Karma Allignment

[Rhiannon]

Was thinking, a way for many players to get really sucked into the game is by action and cause/conflict. Maybe some type of karma system that will weigh out the characters style & performance. I am not saying totally changing a character that there is no way back to "redemption", I am saying something to enhance the game furthermore temporarily.

Lets say one from the light does not follow their moral strict codes, to them that is shameful and an embarrassment to their society. They should maybe downgrade to some kind of icon to show their respect in that certain kingdom. Or maybe they will get beaten by the guards of the city and be left with bruises etc :D Would be fun.

Some kind of characteristics can play a role here, like the way the player talks, moves around, and looks.

If they continue down the opposing path, I say they have a transformation to becoming one from the dark or...plainly human depending on how critical their actions have been.

Personally I do not think it to be fair that a person who plays the role of what they have chosen, and totally ignores the role playing aspects. This would be a good way to guard against people who just want to be a Deva because they look cute or something :P

[a chewy rock]

This could be a way to switch factions during the game. It would take a lot of deceiving acts against your faction for you to be thrown out and unaccepted. Once you get thrown out you can do favors for the other factions and join in their cause.

I don't know if something like this is planned to be in the game but it could be cool. It'd give a variety of characters on each side of the war unless you have it set where you're strictly assigned to the faction that you select at character creation.

[Ziegler]

here's an idea. And I am admittedly stealing a little bit from Age of Conan. Having an introductory 10 or 15 levels. During those levels, have an indepth story where every one starts out as a human and depending on the choices you make you come out as a human/deva/al'gar....Almost like those alignment tests online. But it would be from quests results. Where the end of the quest is either you living and being a human or dieing and ressing as a deva/al'gar. Not sure that could mesh with the current lore though.


I do think that making the players decisions have repercussions on thier ingame lives is an important aspect that needs to be implememnted. And not so cut and dried as race lines. More like, I have been doing business with this same merchant so he cuts me good deals. I did a favor for the guy down at the docks, but now the chick at the bar wont talk to me because of it.

[Rhiannon]

True Ziegler, all npc merchants will end up hating me :P I'll get too confuzzled. Hrmm than I will just buy my items off of you two!

[hanstin]

Dont do it she will betray you!

[Ziegler]

Is betrayal, when expected, truly betrayal?

[Rhiannon]

Please I couldn't harm a fly ;)

[a chewy rock]

We're not flies here though are we?

[hanstin]

just dont give here any items !!!! muahahahahaha world domination so close ...

[Rhiannon]

Now why would I think of my fellow kin being such a low form of life O_o?

[Moloch]

Maybe some type of karma system that will weigh out the characters style & performance ... Lets say one from the light does not follow their moral strict codes, to them that is shameful and an embarrassment to their society. They should maybe downgrade to some kind of icon to show their respect in that certain kingdom. Or maybe they will get beaten by the guards of the city and be left with bruises etc :D Would be fun.

WoW has its reputation system, mostly a one way progression, although it is possible to 'redeem' yourself with one faction at the cost of another (eg.Aldor/Scyer). Achieving unfriendly or better status with certain other factions (Timbermaw) stops those NPCs from attacking you and high reputations offer access to rewards. In essence though, the WoW system is yet another grind to equip up.

Personally I do not think it to be fair that a person who plays the role of what they have chosen, and totally ignores the role playing aspects. This would be a good way to guard against people who just want to be a Deva because they look cute or something

Personally, I disagree. Role players are only a small part of the game playing public. Achievers, Killers and Explorers (using the Bartle terminology) have their own goals in playing - and forcing them to roleplay according to someone else's idea of a good time is despotic. Unless forsooth, it's on a dedicated RPing server or maybe in a RPing guild (orc guilds in early UO anyone?).

One day I'll republish my three articles about roleplayers/powerplayers and shoes.

