Live Forum Q&A Starr Long -- Shroud of the Avatar

superconducting

How is the music submission contest going? Do you know when the selection / voting process will begin?

Someguynot

Originally posted by Darkstarr9

Originally posted by Someguynot

Starr,

Since you guys are able to create basements 5 stories down, is this the limit for unity (5 stories)?  If so, could you also create 5 story houses above ground?

In addition, why don't player houses have rooms and doors on the inside?

No unity limit on the number of floors below ground. The shear amount of space in 5 floors seemed plenty which is why we stopped there. 

We could create taller houses but it really starts to damage sight lines in the cities.

The larger houses do have rooms in them. Currently we have left doors out of most of them but they can easily be added in.

Thanks, Starr.  A quick follow-up question about housing.  Some of the houses you've shown so far do not have "function" levels.  The Tower, for example, has two floors inside but shows what looks like 3 or 4 floors from the outside.  Have you considered making the inside of these buildings more like basements where you have to warp into a new zone, but it's more "functional"?

I wouldn't want to lose the ability to see outside windows, that's very cool.  But having a few functional zones would make those buildings much cooler, imo.

Darkstarr9

Originally posted by Someguynot

Starr,

 

Most development teams fail to answer the hard questions because they're hard, but also because they fear that some potential fans will stop following the game...

PVP

Stealing

Bounty Systems

These are the types of mechanics that often get mentioned early in development, but then when people are talking to the devs in various opportunities "like this one" the developers skip around those questions...again, because they're hard.

 

If you're unable to talk about these things now, could you atleast tell us when someone WILL talk about them?  And is that date after release of the game?

Totally fair question. PVP is not only a hot topic amongst you guys but it is internally as well. We have very HEATED debates about it amongst ourselves.

We want to balance the visceral feeling open PVP can offer with the very real desire of large segments of the community who have no desire to be PKd. The holy grail is to have PVP that is thrilling but avoids the dark path of rampant PK of newbs. 

Right now we just finished a major pass through designing the combat and advancement system which is of course a precursor to PVP. So now we can spend some time on PVP design. We hope to have more details by end of this year.

 

Darkstarr9

Originally posted by jtripper
Any chance you'll show off some new gameplay video, like when you did with the 3-month demo?  If so, any ETA?

We are working on just such a video as we chat. 

Darkstarr9

Originally posted by grnarrow
What will be your policy about players selling virtual items (be that powerful crafted or looted items, land, houses, gold, even entire accounts) for real world money?  How will you deal with the gold sellers that are so common these days?

Our game will be very metrics heavy so we can monitor activities that seem like gold farming. We plan to be very aggressive about policing such things.

Someguynot

Starr,

I'm thinking of letting my 10 year old play this game in multiplayer with full pvp.  Would you recommend this?

jtripper

The current map of New Britannia looks very much like Sosaria (Ultima 3) than it does Britannia (Ultima 4+).  Can you shed any light on this and does it have anything to do with the cataclysm reshaping the continent of Old Britannia into New Britannia / Sosaria-like?

Darkstarr9

Originally posted by End406
I was wondering about the different class or skill options, like necromancy, tamers or playing thief classes.  Can anything be said on that topic as to what to be expected or not to be expected?

We don't have classes. We have magic and combat schools each of which have themes. For instance we have a Death Magic school that has necromancy spells like corpse explosion, animate corpse, and summon undead. 

Darkstarr9

Originally posted by Someguynot

Starr,

I'm thinking of letting my 10 year old play this game in multiplayer with full pvp.  Would you recommend this?

I see what you did there. Nice. 

Darkstarr9

Originally posted by superconducting
How is the music submission contest going? Do you know when the selection / voting process will begin?

That contest is being run by the Poets Circle guild so you will have to ask them.

Someguynot

Originally posted by Darkstarr9

Originally posted by Someguynot

Starr,

I'm thinking of letting my 10 year old play this game in multiplayer with full pvp.  Would you recommend this?

I see what you did there. Nice. 

LOL

I didn't really mean to do that.  Please let me rephrase the question.  Will Shourd of the Avatar have a rating suitable for 10 year olds?

Darkstarr9

Originally posted by jtripper

The current map of New Britannia looks very much like Sosaria (Ultima 3) than it does Britannia (Ultima 4+).  Can you shed any light on this and does it have anything to do with the cataclysm reshaping the continent of Old Britannia into New Britannia / Sosaria-like?

