I suppose this falls under immersion: For me some realism is important. Sure I realize we are in a world of magic etc, what I mean is, the world and its inhabitants must feel "real". Under this aspect, I really love the screenshots you are showing Kilsin, these landscapes look so great, I just want to put on my wandering shoes and start a walk :)
To what I said about the inhabitants of the world, I mean for example that animals should not "always" fight you until they are down to the magical 20% health and start to run. Very few if any animals should behave that way! Instead most will probably run away the moment you attack them. Similar for most other NPCs..they must act realistic or immersion is broken. From what we have heard so far, it looks like this will be taken care of (npc dispositions and such).
I'll try and mention something that isn't obvious and that I haven't mentioned in these forums before under specific topics. Since, for your sins which must be great, you actually read most or all of the posts.
Realism.
One may ask - what idiot selects realism as a desirable feature in a high fantasy game. or low fantasy game. Or whatever Pantheon will be (frankly I don't know the difference between high and low). Well, THIS idiot. It is my number one or two basis for evaluating fantasy books too.
By realism I do not mean adherence to "real world" norms, laws of physics, or the like. I mean adherence to the basic principles of the universe that YOU set up for this game. Pandas riding flying hamsters which shriek "Go for the eyes, bear, go for the eyes!" Fine if that is the way you want the universe to work ((shudders in horror)).
Set up the rules and stick to them in other words.
Suppose you have a more or less isolated area. Where do weapons and armor come from? Trade (probably at great expense given the location), manufacture (and have you made sure the needed raw materials are available within reach), discovery (the remains of a 2 million person army just happens to be buried right outside of town - magic is impressive but now VR leads - swords for everyone!!)), killing of monsters (and the monsters needed to get them from one of the same places WE get them from) etc.
Throw in a few discussions with NPCs making it clear where the local weapon shop ((hmmmm - name for town - Ishar)) gets its goods and have the price reasonably reflect the difficulty of getting the goods and availability of money. The laws of supply and demand probably work in Terminus - if not, WHY not.
That kind of realism
Silly references to hamsters and swords for everyone from Baldur's Gate - Minsc and Boo. Ishar reference from Weaponshops of Ishar one of Van Vogt's old science fiction classics. Sorry it is early and no coffee yet.
Customization.
Being an individual and not just one of a thousand copies. Owning a unique character strengthens a player's bond and commitment to the game and should infuse every aspect from character creation to combat tactics. The way "The Living Codex" approaches spells is a great example of customization. Hopefully we will see similar strategies employeed to other class mechanics as well as crafting.
In this genre of Game Development (MMOs) there are many things that can 'hook' me initially, but ...
... of all of these there are but a few that 'bind' me to the game!
I will put forwards just one of these: Character Development
Once I start playing, I am investing in my Avatar .... their class, level and character development.
I want to feel:
...That I can personalise progress of my skills/abilities over time
...That I have choice of skills/class path for my avatar
...That I can 'feel' different from all the others of my Class.
If you can let me choose my path; allow me to view myself as 'unique'....
... then your game has me for life!
Evoras, hates Cookie Cutters...
Immersion is the big part of it, but aslo creativity. When exploring I love running across something, or someplace that stops me in my tracks. Something that I have to just sit and look at for a few minutes to take it all in. These screenshots are a good sign of that to come for me :). Love the work, keep it up!
Also, Can't help myself... I always enjoy seeing the awesome pics, but the third one in this series with the arch is causing me fits. It sticks out like a sore thumb. The arrangement of stones seems unnatural with so many hard lines at perpendicular angles it is more like a crafted doorway than a natural structure. Additionally the whole thing seems as if a prop haphazardly dropped into place. It does not blend into the terrain in any way that suggests it was once part of the surronding mountains.
Note: If there is any lore that would account for such a thing, i.e elemental portal or ogre crafting at its finest then kindly disregard the critique.
Azotate said:Also, Can't help myself... I always enjoy seeing the awesome pics, but the third one in this series with the arch is causing me fits. It sticks out like a sore thumb. The arrangement of stones seems unnatural with so many hard lines at perpendicular angles it is more like a crafted doorway than a natural structure. Additionally the whole thing seems as if a prop haphazardly dropped into place. It does not blend into the terrain in any way that suggests it was once part of the surronding mountains.
Note: If there is any lore that would account for such a thing, i.e elemental portal or ogre crafting at its finest then kindly disregard the critique.
Agreed Azotate, without being able to see the rest of the surrondering area I'm only assuming its man made by the hard lines. Maybe it was craved by a small town nearby to allow the water to flow through. If it wasn't I believe rounded it and roughing it a bit might make it feel more nartural. Regardless its an awesome sight that I look forward to exploreing :)
Azotate said:Also, Can't help myself... I always enjoy seeing the awesome pics, but the third one in this series with the arch is causing me fits. It sticks out like a sore thumb. The arrangement of stones seems unnatural with so many hard lines at perpendicular angles it is more like a crafted doorway than a natural structure. Additionally the whole thing seems as if a prop haphazardly dropped into place. It does not blend into the terrain in any way that suggests it was once part of the surronding mountains.
