Discussion So Is It Time For Something Like That?

[Elfosass]

So some of you might have noticed that for the past few months I was somewhat nowhere to be found. That's because I am under military training but that's another story. Now every other day they allow me to use my PC for 5 hours so that's around 25 developing hours a week. I feel the need to code my ideas. I am not afraid of failure.

 

This server week contain the experience I gained throughout the years as an mmo player but a developer too.

 

So what is the idea. Well l2 is a very old game while being ahead of the curve too And that's why it was so successful. Now people want some other stuff too and I'm willing to give them that. That also my be my last try to open a server and that's why I made this topic. Cuz even if one guy on the forum wants me to complete it I will do.

 

I honestly hope I can launch the project on the week of Easter. Enough talky talky Let's get to the juicy stuff.

 

What I like and what I don't.

The chronicle will probably be interlude as acis is the Shit or h5 but heavily modified with many things like certificates attributes and even kamaels removed. We will get out of control if I include those things.

 

L2 has a lot of non playable classes. I don't like that at all and I will change it.

 

Classes I won't really edit:

Phoenix knight

Hell knight

Dreadnought

Duelist

Adventurer

Sagittarius

Archmage

Soultaker

Eva's Templar

Wind rider

Moonlight sentinel

Mystic muse

Shillen Templar

Ghost hunter

Ghost sentinel

Storm screamer

Titan

Grand khavatari

 

Classes I will edit:

Hierophant

Cardinal

Sword muse

Eva's saint

Spectral dancer

Shillien saint

Dominator

Maestro

Fortune seeker

 

Classes I will rework:

Arcana lord

Elemental master

Spectral masTer

Doomcryer

 

Every change will take place for the sake of balance and fun.

 

Buffs

Let's make them simple. Let me explain the flaws of the buff system. The buffs are way too many. I do get the fact that you like them though.so do I. Let's make them less of a pain to get.

 

By the use of the /buffs command you will open A menu with all the buffs in the game. You will pick the ones you want to get and then you will simply get a single skill which upon activating it you will get the effects of the buff you chose on the menu. So simple.

 

The towns.

 

L2 has too many towns for the players it hosts nowadays. We wanna make you feel warm and cozy Not like the last of the Mohicans.

Only Aden and giran will be activated and rest will serve another purpose. Note that there is no retail store in towns. All the rooms will become houses for the players but this will be explained later.

 

The application.

 

I do get that people can't always be in front of their PC and that's okay. I respect that. For that matter an Android application will be coded by me. Players will get rewards for downloading it, rating it and watching ads in it but the real reward is the app itself.

 

What do you get in it?

 

Chat.

You can chat using the app with the clan ally and all chat but also on the remote chat (red ) while using the app.

 

Auction house.

Private stores are so 2000 and late. Community board will host an auction house for that matter. However by using the app you will be able to sell buy and see listing of the in game community board on the go.

 

Farm.

Haha yeah it is kinda funny but look. We get that you can't farm all day On the PC. It is just boring some times. Well your Android will do just fine. On an arcade like RPG sold simulated fight you will be able to farm mobs on your phone using your ingame character.

 

Pvp.

OK this one might take me the most to finish but it worths. You won't be the only one using the app. Other players will too. Why not fight each other? So on a RPG turn by turn style game your will be able to compete each other using ingame skills And stats of your player. The victories will count as pvps and app kills And you will get rewarded for them. All the damage you deal depends on your gear and stats.

 

More features like drop calculator armory and more will be added too.

 

 

Before I move on introducing you to the rest of the story I wanna have some feedback from you guys.

 

Sincerely yours,

Elfocrash

[Epiquin]

Android PvP is a bit too ambitious.

Don't get caught by your own enthusiasm which has a risk of dying. 

 

@ Towns - fair enough. Generally that's what happens anyway - people congregate in some area. Naturally it happens whereever the activity is the highest. lvl 40-56s and lvl 70-75s were lvling walls because of the EXP required so people would group up in places with adequate mob, quest levels. Markets naturally arose where the demand for soulshots was.

 

@ Buffs - agree generally. But what are you going to do? Slam 7 buffs into 1? So if someone loses a buff its like losing 7? Spreading the effects as passive makes more sense.

 

@ Classes - IMO classes are archaic and I would move away from them entirely. Having classless system opens up a lot more opportunities. But it might be too ambitious to do alongside developing other features.

 

@ Seems like the larger focus is on a standalone application. Ironically that was the endgoal of L2jserver in the first place - a standalone game based on L2jserver server code with a custom client.

But IMO that's just taking it waaaay too far.

[Elfosass]

Thanks for the reply.

