Solemor Far'men's page

We'd like to officially welcome both V'rel and Obakararuir to the Company!

You can have my guaranteed assurance that the Caeruxi will be fully capable of shielding themselves with both our knowledge and physical prowess. We are a haven for all types of knowledge including military knowledge. I fully intend for the Caeruxi to be a capable defensive force. This also allows us quite the diversity in membership.

Trust me, coming from BoB in EvE I saw truly that low-level players can be just as effective as Titans if used right. Of course the lower your level the harder it will be to kill someone but that is just something that a person has to deal with. If you want to be better play the game more.

We'd like to officially welcome Misere Black into our company!

I am vehemently opposed to consumables that can be bought that alter any in-game stats. They mess up PvP/PvE and give an unfair advantage. Anything that can nerf a character within the game does not belong (when it is bought in a store). Now of you go see a crafter who makes these tyes of consumables and buy it from the crafter I'm fine with that.

I would be greatly disappointed if I saw this happen.

Andius, these are some great ideas, thank you for posting them up here so we can discuss them. First off, I really like the effects theses skills create. It really will make for another interesting element to the "end game" component. So far my favorite one has been "Gather Information". It would really make a spy or enemy think twice about where they step foot in town or around PF. It would force people who are being tracked to keep to the wilderness (which perhaps would then be qualified for some ranger skill to track/ant-track). I think this would also force people to be watchful of what routes they takes. Otherwise, I have liked all your suggestions so far, except for one.

It is true that an effective spy will always try to attack the weakest link of the alliance, guild, or corperation. Once they have been assimilated into the guild for awhile, people tend to loose their barriers allowing the spy to easily rise up the ranks if he produces enough. However, I warn you about involving money with disquises and background checks. That really plays an advantage to the rich/bigger guilds in the game. I would much prefer a skill-based/bounty hunter mechanic to detecting a spy. I would also like it to be easier to disquise yourself and harder to detect a spy. If you nerf the spy too much then people will simplely turn to an alternative and simpler/cleaner method of spying (creating another account).

This being said, if a spy is caught (which takes skill, time, and maybe even a little money) they would suffer a serious debuff in PvP right after being revealed, all information about them would be revealed (associations, other false identities, and ect.), and they would lose their reputation as a good spy. Other intiatives could be taken but I think that should suffice.

You know, I just realized something. The Caeruxi organization is officially ONE MONTH old!!!

Looking forward to seeing you (hopefully) in the forums, Entropyrat!

Although you may have not liked EvE, I played it for many years. I found many friends in an alliance that I stayed with for a long time. EvE provided me the opportunity to fight against plenty of people and risk myself all the time. I valiantly fought against the Goonswarm and have had an impact on the history of that game. Their is plenty of risk involved in EvE if you know where to look for it and plenty of reward for that risk too. Mining, fleet battle and tactics, or 0.3 and below provided me tons of thrill.

I found the missions to be quite fun, mining was fun, and so was travelling. Yes you had to factor in risk into some of those but from the second I started playing I was very much enticed. Perhaps you could tell us *what* did not entice, *how* the missions were boring, and *why* mining was once again boring to you. I never had any issues with the UI or the controls and seldomly have I heard any complaints about them. I have never heard anyone say EvE combat is "boring". Sure if you stuck to yourself it might have been boring but it is an MMO... community. The PvP in that game was fantastic and the combat was really fun.

Taking out a Titan or any capital ship for that matter gave me a swell of pride in my chest. Taking charge of a group of 100+ players was fun and so was guiding a battle of over 750+ ships. I found the combat to be very fun and unique to itself.

Now, while I don't want PFO to be a fantasy version of EvE copied and pasted, I would love to see what EvE succeeded on to be implemented into this game. One of the reasons, I have faith in this game is because of the Devs behind it and their experience in the MMO industry. Hopefully they can take what they have learned and make this game the next greatest sandbox.

Death actually had been covered and since death is a major part of PvP. I'd count that as at least a little PvP blog. Technically, no part of the game has been fully covered. Even the crafting blog was more about the general workings not the finute details of it. I'd rather them take their time and develope some badass PvP that can really effeect even the world of PFO (Like how EvE was effected by the first and second Great War). Still I agree with you I'd like to hear more about some of the mechanics behind it but by no means do I want to put any pressure on it.

What I am curious about is more concerning how Siege, troop movements, calvary (will their be fighting off of calvary, and grand scale PvP will work. As a veteran of the EvE Great Wars I look forward to engaging in something similar. I also will be fairly interested to see how the transportation of goods will effect PvP. It should be very fascinating to see the cordination between crafters and fighters. I am a strong believer in working out the general mechanics and building the smaller things around that. I also am highly interested in how archery will be handled. So many games have made archery just boring and petty when it comes to PvP. I hope that an archer really has a place within the PFO PvP community.

