Best posts made by Alexian

@Farlander said in Tanning Tubs Are a Disaster:

@Alexian This is roght off the website under About

ABOUT FRACTURED
Fractured is the first open-world sandbox MMORPG mixing action combat with fully interactable environments, appealing equally to lovers of competitive and cooperative gameplay. Jump right into the fray from day one. Defeat your enemies through your own skill and cleverness, not equipment or level. Gather resources, craft, trade and venture into legendary travels as a solitary hero, or start a settlement with your guild and grow it into the next empire.

Where in there does it say playing Fractured is going to be tons of time waiting on timers, hardcore real work to play? In fact, the premise I would assert is it is a game where you jump right in having fun. Doesn't sound like they are implying you are going to be having huge time sinks for the things you do. What other players have talked about in the forums or in Discord that you may be inferring to is not what is listed here on the website description.

Life is Feudal had timers on all their crafting/growing. If you weren't there within the hour of it ending you lost everything. I don't want to see that in this game also.

I've emphasized specific words in the description you provided that indicate expenditure of player time and effort. "Gather," "grow," "venture," and an emphasis on "skill and cleverness" clearly oppose the notion of instant gratification in Fractured.

More importantly, specific features I've mentioned - such as bending over and picking up items, one at a time - have been inherent to the game since its very first playable Alpha tests.

From description to dev journals to gameplay, Fractured is clearly not intended to be akin to a mobile or Facebook game for casual players. Time, effort, organization, logistics, and administration play key roles in this game and the devs have been fully transparent about this fact from day one.

Respectfully, it seems like you want Fractured to become something completely antithetical to its conception. It's certainly your right to advocate for changes you feel are appropriate, but I stridently disagree with the nature of those proposed changes.

What is Zenith?

Zenith is the capital city of the Kingdom of Meridian, an ambitious Fractured nation.

We strive to be a nexus of commerce, diplomacy, and politics for Syndesia – as well as the gold standard for what an ambitious community can do by utilizing all of Fractured's sandbox mechanics.

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What is Meridian?

Much has been said about Meridian elsewhere, but in a nutshell... Meridian is a nation comprised of solo players, small groups, and client guilds.

Currently, it is comprised of two cities: the capital, Zenith, and an additional planned settlement called Yalahar.

Meridian is less a guild than it is a union of various, disparate parties who share a vision of Fractured as the era's ultimate sandbox MMORPG, harkening back to the days of Ultima Online and Tibia.

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How does Zenith work?

Zenith is meant to be a testament to Fractured's potential for player-controlled regions.

Unlike most other MMORPGs that offer player territory control, Zenith is intended to be more than a single guild-aligned city. We want our population to include solo players, small groups, and client guilds who have no desire in trying to claim and manage a city for themselves.

So imagine you're a Fractured solo player who has little interest in spending hours at a time in our Guilded server, chatting away. Perhaps your goal is to quietly live in or just outside the capital, leaving only to gold farm in Goblin Hills or employ the city smelters to transform your ore into precious ingots.

Well, as long as you pay your property taxes and contribute towards the common defense and prosperity, Zenith is the place for you.

Or imagine you're a small guild comprised of ten close friends. You have little interest in expansion and seek only to be a tight fellowship. Rather than attempt to claim and hold an entire city – a daunting task for any guild – you'd like to join a community where your guild mates can purchase residences, run your business, and even conduct your internal guild affairs in your own dedicated guild hall inside the city walls.

This, too, is possible in Zenith – with commitment, again, to common defense and prosperity.

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How is Zenith governed?

As detailed in the Meridian recruitment thread, Zenith is governed much like a real-world city/region/territory might be, in a vaguely feudal style:

Because Fractured requires players to actively manage the territory they claim, Meridian is structured like a real-world government. Authority and responsibility are invested in many officers who collaborate to achieve the vision of a single leader: the Meridian King.

As Meridian’s head of state, the king decides our goals, traditions, and values. As head of government, he ratifies, rejects, or repeals our laws and treaties, alliances and war declarations. The king may overrule any officer at will and has the exclusive right to surrender or disband the kingdom.

The king’s agenda is enforced by the royal court. This includes Governors, local executives who each command an assigned region in the king’s name, and the High Council, advisors who draft royal policy and manage unique portfolios. All are appointed by the king and serve at his pleasure.

The court is led by the king’s deputy, the Hand of the Crown. The Hand oversees Governors and general government operations. The Hand also chairs the High Council, organizing meetings, proposals, and updates for the king’s review. Except the king, the Hand may overrule any officer at will.

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How does this impact Zenith's citizens and residents?

As of the Spring 2021 Alpha test, Fractured has redefined the relationships between cities and those who engage with them, in ways that broadly support Meridian's vision. The game now distinguishes between citizens, residents, and guild members.

• Citizens are official, registered members of a city.
• Residents have purchased property inside the city walls or in one of the residential districts outside the walls.
• Guild members are official members of a guild, which may or may not be the ruling power behind a city.

