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Lore: What We Know So Far

Hello everyone! I recently responded to a post concerning the lack of lore out there as of now, especially in regards to creating RP backstories. I just wanted to add what I believe I know so far through the information already out there through interviews and information on this website. I'm just going to copy and paste what I stated the other post:



The only thing for sure that could be considered “lore” is that there were once civilizations in the now “blank and bleak” world (on release). Also it is stated that you are coming from something along the lines of your “home country” (or something of that nature) to recreate civilization in this land. Here is a link to an interview/podcast with Mr. Sharif:

Begin at about 26:00 to really get the information on some lore: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIVnt8SDdrY

Outside of that, if you go to the Kickstarter page it gives brief description of the races:

Also on that page, there is a GIF of some class that you will see. In that GIF the fighter is somewhat Middle Eastern looking. I would guess the first Human sub-race (Kaelar) is much more European looking. So my guess would be that the second sub-race of Humans (Vaelune) will resemble “Redguards” from The Elder Scrolls Series. But I do imagine there is customization options that can make both sub-races look similar in some ways, but each sub-race will provide different race bonuses/negatives as well as “lore”.

The second sub-race of Orc sounds a bit hard to pin down exactly, as well as the second sub-race of Dwarves. The first sub-race of Orc (Ren’Kai) seems to be the stereotypical Orc. The second sub-race of Orcs (Vek) is much more complex to pin, but from their description they are much more “Shamanistic” in nature and I am sure their racial bonuses/negatives will reflect that.

Also it has been quasi-official that the first sub-race of Dwarves (Dunir) will be the usual “mountain Dwarves” that are usually represented in RPG games and Tolkien lore. The second sub-race of Dwarves (Nikua) is actually a “tropical dwarf”. You can find a picture of them in the concept art. They look similar to their mountain-dwelling brethren, but will surely have a different culture and mechanically different race bonuses/negatives.

In regards to the Elves it is pretty clear that there will be your “High Elves” (Empyrean) and “Wood Elves” (Py’rai).

If you go to that Kickstarter page and read the races’ descriptions, and take into consideration that there was once civilizations here before, you should have a somewhat decent starting point for your characters’ backstories and development for RP.

I hope this helps!

Comments

  • Sound like the Py’rai were some thing across of a " Wood Elf " and a Dryad, or eather one. Or I'm wrong here?, some concept art would help in pre-rp devopment.

    -Ravossel
  • You may be on to something there with the twist of Dryad there, in a sense. Wood Elves themselves tend to just be elves living in a forest setting rather than "high civilization". Perhaps these elves have not only lived there for generations, but also have become more connected with the forests. I believe this is a possibility in regards to racial bonuses that they may be given. I think we could see more of a Dryad/Druidic nature in the race itself through bonuses and maybe racial skills/augments. Only time will tell though, but it is a possibility that they have an inert "nature magic".
  • *A nod*

    Like prohaps not all the Elfs were able to exit to safety, with the rest of their race. They ended up hiding deep in the forests for safety. That mixed with countless amount of years led to them looking more akin to Drydas, but still I feel that concept art work would shed light up countless strands of lore for us to build upon.

    -Ravossel
  • Im really hoping i can make a very short burly orc so i can just run around pretending to be a goblin
  • My guess for racial bonuses would be:
    Kaelar => bonus to Tank and general crafting and building secondary skill -Imperial humans.
    Vaelune => bonus to fighter and trade secondary skill - mercantile humans, nomad.
    Empyrean => bonus to mage and building or enchantment secondary skill - clearly high elves
    Pyrai => bonus to ranger or summoner and foraging secondary skill -clearly wood elves, some added plant magic.
    Renkei => bonus to Rogue or tank and loot or siegecraft secondary skill -Orc but note there are no factions so these are 'civilised orcs'.
    Vek => bonus to Cleric or summoner and enchantment secondary skill - less robust green skins, city goblins.
    Dunin => bonus to tank and crafting weapons secondary skill -Dwarves.
    Nikua => bonus to Rogue or bard and farming or potions secondary skill - Almost hobbits/ gnomes but forest not farm. Maybe both. Tanned, tattooed and tropical. Still a dwarf in battle. If you have played a hobbit or halfling you're really a dwarf with more dodge and gile. An unpredictable ball of spiked armour.


    Its generally the classic city versus country split in all cases.
  • [quote quote=22886]Im really hoping i can make a very short burly orc so i can just run around pretending to be a goblin

    [/quote]
    There is art of a goblin like character or NPC. Probably Vek are goblin like.
  • It looks from the nice concept art that they have been driven through the portal. Let the world burn and then returned expecting the denizens that drove them out have eaten each other over the ages but some went dormant instead. Oups.

    The three key Questions then are :
    1. What starting resources do you start with coming into the world. Does the portal only allow flesh and blood or do you get starting tools? Are we punching wood or kitted out? Not quite arriving naked (get your naked dwarves elsewhere) but only light clothing, some tent cloth and maybe a spell book.
    My preference would be a low technology start, Branches and shards of stone. But a fast progression from there. That raises the second question.

