EoX Hobs's page

Several questions for those who might have the answer - and thank you in advance:

1. I have read that Alpha players have discovered that they have 3 characters slots. If this is true, is this the number for EE as well?

2. Will you be able to make a second character on the same account, and log them in and use them without gaining experience? -or-

3. If you log in a second account, must you toggle them for experience gain in order to log them in, and thus toggle off the main character already on the account?

Again, thanks to anyone with the answers.

In a thread I had created several days ago, I had touched on suggestions for GW to help avoid situations like this past week's. That thread served its purpose and I have no interest in perpetuating any residual bad blood that it's relation to an even hotter thread might cast into the future. Though I hope mine was a bit more productive, or at least not as contentious, they can all spiral down into the forum abyss, and I will be happier for it. As we bid them farewell, I hope we have learned from them, if nothing else.

Getting back to the constructive suggestions, I would like to see us take what we have learned, and fashion together what we hope to create, in the way of community crowdforging - primarily, how GW will collect our views on a given topic.

I know Ryan has posted that he thought the "thread that shall not be named" was helpful. Though I disagree on several points, I will move forward with the hope that it at least instilled within us a desire to avoid such future conflicts, and rather, hold truly productive debates. I have no problem with a heated debate when we keep to the topic, know the desired end result, and clearly know what will be done with those results. To me, debate brings the possibility of educating others, which leads to the further possibility of reinforcing opinions or even changing opinions. Arguments, especially volatile arguments, involve far too much emotion, which is not, to me, the same as being passionate (and still rational) about a topic.

Here were my suggestions from that other thread:

I would suggest that when GW seeks our community input on topics as potentially heated as the Land Rush, that the parameters of the discussion topic, the desired end result, and their intended reaction to those results are clear. I would further suggest that GW allows the community an opportunity to ask clarifying questions before the trigger is pulled on such a discussion, and that the discussion is moderated in a fair and consistent manner.

I am not suggesting that discussions be so narrowly defined as to eliminate the value of tangent discussions, but every decently run meeting (these discussion seems akin to meetings on a large scale) begins with an agenda so that participants know the objectives and the moderator can corral less focused participants back on task.

As a final thought, it is true that the most frequent and vocal posters may seem to monopolize the discussion, but an experienced Community Manager reads every post and keeps a tally of how many people they are hearing from and how on target each comment is to the discussion at hand. Barring comment does very little to foster the perception of inclusion.

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I welcome my fellow PFO community members to share your thoughts on how we can help GW better garner our opinions in the future.

PS: Someone had suggested earlier that I change my avatar so that it not include EoX, thus making it clear that I'm only speaking for myself when that is the case. If I'm speaking as the EoX Ambassador, I make it very clear at the beginning of any post. Regardless, should it matter what tags any of us wear if our posts are sound and our intentions sincere?

Mr. Dancey,

Since this post does not deal directly with the "Concerning Pax in the Landrush" thread, I decided to post separately. I will say that I appreciate your definitive answer about the Land Rush issue. Understandably, as the Xeilian Ambassador, I was worried about the fate of Golgotha in the Landrush, but as a player, I have been deeply concerned for some time about a far more important topic.

For the remainder of this post, I am not writing as anything but a player. No titles or meta-politics or guild tags - just a player. But as a player with over a decade-and-a-half of MMO experience as a community networker, server-wide event planner, and multi-guild plot manager, I must regretfully tell you that I have never seen a community so woefully pitted against itself by the one person who's business it should be to do the very opposite. It pains me to level such criticism, since I think your vision for what PFO could be is truly unique. If I did not believe it to be, I would not have spent over $200 and invested over a year of my free-time preparing for EE. But no matter how unique the game concept, how inventive the mechanics or graphics or classes, all of this will come to naught if the community which plays it is poorly lead.

I can hear some of your most avid supporters (and I would love to be one of them, if circumstances were otherwise) already coming to your defense and posing questions like, "Who are you to judge Ryan Dancey?" The honest answer is that I am no one in particular, but then, does any GW customers need to be someone of importance, or more likely, someone who agrees with you, to voice their concerns after repeated mishaps and poorly executed policies? You see, when you foster a community atmosphere where its members believe that they will be given the authority to pass judgement upon one another, yet present it as vaguely and in so hands-off a fashion as you have done, too often you find misguided members believing that they have the right to impose their will upon any other equally important community member. You thus promote both an elitist minority who believe that only they are the true voice of the community - the true believers of the grand scheme - while fostering a lynch mob mentality when the true enemies of the community have been identified. Done well, this might be the most exciting addition PFO could bring to the MMO market, but handled as these last few weeks have been, you find a forum that is increasingly divisive, more steadily toxic, and truly detriment to any hopeful customer appeal.

Add to this that I have never (from Alpha testing World of Warcraft to present) seen a CEO argue, insult, and attempt to silence paying customers in quite the way you have done over the past year. This final example - attempting to use Golgotha as a guinea pig for your community crowdforging experiment, seemed an incredibly ill-advised plan from the start. It has done nothing but inflame an already contentious Landrush process. As an ambassador, I speak with many people - pro-Xeilian Empire and against - and regardless of their stand on whether Golgotha should have been admitted to the Landrush or not, the one consistent comment has been disappointment with how the first and second Landrushes were implemented.

If all of this, in your judgement, indicates that you are, "on exactly the right path," you need to hear that if I were a new customer coming to these forums for the first time, I would make a quick about face and spend my money and my time elsewhere. However, I have too much invested to do so, too many good people to abandon, and even with all the mismanaged opportunities, I hold out hope that PFO will still prove to be worth my initial investment. But for that to happen, the course you are charting and and practices you are employing to get to that desired endpoint need to be less community contentious and more community cohesive.

I hope for all of us who have embraced your original vision, that you will be able to make this change or turn over community management to someone who can, and then trust their expertise. Your customers have invested far too much to receive any less.

Hobs

As Imperial Ambassador, I would like to announce that the Charter Company of Fidelis, formerly a resident of Callambea, will now be residing in Ozem's Vigil. After having interacted with Full Metal Syndicate for several weeks, we are happy that Fidelis has found a home more in keeping with its membership's aspirations of playing Lawful Good.

In that Fidelis is no longer a member of the Empire of Xeilias, we suggest that any further questions about this matter should be directed to the leadership of Ozem's Vigil.

Hobs

Given that most currently played MMOs are not sandboxes, that Pathfinder Online (PFO) might have elements notably different from any past sandbox that many newcomers may have played, or that said community members may have never played in a sandbox-based game at all, we in the Empire of Xeilias thought it would be helpful to provide an overview of PFO's proposed sandbox structure, especially given all the new arrivals on these forums.

We in the Xeilian Empire have a strong reputation in past games of informing and educating fellow players. Whether the recipient of these lessons decides to join the Empire or not is irrelevant if, by helping the individual, we thereby enhance the community as a whole. To that end, we have prepared a number of short articles. Each element of PFO's sandbox design discussed herein will contain the following:
• General description of the element as it pertains to PFO.
• The benefits of that element in terms of game play (the parts we're excited about).
• Player considerations (things to keep in mind, especially if you're new to sandbox play).

Open World Setting

In an "open world" game, players can roam freely through the virtual world and are given considerable freedom in choosing how or when to approach objectives (see Player Driven Objectives in a soon to come, follow-up post). The PFO map will consist of contiguous hexes (Map1 and Map2) that are not separated by artificial barriers (e.g. geography, invisible walls, etc.) meant to funnel players along a predetermined path as is common in more linear game designs. There are, however, terrain transition points as indicated by red "X's". In PFO, open world also means that the world design will not be separating characters as seen in many theme park game's use of character level zones. Lastly, while you're traveling in whatever direction you choose, you'll be doing so without instant travel (e.g. teleporters, gates, etc.). In PFO, getting from point A to B is a meaningful part of the game. That is, travel may require planning (such as for caravans), might involve potential risk, etc., so instantly popping from place to place and removing all that interaction and content will not be happening in PFO.