It is possible for a person to assume all three of these roles simultaneously. Or only two. Or only one.

Zenith (a city) is the capital of the Kingdom of Meridian (a nation comprised of multiple cities). As stated above, our doors are open to solo players, small groups, and other guilds. Those who would join us would become citizens and residents of Zenith, official members of the city and owners of property within or just outside the city walls.

But the Meridian government's authority pertains only to matters of state, issues pertaining to the city. What you do with your playtime, what monsters you and your friends kill, what internal loot distribution policy your guild mandates for your guild events... have nothing to do with Zenith or the Meridian government as long as it does not undermine our prosperity and security.

In other words, for example: who you kill only matters to us if you kill a designated political ally, trading partner, or a fellow citizen unprovoked.

The Meridian government has no interest in policing your internal guild affairs. All we want to do is provide you a place to reliably and securely conduct those affairs if your guild shares our vision.

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What are Zenith's laws?

• Join Meridian’s official Guilded server. Guilded is a promising alternative to Discord currently in development and it is optimized for gaming guilds. Its features include integrated event calendars, a gameplay scheduling tool, document sections, message boards/forums, polls and forms, text and voice channels, and more. It is the hub of Meridian’s community.
• Stay informed. Don’t be lazy – Meridian officials shouldn’t have to track down individual members to give them updates that are easily found on our Guilded server.
• Maintain a healthy sense of humor. Life is hard and Fractured, like all games, is meant to be an escape from your daily troubles. In this community, the ability to be a bit silly and make/receive jokes is vital.
• Keep a good attitude. There’s a difference between smartass and asshole, honest and rude, cracking jokes in good fun and being an intolerable edgelord-memer. Don’t be a Chad: know the differences and behave accordingly.
• Get involved. We don’t (and refuse) to have a hard quota for participation and we don’t expect you to live in-game or on Guilded. But Meridian is a community: don’t be a stranger. Members who don’t engage at all and simply take up space in our server and towns will be removed.
• Show common courtesy. Going on an extended vacation? Give us a heads up. Taking a much-deserved break from Fractured? Give us a shout. Don’t be inconsiderate – it takes all of 30 seconds to fire up your mobile Guilded app and notify a Meridian officer of your absence or departure.
• Respect the chain of command. In Fractured, there are dire consequences for a community in chaos. The chain of command is essential for structure and long-term success. Obey accordingly.

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Nope. Thanks, but no thanks!

Fair enough.

We completely understand and would prefer not to waste your time or ours with an obvious mismatch.

The good news is, even this early in Fractured’s development cycle, there already are great guilds out there you may prefer….

• Vandiir is a prominent gaming community that’s found its way to Fractured. If you’re seeking strong fellowship but aren’t enticed by Meridian’s flavor, Vandiir’s lively and supportive culture may be just for you.
• But perhaps you favor more imperialization and conquest than Meridian intends to offer. In which case, we recommend taking a gander at Fractured’s most ambitious enterprise: The Shadow Empire, led by Vyr Vandalous.
• Or maybe you’re seeking a cerebral, actively roleplaying guild and have no idea where to start looking? Consider stately House Pythias, led by Tirinith Uundol Pythias.
• Additionally, you may consider the rapacious Horde of Tartaros, led by the blunt and uncompromising Rekington, if you seek to commit your prodigious bloodlust to an ambitious cause.

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Hell yes! Where do I sign up?

Meridian prefers a more personal approach: Apply on our Guilded server or hit myself or @Bardikens up via direct message here on the Fractured forums and let’s chat one-on-one.

@Farlander said in Tanning Tubs Are a Disaster:

I know people like the "realism" and having things take time, but I'd rather the tool immediately process your materials. If this is going to be a waiting game where I have to write down times for things to check I;m not going to be long for the game. I gave up facebook games where everything was set on timers for completion. Life is too short to be waiting on a game to have fun.

Considering the premise of Fractured as a sandbox with "hardcore"/inconvenient elements like having to physically bend over and pick up lumber, one log at a time, and place it in a handcart in order to move it from A to B... I expect that, to the devs and many of the backers, that's part of the fun. Count me among them; the end result is that I feel like I've truly accomplished something when it takes time and effort.

Fractured isn't a social media or mobile game and really shouldn't be compared to them. Respectfully, we disagree.

After consulting with our members and our leadership Council, @Bardikens and I drafted the feedback below regarding the Spring 2021 Alpha.

If there are things you selectively agree with, please be sure to identify them and co-sign. If there are things you disagree with, please let us know what and why.

We admit we don't have all the answers and are looking forward to open discussion and spirited debate from those who agree or disagree.

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What we like and why

• The tech tree: it provides more to city management than just sheer maintenance; you may select a "direction" of your city - e.g. banking and commerce by selecting banks and marketplaces, a crafting hub by selecting blacksmithing and engineering, or walls. We like that there are more branches in the tree than there are tech points to unlock them. We also like that the layers mean that cities can't plop down and erect all available blueprints in a matter of hours as was the case in previous tests; this encourages more longevity.

