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Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
A World of Skills
ArchivedUser
Guest
It might already be too late in the game development, given the choices already made, but here are some ideas...
Imagine a game world where players have to hunt down the skills they want their characters to have. Where the initial skill for all players would be just a basic Punch (very weak) and, for everything else, they would need to learn from questing and interacting with the world.
There would be no pre-set classes and all skills would not be fully disclosed upon the start of the game (your skill list would have just 'Punch' in it).
To learn new skills, players would need to find teachers or masters (NPCs) in the world and either pay them money or run a few quests for them so you can learn the base version of that skill. This would apply to all skills in the game: active and passive skills, magic, melee, healing, tanking, crafting, movement, and so on.
All players could potentially have all skills in the game (if they hunt for them), but only a limited number can be equipped and used at any point in time. If the player equips more than one skill of the same school/type, they would earn a bonus on the skills of that school/type, incentivising specialisation when playing in groups. (kind of a 'soft' class system but allowing the player to chase and level up new skills and change their playstyle with the same character)
The world would have hundreds of skills to learn and find. Each with their own background story, big or small. Each skill would have its own XP bar and could level up, growing in power with use (indicating that the character gets more 'practice' in using it, like in real life).
Different regions of the world could have different skills to learn and skills could have synergies with other skills. Just imagine, in AoC, players would need to level up a node to be able to get the right NPCs there to teach them a good/rare skill. Dungeons could hide unique masters or bosses which might be a source of a new skill.
The easier skills, such as sword fighting or magical light can be learned from common NPCs in schools in most cities, but more powerful skills, like Meteor or Tornado would need to be learned from more difficult areas and going through harder/longer quests or quest lines.
Imagine that, for learning the Fireball skill, you would need to visit a village of fighting mages in the desert, find the local master in the Fireball art and run a few errands for him, which would actually be tasks that have some meaningful connection to that skill, such as observing and fighting fire-breathing lizards or challenge 5 different NPCs in the area, each one, when defeated, giving you a different tip on how to 'concentrate' and 'feel the fire'. When all are defeated, you go back to the Master and he 'puts it all together' teaching you the Fireball lvl 1 skill. This skill then just pops in your Skill list, so you can add to your action bar or hotkey.
Some other skills could only be obtained by going up in rank in certain NPC guilds or when you reach certain level of affiliation to a faction. The master of that faction/guild could then teach you that skill when you achieved that new rank.
You could also get some skills from fighting mobs that have that skill (your character would be learning it from 'observation'). Say, for example, you fight several bandits who Shield Bash you. If you have learned the basic Shield skill and fight enough mobs who Shield Bash you, you eventually learn it.
In this game, players would rely on the community/internet to learn about secret, fun or powerful skills and how to get them. Future versions of the game can launch a bunch of new skills with related quests and NPCs, and people would need to get back into the game to hunt for those.
Just imagine when you see another player use a fancy skill in battle that you didn't know about, this would be a conversation starter: "Where have you learned it? Where do I get this skill?". You would just have to have it. Players could also be incentivised to help other players get that skill by getting extra XP in that specific skill when they complete the same skill quest while they have a player without that skill in the same party. Skills could also be randomly learned from fighting a considerable time alongside other players in the same party, if they use that skill many times and your character has enough level in that skill school.
You could find out about different skills to learn and 'class builds' by reading in-game books or talking to a few teacher NPCs, but many other skills would need to be discovered in the world or via the community.
Even as the game would not have any 'hard' pre-set classes, the game could still have different races, with different starting stats, but all skills would be acquirable from the game world, by all players. (Although there could be some race-specific skills, acquirable from race-specific quests).
In MMORPGs, what most attracts me is the feeling of character growth. Getting new skills, new mounts, new gear, and becoming more powerful. Being able to do more, reach farther, kill bigger mobs with every hour I spend in the game. In real life, self-development takes years, it is frustrating and very hard. In a game, especially MMORPGs, developing yourself takes minutes and you get constant direction and positive feedback. If you can turn the whole game into a hunt into self-development, where you can hunt for better skills in the world, following stories related to those skills, and the masters behind them, they will mean something to you. And there will be a good reason for your friends and the community to help you, in showing you how to get their cool new skills while levelling up themselves in it. Maybe some skills would need two or more players to be acquired or even used (those would be powerful boss-fighting skills).
What do you think about it?
0
Comments
IS have said that there will be vertical and horizontal progression, so some of your skills may be unlocked through quest chains, discoveries, achievements etc.
Now, if I were able to modify your idea, I'd ask if you've ever played the original Guild Wars. GW had a system where you would get skills from certain quests, or you could get charges of a special skill that would steal skills from bosses or elite enemies that you defeat (you'd kill the boss with the skill on your bar, then you'd cast the skill on the boss to pull up a menu with a list of possible skills). This sounds very, very similar to aspects of the system you said you'd want. You could only learn specific skills from certain quests/bosses, and you could only learn skills from your own class. I feel like Intrepid could pull this off very well with both their skill and augment system. For example, as you level, you would gain some skills, and the main story quests would give you some skills as well. But then there could be separate quest lines designed to give you augments for said skills! If you choose a specific religion, maybe that religion will give you some quests which unlock augments for certain skills. Or you choose a Rogue subclass, you'd have to take certain Rogue-style quests. Things like that.
Stuff like this is what I try to get the Community to
discuss about. But I could never get many to discuss about it - to think outside the box. But when This MMO gets into Alpha / Beta ... And it's not to their liking - they're going to wish they did talk about
Maybe I'm not lucid enough ? Too many errors ? Idk, but Regardless, yes I like the ideas. I just wish I heard others' opinions in this
Could lead to disaster
Good insights.
@SconeOfDoom, I haven't played the original GW, just GW2, but that mechanic of getting boss skills seem fun.
I think there are so many MMORPGs coming out but they are all failing to really innovate and give us something fresh, and they are falling to stick.
I like the idea in AoC that players would be able to truly shape the world via Nodes, etc.
But I still think the class system they discussed somewhere else in this forum is too traditional and not really innovative.
I would like the freedom of starting in a world really naked of skills and without a pre-determined skill path to follow, even if that path would be flexible.
I really don't like much when I want to experiment with other classes or skills, I would need to start another character from scratch and redo a lot of the same quests/story over and over. I know it is the norm in the genre, but if you want something fresh, by definition you need to change the norm.
Maybe classes can be a result of the skills you equip, hunt for or develop while exploring the world, not some pre-determined pathway or tree.
I like the idea that, if I wanted to be something else, have different skills, change from a tank to a healer, for example, I would have to find out what would be good skills for it and then would need to explore and hunt for those skills in the world to change my playstyle.
Like in real life, you can basically learn anything, and the choices you make in developing yourself are what makes your profession or what you are good at.
Obviously, IS would need to make the system properly balanced. No player should be all powerful/all classes by having super-high tank, healing, control and DPS skills all at once. That is why I like the idea of the character having a bonus on a skill school/type if they either equip more skills of that same school/type or choose a mental state/aura that boosts a skill school.
But I still would like to be able to respec out of combat at any time to use any of the skills I acquired in the world, in any form, to be anything I want.
It would also help me prepare and adapt to different zones and encounters, making the game more strategic too. It would enable me to adapt to different groups and play with different friends, being able to be more useful in different situations.
I think it would be fun, and something really different than what it is out there now.