Note: If there is any lore that would account for such a thing, i.e elemental portal or ogre crafting at its finest then kindly disregard the critique.
It isn't natural, it may have been built there for a reason ;)
What is important to me is gameplay.
I want a game with possibilities, choices, rich crafting system, varied quests, exciting mechanisms. If there are classes to choose from, make 20 of them. if there a re skills to choose from, make 100 of them for each class. If there is gear to craft, make hundreds, if not thousands, of gear pieces with varied features (not just +5 stat) that modify the gameplay, even granting new skills or the like.
A second thing is i don't want a butchery 24/7. I posted something this way. There is no reason for all games to be based on murder for progression and as a unique activity. It just makes no sense and gets boring in the end. It even makes people agressive without them realizing it, especially in PvP, but happens also in PvE. People are better than that, at least most of them.
A third thing i want is the game to be made in such a way that screwing someone all the way through (griefing, stealing, make someone lose xp, etc) is somehow prevented. Because if one thing like this is possible, there are always people to take advantage of it.
If those 3 conditions are met, it can be a great game to me.
Cheers,
I find good artstyle and color grading contribute immensely to immersion. The character movement animations need to be on point because you look at them 90% of your play time. Sense of danger, if i need to pay attention to the game not to die then I'll be immersed for sure.
More a question than anything else, will mobs have a fixed spawn location and them proced to roam through the entire area, or will they have a fixed spawn location and sitck close to that spot? excluding camps ofc.
What do I consider most Important? i am going to make a list in order of importance.
#1 Choices that Matter: In everything from character building to the skills i take i want there to be chioces that impact my future on Teminus FOREVER. I want the choice of Halfling or Human shaman to be something that impacts my gameplay not just a skin for the looks of my Shaman. I want to choose a path with my class and not be able to pay 50 gold and respec later just because there is a new flavour of the month spec. to make choices matter it must be understood that committment to those choices must be upheld permanently, or at least be so freaking brutal that noone will want to change them for another 5dps.
#2 Character Differentiation: I dont want any classes to be completely cookie cutter (every cleric is the same cleric and all have the same spells and abilities) even if the only difference is that my Kerran cleric can sneak back to the camp to rezz everyone while the Helf cleric has a superior mana pool and would have lived along with the warrior anyways.
#3 Quest Quality: a few Long Quests with good rewards is much better than a bajillion short quests with little to no reward.
#4 Casual Friendly: while i may not be able to beat the mob, i want to at least have the chance to challenge high tier content. instead of one or two guilds keeping all those high end encounters down by playing 23 hours a day sitting in the john with a tub full of ice and mountain dew.
#5 Keyed Areas: Not just anyone can enter these areas requiring long quests and a bit of luck in order to get access, but in return the areas have better drops or more exp per kill.
#6 A World to explore: you will not find everything terminus has to offer going from city to city following the roads. you might just discover a wild dungeon while hiking over a random mountain trying to go from the gnome starting area to the human area a bit faster.
Use the in game lore to build a sense that something bigger is brewing out in the world.
As I level up reveal bits and pieces of this greater plot and draw me into it.
Challenge... I hope that Pantheon is the hardest MMO ever made.
Making it to max level should not just be a given, it should have to be earned doing challenging content not just grinding.
Player choices that matter.
Thanks,
Kiz~
Being able to advance my character, be that in levels, gear or AA's. Never has to be anything huge but always being able to look at something I can work towards. At the same time not making it impossible for new players to join people when they catch up in levels. There is a balance there that keeps an MMO going IMO.
Evoras said:Azotate said:... but the third one in this series with the arch is causing me fits. ..
Oh, come on Azotate!
Isn't it obvious? That is just a picture of the level 50 Summoner Earth pet!
...wait until you see the Epic one though :)Evoras, hopes his words are prophetic...
It was obvious to me also. It is a Rock Elemental bending over for a drink of water.
Kilsin said:Attention to detail and Immersion are just two of many important aspects of game development that we consider, what is an aspect of gaming that you consider important?
Rewarding Co-operation.
Really, for me that's the primary thing that matters. That you must work together, and working together is the most fun, efficient, rewarding and challenging time spent in game.
I do not care about:
So, the reason this is true, for me, is I've played some incredibly primitve multiplayer "games" (M.U.L.E. , cyberstrike, gemstone, bbs door games, mangband, text muds, Meridian 59, and onward) and yet had the greatest co-operative experiences in all of them. Some had all of the features I listed, some had very few or none of them. But they all rewarded co-operation between players, in particular when fighting against NPC's, the computer, or similar opponents.
So, for Pantheon, all the bells and whistles are great to attract enough paying customers, but for me, I really only care about group gameplay, skills/spells, roles, classes, and how much better the game is when played together. The rest can come along whenever, or never, and I'll still have the same amount of fun, day to day.