• Storehouses: provides in-world place to store goods that isn't a wagon or chest; it is purposeful, immersive, and helps occupy space in the city instead of cramming resources in a hundred scattered carts.

• Walls: they looked cool, added a sense of security by erecting a defined border, and required many resources.

• Cities as capitals of entire regions: this is a step in the right direction towards setting up cities as political hubs instead of randomly placed congregations in the middle of the wilderness.

• Reduced number of claimable cities: in previous tests, cities were too common and too easily claimed, thus significantly reducing the inherent value of owning one. In this test, cities felt more valuable and impressive.

• Knowledge sharing system (once fixed): it allows players to party up without being penalized.

• Open PvP conceptually: We appreciate the risks associated with playing on Syndesia. Though we hope that the criminal element will be meaningfully constrained in size and activity, we like that actions and movement carry with them the risk of attack or death. This makes player mobility much more thoughtful and meaningful.

• Jails with playtime sentences: we believe that real-time playtime sentences are the only remotely viable way to effectively deter griefing and ganking on Syndesia.

• Distinctions between guild members, citizens, and residents: Untethering cities directly from guilds and adding layers to city participation affords opportunities for cities to be more politically complex and dynamic as opposed to an Albion Online system where cities are owned directly and entirely by guilds and are synonymous.

• Regions are asymmetrical in size and resource wealth: Region asymmetry is realistic and immersive; not all real estate is equally attractive and makes region selection consequential.

• Cart theft: We appreciate the risks associated with carelessly leaving carts around unprotected. This will hopefully discourage attempts to circumvent building storehouses by storing resources in dozens of haphazardly strewn carts.

• City upkeep: Conceptually, we like the idea that cities require constant effort to maintain and aren't perpetual and don't run on autopilot.

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What we didn't like and why

• The tech tree: Very basic commodities were hidden behind layers of tech advancement, e.g. the marketplace. This is both unrealistic and delays, if not outright deters, commerce which should be one of the first aspects of any young city. Though the number of possible branches in the tech tree is greater than the possible points achievable, both numbers are close enough that cities aren't really specialized and can effectively be self-sufficient.

• City size: Cities, defined for our purposes as the public space within the four walls, are entirely too small. Dropping from 256x256m2 to 160x160m2 is a drastic reduction. Whereas in previous tests cities felt like thriving communities where citizens lived, worked, and congregated, now they feel the equivalent of gas stations (both in size and function).
  Cities are now places where all citizens go for a specific reason before returning to their homes outside the walls. This may not seem like an important change, but in our estimation it radically altered the feeling of the city.
  Moreover, even if we wanted to place residential plots inside the city, the available real estate was so sparse that it was prohibitively expensive.

• City prestige: Conceptually we like this idea, but its execution hints at future problems. City prestige should involve the construction of buildings with both utility and aesthetics as well as number of citizens and residents. Our fear is that people will cram statues into every available spot to min-max prestige. While this may not be entirely avoidable, steps should be taken to encourage cities to resemble actual cities and not a min-maxing shrine.

• Trade: What trade? The previous test for all its faults had relatively robust commerce. This test did not, except, perhaps at the end when most players stopped playing. Conceptually, we like the idea of untethered resources that can be harvested by enemies or brigands or unaffiliated players. This would also, theoretically, create a market or niche for traveling merchants and harvesters.
  However, these niches never manifested and because resources are now open to the first available claimant, players, small groups, and guilds avoided trade to collect the desired resources themselves; the risks and time investment involved were not prohibitively expensive.
  This, coupled with the fact that food scarcity did not begin to manifest until weeks into the test and the fact that marketplaces weren't immediately available to towns, killed any reason for trade.

• Lack of food scarcity: It was too easy to collect the cereals and meat involved to maintain city ranks even for those cities in infertile regions. Food scarcity seemingly didn't begin to hit cities until weeks into the test and by that point, many of those cities had already climbed high on the rank ladder.

• Immediate residential disintegration: Probably unintended due to decay mechanics not being implemented, but residential plots should not immediately vanish upon failure to pay city maintenance.

• Walls: Though visually impressive and resource-expensive, walls were too predetermined and static. We should be able to sacrifice internal space to add or customize walls.

• Potential abuses of residential mechanic: Regional residential plots as currently designed seem utterly abusable by bad faith actors. Zerg guilds and alliances could, relatively easily, generate the gold needed to disperse their members across the map to become residents of unaffiliated cities, allowing them an unearned foothold/safe zone into that region. That foothold can be used as a way to grief or exploit that city not necessarily due to any elaborate political cunning but by cheesing the mechanics.
  This, in turn, incentivizes another abuse of the system in response: patron guilds claiming all the available residential plots for their members and not encouraging solo players, small groups, or client guilds to take up residence in their cities.
  This may create a system where zerg guilds abuse the residential mechanic in bad faith by leveraging their numbers and wealth and other guilds shoving out a diverse residential population in order to prevent that from happening.