Benefits:

Being an open world game, PFO should provide a more real-world feel, thus liberating players from the constraints of linear game play. Player freedom is one of the great appeals to sandbox game play, so having the freedom to literally choose where you wish to travel is a very empowering aspect of PFO. In short, you the player decide where your character should go.

Considerations:

With all that choice and freedom comes the possibility of risk. In most theme park games, you are provided some semblance of safety by being funneled through zones that tend to match your ability level. Some games go so far as to deny entrance to zones that are too high level or too dangerous for your character. The PFO game developers have stated that as you travel further from settlement and starter town hexes, the world may become more dangerous, either due to mobs or other players, but nothing stops you from going there. As with so many aspects of PFO, bringing friends while choosing your own path might be the best (and most fun) policy.

Given the tone of the forums of late, and the growing excitement and tension spawned by the anticipation of the next Landrush, I thought it might be a good time for a little levity. After all, we are going to be living together in the same world shortly. If we can't enjoy a laugh with one another, we're likely taking all this much too seriously.

Please reply with your most memorably funny experience from any game you have played. From a charmingly cute anecdote to tales of gut-busting hilarity, let's share what we have enjoyed in the past with others, in hopes of better ensuring our mutually enjoyable future.

Introduction:

Below you will find the outline for the newly envisioned Empire of Xeilias. Those of us who have been hard at work on the restructuring of the Empire believe that it is different enough in this most current iteration as to warrant a new thread. We hope this does not break any norms of forum decorum, but we believe the changes are significant enough, and the inability to edit original posts prohibitive enough, that a fresh start would serve us better as we seek to share our vision with the PFO community. We hope it meets with your approval.

Purpose:

Whereas the existing Division (and eventual settlement) threads associated with the Xeilian Empire are for the recruitment of individual players and Charter Companies, this thread will be devoted to imperial level diplomacy and the recruitment of larger entities that desire association with the Empire of Xeilias (i.e. settlements seeking membership or alliance).

The Empire of Xeilias:

The Empire of Xeilias is a nation level alliance initially created by the merger of the Kingdom of Aeternum and the Golgothan Empire (including the Crimson Guard, Maelstrom, and The Bloody Hand). For its part, Pax intends to establish three settlements, prioritized in the following order, as recruitment and resources allow: Lawful Neutral Callambea, Lawful Evil Golgotha, and Lawful Good Fidelis.

That said, Xeilias is not a Pax nation. True, it is founded by Pax, but Pax governed settlement votes on imperial matters will each be weighted the same as any other settlements within the Empire. After all, the Xeilian Empire is owned by the citizens under its banner, as represented by the settlement leaders who vote on its councils, whether they be Pax Gaming members or not. The only difference in voting power that will exist are limited veto rights built in as a fail safe for dissolution.

To this end, the Xeilian Empire is actively pursuing new settlements wishing to become equal members. Likewise, individual companies seeking sponsorship by one of our settlements are strongly encouraged to apply to the settlement of interest - simply follow the appropriate link below. Upon acceptance, company leaders will gain the authority to represent their company's concerns on the legislative council of the Empire of Xeilias. Private Companies wishing not to tie themselves to the Empire as a whole but still wishing to establish a business in a settlement of the Empire can do so and will still have a collective voice on the legislative council.

Empire of Xeilias - Charter

Pax Divisions & Future Settlements:

Pax has been planning a presence in PFO for well over a year. Our latest iteration, The Xeilian Empire, currently consists of three varied alignments. These alignments are represented within Pax by three distinct leadership structures known as Divisions. While separate, they are bound together by pragmatic choice. The first division, Aeternum, will found the settlement Callambea which will be the Lawful Neutral trade hub of the empire. All things mercantile, from raw materials and finished goods to every manner of contract will be carefully measured and weighed like the coin that will flow through Callambea's gates. Creating an overwhelming military machine is the objective of Xeilias' second division - Lawful Evil Golgotha. By conventional armies or operations more covert, Golgotha will bring peace, at home and abroad, through strength of arms. The final member of this triumvirate, Lawful Good Fidelis, is the compassionate conscience of Xeilias. With plans on establishing Lawful Good New Kirke, Fidelis will be focusing on community. Whether through public outreach initiatives, operation of social hubs such as shrines and inns, protecting the empire from monstrous escalations, or providing for homeland defense, Fidelis will be the counterbalance to its sister, Golgotha. By spanning the spectrum of lawful alignments, Xeilias promises a rule of law for its citizens and settlements, the likes of which provides the greatest chance for prosperity, while at the same time, allowing its players the widest range of roles.

If any of these three divisions piques your interest, follow the links below to their recruiting threads here on the Paizo forums:

Aeternum
Golgotha
Fidelis

Pax Gaming:

Pax Gaming is a collection of over 2,000 community minded members committed to enjoying games of all sorts together. The community has been in existence since 2001, and its members have been experiencing games together ever since. We are a community first, and a game aspect second. This means that we fully support all playstyles including PVE, PVP, and RP. Our interests are not focused on a single game, but includes many MMO's as well as tabletop, shooters, and more. Who a recruit is as a person weighs more heavily than any other consideration. We are a group of friends, family, and likeminded geeks. Many of our members have met up in the world, and at conventions you can expect to see a table or two with Paxians. While our numbers steadily grow over the years, the quality of our family remains our single largest benefit.

Pax hosts our own server for teamspeak as well as our forums. We have an organized charter that outlines a very simple yet definitive set of rules to maintain the level of community we wish to provide. While we strongly encourage participation in roleplay, no single element of a game is enforced. Our concern is for our members to enjoy gaming together. That being said, every division of Pax Gaming has origin stories, roleplay officers, and event planners. We also promote and support officers in charge of PVE and PVP content as well.

Pax Gaming - Forums
Pax Gaming - Charter
Pax Gaming - Recruitment & New Member Oritentation

Thank you for your time and your patience with such a lengthy post.

Until we hear from you, be well.

Hobs
Imperial Ambassador
Empire of Xeilias

When looking back at nearly a year of the most contentious topics - those subjects that truly spawned the largest number of disparate viewpoints - one stands above all others...the green hat. Seldom has any item (in meta space) spawned so many different uses, with so many alternative meanings, fostering such diverse emotional states, or so much pure, unadulterated befuddlement as the green hat.

For your reading pleasure, I give you the definitive PFO Forums Green Hat collection:

Nihimon has tipped his green hat at both myself and Bluudwolf. Diella wore her green hat in support of a blog, Proxima sin wants to dye hats green, and green hats are something Tigari is wary of. Andius sees a connection between green hats on Tuesday and shooting oneself in the foot or having one's head split in two with a meat cleaver. Goodfellow apparently fears intimidating, passive people in green hats, yet sometimes, just wants to kill the first green hat wearer he sees, though we hope for his sake that it isn't the green top hat wearing Godzilla that Papaver spotted. An entrepreneurial Cyneric looks forward to taking people's green hats and opening his own green hat supply store. Feydred believes green hats are a sure sign of bloodthirsty, indiscriminate killers, which might be why Lam seems uncertain if an approaching character in a green hat is a friend or foe. Qallz believes there will be no rep loss for green hat Tuesday, which may be why he plans to distribute them to newbies. Yet, for all this negativity, Jazzlvraz wants messages about green hats carved in stone at major crossroads. Urman believes that green hats are items that newbies will have at the start of the game, though Banasama knows a guy who sells them ten to a box for only ten gold, which strikes me as rather odd, since I have them patented. I also tip mine often at others, wear it when playing referee between Nihimon and Bluudwolf, and drag it disappointedly off into jungles when I have to be Simon and die before EE. KitNix advises against wearing them with matching cloaks, Phyllain is advertising an order for all your face stabbing/green hat wearing needs (a promotional +1 green hat of face stabbing included), and Lahn learned that dragging a thread off topic is punishable by being hit with a green hat. Lahn also enjoys jumping over green hats, contributing to green hat packs, apparently knows someone named Bob from the Green Hat Trading Co., believes green hats are something to be doled out, likes to think of them as "Don't PK me please" hats, and suggests demanding that people hand over their green hats and with their pants. Banesama actually thinks green hats could provide sanctuary from combat, while Alk Caskenflagon ponders about green velvet hats in the Talking Head Tavern. Finally, though DeciusBrutus believes green hat killing should reduce notoriety, Areks believes that green hats on Tuesday have the ability to actually transcend the game. You can read all about it in his upcoming novel, "The Green Hat Diaries."

