Terraforming Updates - June 2013

Tecton

One of the things that I get asked as producer is for some tidbits of what people can expect in the coming weeks and months. I'm going to take this opportunity to let you know some of the projects we're currently working on, and some of the things on the horizon. 

This is far from an exhaustive list, mainly focusing on core system updates. Concurrently, there's always work happening on the RP side of things, but unlike development, we prefer not to reveal RP events ahead of time.

Things you'll see in the near future

• A complete overhaul of newbie systems: a new introductory tour, a more formalised newbie task system, and a city novicehood system allowing a centralised training hub for all members of a city.
  
• To help make combat more accessible to new players, we'll be providing a basic combat system for users of our HTML5 client! This will be an open and freely modifiable trigger package that can be easily tailored to suit even the most advanced combatant.
  
• We're beautifying a lot of our core outputs, things like SCORE and STAT, the news and message systems, as well as changes to CONFIG and more!
  
• An overhaul of the emote system, merging emote and tmote functionality, as well as providing the ability to combine emotes with some of the common item interactions.
  
• Continued work on auditing the many questing/bashing areas, integrating hundreds more quests into the QUEST LOG system, and improving denizen interactivity and AI. As part of this, we're tweaking both experience and gold rewards to be more consistent across the entire game.
• Continuing the in-depth evaluation of all of our classes and the player-submitted CLASSLEAD reports.
• Tweaks and changes to some of our conflict systems: Icons, City Destruction, and Pickpocketing.

Things you'll see "down the road"

• Splitting off some (or all) tradeskills from class skill sets (and adding new class skills/abilities to fill in the voids).
• Expanded rewards for bashing, beyond gold and experience.
• A new system allowing more customisation of artefacts and the items imbued with their powers.
• An overhaul of weaponry, weapon stats, and forging, making the process less tedious and allowing more control of the end product.
• New challenges for bashers and questers alike, both on land and at sea.
• Taking our class system to a new level with Multiclassing: players will be able to retain knowledge of multiple class skill sets, allowing a fluid switch between known classes without starting over at inept skill level.

Feel free to drop your questions in this thread and I'll try to answer as best I can - keep in mind though, many of the "down the road" projects may not be fleshed out any further than what you see above, so we can't provide detailed specifics even if we wanted to! They are multiple months away at the very least!

Shirszae

Read multiclassing and almost went mad with happiness

Obligatory question, thought: I am guessing the House system will be looked at as well, no? Or will players only be able to multiclass in whatever classes their current house allow? I ask because currently, when you try to change class, the first thing Certimene says is that your current house does not accept said class.

Tecton

Will respect house/class limitations, yes! 

ETA: Whether those limitations are the same as they are now remains to be seen.

Rom

Tecton said:

Will respect house/class limitations, yes! 

ETA: Whether those limitations are the same as they are now remains to be seen.

Good edit - Serpent houses might have grumbled.

Hayte

So uh...can we get multiclassing to be retroactive for previously held classes? I would love to be almost every class at once the day it comes out >.>

Disclaimer-this is a joke

Edit: Actual question. Would one of the changes coming to artefacts be the ability to imbue artefacts with other artefact powers instead of buying a whole new artefact?

Tarkanian

Hayte said:

So uh...can we get multiclassing to be retroactive for previously held classes? I would love to be almost every class at once the day it comes out >.>

Disclaimer-this is a joke

or, at least be able to multiclass to your immediate class before your last switch.

disclaimer -- this is wishful thinking.

Vadimuses

Love the roadmap, looking forward to the improvements!

Cynlael

Soo.. Imperian 2.0?

Veldrin

Tecton said:

Will respect house/class limitations, yes! 

ETA: Whether those limitations are the same as they are now remains to be seen.

Wouldn't it make more sense to make it class exclusive ala Aetolia?

rogue/eleusian forestal vs alchemist 

priest/paladin vs infernal/apostate vs occultist

and make cities mutually exclusive for those classes too obviously

and please make it more like dragonform in terms of 'how often can you change' and just strip all class defenses upon changing

Accipiter

Wondering if Venoms is considered a tradeskill or not.

Samakhulis

Tarkanian said:

Hayte said:

So uh...can we get multiclassing to be retroactive for previously held classes? I would love to be almost every class at once the day it comes out >.>

Disclaimer-this is a joke

or, at least be able to multiclass to your immediate class before your last switch.

disclaimer -- this is wishful thinking.