• Harbors, conceptually and as implemented: Fast-travel of any kind undercuts commerce, local markets, and the costs of long-distance power projection. They were supposed to be prohibitively expensive, but are not in practice. It was relatively cheap for @Bardikens to travel from one harbor to another despite approximately 89% encumbrance.

• Global wallet and linked marketplaces: Again, this undercuts the intent behind local markets. This tech should not exist. All markets should always be local and your gold should either be on your person (and thus losable) or in a local bank or chest where it shall remain unless you physically collect and move it.

• Prison system: We don't like that bounty hunters are mechanically referred to as sheriffs and are immediately identifiable via badge like an in-game moderator. We also don't like how bounties are not local and that all a person has to do to be made aware of bounties is to sign up in advance as a sheriff.

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What we'd like to see in the next test pertaining to all the above:

• Increased city size: For the reasons we stated above, cities should be closer to previous Alpha iterations in size. Every effort should be taken to make cities hubs for player interaction of all stripes, not merely convenience stations. Unless that is mechanically incentivized, players will spend as little time as possible in cities.

• An improved tech tree: For the reasons we stated above, the promising tech tree should be improved so that cities can't be entirely self-reliant.
  Careful, painful choices about urban development and specialty should be made by Governors and their governments. If it is possible for cities to be autarkies, that is what most, if not all of them, will become in the end.
  Trade and player interaction will only occur on any meaningful scale if mechanically incentivized. Additionally, for this reason, marketplaces should be among the immediately available blueprints.

• Asymmetrical regions: We'd like the next test to maintain region asymmetry with respect to size and resource wealth. This encourages trade, diplomacy, and warfare. Some regions should be more attractive than others, though none should be worthless.

• Food scarcity: This is the second test that failed farming and food scarcity. Region fertility should matter and should matter relatively quickly. It's not enough to implement food scarcity after cities climb to rank 15.
  Those who choose to build cities in infertile regions should have to immediately confront that infertility problem and turn to commercial, diplomatic, or military relationships with more fertile neighbors to address the issue.
  Even moderately fertile regions should struggle to create surplus and not without dropping farm plots inside the city, eating up valuable real estate and a tech point. As an aside, farm plots should be of neutral or slightly negative prestige if dropped inside city limits.

• A tweaked bounty system: Syndesia should be a place where criminals can succeed if they are appropriately cunning and swift. But systems should be created to keep the ganking/griefing element, which has directly contributed to the death of so many sandbox MMORPGs, to a minimum.
  We propose that bounties be local. Victims of crimes should have to create a bounty by going to a local prison and accepting a "do you want to report this crime" snapshot. Those bounties should then have to be directly sought and accepted by bounty hunters. Bounty hunters should not be identifiable with any in-game badge or icon. If you are the target of a bounty, you should not be able to suicide your way out of prison. Bounty hunters should have to investigate and seek out their targets based on the coordinates and name provided by the system-generated snapshot.
  Perhaps Governors and Vice Governors should be able to contribute to a bounty reward from city funds to incentivize bounty hunter activity and lawfulness in their region.

• No fast travel of any kind: Again, this undercuts Fractured's intent as a complex, deliberate, effortful sandbox that requires prioritization of time and cooperation with others. It would help neuter trade, logistics, and warfare by making it easier to cross vast distances, even if only in one direction.

• Claimable plots outside cities such as inns and homesteads: this would be attractive to solo players or small groups who don't want to live inside or attached to a city. Similar to what was in previous tests, you could have scattered plots throughout the continent where homesteads or inns could be created.
  Inns could be safepoints for travelers (valuable in the absence of fast travel) and their hearths could eliminate both fatigue and poisons and enable skill memorization.
  Perhaps these inns could trade with cities or merchants to stock up on certain adventuring supplies like food and mounts and bandages.

What is Meridian?

Meridian is not, strictly speaking, a guild in the conventional sense.

First and foremost, Meridian is an experiment.

Known formally as the Kingdom of Meridian, we are a Fractured nation based on Syndesia, headquartered in our capital Zenith, and designed to work like a real-world nation-state.

Most guilds in most games are merely social clubs for players, existing only for folks to group together to grind mobs and gank noobs. Meridian strives to be something very different – an enterprise that takes full advantage of Fractured’s diverse features and the developers’ ambitious vision.

We're a nation comprised of solo players, small groups, and guilds. Our purpose is to be creative builders in Fractured’s unique sandbox, creators of in-game content determined by a nuanced vision and fulfilled by a thriving community.

Come play your own game of thrones with us.

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What are Meridian’s goals?

As established by our founder and leader, Beradus Valarn, Meridian is defined by two primary goals.

First, we work diligently to be creators of in-game content.

How many of you have tried to recapture the epic sandbox moments of your past, eager to relive the glory days of Ultima Online, Tibia, EverQuest, and the like? Or what about those of you who never played those games first hand nor experienced those moments directly but have sought them out anyway, only to be disappointed when you step into a litter box that pretends to be a sandbox?