We are indeed heavily influenced by Sivanah, however, we allow all types of worship (or not worship) as long as your goals are similar to that of the guild. My character, for example, worships Irori and not Sivanah.

As can I! :)

Anyhow, we are happy to annouce the beginning of Diplomatic Relations between the Caeruxi and The Great Legionnaires! Hear, Hear to a long friendship!

Awesome! Just awesomeness!!! I really can't complain about anything in the system. Although I do think there was a hint somewhere in the blog about wagon raiding? You guys are doing an awesome job at listening and making! Keep up with the good work!

Haha! Making a video game is like having a kid. It definitely makes you anxious.

Haha, I bet! So does this mean that all devs have a favorite "child" (game) or do they try to mantain fairness OR do you favor the one your "working" on? ;) -nudge, nudge, wink, wink-

Still looking forward to being in the game and hopefully seeing you there too!

Andius, it's a pleasure to meet you! I'm looking forward to getting to know you and working with each other!

~ Solemor Far'men, Founding Member of the Caeruxi

I want a wagon! Seriously! I also want the ability to make them, I can already see my, "Dealin Doug's Wagon Dealership"! The ability to make a camp with a tent would be awesome... but who the heck needs a tent when I can bring my...

FOUR Wheel-Drive
All-Road*
Eight-Horse Power**
Pop-up Canvas
Low Gas Mileage
Wood-Frame
Five Star Bandit Raid Testing***
Off-the-Line Security System****
Costum Voice Activated Start-up*****
Life-Time Warranty******
Wagon!

* All-Road is subject to opinion by the company and should not be confused with All-Terrain
** Should not be confused with Eight individual Horses. Only two horses with four legs each are included
*** Bandit Raid was tested with ultra-quality LvL 1 Raiders for the most accurate test results
**** Security System includes one sword and one blow-up Fake Guard, for full warranty one must take off wheels for complete Security System warranty compensation
***** Horses are provided but training of Horses is not included. One must customize their horses sound system to augment the Voice Activated Start-Up.
****** Life-Time Warrantly only covers the "Life" of the Wagon not People. If the Wagon is destroyed in any way, shape or form this policy is considered mute due to .the "death" of the wagon

BUY NOW!
Built with Soul by only the best in the Industry=
Solemor... We build with more Soul!

Hey Tony? Is sliced bread on the menu? Because I really like my bread nice and sliced up if you know what I mean.

I'm PST but we will definitely have an internation presence.

Very, very sneaky. I would have never noticed it ;)

How about a twist in the plot? I have no favorite color!!!1 BAM! I am so evil...

~ Solemor Far'men, Founding Member of the Caeruxi

Don't worry Decius, I'll be right there with you... maybe perhaps a little behind you in case we get attacked haha.

~ Solemor Far'men, Founding Member of the Caeruxi

Haha, awesome business and commercials!

Very good job on the math BlackUhuru! It still boggles my mind! As to the blog, I was very happy with it and I can post no complaints.

1. Please don't require unique first names. Nihimon is an utterly original name, and I've never seen anyone else use it for anything, and if they do I have no doubt whatsoever that they stole it from me. However, Khimber is apparently from some book I never read, so I occasionally see it used by others. I work within 20 feet of 3 people named Mike. The universe doesn't shatter when I try to message one of them. Please break the cycle and get away from the silliness of requiring unique first names in PFO.

2. Please allow me to use a few non-alpha characters in my name, such as hyphens and apostrophes. Nihimon's name is "Nihimon Vhane'Sylvan". If I can't name him that in PFO, I will be disappointed.

3. Please allow us to assign nicknames to players we meet, so that I can "/tell nik" as a short-hand of saying "/tell Niklaus SomeLongLastName".

4. Please allow us to re-sort the characters in our group. I assume (and sincerely hope) you'll be using the standard F1, F2, F3, etc. for targeting group members. I'd really like to be able to drag different party members around in the party...

I fully support this list of requests aside from number 7 :D Also I think the fact that this game will have a single server element is fantastic! I also love the fact that if you want to have more alts that you will have to pay for more alts (or along those lines... more of alt xp). This really will help the overall feel of gameplay within the game.

I would have to agree with Nihimon on this one, it would become a easily avoidable mechanic that was implemented. I think finding a hideout should be a long, complex venture that involves multiple skills and basic knowledge of where it is located. It should be a team effort not based on a single-person. As for sieging, I still need more information on the game before I make any presumptions on it.

Haha that is good! As for me BlackUhuru I am just happy to be alive! Anyhow thanks for the warm welcome everyone. Once again feel free to drop by our forums anytime and say, "Hi!"

~ Solemor Far'men, Founding Member of the Caeruxi

My experience is that while this sounds interesting, in practice it will not be acceptable to a wide range of organizations. Guilds want commitment from their members. They want them to focus on the Guild to the exclusion of other activities. Many guilds do not even permit their members to have alt characters.

