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I've copied the below from the main Viridian Circle thread as it probably deserves it's own thread for discusion.

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One of the stated goals of the Viridian Circle is to target settlements (and individuals) which have expanded and harvested resources in a reckless manner. So that got me thinking, how will we identify settlements, chartered companies and individuals who act in this manner?

Settlement Buildings
There should be a wealth of information that is collected that pertains to a settlement. If there was a mechanic called ‘Growth Rate’, then this could provide the ruling body of the settlement with a figure to display how rapidly a settlement is growing. This would enable them to see if they are growing in an efficient and cost effective manner. This could be a measure of the current skill level of characters assigned to various buildings, as well as the number of projects on the go (and the average skill rating of the contributors), the amount of resources being gathered and allocated to settlement projects and perhaps a measure of the amount of wastage on settlement projects.

In regards to wastage the lead on a project could choose how they want to manage a building project. For instance if a particular kind of training facility is required to be built quickly, then the lead could decide to make a reduction in the quality of the overall project and increase the amount of wastage. Both of these choices would affect the amount of raw resources required for the project, the time it would take to build the structure and the minimum required skill level to contribute to the project. These kinds of choices should also affect the on-going cost of maintenance, development index rating and the end appearance of the structure.

While it might be cheaper and quicker to build structures quickly at reduced quality. This would have an overall effect on the ambience of the overall settlement, as well as effect on-going maintenance costs. So civic pride might come into play, as well as some characters might not want to go to the ‘shabby rundown’ settlement of Brighthaven.

It should also be possible via relevant skill checks and having a look around a settlement to get a feel if a settlement is growing at a reckless manner (by viewing the growth rate and other stats) and what level of wastage has been used to construct the buildings. All of the above would not only assist the Viridian Circle in deeming who to target, but make each settlement unique and feel alive.

Settlement Resource Gathering & Strip-Mining
I’ve mentioned above that there should be a wealth of information available to community leaders of a settlement. This should include the efficiency of their resource gathering efforts. We’ve heard it mentioned that raiders will be able strip-mine resources of rival settlements. I propose that strip-mining be an option not only for raiders, but also for settlement harvesting operations as well as individual harvesters.

This make sense and allows everyone to make a meaningful choice when it comes to harvesting. Do I want to harvest this resource to maximise the quality of the material being harvested or do I want to accept a reduction in the overall quality of the resource so I can do it quickly. This kind of decision making is as applicable to a small harvesting group in the dangerous wilderness, trying to quickly mine a rare but expensive resource. To Settlements (or others) who are at war (or feuding) to quickly harvest resources so they can churn out some needed armour or weapons.

On a side note I think it would be fantastic if harvesters could harvest materials that have a higher quality rating at the expense of increasing the time taken and reducing the yield from the harvested node. For instance a Dwarven harvester who is harvesting an average quality iron deposit might decide to only take the best of the bunch of the iron ore, thus reducing his yield but in return getting good quality iron ore. At the refining phase a refiner could pay less for average quality iron ore (and get more of it) and then refine it to produce a higher quality, or buy the good quality iron ore as it saves them time. They could keep it at this level of quality or refine it to excellent quality iron ore losing some in the process.

Not only does this add another layer to harvesting (and as a consequence refining and crafting) but it also enables the Viridian Circle to target those that are harvesting recklessly. Obviously the last point is the most important ;-p

I would imagine that the way in which you harvest should have a visual effect of the resource node, and also be detectable via appropriate skills checks. So if you stumble across a shonky looking resource node that has been recklessly ripped apart, you know the harvesters have been naughty. Conversely a well-constructed resource harvesting camp would leave the resource node in pristine order. For the above to have any meaning we would need to be able to determine who has been harvesting a particular resource node as well as use skills to get an insight into a settlements resource gathering efforts.

...The current stage of the escalation describes what is happening at that point in the event. For example, the Bonedancer goblin invasion begins with scouting parties of goblins searching for good places to attack. When players kill or chase off enough of the goblin scouts, the Bonedancers send stronger parties of wolf-handlers to find out what's been happening to their scouts. In the face of growing opposition, the Bonedancer shamans decide to reinforce their warriors by robbing the local graveyards and animating the dead. Each stage generates its own specific quests and missions for PCs who want to defeat the threat—or, in some cases, egg it on.

As I've mentioned previously the Viridian Circle want to be skilled at advancing escalation cycles (EC). This raises a number of questions:

• How would an EC cycle be advanced
  
• If we help an escalation cycle to advance, do we becomes allies of the EC and thus immune to its effects
  
• How can you advance an EC, since it is initially hostile to everyone
  
• Would it be a viable strategy to encourage EC's to grow around you to provide a dangerous buffer zone around your settlement.

My preference would be to allow characters to go to a specific spot on the monster hex (possibly via stealth), where we can attempt diplomatic relations with the monsters/creatures. If our diplomacy checks are favorable we become non-hostile in the eyes of the monsters and we will be given a series of quests to enable the monster hex to grow rapidly.