    2. Does everyone start at the same portal and is it near the Node? If it's too close to the node you will get one super node and little else. Ideally it should be at the junction of three areas of influence equidistant from all three nodes. That way people with go different directions and build different cultures fast.

    3. Do people entering the game late spawn from the same portal or a new portal to get the wilderness node experience? That raises the additional question whether it's a hand built open world or a procedurally generated world (that can work without voxels ). How big can the world save be? This relates to how fast people spread out in the world. Too fast a growth in the number of nodes could mean slow node progression due to low population. But stopping people in their tracks from founding their own node/ town would draw agro.

    It will be a challenge either way. I have done some archaeology. Made stone blades. Starting low technology and moving up fast is fun. The minecraft generation will expect that. You could cater to the WOW folks that expect a starting inventory by adding a diverging quest path that takes you to a lightly protected cache of weapons.

    It would also be fun to add racial and class starting 'blueprints' for low technology weapons so a starting Aela (humans) starts off able to make a simple shard dagger, a Kaivek (Orcs) a big spear, a Pyrian (elves) can quickly craft a lavalin, and a Dunzenkell (Dwarves) knows how to craft a mace. This way early on everybody looks and fights differently.
  • [quote quote=23196]
    Does everyone start at the same portal and is it near the Node? If it’s too close to the node you will get one super node and little else. Ideally it should be at the junction of three areas of influence equidistant from all three nodes. That way people with go different directions and build different cultures fast.
    [/quote]

    This was asked as a question on one of the dev team QA sessions, and they said that they were debating between having race locked starting portals, or giving people the choice between all the different starting portals. It seems like they were leaning more toward the choice option. I have not heard word on that since.
  • [quote quote=23196]It looks from the nice concept art that they have been driven through the portal. Let the world burn and then returned expecting the denizens that drove them out have eaten each other over the ages but some went dormant instead. Oups.

    The three key Questions then are :
    1. What starting resources do you start with coming into the world. Does the portal only allow flesh and blood or do you get starting tools? Are we punching wood or kitted out? Not quite arriving naked (get your naked dwarves elsewhere) but only light clothing, some tent cloth and maybe a spell book.
    My preference would be a low technology start, Branches and shards of stone. But a fast progression from there. That raises the second question.

    2. Does everyone start at the same portal and is it near the Node? If it’s too close to the node you will get one super node and little else. Ideally it should be at the junction of three areas of influence equidistant from all three nodes. That way people with go different directions and build different cultures fast.

    3. Do people entering the game late spawn from the same portal or a new portal to get the wilderness node experience? That raises the additional question whether it’s a hand built open world or a procedurally generated world (that can work without voxels ). How big can the world save be? This relates to how fast people spread out in the world. Too fast a growth in the number of nodes could mean slow node progression due to low population. But stopping people in their tracks from founding their own node/ town would draw agro.

    It will be a challenge either way. I have done some archaeology. Made stone blades. Starting low technology and moving up fast is fun. The minecraft generation will expect that. You could cater to the WOW folks that expect a starting inventory by adding a diverging quest path that takes you to a lightly protected cache of weapons.

    It would also be fun to add racial and class starting ‘blueprints’ for low technology weapons so a starting Aela (humans) starts off able to make a simple shard dagger, a Kaivek (Orcs) a big spear, a Pyrian (elves) can quickly craft a lavalin, and a Dunzenkell (Dwarves) knows how to craft a mace. This way early on everybody looks and fights differently.

    [/quote]

    I believe they said they were going to have it where you can choose which of the four portals you use, instead of the original idea of it being based on race. This is so you can play with friends early on as the portals will be quite a distance from each other and it's not suggested to make such a long, dangerous journey at the start just to play with friends who have chosen another race. I believe that this is how it will be implemented.

    And from all the D&D and Pathfinder references, I believe they would do something along the lines of you getting "kits" appropriate to your starting class and race. But that is just a guess.
  • [quote quote=21929]some concept art would help in pre-rp devopment.

    -Ravossel

    [/quote]

    So would some base lore.
  • A hybrid start is possible with an option to start with the kit or start with nothing, hard core mode. Then you just add three or four low technology recipes: sticks, stones, scrap metal and a few random plants and you get the starting kit everyone else had. Wurm online has a starting kit but you can put things in a chest and get stuck without them in a few cases (I call it encumbrance online) so they also have a the rummaging function that allows you to get iron stone and sticks to craft a very very crude and slow pick and axe that then allows you to get started again.

    Some other games have the starting kit as tutorial rewards but I have yet to see a game where that worked first go. Particularly if some idiot like me skipped a part of the tutorial because it's all obvious then had to go back because I had no starting tool for one crafting or skill set. Derp.

    Markus Notch Persson's innovation of starting everyone with an empty inventory and no tutorial really revolutionised things. Yet most minecraft mods give you a starting inventory item or two, a guide book or a world generation tweak like a special mob, custom villager or structure that is lootable or harvestable or just shows you how something works.

    Make the starting kit an option and add a simple recipe for the starting kit or something one level less effective than the starting kit that leads beyond the starting kit and I'll be happy.

    I can model a stone axe, adze or fire drill.
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