Chronicles of Elyria: Contracts and Player-Created Professions

SBFord

Chronicles of Elyria: Contracts and Player-Created Professions

Contracts give power back to the players, enabling an infinite number of character-driven occupations. The foundation for marriages, guilds, trade agreements, in-game mail systems, families, and even governments, contracts make Chronicles of Elyria one of the first true sandbox MMOs.

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drtack1

Sounds interesting, going to have to do some more research on this one. My one Concern is why not just sign said contract with someone and then have your buddy kill them and take it.....hmmmmm.

JeromyWalsh

drtack1 said:

Sounds interesting, going to have to do some more research on this one. My one Concern is why not just sign said contract with someone and then have your buddy kill them and take it.....hmmmmm.

Why not indeed? I mean, killing is illegal and will result in punishment.... if you're caught.

Sabbicat

I like the fact that while working on an explicit contract with someone there is a function of haggling.

liva98989

Like it, mostly because it tries a lot of the things most games won't do.

Kilmaul

This sounds quite interesting, and also quite complex. I'll be interested to see it in action.

Zultra

Sounds really good!

Falendor

Finally a game where i can play a scribe. For some reason I've always wanted to play one.

seeyouspacec0wboy

Game is sounding awesome. My only concern is it has a really bad, low budget sounding name. "Chronicles of x" is pretty played out, and naming a new game after unestablished lore is always a bad idea. I think that naming is a very big deal and a short, catchy name is important for these games. Oh well, I'll be keeping an eye on it!

Panserbjorne39

EVE: Online has a Contract system that sounds similar to this though haven't messed with it much and not sure on details. I do know that in EVE, the bounty system is a fail and is basically meaningless with players running around with billions of credits on their heads. Hopefully, in this game, a bounty token will result in serious repercussions for those that are breaking a deal. Enough to make someone think twice about the risk vs. reward. Otherwise, it will just be a griefer's paradise like EVE where the perceived punishments are meaningless.

emota

Sounds good, let's see it in action

Wizardry

This is a FFXI idea,no surprise FFXI had most of the ideas in gaming covered.It is a good idea on paper but having witness it first hand for many years,players won't use it or VERY few will.I don't want to put a damper on good ideas but imo they might wan t to forget this idea.

Now i was talking about the crafting end of it.Contracts as in the other mentioned ideas i have also witnessed playing an older game.In that game they were a really bad idea,like off the charts bad.The reason is simple,first it favors the highest skill/level/ability players,alienates the lower ones.Secondly if it is and idk but if it is tied intro a cash shop it is 100% a game breaker.

So again,i don't want to sound negative towards a dev trying to bring in some good ideas but this idea is only good on paper not very good in practice.I hope they think of the negative side of this before finalizing it.

DecayedHope

Players that break enough contracts and get sent to jail will lose play time. Players with large bounties will also lose play time. So unless they're cool with paying around 30 dollars every few weeks I doubt they'll keep doing it. That's what makes this game unique. Also I highly doubt there will be a cash shop. At least not for anything truly meaningful in game.

Kilmaul

Wizardry said:

This is a FFXI idea,no surprise FFXI had most of the ideas in gaming covered.It is a good idea on paper but having witness it first hand for many years,players won't use it or VERY few will.I don't want to put a damper on good ideas but imo they might wan t to forget this idea.

Now i was talking about the crafting end of it.Contracts as in the other mentioned ideas i have also witnessed playing an older game.In that game they were a really bad idea,like off the charts bad.The reason is simple,first it favors the highest skill/level/ability players,alienates the lower ones.Secondly if it is and idk but if it is tied intro a cash shop it is 100% a game breaker.

So again,i don't want to sound negative towards a dev trying to bring in some good ideas but this idea is only good on paper not very good in practice.I hope they think of the negative side of this before finalizing it.

I'm hoping they can implement something to make multiple crafting tiers remain relevant.  Maybe low, medium, high tiers.  Lower tiers specialize in the lower end stuff (obviously), while high end crafters can only specialize in higher end stuffs.  Meaning, higher end crafters "forgot" or "can't be bothered" to do low end stuff.  I don't know, something to keep all tier crafters relevant throughout the life of the character.

Deffcon_1

This DJ has me pretty excited for the game. The contract system is something that is desperately needed in the MMO genre. I think it'll be much better than the traditional questing system.

Falendor

In a preindustrial society you take the work you can get, even the small stuff. Remember to read the other DJs, if read about OPCs you'll see that crafting basic items will not be a bother as the wont take your RL time.

Luccheno

Wizardry said:

This is a FFXI idea,no surprise FFXI had most of the ideas in gaming covered.It is a good idea on paper but having witness it first hand for many years,players won't use it or VERY few will.I don't want to put a damper on good ideas but imo they might wan t to forget this idea.

Now i was talking about the crafting end of it.Contracts as in the other mentioned ideas i have also witnessed playing an older game.In that game they were a really bad idea,like off the charts bad.The reason is simple,first it favors the highest skill/level/ability players,alienates the lower ones.Secondly if it is and idk but if it is tied intro a cash shop it is 100% a game breaker.

