Dragons!

ArchivedUser

We now know that there's going to be dragons given to kings and queens in-game! What I'm curious about is what type of dragons you guys think we'll see once the game comes out, and how we are going to achieve them.

Let me know what your thoughts on dragons are

ArchivedUser

I forgot to save the picture, but Steven put like a size comparison/concept art thingy up on the discord a few days ago (I hope that was allowed to be shared). He said the pictures where not the finished size, but it looked like it ranged from 5-7/8 meters tall- dragons and wyverns. As how to get it, you said it yourself "kings and queens", so I'd assume that they are given/lented out to the people controlling a metropolis/large city. Theres probably also gonna be some "you slayed the dragon and tamed its kiddies"-event.

Personally I always liked the serpents/wyverns from the WoW: Panda-expansion (my memory god:/), so one or two of them would be nice.
Question is, is this gonna be the "how to train your dragon" simulator?

ArchivedUser

I'd love it if you were able to tame and watch dragons grow up by your side, later on making it your battlecompanion. Something that I'm curious about is, if you end up loosing your position as a queen, will you end up losing your dragon too? The dragon in my opinion should be a mount/companion that you get permanently. It shows that you are or have been a very powerful person within the game, and that you are a force to be reckoned with.

ArchivedUser

I like the idea of dragons only being accessible to Queens / Kings / leaders of big nodes ect. Main reason is.. I think if everyone and their grandmas have a dragon, than its nothing to be excited about anymore and it becomes just another mount, like in WoW or FFXIV. nothing exciting about having a dragon there.

Also, I think if you lose your title as King/ Queen or Mayor ect.. you should totally lose the dragon. Dragons should be proud and intelligent beasts.. and as such, I would assume that its not so much that you would tame the dragon, but that it would allow you to ride it. If you are a King, or a Queen, it may simply deem you worthy.. but if you were to lose that title.. oh well, dragon is not your personal mount or pet.. It'll ride with the next worthy individual.

It would also be nice if you don't just Automatically gain a dragon mount if you become King. I think a series of quests / group quests should be performed for the Queen or King to prove worthy of the dragon.

ArchivedUser

[quote quote=1894]I like the idea of dragons only being accessible to Queens / Kings / leaders of big nodes ect. Main reason is.. I think if everyone and their grandmas have a dragon, than its nothing to be excited about anymore and it becomes just another mount, like in WoW or FFXIV. nothing exciting about having a dragon there.

Also, I think if you lose your title as King/ Queen or Mayor ect.. you should totally lose the dragon. Dragons should be proud and intelligent beasts.. and as such, I would assume that its not so much that you would tame the dragon, but that it would allow you to ride it. If you are a King, or a Queen, it may simply deem you worthy.. but if you were to lose that title.. oh well, dragon is not your personal mount or pet.. It’ll ride with the next worthy individual.

It would also be nice if you don’t just Automatically gain a dragon mount if you become King. I think a series of quests / group quests should be performed for the Queen or King to prove worthy of the dragon.

[/quote]

I can see where you're coming from in terms of loosing the drake. I just know that I personally would feel really sad if I lost my position and thus my drake, but perhaps that would help you feel motivated towards fighting for your position as queen, king etc. I totally agree that there should be some sort of questling attached to it, so that you don't just find it in your inventory all randomly, but actually feel emotionally connected to it and feel like you've earned it.

ArchivedUser

I agree with Darshx1.
For a dragon to remain something coveted, it must remain unique and rare.

You had a similar problem with emperorship in ESO.
It become something to trade with mates and help your mates get and then retain super powers as former emperor.
It became a question of....if you was in the largest most powerful guild...you got all the perks.
Which also made the most powerful guilds.....even more powerful and untouchable.
That kind of biased exclusivity ruins games IMHO.
You end up with a two tier game of haves....and those that will never have...and alienated, divided, resentful players.

I am happy kings and queens get dragons.

