Something that most MMOs are missing out on is a very integrated lore system that doesn't just feel like a bunch of pasted in text. I remember playing CoH many years ago, and when clicking on the info button on an enemies portrait I was surprised by the little bit of info on that mob's race and significance in the game.
Now that is a pretty basic game in retrospect, especially when you have single-player RPGs to take inspiration from.
The Witcher for an example, has a wonderful bestiary that not only gives a detailed description of mobs, but also reveals their strengths/weaknesses, and what items are dropped from them. For those not familiar with the game, you can learn about mobs either by putting your skill points towards a skill that gives you the info, or by buying scrolls/books that teaches you what you need to know about the monster.
Something similar to that would be pretty amazing in PO, where some players would automatically be able to identify beasts thanks to various selected feats/abilities, others could purchase tomes/books/scrolls that have been inscribed by the former players in order to learn detailed information about the monster.
Another thing that a lot of games are missing (that I've played) are just a little bit of totally gameplay-useless-info. It would be cool if instead of "Goblin. Enemy." Or even the information mentioned above (not saying I'd ditch that, this is in addition to that improvement) something along the lines of "Goblins are from the desert regions to the south, and are known for swarming with...etc." One sentence can make all the difference.
Of course, you'd need some way to integrate that so it wasn't a) popping up ALL the time, or b) a total waste of time, as the monster would kill you while you were reading it.
I just think that it would help with having a believable world.
I think it would be fun if Rangers, for their favored enemy class feature, had some automatic info that other player characters wouldn't know right off the bat. While rangers would be able to take advantage of this info in ways other player characters couldn't (ie. through their favored enemy bonuses on attack and damage rolls), player characters could still use the info to deduce the mobs general combat tactics and what tactics would work best to counteract them.
I believe a "lore" option, either by clicking on the creature or reading an ingame book would be useful and optional for players that aren't interested in that.
Alternatively, if your "knowledge" of a particular creature or race could grow as you either earn merit badges related to the creature (goblin slayer merit badge for killing 100 goblins), unlock the ranger favored enemy class feature, or read special ingame books related to the creature/race that would be pretty sweet too.
I think it would be fun if Rangers, for their favored enemy class feature, had some automatic info that other player characters wouldn't know right off the bat. While rangers would be able to take advantage of this info in ways other player characters couldn't (ie. through their favored enemy bonuses on attack and damage rolls), player characters could still use the info to deduce the mobs general combat tactics and what tactics would work best to counteract them.
I believe a "lore" option, either by clicking on the creature or reading an ingame book would be useful and optional for players that aren't interested in that.
Alternatively, if your "knowledge" of a particular creature or race could grow as you either earn merit badges related to the creature (goblin slayer merit badge for killing 100 goblins), unlock the ranger favored enemy class feature, or read special ingame books related to the creature/race that would be pretty sweet too.
That's precisely what I had in mind!
You should of course already have the info that others buy/learn on your favored enemy.
Goblin Squad Member
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This, for me, is one of my secondary priorities: I'd love to see it ingame, but I won't be disappointed if it's not there on release day, or even a few months after then. Still, it would be really nice to have ingame information on monsters; both their game stats and some flavor-text details about them.
Of all games, Age of Mythology (Basically, Age of Empires 2.5) had a great ingame mythopedia, giving both historical and mythological details about the ingame units, both their game stats and details. Maybe something sorta like that.