In a class (and paragraph) by himself is Bluddwolf, coiner of the phrase, but oddly enough, the one who seems most confused about the whole thing. Though he plans to kill people wearing green hats or SAD them triple the usual amount, he also receives them as gifts from little old ladies. Even though he believes that green hats will be the item of choice at the Haberdasher's Ball, leading to server wide truces, he is ready to fight people at the drop of a green hat. As much as he doesn't think advertising the sale of QL 250 green hats warrants shouting across a hex, he concedes that they are acceptable rewards for grinding, even if making green hats is on par with basket weaving. Odder still are his views about what one does while wearing green hats, from carrying books out of bars, forgetting about alignment and reputation, skipping off into sunsets, and self-deletion. In trying to understand this rather convoluted obsession with green hats, we have it from a reliable source that Bluddwolf's nanny may have hung herself while wearing a green a hat. If this should prove to be untrue, we will be looking to borrow his "Green Hat of Fire Protection."

(This is a compilation of all the posts containing the mention of green hats - 5 pages worth - by the morning of 11/26/13 on the PFO forums. If I missed yours, please forgive the oversight. *apologetically tips green hat*)

Before I get to the meat of this post, I would like to tell a story. We can call it, "Story Time with Hobs." *Puts on his green hat of storytelling*

In one of the sculpture classes I've taken, I met a young (20-ish) student who liked to blend performance art with his pieces. For his metal casting project he decided to cast a 2' x 3' solid aluminum door. He framed this with a welded steel door frame, then proceeded to weld the door to the frame so that it could never be opened. He then welded on metal rods so that the door could be laid upon the ground and driven into the soil using the rods protruding from the back of the door. However, he didn't want to just drive it into the ground, he planned to dig holes and sink the rods into cement so that there would be little chance of anyone ever prying the door off the ground. After giving it an acceptable, tarnished patina, he and a buddy embedded the door alongside a busy expressway, complete with a bike path, thus ensuring that people would see the door. His plan was that passersby would wonder at the door leading underground. He was certain that some would attempt to make sense of the door, at it's possible use, where it led, etc. Over time, those guesses would give rise to assertions, which over the course of time, would lead to the stuff of urban legend. Thus, on one hand, his door had no real meaning or purpose. On the other, the stories that were generated (though totally wrong) were the point.

Meat of Post --->

Before I wrote this post, I actually researched for any reference of green hats in Pathfinder RPG. Much to my pleasure, I found nothing. I was pleased because the green hat, with all its sundry uses/meanings/etc. as illustrated above, is not game generated content. Rather, this one is all ours. it has evolved from all us. It belongs to this community. The twisted, borrowed, morphed metaphor that is the green hat is what we have made it and keep making it with every mention.

Proposal:

Come OE, the green hat will have taken on its own life. We who are here now will be in on the joke, but those new to PFO will have no clue. As much as we know this began with Bluud's attempt to claim that a seemingly random act of PvP could have meaning for the killer, it has grown far beyond his original intent. So let's have fun with this. Let it be like the sculpture student's door and create our own lore that will spill into the game and be the stuff of PFO River Kingdom urban legend. As an outlet for creativity and a somewhat silly yet fun way to bring us together as a community, I challenge each of you to add a post with your own lore for the green hat. What does it really mean, how has the meaning changed over time, where did it come from, who should or shouldn't wear it and why?

*waves you off like Ferris Beuller at the end of the movie*

Are you still here? Go on. Get outta here. Go make some lore.

Hobs

I know we have already had discussions of maps, what's visible, and perhaps even what's possibly for sale in other threads, but none of them seemed to hit this particular nail squarely enough on the head to resurrect any one particular past thread to which I could then add my new thoughts.

Chances are, the game will come with a mini-map. Hardcore players who dislike the immersion breaking effects will hopefully be allowed to toggle it off. A long while back, I started a thread (Here) asking what should be on that mini-map, and there were a lot of good ideas provided by fellow posters. Other threads have dealt with the fog of war, how to procure more detailed maps of a hex, and at one point, Ryan even mentioned something about the possibility of selling such information (or perhaps just selling information in general). Since I'm up early and have little to do, I'm going to try to put all these together and then ask your opinions.

Fog of War:

As much as I like delving out into the unknown and finding what's there, it seems unrealistic that we will step out of the gates of our starter town knowing nothing of the world except the hex we are birthed into on day one. I have no problem if we don't know what's out there, but the few NPC' in town should know at least a little more.

Proposal - Our mini-map includes only the starter town hex, but that we can buy (for a nominal fee) the map addition of our starter town's region (a few surrounding hexes) or the road routes to the other NPC trade centers that the NPC's of our starter town would likely know. These purchases would provide only the basic geographic features (roads, forests, plains, bodies of water, etc.) that are required for accurate navigation. As you move out into the world, other NPCs might provide the same for their region. This would, in time, allow you to add the safer regions of the map to your total mini-map view without having traveled to every one of these hexes.

Exploration, Your Mini-map, & Selling the World:

As you explore new hexes (those you didn't buy knowledge of), they would be added to your mini-map in the same fashion and to the same level of detail - the geographic basics necessary for navigation. As you add new hexes to your map, you would be able to place icons for what you find (ruins, player made structures, geographic anomalies that don't show up in the basic mini-map view, etc.). This would allow some added notation - the kind of thing you could tell someone if giving verbal directions - but not the fine detail of a more accurate, hand drawn map.

Proposal - Certainly, this information might be something you would like to gift to friends, settlement leaders, etc., or perhaps even sell to those less traveled. Could there be a trade window where player A could offer their mini-map information to player B? If it's a friend/ally, they would simply click the "trade mini-map" option and not input any fee. Upon accepting the offer (either for free or the agreed upon amount), the recipient's mini-map would be updated with the additional hexes.

Cartography:

Given the size of hexes, there are likely to be details that players will want to know about, but that shouldn't appear on a mini-map. This is the realm of cartographers. Hopefully the game will include a cartography skill. With it, player would be able to map one hex at a time and with far more detail (trails through woods, caves, ponds, etc.). This might also include the basic layout of player settlements, which would be very handy for planning both attacks and defense. This could be the map scale that military leaders, using appropriate icons, could plan field tactics.

Proposal - With the same kind of mechanic used for mini-maps, a cartographer could use their skill to make a detailed snapshot of a single hex. Likewise, they could trade/sell this hex to another. when added to their map library, the player could then click the hex on their mini-map and pull up the individual hex view. A leader of an army, head of a harvesting squad, or captain of an escalation raid could mark their plan of attack on the map and share it with their company.

Mechanics:

In that the game designers will already have planned for viewing the world map to varying depths and levels of realism, I'm guessing that the two views (mini-map sized basic hex view and detailed individual hex view) will already be available on the server. Transferring my map information to another player doesn't seem too difficult (the server would tally up what hexes I have and toggle those on for the other person). The only other trick would be the annotation, which other games already allow to varying degrees. The novel part of this would be sharing and selling that information. Besides the usefulness and fun of such a system, imagine the intrigue of a spy gaining war plans or a counter spy passing along fake plans.

