Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I saw a post in one of the threads about the crafting being boring and unoriginal, and that got me thinking a bit about it (yes it is a bad habit for my health and sanity, thinking I mean).
I think it is good, defenitely MVP now when we have level differentiatin of the +recieps and the added material . That really made my day.
But what I see is such a great potential, and working in two directions to enrichen the game. (And remember I really talk of post OE by quite a bit, unless everything goes sweet and railroady from now and on).
I see a point where there will be reciepts to add Keywords and such to existing equipment, reciept variations, using this increases the durability one point, using that lowers durability but lowers production time ...
Perhaps the quality of the ingredients will affect the durability of the product, so we will have a adjective added to the refined product too.
This will all invigorate and deepen the game for the crafters.
The second direction is the posdibility of added extremely rare unique nodes, tucked away in strange places delivering material, some repletish slowly at that place or when after first found begin to appear i other nodes in the same hex.
These materials should perhaps only be of use for experiments (an new added mechanism?) when performed opens a new batch of reciepts for droppings (:-)
This would give something to explorers, rooting through nook and crannies, would suddenly be very very exiting.
(Another unrelated thing for the Explorer kind, would be to have conditional terrain, places where there are "secret passages" to learn. For instance if a explorer cross a difficult cliffside, the next time (or Xth time) she crosses it she can do it running.)
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
I have to agree with the crafting that I think it is a great basis
What I regard as good
1) A good and complex crafting tree
2) Inter-dependencies on resources and recipes
3) Resources needed are clustered and not everything available in the same place
Looking at the same features with a glass being half empty view
1) The complex tree means new players don't understand it
2) Inter-dependencies mean a single player is completely lost
3) Hunting for missing resources is a grind and turn-off
My reply to the glass half-empty view
1) Learning a complex system takes time and education can go a long way. I already see this happening with all the online resources made by players
2) This game is meant to be played in groups - or at least as an adjunct to a group. There are 33 diverse settlements. There is no excuse not to join one and you can even contribute and shape a lot of the less active ones if you decide so now
3) Start trading, start collaborating and this issue will disappear. TEO generated the TEO bank bot - I have one of my alts doing the same - albeit I'm less time online. Players drop resources and get resources. There is the auction houses. Just because you don't get everything on a golden platter doesn't mean there are no fun ways how to play this.
I don't think anything can be too complex in a game. Sometimes, it just doesn't register for people because of language, but in general, people can figure it out if they want to. We do complex tasks on a daily basis. We cook. We may put together a some assembly required item... etc.
Complexity is never bad. Sometimes what is un-intuitive is bad.
I really like the idea of secret recipes, though. I like the idea of modifying recipes...
I'd like it if each weapon type had a recipe. Or each whatever type. And then depending on what you used or how you altered it, you could get an item that was a different material or a + item.
I also support mutation crafts, as I said a long time ago. Something like YOU JUST CRAFTED THE SACRED SPEAR And it's like oh ok. Then it would exist in game, die for awhile, and then return to having a very small chance of being remade.
Ideally, I'd like a system where you could throw stuff in a craft, where you could sub almost anything but maybe something forgiving enough that you wouldn't get your stuff eaten. It could say something like "This item looks unfinished" and you could add to it.
Could also have % chance. Be like chance of failure, etc.
I believe mats, except for top tier mats, should be easier to get, and the crafting should be more about using intuition and knowledge. Some of it can be expressed in a recipe, some of it can be expressed by character levels, but I think there should be more.
So, the ability to make good weapons, shoddy weapons, custom weapons, is what I want out of crafting. In that way, you would be more about just collecting mats opposed to just stacking the ones that are needed for the regular recipes... because you might be able to use them.
I think the idea is to have more craft skills, too. Craft creativity, craft insight (would be nice for your dude to be able to look at a recipe and learn others at a certain level), craft consistency...
I just feel it is too simple. Crafting drives games, I still say. I'd rather it not be a production line but, at the top, something more like a science.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
I don't mind the crafting system especially now the XP per level has come down to a slightly more sane (though still very high) level.
The changes to make it less optimal to make +3 everything are a good move.
The economy side is hard to judge in Alpha as despite the occasional rant from new players about it being "unfair" everyone else is using +2 gear the difference between generic and +2 weapons is not huge and much of the time people do not even bother. T2 weapons will be different. There is an Ok market for +2 heavy armor if you can be bothered but not really for weapons.