[Rhiannon]

Yeah that would work having a Role Play server. See your point, that is why I was scared of making this topic :( Everyone has more experience than me with online gaming it makes me feel like an idiot when I suggest ideas and post topics.

[Will]

There will absolutely be an FFA server, almost definitely at release. This is where you'd find a system like that, if it were to exist. We've put very little thought into the mechanics of an FFA server, but coming from the crowd that always plays on such a server, we know it's popularity. Likewise expect a PvE-RP "group with everyone" server, for the RP types. That has even less thought placed into it, though.

[Valkazon]

Yeah that would work having a Role Play server. See your point, that is why I was scared of making this topic :( Everyone has more experience than me with online gaming it makes me feel like an idiot when I suggest ideas and post topics.

Never be afraid to ask a question or put ideas forward - and if people give you grief because of it then it just goes to show how immature they are.
If you don't ask, how are you to learn.
Be brave, be bold, and don't give a !?@# ;D

[Rhiannon]

LoL ok with that said can someone tell me what the abbreviations for all of those servers types mean? Only one I know is PvP.

[Will]

FFA: Free For All. No teams, and you can attack players of your own faction.
RP: Roleplaying. Self explanatory?
PvE: Player vs Environment. Basically means killing mobs.
RP-PvE server: Server allowing players to guild/group with players from opposing factions. RP enforced.

Generally the idea is that some people don't want to PvP at all, and that's ok with me. Some people want to PvP against everybody, and that's ok with me as well. They just have to get their own server.

[Rhiannon]

Thought so just wanted to make sure, thank you. Leads me to another question :/ Will we be able to switch servers if we wanted to and bring our existing character lets say from PvE -> FFA?

Also, for quests aren't some of those aquiring the need to have a group or no? So how would that work when you implant the FFA server?

I only played WoW for one week lol and I played on a PvE server (if I recall) because someone suggested me to start out there. (game was boring to me :/) So I havn't really played any other game thus far with these options.

[Will]

No, those kind of transfers will likely not be allowed, to preserve the integrity of the server. PvE-style servers tend to have faster PvE progression rates than PvP ones, and we need to preserve that fact to be fair to the residents of each individual server.

I don't understand the quests about groups. FFA servers can have groups. It's actually a bit more popular with my friends and I, typically because the friendships become stronger, and the community is a bit stronger and more fun to deal with. FFA server politics are a blast! The difference is essentially that you don't know who is friend or foe, versus traditional faction servers where they're identified by their character race alone.

Generally these servers start off painful (tons of ganking and newbie slaying), which wards off a lot of folks, but they develop into some very fun communities where guild politics are the mainstay of the game. It's not for everyone, but it's fun for those of us who give it a chance.

Unfortunately they're not catered to properly in most games, and fade into nothingness because of a lack of attention. It requires a little extra care, but you can bet we're ready to give that extra attention.


One a side note, all PvP tourneys and arena events and battlegrounds will be linked with FFA and PvE-only servers, so you'll still be able to interact with the others. I certainly want to see how the FFA server fares in PvP versus the others.

[Moloch]

One a side note, all PvP tourneys and arena events and battlegrounds will be linked with FFA and PvE-only servers, so you'll still be able to interact with the others. I certainly want to see how the FFA server fares in PvP versus the others.

From a WoW Battlegroup perspective, there is no contest. PvP servers win.

[Will]

WoW servers, and more importantly Battlegrounds, are hardly an outstanding model of PvP prowess =x

[Rhiannon]

Will there be any penalties or anything if say a higher leveled player decides to slaughter one of the newbie towns? Will there be PvP in towns or only allowed on the outskirts?

I think I am leaning more towards FFA, because of the politics. At times I do not like it because of the drama, but to me I like being a peace-maker so...Wherever drama lives I roam!!

Cannot wait, tourny events are great, can't wait to see how they will be arranged in game.

[Kayden]

eekgads batman we have another pvp/rp/pve/ffa war on our hands.