If we are successful in a number of these quests then it would be nice if we could declare a settlement as an ally to the monsters and a specific settlement as a preferred enemy. This could tailor what direction the EC heads in (i.e. towards the enemy settlement). Hexes belonging to the allied settlement would be left alone by the monsters, which could eventually completely surround the settlement and provide a handy buffer zone. If you assist a monster hex to grow to a certain size, then perhaps you gain a special monster related artifact to place in your settlement.

Perhaps by allying with monster hexes your settlement could gain access to special equipment, skills, mounts or defensive properties.

A downside to allying with a monster hex is they require regular tribute to continue to leave you alone, and other settlements could discover that you've been assisting them during there own fight against the monsters.

I’m putting out feelers for who would be interested in a Druidic / ‘defenders of the natural world’ type chartered company (not sure if this is the correct terminology).

Chartered Company
Name: The Viridian Circle
Alignment: Neutral
Members Alignments: N, NG, NE, CN
Ideology:

• Protectors of the natural world
  
• Enemies of aberrations & undead
  
• Keepers of the Balance

Less of a settlement and more of a group of like minded characters who share information and support. I could see the Viridian Circle with operatives throughout the River Kingdoms, who provide information on settlements, groups and organizations that act recklessly (particularly if it affects the natural world), or expands to rapidly. I could see operatives doing some of the following activities

• Attacking aberrations/undead escalation cycles
  
• Destroying Aberrations
  
• Destroying Undead and those who create/use them
  
• Advancing escalation cycles that threaten settlements that are expanding too quickly or acting recklessly
  
• Setting up a Sanctuary (for wild animals, fey creatures etc.) and policing its borders

Has any information been released for character creation during EE. Specifically I'm interested in what will happen to existing characters once new racial and role options become available.

At this stage my character concept revolves around playing a half-elf from the Mordant Spire who is interested in taking skills as both a Wizard and a Druid.

Would I have to create an Elf and then be given the option of changing it to a half elf, or will I need to create a new character once that race becomes available.

Also if I want to have Druid skills and abilities should I choose cleric and then swap or will I either need to start fresh or just add those skills onto my existing character.

Thanks for any and all help

*Poster appear on various noticeboards and nailed to signposts near crossroads*

It’s been mentioned in a few threads that PFO is currently lacking an evil alliance or truly evil player organisation. If you could have any type of evil organisation to act as a foil for the various good player organisation, what would you like to see.

• School of necromancy, black magic, and poisons
• Cults of a mad god
• Cults of a mad god who want to destroy the world
• Tyrant who want to rule the world
• Bread-making assassins (implausible I know)
• Something else.

Also what challengers do you think a player organisation would face if they declared themselves openly evil?

My personal preference is for a school of necromancy and black magic who must raid neighbouring communities for spell components (corpses, body parts etc.), and seek out forgotten lore and form a university dedicated to studying and advancing knowledge of the ‘dark arts’. It would also make a perfect place for evil-aligned faiths to setup shop and openly worship their dark deities. This community could be similar to the Black Academy that is outlined in Return to the Tomb of Horrors adventure module.

Another interesting idea would be to be part of an evil community similar to what is outlined in the RttToEE (Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil) that inhabits the volcano. What was interesting about the community is the various churches of elemental evil were rivals to each other, and the grunt level cultist didn’t realise that the whole thing was a sham and was actually a scheme by the faithful of Tharizidun (I forget the exact spelling) to summon their evil god to destroy the world. From my limited knowledge this could work with the Cult of Rovag.

Anyway your thoughts would be appreciated. Who knows this could give rise to a suitable evil organisation.

Since it's going to take a minimum of 2.5 years of training for a character to earn 20 merit badges, it would be great if there were options to allow us to test the waters with various training packages.

My suggestion is to use micro-transactions to allow the purchase of a few levels of trainings for characters. For instance if someone has signed up for a monthly subscription you could allow them to purchase skill training for an alternate character to allow them to gain a merit badge in an archetype (including crafting archetypes) you could also not allow a character to advance beyond a certain level (say 5) unless they pay the price for a full skill training package.

The objective of this is to allow players to experment with different character concepts until they've decided on one they're willing to train to get the 20 merit badges.

My big fear with such a long devlopment time (2.5 years) is due to limited resources (i.e. money I can spend on computer games) that I'll start down one of focus only to make a 'mistake' and have to start over.

Is there any intention on implement a scrying based system?

Apart from the standard system of casting a spell (or using an item) to remotely view/hear a distant locale, another possibly way of implementing this system is similar to the arcane eye spell via the creation of a magical eye they a caster can then possess and move around scouting ahead or spying on people. This could be counted by skills in detection (spotting). If the sensor is noticed it could be attacked and killed. You could restrict the casters map from updating unless the sensor return to the caster to deliver the information.

As a caster gains more skill with scrying the sensor could become more difficult to notice and have increased range, duration and or speed.

Will it be possibly for explorere-type characters to learn cartograhpy so they can sell maps of areas they have explored?