One thing to be avoided at all costs is those ridiculous mini-games every time you craft(like the silly hacking mini-game which had me give up exploring in EVE).
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
What if after a certain crafting level, you could make items with custom keywords, and there could be feats to change a keyword in your armor or attack feats? They could cost more to make, take higher levels, possibly take keyword recipe drops, but they would be unique and give people reasons to work with crafters to make specific items.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
What if after a certain crafting level, you could make items with custom keywords, and there could be feats to change a keyword in your armor or attack feats? They could cost more to make, take higher levels, possibly take keyword recipe drops, but they would be unique and give people reasons to work with crafters to make specific items.
1.) Keywords don't mean anything. They could be numbers, names of dev's kids, Viking runes, take-out menus, or whatever as long as the gear and feat both have them. GW just picked these words to help us remember and relate them to the gear and feats they go with. So there is no point to changing keywords on gear except for matching to feats.
2.) Finding the recipe with the right keywords for the feat you use is an integral part of the crafting system and economic loop. It gives crafters goals to shoot for and allows them to have more ability in their field and be more valuable to their social groups as they seek and gain more diverse recipes. The ability to alter the keyword in a recipe seems like a nightmare to program and undermines that aspect of being a well-developed skilled artisan.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I love this sort of complex network crafting system. I was a raging industrialist in EVE and will be again in Golarion. It's one of my Top Three reasons I backed the project.
Please no mini-games, how does that promote meaningful player interaction anyway? There are already plenty of other tasks for a dedicated crafter between finding sources of inputs and the best places to send finished goods, developing contacts and relationships, visiting markets and talking to settlement representatives looking for goods and new opportunities...
Hopefully the xp cost in training is getting close to the sweet spot in the ratio of building attributes with only craft skills:sweet cheese and crackers that's a ridiculous amount of xp. Gathering shouldn't be so expensive it deters adventurers from dabbling, especially as we're bootstrapping the economic cycle and 100% of global capital.
The only changes I want to make are small tweaks to make things smoother.
And on the dropped recipe before it's learned. GW you insist on common and uncommon recipes being an integral part of the development of crafting skill so at least tell us which recipes are which.
Getting the "19% of units bumped up in quality" plan actually working. It's a next-6-months goal imo but it never has seemed to work as intended and six months after EE refiner's skills will be high enough it really starts affecting them and the economy.
Disappear our avatars when we're active in the craft window. To avoid random attacks on crafters who can't see it coming and technically weren't standing outside to be attacked in the first place. If the building comes under siege then it's logical to kick everyone out into the street.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
And on the dropped recipe before it's learned. GW you insist on common and uncommon recipes being an integral part of the development of crafting skill so at least tell us which recipes are which.
Indeed and make the uncommon/common achievement match what it is designated to be rather than somewhat random.
Getting the "19% of units bumped up in quality" plan actually working. It's a next-6-months goal imo but it never has seemed to work as intended and six months after EE refiner's skills will be high enough it really starts affecting them and the economy.
Apparently the quoted percentages are for level 16 crafters so the number "bumped" at the craft levels we are currently at in alpha is not too far out from what is intended.
Possibly this figure needs tweaking if that is the case as the feature may as well not exist in game at the moment.
Disappear our avatars when we're active in the craft window. To avoid random attacks on crafters who can't see it coming and technically weren't standing outside to be attacked in the first place. If the building comes under siege then it's logical to kick everyone out into the street.
The only reason crafters are not continually ganked at present is their is no real advantage to it. It is actually really simple for a low rep character to sneak past the thornguards check out who is standing at a crating door without moving and attack crafters without the crafter knowing.
The only way a crafter can tell he is being attacked is if he has sound on - and with the volume controls in game broken most people currently turn sound off completely.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
I wasn't even aware that it was possible to attack someone inside the Settlements!? I thought the Thornguards did short work on those who tried....
Stealth, stay away from any thornguards and shoot from range.
It is not like EVE where Concorde will get you regardless of what you do, you can evade teh Thornguard if you know what to do.
