Class, Gear and a Life of Consequence

[Rumblebore]

The “Class” System

EQ Orig gave us 3-Dimensional gameplay after MUDS and Text games. Everything after that is 3D, graphics improved, leveling by XP and grind. The fun in games is now rush to level up to get to higher content to play big encounters for uber-loot. Fun is therefore limited to post-grind for most players.

SOE wants to change that.

Landmark Classes

Terminology – “Gear” means wearable clothing, and weapons in my post.

“Armor” – No such thing as plate/chain/cloth gear by class. While most “cloth”-looking gear is likely best used by a caster, caster can wear higher defense gear that looks like plate. Casters may be able to wield a sword, but is likely going to be more effective using staves.

Gear is EVERYTHING. If your gear is T1, then you likely shouldn’t try to kill a T3 player/NPC or greater.

Resistances is not nearly an issue within game mechanisms/dynamics. So no craft-able platinum & sapphire gear items will be needed.

No leveling of characters. XP from encounters and quests grant ability points used in conjunction to upgrading gear. Your GEAR is what needs to be improved and ‘leveled’, in the old/current way of thinking. As you ‘advance’ you will ‘unlock’ additional abilities (more later)

Crafting is another way to upgrade gear.

Finding epic pieces of gear can be usable, but later you can craft/breakdown that item into components used to make upgraded/better gear

“Down the Road” – Your Character.

Decide your basic class from the (approx.) 8 classes to be provided. You will then associate an ‘origin’, such as Martial, Warrior, Nature, Divine, Psionic, Arcane, Forest, water, elementalist, etc to your character. You can then tie in your “Damage Keyword” such as Physical, Shadow, Lightning. Radiance, Fire, etc.

So your Warrior could have an Origin/ Damage Type of Fire within their beginning abilities, and later unlocked abilities.

Secondary classes will be available through gaining ability points and finding questgivers who offer the option to learn about another class (say a cleric).

They showed a Tempest (Lightning-Wizard who could hold her own against melees, The Warrior who could cleqr through a lot of NPOCs, and a Cleric who not only could stand on his own but stand against the Warriors, even coming close to beating him. Classes are being balanced to both stand on their own and also work in group. It was a very good run to watch all three.

Non-Static Quest givers – Due to the concept of the new systems, you will not find Quest-Giver Sam sitting on the corner of Fippy and Vine in North Qeynos every day. He is NOT static. Sam moves around and if the circumstances (such as an Orc Raid that winds up destroying Qeynos or conquering it) are bad enough, then Sam could be dead, in jail, on a spit roasting, or huddling in the cellar of a destroyed building, or even with the refugees out in Qeynos Hills. Anything is possible. But there is not just 1 way to make a specific improvement on your character tied only to Sam. There can be multiple ways to ‘achieve’ an improvement.

Life of Consequence – How will things be tracked?

Each character gets a Rohsong, a “book” that tracks all actions, events, interactions, choices, etc.

We watched one video of NPCs in a city. Every one was moving around interacting. When the Priestess walked through, a wave of people bowing happened and after she passed they stood and went about their business. They said if a Necromancer had walked through the people would likely give him a wide berth because they know he is very dangerous. Quest givers would be among such people and would react similarly. No yellow “!”’s over their heads. Quest-giver Sam could be in the bar drinking, in a house sleeping, outside the walls pulling vegetables, traveling to the next city, in the palace talking to the Chamberlain, etc.

Because what is done can affect so many other things, they showed us a simulation of how Kith forest Dryads (Nature-based) found kobolds in the hills nearby who were establishing a camp, then expanding it, then harvesting resources to build bigger, etc. The Dryads were static to maintain the good essence of a dead Tunare whose blood had steeped into Kith Forest and made a chaotic environment needing the Dryads to maintain stability against Darker forces wanting Kith forest. Enter the Kobolds and some conflict ensue but things came out mostly balanced. Enter a force of Dark Elves (Darkness-based) seeking to expand their territory and they first encounter Kobolds. The simulation ran and the Kobolds mostly lost but then the Dark Elves start encountering the Dryads. To power their “Dark Well” which is used to power their forces attacks and building ability, they start capturing Dryads and sucking the life-force out and fill the well. With the growing loss of Dryads, Natures forces weaken and as a consequence, another Force of Darkness begins to grow and works to kill off more dryads, their natural enemies and the forces that the Dryads had been holding back, In the simulation we watched, the Dryads we overpowered and soon the kobolds too, such that only Dark Elves and Dark Forces remained and conflicted against each other in a mostly balanced fight.

This was a computerized simulation and they said they had used this many times and the Dryads also survived and flourished in some results. The purpose of this simulation for us to see was to show how dynamic actions affect outcomes and that things can change in the game.

This gives characters, groups, and guilds the options to push into an area and work to change the outcome to compete against forces and oversee materials.

The idea of the Call to raise Halas is another example of this simulation.

That simulation will never be shown again. It was to help us understand how the game itself would work in the background while no one is in that area and also how our actions can affect outcome, giving us constant options to affect the game itself, and a tool to help them in planning and looking at how complex things can get.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Rumblebore

[Balandar]

That's freaking awesome. So looking forward to EQN!

[Nauto]

WOW. that is alot of juicy info luv it