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.
My General Feedback [### 7 - 11 ###] (Archetypes)(Skills)(Combat)(Worldbuilding)(Sounddesign)
Scarctic
Member, Alpha Two
### 0 Introduction & Explanation Of Symbols 0 ###
Again, greetings and salutations!
I want to discuss the next few topics of my feedback ideas with you.
I’m sorry if most of the feedback has already been given, is implemented in the game already, or seems not doable or stupid in your eyes.
(I also still lost track of the actual state of the game it’s just so much…)
I want to give a kind of orderly presented type of essay for the opinions I want to share with you so bear with it or just ignore me then.
I hope I can spark some ideas and constructive critique from you tho, which would make me happy!
The scope of the feedback spans around 35-40 main headlines and will be cut into smaller, better-digestible blocks.
(this one is included so you can ignore Headline 0 from now on because I will copy it into every thread.)
Symbols:
- Feature already there or confirmed by the devs
》 Further explanation, details
♡ Feature I would like
♡》 Further explanation, details
? Don't know the details about this feature
<> Archetype
-> Flavor text to a headline
### 7 Archetypes 7 ###
? Progression stays after changing the subclass
100% since I don’t like meaningless, repetitive content…
- minimum distance for certain abilities
Absolute nonsense, just attack less effective point blanc to incentivize players to stay at range but limiting the use of the bow completely is more than invasive it is bad gameplay…
♡ Fantasy and core feature elements of archetypes:
This is partly how it is and partly how it should/could be in my opinion. I mean you can add elements to the archetypes as long as they don’t overlap with each other and stay true to the respective core fantasy. So if we add diversity even in the skills and types of doing dmg it doesn’t feel the same over all archetypes. Which one is most effective in bursts, or afflictions, dots, control, buffs, defense, and heals, should play a defining role in their identity and not overlap. This is just a rough draft and I’m sure Intrepid has been iterating much around these ideas already.
♡》<> Fighter <>
-> The Fighter is an expert in physical combat.
A master of many weapons, this warrior strikes fear into the hearts of his foes.
Role: (Burst-Chaser)
DPS, ditches out the most damage possible in devastating bursts to defeat enemies in melee combat while also crippling and chasing them down via different effects.
Core gameplay elements:
“Chaser, crippling”-Melee damage,
debuffing combat effectiveness,
combat mobility,
♡》<> Tank <>
-> A tank’s job is to control a fight, to help the party mitigate incoming damage, and to dictate who is getting hit. They can take an unconscionable amount of punishment, and woe to those who ignore their commands.
Role: (Control-Defender)
Tank, protects himself and others from danger and dictates the course of the battle via different effects and skills.
Core gameplay elements:
“Provoke and protect”-melee control,
threat management and control over foes,
raising survival capabilities,
environmental changes for battlefield control
♡》<> Rogue <>
-> The rogue is a master of opportunity, using skill positioning, and the environment to dish out frightening amounts of damage. In their downtime, they provide solid utility, helping their friends navigate dangers otherwise unseen.
Role: (Affliction-Assasin)
DPS, ditches out the most damage possible after afflicting their defense capabilities to defeat enemies in melee combat, via sudden devastating critical hits out of stealth and or from behind.
Core gameplay elements:
“Positional, critical hit”-melee damage,
debuffing defense capabilities,
stealth elements,
melee combat agility
♡》<> Ranger <>
-> Death from afar is the Ranger’s raison d’etre. A master of the bow and ranged combat, the Ranger is more than happy to let others get their hands dirty. No one else has such a keen eye for natural environments.
Role: (Artillery-Marksman)
DPS, ditching out the most damage possible in constant, fast, small spikes to defeat enemies from afar.
Core gameplay elements:
“Nature, artillery”-ranged damage,
marking foes to fight against,
hitting with dots,
altering the battlefield with traps and status conditions,
ranged combat agility
♡》<> Mage <>
-> In a world of high magic, no party would be complete without a Mage. As masters of the arcane, they bring terrible elements to bear in devastating spells. If reality needs changing in some fashion, ask a Mage to help.
Role: (Control-Burster)
DPS, ditches out the most damage possible in devastating bursts to defeat enemies from afar while also controlling them or the battlefield via different utility effects.