If you get killed in a settlement with neg rep you will be in trouble respawning at a shrine in "Thornguard Central" so you need to sneak and snipe and run away but if you pull it off people crafting have no idea you are shooting at them unless they have sound up.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Hu! i'll have to think about it next time I crafts, especially after next patch when there is an actual reason to be a bandit.
I guess there is the attack action that sets of Thornguards, so there is no use to stay close to the guards? And they only attack if the reputation of someone has negative Rep? So it isn't possible to rob them of the chance to loot either?
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Killing crafters in a settlement:
This is interesting and indeed - I think it is possible. But do we really need to have GW do something against it?
A killer /assasin will be successful the first time. But then it should be up to the settlement to do patrols. Right now it is easy enough to spot someone even if in hiding.
A well run settlement should have enough players who should come to help a crafter - especially as the crafter only needs to be at the door for a very short time (maybe 1 minute?).
And it is a lot of effort to target you. First move trhough x hexes to get to the settlement - then lie in wait - and then kill the crafter.
Right now with low populations this might be more an issue. But I would not like to close this down. I feel in this case there is more effort on side of the PvPer and more risk as compared to the crafter.
And even a crafter should afford 1 or 2 levels to learn how to wear some basic armour and 1 or 2 levels on HP so a single shot shouldn't kill him.
|
Goblinworks Game Designer
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Long term plan is to remove you from the world when you're using a door with a full-screen interface, specifically so you don't get ganked when you have no situational awareness. (And so a trip to a populated city isn't a jarring exercise in looking at all the strange people huddled around doors.)
I just hooked the rarity into the description of the refining recipe consumables (all the consumable crafting recipes are Uncommon). So that should be in the next build. Getting them to show up in the actual refining/crafting window is more complicated, so sadly you'll need to keep using the wiki data until we can get a feature request through on that.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
I just hooked the rarity into the description of the refining recipe consumables (all the consumable crafting recipes are Uncommon).
Thanks for moving forward on it. Of course after we learn those dropped recipes we currently need to remember if they're common or uncommon or we're out of luck which is why it will be so nice once it's written down where we craft it.
Is the converse now true, that EVERYTHING we acquire by gaining new ranks from a trainer is common?
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Getting the "19% of units bumped up in quality" plan actually working. It's a next-6-months goal imo but it never has seemed to work as intended and six months after EE refiner's skills will be high enough it really starts affecting them and the economy.
Apparently the quoted percentages are for level 16 crafters so the number "bumped" at the craft levels we are currently at in alpha is not too far out from what is intended.
Possibly this figure needs tweaking if that is the case as the feature may as well not exist in game at the moment.
As I understood Stephen before, at skill 300 it's an 18% chance to +1 and a 1% chance to +2. The percentage chances for less than skill 300 are reduced proportionally based on Tier of the material.
But still for Tier 1 skill 75/300 * 18 = 4.5% chance to +1 each unit which should be noticeable when we're spamming bulk outputs like steel wire and basic strips.
45 out of every 1000 units produced by a dedicated refiner at this point in alpha -or an average of one or two out of each run of (30)- but those aren't the results we've been seeing.
|
Goblinworks Game Designer
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So crafting buildings will become invulnerable PvP safe haven?
Coming up with a good solution to prevent that is one of the reasons it's not in yet ;) .
45 out of every 1000 units produced by a dedicated refiner at this point in alpha -or an average of one or two out of each run of (30)- but those aren't the results we've been seeing.
The bug in upgrade chance was just resolved three weeks ago, so it may have just missed the last build. It was certainly not in the one before that, and should definitely be in the next one if it's not currently working on live.
Is the converse now true, that EVERYTHING we acquire by gaining new ranks from a trainer is common?
All crafting recipes that you get automatically as soon as your skill improves are Common, yes. Some of the +0 refining recipes that you get automatically are Uncommon (the same as their +1-+3 versions).
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
So crafting buildings will become invulnerable PvP safe haven?Coming up with a good solution to prevent that is one of the reasons it's not in yet ;) .
Easy enuf conceptually (not necessarily easy to program):
1) No entering a fullscreen craft window when already in combat or have been in combat recently (say last 2 rounds).