I have to say that I agree with Ryan on this one. Most of the time multi-guilding in the MMOs that I have played has been severely frowned upon. If it is a feature that will be frowned upon by the majority then I would them focus their efforts elsewhere. Especially in Pathfinder Online were you settlement is your home, I just cannot see it logistically working out. Now that said, a system of guild points would be very nice!

Hello all! I apologize that I am late to the party! I too am a founding member of the Caeruxi and I'd like to extend my welcome to all newcoming or potentially newcoming members! Unfortunately, I recently was in a car accident that took me out for two weeks but alas I am back in action! I encourage all potential new members to check out our site and feel free to talk (PM) to any of our members about your interest in the guild! Happy adventuring!

Once again thanks for your time!

~Solemor Farmen, Founding Member of the Caeruxi

We had a fight...err, discussion about this very thing here. I agree, I am all for forced anonymity. I would actually have the players fill in the information on each other as they wish and as the know.

So, information about other players would only show on the UI if you have stored information about that player (might just be "jackhole" for the name).

It would facilitate people actually socializing.

There was however, very stiff resistance to this idea (as can be seen in the linked thread).

Haha,loved reading your "discussion", seems more like there was stiff resistance coming from one person in particular (I won't include the name, but joking aside their was indeed some resistance). Thank you for pointing that thread out. Unfortunately, it seems the devs are hesitant about implementing a system, but perhaps through some brainstorming we can come up with some ideas concerning how to get around the potholes of that system.

I agree that forced anonymity would be a very nice feature to include within the game and also would add alot of interesting dynamics. I really like your system of having the player fill in information about each of the other players. If we perhaps gave an option for the player to reveal his name to certain people or such we could really come up with an interesting system.

@Solemor

Absolutely UO was not perfect but the idea of players controlling there own destiny was spot on, we just need the tools to play with.

Exactly! With the proper tools and other activites to entertain people with you get far less griefing. I loved being part of a "watchmen" like guild and hunting for reds. It was a fun experience.

Absolutely, I agree. The auras and symbols/icons I was talking about were for friends and characters that you actually recognized because they weren't in disguise, etc.

Ah, okay I gotcha. Then yes, I absolutely think that would be a great idea. Perhaps if you were in a guild, any person in that guild would have such symbol, icon, or abbreviation next to them. Their could definitely be levels, if they are on your friend's list then that you can choose whether to see their floating name, or the if they are on the level below your list like a "persons" list then there name shows up or something. You could also just utilize the icons but that might get tough and a little clunky. Perhaps they wouldn't float above a person but you could click on them to see there information

I would love to see no floating names. I don't remember which thread, but I've suggested the game should be able to use fairly subtle auras or icons to give you general information about the character in-game, and let you inspect them to see more details. Part of the reason is I really think you should be able to pose as an NPC, and not have the game put a big flashing sign on you saying "Not an NPC!".

Absolutely, that might work to give some information about the player. Personally I would like to see no information given out about the player, allowing the player to choose what information he gives and doesn't give. This would put an interesting aspect on my parts of the game.

I agree that one should be able to choose whichever system, but overall it really doesn't matter to me. It certainly won't ruin the game for me. If I had to choose between the two system, I would choose metric though.

I for one would love for darkness and vision modes to be meaningfully implemented. I simply think that the practical limits to that are insurmountable- if nothing else, the video card drivers can be altered. I refuse to support a feature that would result in literally undetectable cheating which provided such a large benefit to the cheaters at the expense of legitimate players.

Haha this is truly the undead thread, which is great! Just because the game is going in one direction doesn't mean people can't voice their opinion about that direction or the direction they think it should be going in. I believe that threads like this are instrumental for developers. Often a feature that they don't think is important can surprisingly be important to their fanbase and they didn't have a clue. They are reading are ideas right now and probably discussing them. Now to the idea discussing part:

Although I would love darkness to be meaningful, I can understand if that would not happen. I would love to take a torch into a dungeon but realistically the light rendering on that might be tough on a graphics engine and people might just cheat out of it (I don't pretend to be a graphics expert so I could be wrong, neither do I think you should remove a feature just because someone might cheat out of it.) I would love to see a stat raise during the night even if it has nothing to do with visual or perhaps a stat decrease to something like archery. Adding meaningful darkness (along with a weather system, moon calendar,and [dare I say] season system?) however does add alot of immersion and "persistence" (Yes, I just used Ryan's favorite word :)haha.) to the game. It adds roleplays elements and opportunities and since one tries to appeal to the majority population it would add a unique system for the majority of people who don't cheat in a game. Let's be honest, their are a lot of hackers within games, we tend to notice them more because they stick out and annoy. But cheaters and hackers are still a minority not the majority.

For me, the purpose of a day/night cycle is more for atmosphere, immersion, and persistence. If there would not be a day/night and weather system in PO I would be GREATLY disappointed. I play sandbox games because of the immersion, if I am stuck in a static daylight then I will be severely disappointed because that completely ruins the immersion in my opinion.

