- Ghanging gender should be possible, I do not see a single reason why not.
- I am not sure about changing race, maybe it depends how much race has impact to the character. If race will be more like cosmetic with small differencies, then I guess it could be possible, otherwise no.
- Changing primary class should not be possible, because it changes too much, basically everything. I usually prefer more classless systems, but imo primary class lock suits a really good for Ashes theme.
I sympathise when people create a character, invest some time in it, then feel it isn't quite what they expected, so they want to change it.
I'd be good to be able to change gender/race once or twice early on, but not repeatedly since it is an RPG first and foremost, and these are core to character identity.
On the fence about changing class. Class is so fundamental to a character changing it would be almost like re-rolling, which players can already do with little hassle. On the other hand, it's the easiest to justify in terms of lore: an adventurer deciding on a different direction in life.
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Undead CanuckMember, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One
edited October 2019
Making a new character is a change. That should be the only change to characters other than some visuals (like haircuts).
Making changes to existing characters should not happen. Steven has said in the past that a character has a reputation. Changing class, name, possibly even race should not happen as it would defeat the purpose of a reputation.
You want a different class? Roll a new character. Want a new race, roll a new character. Let's put the RPG back in MMORPG. How many role playing games allow you to change the basics of your character?
If they do allow changes to race or class, the character should be reset to level 1 in all respects. If you have progression in anything, it gets reset with the rest.
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DygzMember, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One
Characters should be able to change gender but not race.
Then again, it is a high fantasy setting, so even race change might be a possibility for that world, due to magic.
Characters should be able to change gender but not race.
Then again, it is a high fantasy setting, so even race change might be a possibility for that world, due to magic.
A couple of people have said yes to gender change but no to race change or have looked at them differently. I'm curious - why the differentiation? I kind of figured we're looking at a new world where we know equally little about either possibility in terms of lore. Is it about racial abilities vs gender being purely cosmetic?
The lore of the game can and will fit with what the developers want to do mechanically, so lore ins't an argument in either direction in this case.
If race change were implemented, it would make the racial aspects of nodes near pointless. The bulk of players would simply pick a node based on what ever other factor they personally consider more important, and just change their race to the primary race of that node.
The lore of the game can and will fit with what the developers want to do mechanically, so lore ins't an argument in either direction in this case.
If race change were implemented, it would make the racial aspects of nodes near pointless. The bulk of players would simply pick a node based on what ever other factor they personally consider more important, and just change their race to the primary race of that node.
Aah yep forgot about node content (not just building cosmetics) being impacted by race. Makes sense.
Characters should be able to change gender but not race.
Then again, it is a high fantasy setting, so even race change might be a possibility for that world, due to magic.
A couple of people have said yes to gender change but no to race change or have looked at them differently. I'm curious - why the differentiation? I kind of figured we're looking at a new world where we know equally little about either possibility in terms of lore. Is it about racial abilities vs gender being purely cosmetic?
Because race and gender are two very different thing. Lets imagine in our world: what would you think would happen if i tattooed my whole body black/dark brown and told everyone that i want to be of african heritage...
It is a part of your characters background/history, and if you can just change that, then why do we even play different races? We should all just play an amourphous grey blob, that can change its appearance at will...
And it would also not really fit withthe Tulnar for example. They are supposed to have a caste system depending on your race.
I'm definitely going for the stronger race, then apply a racial skin on it. - But this is not a good thing because many people will do the same, instead of picking the race they truly love.
The only difference between races are four fold:
1. Each race has different initial stats. Some have higher strength, some higher intelligence for example.
2. Each race has special racial augments for their abilities, that fit the theme of the race.
3. Each race has their own racial armour.
4. Each race has their own racial abilities.
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nyxkoraMember, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One
I believe gender swap & character customization(as in changing hair color, eye color, etc) should be available. This however would likely be a cash shop item like it is in many other games.
Race change should def not be possible, especially considering nodes can be different based on the major race of that node.
