Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Pet Functionality
Pet Functionality
One of my greatest fears about a game, that announces that it will have a system of breeding and taming, is that this system will simply be there to look at.
“But it can’t break the game!” Exactly, but it also can’t be meaningless?
Look at Aion Online or Guild Wars 2, Aion’s Pets normally had some form of Functionality to them - Whether carrying items or alerting to enemies. Guild wars 2 although, their pets are just there to look pretty. (miniatures)
What do I hope for AoC Pets? NOTE: Mounts I consider a “PET” (Therefore something like riding it which is unique to the mount class, would not be included below.)
Categories of pets, You could enable the rarer categories to be **reward** only versus pay to obtain.
Availability to be structured based around its tier
Life.
Categories/Structure covered below.
Take this *rough* system
Common<Rare<Special<Myth
They will be able to obtain skills from any previous rank.
Common pets, Dogs and Cats are available through cash shop. They would have basic skills such as resource finder and or enemy alert. Pigs, could be purchased with a small saddlebag to carry a small amount of items for their master.
Common-Level skills: (Examples)
Resource finding, Shows you where a resource is
Hostile Alert, Tells you nearby monsters/players that are flagged or “hostile” are nearby (through sounds and or panicked gestures.)
Able to wear small equipment (4 slot saddlebags and such.)
Rare Pets, Wild animals, In the field monsters, are pets you have to tame or purchase for a large amount of in-game currency.
Rare-Level Skills: (Examples)
Foraging, Able to seek our a resource and bring it back to you. (Different type of pets are better at different resources, bird pets could find seeds or small meat from killing prey.)
Protection, Your pet could take a hit for you if it would be fatal, killing the pet instead. (If you wish pets to perma die this would be a way for them to die, or it could just despawn them. You would have to take them somewhere to heal.)
Scouting, Your pet leaves your side to search in a large radius around you for any points of interest. (Dungeon portals or rarities in the field.)
Special Pets, Event obtained. Dynamic events are hopefully going to be something this game will want to present, say you’re walking through the valley of glimmering cascadence, and you come upon a druid woman tending to the land. She asks you to assist by fetching fresh water, herbs, seeds and more. At the end of this natural event, the land is blooming and she is happily dancing among the trees. She presents to you a egg, that hatches into a small griffon.
Special-Level Skills:
Fighting: Your pet will aid you in combat, nothing large, but being able to duck in to nip at the opponent, or attack them. Being able to die as well.
Hunting: Your pets will seek out and kill creatures if you allow them too, they need to have a storage bag equipped and will carry/hold all of the stuff they kill then bring it back to you when the bag is full.
Search: Put a specific item in a creature with this skills, bag, and they will go and find you more of that specific resource. (within a radius around you.)
Myth: Dragons, Phoenixes, Fairies (If you choose to have the tinkerbell sized fairies.) These will be prized company to hold.
Myth-Level Skills:
Advanced Combat: Creature can use magical abilities and spells, if a humanoid statured creature can wield armor and weapons crafted for them. (would need to craft or purchase for this pet.)
Dynamic Actions: Small baby dragon and you versus large dragon. Baby Dragon lets out a loud cry that causes the big dragon to back off briefly.
Mounts should be able to follow the player if the player decides to dismount (via a command.) if not the mount stays. Your horse should be able to fight with you as well if threatened. Whether by stomping an enemy into the ground or kicking it away from you. Creatures should feel ALIVE in this game, rather than stoic *yes I exist but i’m simply a mesh that you ride on*
LIFE:
Simply put, add some small animations or reactions pets can have to a situation. Give us interactions as well, do we have a small puppy? Let us carry the small puppy. Are we in a town with a puddle there, have the puppy *notice* the puddle and have it trot over to lick and lap at it. Make us have to feed and care for these pets as well, I own three dogs IRL and I feel like I’m abusing my online pets when I don’t have to feed them or care for them. But don’t make it too annoying to do, my dogs can go 12 hours without eating after a good meal. I don’t need to feed them every two hours.