I have an interest...in knowing more about Points of Interest.

As someone who has no interest in the management of an entire settlement, but who has run what would have been considered a PoI in Ultima Online (I ran the Yew Community Center), I would like to know what kinds of PoI are going to be possible. I know from the bog that mentioned them, there will be guard towers, taverns, and farms, but the author seemed to suggest that there would be others as well. If we can't get some clarification from the powers that be, perhaps we - as in all of us - could brainstorm some possible PoI and potentially help add to the Devs' list.

What would you like to see as PoI?

One of threads of discussion from last Saturday's Divine Casters PFO Fan TS chat (there's another chat scheduled today, Sat, 11/9 at 3:00-4:30 Eastern Standard...see the "Fresh Start" thread) was that of "faith". At some point, we will be expected to choose our character's alignment, but that does not mean every character will have a particular deity, will remain at the same alignment as their chosen deity, nor even that many players will give a rip about deities, alignment, and anything close to adhering to a particular faith. But what about those who do care, who will restrict their actions in such a way as to maintain a particular alignment, and thus, remain faithful to a deity that is the epitome of that alignment?

First, let me state this. I am not starting this thread to get into a huge debate about alignment. As much as I'm a role player, they could toss alignment all together and I wouldn't miss it. I role play my characters as I think each should act and leave others to interpret my alignment by those actions as they will. However, if we're going to have it as a measure in this game, the idea of faith seems like something I would like to explore. That is, if we're going to have alignment, let's have it count for something. But please, let's not rehash the same alignment arguments...which will be better, which will stink (I'm avoiding saying that chaotic evil will suck...err...shoot), etc.

As it stands, you will choose your Core Alignment as a your alignment anchor. From there, your actions will either reinforce that alignment or cause you to drift away from it, which will be represented as a your Active Alignment. Over time, if your Active Alignment goes a stray from your core, the Active will slowly move back to Core.

For me, the realm of faith (at least as measured by a game mechanic) should measure how well you keep both Core and Active in the same place. If worship of your deity includes trying to live a life that exemplifies the behaviors inherent with your deity's alignment, then having an active alignment that wanders away from that Core demonstrates behavior not in keeping with your faith. Certainly, divine casters would need to remain faithful or risk losing their divine gifts (spells, spell-like abilities, bonuses, etc.). But what else? Here's some questions I would like help in answering:

1. Besides gaining/loosing the obvious divine abilities, what other perks/losses should faith control for divine caster classes? Do spells work at 100% when Core and Active are the same, at 75% when you're one step away, etc.? I know as per table top rules, you can be a worshiper at one step away from your deity's alignment, but divine casters (I would hope) are held to a higher standard. At least in my opinion, they should be setting the bar for how the mortal followers of the deity should act...not limboing beneath it.

2. What perks are available to the "laity" who remain faithful? There are many examples in fiction of nonclergy who are every bit as faithful as the most devout priest. How can these characters be rewarded for that devout behavior? For instance, if we resurrect with close to no hit points, could faithful characters resurrect with more of their hit points intact as a gift from their deity?

As you can see, I'm not attempting to list every possibility...I want to know what you all think. If you think the whole idea of faith is total bunk, that's fine too.

I've recently been resurrecting several older initiatives (The Guide Program, Playing Extras, Event/RP Managers, etc.) just to keep them in the public eye while we wait, but given the positive vibe of late, I think it's time for something new. This is born out of two observations I've thought true for some time, but recent forum events, and similar observations by others I chat with, have me thinking that it's time to put something into motion. These observations are as follows:

1. We seem to be more cordial and more willing to listen to one another when chatting on TS rather than posting on the forums. However, participation on PFO Fan TS has been rather hit and miss, without a topic of discussion, some may not want to devote time to just "hanging out", etc.

2. People need something to feel like they're making a contribution to the progress of the game while they wait for the game. When we're idle, we lose interest. When we've had nothing new to chew over, we rehash old topics which often leads to little more than a rekindling of old arguments. In short, we need something to do.

So while some groups are busily creating new alliances, preparing their company/settlement/kingdom structures, etc., I would like to propose something to bring people out of their respective camps and into the same community arena while this current positive vibe is still fresh.

Proposal:

I would like to crowdforge a day and time to hold a weekly Team Speak get together. The topic of discussion will be crowdforged the week leading up to the meeting. The main ideas generated in the discussion would be recorded and posted here for the sake of those who could not attend. My hope is that initiatives that various individuals and groups want to research/develop/run with will grow out of these discussions, giving many of us projects to work on while we wait for the game, and that will enhance the game once it's here. Perhaps we might even hear from GW of a topic they wish us to discuss...or might even drop in to discuss one with us.

With that said, this is by no means an attempt to take away from the Gobbocast podcasts. This would be more of a weekly gathering - to exchange ideas and grow closer as a community - rather than a more professional production focusing primarily on GW blogs. Perhaps, however, the Gobbocast crew might wish to record the meeting, though I would hope that wouldn't cut down on participation - some people get squeamish when being recorded.

If this sounds like something people would like to try, we would need two things:

1. A day & time (weekends might work best for our overseas comrades)

2. Our first topic (let's stay away from alignment & reputation). I would suggest something that has a more constructive influence on the whole population, such as crafting, settlement management, etc.

Hobs

Some lighter fare for the PFO forum, but always with a community bent. If you already know what your main PFO tune (or Destiny's Twin) will act like, help us picture them better by telling us what movie character, literary character, or historical figure they are most like.

Those who know me, know that my interests lie with community initiatives rather than individual guilds/CC's/settlements/kingdoms/etc. Partly, this comes from having a care for new players who don't yet have a "home", but also for those who choose to stay unaffiliated...or as I prefer to see it...affiliated with everyone. Some may say that I'm simply choosing not to choose, but the very act of choosing includes some degree of exclusion - all the ones you didn't choose - and when the initiatives I put my energies into are aimed at helping network the community, both IC and OOC, exclusion is something I try to avoid.

In the spirit of community networking, here I am again, offering another idea for how various individuals and groups can hopefully pool their creative resources for the wider enjoyment of those who would like to participate. This is not a program or the beginning of a collection of names (a la The Guide Program or Playing Extras), but merely a suggestion to the current established groups and those yet made.

Having run many events (single guild to open server) and RP plots/story arcs/quests/etc. in other games, one thing that I know truly helps facilitate player generated content is a good contact list. Whether you're trying to coordinate a plot that might need to involve another guild or your planning a shard-wide public market, knowing who to contact in a guild/group for such an event is crucial. After all, none of these activities are possible if no one participates. Now I know that many groups already plan to have their own event coordinators, RP managers, etc., so the idea of having someone in your guild focus on these activities is not new, but making certain that the community knows you have such a person - and more importantly - that you make their identity known for community contact, especially by other groups' event/RP managers, may be.

So the suggestion is simply this - that as groups plan for all the other important roles within their PFO guild/CC/settlement/kingdoms (military leaders, merchants, master craftsmen, etc.), consider choosing at least one event/RP manager to facilitate not only your own group's fun, but to be that contact for other groups' event/RP managers. In a game where we will be the content, I have learned from past sandbox games, that your group benefits greatly from having at least one creative, dedicated event/RP manager on board. But going a giant step further, outside the confines of your own group...having each group's event/RP manager networked across the game with one another, crafting events and plots that further facilitate player interaction - this is when the whole community benefits from what these individuals can do.

This topic was originally birthed out of the barter thread, but instead of replying there, and pulling that thread off-topic, I thought I'd place it in its own thread. I'd rather risk that this topic gets little action and spirals down to the bottom of the forums to die a lonely death than derail someone else's thread.