I think being able to change classes, isn't that big of a deal. Obviously it wouldn't be something you can do on the fly. You'd likely have to go through various steps to do this. Something i did notice ppl saying would just switch classes whenever they want. However you all have to consider that even if you can change classes, if you don't have the gear needed for that class you really won't be effective..or helpful really. So it's not really as big of an issue I think.
This is something that can be seen on Archeage, which i know the producers took inspiration from and personally I really like the freedom of being able to change my class without having to roll a new char (that would have to level up, unlock skills, etc) to experience a new playstyle.
I'm definitely going for the stronger race, then apply a racial skin on it. - But this is not a good thing because many people will do the same, instead of picking the race they truly love.
I'm definitely going for the stronger race, then apply a racial skin on it. - But this is not a good thing because many people will do the same, instead of picking the race they truly love.
The only difference between races are four fold:
1. Each race has different initial stats. Some have higher strength, some higher intelligence for example.
2. Each race has special racial augments for their abilities, that fit the theme of the race.
3. Each race has their own racial armour.
4. Each race has their own racial abilities.
And do You like 1 & 4, despite knowing abilities can affect players' race choice over preference?
These two makes it obvious even for beginners that for example Mages should go for Int stats(1), and the majority would go for combat advantage(4).
It is already happening in Archeage, based on recent Reddit posts.
I'm definitely going for the stronger race, then apply a racial skin on it. - But this is not a good thing because many people will do the same, instead of picking the race they truly love.
Yes, because those two facts make it so interesting! A Tulnar bard is not the same as a human bard for example, and classes could go for different stat distributions, a tulnar bard could for example specialize in agility, while a human bard coud go for a strength/agility build.
The races only seed the initial stats, but the classes then augment the stat growth.
I could imagine, that different races would proliferate different class stiles. A elf could be a chanter mage(a mage that focuses on long duration high power spells), while a human could be a spell slinger (a mage that throws around largly weak spells, but puts out massive constant damage).
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DygzMember, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One
The only difference between races are four fold:
1. Each race has different initial stats. Some have higher strength, some higher intelligence for example.
2. Each race has special racial augments for their abilities, that fit the theme of the race.
3. Each race has their own racial armour.
4. Each race has their own racial abilities.
These are not the only differences. It's not just initial stats.
There will also be racial stat progression and racial quest progression.
Racial stat progression will most likely be tied to racial quests. Which means, it won't be as simple as redistributing a pool of accrued stat points as one might do for class ability points.
Racial progression is tied to Nodes. Some racial quests will not be available unless there is a Node that has that dominant race at max Node stage. So, a Vek cannot complete Vek racial progression if there is no Vek Metropolis to provide the associated quests.
A character that switched from Pyrian to Vek because the Pyrian City became a Vek Metro would have to start Vek racial progression from scratch.
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DygzMember, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One
Characters should be able to change gender but not race.
Then again, it is a high fantasy setting, so even race change might be a possibility for that world, due to magic.
A couple of people have said yes to gender change but no to race change or have looked at them differently. I'm curious - why the differentiation? I kind of figured we're looking at a new world where we know equally little about either possibility in terms of lore. Is it about racial abilities vs gender being purely cosmetic?
I covered that already.
IRL it's possible to change gender, but not race. So, that is my base stance, but...
In a high fantasy setting, there could be magic that allows people to change race - or even species - so, it's not necessarily an issue.
Outward appearance of race can be purely cosmetic since we have racial skins.
The only difference between races are four fold:
1. Each race has different initial stats. Some have higher strength, some higher intelligence for example.
2. Each race has special racial augments for their abilities, that fit the theme of the race.
3. Each race has their own racial armour.
4. Each race has their own racial abilities.
These are not the only differences. It's not just initial stats.
There will also be racial stat progression and racial quest progression.
Racial stat progression will most likely be tied to racial quests. Which means, it won't be as simple as redistributing a pool of accrued stat points as one might do for class ability points.