We know your pain, trust me. For games like these to succeed, it’s imperative that like-minded players find each other, organize, and fulfill Fractured’s potential for unparalleled fun together. Therefore, Meridian is mobilized to do its part to create in-game content for its members, its allies, and even its enemies.

Second, Meridian strives to make its regions the most nuanced and successful on Syndesia.

We intend to bury our hands deep in Fractured’s sandbox to build an empire. Military alliances shall be established for mutual protection; trade agreements with viable partners must be negotiated for mutual prosperity; mercenary services may be employed for additional security.

Meridian intends to be both host and facilitator for as many of these niche entities and organizations as possible, doing our part to vigorously promote a politically-dynamic environment where all can succeed.

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Is Meridian a roleplay guild?

Not really.

While Meridian is unapologetically ambitious and stylized, we aren’t a strict roleplaying guild. You’re more likely to find our members comparing Netflix queues and bemoaning about the state of modern games than channeling their inner thespian.

That said, Fractured is still a video game and, by definition, everyone who plays is some type of nerd – so Meridian proudly flaunts its pageantry.

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How does Meridian’s government work?

Because Fractured requires players to actively manage the territory they claim, Meridian is structured like a real-world government. Authority and responsibility are invested in many officers who collaborate to achieve the vision of a single leader: the Meridian King.

As Meridian’s head of state, the king decides our goals, traditions, and values. As head of government, he ratifies, rejects, or repeals our laws and treaties, alliances and war declarations. The king may overrule any officer at will and has the exclusive right to surrender or disband the kingdom.

The king’s agenda is enforced by the royal court. This includes Governors, local executives who each command an assigned region in the king’s name, and the High Council, advisors who draft royal policy and manage unique portfolios. All are appointed by the king and serve at his pleasure.

The court is led by the king’s deputy, the Hand of the Crown. The Hand oversees Governors and general government operations. The Hand also chairs the High Council, organizing meetings, proposals, and updates for the king’s review. Except the king, the Hand may overrule any officer at will.

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What are Meridian’s rules?

• Join Meridian’s official Guilded server. Guilded is a promising alternative to Discord currently in development and it is optimized for gaming guilds. Its features include integrated event calendars, a gameplay scheduling tool, document sections, message boards/forums, polls and forms, text and voice channels, and more. It is the hub of Meridian’s community.
• Stay informed. Don’t be lazy – Meridian officials shouldn’t have to track down individual members to give them updates that are easily found on our Guilded server.
• Maintain a healthy sense of humor. Life is hard and Fractured, like all games, is meant to be an escape from your daily troubles. In this community, the ability to be a bit silly and make/receive jokes is vital.
• Keep a good attitude. There’s a difference between smartass and asshole, honest and rude, cracking jokes in good fun and being an intolerable edgelord-memer. Don’t be a Chad: know the differences and behave accordingly.
• Get involved. We don’t (and refuse) to have a hard quota for participation and we don’t expect you to live in-game or on Guilded. But Meridian is a community: don’t be a stranger. Members who don’t engage at all and simply take up space in our server and towns will be removed.
• Show common courtesy. Going on an extended vacation? Give us a heads up. Taking a much-deserved break from Fractured? Give us a shout. Don’t be inconsiderate – it takes all of 30 seconds to fire up your mobile Guilded app and notify a Meridian officer of your absence or departure.
• Respect the chain of command. In Fractured, there are dire consequences for a community in chaos. The chain of command is essential for structure and long-term success. Obey accordingly.

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What can you expect?

Someone wise once asserted that the key to happiness is shrewd expectation management. We in Meridian couldn’t agree more. Here’s what you can expect from us:

Real life comes first. Exactly what it says on the tin. Don’t let games or guilds contribute to a divorce or unemployment or friendlessness.

You can expect organization. The chain of command is forged with links of purpose. Every role has a unique responsibility. We strive for cohesive excellence.

You can expect ambition. Every great power starts from humble origins. We’ll never rule the real world, but here we can create our own realm. Let’s co-author Fractured’s greatest success story together.

You can expect creativity. Fractured promises to provide the tools, but this is ultimately a sandbox. We’ll need to build the castles ourselves.

You can expect opportunity. Despite our best efforts, we’re far from perfect. Meridian offers its citizens the chance and platform to make us better. Identify a problem and contribute to the solution.

You can expect community. This is at the heart of our culture. Meridian is a quilt of cooperation weaved from a patchwork of misfits, malcontents, and misanthropes. Be part of it; get involved.

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What are we looking for?

We’re not a cookie-cutter group and we don’t spam generic invitations.

Meridian is proud of its discerning tastes. In an era where gamers are often antisocial, indifferent, and noncommittal, we seek members who are active, dedicated, and loyal. Anything less isn’t worth our time.