ArchivedUser

[quote quote=1893]I’d love it if you were able to tame and watch dragons grow up by your side, later on making it your battlecompanion. Something that I’m curious about is, if you end up loosing your position as a queen, will you end up losing your dragon too? The dragon in my opinion should be a mount/companion that you get permanently. It shows that you are or have been a very powerful person within the game, and that you are a force to be reckoned with.

[/quote]
If its only for holding the king/queen position people are probably just gonna take turns being it for a while, getting the mount then moving on. It would make more sense that its kinda like the "presidental limosine", you have it while you are in office.
Some other permutation of the dragon mount could then be permanent, it might not look as good/mighty but its still a dragon :)

ArchivedUser

Mixed feelings about the special dragon for king/queen position.
While it is really cool for those who love to fight for that position and be that snowflake,
there might also be players who are fed up with the hero/chosen role?(Often pre-destined to become that hero,following the fixed storypath)
Giving this cool mount to kings and queens kinda engraves that message that you have to be chosen in order to get something unique
And some players,like myself,simply have simpler goals;going on an adventure ,accompany players as their jolly minstrel.
But what good are titles without ingame trophy,so still,its pretty cool to have a king/queen dragon.
Also please give the player the choice to side with the wild dragons,joining the wild dragon matriarch in the war against the ruling king/queen.(would be the no-brainer choice i'd select ,even at the risk of getting eaten)

I think it might be worth exploring what goals bring the different types of players joy,
what motivates them to participate?
<img src="https://cdn.tutsplus.com/gamedev/authors/michael-james-williams/Diagram.png" alt="" />
A dragon for kings/qeens is very cool,but it is only rewarding for players with that specific goal of wanting to become king/queen;
It won't motivate nor add fun value for players with different goals & if they want that dragon they can either deal with it or focus on a goal that doesn't interest them.

ArchivedUser

[quote quote=1884]I forgot to save the picture, but Steven put like a size comparison/concept art thingy up on the discord a few days ago (I hope that was allowed to be shared). He said the pictures where not the finished size, but it looked like it ranged from 5-7/8 meters tall- dragons and wyverns. As how to get it, you said it yourself “kings and queens”, so I’d assume that they are given/lented out to the people controlling a metropolis/large city. Theres probably also gonna be some “you slayed the dragon and tamed its kiddies”-event.

Personally I always liked the serpents/wyverns from the WoW: Panda-expansion (my memory god:/), so one or two of them would be nice.
Question is, is this gonna be the “how to train your dragon” simulator?

[/quote]

I have the images you're talking about, though i'm not home now, i will try to remind myself to put them here when i will be back home by saturday night

ArchivedUser

@Tipsytoo Thats a clever system graphic. Nice work. Made me think.

The dragons could also have a dragon slayer artefact hiding away somewhere ?
There may even be things more scary than dragons.
Especially if you study the water temple video carefully.
;)

Theres a story there if you care to look...

ArchivedUser

Dragons have always been known as treasure hoarders,so I could see how they could have gained possession of one of the dragonslayers artifacts by ransacking a commander dragonslayer on the battlefield.
Dragons are probably smart enough that they know the best way to prevent a powerful artifact being used against them is to possess & hide it deep in their pile of treasures.
It might even be the means by which a player gets the option to betray the dragons,by returning the artifact to the dragon slayers.
Just like how they could side with the dragons by stealing an enchanted dragonslayer sword from the dragonslayer's keep.
Maybe the power a queen/king has over their dragon mount is because of an artifact that has the power to subdue them?
The shared graphic is a nice starting point to make sure all types of players can find rewarding stuffin the area of the game they enjoy.

More big and badass than dragons is hard ,but something that has always freaked me out and thatI find really scary are <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fGGz6d3vC4">leeches</a>. when I saw this vid I actually felt bad for that worm..
so glad there are no leeches of a size that we could be the victims