Okay that last line was a bit corny but i've seen these threads countless numbers of times. Granted this is coming from a person who Games frequently, kicks the crap out of other people, and creates never ending stories with other people. So yes I'll have to say having different servers for each type of player would be a good idea. Though it would be nice to have that aspect where you can betray your faction and either be a lone wolf where everyone hates you be nay impossible to get any gear unless you impliment a black market that is faction wide. Or you find yourself joining another faction. That my friend would be something I've never seen before. Ever. and I've played alot of games.

I was going somewhere with this post but I forgot.

Oh yes, having the all out slobber knocker of gaming is definitly something you can't go with out. Though you can have a server that is just story based. Where those of us that enjoy the more laid back side of gaming can kick back with a cup of coffee hang out with a few freinds and enjoy the story that the minds of the dev team have created. If they even decided to go anywhere with the storyline. :) Now having my toon switch servers isn't probably one of the best things, gernerally I will create a toon that fits the server type or scenerio. If I create an RP toon he is going to be strictly RP if i create a PvP toon he is going to be strictly PvP and so on and so forth. Not to say that its not a good idea, yes server transfer is a good idea and many games make you pay for such acts. Though generally if your gonna do it makes sure you know that your built character is going to belong. There are people that get boared with their server and don't want to reroll their toon and want to join another server. I've gone through it many times. Though at that time I was workin' a crap job makin' very little money to uphold my Gaming addicton 3 accounts to 3 different p2ps. I couldn't afford all the little goodies that came along with buying extra content.

Which brings me to a interesting question. Will there be extra content that you can buy in an e-shop so to speak? Now that I have the money to suport 12 accounts and put food table and clothing on my back I am curious. And no I'm not going to pay for your accounts :P I'm gonna keep all 12 for myself and play 3 of them at a time so hah! No I probably wont play 3 accounts at a time but I had you going didn't I?

[EDB700]

Allignment: this used to be an important thing in RPGs. It would be a good idea to implement such a system in KW. A player would have the following choices:
1. aim to become as high/pure as possible (that would mean do everything you can for your faction/race: from research, to special faction/race quests, wars, helping new players, bounty hunting criminals, etc) - that would allow better exchange rates with NPCs, lower prices on pots or equipment, access to uncommon quests, items, skills, etc.
2. go impure (that would mean betray your own faction/race in favour of another; you'll get more penalties if working against more than 1 race; basicly you'd be a mercenary); the gain would be getting access to some skills/gear, NPCs or special items that an enemy faction uses. You'll be hated by all factions more or less, but you'll also get jobs from all of them more or less, because sooner or later there will be need for someone who can cross to the enemy lines without raising suspicions. These "impure"/"mercenaries" could also get a special camp/area - that would create in reality a sort of a new faction/race, which would be not bound by race, but by personal interest, making it unstable and unpredictable, and thus adding a new twist in the game's politics. They could be hired for instance as mercenaries for wars, and so on. By choosing this hard route a character could become a true hybrid since it will be allowed to use equipment & skills that are normally bound to a particulat race.
3. defector: the character gives up allegiance towards own faction, in favour of another; the player would be banished from the motherland and will loose all that he/she aquired during the game, including equipment/fortune/skills, etc. What's the advantage then? The player will receive substantial bonus from the new faction, equipment, and also some extra faction/race points. Not much in the end, maybe, but still better than being an outcast to all races.
4. outcast (or the hell way): an outcast would be the person that decides to go defector, and then betrays that faction/race or gives up allegiance to that faction/race alltogether. All races towns will be forbidden (KOS by the guards), so the only way to access shops and NPC would be through the mercenaries camps (for extra gold, of course). As a compensation, these players could gain some extra stats/skills as some sort of "survival kit".
Allignment would also affect the party & guild system (mercenaries won't be allowed to join guilds, but would be allowed to party others, while outcasts would be allowed neither of the 2).
Just some suggestions...

[MESS14H]

The Fear with having a dynamic faction system in a game is that it debases the balance between factions.
For instance, Sooner ore later we will all be Deva because they all want fluffy wings, or all al'gar cause they have cool evil looking horns.
Depending on were public opinion sways too at the time it will always cause an inbalance to the game by sheer numbers and popularity (Its well known that alliance out Number Horde on every server in WOW).
The best game to combat the player numbers balancing problem between factions in games was Freelancer.
This solved the problem Not by restricting people to 1 faction but literally gave them hundreds of factions and gave them the choice to earn rep with whatever faction they chose.
Some factions have the best gear but usually are at odds with a great deal more other factions, Were as some factions have little combat gear to offer but have a mostly neutral or secure status in game so they don't have much use for heavy combat orientated gear/weaps and could enjoy the luxury of simply trading for cash.
The best thing that came out of Freelancer was a custom mod called Discovery which worked on this faction element in the game and introduced a RP element to it that has maintained a good player base despite the game being a quite a bit old in the tooth and tbh quite outdated now.
You could have the three main factions in game (although maybe humans could represent the neutral in the game) But maybe have lots of different smaller factions attributed to them that have all their own different ways of doing things and have all their own little Grey area's that maybe some other faction disagrees with.

[jimmy6154]

The Fear with having a dynamic faction system in a game is that it debases the balance between factions.
For instance, Sooner ore later we will all be Deva because they all want fluffy wings, or all al'gar cause they have cool evil looking horns.
Depending on were public opinion sways too at the time it will always cause an inbalance to the game by sheer numbers and popularity (Its well known that alliance out Number Horde on every server in WOW).
The best game to combat the player numbers balancing problem between factions in games was Freelancer.
This solved the problem Not by restricting people to 1 faction but literally gave them hundreds of factions and gave them the choice to earn rep with whatever faction they chose.
Some factions have the best gear but usually are at odds with a great deal more other factions, Were as some factions have little combat gear to offer but have a mostly neutral or secure status in game so they don't have much use for heavy combat orientated gear/weaps and could enjoy the luxury of simply trading for cash.
The best thing that came out of Freelancer was a custom mod called Discovery which worked on this faction element in the game and introduced a RP element to it that has maintained a good player base despite the game being a quite a bit old in the tooth and tbh quite outdated now.
You could have the three main factions in game (although maybe humans could represent the neutral in the game) But maybe have lots of different smaller factions attributed to them that have all their own different ways of doing things and have all their own little Grey area's that maybe some other faction disagrees with.


nice idea, I like the diversity in it.

[Rhiannon]

It is a good idea. A kind of different title for what type of group you forged from your faction. There should def be a page under bio ^.^ explaining each players personality that other players can observe, this way they can identify the players makeup easier. Quest NPC's should give you different options for completing quests in the way you chose to handle them. They might be a little disappointed depending on their preference, but it always gives you the heads up. This way you cannot just skim through the quest you have to really look at what each NPC is saying. Maybe this can even make every quest add a new segment to your bio ^.^ Also unlocking benefits to different sorts of rewards in exp. Would be cool to see your personality really built up and possibly be given new actions/emotes to taunt and greet others by this system.

[Shiv]

That is kind of a good idea, personally i like to roleplay alot its somethign i do all the time. Well not so much right now because i am in the military and currently not at home therefore i havn't had as much time as i like to check things over the internet like KW forum. I've only been able to load like two topics fully to read. Personally i have found Roleplaying a hard thing to do and cultivate on MMO's even on Roleplaying servers. The only way to cultivate Roleplay is if you have everyone on the server dedicated to roleplaying and not just gaming. Honestly i hope the RP side works out.

[Rhiannon]

It can work out if it is strongly influenced from the game itself to the players. Lots of cinematics, quests and game play with strong storylines, well defined profiles as well as territories for each faction, the list goes on and on!!