Seasons! :)

ArchivedUser

Jaikant said:

Kamui said:

Well yes wouldn't a frost mage be more powerful in the winter climate? As a fire mage would be weaker while it rained?

I just think seasons could play in many influences in the game and help immersion. A blocked road is one thing but not casting a fireball while it's raining?

Just interesting thoughts

Tbh it would break the balance of classes. It's really interesting but impossible to deal with it.

I totally disagree. Would it be easy to marry weather effects to the world, including player skills? I doubt it. I do not see how it would break a balance? I wish you would elaborate instead of just saying it would. There is no reason biomes couldn't have weather conditions that are favorable to certain mage classes. It is similar to damage types for weapons (slash, Pierce, blunt) and bonuses or penalties against mobs. But, like I said, weather is one area that is tricky to properly implement. I assume that is why most developers avoid it.

ArchivedUser

On the magic topic, I think it'd be fine for effects but actually boosting the mages abilities could be game breaking. Realistically, if you were a mage that could summon fire, rain wouldn't effect you at all. It would simply evaporate before it touched the flame. Y'know, magic n' shit. But I'd like to see that as an effect actually, steam coming off of Fire Mages in the rain.

Relating to seasons to a degree, I dislike when real world events such as Halloween or Christmas are injected into the game without a proper story. Maybe AoC could have it's own variants of said seasonal holidays?

ArchivedUser

Is there any indication of how long a season would take? I don't want to log in every day to a new season. Will they parallel the real world, and if so will southern hemisphere servers be reversed from northern? 

ArchivedUser

Will there be body odor during the summer?

ArchivedUser

They have not told us how magic works yet, so having seasons change the strength of it is a bit wild at the moment, especially if you like playing say a mage that is fire heavy and it rains making your power so much lower.
Could you imagine being in a dungeon and suddenly it starts raining, you were winning the fight and then because of the rain you now lose... How much of a kick in the teeth would that be?!

ArchivedUser

It would be amazing if seasons had impacts for breeding frequency of certain species. Would add to the realism and encourage experimentation to begin with.

ArchivedUser

The breeding part would be as simple as chaning the spawn rates of different monsters at certain seasons, the only problem is the amount of backstory that would need to be put into each monster to make it consistent. I hope nobody starts going on about how it would be fun to 'evolve' monsters over time or during seasons xD

ArchivedUser

Do we have any information on how long a season is? A week of real time? a month? 3 months(like real life)? 

Personally I hope they go with a monthly change. It's long enough to make it feel like a proper season, but short enough to not seem like an eternity.

ArchivedUser

thattallsteve said:

Do we have any information on how long a season is? A week of real time? a month? 3 months(like real life)? 

Personally I hope they go with a monthly change. It's long enough to make it feel like a proper season, but short enough to not seem like an eternity.

I don't think IS gave any specifics in regards to how long a day/month/year will last in the game.

One thing I know for sure is that the game won't follow real time.

ArchivedUser

ArchivedUser

A week per season sounds really short to me, if they did it to 2 weeks I would be happier, but oh well

ArchivedUser

We should gain weight during the winter with more encumbrance,  haha... Nah jk. 

ArchivedUser

ArchivedUser

@UnknownSystemError Thank you for the info. You are a ninja of screenshots

ArchivedUser

Neato!

ArchivedUser

Blind_Mouse said:

Jaikant said:

Kamui said:

Well yes wouldn't a frost mage be more powerful in the winter climate? As a fire mage would be weaker while it rained?

I just think seasons could play in many influences in the game and help immersion. A blocked road is one thing but not casting a fireball while it's raining?

Just interesting thoughts

Tbh it would break the balance of classes. It's really interesting but impossible to deal with it.

I totally disagree. Would it be easy to marry weather effects to the world, including player skills? I doubt it. I do not see how it would break a balance? I wish you would elaborate instead of just saying it would. There is no reason biomes couldn't have weather conditions that are favorable to certain mage classes. It is similar to damage types for weapons (slash, Pierce, blunt) and bonuses or penalties against mobs. But, like I said, weather is one area that is tricky to properly implement. I assume that is why most developers avoid it.

Why not just make weather effects give a flat bonus or penalty based on the weapon/skill used.  Surely it doesn't have to be super complicated.

ArchivedUser

There's a lot they could do with season that affects the different types of animals found in the wild (some animals hibernate, etc.) and the impact that can have on the economy since for a week there may be no bear pelts for example being added to circulation.

Farming is another area they could do a lot of work with, certain crops only being growable in certain climates could mean that certain foods and materials might not be easily available during winter or summer months.

Will be really interesting to see which directions they go in with regards to season mechanics.

ArchivedUser

My biggest hope is for seasons to give buffs or debuffs on the different nodes and races of the game. Like Dwarves are better in the snow while Elves are better in spring.