Racial progression is tied to Nodes. Some racial quests will not be available unless there is a Node that has that dominant race at max Node stage. So, a Vek cannot complete Vek racial progression if there is no Vek Metropolis to provide the associated quests.
A character that switched from Pyrian to Vek because the Pyrian City became a Vek Metro would have to start Vek racial progression from scratch.
I did not know about the racial stat progression, i did not see it on the wiki.
The only difference between races are four fold:
1. Each race has different initial stats. Some have higher strength, some higher intelligence for example.
2. Each race has special racial augments for their abilities, that fit the theme of the race.
3. Each race has their own racial armour.
4. Each race has their own racial abilities.
These are not the only differences. It's not just initial stats.
There will also be racial stat progression and racial quest progression.
Racial stat progression will most likely be tied to racial quests. Which means, it won't be as simple as redistributing a pool of accrued stat points as one might do for class ability points.
Racial progression is tied to Nodes. Some racial quests will not be available unless there is a Node that has that dominant race at max Node stage. So, a Vek cannot complete Vek racial progression if there is no Vek Metropolis to provide the associated quests.
A character that switched from Pyrian to Vek because the Pyrian City became a Vek Metro would have to start Vek racial progression from scratch.
I did not know about the racial stat progression, i did not see it on the wiki.
That is because it doesn't exist outside of Dygz' head.
He took the idea that nodes will have some racial specific quests (which are literally just easier versions of quests available for all - as per Steven's comments) and took it to places no one wants things to go.
The only difference between races are four fold:
1. Each race has different initial stats. Some have higher strength, some higher intelligence for example.
2. Each race has special racial augments for their abilities, that fit the theme of the race.
3. Each race has their own racial armour.
4. Each race has their own racial abilities.
These are not the only differences. It's not just initial stats.
There will also be racial stat progression and racial quest progression.
Racial stat progression will most likely be tied to racial quests. Which means, it won't be as simple as redistributing a pool of accrued stat points as one might do for class ability points.
Racial progression is tied to Nodes. Some racial quests will not be available unless there is a Node that has that dominant race at max Node stage. So, a Vek cannot complete Vek racial progression if there is no Vek Metropolis to provide the associated quests.
A character that switched from Pyrian to Vek because the Pyrian City became a Vek Metro would have to start Vek racial progression from scratch.
I did not know about the racial stat progression, i did not see it on the wiki.
That is because it doesn't exist outside of Dygz' head.
He took the idea that nodes will have some racial specific quests (which are literally just easier versions of quests available for all - as per Steven's comments) and took it to places no one wants things to go.
Oh that is good, because i knew that steven wanted the races to be the starting point of our stat development and not something that played bigger influence on the overall development. It would haven been confusiong if they suddenly decided to change that.
Names
Changing name leads to no online persona. Anonymity encourages toxicity. Mobas are toxic because there is no progression of reputation or social consequences.
Having a permanent name gives you a face and weight to your actions.
Class
One hard reset of primary class per year.
Not everyone ends up liking their first choice. One year cooldown gives it weight and significance so is more about what you like and not the meta and flavour of the month at the time.
Give you CHOICE to the main character, while still having plenty of space for alts because the sheer amount of different combinations.
Appearence
Soft change in-game.
Hard change could be monetized
Account-bound guilds
Makes no sense and only hurts the game.
Spying on other guilds and information wars only requires not to have account bound, which is what Intrepid was already going to do.
So it requires 0 effort and it opens up and wide spectrum of gameplay that develop and evolve itself organically in discords server and in the mind of players.
Just give good setups for people to talk and they will build a new part of the game themselves.
Spying will also give a bit of depth that action games usually lack. And the ability to attract people who are more into rol and intelligent plays along the action enthusiast.
The only difference between races are four fold:
1. Each race has different initial stats. Some have higher strength, some higher intelligence for example.
2. Each race has special racial augments for their abilities, that fit the theme of the race.
3. Each race has their own racial armour.
4. Each race has their own racial abilities.
These are not the only differences. It's not just initial stats.