Other guilds in other games prioritize stats over substance, exploit drones, and tolerate toxicity. Meanwhile, Fractured is committed to horizontal progression and emergent gameplay. In such an environment, Meridian recognizes the most important attribute is a good attitude.

Assholes and edgelords need not apply.

Sound interesting?

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Nope. Thanks, but no thanks!

Fair enough.

We completely understand and would prefer not to waste your time or ours with an obvious mismatch.

The good news is, even this early in Fractured’s development cycle, there already are great guilds out there you may prefer….

Vandiir is a prominent gaming community that’s found its way to Fractured. If you’re seeking strong fellowship but aren’t enticed by Meridian’s flavor, Vandiir’s lively and supportive culture may be just for you.

But perhaps you favor more imperialization and conquest than Meridian intends to offer. In which case, we recommend taking a gander at Fractured’s most ambitious enterprise: The Shadow Empire, led by Vyr Vandalous.

Or maybe you’re seeking a cerebral, actively roleplaying guild and have no idea where to start looking? Consider stately House Pythias, led by Tirinith Uundol Pythias.

Additionally, you may consider the rapacious Horde of Tartaros, led by the blunt and uncompromising Rekington, if you seek to commit your prodigious bloodlust to an ambitious cause.

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Hell yes! Where do I sign up?

Meridian prefers a more personal approach: Apply on our Guilded server or hit myself or @Bardikens up via direct message here on the Fractured forums and let’s chat one-on-one.

One of the many selling points of Fractured conceptually is that it has thus far avoided the p2w model.

In-game currency is so far not slated to be part of DynaMight game store and I hope it stays that way forever.

If they ever do that, it’ll set the game up for failure.

I know I already tossed in my $0.02, but I scrounged around for 2 more.

Much of this is rehashed from my conversations with @MrFlako, @Nekrage, and @Rife, but I'd like feedback from others as well.

As a preface, I've been a staunch advocate for Fractured to implement "hardcore" gameplay mechanics like unit collision and total friendly fire (for alliances, guilds, and yes, even parties) for years. I completely oppose notions like linked gold funds aka the Global Wallet, universal markets aka the Linked Marketplace, and fast travel in any form, including Harbors. I have no interest in many QoL "improvements" like auto-stack, mass select, and most auto-functions.

In sum, I personally want Fractured to be a complex, thoughtful, inconvenient game where effort, logistics, and manpower must carefully considered and allocated, where no action is taken for granted.

In a perfect world, I'd love the notion of an "Anything Goes" game system where players could do whatever they wanted but where player-created and run social systems would create a largely orderly game where excess crime is severely curtailed by player actions as opposed to mechanical systems like prisons, etc.

...But I've never seen that happen.

As I've repeatedly mentioned on these forums and in Discord, it's important to remember that Fractured is a video game. So whereas real life would technically qualify as "full loot PvP," where no invisible wall or magical shield is protecting my neighbor from me breaking open the door, robbing them or worse, general goodwill and the threat of consequences keeps me and the vast majority of others from doing that. Most people in most places are able to operate throughout their lives unmolested by crime or danger. Criminals represent a tiny, infinitesimal fraction of the global population and are only disproportionately active in very few areas at very few times.

^ This doesn't and probably can't exist in a video game, where criminals respawn after character death or can simply log into an alt character. The organic consequences that constrain criminals/griefers/gankers in real life don't exist in a video game. And if those constraints don't and can't organically exist, then they'll need to be mechanically imposed in order to keep Fractured's population content and reasonably high.

So short of things like single character accounts (which I also support) or permadeath (which I don't), we have to get creative to artificially constrain "criminal" behavior on Syndesia so that it doesn't run rampant as it probably will on Tartaros without also making it non-existent as it probably will be on Arboreus.

I support the notion of prisons because I like it conceptually. It makes sense to me. Since you can't permanently kill the player character or keep them from logging into another character, it seems to me that the best way to deter rampant crime is to remove playtime from the offending player if they're caught.

Some, like @MrFlako, @Nekrage, and @Rife suggest that this would cause players to quit the game. Perhaps they're right; but we also know that there's a correlation between unhemmed griefing and dead sandbox MMOs, so just letting criminals do whatever they want without prohibitive consequences is the wrong answer as well.

@Rife suggests just keeping it reduced to a fine/farming for the bail money. I support this if and only if it proves to work as a deterrent: if the bail is prohibitively expensive and keeps the griefing/ganking/"criminal" activity to a relative minimum and puts a healthy level of fear in aspiring criminals on Syndesia, then I'm fine with dispensing from real-time time-outs.

However, I genuinely don't believe the fines will work as an effective deterrent once the game launches. Players will presumably have the 20 Young hours to farm as much gold as possible or link up with powerful, wealthy zerg guilds. Once trading and markets come online, revenue streams and inflation increase and suddenly folks have plenty of ways to get the money needed to bail themselves out or bail out their friends.

But I'm willing to be convinced.

