Welcome Board Archive - Roadmap for Game Improvements

From: Rufus         Title: Roadmap for Game Improvements            
                         Posted On: Wednesday, August 30 2017, 10:56AM
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So we've made some spellcaster changes and fight changes, and now I'm in the 
throes of druid updates. I've carried on a number of conversations with 
folks as well as the stuff on the discussion board. 
 
In an attempt to address 'when will you do ...?' I wanted to give a high-
level overview of the roadmap I'm currently working on. 
 
1. Druid Update
This is big. We're adding herbs to bring the count of available herbs to 
nearly 100. Adding powders and oils, expanding the abilities of druid to 
influence elements of the game that we haven't traditionally had hooks 
that we could use to produce effects. This requires new spells (unchantable)
to attach to new and old herbs, so along with it, I'm having to update 
some core components to allow us things like resistances to being forcefully
position changed (think: resist bash), increasing dodge capacity, damage 
spell crits, and things that will affect the efficacy of aim. This change 
has taken a while and has a ways to go even before we're ready to test.
 
Also as part of the druid update, we'll be taking a long look at a revision
to the way all damage spells work intrinsically to make sure that the 
vast majority of them have a place where they're useful and aren't totally 
eclipsed by other spells.
 
2. Bards
Who doesn't love bards? This change is really adding one thing to bards
and that thing is a 'perform' skill. A character can perform songs in order 
to give short-duration buffs to groups as well as other effects (think, 
'damaging songs'). They will have buffs that will stack with existing 
buffs from other sources (spells and druids) via these songs, though 
they'll be in-the-moment rather than long duration.
 
3. Runecasters
I don't want to show my hand too much on rune casters but they're on the 
roadmap. They're similar to bards in the fact that their abilities are 
short duration and become more efficient within groups. In most cases, 
their abilities will stack with existing buffs, but they'll be able to 
both buff and debuff at the same time. And though their buffs and debuffs 
may not be as powerful as druid ones, bard ones and spellcaster ones, 
they will have an immense amount of flexibility in what they can choose.
 
4. Shooters
Shooting occupies this weird place that we have to actively suspend 
disbelief in terms of reality vs game-play. Someone gets shot 18 times 
during a fight, they're probably going to die. Hell, even a good shot or
two will drop just about anyone, but we can't really have that from a 
gameplay standpoint. (Also, it's been proven that firing with two guns 
at the same time is terrible for accuracy.) I don't know where we're 
going to go with all of this, but our intention is to take a long look 
at shooters. There aren't any concrete ideas.
 
5. Charmies
The high-end game is biased against charmed things. You can't squeeze
them through tunnel rooms, it's hard to trans with them, some things 
look at them and just pound the living daylights out of them. They also 
steal your XP and are ill effective for the most part in the higher-level
game. 
 
6. Fight Stuff, Part 2
We added some new skills. We modified some skills. We changed a few 
things, but there are still skills like choke that are rather lackluster
(unless you're a mob, in which case those things are freakin' stupid 
sometimes.) Also we're toying with the idea of making mitigation a 
separate thing from AC (with its somewhat binary 'hit' and 'miss'). 
There's a lot of space to work in here beyond just skills and 
We plan on addressing some of that there.
 
7. Era Abilities/Other High-Level game
We've bantered about some ideas of where we can go with the high-level 
game, but nothing concrete yet, which is why it's way down here on the 
list. :) 
 
And somewhere in this list of things, I'm going to try and write a new 
area. 
 
Keep the ideas coming, though, via the discussion board. If your pet 
issue isn't on here, it doesn't mean we're not talking about it, and I 
definitely want to hear about it. 
 
As always, things are here subject to change.