Core gameplay elements:
“Arcane, elemental, burst”-magic ranged damage,
elemental synergy spells with devastating nuke damage,
elemental conditions on the battlefield and foes,
altering the battlefield with traps and status conditions,
magic teleportation
♡》<> Summoner <>
-> The Summoner is never alone. Two hands are good, but in the Summoner’s opinion, more is always better. With the right tool for every job, there’s no situation they can’t handle.
Role: (Control-Utility)
DPS, ditches out the most damage possible by bringing out the best utility to the battlefield from afar while also controlling them via different utility effects.
Core gameplay elements:
“Summoning, back row control”-magic ranged and summonings damage,
summons beings on the battlefield,
different summonings have a broad spectrum of utility and uses,
controlling the summons via orders and commandments,
use of different spells to rouse and buff the summons
♡》<> Cleric <>
-> In such a dangerous world, a Cleric is never wanting for friends. They can protect their allies in a number of ways, and when necessary, snuff the life out of others. Masters over the very essence of life, they can sense the broken and corrupted.
Role: (Control-Healer)
Healer, keeping himself and others safe from danger via healing spells and protective shields and controlling the incoming damage via different effects.
Core gameplay elements:
“Healing, protecting”-magic melee heal,
heals and damages depending on the target,
protection through magic shields and effects on the battlefield,
controlling life and death of foes or friends alike
♡》<> Bard <>
-> Truly a force multiplier, the Bard weaves songs of glory and conquest, inspiring his comrades to ever greater heights. The Bard knows secret and powerful words, is able is speak into being terrible nightmares, or to convince foes to become friends.
Role: (Support-Enchanter)
Support, a jack of all traits, buffing friends and debuffing foes, while also capable of healing or ditching out damage.
Core gameplay elements:
songs, wordsmithing, storytelling, dancing when using skills,
wide range of buffs and debuffs amplifying a group's capabilities,
capable of healing, DPS, and dmg mitigation to a degree,
### 8 Skills 8 ###
(I won't develop my own set of skills, that's way too much work... xD However, I will give feedback to all of the existing ones in Alpha 2 when I test them thoroughly. But I can say that the direction the skills of the Ranger went now is not perfect if we speak design philosophy and guidelines for class fantasy... and too many skills for the same thing there still needs much work to be done.)
- Reactive counters / proactive blocks
》press a random or assigned key to parry, riposte, dodge, block, etc.
- Block break
》Abilities to work around or break active blocks
- Stun/Silence
》Effective against casted skills and for crowd-control
》Synergies between skills to combo-afflict those effects on targets
- Gap closers & mobility skills/effects
》Every archetype must have its own, at least one to be able to be mobile and to keep up with other players
- Contained Skillbar (10-20 skills?)
- Flavored augmented skills depending on
class choices
- Race augments for skills
- Class utility skills
》Use for control over the environment
》Strategic use because of cooldowns
?Fighter:
♡ Maybe some type of strength required skill to open blocked pathways, throw players over gaps, or something like that...
<> Tank: "Threat detection"
》Detection of state aggro, ambushes, ...
♡ You could see enemy group tethers, how much threat% every member has to the combatants in the fight around you and of your group
♡》 If a target is highly alerted, aggressive, passive, etc.
♡》 If the target has the potential to randomly change its threat level to others
♡》 If the target gets more aggro attracted to some role
<> Rogue: "Trap detection & diffusion”
》Detection of nearby traps and the ability to diffuse them
♡》 Traps glow for you using the utility skill
♡》 There could be some kind of minigame attached to the diffusion process or a skill % based chance of failure depending on experience and skill progression
<> Ranger: "Tracking"
》Detecting hidden physical secrets, footprints, etc.
♡》 Footprints could glow for you using the utility skill
♡》 Hidden things under foliage or in treestumps, behind rocks
<> Mage: "Magic Detection"
》See magically hidden secrets, Illusions, etc.
♡》 Secret pathways magically hidden could be seen
♡》 Illusions hiding secrets or confusing puzzles could be affected
?Summoner:
♡ Maybe summoning a creature to simulate the basic utility skills from all other archetypes
> Cleric: "Cleansing"
》Purge the curses in the environment
♡》 Purging debuffs on targets and the environment
♡》 Purging buffs from targets
?Bard:
♡ Maybe the typical movement buff from other games
### 9 Combat 9 ###
- Active Blocking
》Should have heavy energy costs to prevent overuse
- Every class has a basic 3x combo attack
》Builds up class resources by doing successful combos
》Class combo ultimate skills when fully charged
? Is this still in the game ?