Other things I'd like to reiterate:

• I completely oppose criminals qualifying for a bounty simply by flagging for PvP on Syndesia. This is far too punitive; players should actually have to commit crimes to merit a bounty; simply indicating that you might commit a crime isn't sufficient.
• The bounty mechanic should be as much a challenge for the hunter as it is the hunted. Targets should not blip on every sheriff's radar automatically. Crimes should be local and so should bounties. Victims of those crimes should have to go to the nearest city and submit a bounty form: offender's name and coordinates of the crime. Bounty hunters should have to go to prisons and manually select the contract.
• Sheriffs should not be immediately visible to anyone, nor should criminals... mostly. Sheriffs should never be visible to John Q public. Criminals should be able to unflag until they reach extraordinary high levels of karma. Investigation and effort need to be put into this system.

Good morning all!

Meridian's capital, Zenith, has been founded. Anyone who's read this thread or that one and shares our vision of a complex, dynamic community is encouraged to join.

Solid feedback all around.

Locking the marketplace behind several tech tree layers was a bad idea; it should be among the first accessible buildings for cities for both practical and "realistic" reasons.

Additionally, untethering resource nodes from cities/regions means that players and rival cities/guilds can harvest those resources directly, forgoing the need to interact with others. As much as I like and want unprotected resources, it has emphasized broad gamer anti-social tendencies; why trade or engage with others on a wide scale when you can take some extra time to do it yourself?

In hindsight, I think it was a bit naïve for any of us to assume that mere distance alone would compel players/groups/guilds/cities to trade with one another.

Then, of course, you throw harbors into the mix and it further deters trade. @Bardikens testified that the harbor prices are not prohibitively expensive; at 89% personal capacity, it cost him about 500g. That's... a hilariously insignificant amount of gold. You could zap yourself across the continent, march to the nearest resource node you want, build the carts there, harvest the node, and march back across the continent.

Points of emphasis for me, as of now:

• Put the marketplace at the lowest branch of the tech tree
• Ditch harbors; seriously, no need for fast travel
• We may need to revisit locking resources to cities so it prevents rival cities from harvesting them directly, forgoing trade
• Emphasize/incentivize niche roles like roaming merchants/merchant caravans/merchant guilds to travel between cities

Good afternoon @Prometheus and @Znirf!

I'd like to know where we stand on the promised and highly anticipated developer forum for Immortal+ pledge backers. Do you have an ETA for this feature that you can share with us?

Thanks in advance!

@PeachMcD Thanks for the shoutout. @Razvan, @TheBodo, @Recoil, @Kirkuz, and all the others have been proactive and community-driven. Our members are reflexively team-oriented, which is a rare quality these days!

Interesting thread. Personally, I'm still committed to Syndesia and it's where Meridian intends to set up shop.

I'm not too discouraged by what's gone on in Discord and in global chat. You've gotta budget for some manner of obnoxious toxicity since it's become so inherent to gamer culture; I generally tune it out and the surplus can and should be dealt with by @Specter and the moderators.

Spitballing what I'd like to see on Syndesia as I sip my Bang:

• Complex city management. Unlike many other sandbox MMOs that promise territory control, managing a city should be demanding and effortful. You should be able to lose cities/regions to external threats or internal decay and no city should be able to run on autopilot. This would discourage a lot of guilds from trying to gobble up towns with impunity if managing the territory requires not only substantial material resources but hands-on administration as well. Too many games are about conquering; Fractured should concern itself at least as much with governing.

• Friendly fire and collision mechanics. Personally, too often battles and wars are absolute bedlam; simply a matter of the bigger group spamming AOEs with impunity against the smaller group until they win or, by some miracle, lose. I think it would be more interesting and demand more strategy if collision mechanics and friendly fire were considerations for any fighting force. Terrain would matter more, zergs would have to be warier of bottlenecks, smaller groups would have to take care not to be surrounded, and every party would have to be much more thoughtful about what abilities they use and when, lest they thin their own ranks.

• Scattered inns/taverns/small towns/homesteads. While regions and their capital cities should be the player powerhouses, Syndesia should be pockmarked with various isolated land parcels. Places that could be claimed by solo players or small groups and transformed into inns, taverns, homesteads, or even small towns. Going to a hearth at a tavern could let you respec or heal from poisons/diseases and perhaps toggle respawn points. Homesteads could afford more to solo players or small groups than the more common single home, but also not nearly as much as a city. These land parcels would have to be claimed or purchased and built and maintained like any other building. Taxes could feed into the nearest city.

• No fast travel. Ditch the harbors and any other means of fast travel. It undermines logistics considerations and the challenge of long-distance travel. Gamers always seek the path of least resistance and, so far, harbors have not proven to be prohibitively or reasonably expensive. Even supposing it remains a "one way ticket" so to speak, it's a tremendous advantage: people can skip to one side of the continent to the nearest harbor of their resource or siege target or whatever, build the siege weapons and wagons from local resources, and then only have to concern themselves with the march back. It also eliminates the need for...

