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Comments
Dragons are a huge deal in Achaea's lore, though, not just some random reward that players get when they're high level. It might be interesting to explore ways to add depth to choosing a color, though, instead of that just being a cosmetic decision. On one hand, adding mechanical or thematic benefits to the colors runs the risk of shoehorning everyone into the one or two "best" colors, but on the other, the fact that we have 6 different colors of Dragons that are all functionally identical does feel like wasted potential.
Adding any alternatives to dragon, like werewolves or giant tentacle monsters, means creating new classes for those. Big workload for the staff, creating and balancing 3 - 6 new classes.
Becoming "super sayan" version of your lesserform race runs into the problem of old dragon. Becoming a super atavian with +3 to your stats and keeping your class just runs into the same problem as old dragon, excessive OPness. The only way this would work is if they created a bunch of new races you could only become at level 99, and these races only had a few mechanical benefits, similar to Imperian's artie races that just have a few extra utilities, like summoning blizzards and whatnot.
Factionalized endgame races.. sounds good on paper, but eventually people would complain "Ashtan's endgame race is totally OP and ours sucks". Not a strong reason to dismiss the idea though, it has merit, but it'd need to be really thought out, because of the class-balancing stuff I mentioned above.
One thing worth considering is class-based benefits for level 99 that just made things a little more convenient without modifying your damage, etc. Examples - level 99 Magi using less mana per ability, level 99 Monks gaining faster kai, level 99 Necromancers using less willpower while blackwinded. Things that made being lesserformed at level 99 beneficial.
I'd suggest a group of skills that would be accessible even in lesserform that hasn't any pk consequences.
-Illusions with a long timer so that staff of illusion but still usefull for rp.
-A dragonsoul blessing that fully restores a targetted person's rest too full (for those poor newbs falling asleep during events) Can only be used once a day.
uh, other stuff...
That dragonsoul blessing sounds pretty cool, don't devotion users have something like that, for hunger? It'd be nice to have with a condition that the target has to be on full health or mana (for the dragon use), so that you can't use it on someone midcombat
Artemis says, "You are so high maintenance, Tharvis, gosh."
Tecton says, "It's still your fault, Tharvis."
On the other hand, I think the current system that has resulted in so many dragons has made what was supposed to be, from the lore, a very special thing into a less special thing. It's less special in mechanical terms (it's not terribly exciting when dragons show up) and it's less special in the sense that the unique place you occupy in the lore as a dragon isn't ultimately very unique anymore.
People used to know the names of most of the active dragons. They had the same notability as Tanris or Jhui or Ovid. It was a big deal when they showed up to a fight. It was a big deal when someone got dragon. It wasn't just someone fulfilling a personal goal, it was celebrated by the whole community they were in (something the ceremonies tended to drive home). Your city having a dragon was a fairly big deal.
But, for me, dragons are one of the biggest cases of where the game has gotten decidedly more "gamey" and lost some of that immersion and social dynamism that, for me at least, is the biggest draw of the game. That feeling became especially strong when individual dragon ceremonies stopped being a reasonable thing to do and got replaced by the new automated system.
So I think you have to keep dragons if you change the level 99 reward, and you have to change the level 99 reward if you want dragons to be so special again. Which is why I think the only sensible way to change it (though I seriously doubt there will ever be any change) would be to do two things at once:
1) Change the level 99 reward to something that offers (i) utility and (ii) bashing power. This preserves the utility rewards dragon offers now and also the greater bashing power, but removes the additional reward of a new PvP class from an accomplishment that largely doesn't involve doing any PvP. It makes sense that the primary reward for bashing should be bashing-related and/or utility, not a whole class of abilities largely geared toward PvP. This is particularly the case when the PvP side of the class it offers is not strictly better than others, since a big point of making dragon a class was to be able to balance it for 1v1 against the other classes.
2) Make dragon some sort of limited achievement (one per city, reward for winning bardics or combat rankings or being the best active explorer, etc.). This could be leveraged to incentivise some achievements in the game that currently don't give much reward other than the satisfaction of knowing you won. It would also make dragons a lot more special again. And it would mean that the dragon class could be a little overpowered, which, given the lore, they really like they feel they should be. Also, making them rewards for noncom achievements like explorer ranking while simultaneously making them more powerful than normal classes means that one of the rewards for those achievements is that, until you get supplanted by someone else, you get to dip your toes in PvP a little more easily without actually learning to become a combatant. Current dragon does that a little bit, allowing bashers access to some strong, easy-to-use PvP/raiding abilities, but it ultimately has to be somewhat conservative about it thanks to how many people are and can become dragons at once.
The same people would hold it over and over and over and over again.
The person who has the Staff of Nicator holds it for a very long time for instance. I don't think that's deserving of a big no.
The same people hold political offices in the game practically forever. I don't think elections need to preclude the current office holder from running again in the next election.
I don't think there's much inherent nobility in designing systems that prevent people from maintaining possession of a reward. Not so long as they continue to have to earn it anyway.
Put another way: If anything, I think the game would benefit from more Jhuis, not fewer. Notable characters are good for the game and for immersion. As long as they're active and still maintaining their dominance, why is it bad that they keep the reward? I would much rather play in a world where Tahquil is known far and wide as the bardic dragon, having kept that distinction for a very long time, than in one where there's a different greater dragon every couple of months and none of them end up being particularly memorable. And I would rather play in either of those worlds than in one where dragons are just another class, absolutely everywhere, and not a big deal at all - I've seen first-hand how much more interesting and fun it was (for me) when dragons were truly rare and special.
