Best posts made by Darian

@rolanstorm Someow, i feel like having a player turn into a really powerful monster, but completely cutting him off from the "civilized" world (no access to cities unless hidden, no interaction with NPCs other than combat) is not imbalanced. It just adds another dimension to the game, allowing you to become the villain. Perhaps forcing you to find a hide spot where you can build up your "lair" and strengthen it with infected monsters or even other PCs. Left unchecked this lair would become a threat to the nearby city and a raid party would have to be organized so they can clear the lair, defeat the powerful vampire and then cure him. There's plenty of cool things a developer could do for a game, with the right mechanics implemented. It is a whole different story, to persuade stakeholders to actually take that risk though.

How about poetry? Here's a saga

At last, the altar lays before his eyes.
Tall, menacing a runic armor stands beside
with arms resting on mighty cross guard
of flamberged obsidian greatsword.
The runes are old... unknown to him,
and dreadful chills make resolve thin.
As he steps forth with fading grin,
Whispers... envelop from within.
He grabs the hilt, ready to swing,
He prays for Tyrios's blessing
And steps inside the skull ring
as crystal shines and voices sing
... of life soon ending.
Loud cracks and scratches fill the room.
The armor gains emerald gloom
and with no care for why? or whom?
it swings to doom!
He dashes backwards with despair
as flamberged greatsword cuts the air
leaving behind a blazing trail
with roar, that makes the soul feel frail.
Halfswording, he steps in, plain,
to block the swing and thrust for gain.
His plan, was sound in his own mind
yet his blade shattered in the bind!
As edge and curiass loudly grind,
he staggers heavily behind.
A burst of rage! floods soul and mind...
Of fury! hero becomes blind.
"How can this be?! O, great Tyrios!
I wear your crest even in Tartaros!
I champion Your name through chaos!
I cannot fall! For I am pious!
Yet you've abandoned me in dire!?
This cannot be! I am no squire!
I am a champion with fire!
A knight! with glory and desire!"
He pulled his rondel dagger fast
and lunged forth in a breath... his last!
He fell scorched true by flaming blast.
His story, is one of the past...
Behold! Dear friends, the wretched story
of He, who lusted for great glory...
For arrogance 's greatest of sins
And Tyrios withdraws his wings!
'cause shallow faith, will stray the path
away from righteous, into dark!

@lehuan5062 I think having your decisions stick with the character, gives meaning to your actions. It makes you consider possible consequences. This stimulates certain behaviors, discourages grieving and encourages true role play. In addition to this adds to the immersion of the game, and overall improves your experience. If you want to be the bad guy, have the world respond to it. If you reconsider your actions, you must still pay the consequences and be forced to redeem yourself. Should the devs choose to walk this path, they'll have plenty of material for good, immersive quests that actually feel real. Have purpose and meaning in the game world, even though it's an mmo.

Settling for a certain niche is certainly a bold move that would greatly improve the experience of those who fit the niche. Still, from a marketing perspective is not very wise to cut off everyone else unless you already have a strong resource flow, and your niche audience is large enough to support your project. It's pretty risky business. So it's better if you have your target set for yourself, but allow your project cater to a larger audience, at least a bit.

What about teachers? Players that have mastered a skill, could teach the lower tiers of that skill to other players. The speed at which the skill would be taught, should depend on the teaching skill of the master, as well as his charisma and intelligence modifiers. The skill learning process only takes place while the master and student play together. (in the same party, within shout distance). Teachers could demand a fee for their time, of course!

Empty off hand! Games tend to discredit the empty off hand so much... Yet in reality, it was extensively used for grappling, disarms, throwing objects to distract the opponent, to regain balance, or if it was armored, to straight forward block with it. Very few games ever addressed this and only slightly. I'd love it if fractured would put that empty off hand in it's rightful place.

Thank you and congratulations to everyone! You make this community fun! Still don't be confused. I'll still stomp all over you if you're a daemon and dare corrupt my beloved Syndesya.

@finland Even if there are low increments, higher lvl skills will give an edge. It's the same for better gear (crafted with better materials, by a much more skilled craftsman). There WILL, therefore be a straight forward power difference between a new player and a veteran. If you factor in the fact that the veteran has more experience with the gameplay, and the "feel" of his kit as well as how his opponent's kit performs, we have quite the power gap between the two. I'm not saying this is bad. It's in fact good. There needs to be some form of progression... still, stating that there will be no power difference between players as a justification for something you want or don't want in the game is... well... sophistic to say the least.

I'd Like to call it a Dragon Knight. Hitting the front line decked in Enchanted heavy armor, buffing my brothers as well. Should it be possible, a little Alteration would help with controlling the flow of fights. As for the hordes of petty foes not worth a gap closer and a swing, fire breath will do fine.

I think any discussion about balancing builds is pure speculation. We are talking about 400 + skills here, that are not class bound in any shape or form. Sure, some will cater to survive-ability, other towards dps, and so forth, but players can mix and match at will. I'd personally approach this in a rock paper scissors way. Each skill would have about 5 or 6 counter skills (at least one for each play-style). This way, there will never be a perfect meta, since when one build becomes popular, it will quickly be matched by a counter-build, that will force everyone to mix their stuff around in order to surprise their opponents. Diversity in builds will thus be encouraged. As for pve. I'd love to see a system where you need to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of the creatures you are about to hunt (either through experimentation, lore or simply talking to other players), and adapt one or two of your skills to the situation, while keeping the rest of your kit ready to be employed in case of attack from other players.

@salgados2 If I understand this correctly, Daemons may travel to other worlds to plunder. Something like how Danes made raids into Britain during the IX-th and X-th Centuries. They where generally regarded as plundering marauders, yet there where some locals who chose to trade with them, perhaps gift their way to safety. Now I'm not sure how this will work in game, but perhaps there will be evil aligned human settlements that will not immediately have daemons flagged as enemies. I may have gotten everything wrong though... so don't take it as fact!