This began with a reply from Urman:

(as of now,) It looks like those of us who do not attack unflagged characters frequently will be able to gain rep just going about our daily business.

On one hand, that's very heartening, though also rather passive (i.e. I'm being rewarded for doing nothing - or at least doing nothing "bad"). I know the game is, in large measure, meant to be about PvP (in all its forms), so the fact that the most active way to gain positive reputation is to participate in PvP in acceptable ways (i.e. flying the appropriate flags) is not surprising. I do wish there was some non-PvP oriented way to actively gain reputation. I know they don't want a system that's easily gamed (so that jerks don't randomly kill and grief people and then do "X" to quickly build their reputation back up), so I would expect an active, non-PvP based reputation gain mechanic would need to be challenging, perhaps risky, or requiring as strict an adherence to a particular role as the PvP flags require. It's just rather difficult to think of what that could be while keeping it less "gameable".

If the reputation system is meant to be a visible measure of how players affect their fellow players, and thereby the community, it would be nice if positive community actions could be rewarded with positive reputation. I'm thinking of something like the person who donates the funds to build a public library, the builder who freely gives of his time/skills/tools to build a community playground, or the physician who travels to an economically challenged region and provides free medical care. How could these services equate to actively gaining positive reputation in something like PFO?

A small deviation from all the PvP oriented threads.

One of the things I plan to do in PFO is manage my own player-made quests and story lines (I tend to call them plots) and to help others do the same. From years of doing this in other games, I can say from experience that one invaluable asset is having a few other players who are willing to play the often needed "extra" roles. Though most players (if they choose to get involved) will understandably want to participate using their main characters, these unique characters are often not the roles needed to get the story rolling, nor will they be willing to risk permanent death, which is potentially the fate of such extras when trying to create a sufficiently dangerous scenario.

Proposal:

I would like to start collecting a running list of players who would be willing to create alts to play these extra roles in fellow players' quests and plots. If we can establish a community pool of "extra" actors, those of us who like to create this kind of content would have a bank of potential players to pull from. One really nifty thing about PFO, one that I think will greatly benefit role-play, is the way PFO will work experience and skill gain, since your main character will not be falling behind in experience acquisition while you're busy playing a much needed role in a plot.

Who the plot manager is, what role you'll play, what kind of alt the plot manager will need, how scripted will they like their plots, etc., is all left for the future. All I'm looking for at this point are the names of people who would be willing to create an alt now and again to play such roles so as to help promote more player generated content and community entertainment.

Program Objective:

The Guide Program is a network of player volunteers who have chosen to help players, especially new players, in-game and in person.

Rationale for the Program:

Though PFO will likely have a number of ways for new players to learn information about the game (all very helpful in their own fashion), the Guide Program seeks to provide a friendly face and an in-game presence - literally, a helpful guide. Most Guides will likely spend their "on duty" time in starter towns and will be some of the first characters a new player encounters. By attempting to make that first encounter a positive one, we hope to ensure that the PFO community continues to grow.

Just like any customer service, the personal touch is often the one that people remember best. It's one thing to have a store directory, a little better to have an information desk where someone can answer questions and point you down the aisle you need, but when you encounter the employee who not only asks if they can help you, but escorts you to the aisle, helps you find what you need, and even helps you learn how to use it properly...that's the store that wins your customer loyalty. That's what the Guide Program hopes to achieve in PFO.

Requirements:

1. That your desire to help others motivates you to donate a portion of your game time to this cause.

2. That you are a player in good standing with the PFO community. Some of our activities might include escorting the new player outside the safety of the starter town where they began, and if so, Guides need to be trustworthy individuals.

3. That you are able to set aside personal bias or prejudice towards individuals, groups, and play styles (so long as they do not conflict with PFO's use policies, etc.), so as not to give the impression that our help comes with strings attached or that only certain players merit assistance. That if you are not able to do so with a particular "client", you will seek to refer them to a Guide who can.

4. That you will act in a fashion that does not damage the reputation of the Guide Program or its members.

Questions & Answers:

Q - Exactly how much do I have to know about the game to participate?

A - Though helping usually infers that you know more than those you seek to help, Guides do not have to be experts on every aspect of the game. What we prefer is that Guides develop a network of resources to call upon when aiding new players. These might include websites, IRC channels, and community members who are willing specialists in particular game fields (e.g. crafting, PvP, etc.).

Q - Do I have to be "on duty" when I'm in-game?

A - No. As a Guide, you decide when you're "on duty". We are not GW employees, nor are we even expecting that you accept mandatory shifts to participate. As we move through EE and get closer to OE, we will likely try to flesh out a schedule based on the availability of Guides, but we recognize that every Guide also wants to experience the game for themselves. In fact, we encourage it, since a more informed Guide makes a better helper.

Q - Is this In-Character or Out-of-Character?

A - Especially in that most new player questions will likely revolve around game mechanics, it will be easier and more expedient for Guides to chat OOC with their client, likely in a party or via tells. In this way, if you are a full-time Role Player, you can still help without breaking character.

What Do We Do Now?

Given how far we from even EE, I think that making anything more formal than a list of those interested would be premature. Even filling out membership bios (play times, when you can serve, starter town of choice, etc.) should wait, since people's times and choices may change with real life issues and future game developments.

However, I would like to start chatting with potential Guides. There are several things I would like to brainstorm, so if you have an interest in the Guide Program, please leave your name and best times to chat. Perhaps we can get a time that works for most people and meet on the PFO Fan TS server.

Though it might seem premature to talk about helping new players so long before EE even begins, I think it prudent to start identifying players who have an interest in doing so. Past experience has taught me that sandbox games tend to have steeper learning curves than theme park games and I expect PFO will not be an exception to that rule. With unique features such as settlement construction, escalations, a truly player driven economy, and randomly appearing dungeons, plus a deep skill-based system, alignment and reputation, flags, and much more, there will be plenty of questions that budding PFO players need answered.

Knowing that I plan to spend a good portion of my time helping new people, those who know of my intentions have suggested that I found a CC based on the Eve University model. However, I have no interest in being the leader of a CC nor governing a settlement. Neither do I believe that those who wish to help should be asked to join an exclusive group to do so. I am aware that most people who will desire to help new players will also wish to fully experience PFO for themselves - adventure, craft, participate in a settlement, etc...and they should - it will make them more knowledgeable helpers. Even I wish to spend time planning community events and harvesting, which is why I would rather not be pigeon-holed into running something as time consuming as the Eve University.

What I propose instead is a network of players committed to volunteering at least a portion of their play time to this activity. They can continue their membership in whatever CC they belong, perhaps even calling upon that organization to help assist them in their work. Though these volunteers will likely want to be well versed in the mechanics of the game, by remaining affiliated with their regular CC's/settlements/kingdoms, they can network with other established players to help where needed in the education of newcomers. Don't know enough about skill "X" to answer the new player's question...just call on your CC mate who is a master in that skill and doesn't mind mentoring for a bit.

These volunteers would thus be networkers within the PFO community - hubs of community knowledge that new players can access to either gain the information directly, or be pointed to those who can. After all, as the saying goes, no one can know everything, but the intelligent person knows where to find the answer. These helper volunteers could be that person for the newbies of PFO.

As an aside, I think an on-line source of information would also be very helpful. Perhaps a wiki or website such as PFO Fan - a one-stop site for new people to access blogs, useful forum posts, and guides written by community members. Perhaps GW already plans to provie such a resource, but if not, I have found such sites very helpful when aiding new players.

If PFO is going to grow its player base from the niche market of its kickstarter to a viable competitor with games such as Eve, we the community need to be helpful ambassadors for those new faces. I certainly think such a network of helpers would be one way to grow the game. I have seen often enough in other games that a helpful hand extended to new players makes a very lasting impression - one that promotes a sense of belonging, and in turn, grows and strengthens the community as a whole.