2) No HP/stamina/power regen while in a craft window
3) Kick out of craft window after a set time with no interaction. (this one should be in anyway regardless of PvP considerations)
Entering a craft window to avoid PvP is never going to be a big issue. I would be more concerned with people exploiting logging out.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So now, in addition to naked gathering, we'll have naked crafting where crafters kill themselves as soon as they near the completion of their costliest recipes to avoid getting ganked by nefarious gangs camped outside the doors of every craft hut? How about the Thornguards start doing their damned jobs?
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
So now, in addition to naked gathering, we'll have naked crafting where crafters kill themselves as soon as they near the completion of their costliest recipes to avoid getting ganked by nefarious gangs camped outside the doors of every craft hut? How about the Thornguards start doing their damned jobs?
Once crafting can access your vault there seems no reason to have anything in inventory while crafting and you may as well be naked (or wearing the cheapest decent looking armor if you are worried about appearances).
^ If people are ever choosing to be naked, that means the game is messed up. It means people are accepting inevitable death and cutting their losses. That's not realistic...
If you're getting ganked outside the craft building, that means the balance is very wrong. That's what we're trying to avoid, moreso than bandit in the wild ganking... I think?
If it turns out where every non-combat char is naked or in rags getting killed all of the time, that would be too much of a murder sim for me.
It should be like the heist of the century for someone to get into town, gank someone, and get out. Something people would talk about days/weeks.
In fact, even ganking and not getting out, I think, should be near impossible because people will just grief you even if they can't get your stuff.
Much thought should be given to town security. Also to stop naked gathering. Environment damage? You come home with your thighs all cut up with thorns, your feet dashed on rocks.
C'mon... if this part doesn't get right then that's a huge failure. That means it's gonna be just like other murdersim games.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
So now, in addition to naked gathering, we'll have naked crafting where crafters kill themselves as soon as they near the completion of their costliest recipes to avoid getting ganked by nefarious gangs camped outside the doors of every craft hut? How about the Thornguards start doing their damned jobs?
I am a bit worried too about all this talk of being ganked in your own city. I was hoping being in a Settlement would offer the same security as being on a Station in Eve. And that harvesting within one of the 6 adjacent Hexes of a large, high level Settlement would be about as safe as High Sec in Eve. (active Wars not withstanding)
The latter situation still allows for the occasional gank, as does happen in Eve, and the level of security will off course depend on the tier of that settlement and how well they have invested in guards and such. Off course if your Company has a feud with a neighbouring COmpany and you know they are roaming those hexes, then they will be less safe, but this is a calculated risk.
I hope the devs realize that PFO will need masses of High Sec players that can go about their business in relative safety(relative as in knowledgable players being able to calculate their risk) in certain parts of the world, if they want this game to become succesfull.
If *every* venture in this game has to be done by gathering a group around you, then it will fail hard.
I also want to say that I *hate* the feature of players disappearing when they interact with a Crafting building (or Smallhold).
It is cheesy, gamey and there is nothing more sad, then an empty player-town. Like those in Star Wars Galaxies. The towns already are huge in size, so now you will only see the occasional player *flash* into existence before your eyes, run to another building and magically dispappear again?
One of the things that interests me in this game is the "settlement bond". Creating the feeling that your settlement is a community hub: *your* community hub. You have to care for your settlement. Not just for the fact that it has a Tier 3 Warrior trainer. So it needs fluff, props, variety, beauty and *players*. I want to see those players, even if they are staring at a wall. I can not believe that so lightly is being thought of making players disappear from the world.
It just needs high level guards that can make the place so safe, that players do not have to "hide" in their crafting buildings. Making the place so safe is one of the goals of the settlement members, and Thornguards are the way to do it, imo.
Surely it must be easy to implement so that these guys can see through Stealth and have a huge aggro range. Imo that would be a much better solution then taking players out of the world.
Or do you guys think it is fun to be able to snipe players in their own town?
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
(stuff about being naked, naked gathering and killing crafters as they craft)
Nobody is naked in PFO. Not having armour and a weapon equipped doesn't make you naked. Most gatherers in history have gone to do their thing without armour and a weapon. All else aside, the mere fact of encumbrance will cause some to want to gather without other equipment. It lets you carry more.