- Death penalty exp debt...
》Only when dying to preventable mechanics, dmg
♡ I don't know what to say about that if it's good or bad but it sounds fair, just don't die and git gud?
- Respawn in the world, no corpse retrieval
♡ Yes I don't want a walking simulator and the game lore fits in better without that
### 10 Worldbuilding 10 ###
- Expected biome diversity
》Plains, lakes, rivers, highlands, valleys, canyons, dunes, oases, wastelands ash fields, lavacrags, craters, glaciers, tundra, peaks, temperate forests, magical forests, rainforests, jungles, riverdeltas, tropical beaches, archipels, marshes, swamps, mangroves, oceans, reefs, sea floor, abyss…
- First Layer with a history to explore and build upon
》Great for finding your own stories to tell
》No boring blanc canvas, an immersive world with existing history
(I think the following Layers are already planned out)
♡》 Second Layer with a population of NPC’s fitting the lore and history of the server
♡》 Third layer cohesive follow-up of connected elements of the world in every aspect possible without going too far over the scope of the project
- Destructible Environment
》In Sieges, Dungeons, Raids, etc…
♡ Lingering effects of actions
♡》It would be cool if the corpses stayed a bit longer or decayed slowly, the same goes for attacks like ground fissures, holes, elemental effects, destroyed vegetation, scorched earth, burning leaves, etc. prints in the snow.
♡》Chopped down trees, harvested nodes, vegetation, dynamic fish populations so you see less swimming around if the source gets depleted from overfishing, etc.
♡》It doesn't have to stay for that long maybe 30 min up to an hour, depending on the weather, season, and climate of the biome. The corpses could be sinking into the sand slowly, snowing would fill the holes, and so on. It would add greatly to realism and gameplay could profit from it too when you try to track down individuals, or where caravans went or a herd of animals, etc.
### 11 Sounddesign 11 ###
- Atmospheric themes everywhere in the world
》Emotional support
- Many layers of dynamic changes in soundscaping
》To further create an emotional attachment to the game, nostalgia
- AI voice tech for side characters
♡》Works very well in other games already when you only have limited resources.
Again, greetings and salutations!
I want to discuss the next few topics of my feedback ideas with you.
I’m sorry if most of the feedback has already been given, is implemented in the game already, or seems not doable or stupid in your eyes.
(I also still lost track of the actual state of the game it’s just so much…)
I want to give a kind of orderly presented type of essay for the opinions I want to share with you so bear with it or just ignore me then.
I hope I can spark some ideas and constructive critique from you tho, which would make me happy!
The scope of the feedback spans around 35-40 main headlines and will be cut into smaller, better-digestible blocks.
(this one is included so you can ignore Headline 0 from now on because I will copy it into every thread.)
Symbols:
- Feature already there or confirmed by the devs
》 Further explanation, details
♡ Feature I would like
♡》 Further explanation, details
? Don't know the details about this feature
<> Archetype
-> Flavor text to a headline
### 7 Archetypes 7 ###
? Progression stays after changing the subclass
100% since I don’t like meaningless, repetitive content…
- minimum distance for certain abilities
Absolute nonsense, just attack less effective point blanc to incentivize players to stay at range but limiting the use of the bow completely is more than invasive it is bad gameplay…
♡ Fantasy and core feature elements of archetypes:
This is partly how it is and partly how it should/could be in my opinion. I mean you can add elements to the archetypes as long as they don’t overlap with each other and stay true to the respective core fantasy. So if we add diversity even in the skills and types of doing dmg it doesn’t feel the same over all archetypes. Which one is most effective in bursts, or afflictions, dots, control, buffs, defense, and heals, should play a defining role in their identity and not overlap. This is just a rough draft and I’m sure Intrepid has been iterating much around these ideas already.
♡》<> Fighter <>
-> The Fighter is an expert in physical combat.
A master of many weapons, this warrior strikes fear into the hearts of his foes.
Role: (Burst-Chaser)
DPS, ditches out the most damage possible in devastating bursts to defeat enemies in melee combat while also crippling and chasing them down via different effects.