I welcome your suggestions and, hopefully, a few offers of participation.

Hobs

I was watching an episode of Falling Skies, particularly during a scene where the group had left the city, were on the run, and were setting up their camp. It made me wonder what other kinds of camps might we have besides harvesting camps? If given the raw materials and skills necessary, could other temporary camps be erected outside a settlement, especially if someone with the various "building" skills was present (perhaps your settlement has been sacked, but your architect is with your fleeing band and can still put his knowledge to work).

1. Wilderness Camp

As in several other games, your basic camp fire for cooking and perhaps spell acquisition, possible rest bonus, etc. If the camp maker or even a party member with refining skills for hides is present, could a temporary leather refining "station" be erected? Thinking of the movie "Jeremiah Johnson", stretching and cleaning hides would be something easily done in such a camp.

2. Siege Camp

During the siege of a settlement, could there be a military headquarters set up by those with leadership skills. These might provide a boost to morale and allow siege engines to be built on-site.

3. Field Hospital

Especially during sieges, this camp might allow the healing of critical hit debuffs or maybe allow clerics to somehow combine their healing efforts. I'd be tempted to suggest that it could be a temporary soul bind point, but that would only draw out battles with revolving door respawning.

4. Mage/Sorcerer/Witch Camp

A camp with appropriate circles/symbols of power etched upon the ground and other various mystical doodads. These could allow those of the same calling to combine their skills while out in the field...performing group rituals, summoning, what have you.

5. Entrenchment

Given the resources to "dig in", the establishment of this type of camp would create a small, defensible position surrounded by temporary trenches, those snappy sharpened stakes for stopping cavalry, etc. This could add to a group's defense (cover and concealment) and possible saving throws from certain spells. This would not be an instantaneously triggered camp (would definitely take time to erect), would cost more resources than other camps, and require more specialized skills to construct, but it could be an interesting addition to warfare.

5. Merchant Camp

Though mainly a RP function, a welcoming tent and campfire might mark the location of a traveling merchant(s) who are looking to sell or barter with the goods they are carrying. For those daring enough, it might be a way for unaffiliated merchants to find trade outside the confines of any particular settlement. It could also be the base for enterprising merchants to set up a temporary trading post out in the wild where harvesters and adventurers could stop in to buy needed goods (perhaps having just been killed and stripped of all their consumables).

I could keep going, but I'm interested in what others think. Besides the potential bonuses or utilities of such camps, I think they add a desired RP flavor to the game. None of them would be permanent changes to the landscape in the same way as settlements or points of interest, but rather a temporary, overlaying animation that would disappear when "broken down" by the owner or when its timer expired.

As an aside, I know there are bandit camps/hideouts in the works, but I'm curious if only bandits can make them (and further curious about what skill their construction will be attached to). Some variation of these would seem very useful as a nomad/refugee camp.

As we chatted this evening (Thursday, 5/16) on the PFO-Fan TS, Lord Jessiah, Aunt Tony, and I discussed mounts in-game. We delved into what the skill animal handler might encompass, such as subskills for the various tricks and feats that a mount might be taught (combat, wearing barding, speed, maneuvering, extra stamina, etc.).

We also discussed that since the animal handler is training the mount these skills, the mount could retain these even if a new rider were not a trained animal handler. So, if ownership of mounts could be transferred, a skilled handler might make a very nice living training and selling mounts.

But what about the mechanics?

Ryan has stated elsewhere (I hope I'm recalling this correctly), that he is not keen on the idea of mounts persisting in the world separate from their rider (e.g. dismounting and leaving your horse standing outside while you step into the tavern). Mounts in many games simply disappear when the rider dismounts, rather than becoming separate entities.

Here's one suggestion of how all these ideas and concerns might be handled:

What if mounts were treated much the same as crafted items? A prospective mount trainer could buy a mount from an NPC mount dealer. Upon purchase, the mount would appear as an icon in his inventory. Upon double clicking it, the mount would appear under him. What if the player then began to apply his animal handling subskill to teach the mount how to maneuver faster? Like key words applied to items in crafting, this new modifier is being applied directly to the mount. When the mount is sufficiently trained (perhaps the training bar fills completely), the player mount trainer dismounts, the mount reverts back to an icon in his inventory, but now bearing the keyword "maneuver". He then locates a buyer, places the mount icon in the trade window, cash and mount are traded, and the new owner double clicks the mount icon and has a snappy, more maneuverable mount under him.

This would keep mounts from being separate entities from their riders, thus sparing the server extra stress, allows mounts to learn new skills, and follows what will be an already existing mechanic for hopeful ease of implementation.

Just a rough idea, but we toss out here for your consideration.

P.S. We also discussed mounted combat and how mounts could be killed, but that's a whole different topic.

Having played a harvester in more than one MMO, I have benefited from various icons or colored dots representing nodes, animals, enemies, etc. on game mini-maps. Some of those games, being hi-tech sci-fi themed, provided a better in-character reason for my being able to get an aerial view of my surroundings via the little radar-style blips on my screen. However, in fantasy games, this seems less realistic (barring telepathic links to flying familiars and the like).

The point of this post is to learn what my fellow PFO-ers wish to have in the game when it launches. Personally, I want to have to delve into that wilderness hex to know that it contains something juicy, rather than just skim the edge of it and see what shows up on my mini-map. I'd also rather have to keep an eye out for nasties and bad guys, rather than track them like in-coming missiles.

Thoughts?

Another suggestion from last night's Team Speak discussion was for the possibility of practice fields. Though Ryan has seemed reluctant to consider a sparing or nonlethal combat mechanism, all of us chatting last evening see the need for a means to practice fighting without incurring the various flags and penalties. The most popular idea (suggested by Dario) was that settlements should be able to create a sparing/practice field, perhaps as a place of interest. Within the confines of this space, participants could attack, spar, and even kill one another without incurring the usual negative results.

Possible Uses:

1. A training field for your settlements guards to not only practice together, but jointly with allies.

2. A training facility to help new players learn the basics about combat with a player instructor rather than in the filed against mobs.

3. Neutral or evil settlements could use such a facility as a gladiator pit for entertainment, to settle disputes, earn rank, etc.

By having a designated area for such activities, you avoid the constant duel challenges experienced in other games. Also, these facilities would be easily recognized for what they are, so people couldn't easily be lured in and killed without penalty (these shouldn't become a means of griefing). By attaching them to settlements, the settlement leadership could potentially customize the rules of engagement within the practice field, allowing for more player control of this form of consensual combat.

Last night (Friday, 5/10) several of us had a very productive chat on TS. One topic I think worth sharing was the following:

What should happen to an individual or CC's goods stored in a settlement if that settlement's leadership decides to banish that individual/CC from the settlement?

The conversation included how those individuals might be notified, should there be a grace period, should shared storage function more like a contract, etc. Thought I'd toss it up here and get the community's feedback.

I recently returned to Lord of the Rings Online (I have a lifetime account, so once in a while, I go back and lurk about). One of the features they have (which I don't recall from five years ago when I last played) is that your creature loot is held in a queue or sorts, and if you don't click on the item in the queue to drop it in your pack, it is deleted after a certain amount of time.

The one part that I dislike is that you can claim this loot where ever you are during that "claim period", so being an archer, I never have to go anywhere near my kill to loot it. My problem with this is that I don't have to risk being attacked by other critters to go fetch the goods on what I've just killed. Yes, I'm one of those...I like things to seem more realistic, even if they put me at a disadvantage. :)

So the question is, what looting mechanism has GW decided to use? Will you have to open the corpse to collect the goods, will you have to target the skinnable critter's corpse to skin it or will killing it just dump the hide in your pack like LotRO? As soon as looting is brought up, inevitably, the questions about looting rights (first hit gets it, majority of damage has claim, everybody gets a copy of the goods, etc.), but for now, I mainly am interested in "how" the loot is acquired from the corpse.