There will also be racial stat progression and racial quest progression.
Racial stat progression will most likely be tied to racial quests. Which means, it won't be as simple as redistributing a pool of accrued stat points as one might do for class ability points.
Racial progression is tied to Nodes. Some racial quests will not be available unless there is a Node that has that dominant race at max Node stage. So, a Vek cannot complete Vek racial progression if there is no Vek Metropolis to provide the associated quests.
A character that switched from Pyrian to Vek because the Pyrian City became a Vek Metro would have to start Vek racial progression from scratch.
I did not know about the racial stat progression, i did not see it on the wiki.
That is because it doesn't exist outside of Dygz' head.
He took the idea that nodes will have some racial specific quests (which are literally just easier versions of quests available for all - as per Steven's comments) and took it to places no one wants things to go.
Oh that is good, because i knew that steven wanted the races to be the starting point of our stat development and not something that played bigger influence on the overall development. It would haven been confusiong if they suddenly decided to change that.
I know right!
The only thing race in Ashes affect is initial stats (I'm unclear on if race will have any effect on subsequent stats gained), node architecture, unimportant NPC interaction (greetings and such) and which version of the same quest you will be offered.
To me, this is about perfect.
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DygzMember, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One
hahaha
Keep in mind that I have interviewed both Jeffrey and Steven at PAX.
And I've interviewed Steven a couple of times on the Ashen Forge.
I am fine with locked primary class as long as they let us change the secondary class without too many issues, although i would prefer to be able to change it.
Comments
But... cant you just switch your bones out as a lich/skelleton? Wouldnt souls be forever? XD
but everyone need bones unless you are a worthless slime
Rimuru would like to have a word with you
Ok The ONE slime that is not worthless
- I am not sure about changing race, maybe it depends how much race has impact to the character. If race will be more like cosmetic with small differencies, then I guess it could be possible, otherwise no.
- Changing primary class should not be possible, because it changes too much, basically everything. I usually prefer more classless systems, but imo primary class lock suits a really good for Ashes theme.
I'd be good to be able to change gender/race once or twice early on, but not repeatedly since it is an RPG first and foremost, and these are core to character identity.
On the fence about changing class. Class is so fundamental to a character changing it would be almost like re-rolling, which players can already do with little hassle. On the other hand, it's the easiest to justify in terms of lore: an adventurer deciding on a different direction in life.
Making changes to existing characters should not happen. Steven has said in the past that a character has a reputation. Changing class, name, possibly even race should not happen as it would defeat the purpose of a reputation.
You want a different class? Roll a new character. Want a new race, roll a new character. Let's put the RPG back in MMORPG. How many role playing games allow you to change the basics of your character?
If they do allow changes to race or class, the character should be reset to level 1 in all respects. If you have progression in anything, it gets reset with the rest.
Then again, it is a high fantasy setting, so even race change might be a possibility for that world, due to magic.
A couple of people have said yes to gender change but no to race change or have looked at them differently. I'm curious - why the differentiation? I kind of figured we're looking at a new world where we know equally little about either possibility in terms of lore. Is it about racial abilities vs gender being purely cosmetic?
If race change were implemented, it would make the racial aspects of nodes near pointless. The bulk of players would simply pick a node based on what ever other factor they personally consider more important, and just change their race to the primary race of that node.
Aah yep forgot about node content (not just building cosmetics) being impacted by race. Makes sense.
Because race and gender are two very different thing. Lets imagine in our world: what would you think would happen if i tattooed my whole body black/dark brown and told everyone that i want to be of african heritage...
It is a part of your characters background/history, and if you can just change that, then why do we even play different races? We should all just play an amourphous grey blob, that can change its appearance at will...
And it would also not really fit withthe Tulnar for example. They are supposed to have a caste system depending on your race.