ArchivedUser

AnduinKayvaan said:

My biggest hope is for seasons to give buffs or debuffs on the different nodes and races of the game. Like Dwarves are better in the snow while Elves are better in spring.

This would be really cool I think! Maybe special development bonuses for certain building or acquiring certain resources or bonuses in PvE related content!

ArchivedUser

AnduinKayvaan said:

My biggest hope is for seasons to give buffs or debuffs on the different nodes and races of the game. Like Dwarves are better in the snow while Elves are better in spring.

tsss, no, you got it wrong. dwarves got debuff all season, and Elfes got buff all years long. Its called the natural way of life

ArchivedUser

um no to seasons , at least at the start ,      those of us that are employed and have barly enough time to play the game on `1 main char ,   having to do / remake another char  every 4 months is kind of tedious and ruins the fun.  with the way the world will develop get upgraded and destroyed their should be no need to seasons as it will always be ever changing

ArchivedUser

Schlaghund said:

um no to seasons , at least at the start ,      those of us that are employed and have barly enough time to play the game on `1 main char ,   having to do / remake another char  every 4 months is kind of tedious and ruins the fun.  with the way the world will develop get upgraded and destroyed their should be no need to seasons as it will always be ever changing

Umm, seasons will be weekly if they go with their stated plan. Also, I think you are confusing seasons with Crowfail. This game does not reset and end at a certain period of time. Spring, summer, fall, and winter is what is being discussed.

ArchivedUser

A week just sounds too short for one season.  IMO at least 2 weeks would be a better pace where you don't feel rushed and people who cannot log on everyday don't feel like they've missed out.

ArchivedUser

Its nice to have a sense of familiarity just as much as its nice to see things change.
Probably going to feel a little weird for people who can only log on at the weekend to a completely alien realm in exactly the same place.
So I can understand the two week argument.

Would two weeks feel too long a season for someone that plays every day ?

ArchivedUser

Weather affecting game play is a definite way to make the game more immersive. Frigid areas could kill you if you aren't protected with correct gear or potions. Heat the same. Love the idea of water freezing with the weather changes.

ArchivedUser

Its something I hope gets some real nice input in testing as to the length of a season.  I agree with the people saying 1 week is too short and hope it ends up being at least 2 weeks.  I would prefer a month per season myself, but that seems a bit long for something that is going to change mobs and harvestables.

One thing I do hope to see in the game is places where the seasons differ.  If I go the the "ice tundra of the north" it should just be winter, winter OMFG WE'RE DYING OF COLD, and still winter.  Or if they have tropical environments you shouldn't really see a fall/winter.  More like warm, hot, monsoon, hot.

ArchivedUser

GrimHarlequin said:

Its something I hope gets some real nice input in testing as to the length of a season.  I agree with the people saying 1 week is too short and hope it ends up being at least 2 weeks.  I would prefer a month per season myself, but that seems a bit long for something that is going to change mobs and harvestables.

One thing I do hope to see in the game is places where the seasons differ.  If I go the the "ice tundra of the north" it should just be winter, winter OMFG WE'RE DYING OF COLD, and still winter.  Or if they have tropical environments you shouldn't really see a fall/winter.  More like warm, hot, monsoon, hot.

I too am hoping for longer season and think there should be different seasons in different area's taking things so far as to have different day night cycle lengths and times if possible, thinking of the game world as its own globe that if ever completed, it would be possible to circumnavigate, probably too ambitious but a man can dream.

ArchivedUser

I like the idea of time and season gated content. Night time being when undead come out and making a forest more dangerous where as in the day it's more friendly. NPCs that trade during the day and wander between cities. Frost mages being more powerful in winter, necromancers being stronger at night, etc are fantastic ideas, even if it is only just slight 3% buffs. Necromancers being stronger in a graveyard is also something that could be done. Just flavor stuff like this could make the game come alive more than any other MMO has to date. 

Caravans are another example. In winter they could move more slowly and have a higher risk chance but have 50%  more profit. 

ArchivedUser

Deferionus said:

I like the idea of time and season gated content. Night time being when undead come out and making a forest more dangerous where as in the day it's more friendly. NPCs that trade during the day and wander between cities. Frost mages being more powerful in winter, necromancers being stronger at night, etc are fantastic ideas, even if it is only just slight 3% buffs. Necromancers being stronger in a graveyard is also something that could be done. Just flavor stuff like this could make the game come alive more than any other MMO has to date. 

Caravans are another example. In winter they could move more slowly and have a higher risk chance but have 50%  more profit. 

yes 100% yes ^^

ArchivedUser

Weather affecting spells sounds great but I think it would cause too many problems to be a positive thing in the game. Seasons and weather are a great addition to the game however and I look forward to running around in it.