Forums » General Pantheon Discussion

A Lore tab for quest items, and item identification

    • 194 posts
    March 24, 2017 10:30 PM PDT

    I was thinking about how in EQ, the int casters could cast an identify spell on someone holding an object on their cursor and it could potentially reveal hidden information about that object.  It was a cool little way of investigating quest items to figure out their use.  With the addition of game design features like the perception system and the ability for players to become ‘Keepers,’ it seems like there is a great opportunity to expand on the ability for other players to help ‘identify’ the purpose and function of quest items.

     

    The idea would be to extend the amount of hidden information that’s available about an item, and then only have each piece of information be revealed if it’s ‘identified’ by another player with the proper requirements.  In this way, ‘identify’ or ‘inspect’ would be a general ability available to all character classes and races, as opposed to something only doable by casters.  A wizard or enchanter might reveal information about an item that has arcane relevance.  A shaman might reveal the source of a curse on an object, or aspects of its’ historical significance.  If a quest item is of natural origin a ranger or druid might be able to reveal where it came from.

     

    One possible way to implement this would be to add a ‘Lore’ tab to the item windows for quest items and then populate it with whatever information has been revealed about the item.

     

    As an example:

     

    While traveling in The Forgotten Tomb (made up zone) you kill a gnoll assassin and it drops a bloody dagger.  If you click on the lore tab for the dagger you see this:

     

    ‘A Bloody Dagger’

    Source: A gnoll assassin in The Forgotten Tomb

    Nothing is known about this item.

     

    Now, if you had all the details about the dagger, the lore tab would look more like this:

     

    ‘A Bloody Dagger’

    Source: A gnoll assassin in The Forgotten Tomb

    An assassin’s dagger of elven origin.

    Once used to assassinate Fippy, leader of the Foo’bar gnolls.

    Heavily cursed by a gnoll shaman.

    Seeks the blood of elven kind in revenge for harm done to the gnolls.

     

    In this example each line of additional information about the dagger can be revealed by a character that meets the proper requirements when inspecting the object.

     

    An assassin’s dagger of elven origin -- revealed by any player of class [rogue] or race [elf].

    Once used to assassinate Fippy, leader of the Foo’bar gnolls -- revealed by any player with sufficient Keeper knowledge of gnoll lore.

    Heavily cursed by a gnoll shaman -- revealed by any shaman of level 10 or above.

    Seeks the blood of elven kind in revenge for harm done to the gnolls -- revealed by perception check from any priest class of level 15 or above.

     

    Here are some potential benefits that may come from implementing a feature like this:

    1. An additional level of socialization and player interdependence for questing.  When someone loots an item with an unknown purpose, the first thing they’ll probably want to do is have everyone in their group inspect it to see what additional information can be revealed about the item.

    2. It adds a level of non-linearity to questing.  Instead of finding an npc who tells you to go out and seek something for them, you may start in on a quest by finding the object first, and then investigating the object to see what its’ purpose is or who might be interested in it.  In fact, some quests could be implemented in such a way that no npc would tell you to go out and find the quest item, and only by investigating the item itself would you be able to uncover the quest associated with it.

     

    There are probably other ways this could be expanded to help create a richer questing experience.

     

    • 690 posts
    March 24, 2017 10:35 PM PDT

    Elrandir said:

    One possible way to implement this would be to add a ‘Lore’ tab to the item windows for quest items and then populate it with whatever information has been revealed about the item.

    I like this idea, and think it will go great with the perception system, especially if the perception system involves several factors like skill ups, character statistics, character race, and character class, as has been mentioned in other threads. I'd expand further but you pretty much covered it=)


    This post was edited by BeaverBiscuit at March 24, 2017 10:39 PM PDT
    • 248 posts
    March 25, 2017 2:59 AM PDT

    @Elrandir

    I really like this idea. Especially that to uncover information you would need different classes, races etc.

    Elrandir said:

     

     In this example each line of additional information about the dagger can be revealed by a character that meets the proper requirements when inspecting the object.