I agree that if people will be targets at crafting stations then there needs to be a balance. Probably more guards at "disengaged" points (crafting, bank, auction etc.). And even a single strike on a preoccupied (helpless) toon should result in an immediate drop to kill-on-site that goes away unless there's a second attack in short order (maybe a -15k rep modifier that lasts for only as long as the attacker flag or until first death.)
|
Goblinworks Game Designer
|
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
Good points on naked gatherers. We'd planned to have a big encumbrance bonus on the Commoner feature feats once those were added, but those would have been a flat bonus that didn't rely on gear. So we're moving that to a per keyword bonus on the armor feats for Commoners (and a lesser bonus for Experts). (+3 per keyword for Commoner armors and +1 per keyword for Expert armors.) This change also has the bonus of getting you that extra encumbrance with the next build rather than whenever we felt that Commoner and Expert features were done enough to put in.
Essentially, you'll (as a Commoner or Expert) be able to carry more if you're wearing better armor (and have all those extra defenses for if someone actually attacks you). The bonus should very quickly counteract the weight of cloth or light armors, and would eventually counter even medium if you have the keywords for it.
Why? Maybe because being fancy puts a spring in your step, letting everyone know that you're a well-dressed individual perfectly attired for a day of schlepping ores and logs all over the countryside. Comfortable, fashionable clothes go a long way towards a productive work day. ;)
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I also want to say that I *hate* the feature of players disappearing when they interact with a Crafting building (or Smallhold).
I never thought of it as "disappearing." It always seemed to me you were entering the building, just as you would the tavern. And every shop-keeper is entitled to have a leave-your-weapons-at-the-door policy.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
I think there is a lot of hyperbole going on here. Let this game start and then see what happens.
Bandits who target single gatherers to make a living - sounds scary - but lets investigate it
1) I have 6 hexes next to my own settlement. A single bandit therefore has only a 1/6 chance to actually be in the right hex.
2) the day has 24 hours - say I'm gathering 2 hours a day and the badit is on the lookout for 2 hours. That leaves a 22/24 chance I avoid the bandit in the first hour which translates to approx. 80% chance to avoid him during the day
3) combine 1 and 2 and you end up with being waylayed every 12 days once
Now people will say - you can't just do that. Bandits are not like chance or random. No - they are not. But I wanted to form a basis for a 'random' bandit.
The chance for the bandit increases if he knows my patterns and behaviour - but so do the chances of me to avoid him if I know the patterns of the bandit.
Voila - we suddenly try to outsmart each other and this means the game got more interesting via PvP.
Now the next step - more bandits around my settlement will make it more dangerous. But this means there are more bandits as gatherers - a very unlikely.
Now look at it from the bandits point of view. Trying to catch me is very poor business. He spends a lot of time waiting to actually catch me. So that doesn't look like a good strategy.
So he needs to go to key places. The mountain pass going up to Golgotha is likely a 10 times better place to wait as bandit as any hex around Emerald Lodge. Golgothans gathering at the bottom of the mountain will pass through - and they pass through loaded with max items.
Now I would not encourage a bandit to follow this advice. I would guess Golgotha wouldn't be happy if they learn their gatherers are waylaid at this crucial place. So expect a well armed war party to hunt the bandit.
There are likely many more issues I just can't think about right now. But the fear of continuously being waylaid should be unlikely - unless you are target.
Announce in the chat that you are the prime TEO crafter and you will be the very first to finish a tier 2 armour tomorrow. Guess what - you painted a bullseye on yourself.
Annoy people here online and guess what - the bandit might want to target you because it is personal and not just because of a crafted item or some resources.
So the sky isn't falling. I trust in GW that they will relax reputation loss if everything is stale but will increase it if too many people feel ganged upon. But until then - just let the game begin and find out and don't theory-craft.
Otherwise your worst scenarios might come true - not because it was inevitable but because you messed up some PvPers enough to ensure you are a priviledged target.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Good points on naked gatherers. We'd planned to have a big encumbrance bonus on the Commoner feature feats once those were added, but those would have been a flat bonus that didn't rely on gear. So we're moving that to a per keyword bonus on the armor feats for Commoners (and a lesser bonus for Experts). (+3 per keyword for Commoner armors and +1 per keyword for Expert armors.) This change also has the bonus of getting you that extra encumbrance with the next build rather than whenever we felt that Commoner and Expert features were done enough to put in.
Essentially, you'll (as a Commoner or Expert) be able to carry more if you're wearing better armor (and have all those extra defenses for if someone actually attacks you). The bonus should very quickly counteract the weight of cloth or light armors, and would eventually counter even medium if you have the keywords for it.