Final Statement:
You find a wild bull-like creature in the field, It’s a non-hostile which means it is easily tameable, but you’ve never seen a creature like it? You get out the rope you were saving for that dungeon exploration later today, then interact with the creature, tossing the rope around its neck and tying it as you jump on the creatures back. Then it’s off, charging across the land.
A week later and you and your new companion Stock, trudge down a road in which you see a group of bandits had build a blockade. You command Stock to charge, he goes barreling down the road then smashes into the barricade, dealing massive damage to it. You lead him in a wide arc then command him to charge again, the barricade goes flying through the air destroyed by a man and his very special bull.
One of my greatest fears about a game, that announces that it will have a system of breeding and taming, is that this system will simply be there to look at.
“But it can’t break the game!” Exactly, but it also can’t be meaningless?
Look at Aion Online or Guild Wars 2, Aion’s Pets normally had some form of Functionality to them - Whether carrying items or alerting to enemies. Guild wars 2 although, their pets are just there to look pretty. (miniatures)
What do I hope for AoC Pets? NOTE: Mounts I consider a “PET” (Therefore something like riding it which is unique to the mount class, would not be included below.)
Categories of pets, You could enable the rarer categories to be **reward** only versus pay to obtain.
Availability to be structured based around its tier
Life.
Categories/Structure covered below.
Take this *rough* system
Common<Rare<Special<Myth
They will be able to obtain skills from any previous rank.
Common pets, Dogs and Cats are available through cash shop. They would have basic skills such as resource finder and or enemy alert. Pigs, could be purchased with a small saddlebag to carry a small amount of items for their master.
Common-Level skills: (Examples)
Resource finding, Shows you where a resource is
Hostile Alert, Tells you nearby monsters/players that are flagged or “hostile” are nearby (through sounds and or panicked gestures.)
Able to wear small equipment (4 slot saddlebags and such.)
Rare Pets, Wild animals, In the field monsters, are pets you have to tame or purchase for a large amount of in-game currency.
Rare-Level Skills: (Examples)
Foraging, Able to seek our a resource and bring it back to you. (Different type of pets are better at different resources, bird pets could find seeds or small meat from killing prey.)
Protection, Your pet could take a hit for you if it would be fatal, killing the pet instead. (If you wish pets to perma die this would be a way for them to die, or it could just despawn them. You would have to take them somewhere to heal.)
Scouting, Your pet leaves your side to search in a large radius around you for any points of interest. (Dungeon portals or rarities in the field.)
Special Pets, Event obtained. Dynamic events are hopefully going to be something this game will want to present, say you’re walking through the valley of glimmering cascadence, and you come upon a druid woman tending to the land. She asks you to assist by fetching fresh water, herbs, seeds and more. At the end of this natural event, the land is blooming and she is happily dancing among the trees. She presents to you a egg, that hatches into a small griffon.
Special-Level Skills:
Fighting: Your pet will aid you in combat, nothing large, but being able to duck in to nip at the opponent, or attack them. Being able to die as well.
Hunting: Your pets will seek out and kill creatures if you allow them too, they need to have a storage bag equipped and will carry/hold all of the stuff they kill then bring it back to you when the bag is full.
Search: Put a specific item in a creature with this skills, bag, and they will go and find you more of that specific resource. (within a radius around you.)
Myth: Dragons, Phoenixes, Fairies (If you choose to have the tinkerbell sized fairies.) These will be prized company to hold.
Myth-Level Skills:
Advanced Combat: Creature can use magical abilities and spells, if a humanoid statured creature can wield armor and weapons crafted for them. (would need to craft or purchase for this pet.)
Dynamic Actions: Small baby dragon and you versus large dragon. Baby Dragon lets out a loud cry that causes the big dragon to back off briefly.
Mounts should be able to follow the player if the player decides to dismount (via a command.) if not the mount stays. Your horse should be able to fight with you as well if threatened. Whether by stomping an enemy into the ground or kicking it away from you. Creatures should feel ALIVE in this game, rather than stoic *yes I exist but i’m simply a mesh that you ride on*
LIFE:
Simply put, add some small animations or reactions pets can have to a situation. Give us interactions as well, do we have a small puppy? Let us carry the small puppy. Are we in a town with a puddle there, have the puppy *notice* the puddle and have it trot over to lick and lap at it. Make us have to feed and care for these pets as well, I own three dogs IRL and I feel like I’m abusing my online pets when I don’t have to feed them or care for them. But don’t make it too annoying to do, my dogs can go 12 hours without eating after a good meal. I don’t need to feed them every two hours.