It would be awesome if the maps were an in-game item that showed a specefic hex that had been explored along with any highlighted points of interest. This could make an alternative income stream for those who enjoying every nook and cranky.

It would be awesome if it were possible to ally with NPC Monsters. For instance, let say you discovered a nest of bugbears in a rival settlements hex. Rather than wanting to destroy them, it would be advantageous if you could supply arms, training and maybe even man-power to them. If it was possible for you to be flagged as an ally to the monsters then this could allow you to walk around unharmed in their territory, perhaps with restricted access to sensitive areas. If you were allowed access to an ‘armoury’ then you could buy weapons and armour and deposit it in their armour, which may increase the effectiveness and growth of the monsters.

It would also be fun if an enterprising merchant could sell equipment to a nest of monsters, or for others to actively serve the more powerful monsters (dragons, Lich’s etc).

I'm wondering if at some point it will be possible to play a monstrous PC.

In D&D playing a monstrous character is balanced by the ECL of the effective monster. However, I think a system akin to monstrous class levels in Savage Species (or the Savage Progressions articles ) could work in PFO. This would allow us to playing a 'juvenile' version of a particular race (with minimal perks). We could then either devote training time to developing the racial characteristics or class skills. There could be restrictions on how many class level a PC can gain before having to advance a new racial level. So if someone devote 2.5 years to get to a standard race to level 20, someone could use the same time to acquire racial levels and a lesser amount of class level.

Another way I could see this work is using this sort of system to acquire a template progressively (as seen in the Savage Progressions level). Let's say you have a level 13 Wizard and you want to become a lich. Then once you've learn't the blueprint on how to acquire this template, you could devote some of your training time towards leveling the lich template levels instead on your pure wizard levels.

A perfect example of how the above could work is the Yuan-ti. A player could start as a human. Eventually gain the tainted one template, and then continue to work through the yuan-ti racial types until they become a pure-blood (or whatever the final ultimate version of the yuan-ti is called)

I've always loved the idea of being able to play a monstrous creature or acquire a template. It may not be super popular option until people gain their first 20 levels. After that I suspect people would like to acquire this sort of thing.

Is anyone else interested in this sort of thing? If so what would you like to be able to play/acquire?

I’m curious how we will be able to RP our characters. Will it be possible to type out what our characters are doing and saying, and then have the text appear above our characters in-game? Will our characters be able to perform emotes?

I understand the necessity of chat screens. However, I feel that is best used for OOC type chat, otherwise it’s too easy to get lost in all the text. I’m hoping that we will have a mechanism similar to my question above, that is also range related. Therefore if I’m too far away my character couldn’t ‘hear’ (as in I won’t see it on screen) what is being said, and I wouldn’t be deluged by what the whole server is discussing.

If I want to spy on someone in-game then my character will need to be close enough (and sneaky enough) to do so.

I'm not sure if it has been covered elsewhere. Is there going to be a link between starting ability scores and archtypes?

I'm hopeful that the answer is going to be no. And that when we create a character we will be able to assign 'points' to our ability scores for our characters. Rather than having the ability scores automatically assigned.

I'm assuming that we will decide how our ability scores are assigned. Otherwise everyone who plays an Elven Wizard would all have exactly the same ability scores.

By my own admission I'm pretty new to MMO's, having only played in SWTOR and various NWN PW's. I'm curious how many servers PFO is going to have?

In the example of SWTOR there are a variety of servers which have identical content, that players can choose to log into. However, since PRO is going to be such a dynamic MMO, which will change based on the actions of the players and guilds. Is PFO going to go down the multiply server route? or only have a single server that all will play on?

If there are multiply servers then each PFO server will be very different due to player created settlements and actions. Either option would be cool, as it could be fun to log onto a different server to see how it has evolved due to the actions of players.

I would love to play an Elvin wizard specialized in the creation of portals and protective magic’s for buildings/communities (aka Mythals).

Is it going to be possible to learn the right combination of skills/spells to enable the creation of portals and items similar to Mythals from Forgotten Realms?

I think it would be fun to specialize in such skills and a great possible money earner. Especially from charging for the use of portals.

Mythals would be an interesting type of protective device which would act very differently from magical traps that could be used to protect a building. A Mythal could be used to bar teleportation magic, trigger an alarm when particular types of creatures (or those without a special token) enter the area of effect. Bolster the morale of the defenders or any other number of effects.

I’m very excited about the possibility of Pathfinder Online, despite never having played Pathfinder itself. Naturally I’d like to share my enthusiasm with my friends by getting them onto the blog so they can see for themselves what an awesome concept PFO is. However, they’ve been put off by the massive amount of reading material on the blog and the reverse order it is displayed in.

Now that there is a kickstarter page up, others will be flocking to the Goblinworks blog and no doubt be confronted with the same issue. Is it possible to have links at the top of the blog page (with the individual blog headings) which links to the individual blog entries so new comers can read the blog in order, and have the ability to brows topics of interest to them.

Anyway just my thoughts On how to get new people up to speed quicker.

Raven