Given the rather heated nature of several threads lately, I thought something a bit more "fellow player" oriented might be nice.

Please list here those tools, mechanics, skills, items, locations, etc., that you have seen in other games, or would just like to see in PFO, that better enables one player to help another in some fashion. This could be helping them in PvE, PvP, collaborating in trade/crafting/spells, assisting new players, teaching skill use...whatever you think would help one player to help another in whatever aspect of the game you wish to write about.

In that our interactions will create much of the entertainment in this game, I'm hoping not all that interaction will be competitive in nature. To this end, help me brainstorm a decent wishlist that leads to the benefit of others.

In researching past threads before starting this one, there have been discussions about character names, achievement titles, merit badge titles, etc. However, I didn't see anything about what we as a community think should be visible or not visible. There was a fairly recent thread with a suggestion for a mechanism to make character names invisible until you somehow established relations with that person, which I think is still a good idea, but likely causes too many possible problems to be worth implementing.

What I'm asking here is what do you think should be visible? Names, the CC you belong to, the settlement? We're all used to guild tags floating over our head, but in a world of open PvP, with competing settlements, I'm not sure I want everyone to be able to see which group or which settlement I belong to. Others will want to wear it proudly, like a guild tabard. Even guild titles and ranks might be viewed as reasonably visible from a role-play standpoint (insignia, medals on your chest, etc.).

So perhaps more than asking what can be visible, the question is, what "must" be visible? Should you have to "wear" your CC's name? As a role-player, I don't let my character know anything that he hasn't learned in-character, including your name/guild/etc., even if it's floating over your head. However, that's not going to be the case with all players, and there are some real benefits to not displaying all your associations.

Personally, I'd like to have the option to toggle all that stuff off, but others will likely have a strong opinion to the contrary. Opinions?

Before posting this, I did a little research of prior threads, but with the debate still raging around unintentional strikes upon targets in the "I Fell into a Burning Ring of Fire" thread, I thought this might be a good time to revisit the idea of line-of-site fire.

I believe I recall reading that there will be no auto-attack in PFO - that you'll need to actually select your type of attack round by round. If that is the case, then I'm wondering how single target spells and missile fire will be dealt with when it comes to friendly fire (e.g. a team mate steps into your field of fire)or unintentional strikes (e.g. that sneaky stealther who got between me and my target).

I'm hoping that since friendly fire is possible (at least with AoE), that it is also possible with line-of-fire spells and missiles. I believe PF rules have a feat that reduces your chance of hitting allies when shooting missiles into a melee situation, so will this risk be present in PFO?

Thoughts?

Several times while surfing the PFO forums, I can see that people I would love to chat with are available by their post time stamps. Not necessarily having any particular topic I'd like to discuss, and not wanting to clutter these forums with more threads than is meaningful, I just shrug and keep surfing.

I know many guilds/CC's/etc. have their own servers, but unless you join their ranks or get friended to their group, many people (especially us unguilded folks) may not have a place to chat. Even if we have access to several guilds' TS servers, the people we see here on the forums may not.

So the question is, would anyone with the capacity care to establish a TS server for PFO discussion? I know one concern (besides cost...I have no idea what it costs) is that we will distract useful discussion away from the forums, but I think those of us who post often will certainly still keep important new ideas in the public spotlight (i.e. the forums).

A different thread go me thinking about this...what if all the contracts that GW has in mind were items actually crafted by characters? What if there was something like a scribe skill that allowed players to craft the various forms of contracts? There are certainly enough of them to keep a training scribe busy, especially if we really use them as much as GW seems to think we will. You might need an NPC style notary where you turn in the contract to access the game controlled escrow system, but the actual document that both parties interface with could be player made.

I think it would provide yet another player crafted item and would provide less adventurous types with a consistent business (though the mats to make the contracts would still need to be harvested and refined by somebody).

Though most skills are likely to center around combat and crafting, I hope there are plenty of novelty skills in-game. What novel or niche skills would you like to see? I'm talking about the skills that certainly don't make or break a character, but add some real flavor or novelty to your in-game persona.

For me, several existed in past MMOs.

1. Taxidermist from UO - With the proper materials, you could craft statues, mounted heads, etc. A nice touch for a settlement or player owned tavern.

2. SWG Image Designer - Though other games came up with NPC barbers to change hair cut and color, SWG had it as a character skill. This was always a nice skill to employ for others.

3. SWG Entertainers - Though bards will likely give the same buffs or better, I would like to see these skills available as separate subskills so that you can focus on just being a good musician or dancer. LotRO had a good musician system as well.

4. Farmer - Growing crops, animal husbandry, milking cows? I used to use the ranger tree in SWG so I could have my role-played poor farmer milk mammalian critters.

5. Botanist - In UO, there was a rather elaborate plant growing system. Besides creating collectible plant types for home decoration, some provided components for certain magical abilities and potions.

6. Carpenter - In UO, carpenters made a slew of household decoration - chairs, tables, chests, etc.

So now it's your turn. What skills would you like to see?

Being's thread about player made dungeons got me thinking about what similar functions I would like to see in an MMO. As, what I call, a plot manager (I often run player-made story arcs), I've had lots of practice at finding ways to make such events dangerous for the players involved (other players, the need for participants to go to already dangerous locations, etc.). However, the most useful thing would be if I were able to trigger my own mob spawns. Only then could I place the critters where I need them, when I need them, and ensure that they are the kind in keeping with whatever the particular story required, just like you can if you're the game master in a paper & pencil game. Part of how I'm laying this out is to keep the action in the world, rather than in an instanced dungeon, which tends to limit player interaction - something PFO is trying to promote.

Possible Mechanic:

PFO has said it will have some elements of micro-transaction possible. A player triggered spawn feature might not be something others are willing to pay for (I would), but what if there were other in-game ways to gain enough "points" to purchase things from the game store. You might earn them for game actions or perhaps it's simply by spending your in-game coin. GW2 has it's gem store, so perhaps something similar would work.

Your UI could access your game store purchases window with a list of the spawns you've purchased, and by clicking on the one you want to use, you get a targeting reticle. You click the ground, and poof (well, perhaps there's a delay so you aren't in the middle of it).

The cost of the spawn could be played with to make it prohibitive enough that these aren't happening all over the place. Purchasing a really challenging spawn might be something a whole settlement would need to chip in on.

Possible Rules to Curb Abuse:

First, the mobs created wouldn't have any loot. They're there to provide a challenge, not an income.

Second, since we gain skills the Eve way, there's no way of using these as experience cheats either (that I know of).

You can only launch these in either a free hex (no occupancy, including harvesting camps and the like) or one you are a member of. No dropping the ogre tribe on your enemy's settlement before you invade, just to soften them up.

If No Perks, Why Would Anyone Want This?:

First, as a plot manager, it would be dreamy to be able to actually produce enemies that represent a real danger without having to go to the same old nasty places or asking other players to play the roles that might be required. After all, those players are using their own characters and might have no interest in playing the heavy. To be able to provide not only a danger, but a specific danger that reinforces the existing story would be marvelous.

Second, it might be a nice way for people to test themselves. A settlement might want to test their defenses. A commander might want to test his troops. For those wanting to help new players, it could be a way of providing some training for what lies father from town without having to go that far out with unseasoned adventurers. Now, having a spawn happen on cue might be less role-playish, but then, you don't have to tell your people it's coming, either. The best test of readiness is when you didn't know it's a drill.

Like most posts on the board, this is just a thought, but given how much I enjoy creating stories to enhance other players' game time, this would be a very snappy tool have in my plot manager arsenal.