Let the players settle griefing/PK's. Why do we need so many systems in place to handle player killers if you can control them yourself?

Sandbox games are design for the players to create the content! Not some npc that runs around chasing after people, let the players chase after each other.

Long story short-

Let the devs create the tools and let the players handle the PK's/Reds !!

Haha the good old times. Yes, UO did an excellent job with their system, it had some faults but for the most part it did the job. Still I think it can be improved, through bounty hunting mechanics and other features. I always got a little annoyed because as a blue character, I felt it was way to easy to lose your status then to gain it. But that was just my opinion.

Personally I would like to see no floating names above a player character; unless they have decided to introduce themselves to you which would be somewhat less then a friend's list maybe just a "known acquaintances" list. You could still be able to disquise your name and such unless you are on someone's "friends" list. This could create some very interesting aspects for the bounty hunter/rogue system. Perhaps a person could even take up an alter ego if they really wanted to. Imagine if you were a bounty hunter, who knew the general location of the target (thanks to the in-game system that would do that, if there is one) but you don't know the specific person or the name of the person. All you are given is a description (from the person who issued the bounty[unless he knows the criminals name by chance]) and a general location of that criminal... but alas I deviate.

Anyhow the name system could be a very unique feature that could work with some careful brainstorming. Perhaps this would even prevent griefing in the wilderness. If you don't know the name of the person, general level, and how tough they will be to fight it would be very discouraging to griefers. But it would also making the world feel realistic and very immersive, giving it the appearance that there are more players then there really are (due to the NPCs looking similar to characters).

As to the music/chat system, I would prefer it to be music of the time period but if people really want that freedom to play their music then go for it. As long as I can mute you or perhaps filter the music that I don't like out then I'm fine. A voice chat system in-game is important though. I also think that this game will be a one-server game. Fortunately, I think this MMO appeals to a more RP-orientated crowd.

Also in the Sandbox Ecosystem graphic the 'People Who Make' have transport listed under them. Does this mean player based fast/ auto travel will be available?

I saw this too. I would definitely like that statement to be clarified. I am very excited about everything else in this post. Hopefully sometype of transport system for goods will be implemented. I am a little worried about the "module" system and instancing but I will brainstorm a little before I speak to much about it.

If. They include something beyond vehicles then,

Make teleport anchor rings, one can stand on a ring and cast teleport to teleport to a different ring. Make it expensive to craft these rings and you have to cast a spell consuming energy to use it or buy a teleport scroll if a noncaster.

Like you said, if, they have to include something like teleportthen I am at debate at whether money should play a factor in the teleportation method. If they include a teleport system for any reason at all (which I still am completely against) then it would most likely be in place for the more soft-core people who want to use it to speed up their time between fun and travel. That is the target group that the devs would be aiming for if they implemented this system. So I hesitate to put money as a requirement for teleportation. I would rather see a very heavy timer on the teleport and maybe a quest or something to be able to learn how to teleport.

why treat fast travel special at all? just say soneone builds a coach or a bat then drives it. it is faster but nothing automatic about it.

I agree with you but lately the devs have been hinting at fast travel being foreseen in the game as of now. What they mean by that could be broadly interpreted, so yes we are making some assumptions. Now instead of trying to complain or moan about (not that I'm insinuating anyone has done that) we are trying to brainstorm ideas of what the devs could do to apply fast travel into PFO or why we think they shouldn't include it.

Anyhow, like I said before, I agree that it should be faster and preferably not automatic but I could understand if the Devs decided to include that automatic part of it.

As I see it the best compromise here is to give serious advantages to those who uses roads and mounts. If you travel in a caravan you go slower but perhaps you can log off and sacrifice speed for safety. I also believe characters should be able to choose "follow road" or board a barge/carriage/ or horse (with another person driving) and be able to go afk. Alongside this you could include a "home teleport" which would teleport you back home and could be used once a day or every other day. Although I'd prefer no teleportation, I realize compromises must be made. Teleportation should severely limit the amount of inventory your allowed to bring

Perhaps a player could pay a PC caravan to lug their goods to a particular destination for a price and their luggage would come a little slower. This luggage could be raidable but incentives would be given to the caravan leaders to protect it. It could even just be an individual Pony Express-style. A player could even utilize this even if they weren't going to fast travel if persay they just wanted to ship something for trade that a character had customed ordered or something. Once the luggage arrives on sight it could either go to the person's house/storage place/ or bank and wait there safely until they retrieve it. This system would allow players to quickly "Do business and have fun", not undermine the economy, and present a certain economic side of things. Perhaps caravan companies or individuals could insure the products they transport and such.

