can really turn our pet system into something well Next Gen. The funny thing is everyone we do not talk in next gen terms, we talk in "Next Next Gen" I know that sounds cheesy but trust me, Kaos War will be the first game to hit the envelope, we are all about pushing the edge, but making it realistic, fun and exciting!

Balance is always key, and it is one our main priorities.

Our guild system is very supportive, no details at this time.

Again, sorry for the secrecy. We have a ton of new stuff to show everyone!

New ideas, new worlds, new visions in a world of boundless imagination and creativity!
While others have stuck to the same path we wish to make our own, a game that stands the test of time like so many of the greats before us. Where gamers care about their characters, and friends.

[Vali]

Hey Damon!

I putter around here every now and again - Ill make sure to make this a regular visit from now on -) I really like the concept behind Kaos War and believe you guys have the potential to be something really nifty.

About balance - interetingly enough I recently read a decent post on the WoW forums about it. Most of the stuff over there is pure excrement, but alas. I'm sure you guys are all over the whole balance thing, but its an decent read nonetheless.

Its the second post in the link.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-mage&t=962052&p=1&tmp=1#post962052



Secrecy isnt a bad thing, in MMO development -) I fully understand .


A couple of things Ive seen that I believe are excellent guild support ideas -


1.) I think SOE has a webpage, players can pay for that show character equipment, an item database, guild roster and possibly forum support. I think this is an excellent idea. At the moment its often difficult, time consuming, and costly to get a webpage thats pre-set for a guild. Throw in a bit for screenshot uploads and maybe even a deal with Ventrilo/Teamspeak for a voice server and I think this could be big. I'm not in a good position to run cost estimates - but Id venture a guess good money can be made here. Server support for this kind of thing maybe cost prohibitive. I'm not sure.

2) I also believe SOE has some form of guild points that are accumulated through doing guild events. I'm not positive on exactly what they do with guild points, or even how well the system works - but its a decent idea down a good line of guild support thinking.

3) Guild halls can be used to a great degree. Unfortunately I dont believe thats been the case (much like player housing). Other than going to the guild hall to look at pretty trophy's or an occasional "guild meeting" (which doesnt matter because guild chat is usually global) whats been the point? I wonder why we havent seen guild halls that offer in game travel time reductions, perhaps a portal or two which offer the guild quicker access to areas they wish to be. How bout a WoW recall stone type feature that takes the player to the guild hall. The ability to purchase vendors in the guild hall or auctioneers and the like? Add in a few tools that allow them to make their guild hall unique (placement of vendors, additional rooms.. etc etc..). Do that, and I'm sure it will always be used, and loved.

4) MUD's really go out of their way for guild support. I used to play one called Aardwolf. Theyve got some pretty nifty ideas, but I doubt its unique to just that mud. Anyways - when a guild is created on the mud - they are given an opportunity to create their own unique guild ability. MUDs offer little difficulty in coding compared to an MMO, and they dont have to worry about animations and a plethera of other issues so I realize this would be virtually impossible. Yet - perhaps 20 or 30 different small abilities that rely on current animations maybe possible. Let the guild combine two and youve got quite a few combinations. Talk about a balance nightmare, yet - if its focused on support functions it may not be so bad.

5) Back to the MUD - Guilds were allowed to create their own equipment and sell it through their vendors in their own guild hall. The mud allowed them to design their own equipment statistics (there was a ruleset they had to follow) but it was a very expensive process - but the equipment was better than anything else in the game. Not a good idea for an MMO because equipment plays such a huge role in character advancement. But.. it was the focus for other guilds raiding your guild hall. Guilds were allowed to set up their own defenses and a maze like battleground an opposing guild would have to go through to get to get into their guild hall and to their vendor to buy nifty equipment. An interesting idea, which, some concept pieces maybe suitable for a MMO Although serious modification is probably needed :(. Still fun watching players get "irked" when they saw you running around in their equipment (or vice versa).

Either way - putting some thought towards it is a really good thing - theres such a void in terms of guild support in present day MMO's.


-V

[Robert_Lewis]

excellent post V! I would respond more but I cant comment on what we are already doing, I mean what we might possibly sometime could maybe think about in future or in the past or never or always...

But don't let that stop you from posting such cool thoughts!

[Vali]

excellent post V! I would respond more but I cant comment on what we are already doing, I mean what we might possibly sometime could maybe think about in future or in the past or never or always...

But don't let that stop you from posting such cool thoughts!


Haha! Ok -)

[jiisu]

I'm going to side with robert on the possibility that we could maybe eventually have SOME of the things that you talked about... more or less... take it or leave it.... etc

;)

[ruination]

1.) I think SOE has a webpage, players can pay for that show character equipment, an item database, guild roster and possibly forum support. I think this is an excellent idea. At the moment its often difficult, time consuming, and costly to get a webpage thats pre-set for a guild. Throw in a bit for screenshot uploads and maybe even a deal with Ventrilo/Teamspeak for a voice server and I think this could be big. I'm not in a good position to run cost estimates - but Id venture a guess good money can be made here. Server support for this kind of thing maybe cost prohibitive. I'm not sure.

SOE Does have this sort of design, eqplayers.com & eq2players.com , as well as something else for PlanetSide, not sure on the SWG stance on SOE-hosted community websites.


2) I also believe SOE has some form of guild points that are accumulated through doing guild events. I'm not positive on exactly what they do with guild points, or even how well the system works - but its a decent idea down a good line of guild support thinking.
This might exist in SWG or PS but not in EQ/EQ2.. I'll do some research and reply with what I can find.