• Niche professions like traveling merchants or merchant guilds. Fractured has more potential than to simply devolve into an unimaginative Albion clone. Design a system that incentivizes people to adopt niche roles. Gently discourage all but committed administrators and rulers from taking cities upon themselves by creating rewarding roles for solo players, small groups, and other guilds. If distance matters and disparate resources are not easily secured by any single group, traveling merchants might take it on themselves to fill the void with a lucrative outcome.

• No alts or allow one character per planet. This is more of a general game design I'd like to see; but the content lost by players having the opportunity to casually create alts can't be easily calculated; the ripple effect is enormous. Again, gamers are often prone to min-maxing and other forms of the path of least resistance. Moreover, they tend to be quite anti-social or selectively social. Why barter with a skilled crafter in another town or in another guild or in the same town or same guild when you don't know them... when you can just create an alt to serve as your own personal crafter instead?

• A viable path for a life of crime... if you can manage the risk. Unlike some, I'd like a Syndesia that has to deal with a criminal element. Highwaymen, bandits, raiders, all manner of scum and villainy from so-inclined solo players, small groups, and guilds. I think this is an intriguing form of content for both victim and perpetrator. The sole threat to cities and individuals should not be from other cities and empires. But Syndesia is not Tartaros and the distinction should be that criminals assume a very real risk by adopting that lifestyle. I support a robust bounty system that is prohibitively expensive to Syndesia's criminals... should they get caught. I don't support a system that auto-zaps criminals into jail upon committing crimes; I don't support an invisible wall that prevents criminals from ganking their prey. I think players should have to think twice before venturing out into the wilds, alone, to harvest resources for an hour. But I also think the perpetrators should think twice before engaging in their deviant behavior. If they get caught, the consequences should be quite punitive and should keep the criminal element viable but meaningfully constrained so that it doesn't become a plague that kills Syndesia's population or drives them off.

@Prometheus said in Bounty Hunting & Jails - Official Feedback Thread:

• Syndesia is a lawful planet. The criminal system exists to make player killing against new players, new characters that are just gaining knowledge, and so on extremely inconvenient, while keeping high-level hostile behavior possible, but risky. If you want a place with no consequences, Tartaros will be the planet for you!

This is a great premise that justifies a robust bounty/prison system. Crime should be a viable playstyle on Syndesia, but extremely risky for the criminal in question.

Since Fractured is a video game and criminals can either respawn after character death or the player can hop into an alt character, the game will have to incorporate creative mechanics to deter widespread crime.

Taking a player's playtime from them as a punishment for those crimes seems to be the only effective deterrence a game can possibly come up with, so I personally support prohibitively expensive real-time sentences.

Some potential issues I see include:

• Criminals bailing themselves out of prison. Some of the zerg guilds are evil and likely have the resources to fund criminals so that they can casually bail themselves out of jail if they're caught. To help combat this, perhaps the prisoner should be further inconvenienced by having to call for an ally, guild mate, or friend to bail them out in person.

• The existence of alts seems to undermine the playtime penalty. Many players use alts and it seems quite likely that an imprisoned criminal who can't bail themselves out or get someone else to do so will simply jump onto an alt and continue to play unmolested. Perhaps the penalty should span the entire account?

• A player currently doesn't actually have to commit a crime to merit a potential bounty. Per @Harleyyelrah, simply flagging up for PvP means that you earn a bounty. This is far too extreme and criminalizes potential action as opposed to real action. A character should actually have to engage in criminal behavior to earn the consequences.

@GamerSeuss Agreed.

I appreciate that Fractured is forgoing certain conveniences with respect to city management.

I like that Governors and Vice-Governors have to go to the city hall in order to use the administrative functions of the city and can't access those powers from anywhere else.

Likewise, I like that players have to go to city hall to apply for citizenship or abandon it.

It makes these decisions much more deliberate and impactful if they can't simply be toggled on and off at whim from anywhere.

Update: in light of the upcoming Alpha 2 - Test 3, we're blowing the dust off this old thread.

Zenith, Meridian's capital, will make its debut in this new test. If you're interested in becoming a citizen of Zenith, please sign up:

@Xulu I take it you’re a min-maxer?

A hearty shout out to the Empire, Fractured’s premiere imperial guild! The empire’s leadership is experienced, their ambitions significant, and their vision absolute.

As guilds and settlements are a major facet of Fractured, I was wondering what players can reasonably expect in terms of guild management tools and UI.

Some suggestions:

Customizable rank titles
Customizable permissions
Icons
Finance audit log for relevant officers
General audit log for relevant officers that include date and time stamps for new recruits and departing members

Let’s discuss!

@Dordolio His Majesty was either willingly crowned by his loyal subjects... or he proclaimed himself King and we live in constant fear of his most tyrannical wrath.

We haven't decided what the official story is yet.

Meridian is still growing, as is our capital, Zenith.

Any player who has yet to commit to a guild and/or to a city should consider taking up the Meridian banner and/or making Zenith the place where they hang their hat!