Ultima and the content therein are property of Electronic Arts. Any resemblance is purely coincidental. <wink>

Someguynot

Stealing?

Darkstarr9

Originally posted by Someguynot

Originally posted by Darkstarr9

Originally posted by Someguynot

Starr,

I'm thinking of letting my 10 year old play this game in multiplayer with full pvp.  Would you recommend this?

I see what you did there. Nice. 

LOL

I didn't really mean to do that.  Please let me rephrase the question.  Will Shourd of the Avatar have a rating suitable for 10 year olds?

If you are going to let him play I would suggest doing so in "Friends Only" mode due to moderation and safety issues. There is a discussion over in the SoTA forums about the possibility of a "parents with kids who play" guild to better manage the social network of younger players.

End406

I'm not sure if this has been asked/answered.  But I was wondering about houses decaying.  How is the house decay system being planned or function as of now?  In UO.  A house falls, loot is hoovered up and another house instantly is replaced by a player(s).  It's mainly all I did for a long time on UO.  Scout for IDOCS.  Is this something I can possibly do here?  

kalen41

Originally posted by Darkstarr9

Originally posted by LumTheMad
Precasting? (Y/N)

Lum, still trolling after all these years. Oh and you do realize you work for me right? :P

Originally posted by VastoHorde

Hello, thanks for coming.

 

1. How are you all doing character progression?

2. What type of class system will you be using if any?

3. Will there be open world pvp?

4. Will there be some kind of territory control and politics?

5. Is the world going to be open and seamless with open world dungeons and no instances?

1. Currently character progression is done via earning XP which levels you up. When you level up you get skill points you can use to train skill from various combat, magic, or crafting schools.

2. There are no classes in Shroud. Players can spend skill points in skills from any school as long as they meet the requirements for that skill (usually a preceding skill in that school).

3. PVP is still too early in design to answer this.

4. Guilds can feud with each other

5. The world is not going to be open and seamless. We are a small indie team and we want to be able to add content to the game iteratively. These factors moved us towards dividing the world into discrete maps (aka zones). 

Originally posted by superconducting

Hi Starr. Thank you for taking the time to do this.

Let me start off by saying that I am a big supporter of SotA and have been following the project very closely (same goes for my brother).

 

Sorry to begin with this question but I figure I will get the hard one out first . To put it plainly, I and quite a few others are a little distraught by the current housing situation, which as you know seems to be a rather large part of the game and offers quite a few benefits to players.

 

As it stands now, backers can either upgrade their pledge to citizen-level or higher for $500 or settle for an add-on store lot deed for $150 in order to get land. Citizen-level properties are the real deal but are quite cost restrictive, especially for an average fellow like myself. The next best thing are add-on lots, in which case cost is less of an issue but the following major concerns arise:

(1) If I understand correctly, anyone with enough time and effort can obtain, using in-game currency, the exact same lot and be in the exact same situation as someone who paid real money for one.

(2) The lot reverts if someone defaults on taxes for just one month (for instance because of real-life obligations). This person, having monetarily supported the game, would then potentially have to wait ages before finally being able to re-acquire some land.

 

What is your response to these concerns?

 

Thanks a lot. I love what I see in this game! It’s just that I really want to experience it in its entirety

I will answer this by talking about why we want taxes. We want the world to feel full and alive and not feel empty. Since most villages and towns will be comprised mostly of player houses it is critical we actively keep people engaged. A simple way to do that is to require them to pay an upkeep. If life takes you away from the game then just make sure your bank account is flush with gold and we will automatically draft from your bank account. If you think you won't have enough money for a longer term absence then work with your friends and/or guildmates to help you out by designating them kindred.

Originally posted by grnarrow
MMOs often have social hubs centered around auction houses or important vendors, and this is often where players meet for trade or to form groups.  With many players in SotA acting as vendors based from their homes, which are going to be scattered across villages, towns, and cities, what will encourage players to gather at a social hub, and where do you see those hubs being?

The center of each town will have central services like the bank and a crafting area with the best quality crafting tables. While vendors in your house will scatter some people there will still be items like this that will draw people to center.

Originally posted by superconducting
I have little doubt in my mind that Richard Garriott tried to get you on board the project early on; and I could not be happier of the fact. So my question is- what did Richard say to you, or what events took place, that ultimately convinced you to join?

"I've got this great bottle of Port you should try..." 