3) Guild halls can be used to a great degree. Unfortunately I dont believe thats been the case (much like player housing). Other than going to the guild hall to look at pretty trophy's or an occasional "guild meeting" (which doesnt matter because guild chat is usually global) whats been the point? I wonder why we havent seen guild halls that offer in game travel time reductions, perhaps a portal or two which offer the guild quicker access to areas they wish to be. How bout a WoW recall stone type feature that takes the player to the guild hall. The ability to purchase vendors in the guild hall or auctioneers and the like? Add in a few tools that allow them to make their guild hall unique (placement of vendors, additional rooms.. etc etc..). Do that, and I'm sure it will always be used, and loved.
EQ1 Guild Halls have implemented some of these features, such as travel-time reduction; you can buy a stone to a certain selection of zones, put it in the pillar thing and it creates the portal to the zone for everyone in the guild to use as long as it's up. WoW Recall stones were a nice touch as well.. being able to bind to different Inn's and the like. Making guild halls a bit more customizeable would be really nice too.

I'd reply to some other stuff but it's 5am and I almost fell asleep 6hours ago

[Damon]

I'd reply to some other stuff but it's 5am and I almost fell asleep 6hours ago



Welcome to our world =)

[Jsnukka]

well I got to say I love the fact that you guys are directly communicating with your fans. I know when everything gets big for you guys you wont be able to keep in touch as often. So my advice to you guys is, when you get a chance to have a great communications team that specifically deals with your fans on the forum, just like how you guys are doing now. There is nothing worse than having raging fans complaining about the developing team not communicating with their fans. **Cough Cough ANet** That slipped. Well since that is out, yea when the developing team leaves for events or is too busy they leave us hanging.

[MieuyChan]

well I got to say I love the fact that you guys are directly communicating with your fans. I know when everything gets big for you guys you wont be able to keep in touch as often. So my advice to you guys is, when you get a chance to have a great communications team that specifically deals with your fans on the forum, just like how you guys are doing now. There is nothing worse than having raging fans complaining about the developing team not communicating with their fans. **Cough Cough ANet** That slipped. Well since that is out, yea when the developing team leaves for events or is too busy they leave us hanging.

total truth.
on almost every game ive played, the community was pretty bad because of that the developing team wasnt part of the forum crew.
All of the forum members were always flaming at the forum mods about the games, which the forum mods cant change anything to, they can just mod the forum, and if they are a gm, make some events, but not realy make big changes to a game.

[Badgerc82]

Thanks for your post Jsnukka,

I'm sure I speak for everyone in saying that we feel the community and communication is extremely important to us and the way we make games.

Although in the future we will probably be more stretched in terms of responding to posts we will all continue to at least read the boards and consider the perspective of potential and continuing players. As for the support side of things all I can say is Damon is very keen on keeping you guys as a priority.

[Damon]

A video game is its fans IMO.

[Paladin]

I like pets, but I don't think a game has done it perfectly yet...

GW for example, pets are near worthless. In WoW, pets make the game unbalanced (hunters ftw... like wtf?!) I'm just saying that if you choose to play with a pet, it should be your characters focus, so you can't uber heal and do super amounts of damage as well as having a ridiculously powerful pet... unless everyone else can too ^^

[andoy]

Eh, if you think Pets in WOW wer unbalanced, then you never played WOW at all.. No offense of course. Pretty sure you got owned by a hunter that's why your saying Hunter's are overpowered lol.

Sorry but i played WOW since it started, i have 5 level 60's which are Warrior, Priest, Hunter, Rogue, Shaman. I have all the sets, i find Hunter the weakest even with Broken Tooth as my pet lol.

[Inuous]

I'd reply to some other stuff but it's 5am and I almost fell asleep 6hours ago



Welcome to our world =)


Damon must be refering to our relaxed days!

[Paladin]

You've never met a good hunter.

[andoy]

You've never met a good hunter.


lol, my guild has like 15 level 60 Hunter's. Sorry its just that first time i heard from someone that Pets are overpowered lmao ;D

[a chewy rock]

I have an idea about pets...

Ok, it would be cool if there was a way you could maybe play as your pet or maybe switch in and out between your pet and your character if you felt like it.

Example of how this would work: Ok, there's this enemy somewhere out in a field or something like that. You switch to your pet real quick, move around behind the enemy, putting it between the pet and your player and engaging in combat with the enemy. Thats when u switch back to your main char.(or, maybe, continue playing with your pet and control your char. as you would control your pet like when playing with your char.) and run in behind the enemy.

That's an idea that popped in my head when I heard pet, so I figured I'd post it.

[z80]

Eh, if you think Pets in WOW wer unbalanced, then you never played WOW at all.. No offense of course. Pretty sure you got owned by a hunter that's why your saying Hunter's are overpowered lol.

Sorry but i played WOW since it started, i have 5 level 60's which are Warrior, Priest, Hunter, Rogue, Shaman. I have all the sets, i find Hunter the weakest even with Broken Tooth as my pet lol.
QFT.

I have 4 hunters in WoW 2 of them lvl 60 (not currently subscribing atm). Not even slightly overpowered. The strategy was to ignore the pets negligible damage and just kill the hunter since the pet disappeared once the hunter died. The melee classes simply out meleed the hunter and the casters would simply get within the deadzone and proceed to blast. However, in group pvp hunters definitely pwned. Hunter+(name of class here)= you dead. But I digress.

I just came to this thread to say I love pets. specifically animal pets. I loved pokemon and hunters in WoW. I'm glad that you all are having a good pet system and that there are others here that like pets too.