So again,i don't want to sound negative towards a dev trying to bring in some good ideas but this idea is only good on paper not very good in practice.I hope they think of the negative side of this before finalizing it.

I understand the risk you are talking about, but that usually happens because the contract system and its crafting counterpart is one of several mechanisms. In a game where it is the core essence of questing and trading, where interacting between players will revolve around this specially since you also have the OPC already mentioned in previous journals, it means that people won't just look at it as something "secondary". Also, since the contracts have several degrees of dificulty, the demand for all types of contracts will ensure more lower leveled crafters have a job. Plus, don't forget there is no "inter-city-speed-mail" or no "omnipresent teleportation auction house". So you only have fast acess to the crafters that live closer to you in a short-time-window notion. Those "elite" crafters won't be able to supply the whole world, as the whole world wont have the time, money or resources (or patience) to actually get to them.

SouzouMiguel

DecayedHope said:

Players that break enough contracts and get sent to jail will lose play time. Players with large bounties will also lose play time. So unless they're cool with paying around 30 dollars every few weeks I doubt they'll keep doing it. That's what makes this game unique. Also I highly doubt there will be a cash shop. At least not for anything truly meaningful in game.

Correct. We have been dedicated to the idea that the game isn't "pay to win" from day one. If an item exists within the game, anyone is capable of earning it.

Camigwen

Deffcon_1 said:

This DJ has me pretty excited for the game. The contract system is something that is desperately needed in the MMO genre. I think it'll be much better than the traditional questing system.

The questing part of this is what excites me the most. It means that rather than repeating dull collection quests for the same NPC over & over again, you're seeking out other players who have needs which you can fulfill. I like the idea that the player needs create 'drama' in the world which would otherwise be 'handled' by the game and not made to be an interesting part of the story. I can also see that crafting will be more fun in the game because you'll be able to focus on the part of crafting that you really want to do instead of always having to be gathering the base materials.

Sabbicat

"Whenever you a sign a contract the Soulborn Engine begins waiting for you to perform specific Character Events related to the contract and uses those to track your progress. This system is also used to help you track your progress on-screen. Selecting a contract you’ve accepted from your inventory allows you to track the contract’s objectives. This, like in most MMOs, gives you an on-screen reminder of what you're trying to do and whenever you complete an objective the user interface is updated to reflect your progress." This sounds like contracts will be tracked like other games use Quest trackers. This will be handy for those running multiple contracts.

8bitgamer

I like the fact you actually have to visually step away from the world while reading a contract and even searching your backpack. Gives me more chances to pickpocket you! Really cool DJ

ice-vortex

Wizardry said:

This is a FFXI idea,no surprise FFXI had most of the ideas in gaming covered.It is a good idea on paper but having witness it first hand for many years,players won't use it or VERY few will.I don't want to put a damper on good ideas but imo they might wan t to forget this idea.

Now i was talking about the crafting end of it.Contracts as in the other mentioned ideas i have also witnessed playing an older game.In that game they were a really bad idea,like off the charts bad.The reason is simple,first it favors the highest skill/level/ability players,alienates the lower ones.Secondly if it is and idk but if it is tied intro a cash shop it is 100% a game breaker.

So again,i don't want to sound negative towards a dev trying to bring in some good ideas but this idea is only good on paper not very good in practice.I hope they think of the negative side of this before finalizing it.

So it wasn't used in a PVE themepark?

JeromyWalsh

8bitgamer said:

I like the fact you actually have to visually step away from the world while reading a contract and even searching your backpack. Gives me more chances to pickpocket you! Really cool DJ

Haha! Yeah. This is the first view of the equipment and inventory system. Wait until you see people searching pockets hidden in capes, boots, and garters! I really love the connection this system creates between you and your character.

VictoriaRachel

Do all contracts, even the stock contracts you mention, require someone who knows about Contract Writing? Or are they only required for something more complicated then your most basic agreement? I like the idea of making it a proffesion, espeacially for laws and charters. My concern is if you are putting all the contracts behind this wall will this limit some of the more basic interactions? The other question is there are trade contracts. Are these the only means of trade?

Falendor

JeromyWalsh said:

8bitgamer said:

I like the fact you actually have to visually step away from the world while reading a contract and even searching your backpack. Gives me more chances to pickpocket you! Really cool DJ

Haha! Yeah. This is the first view of the equipment and inventory system. Wait until you see people searching pockets hidden in capes, boots, and garters! I really love the connection this system creates between you and your character.

Im going to invest in clothes with lots of hidden pockets, unfortunately im a bit forgetful so i may sometimes forget what pocket i stuck it in. Normally not being able to find items in a game is a UI problem, but how CoEs inventory is set up it actually seams more like a bit of realism.

Bigdaddyx

If i had a penny for every time i read' this new game is one of the first true sandbox MMOs' i would be a millionaire.