This system allows players to get business done quickly but also keeps the effects of the PvP system in place. Everyone wins and a vibrant part of an economy is created. Will caravan leaders or "Pony Express Riders" choose to deliver fast and risk ambush but get rewarded for speed on the road or is it more beneficial to make the slow trek through the wilderness and take the safer route? Perhaps it would be better to hire out guards or spend more manpower but also get the speed on the roads. Just like there will be bounty hunter guilds, I fully expect there would be "Caravan guilds" (i.e. Ice Road Truckers haha)

what if teleport allow only 25 lbs of material ?

ok, you can fast travel (just pay). You arrived here naked. your baggage will come with a normal wagon.

AND, if someone put a siege on a city, the fast travel for and from this city will be prevented

All of these could work as viable options, I especially like the one about sieging cities. When fast-travel starts to get in the way of Player-Versus-Player tactics that is when it gets annoying. When I plan a siege I want some confidence that my enemy can't teleport twenty people to aid them with the snap of a /tell. Perhaps if I'm ambushing an enemy legion, I want to be confident that they will not have reinforcements enroute in 5 minutes (unless I know they have a garrison or town 5 minutes away.) Perhaps Mages could put down a spell of anti-teleportation or something.

This is an article, I ripped off of Massively.Joystiq.com by Jeff Reahard. SWG had a beautiful set of tools for RPers and storytellers. It gave you so many options and truly allowed for you to GM an RP. I have seen people do wonders with this toolset; a truly beautiful system from a beautiful game. This article details and demonstrates the features of the system in a quick nutshell. I edited the article a little bit to make it forum-worthy.

Personally aside from this system, I would love to never again see a name floating above a player/non-player character who I have never known or been introduced too. It bugs the hell out of me, of course I understand that it might be a little extreme so if they could implement a system like (but in a pathfinder setting) I would be more then happy...

"Funnily enough, MMO story isn't a new concept. Dedicated MMO storytelling tools are quite rare, though, and the means to build story-related set pieces are rarer still.

Star Wars Galaxies - Storyteller

The Story Teller System:

The Storyteller system is basically a set of GM tools, much like those formerly used by SWG's live events team. You can spawn many of the static objects you see in the game, including all manner of vessels and vehicles, decorations, dwellings, and even NPCs. These NPCs can be given movement commands, they can be assigned levels and made attackable for players in your story group, and you can even give them items for your players to loot.

Storyteller boasts a huge number of options when it comes to props as well as persistent and one-time environmental effects, and players are limited solely by their imaginations when it comes to building unique sets and event staging areas.

All it takes is a little time, a quick read-through of the in-game help interface, and a few hundred thousand credits to create (or recreate) your favorite Star Wars-flavored scenes. If you're new to SWG and worried about the fact that I just said "a few hundred thousand credits" like it's nothing, don't sweat it.

You don't have to spend tons of money on Storyteller. Creative players can get a lot of mileage out of a couple of well-placed R2 units or an aerial dogfighting effect (both of which are available for cheap), and saving up enough coin to pimp out your dream set is a worthwhile newbie goal for those of you just getting into the game and looking for something to do apart from progression.

One caveat to keep in mind is that your grand designs will eventually disappear from the live game world (props and NPCs usually last up to 16 hours depending on where they're placed). Thankfully the blueprint feature allows you to save elaborate setups and re-deploy them on a moment's notice.

Yeah, the system really is that cool, and no, I don't have the foggiest idea why no one else in the MMO industry can code something like this.

A Man, A Fan, and A Plan

Anyway, a good story starts with a plan, and the plan for this article is to create a ragtag squadron headquarters facility. Being the good Rebel Alliance sympathizer that I am, it seems prudent to put my rogue squadron HQ in an out-of-the-way section of an out-of-the-way planet, and I've chosen an ideal spot on the backwater world of Dantooine (south by southwest from the Agro Outpost, if you're curious).

First, though, I need to visit an event promoter NPC. These guys are spread around the galaxy, usually in the back rooms of the hotels that dot all the major cities.

I traveled to the city of Moenia on Naboo to find one, but you can go to any major city you like and there will probably be an event NPC in the local hotel. From the Moenia starport, I headed southwest and found the right building, then clicked on the event promoter and settled down for a bit of menu-diving.

When it comes to figuring out the Storyteller system, patience is the order of the day. The options are broken down into seven major categories and it will take some time to see what all is on offer.

All of your purchased props, NPCs, and effects will show up as tokens in your inventory after you've handed over the requisite payment, so be sure you clear some bag space before heading to the event promoter.

It's also worth noting that you can pick up a Storyteller vendor token from the event promoter (under the Flavor NPC sub-menu), and this token is basically a mobile form of the event promoter NPC itself. I highly recommend grabbing two or three of these prior to leaving the event promoter's hotel (the tokens will set you back 19,000 credits each). You can deploy your Storyteller vendor token in the same location you're deploying your props, and it will save you a lot of travel time in case you don't know exactly which of the hundreds of items you'll need.