It was actually a conversation over dinner about the project and game development in general. We quickly fell into a familiar and exciting pattern of back and forth that resulted in a few of the game designs you see now. That ease of working with someone as brilliant as Richard and how he can bring out the best in me is what drew me in.

Originally posted by Vahrane

     I was wondering if you could confirm or deny the existence of a reagent based magic system in SoTA? If reagents are in could you give any details e.g. rarity, how they can be obtained, do all spells use them, etc? I've looked over the small amount of information concerning the "Sigil of Magic" and the various different schools therein, but couldn't find anything about reagents thus far. I fully understand if it's not something you can discuss at this time. 

     

Yes there are reagents and every magic spell requires them. We have not yet released the list of reagents or their relative scarcity.

 

 Starr,

  On more then one occasion I have heard Lord British speak to regents and he stated there will be spells that don't require spell components just like every time a warrior swings his sword doesn't require it to be sharpened. He did say there were some spells that would be there would be common reusable spells that would not.

superconducting

MMOs originally had a sandbox origin, namely UO. They then leapt into the themepark era with WoW and its various clones. And we are now back at the point where people are fed up with the same old mechanics. Henceforth comes SotA, a sandbox that promises much adventure and excitement, with a focus on RPG.

My question is- to what extent will SotA carry over the sandbox elements from UO? How much are you looking at this model?

Thanks again

Darkstarr9

Originally posted by Someguynot
Stealing?

While there may be stealing it will be heavily intertwined with PVP

Darkstarr9

 

 Starr,

  On more then one occasion I have heard Lord British speak to regents and he stated there will be spells that don't require spell components just like every time a warrior swings his sword doesn't require it to be sharpened. He did say there were some spells that would be there would be common reusable spells that would not.

While that may have been true in earlier designs all combat related spells require reagents. There will be wands and staves that can be enchanted with spells that won't require reagents at time of use but they will require reagents to be enchanted.

Someguynot

Originally posted by Darkstarr9

Originally posted by Someguynot
Stealing?

While there may be stealing it will be heavily intertwined with PVP

Thanks - I think.

Maybe something like this?

http://evilgrief.com/2013/08/11/how-to-balance-non-consensual-stealing-mechanics/

Darkstarr9

Originally posted by superconducting

MMOs originally had a sandbox origin, namely UO. They then leapt into the themepark era with WoW and its various clones. And we are now back at the point where people are fed up with the same old mechanics. Henceforth comes SotA, a sandbox that promises much adventure and excitement, with a focus on RPG.

My question is- to what extent will SotA carry over the sandbox elements from UO? How much are you looking at this model?

The level we are going to with the crafting system, player housing, and player economy are true sandbox play. I would even say our classless advancement system has a strong sandbox feel to it.

jtripper

Questions apply both to single player offline and multiplayer online modes.

Will there be a formal "party" or "group"?

Will there be NPC companions (think similar to: Iolo, Dupre, etc) that will be AI-controlled with their own dialog and banter?

Will those NPC companions either travel with me or be part of my group?

What happens when my character dies?

Do we become ghosts that need to be resurrected? OooOOO 

Is there a corpse run to retrieve our bodies and belongings?

What sort of penalties will we incur upon death?

 

kalen41

Originally posted by Darkstarr9

 

 Starr,

  On more then one occasion I have heard Lord British speak to regents and he stated there will be spells that don't require spell components just like every time a warrior swings his sword doesn't require it to be sharpened. He did say there were some spells that would be there would be common reusable spells that would not.

While that may have been true in earlier designs all combat related spells require reagents. There will be wands and staves that can be enchanted with spells that won't require reagents at time of use but they will require reagents to be enchanted.

 Well hope y'all pay attention to the balance issues this can cause. I buy a sword and sharpen it once and a while I don't have to buy or make a crutch to aid me in combat

jtripper

Boxers or briefs?

Darkstarr9

Originally posted by jtripper

Questions apply both to single player offline and multiplayer online modes.

Will there be a formal "party" or "group"?

Will there be NPC companions (think similar to: Iolo, Dupre, etc) that will be AI-controlled with their own dialog and banter?

Will those NPC companions either travel with me or be part of my group?

What happens when my character dies?

Do we become ghosts that need to be resurrected? OooOOO 

Is there a corpse run to retrieve our bodies and belongings?

What sort of penalties will we incur upon death?

 

1. Yes there will be a formal group

2. We may indeed have companions but it is likely that they will only function in single player

3. Character death has not yet been designed