Libraries and Scribes

ArchivedUser

As a writer, I have always enjoyed reading lore that is gathered through books and scrolls that can be found randomly in the world. My questions/ideas are as followed:

-Players/Guilds able to have libraries where they can store found books and scrolls that hold pieces of lore in the world. They can be exchanged or borrowed by other players interested in learning more, or to help guildies fill in their lore blocks about a certain subject.

-Player Written Books: This one is more for the nerds, like myself, who take time out of their day inventing stories for a game they are interested in. I would really like to see something implemented that will allow us writers to record our journals/books in this world. This would be similar to recording history, where we can tell of the epic battles between guilds and rival nodes and the consequences that follow with leadership decisions. Plus! This will give some credit to the players who worked hard in a node, but either left it due to a siege, or were unable to complete objectives to further the node development. 

I would love to see any feedback or suggestions the community sees or would like to share as well!

ArchivedUser

Kesarakk said:

As a writer, I have always enjoyed reading lore that is gathered through books and scrolls that can be found randomly in the world. My questions/ideas are as followed:

-Players/Guilds able to have libraries where they can store found books and scrolls that hold pieces of lore in the world. They can be exchanged or borrowed by other players interested in learning more, or to help guildies fill in their lore blocks about a certain subject.

-Player Written Books: This one is more for the nerds, like myself, who take time out of their day inventing stories for a game they are interested in. I would really like to see something implemented that will allow us writers to record our journals/books in this world. This would be similar to recording history, where we can tell of the epic battles between guilds and rival nodes and the consequences that follow with leadership decisions. Plus! This will give some credit to the players who worked hard in a node, but either left it due to a siege, or were unable to complete objectives to further the node development. 

I would love to see any feedback or suggestions the community sees or would like to share as well!

As a fellow lore lover this is my idea of heaven so I would love to have this backed some way  

ArchivedUser

@Kesarakk I think this is a great idea. I haven't seen anything regarding it yet officially, but in a game where the balance of power is shifting, cities are raised then razed, and unique politics occur on a per-server basis, I couldn't imagine not having something like this.

Imagine 10 years from now, the collected histories of a server, from the first metropolis build to the last dragon slain, recorded by scribes and immortalized forever in game. Awesome!

I'm certain the community will fill this role regardless of game systems implemented, but I think we can both agree it would be amazing if the devs included support for history and scribing in-game. 

They could even link this to the achievement system. "Read x history books about your realm". I'd certainly do it!

ArchivedUser

I've yet to leave a lore book unread.  

CylverRayne

ArchivedUser

It would fit really well into the theme of the game. We as players are creating our own stories, so why shouldn't someone be writing them down?

ArchivedUser

Lets start now we dont we the history of ashes of creations forum ^^

ArchivedUser

Please don't force us to be victims of books.  I can't read.

ArchivedUser

I absolutely love this idea. I totally want to have my character use a journal.

ArchivedUser

Would be nice to have some lore books with information leading to hidden quests or rare treasure hunts

ArchivedUser

Yes this!
Readable player written stories....  I'd be so tempted to create a 'casanunda' dwarf alt!

'Second day of summer, swift made exit from boudoir window as husband of Mrs P. returned unexpectedly. Landed in thistle patch, luckily this time I was fully clothed'

And news! Oh to see a caravan and run to pick up a paper! Though this latter feature might have to be more formally arranged, i.e. players submit storie to node paper, and once they hit x number then papers go out around the world. If traveling by cart then the further out they go, the older and more out of date is the news...

ArchivedUser

This appeals to the reading geek in me on oh-so-many levels! I must admit I do have some concerns with player-created journals; I mean, let's assume the player "Tacos" decides he/she wants to just record a load of bad fart and poop jokes, for instance; how would one separate out what's "good" from what's "bad"? 

Also, from a technical standpoint, let's talk about the (dear gods!) unholy amount of memory that would need to be included for this to work. So ... then, guild libraries? Personal libraries? So on and so forth? Should these libraries be instanced, to keep the memory load outta the rest of the game? Can I share my personal library with others?

Lots to contemplate here, but I absolutely love the concept!

ArchivedUser

Isende said:

This appeals to the reading geek in me on oh-so-many levels! I must admit I do have some concerns with player-created journals; I mean, let's assume the player "Tacos" decides he/she wants to just record a load of bad fart and poop jokes, for instance; how would one separate out what's "good" from what's "bad"? 

Also, from a technical standpoint, let's talk about the (dear gods!) unholy amount of memory that would need to be included for this to work. So ... then, guild libraries? Personal libraries? So on and so forth? Should these libraries be instanced, to keep the memory load outta the rest of the game? Can I share my personal library with others?

Lots to contemplate here, but I absolutely love the concept!