Speaking of deployment, once you've selected some interesting props and your vendor token(s) you'll need to select your virtual set. Storyteller props can be placed basically anywhere in the wilderness provided there's no mob lair spawns or points of interest (POIs) nearby. Props may also be placed in player cities assuming you're either the mayor or a citizen with build permissions.

Building a Set
So, it's back to Dantooine I go, and out to my remote wilderness location where I'll construct my starship base. First I had to do a bit of housekeeping since you can't walk 30 paces on Dantooine without coming across a quenker lair. Once I finished raining fiery hot Smuggler-powered death down on the local wildlife, I decided to start my base with a landing pad attached to one of my pre-existing houses. I threw down a couple of stage props (2,500 credits each) to make the base of my landing pad. I also forgot that props are initially placed relative to whatever direction your character is facing, so I had to make use of the Storyteller command line tools to move the first one into position.

Typing /storyteller in the game will bring up the system's help dialogue, and you'll find plenty of info on /storyObjectMove and /storyObjectRotate, both of which will become your friends in short order -- and yes you can make macros. Also be aware that you can hit the enter key followed by the up arrow to repeat your last text entry, and this will save you a ton of time when fine-tuning prop placement since you can control rotation through a full 360 degrees.

After I finished with my stage/landing pad, I threw down a couple of Incom T-65s (those are X-wings for you Star Wars newbs), a pair of generators and supply pallets, and even an astromech ready and waiting to be popped into the droid socket behind the starfighter cockpits.

Something was missing though, and after a few moments of head-scratching, I figured that it might be nice for my theoretical grease-monkeys to have a couple of industrial-strength work lamps, the better to light their way while they wrench on my starfighters all through the night.

Moving on, I placed a couple of Corellian freighters in the trench in front of my house, as well as a couple of shuttlecraft, a few swoop bikes, and a gaggle of NPCs milling around them. These included 24 Rebel troopers, six Rebel commandos and two officers, and six Wookiee commandos. Oh yeah, I also plopped down a couple of Rebel pilots (complete with those eye-catching orange flight suits) for the aforementioned X-wings.

Messing around with the placement commands is half of the fun here, and I spent a good while arranging things just so and generally having a ball by experimenting with stacked objects and figuring out the limits of the system. After I had it right, I purchased a blueprint token from the Storyteller vendor and saved the entire layout with the click of a button. When my props disappear over the next 12 hours, it'll be a simple matter of deploying another vendor, examining the saved blueprint as a sort of shopping list, and re-purchasing the tokens needed to re-deploy the scene. Once I've bought everything required, voila: Instant starbase!

The Final Tally
At the end of the day, I spent close to 500,000 in-game credits -- which is a paltry sum for anyone who has played SWG for more than a week -- and had hours of fun putting the thing together. Also, I didn't even touch on holoshroud costumes (basically one-hour buffs that allow you to look like any number of famous Star Wars creatures or characters), nor did I delve into setting up swoop races, using the jukebox feature, firing off environmental effects, or making NPCs and props attackable by players in a story group. In short, Storyteller is designed to keep creative types entertained for quite a while.

So that's SWG's Storyteller system in a nutshell..."

As I see it there should be no fast travel what-so-ever. It hurts many facets of gameplay. But that is just my opinion and alot of times we have to compromise. In the event we compromise (which I severely hope we don't) perhaps fast travel would be restricted to one city of the characters choosing (providing that the city grants him permission to teleport there) along with a VERY long cool-down timer (once per day, money should have no effect on how much one can teleport but on whether they have enough money TO teleport). Another option would be to allow the player to teleport back to there 1 house/temple of choosing. Finally (but my least favorite) perhaps teleportation between the three NPC cities would be agreeable. Finally, characters that teleport should only be allowed to teleport with what they are equipped with and perhaps a very limited amount of inventory. Also a debuff (i.e. teleportation sickness) should be added for 30 minutes or so.

But overall, I believe NO FAST-TRAVEL is better for the game, Zidash has ideas that would help make this easier which are much better for the game then just taking the simple route and adding fast-travel.

Did I forget to mention that if you're a murderer you can't fast travel while in a security zone? And the Marshals always know where you are? And they may be on flying mounts? Or maybe they're Phantasmal Killers. Or worse. Oops - my bad. :)

I have a query concerning this, by saying, "that if you're a murderer you can't fast travel..." are you confirming that fast travel, as of now, is forseen to be included into this game? If so, what will we expect to see from the fast travel system? Will it completely ruin the immersion of having a large and persistent world and discourage exploration? Why would someone venture out with their "goods" if they can just fast travel? It seems to me that depending on the system, fast travel could very well ruin the whole looting, economy, and death system in the game.

Although I could be jumping to conclusion and anything is still up for change at this point. From what I have seen (in other MMOs, which I know PFO isn't like other MMOs) fast travel generally ruins quite alot of things within the game. On the other hand you could just have been being sarcastic and my over analytical (spelling?) mind is just being an idiot right now :)

Transparency at work. Would you rather we strung you along with half-promises the hinted at the opposite only to reveal at the last minute what the actual plan is?