Core gameplay elements:
“Chaser, crippling”-Melee damage,
debuffing combat effectiveness,
combat mobility,
♡》<> Tank <>
-> A tank’s job is to control a fight, to help the party mitigate incoming damage, and to dictate who is getting hit. They can take an unconscionable amount of punishment, and woe to those who ignore their commands.
Role: (Control-Defender)
Tank, protects himself and others from danger and dictates the course of the battle via different effects and skills.
Core gameplay elements:
“Provoke and protect”-melee control,
threat management and control over foes,
raising survival capabilities,
environmental changes for battlefield control
♡》<> Rogue <>
-> The rogue is a master of opportunity, using skill positioning, and the environment to dish out frightening amounts of damage. In their downtime, they provide solid utility, helping their friends navigate dangers otherwise unseen.
Role: (Affliction-Assasin)
DPS, ditches out the most damage possible after afflicting their defense capabilities to defeat enemies in melee combat, via sudden devastating critical hits out of stealth and or from behind.
Core gameplay elements:
“Positional, critical hit”-melee damage,
debuffing defense capabilities,
stealth elements,
melee combat agility
♡》<> Ranger <>
-> Death from afar is the Ranger’s raison d’etre. A master of the bow and ranged combat, the Ranger is more than happy to let others get their hands dirty. No one else has such a keen eye for natural environments.
Role: (Artillery-Marksman)
DPS, ditching out the most damage possible in constant, fast, small spikes to defeat enemies from afar.
Core gameplay elements:
“Nature, artillery”-ranged damage,
marking foes to fight against,
hitting with dots,
altering the battlefield with traps and status conditions,
ranged combat agility
♡》<> Mage <>
-> In a world of high magic, no party would be complete without a Mage. As masters of the arcane, they bring terrible elements to bear in devastating spells. If reality needs changing in some fashion, ask a Mage to help.
Role: (Control-Burster)
DPS, ditches out the most damage possible in devastating bursts to defeat enemies from afar while also controlling them or the battlefield via different utility effects.
Core gameplay elements:
“Arcane, elemental, burst”-magic ranged damage,
elemental synergy spells with devastating nuke damage,
elemental conditions on the battlefield and foes,
altering the battlefield with traps and status conditions,
magic teleportation
♡》<> Summoner <>
-> The Summoner is never alone. Two hands are good, but in the Summoner’s opinion, more is always better. With the right tool for every job, there’s no situation they can’t handle.
Role: (Control-Utility)
DPS, ditches out the most damage possible by bringing out the best utility to the battlefield from afar while also controlling them via different utility effects.
Core gameplay elements:
“Summoning, back row control”-magic ranged and summonings damage,
summons beings on the battlefield,
different summonings have a broad spectrum of utility and uses,
controlling the summons via orders and commandments,
use of different spells to rouse and buff the summons
♡》<> Cleric <>
-> In such a dangerous world, a Cleric is never wanting for friends. They can protect their allies in a number of ways, and when necessary, snuff the life out of others. Masters over the very essence of life, they can sense the broken and corrupted.
Role: (Control-Healer)
Healer, keeping himself and others safe from danger via healing spells and protective shields and controlling the incoming damage via different effects.
Core gameplay elements:
“Healing, protecting”-magic melee heal,
heals and damages depending on the target,
protection through magic shields and effects on the battlefield,
controlling life and death of foes or friends alike
♡》<> Bard <>
-> Truly a force multiplier, the Bard weaves songs of glory and conquest, inspiring his comrades to ever greater heights. The Bard knows secret and powerful words, is able is speak into being terrible nightmares, or to convince foes to become friends.
Role: (Support-Enchanter)
Support, a jack of all traits, buffing friends and debuffing foes, while also capable of healing or ditching out damage.
Core gameplay elements:
songs, wordsmithing, storytelling, dancing when using skills,
wide range of buffs and debuffs amplifying a group's capabilities,
capable of healing, DPS, and dmg mitigation to a degree,
### 8 Skills 8 ###
(I won't develop my own set of skills, that's way too much work... xD However, I will give feedback to all of the existing ones in Alpha 2 when I test them thoroughly. But I can say that the direction the skills of the Ranger went now is not perfect if we speak design philosophy and guidelines for class fantasy... and too many skills for the same thing there still needs much work to be done.)
- Reactive counters / proactive blocks
》press a random or assigned key to parry, riposte, dodge, block, etc.