Final Statement:
You find a wild bull-like creature in the field, It’s a non-hostile which means it is easily tameable, but you’ve never seen a creature like it? You get out the rope you were saving for that dungeon exploration later today, then interact with the creature, tossing the rope around its neck and tying it as you jump on the creatures back. Then it’s off, charging across the land.
A week later and you and your new companion Stock, trudge down a road in which you see a group of bandits had build a blockade. You command Stock to charge, he goes barreling down the road then smashes into the barricade, dealing massive damage to it. You lead him in a wide arc then command him to charge again, the barricade goes flying through the air destroyed by a man and his very special bull.
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Comments
It would add realism to it. Although, that would mean that ... you would have to chose your "Tamed Creature" wisely - Otherwise you'll have a "Huge Entourage" following you xD. And the Example seems as though that will be entirely based on the Devs' Story-Telling ; in which case, they'd have to ... "assemble" a story (via Lore or other elements) - and there's a bunch-of-ways to do that.
I did get some Pokemon Vibes though xD ( its a compliment )
However, the only Flaw I see is the Cash Shop. If These same Creatures could be obtained via Cash Shop ... that would, imo, not that appealing in most eyes - almost discouraging.
The only other thing i could think of would be <ul> other ways</ul> of Obtaining these Various Pets. In other words, as opposed to Taming ... why not " <em>befriending</em> "? What if some Creatures are intelligent enough to Understand Human Speech ? or other "Native Tongues" ? This would .... actually give them a Reason with of Traveling with you - a way of ... "<em>Humanizing them</em>" .
Just a thought. But Nice :3
I hope to see breeding as important as the other ones, hopefully it will be possible to breed pets that help other professions, for example you breed a pet that helps the blacksmith in their job, and you need the blacksmith to forge you some items for breeding, so all jobs are connected and need each other.
Same with warriors and explorers of course, you had great ideas, hopefully we will see pets being useful in different situations.
But no cash shop for breeding/pets (looking at you bdo)
.-. puppies and kittens.
Anything else would be world-obtainable.
For example a cat like Garfield or a dog like Odi.
Basically, like you suggested, the player was able to tame almost any mob they came across. You see that panther stalking in the field over there? Jump on him, he's yours! You see that giant spider boss that killed you last time you ran this dungeon? If you kill the nearby shamans, they'll drop a book that lets you tame him and ride on him!
You see that giant ice wolf that this dungeon boss summoned to kill you? You can jump on him too!
However, as time went on it got kind of repetitive and boring. Creatures had inherent speeds, abilites, and buffs - so it stopped being about how cool your pet was, and became more about the stats.
While I really love the idea of just jumping on creatures that you like, I think that mounts shouldn't have utility besides moving you around - even then, I'm against the idea of some creatures being inherently better than others. You <em>should</em> be able to breed for speed, but you definitely shouldn't be able to tame for it.
The pets would be mainly cosmetic, certain classes, if they choose the "pet skill" in their skill tree, would be able to issue commands to the pet, sit, stay, guard, attack etc.
So say a "Fire Mage" can summon a fire pet, which would be your standard MMO fire elemental type pet, he could buy a player tamed bear, and then would have a "Fire Bear" etc.
Why not have fire elemental WITH bear .3.
Imagine being chased by a bear and fire elemental.
The last Q&A they mentioned that there will be non-combat and combat pets (not sure if combat pets are the summoner's creatures or not). I think it would be fantastic if there is a way to breed and create unique combat pets.
I imagine if EVERYONE ran around with combat pets, they wouldn't be as special. Perhaps taking summoner as a subclass can unlock that ability.
Personally I would like an in-depth stat and management page for pets that include stat point distribution and AI pre-sets with the ability to make your own.
I'm probably not going to get what i want on this one, but Ive been looking for a game that spent as much time on the pets as it has on the players, ya know?