Hail, merry traveler of the Fractured world of Elysium! What better place there is to let time fly until it's right for you to grab your sword or stave an lead the way to new adventure, then a tavern with the best of ale? My secret ale recipe is bound to untangle your tongue and bring forth your stories of great adventure, you plans for fortune and fame, or your quarrels with the petty. Many a fist has been fractured hitting my sturdy tables in the heat of tales of legend; or smashed against the lutes of unseasoned bards claiming virtues they where unworthy of. But such is life in the tavern. Where merry lasses and lads alike, must back their word with brawl. First tankard of ale's on me for each! Cheers!

I've tried plenty of mmos and kept hitting the same barrier over and over again. I like a good story where my choices matter. The problem with questing in mmos is that everyone has done the quest and if you put choice into it, my choice was different then yours yet we both live in exactly the same world. Even though we never met before, we have both killed the same bosses. All of this is immersion braking. Could we think of a solution?

@maxer1293 Welcome, traveler! I'm afraid the only "serve"er here is me. And I only serve ale. The very best in all of Elysium. Here! Have your first on the house! I only ask for a good story in return. One that would raise your reputation in these lands!

@lehuan5062 Several, actually, since there could be an indefinite number of different relics, each with it's own unique powers and twists on gameplay, like the unique abilities of MOBA champions. In addition, devs could also make Super relics that would require the collective effort of an entire guild to obtain for the first time. And provide a very expensive super powerful ability that could easily turn the tide of an invasion battle. I'm thinking of something like a tome that allows daemons to summon their god for a limited time, provided they can sacrifice enough enemy souls to gain his attention. The opposing faction would either be forced to interrupt the summoning ritual, stall the fight until the god gets bored and leaves, or kill enough daemons to prove they are unworthy of their god's attention and have him turn against his summoners. Or a massive war-machine that requires large quantities of materials to build and fuel to power, and a collective effort to man. Such relics would create unique interactions in g v g wars, as well as a sense of achievement to those who helped acquire such power for their guild/faction. Defeating such threats would also be the feat of legends. Imagine how with such mechanics, the players would actually write the history of Fractured. Engage in truly strategic fights and build meaningful community.

@deity I bow before your noble gesture! Most certainly worthy of thy name, kind mistress. All hail Miss Deity, friends! For it is in her name we raise these tankards. As for you, milady, perhaps a dry red wine from my private collection will numb your thirst for blood and unlock the secrets hiding behind your lips, and you will bless us with one of your songs!

@kairosval Fair points friend. You just missed a key aspect. They are supposed to be unique. There's only one of a kind. So other guilds may find a different one, in a different way, but they cannot "grind" for it. If they don't have it, they still have options in combat by achieving certain objectives.

As for the ones that are available to individual players, they don't decay, but they can be stolen from you if you are defeated or inactive. One cannot reliably build a character around a relic alone, because he or she may simply loose that relic. These relics would not be outright more powerful than anything else, they would just add a signature ability only available to the character who has the relic. @Prometheus Reading your article is what inspired me to think of it.

Anyway, thank you both for sharing your thoughts on the matter!

At last, the altar lays before his eyes.
Tall, menacing a runic armor stands beside
with arms resting on mighty cross guard
of flamberged obsidian greatsword.

The runes are old... unknown to him,
and dreadfull chills make resolve thin
as he steps forth with fading grin.
Whispers... envelop from within.

He grabs the hilt, ready to swing,
He prays for Galvano' s blessing
And steps inside the skull ring
as crystal shines and voices sing
... of life soon ending.

Loud cracks and scratches fill the room.
The armor gains emerald gloom
and with no care for why? or whom?
it swings to doom!

He dashes backwards with despair
as flamberged greatsword cuts the air
leaving behind a blazing trail
with roar, that makes the soul feel frail.

Halfswording, he steps in, plain,
to block the swing and thrust for gain.
His plan, was sound in his own mind
yet his blade shattered in the bind!

As edge and cuirass loudly grind
he staggers heavily behind.
A burst of rage! floods soul and mind...
Of fury! hero becomes blind.

"How can this be?! O, great Galvanos!
I wear your crest against Tartaros!
I champion Your name through chaos!
I cannot fall! For I am pious!

Yet you've abandoned me in dire!?
This cannot be! I am no squire!
I am a champion with fire!
A knight! with glory and desire!"

He pulled his rondel dagger fast
and lunged forth in a breath... his last!
He fell scorched true by flaming blast.
His story, is one of the past...

Behold! Dear friends, the wretched story
of He, who lusted for great glory...
For arrogance 's greatest of sins
And Galvanos withdraws his wings,
'cause shallow faith will stray the path
away from righteous, into dark!

I think there's room for both open world dungeons and instanced ones. For example, the instanced ones could be challenges issued by gods to see whether their followers are worthy to champion in Their name. This way, only the party that was called forth to the challenge can enter the portal leading to a special area where the god has prepared his trials. The rewards could be some interesting thematic buffs to your party for like a week or something.

For the open world dungeons we could have in game mechanics that limit the number of players who can reach the dungeon like having to cross a river but the raft that takes you there only goes once every half an hour and can only take a certain number of players. Or if there will be player collision, have very powerful telegraphed aoe attacks from monsters that would limit the number of players who can fit into the safe zones. There may also be other traps and puzzles that force players to approach the end boss in small groups only and and also to leave the area quickly once the boss dies, like toxic gasses, perhaps a powerful explosion or a swarm of monsters that players simply cannot fight off for too long.