     

     

     

    An assassin’s dagger of elven origin -- revealed by any player of class [rogue] or race [elf].

     

    Once used to assassinate Fippy, leader of the Foo’bar gnolls -- revealed by any player with sufficient Keeper knowledge of gnoll lore.

     

    Heavily cursed by a gnoll shaman -- revealed by any shaman of level 10 or above.

     

    Seeks the blood of elven kind in revenge for harm done to the gnolls -- revealed by perception check from any priest class of level 15 or above.

     

     

    One question to your idea: When looking at the lore tab of the quest item, do you imagin there would be an indicator of how much information you need to find? Something like: You have uncovered 0/4 clues. Or would that be hidden?

     

    -sorte.

    • 194 posts
    March 25, 2017 4:00 AM PDT

    Sorte said:

    One question to your idea: When looking at the lore tab of the quest item, do you imagin there would be an indicator of how much information you need to find? Something like: You have uncovered 0/4 clues. Or would that be hidden?

     

    If something like this were implemented I think my preference would be to keep that information hidden.  There's also the possibility for a middle ground where you see something along the lines of "you feel there is more to discover about this item" if you haven't uncovered all of the hidden lore related to it.  So you know there's more investigating that can be done, but not necessarily how much that can yet be revealed.

     

    • 500 posts
    March 25, 2017 4:47 AM PDT

    Great idea. +1


    This post was edited by Grymmlocke at March 25, 2017 4:47 AM PDT
    • 248 posts
    March 25, 2017 7:18 AM PDT

    Elrandir said:

     There's also the possibility for a middle ground where you see something along the lines of "you feel there is more to discover about this item" if you haven't uncovered all of the hidden lore related to it.  So you know there's more investigating that can be done, but not necessarily how much that can yet be revealed.


    This would be a great way to do it I think. Much better than knowing exactly how much is needed as in my example. But I also get that it would be cool if the Lore tab gives no clues at all :)

    -sorte.


    This post was edited by Sorte at March 25, 2017 7:18 AM PDT
    • 780 posts
    March 25, 2017 3:01 PM PDT

    I like the way you have this set up.  I'd definitely like to see something like it in PRF.

    • 1618 posts
    March 25, 2017 7:31 PM PDT

    Would be nice.

    • 542 posts
    March 25, 2017 7:39 PM PDT

    Elrandir said:

     

    1. An additional level of socialization and player interdependence for questing.  When someone loots an item with an unknown purpose, the first thing they’ll probably want to do is have everyone in their group inspect it to see what additional information can be revealed about the item

     

    There are probably other ways this could be expanded to help create a richer questing experience.

    I really like the direction of your proposal and what you said here is what I was thinking the whole time when I was reading through.
    Player interdependence is a really important one I believe. The 'I need you in order to do this'
    Believe it blends in beautifully with following tenet too;

    -A belief that the greatest sense of accomplishment comes when it is shared - and earned.-

    Characteristic root and growth/progression potential being part of the item identification process
    This would mean that the value and tier of an item is not a given
    As each item has potential to improve,according to alignment/person and characteristic root

    Tenet -An understanding that faction and alignment should be an integral part of interacting with the world and its citizens.-
    (and perhaps it could be an integral part of item identification?)

    Each item remains valued to some degree as it could have the potential to improve over time.
    I'm not an economist ,so I don't know what effect it would have,looking at the following tenet;

    -A belief that game economies should be predicated on delaying and minimizing item value deflation.-

    I do like the thought that true value is not a given /not known immediately
    As players would need to interact with other players to gain additional information
    Next to that, players might need to engage the world as part of the upgrade process;
    visit a certain specific enchanted zone in order to be able to upgrade their item

    And in the end,the journey eventually allows us to make the item more our own

    tenets -An understanding that a truly challenging game is truly rewarding-
    -An assertion that player vs. environment should involve more than NPCs -- Engage the World!-


    This post was edited by Fluffy at March 25, 2017 7:55 PM PDT