I'm sure many people feel differently than I do - some people don't seem particularly bothered by how pedestrian dragons have become - but, if you're going to limit their numbers somehow, I don't think it's actually bad for it to largely go to the same people so long as those same people keep earning it.
→My Mudlet Scripts
I would really like to see race upgrades though, honestly.
Perhaps like a prestige class for your own race that adds +1 stat somewhere. Maybe a mild resistance or two, maybe some extra health unattached to a stat. Small things that are an obvious tangible reward, but mostly a form of a cosmetic upgrade.
(You are now one of the wisest of the ancient Xoran, feeling the ties of your people back to the land of Krenendala, the power of your flame and the closest kinship to the dragons)
Xoran: fire resist increases to lvl2, breathe fire balance cost reduced. types: Temple Guard/Fire priest +1str/int respectively. Bigger, more lizardy emotes
Siren: add magic resist, poison lvl2 resist. Resonance:lvl1 health regen for the caster and ally(ally can only be another Siren)
types: Healer/Seductress +1int/dex respectively. new song emote or somethin
(As your strength in body grew, the power of your song grew with you. Having mastered your song, you are now a leader among your sisters and a teacher of your people.)
Okay that's all I got right now. But I always thought that races really needed more fleshing out. I'd love to see abilities that are kind of "hey cool, look what I can do, I'm a lizard." but are still mostly useless. In fact, that's what they all seem to be already. decreased fire breath for xoran? STILL USELESS! lvl1 health regen for sirens only with other sirens? So situational you'd forget about it in a day.
However upon reaching dragon, I'd like to think of us as a kind of Paragon to our own race if we were to ascend like that. We're not gods, we're just people who have been bestowed with the gift of dragon. That should earn us a bit of badassery status with our own race.
But at what level are you suggesting one receives these perks? As so many change race so frequently, are they really a paragon of their race that they just became, just because of a level? That would be something to consider.
I'd still say that this would follow dragon, the 99+ thing. After all that is pretty much the most powerful you can become (though of course, mechanically you can keep gaining levels).
I'd love to see a 15 year rule for it. It would be my secret jab to the min-maxers that play race for stats. But really it's kind of hard to impose a type of RP penalty on people because everybody would cry like baby.
(I would actually be physically incapable of playing Aepas as anything other than Xoran. I don't know how other people change race at all
But that does make me wonder if it would ever be a thing outside of the level cap. I feel like a racial progression would be a very interesting thing outside of the scope of dragon rewards/alternatives.
For those not familiar with Aetolia: Their endgame races completely replace your normal race (or did until that change) and don't affect your class, kind of like old dragon but permanent, without the ability to lesserform and change back. Except they also have statpacks (which include resistances, fast bal/eq, end/will regen, and fast xp, in addition to stats) that are entirely separated from race, so your race has no influence on your stats (except that each race has 4 bonuses/abilities, such as flight for atavians or alcohol resistance for dwarves, unlocked at levels 1/25/50/75; the endgame races could previously purchase the bonuses of any race, now they keep the bonuses of their previous race and get a 5th bonus at 100), though there are (or were last I checked, but I haven't really kept up with Aetolia for a while) also better statpacks that are unlocked with the endgame races.
Sena said: The enhanced statpacks have been done away. Everyone has access to the same statpacks now, but endgame provides bonuses like natural clotting, enhanced regenerations, an active curing ability, etcetera.
Like @Sena said, it's easier to enforce the 'one race' heritage rule when you have your race completely replaced at endgame by one of 3 infinitely better options, since stats are unaffected and you keep your previous race bonuses... so at the moment, for those of us at endgame, it's just a matter of either sticking to your RP or picking the race with the best Lv. 100 ability.
Min-Maxing, woo! -.-
I'd really be satisfied with having some benefit to being lesserformed past level 99. Dragon is great and all but I only use it for bashing. Enhanced races or other benefits to being lesserformed would be a tremendous improvement.
I'll just shoot out some level 99 racial perk ideas and you guys can tear them apart or improve on them.
Atavian: Gains the TRACK ability
Grook: Can LEAP up to 2 rooms away
Troll: Can SMASH people in the head for a chance to stun them
Xoran: Gains the TAILSWEEP ability
Tsol'aa: Improved health regen in forests
Rajamala: Can SCRATCH people for bleed damage, or envenom their claws
just an event idea to introduces them:
I think the way to introduces those kinds would be if a denizen decided that gods are too tyrannical with their authority over the mortal kind and end up banish them away, temporarily. However, unexpectedly, those powerful kinds end up pouring into the sapience in some sort of epic war. one would come to you for a help by giving you the power to take form and other things to turn the tide.
In summary, just a temporary raging inter-raids and an excuse to get some new toys to play with.
- To love another person is to see the face of G/d
- Let me get my hat and my knife
- It's your apple, take a bite
- Don't dream it ... be it
The highest level person in the game is roughly ~137 now (that could be off, it's been a while since I asked him what level he is). The way experience works, he's not even half way to 150 yet, and he's bashed as much as the next two people combined.
I seriously doubt there'd be anything at level 150, since each level at 135+ is approximately the same as going from 1 to 100 all over again, and it only gets harder from there.
- With sharp, crackling tones, Kyrra tells you, "The ladies must love you immensely."
- (Eleusian Ranger Techs): Savira says, "Most of the hard stuff seem to have this built in code like: If adventurer_hitting_me = "Sarathai" then send("terminate and selfdestruct")."
- Makarios says, "Serve well and perish."
- Xaden says, "Xaden confirmed scrub 2017."