The only difference between races are four fold:
1. Each race has different initial stats. Some have higher strength, some higher intelligence for example.
2. Each race has special racial augments for their abilities, that fit the theme of the race.
3. Each race has their own racial armour.
4. Each race has their own racial abilities.
Race change should def not be possible, especially considering nodes can be different based on the major race of that node.
I think being able to change classes, isn't that big of a deal. Obviously it wouldn't be something you can do on the fly. You'd likely have to go through various steps to do this. Something i did notice ppl saying would just switch classes whenever they want. However you all have to consider that even if you can change classes, if you don't have the gear needed for that class you really won't be effective..or helpful really. So it's not really as big of an issue I think.
This is something that can be seen on Archeage, which i know the producers took inspiration from and personally I really like the freedom of being able to change my class without having to roll a new char (that would have to level up, unlock skills, etc) to experience a new playstyle.
Assuming the game has racial skins...
That is not a given.
There are no player races represented there as far as I am aware.
If you want to put an elemental or fairy skin on, more power to you.
Yes, because those two facts make it so interesting! A Tulnar bard is not the same as a human bard for example, and classes could go for different stat distributions, a tulnar bard could for example specialize in agility, while a human bard coud go for a strength/agility build.
The races only seed the initial stats, but the classes then augment the stat growth.
I could imagine, that different races would proliferate different class stiles. A elf could be a chanter mage(a mage that focuses on long duration high power spells), while a human could be a spell slinger (a mage that throws around largly weak spells, but puts out massive constant damage).
There will also be racial stat progression and racial quest progression.
Racial stat progression will most likely be tied to racial quests. Which means, it won't be as simple as redistributing a pool of accrued stat points as one might do for class ability points.
Racial progression is tied to Nodes. Some racial quests will not be available unless there is a Node that has that dominant race at max Node stage. So, a Vek cannot complete Vek racial progression if there is no Vek Metropolis to provide the associated quests.
A character that switched from Pyrian to Vek because the Pyrian City became a Vek Metro would have to start Vek racial progression from scratch.
IRL it's possible to change gender, but not race. So, that is my base stance, but...
In a high fantasy setting, there could be magic that allows people to change race - or even species - so, it's not necessarily an issue.
Outward appearance of race can be purely cosmetic since we have racial skins.
I did not know about the racial stat progression, i did not see it on the wiki.
He took the idea that nodes will have some racial specific quests (which are literally just easier versions of quests available for all - as per Steven's comments) and took it to places no one wants things to go.
Oh that is good, because i knew that steven wanted the races to be the starting point of our stat development and not something that played bigger influence on the overall development. It would haven been confusiong if they suddenly decided to change that.
Changing name leads to no online persona. Anonymity encourages toxicity. Mobas are toxic because there is no progression of reputation or social consequences.
Having a permanent name gives you a face and weight to your actions.
Class
One hard reset of primary class per year.
Not everyone ends up liking their first choice. One year cooldown gives it weight and significance so is more about what you like and not the meta and flavour of the month at the time.
Give you CHOICE to the main character, while still having plenty of space for alts because the sheer amount of different combinations.
Appearence
Soft change in-game.
Hard change could be monetized
Account-bound guilds
Makes no sense and only hurts the game.
Spying on other guilds and information wars only requires not to have account bound, which is what Intrepid was already going to do.
So it requires 0 effort and it opens up and wide spectrum of gameplay that develop and evolve itself organically in discords server and in the mind of players.
Just give good setups for people to talk and they will build a new part of the game themselves.
Spying will also give a bit of depth that action games usually lack. And the ability to attract people who are more into rol and intelligent plays along the action enthusiast.
I know right!
The only thing race in Ashes affect is initial stats (I'm unclear on if race will have any effect on subsequent stats gained), node architecture, unimportant NPC interaction (greetings and such) and which version of the same quest you will be offered.
To me, this is about perfect.
Keep in mind that I have interviewed both Jeffrey and Steven at PAX.
And I've interviewed Steven a couple of times on the Ashen Forge.
I also know how bad you are at asking questions.
For the rest, i don't really care.