 

First and foremost let me explain that the app is the first idea to be completed thats why it seems that the focus is on that. When I finish with the server itself it will look like a minor addition.

 

About the classes yeah I wanted to have way less of them but you know the community. They just won't handle it.

[Epiquin]

Just a thought, if you are so enthusiastic, have you considered something that could substitute PVE? I mean, PVE is necessary - you have plenty of occasions when there isn't enough players in one place to create content (hence why events/sieges are so popular, because more people are involved), so you need some form of a past time. But the majority of PvE content is is AFKable; or people want it to be - because /attack ing mobs is not very engaging.

 

EVE Online has exploration sites for example. You look for the site, and you go through the various obstacles and puzzles, and there are cans (equivalent to chests) which can have rare items.  For people who are skilled and fast at exploration it can be quite profitable.

 

I think in general there should be a much lower mob density - so that people who want to mindlessly farm mobs must fight for their spot. This drives conflict and creates war and competition. And if there are few enough mobs then maybe people will just stop concentrating on farm all the time. I understand that game progress has to be had for players to be interested, but IMO if its directly proportional to the amount of hours they spend slashing mobs the server just turns into a NASCAR race. This is bad for everyone, people who are ahead will get bored with little competition and few people who can oppose them,, and those who are behind on levels will just get stomped. 

 

I guess the real question is whether competition is a real motivator - it seems like so many people are risk averse and prefer prearranged fights which are "fair". Ironic considering how olympiad randomly places 1 class against another, when they are not equal, and people just accept it.

 

The real issue must be that people just cant think for themselves and would rather have the game do everything for them...

[Elfosass]

I couldn't agree more but here is the thing. Then we get way off l2 and the community most probably won't be able tell handle all that information. Truth to be told I can code any feature I want and I do have several ideas of how to auto feed players with new information but will they be hungry enough to digest it?

[Epiquin]

I think if its done intelligently it has potential to be digestible. 

 

I recall (again) on EVE online http://community.eveonline.com/news/dev-blogs/opportunities-abound-the-new-player-experience 

 

Previously EVE:O had a very very shit new player experience - the game itself is huge and its difficult to get around. The previous NPE focused on tutorials and missions. But the game is a Sandbox. The consequence was that the tutorial never left new players ready to play the sandbox. Instead, players focused on missions (quests) because that was how the tutorial was set up. So out of all new players who finished the tutorials ~50% ended up doing quests for the majority of their time during the game. ~10% quit the game. And only about 40% played the game the way it was meant to be played.

 

You are right - some people will never go out and explore the limits of the game or the features you set up - not unless in the first 5 minutes they are told what they can do.

 

More importantly the link describes a more abstract way to introduce game concepts to players.

 

 

In the case of L2 i think the problem is more psychological and largely due to cowardice and lack of willingness to risk and compete. With the advent of private servers players understood how close they can get to the development team. Devs figured if they follow what players tell them then half the job is done. From this, players had influence on how the game is shaped. Because of this they could project power ingame - if they know how the game is setup they have an advantage. Obviously introducing new ways to play removes this advantage. 

 

Basically, the tantrum people throw when you go full custom is just a machination to force you (the dev) to give players advantage and a foothold in the ingame power struggle. 

 

I think the real development challenge is to

1) encourage players go out of towns and fight on non prearranged fights and conflicts

2) encourage players to risk EVERYTHING

 

The understanding of game mechanics should flow naturally from those and no explanation that needs to be digestible should be needed.

Edited February 21, 2015 by Epiquin

[geokiller]

So some of you might have noticed that for the past few months I was somewhat nowhere to be found. That's because I am under military training but that's another story. Now every other day they allow me to use my PC for 5 hours so that's around 25 developing hours a week. I feel the need to code my ideas. I am not afraid of failure.

 

 

omg military made you a man!!! 

gelaei o kosmos

Edited February 22, 2015 by geokiller

[Elfosass]

omg military made you a man!!! 

gelaei o kosmos

afou den ksereis agglika giati grafeis?

[geokiller]

afou den ksereis agglika giati grafeis?

gia na xei na leei o antras 

[Ayami-]

well, adding some new call attacking skills on the "crap" classes could be awesome

[Elfosass]

well, adding some new call attacking skills on the "crap" classes could be awesome

Today on previews I'm probably gonna announce my server. The design on paper is 14 pages though and I'm still not finished

[Ayami-]

Waiting to check it out, custom lover.. So count me in

[Elfosass]

It's already on previews. Today I'm gonna add some screenshots.

[Karasu]

[Tessa]

You doing that because it's a H5 server, right? :lol: