Future developments after the first non beta

[darkgod]

******************* HEAVY FUTURE SPOILER *****************












Hello

I was pondering what I will do once we are out of beta, I have many ideas about stuff to add and I was pondeing if the old DLC ideas could be used, like version 1.1.0 would be one of those, then version 1.2.0 and so on.

So what do you think of those ideas and in what order would you put them ?

Orcs: The Rise to Power
The player is of the Kruk Pride, a now nearly extinct pride, both by the sunwall and the other prides.
The goal of the player is to avenge his pride by claiming leadership of all the prides, the only problem is that the Istari are already there.
Races added:

• Orcs

Classes added:

• None, normal ones are usable (maybe still some specifics ?)

Ents: The March of the Entwifes
The ents are a dying race without the entwifes, you are one of the “hastier” ents and have been sent to find them, you have heard rumours about the far east and its green plains.
Races added:

• Ents

Classes added:

• Ents can not be normal classes, they get their own. Ideas ?

Trolls: Terror of the Woods
For a long time trolls have been thought as dumb brutes, lacking focus. While this remains true the newer breed of Olog-Hai is becoming more and more intelligent. In their secret land deep within the southern lands, the Olog-Hai are preparing to retake by force what is rightfully theirs: the world
Races added:

• Trolls

Classes added:

• Trolls can not be normal classes, they get their own. Ideas ?

Nagas: Guardians of the Tide
Nagas are “sea-elves”, they serve Maglor as guardians of the last Silmaril.
They begin by clearing various underwater threads and then continue on land with the Orc Pride.
Races added:

• Nagas

Classes added:

• Myrmidon
• Psyren
• Tide Hunter

Spydrë: Legacy of Ungoliant
Ungoliant did not devour herself, she fled to her original realm, an other world lost in the Void. There she rules all spiderkin but a few rebels. You are one of those remaining few, dedicated to free your race from the mother of night.
Races added:

• Spider

Classes added:

• Arachnomancer
• Venomblade
• ???

Urthalath: Treason or the High Guards
Deep within the Void is the elemental world of fire, Urthalath, home to the Faeros. The Faeros High Guard, tasked with the protection of the world has seized power for itself and their new masters, the Istari, unknown to all.
You are one of the last loyal High Guards, you must protect your world from all threats, external as well as internal.
Races added:

• Faeros

Classes added:

• ???

[Feanor.81]

Mmm, I think I would focus primarily on developing a full good/evil set of choices (and related quests and twists in the plot) for any character, instead of adding other races and classes.

About the races:
DLC form would be just fine. I would start from Orcs, they are more "classic" and would be enjoyable by all players, while other races depend on player's tastes; plus, the orc pride system is already there, well developed and fully entwined with the general plot.

Then, I would introduce a generic class, which I think most people would love to play around with: vampires. (I'm saying class instead of race because they would come with a full set of 4-5 specific talent tress, too much to add them to the normal trees.)

Then my personal preference would go to spiders, I always liked them a lot, and IMO they are one of the more intriguing and mysterious races in Tolkien fictional universe. Then any other race from the list, in no particular order, even if I would favor Drakes after Spiders, but I see they are not planned.

As a side note: take into account that introducing supernatural and monstrous classes like Spiders and Nagas will need a greater effort, since their interaction with the world will have to be completely reshaped. E.g. imagine entering a town as a Spider, anyone around would flee in terror (same for Orcs or Trolls I guess); plus, Spiders are not able to talk at all [maybe via telepathy]; and sunlight should be their bane [no outside dungeons].

[darkgod]

Good/Evil is intended to come with Orcs yes (and some others), they go agsint the prides but they are not nice guys either.
Each of those ideas will get their own set of starter quests and plot. You wont go about helping the sunwal as an orc or a spider.

I could indeed do an "undead" themed release yes, could work quite well.

Nagas and spiders could speak just fine IMO, Ungoliant talked to morgoth and naga are already talking to the player.

[edge2054]

Chronomancers
I really liked that quest idea we had going on IRC a couple weeks back and would still like to see the Chronomancy unlock done that way.

I'll also need some help with some of these talents (especially the ones involving save files, caching, and all of that).

On a different note

Druids might be a good class for Ents (though I'd like to see them playable by other races as well). Actually I see the Summoners being a good Ent class as well. We could also do a very tree based Wilder using some of the Druid ideas.

Or maybe a hyper-specialized 'druid' that focused just on forest animals, trees, and what not. Kind of a combination summoner/druid caster without the shapechanging.

[darkgod]

Hum yes indeed.
As for chronomancers I was planning to add them while doing other things, not a the entire focus of a release. Maybe they require it, dunno

[edge2054]

Fair enough on the Chronomancer thing.

Another thought I just had...

What if instead of restricting certain classes to certain races we implemented an xp penalty for certain race/class combinations. In other words...

Orcs might make great Reavers, Necromancers, and Blood Mages. But not so great Arcane Blades, Mages, and Alchemists. For the first three classes they get a -.1 xp adjustment and for the last three classes they get a +.1 xp adjustment.

Less human races could have an even bigger penalty along with some outright bans. Ents for instance probably don't make any sense as Pyromancers (unless they've gone crazy) but might be capable of playing Berserkers (albeit with a +1.0 penalty). On the other hand they make great druids and summoners (-.2 xp penalty).

[Feanor.81]

What if instead of restricting certain classes to certain races we implemented an xp penalty for certain race/class combinations.

Uhm... dunno. A Troll Psyren? A Hobbit Arachnomancer?
Plus, IMO very bad race/class combinations are already going to pay in terms of gameplay in the long term (if not, they are just not polished enough in their design). I'm not sure introducing more penalties would be fair.
Furthermore, introducing exp reduction with the right combination would make the game easier when the character is strong the most.

[Hedrachi]

Hmm... Ent Druid, but the ent druid would focus much more on plantlife than anything else. Might get a damage bonus against creatures using axes or fire, too. Something like Shield of Bees/Shield of Birds, Strangling Vines. Shield of Bees makes a swarm of bees so thick around the ent that any melee attack does poison damage to attackers, birds would do same but physical damage. Vines would stun, with a chance for damage on crit. Maybe Faeros would be healed by fire damage?

[getter77]

I also don't really favor yet more of the "aptitude" game with respect to races like above---Stone Soup is already rife with that sort of thing. I much prefer well defined classes beget in large part by the races themselves thematically---much more sensible to balance, enhance with dazzle, and tweak as well given the focused "pool" you have to work with.

I can't come up with much of a rhyme to release patterns, likely because I'm pretty sure entire new things will be thought of in the interim that would throw any sort of "least fantastical to most" out of whack. Definitely still much to refine into the base game proper like the good/evil and other such bits.

If possible, I would like to see the "monster" classes handle towns like a special vault level unto itself---in that all denizens will be hostile and properly armed and whatever "spoils" would go to one that is successful in a "monster attack". That might need some re-doing of the lot of it though, but actually razing a town proper in terms of world conquering seems like a destined thing.

Sound effects might also be something to give some thought to somewhere in the midst----they are pretty much a staple of "serious" game projects of the sort aiming for commercial doings or even just making an especially good jolt for awareness/attention/drawing the players into the world. Same deal with (limited) voice acting, though in some respects harder to pin down than the other. I also have this funny feeling that more/nifty things can be done with use of slow-down and/or some manner of Zooming features if the Engine itself has that support...