Why? Maybe because being fancy puts a spring in your step, letting everyone know that you're a well-dressed individual perfectly attired for a day of schlepping ores and logs all over the countryside. Comfortable, fashionable clothes go a long way towards a productive work day. ;)
Glorius, I have always felt those CoE Armour feat was a bit thin, and now there are really a reason to get those armours!
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Why? Maybe because being fancy puts a spring in your step, letting everyone know that you're a well-dressed individual perfectly attired for a day of schlepping ores and logs all over the countryside. Comfortable, fashionable clothes go a long way towards a productive work day. ;)
epic blue jeans +5 ftw.
|
Goblinworks Game Designer
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Now people will say - you can't just do that. Bandits are not like chance or random. No - they are not. But I wanted to form a basis for a 'random' bandit.
What if we could get the bandit to move to another hex whenever somebody rolls a 7 and tells him where to go? Then, the gathering nodes and outposts in the hex could refill resources whenever their number is rolled except when the bandit is in that hex.
Clearly, if we could just get bandits to follow the whims of the random number generator, our Massively Multiplayer Settlers of Catan would be so much easier to balance ;) .
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Good points on naked gatherers. We'd planned to have a big encumbrance bonus on the Commoner feature feats once those were added, but those would have been a flat bonus that didn't rely on gear. So we're moving that to a per keyword bonus on the armor feats for Commoners (and a lesser bonus for Experts). (+3 per keyword for Commoner armors and +1 per keyword for Expert armors.) This change also has the bonus of getting you that extra encumbrance with the next build rather than whenever we felt that Commoner and Expert features were done enough to put in.
Essentially, you'll (as a Commoner or Expert) be able to carry more if you're wearing better armor (and have all those extra defenses for if someone actually attacks you). The bonus should very quickly counteract the weight of cloth or light armors, and would eventually counter even medium if you have the keywords for it.
I was actually looking forward to seeing what the feature feats for commoner and expert might do.
I sort of expected there to be maybe more than one. One might be something like "Drover", allowing a hefty encumbrance boost, at the expense of other possible feature feats, and in time the Drover feat might be required to be worn to handle beasts in caravans.
Putting all of the Encumbrance bonuses into armor seems to risk the usefulness of the feature feats, but I'm sure you all will figure something out. Will ACE (Aristo Commoner Expert) armor feats give less hit points per keyword, if they are increasing Encumbrance?
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
I also want to say that I *hate* the feature of players disappearing when they interact with a Crafting building (or Smallhold).I never thought of it as "disappearing." It always seemed to me you were entering the building, just as you would the tavern. And every shop-keeper is entitled to have a leave-your-weapons-at-the-door policy.
I like to see the avatars in the game world, not have them vanish in some no-mans land where I can not see them or follow. I hope that once buildings get interiors, that players actually get to stand at some crafting table. I want to go to my settlement and see John at the Inn, Fred doing something at the Armory, William is making potions at the Alchemist and Sally and Lisa are both working at the Weaponcrafters building.
Instead of logging into my settlement, seeing nobody and me having to ask in chat "So who's currently in town!?".
It simply is important to me to see other avatars in the world, I really dislike instanced games, instanced housing, instanced anything.
Ugh, those SWG ghost towns(houses were instanced), those sad housing neighbourhoods in Everquest and Lotro. I figured that PFO would at least be one of those rare games where *everything* is happening in the same world, the same instance. Making a MMO-world feel populated is the number 1 challenge imo, and this is not a good way to go about it. It's not that PFO will sport a detailed and richly scripted NPC population. Guards and trainers standing around. So at least keep the players visible. I figured Settlements are the core of PFO: they are what everything is revolving around. Making these Settlements feel alive is of a huge importance. (one of my proposals was to allow Settlements to change their graphical Style and Theme, maybe through pruchases in the MTX store, but this is obviously something for the future. You know, like a barbarian theme and such, buy extra props for the town, flags, windmills, statues, wells, ruins, hedges, you name it).
I also do not understand why Thornguards simply can not be souped up to be able to deal with Stealthers, ranged snipers and whatever.
At some point in the future, their effectiveness could be dependent on the level of the Settlement but for now they should be invincable peacekeepers that keep a town safe.