Just for the record, I don't think you're insane (unless you're actively involved in developing a themepark fantasy MMO with "compete with World of Warcraft" as your business plan).

RyanD

It's good to see that there is a company that understands how profitable a niche market can be and also doesn't carebear their gamers into believing there game is something else. I prefer frankness and integrity more then anything else in a business model. As Kit put it, I too am impressed with how the company has been handling PR, compromises, and boldness. You all are doing a fine job and I hope our feedback and imput is helping! I also appreciate the direction the game is going and trust that Goblinworks (in collaboration with Paizo) will make this game shine!

Anyhow back to the topic of the thread. I'm glad for the clarification on the soul-binding part of the whole system, I am much more comfortable knowing that you can only be soulbound once. As with everything, brainstorming and time will come up with answers and ideas for that system. But as of now ( being we are early on) I think we know enough to suffice. Needless to say, I am very interested in how this will work out in the future and how (possibly) skillpoints will work into all of this. Also, another interesting subject is what one can be soulbound onto, perhaps a temple, landmark, or even stranger... a person (no idea how that work, nor am I supporting it)? Haha, now I feel like I should talk about Horcruxes, Harry Potter, and Voldemort.

Now my only concern for the partial looting system is that if I were to kill someone because I wanted something they had really, really badly (persay a powerful artifact, the deed to start a city, a very very rare ore that is required to start building a castle, or heck I just want to get my good ole 2 year old trusty sword back that is precious to me) that by killing them I could potentially lose that one thing that I wanted and have been hunting for. This seems counterproductive to me. If a guild loses something valueable to another guild, the first thing they are going to do is stage a counter-attack/ambush to regain the valueable "thing". What is the point of doing this (other then revenge and glory), if there is a high likely-hood that the guild would not be able to recover that precious artifact (ect).

Now I could very well just be missing a point or idea here, if so, could someone enlighten me?

I do hope they take encumbrance into consideration...even with mounts. This would make some mounts better than others. There could be slow strong ones and faster ones that are lighter and more nimble but cannot carry the same weight. These differences could even be different types/breeds/lineages of horses...(if more fantasy mounts are not implemented).

As for the carrying your mount question...my opinion is not popular, but I think that, except when stabled, all mounts should stay spawned and when not mounted, behave like an NPC animal/beast (albeit trained). Want to switch places and let your mount be on top...well that is between you and your mount.

Although I would like to see encumbrance taken into consideration, I believe this might be a more complicated system to implement then what it's actually worth to the general population. But there could be sooo much potential if a system of encumbrance was created, it would allow caravans to transport larger amounts of goods (this is assuming there is no fast-travel) and these caravans would have to hire guards to protect them. This would present interesting opportunities for guilds and merchants alike. It would be very cool to have a "guard" guild that could simply be contracted out to protect a caravan if a merchant could not supply the resources to protect himself.

Kit, as for your opinion on the "carrying your mount question..." I am in complete agreement with you on that. The ability to carry 5 mounts in a character's pocket is just ridiculous, silly, and potentially very impractical for the "mount-making-business". Perhaps a compromise of a dulled down version of either yours or my system would be acceptable though.

Good job Ryan and crew with this system! I believe it is a fair compromise for us hardcore people and perhaps the more softcore people. There is of course going to be people on both sides that want the extremes (i.e. no penalties for death or perma-death)but for the most part this system has alot of potential. There will definitely be people who find ways to exploit the system but hopefully the community can help sort this out. From what I've been reading on the blog and posts around the forums; it seems that this system will support a slower form of travel (this helps the economy too, although I could be wrong about my assumption) which is vital to keeping this system worthwhile. Afterall what's the point of the risk if a player in danger coud just port out to the nearest city?

Now my only concern is that of "soulbinding". How difficult will it be to soul-bind to a city, what is this process and how long will it take? Can your soul only go to the nearest soulbound city? How many cities would we be allowed to soul-bind onto? This system could be exploited severely, as a way of fast teleportation, not that the kinks in the system couldn't be worked out. I just see this as a potentially problematic feature especially concerning PvP. But overall, nice job with the proposed system!

Once the decision is made to want to tie resource values together, the economy fails.

The developers don't just manage supply, they also manage demand- How much does it cost to make each item, and how useful is that item?

Not having competitors producing iron ore lets you set prices; if no players are competing with you, why should NPCs start to compete with you? The price of iron ore (and steel armor) goes up, and leather armor becomes more popular. If you keep hoarding all the ore, eventually a bunch of people in dragonhide armor will take all your ore and trade half of it for all of the other resources required to make steel goods (coal and wood, I guess...) so that they have half the supply of steel polearms in the world.