- Block break
》Abilities to work around or break active blocks
- Stun/Silence
》Effective against casted skills and for crowd-control
》Synergies between skills to combo-afflict those effects on targets
- Gap closers & mobility skills/effects
》Every archetype must have its own, at least one to be able to be mobile and to keep up with other players
- Contained Skillbar (10-20 skills?)
- Flavored augmented skills depending on
class choices
- Race augments for skills
- Class utility skills
》Use for control over the environment
》Strategic use because of cooldowns
?Fighter:
♡ Maybe some type of strength required skill to open blocked pathways, throw players over gaps, or something like that...
<> Tank: "Threat detection"
》Detection of state aggro, ambushes, ...
♡ You could see enemy group tethers, how much threat% every member has to the combatants in the fight around you and of your group
♡》 If a target is highly alerted, aggressive, passive, etc.
♡》 If the target has the potential to randomly change its threat level to others
♡》 If the target gets more aggro attracted to some role
<> Rogue: "Trap detection & diffusion”
》Detection of nearby traps and the ability to diffuse them
♡》 Traps glow for you using the utility skill
♡》 There could be some kind of minigame attached to the diffusion process or a skill % based chance of failure depending on experience and skill progression
<> Ranger: "Tracking"
》Detecting hidden physical secrets, footprints, etc.
♡》 Footprints could glow for you using the utility skill
♡》 Hidden things under foliage or in treestumps, behind rocks
<> Mage: "Magic Detection"
》See magically hidden secrets, Illusions, etc.
♡》 Secret pathways magically hidden could be seen
♡》 Illusions hiding secrets or confusing puzzles could be affected
?Summoner:
♡ Maybe summoning a creature to simulate the basic utility skills from all other archetypes
> Cleric: "Cleansing"
》Purge the curses in the environment
♡》 Purging debuffs on targets and the environment
♡》 Purging buffs from targets
?Bard:
♡ Maybe the typical movement buff from other games
### 9 Combat 9 ###
- Active Blocking
》Should have heavy energy costs to prevent overuse
- Every class has a basic 3x combo attack
》Builds up class resources by doing successful combos
》Class combo ultimate skills when fully charged
? Is this still in the game ?
- Death penalty exp debt...
》Only when dying to preventable mechanics, dmg
♡ I don't know what to say about that if it's good or bad but it sounds fair, just don't die and git gud?
- Respawn in the world, no corpse retrieval
♡ Yes I don't want a walking simulator and the game lore fits in better without that
### 10 Worldbuilding 10 ###
- Expected biome diversity
》Plains, lakes, rivers, highlands, valleys, canyons, dunes, oases, wastelands ash fields, lavacrags, craters, glaciers, tundra, peaks, temperate forests, magical forests, rainforests, jungles, riverdeltas, tropical beaches, archipels, marshes, swamps, mangroves, oceans, reefs, sea floor, abyss…
- First Layer with a history to explore and build upon
》Great for finding your own stories to tell
》No boring blanc canvas, an immersive world with existing history
(I think the following Layers are already planned out)
♡》 Second Layer with a population of NPC’s fitting the lore and history of the server
♡》 Third layer cohesive follow-up of connected elements of the world in every aspect possible without going too far over the scope of the project
- Destructible Environment
》In Sieges, Dungeons, Raids, etc…
♡ Lingering effects of actions
♡》It would be cool if the corpses stayed a bit longer or decayed slowly, the same goes for attacks like ground fissures, holes, elemental effects, destroyed vegetation, scorched earth, burning leaves, etc. prints in the snow.
♡》Chopped down trees, harvested nodes, vegetation, dynamic fish populations so you see less swimming around if the source gets depleted from overfishing, etc.
♡》It doesn't have to stay for that long maybe 30 min up to an hour, depending on the weather, season, and climate of the biome. The corpses could be sinking into the sand slowly, snowing would fill the holes, and so on. It would add greatly to realism and gameplay could profit from it too when you try to track down individuals, or where caravans went or a herd of animals, etc.
### 11 Sounddesign 11 ###
- Atmospheric themes everywhere in the world
》Emotional support
- Many layers of dynamic changes in soundscaping
》To further create an emotional attachment to the game, nostalgia
- AI voice tech for side characters
♡》Works very well in other games already when you only have limited resources.
0