Weather & Atmosphere

Recently I’ve been playing (and thoroughly enjoying) an early access game that has some of the best feeling atmosphere and weather in any recent game I’ve played.

Because of the nature of how the weather impacts the environment and your character, you end up having conditions that are unfavorable for sailing, thick fog that makes it difficult to see more than 15 feet around you (both on land and water), heavy darkness at night that promotes the use of light sources (torches, fires, etc.) and status effects such as “wet” and “cold” that reduce stamina regen (or even health loss over time when “freezing” in certain regions).

I’d love to see this sort of gameplay in an MMO setting, with region-wide seasons and localized weather events. This truly changes the approach of the player and disrupts the monotony of certain actions... but it also poses an obstacle that is a pleasure to overcome.

I believe I saw mention of Weather and Seasons for AOC, but how impactful it is for the players is something I’ve not seen clarified. Does anyone have info on this? I know some members of the dev team do streams and social media that I’ve likely missed.

PS - the game referenced in the beginning is Valheim (steam early access). Well worth the $20 as it has broadened my appreciation for environmental effects, weather systems and “fun” gameplay in general. Made by a team of 4 people and it feels better than some AAA releases lately.

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Arkethos

I’d like to see how the crafting system allows for augments that might help deal with conditions like this...

Perhaps adding a fur lining for cold resist or perforations to combat heat. This could be done at the crafting stage of the item or an enhancement after, giving players a way to modify “favored” items to suit the environment they are heading into.

Wandering Mist

Arkethos wrote: »

I’d like to see how the crafting system allows for augments that might help deal with conditions like this...

Perhaps adding a fur lining for cold resist or perforations to combat heat. This could be done at the crafting stage of the item or an enhancement after, giving players a way to modify “favored” items to suit the environment they are heading into.

Again, this kind of thing sounds really immersive and fun on paper, less so in practice. Imagine if you needed a different item for every single different biome, in a game where you have limited bag space.

Arkethos

True, but won’t travel between biomes be more than a quick hop in a flying taxi? I think the time investment into a particular region/node will be heavy, and travel outside of that will require more prep & planning.

Think of it more like an augment “slot” that you could equip to modify the item, but consider the infrequency of biome switching that may occur.

WhitneyHagasMatsumoto

I agree with the thread author Arkethos-san.
As he says, if this system is adopted, there will be more variety in the various items to accommodate climates like cold and scorching heat.
If the appearance of the clothing is also adapted to the climate, it will be more immersive to the world of Verra.

I want to be a crafting master in the future, having diversity in crafting items will motivate me 😉

I also think that the more challenges you face in exploring the world's biome, the greater the sense of accomplishment you will get.

It seems that the possibility of climatic conditions affecting abilities has already been mentioned, so I don't think it goes against the design philosophy of Ashes.

Of course, if the production team gets that system balance wrong, it could lead to a tedious experience with complicated parameter management.
I definitely don't want to see players getting hypothermia the moment they step into a cold zone. lol

However, I would like to see this system implemented in order to experience the diversity of the world 😆

Jamation

Arkethos wrote: »

I agree that it can be somewhat of a chore to have to deal with weather effects in an MMO, but with the concept of cycling seasons and random weather events I think AOC is in a good position to make it work.

Are players going to be less inclined to sail during hurricane season? Knowing there is a good chance of a blizzard, do they risk the transport of goods along the mountain pass? Stuff like that keeps the game dynamic, and it opens the door for PvP opportunities if there is a specific route that is safer during different seasons... it keeps players adapting and playing more creatively rather than the monotony of repetition-without-consequence.

For the cold, I’m thinking more along the lines of it being a minor inconvenience to be “cold” in an area and a simple cloak or presence of fire might be enough to overcome the debuff. Maybe it is a movement speed debuff or a Max health/stamina reduction.

In the harsh “freezing” areas (more wilderness or storm related) players would need potions or specific threshold of cold resist equipment to be able to manage in environment without taking damage over time for exposure.

I grew up in San Diego but have lived in the Midwest for the past 25 years... so the contrast of sunny and 70’s vs the 4-seasons is not lost on me. There is something more “interesting” about a dynamic environment & weather that can turn a routine (i.e. boring) activity such as getting from A to B into an adventure in itself. But being unprepared and caught out in the elements should impose a hardship on the person for their hubris. I really don’t want to see a bunch of scantily clad alts running around gathering resources in the middle of a snowy winter area in AOC.

I'm all for dynamic environments, but if I have to find and change my armor every real life week it's going to become more than just a simple chore. I think the weather events could be used to implement some sort of system like you're suggesting, but I'd hate to have to deal with it on a daily basis.

Many people aren't going to be playing every single day for a ton of hours, maybe they only play 1-2 a week. If they log on and have to spend their time dealing with weather affects every week they're going to be spending less time doing what they want in order to just play the game.

Like I said, I'm not against a world that seems real, but it doesn't need to be real. If I wanted to play a survival style game there are plenty of MMO survival games already on the market. Adding in too many systems for people to juggle just makes the overall experience less enjoyable and sets the bar for entry even higher.

And with costume slots, it doesn't matter if the person is wearing the "appropriate" armor for the weather because it's going to look like whatever costume is equipped anyways.

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