While chatting over Team Speak with several PFO community members, we hit upon the topic of neutral settlements. I would like to get other people's thoughts about these as well.

One of the things we discussed was the opportunity for a neutral settlement to become a safe haven for diplomacy. By being neutral, such a settlement might afford ambassadors of the polar alignments an aggression-free locale for discussing treaties, cease-fires, etc. In a word - Switzerland.

In that same vein, it was mentioned that such a place, if it was afforded the status of neutral sanctuary - a place all nations agreed never to attack for the mutual benefit it provided the community as a whole - could such a place become a city of secretive bank accounts and a haven for those seeking political asylum? For instance, if you thought your settlement was under imminent threat of invasion, could you transfer much of your wealth to the PFO-Switzerland settlement?

Or, like Moorcock's Tanelorn, could it become the place to escape the constant war between Law and Chaos - a place where the resident's alignments are left at the gate and their past heroics or crimes are forgotten?

Many tabletop games and MMOs have some version of critical hits. These often take the form of additional damage for a well-placed strike, but some include additional side-effects, such as bleeding, reduced movement, stun, blinding, etc. The quick question of this thread is to ask whether PFO plans to have some form of critical strike?

On a far more masochistic line of thought (role-players seem to enjoy thinking up ways to hamstring our own characters), I think it would be interesting to have very rare criticals that inflict longer lasting effects and need special care to correct. Most MMO combat inflicts what should amount to horrific injury to your character, but then, within a minute, you're back to full strength and back to it. Losing 90% of your HP in a fight should be incredibly traumatic, but for game expediency and player enjoyment, we all regenerate like Wolverine, with no lasting effects at all.

But what if, on the rare occasion, criticals occurred with a bit more realistic effect? What if that critical that would normally cause -25% movement for a few seconds in combat was permanent until a healer reset your broken leg? What if that critical arm strike that keeps you from lifting your shield over your head kept that arm at a -10% to your shielding skill until you saw the local physician? What if that claw to the face resulting in a -5% detection rating not only lingered but resulted in a permanent scare to your avatar until you had a chance to see the kindly cleric? Hey, maybe you like the scar - it's quite the conversation piece.

These would certainly be very seldom occurrences (we don't want everyone walking around maimed), but they could add flavor to combat and to your character. "I remember when I got this..." the big nasty barbarian says, pointing to his scarred cheek with pride as he begins his story.

In another thread, the O.P. made the point that those who choose to play evil will be at a disadvantage because evil clerics may not be able to heal as well as good clerics. It got me thinking on a topic that I have not read anything about - healing as a skill.

If the O.P. of that other thread is correct, it seems that there will be a need for alternative forms of healing. Even if the evil cleric issue turns out not to be a problem, I have always liked multiple means of healing in MMOs. Certainly, there is always alchemy - got a boo-boo, drink a potion - but as someone who has played nonclerical healers in past games, I would love to see such a class in PFO.

A physician skill where you could staunch bleeding, cure damage, neutralize poison, and all the other usual talents would be a nice skill to invest training time into for those who want some of the healing benefits without seeming to holy/unholy by going the cleric route. Certainly, what a physician could do with herbs and bandages is never going to match the abilities of a cleric backed by his/her deity, but again, it could provide for a more utilitarian form of healing (i.e. an every-man's healing or healing for the laity).

I'm sure Pathfinder tabletop has something similar, but I'm wondering how well it would translate to an MMO. Thoughts?

I know there is a thread on Evil Kingdoms, but since this doesn't pertain exclusively to that alignment, I thought it might warrant a new thread (I also didn't want to muddy the Evil Kingdom discussion).

Given that reputation is a publicly visible rating derived from your "known" behavior, shouldn't a settlement operate more on a reputation system than an alignment system? Where a player's actions, for good or ill, influences their reputation, shouldn't the laws that a settlement toggles on or off and chooses to enforce or not enforce similarly affect the settlement's reputation? People choose to do business with reputable companies, while having no clue what the alignment of the people employed happens to be. You choose to visit safe towns rather than those with high crime rates, but would you say everyone living in that unsafe town is evil? Sure, you could assign lawfulness to toggling on more laws and chaos to enforcing less, but isn't it possible that a settlement's managing characters could be of nearly any alignment and still take actions to ensure a positive reputation for their settlement? Isn't it possible that the mayor of your town does a masterful job of keeping the streets safe and the businesses humming while being a devil worshiper in his free time? Reputation deals with his town's profitability, regardless of his personal hobbies.

Unless you're hanging corpses from the ramparts and sacrificing virgins in the town square, I find it difficult to assign an alignment to a whole community or to easily envision those of opposing alignments being automatically barred from a settlement unless game mechanics become that overtly obvious. It would seem easier to assign bonuses and minuses to a settlement based on easily tracked "actions" of the settlement - what laws they toggle, the amount of resources they expend for hiring NPC guards or constructing safer walls/banks/etc., what level of taxes they levy, and so on.

Just an idea.

I have seen it mentioned in several places that people believe evil will constitute the larger chunk of the PFO player base. Whether this is due to people wanting to behave as evil does the majority of their play time (i.e. role-playing evil) or because performing acts that have been flagged evil will move them inevitable to the "dark side", I hope there will be those players who decide to embrace that end of the alignment spectrum with real panache.

NPC monsters and bosses are all well and good for the PvE status hunters...the big game mob killers, but being AI run opponents, killing these is often a matter of gear, hit points, and mass numbers on the part of players, rather than a matter of having to out-think them. As I've said before, nothing adds quite the same challenge as a nemesis with a player behind the controls. Now I'm not just describing a player who by having the highest skills, best gear, and a gang of like-minded, bloodthirsty friends simply becomes the replacement for the mob boss, but rather a plotting, planning, conniving, intelligent evil. I hope there will be evil players willing to devote that amount of time into their rise to infamy, constructing truly notorious reputations while at the same time being faceless to the public. A player who doesn't make their name by how many people they PK, but rather creates such a web of contacts that even those who think they work for "the boss" don't really know who he is. A Kaiser Soze style mastermind. That would be wonderful.

Greetings! I am Hobs, a proud member of The Empyrean Order (http://www.theempyrean.org/teboards/index.php). I am also a member of our Seraphic Commission - a subguild charged with community outreach, the creation and promotion of community events, the assistance of new players, and networking with our allies.

Especially for those players who may never have experienced games with a well developed player community, I thought it would be fun for us to provide examples of what I consider the greatest reason for playing an MMORPG - the opportunity for meaningful player interaction.

To this ends, here is what I would invite you to post. It may seem a bit "carebearish" in nature for some, but hey, a little Kumbaya never hurt.

1. Post a brief example of how your experience in an MMO was improved by the act of another player.

2. A similar brief description of how you have done the same for someone else.

My hope is that this might remind old MMORPG-ers like myself of what we've done in the past and hope to do again, while showing people who have only known more single-player themed games what they can look forward to in PFO. Enjoy!

While discussing the use of a challenge mechanic on another thread, I kept coming back to the question of how this game will determine my alignment based on my deeds. In Ultima Online (the only MMO I've ever played that had any sort of mechanism for flagging a player based on their behavior), you could be flagged gray for doing criminal acts (allowing you to be attacked by players for a set time period...I think it was 5 minutes) or red for being a murderer (you could be attacked by anyone, couldn't enter cities without being guard-wacked, etc.).

The question I keep coming back to is, besides the obvious (breaking a contract, attacking another player, etc.), how else will the game determine alignment change? In that I doubt a mechanic can be devised to determine "intent" rather than simply action, what actions, based on your current alignment, would cause a shift?

So that's the thread premise...what actions do you think - that could actually be tracked by a game - should shift your alignment?

Have at. :)