I would assume that the memory used to store these libraries would be similar to the local files used to hold character and free hold information. Since those items can be saved in an open world environment I see no reason why this couldn't hold true with history and player journals.

ArchivedUser

You may be right in this; however, I'm thinking of things from a town/metropolis perspective. Let's say for instance that you and I and our guild start a camp, which becomes a village, which becomes a town, which becomes a city to later end up as a metropolis. By the time it's reached metropolis status, it's gained a lot of players, and say two of those players are prolific journalers. Just two. So figure in ... oh, let's say three days of daily journals. 

While the journals can be stored as, say, .txt files, they will eventually build up to be a bigger collection of .txt files than the amount of items in a freehold. That's what I'm thinking of; the mechanics of the memory may be the same, but the storage needs could easily become huge. Which is why my peabrain wandered toward some form of instanced library or archive ... just imagining a world rich with imaginative people who're all journaling is at the same time thrilling and technically daunting. 

Good thing I'm not a geek anymore, huh? This can easily be someone else's headache :-)

ArchivedUser

@Isende I see your point, and it does give a bit of a headache, but a solution might be simpler than you would think.

These journals would be owned by one player, stored via .txt file. When these journals are copied into another players inventory, that copy makes a .txt file on their computer. In essence, there could be thousands of copies of one journal entry, with minimal effort, being a simple transfer of data.

 Now I could be talking a load of crap. I'm good with computers, but not enough to hold any credit for programming. For all I know, what you are saying is accurate and the Intrepid team is looking at this comment like "This guy. lul."

Either way I hope it's a simple solution: As in one days worth of work, to add it to the game. 

ArchivedUser

@Kesarakk

Lols. I think the Fan-Stories Section of this Forum might want to have a Look at this Discussion >~<

I do like the idea of having a Mystery to the Lore; a neat little twist to the "Secret" purpose of this MMO - to find out what happened in the Past & discovery Hidden Secrets ... 

"That may forever change the fate of their Lives ... "

Lols, in particular, i due tend to accidentally get crafty in conjuring-up Stories about this. After all ... I did create one by accident when i was trying to explain something on another Discussion >.<. 

( Community Creations || Fan-Stories Section )

But I don't entirely agree for the Guild Possessing ownership. It add more Player Interaction, but it might ... beckon an " Elitest-Like Attitude " ? 

In any case, if there were any, I'd imagine to scattered Across many parts of MMO World.

Neat idea though

ArchivedUser

@Eragale

I apologize, I must have misspoken about the guild part. What I meant by the guild libraries, is an area to store these stories and journals. Maybe it could be seen as a private collection, but I view this game as open as the developers, so I didn't consider books/scrolls to be a kept secret for one guild. I meant it to be a place where all players could come by a guild hall to learn about events, both lore and history of nodes. I would really enjoy seeing random players stopping by and saying "We heard your library holds some stories about the early years of this Node, we would love to read some of it!" or "There is a creature that spawned in my Node, and it was taken care of in this Node, but your library is the only one that has the volume. Can we look it over?"

Though I do agree with you, there could be an ere of elitist jerk going on. I just didn't consider it.

ArchivedUser

Now look at this post that I just found: https://ashesofcreation.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/2239/town-node-building-library#latest

Im glad that others Got the idea too As Im on my phone currently it was more convenient to link instead of writing out the main point

ArchivedUser

@Kesarakk

Sounds a Bookeeper or Librarian Scenario

ArchivedUser

Kesarakk said:

@Isende I see your point, and it does give a bit of a headache, but a solution might be simpler than you would think.

These journals would be owned by one player, stored via .txt file. When these journals are copied into another players inventory, that copy makes a .txt file on their computer. In essence, there could be thousands of copies of one journal entry, with minimal effort, being a simple transfer of data.

 Now I could be talking a load of crap. I'm good with computers, but not enough to hold any credit for programming. For all I know, what you are saying is accurate and the Intrepid team is looking at this comment like "This guy. lul."

Either way I hope it's a simple solution: As in one days worth of work, to add it to the game. 

Actually, no, you're correct; it could be done the way your're talking about; however, that would open up security issues. If the game has the ability to store files on your computer, files that other players have written, then there exists also the possibility of hackers inserting malicious code in there. 

ArchivedUser

@Isende they are the reasons why we can't have nice things 

ArchivedUser

Kesarakk said:

@Isende they are the reasons why we can't have nice things 

Shall we hunt them down and abuse their poor bodies with damp flour-based whips?

ArchivedUser

Isende said:

Kesarakk said:

@Isende they are the reasons why we can't have nice things 

Shall we hunt them down and abuse their poor bodies with damp flour-based whips?

For starters, yes.

ArchivedUser

Isende said:

Kesarakk said:

@Isende they are the reasons why we can't have nice things 

Shall we hunt them down and abuse their poor bodies with damp flour-based whips?

Really, dear?  lol