One comment I recall hearing during Bal'met's final battle: "Wow. Demigod brings a whole new level to the term 'omnitrans'"

Kresslack

I would really love to trade Forging off for something else. I never use it, and can't imagine very many Knight types actually use it(or know how) to the fullest of its abilities. This is pretty exciting stuff.

Naisar

I don't know why Achaea has suddenly decided to wake up and join the twenty-first century, but I like it.

Blujixapug

Tecton said:

• boring
  
• boring
• An overhaul of the emote system, merging emote and tmote functionality, as we'll as providing the ability to combine emotes with some of the common item interactions.
  

Tecton said:

• Tweaks and changes to some of our conflict systems: Icons, City Destruction, and Pickpocketing.

Do you consider Seafaring and piracy/naval warfare to be a conflict system? It's always struck me that Achaea's seafaring system has a lot of infrastructure in place, and all it lacks is an impetus for competition and conflict - meaning it would require relatively little be added to make it into a major source of PVP conflict. All the mechanics for weapons and ship vs ship battle exist and are more or less balanced, there's just nothing in particular out on the ocean to fight over.

Shibumi

These changes look great!

Cesarina

Out of curiosity, does the overhaul to the emote system also entail the pose thing?

Soludra

This is actually pretty exciting! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing some of these roll out.

Since the official client's curing system will be "open and freely modifiable", will ports of it to other clients be allowed?

Ruth

Can't wait for the changes for the sea questing/bashing thingy.

Can't wait for Multiclassing.

Can't wait for open tradeskill thingy.

Sylvance

Can't wait for Multiclassing, though from the (admittedly brief) note in the OP it looks unfortunately like MKO's Multiclassing, which isn't Multiclassing.

Orchist

I'm not sure what me means with multitasking. Mixing and matching skillets? Or like not having to learn classes over again when you go back to a previous one.

Soludra

Orchist said:

I'm not sure what me means with multitasking. Mixing and matching skillets? Or like not having to learn classes over again when you go back to a previous one.

Mixing and matching would be extremely OP. I'm pretty sure the system will just remember your progress in all of your skills so you don't have to retrain when you switch back to one of your previous classes.

EDIT: Man, this quoting thing just does not like me.

Sylvance

One thing I do wonder is how the Knight classes will be balanced. Knight is still my worst nightmare to fight as a BM, and that's with just two 'combat' skillsets.  I shudder to think what will happen when they're given a third, though I guess all three skillsets will have to be rebalanced.

Zuko

Needs to be an option to pass up the tutorial

Synbios

Can't wait for...well...everything.

Ruth

Any plans/progress on that shrine/essence rework at all?

Triak

Tecton said:

• Taking our class system to a new level with Multiclassing: players will be able to retain knowledge of multiple class skill sets, allowing a fluid switch between known classes without starting over at inept skill level.

Swanson has returned to favor you with his presence

Jurixe

Of the things above, I am most excited for the emote system :O And it's listed under 'near future'. Can't wait!

Jakiro

Jurixe said:

Of the things above, I am most excited for the emote system :O And it's listed under 'near future'. Can't wait!

gonna second that. I've been wanting to see more flexibility witht he emote system myself (even though I rarely use it).

and yes yes yes to forging changes. I still don't get how, as of now, even a transcendent forger with an artefact hammer could mess up a lot of forges make bad forges (RP-wise, I mean).

Sylvance said:

Can't wait for Multiclassing, though from the (admittedly brief) note in the OP it looks unfortunately like MKO's Multiclassing, which isn't Multiclassing.

That's the first thing that popped into my head too. Then again, I still prefer that over going through the process of making a whole new alt (thank god for the changes in learning).

Mazoth

At work so I don't have time to read the whole thread, but as a fairly new player this is really exciting to see.  I love the interaction and constant feel of actual effort put forth in the product from the development staff.  Thank you Tecton and everyone behind the scenes who works on this stuff.  Looks like exciting/interesting changes coming

Lala

I want multi-classing so badly I squee'd loudly when I read that.

Cooper

On a scale of one week to 'Ships Are Coming Soon(tm)' how long is 'down the road' for multiclassing?