I'd like to see precious metal coinage have weight and be just as hard to transport and easy to capture as steel bars. I bet that a player organization will jump in and become the bankers, issuing letters of credit or other tokens which are used in regular trade. Anyone who becomes hostile to the bankers gets wiped out by the bank's customers; if the bank loses neutrality, then it goes out of business when everybody withdraws all of their funds at once. (If it can't repay the deposits, it gets folded by the angry creditors. Pathfinder doesn't have bailouts.)

Agreed, this would really diversify the economy and provides opportunities to small bandits groups and such if they want to go against the "system". I completely agree with your statement concerning the economy of the game too.

/thumbs up

I am really starting to like the idea of character persistence...in whatever form. This may just be your character sets up a camp and "sleeps" where you log out. Tracking skill? Works just fine. Kill him in his sleep with full/partial loot and he rezes at a temple in his own territory upon waking...naked.

How about we implementing a system where your character persists in the world for a certain amount of time when you log out depending on *where* you log out? For example, if a character logs out within his property or house. His character will remain inactive for 15 minutes. However if you venture out into the wilderness and log out randomly in neutrual or wild territory your character will remain inactive for an hour. If perhaps you happen to plan ahead and bring a temporary camp with you that was made by a ranger archetype and you set it up in the wilderness (which takes 5 minutes or so) when you log off within that camp your character will remain inactive for 20 minutes and such.

My concept was "It will take 30 months to do everything that a rogue archetype can gain abilities from doing."

As to the stable: You keep a wyvern in an aerie, in the cliffside, a hippogriff in the same tower a griffin needs, and a pegasus in a pasture.

Of course you need to feed it, but that is as simple (and as complicated) as having the appropriate food delivered and paying the wages of the staff maintaining your holdings.

Has anyone discussed the concepts of how one "carries" a mount? I mean in most games your mount/ship/ect. just teleports to you or pops out of thin air and is stored in your inventory. This system has some benefits and some downsides. Personally I'd like a more realistic system but it is not a necessity. Perhaps if the game supports more of slow-travel system, one would arrive at said village on their mount and go to the town's stables. They then would have to pay some type of fee to "store" their mount at the stables. For Network issues the mount would just disappear (somewhat like a bank)and when the player is ready to leave said-town, you pay your mount's accumulative fee for staying however long at the stables and your mount pops up right next to you and off you go to the next town. Perhaps an expanded version of this system would allow players to keep their mounts on their player-owned property providing they have the right property to do so or even make profit in this business provided you have the right class/property. Otherwise your mount would follow you around and risk being killed/stolen (this seems extreme/ lost/hurt/ect and not allowed within buildings (in which case if you entered a building it would teleport [or travel] back to your hometown's/home's stable).

A day night cycle would be epic and a night time that limited vision would be immersive but perhaps not conductive to any kind of gameplay ideas.

Sorry to revive a three-week old topic but I felt like I needed to add my two cents to the debate here.

I would have to agree with Chambers167's statement here. As much as I would love to see true darkness within the mmo industry I understand the numerous problems that it presents and that sometimes an MMO has to prioritize. But perhaps a compromise of some sort could be reached regarding this subject. As the Dev stated there are plenty of ways for a player to get around that "true" darkness if they want too. I think everyone can agree on that. So we would have to think of a system that gives players a reason not to get around the system. If a feature would be added, the devs are looking for it to appease and be made use of by a large number of players; and not annoy those who would rather go without it (I think?). In which case, if we can absolutely not garner enough support for that "true darkness" where it blocks your visibility and requires a torch (or another source of light)then perhaps we can compromise for a dulled down Day and Night cycle.

This has been done in countless other games; including but not limited too Star Wars Galaxies, Aion,and the upcoming Archeage all have shown day and night cycles. Archeage has displayed a cycle within it's CTBs. In this "dulled down" version, you would have perhaps a slightly smaller factor of visibility and a darkening (along with a change to darker colors) in the landscape and sky. Also the sky and stars would have to reflect that it is night-time. You would not have that true darkness that I and many others would like but we can atleast keep a day/night cycle for the sake of immersion, RP, and perhaps a slight advantage in PvP (to the side that uses it). I still recall one of the most glorious RP moments I've ever had was when the suns were setting over the Tatooine landscape and the guild was sitting around knighting a new intiate in the guild. Having a day/night cycle is absolutely imperative to RP and immersion within this game. Even if it is a "dulled down" compromise of what we really wanted. A weather system is also important but that is another topic for another time.

All I can stress is that to just have a stoic unreal daytime for ages upon ages takes away countless opportunities for player storytellers, RPers, and immersion in general. Night encompasses many emotions including fear of the unknown, serenity of the stars, the peace of the silence, the feeling of secrets left untouched, and perhaps the joy of sneaking up on an enemy. Taking away a day/night cycle takes away all these emotions that the player base would be allowed to feel. So I advocate to the Devs to not take away this feature entirely... not only would you be falling short of standards set by competitors but also falling short of the sandbox genres standards which is persistance.

Anyhow, that is just my two cents on the subject.

/rant off