Drakkar, the business

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Tirith
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Title: The Raging Darge
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Replying to Topic 'Drakkar, the business'

Post by Tirith »

I would just like to say this. I love this game regardless, I just cant take myself away from it. I can always find something to do in the game, a great time killer. Some people claim nl killed the game, some people say that the loss of the old timers who played this game since the ice age also have contributed to the decline in interest. I just know I will continue to play this game as long as it is up and running (and I hope that is many many years away). I think with Flisk creating the new aleria content and aiming it at smaller players will really help with the adding of new fun content for players of all levels to enjoy. I think GDH and GDH2 are great, fun, and *VERY* challenging areas, just not many people are up to facing challenges that tough. One problem with gdh and gdh2 are the graphics. Fun new content just isn't very much fun or new if you are reusing graphics, or have placeholder graphics in for the entirety of the progression.

I think the area creation tools are a great idea. Someone said maybe not make it available to all of the public, I don't know what would be better here, or if creation tools would even work out very well, But I think if you took the time to create these tools, this might even help speed up YOUR own creation of areas. I think people mostly just get tired of seeing a few months go by with no updates. Perhaps something small just here and there, add a new quest npc to nork, add a new weapon drop. Anything really.

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Merlin
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Replying to Topic 'Drakkar, the business'

Post by Merlin »

Well there is a number of things that you could do that would instantly make the higher end player base happy.(dont forget about us!)

like, Finish GDH2

Make brewing how it used to be(when it didnt tie to the brewer!) because having to skill up trade skills on every crit is just stupid and a huge waste of time. it was fine before why change it?

Put in class specific items, I dont mean Foodguardian Gaunts which are available for each class.

i mean items like :

GK2 gear - Barb only
Lazloth - Theif only
Paladin Gauntlets - duh
Camo Robes - theif only
chipper staff - ment
MA sandals - duh



Ok the next part is just purely Idea's please dont flame me, obviously some of the suggested would be too over powering but in moderation i think it would work.

Items that are class only are enjoyable for me. so Here's my ideas

Give items cool features, i'm not sure if its possible but maybe add Quirks/Primal to them?

Image
"You are looking at a Deplurium Crossbow with huge polished horns pertrudeing, Theif only, when equipt +3 Weapon Concealment "

I'm sure Darge could knock you up some brilliant graphics (as i'm sure he already has/is doing)

Lots of brilliant items, the game is lacking this, in NL there is 3 class specific items?

RG gaunts SirMormar plate(totally useless but cool graphic) NL left handed axe? (probably missed a few) please correct me.

Since quirks are game wide and not just higher end you could possibly add random drop items starting nork-1 and dropping down to n-10 with quirk abilities on them.

Add a NPC that will let us use these special items to encrust them onto our current gear.
this makes great play for everyone

so a barb might have +3 Enhanced Rage Dancers, where a Theif might have +2 Weapon Concealment Dancers.

for nork you can have the basic abilitys on the combat tab(at work so going from memory)

Nork -1 to -6
+1 Improoved Refelxes
+1 Melee Accuracy
ect..(mind went blank here)

Nork -7 onwards (to give people a reason to hunt these area's)
+2 Advanced Armour (+3 on a rare/Lair drop)
+2 Proximity Slicer (+3 on a rare/Lair drop)
+2 Enhanced Rage (+3 on a rare/Lair drop)

then when moving onto the bigger areas like borderlands,

+3 Riposte (+4/5 on RARE drop)
+3 Parry (+4/5 on RARE drop)
+3 Dragons Tail (+4/5 on RARE drop)

Then onto Mormar

+4 (Insert Quirk)
+4 (Insert Quirk)
+4 (Insert Quirk)

GDH:

+5 (Insert Quirk)
+5 (Insert Quirk)
+5 (Insert Quirk)


GDH2:
+6/7 (Insert Quirk)
+6/7 (Insert Quirk)
+6/7 (Insert Quirk)

As you progress in area's you find the rare ones and you make the best gear. for your CLASS but depending on how you play you might prefer something different,

example:

Tirith might like to use his skill 35 Uber Spear that he got from the Barbarians in GDH2 with a +5 Melee Accruacy to help him hit, But Vitario mght want to use his +5 Dragons Tail Merkon Attack Amulet because he likes to PSWEEP on hunts...

Depending on your hunting style/area you would gear different, this would potentially make every class different.


In a game like Drakkar there shouldnt be a "best" set of gear, i was looking at my barb last night and comparing him to Cobra's barb yeah theyre both maxed and thiere gear is exactly the same, the same for quirks aswell, Why not give people the choice to choose what they want on gear?

The path for gearing up in drakkar is pretty linear with only a few variations.

Break the mold

There should be several of these NPC's the one who is a basic encruster can reside in Nork town in free view, but as you progress say you find a +6/7 Quirk gem you need to find the Advanced encruster which is hidden in an area where those items drop(gdh2) secret climb up in forrest (that you dont need stupid gaunts for)

and hopefully this is a good idea and i hope people like it, Feedback please people


*Merlz*
Last edited by Merlin on Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Migam
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Replying to Topic 'Drakkar, the business'

Post by Migam »

I find myself on the fence. On one hand, I suggest class-specific lairs with class-specific drops then on the other hand, I get annoyed with gear I cannot use unless I'm a particular class or alignment. E/E thief with merk ss or phelm/voltron ammy and wait to use escapee SS?

I do like the idea with NPC adding class appropriate quality or quirks to a weap or gear. Even if the quest is difficult. Heck, anything to open up weap options in this game. I'm not saying ALL follow this convention (don't jump out from behind a tree and scream " My <insert class> uses <insert weapclass> !!"), but I do notice: Hally barb, mace healers, SS ments, SS/mace thief all over. Why not, at least in ments and healers case, allow alteration of other Killers for the +int or +wis? Maybe add another type of AreaOfEffect weap outside of Cob besides class-restricted Excaly (I'm not really counting BNR hammer, Neohammer nor Tarak hammer which are all one class to boot).

I've sent some ideas on as well as others. Not sure if you're making a database to organize bits and pieces of given ideas into something that leaps out and gives you the next great idea.
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Necron99
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Replying to Topic 'Drakkar, the business'

Post by Necron99 »

Hail!

In the 90's, I used to run the Hidden Worlds MUD. The MUD usually had several hundred simultaneous users. There was one coder (myself). However, all the content was created by the SYSOP level users. I had a content creation tool that was used to create content and save it to the Beta site. Once the new areas were linked and tested, they were released to the production site. Custom lair crits and special bits of code were produced and tested as needed.

This process allowed new content to be continuously added while reducing the coding burden to a manageable level.

I have one suggestion that may effect the existing implementation. ALWAYS release new graphics with new items. Folks wearing staffs as robes makes the game look silly and the implementors look lazy.

Just my two cents.

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Darge
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Title: The Raging Storm

Replying to Topic 'D

Post by Darge »

Originally posted by Brad
So How do we:
- Make existing customers of all levels happy
- Bring new blood in to keep the game vital
On point one:
Finish GDH2 to have it done with, and focus on making content suitable to all sizes. Whether this means making content for varying sizes, or making content where size doesn't apply as much, it would be nice. I'd much rather see content that made players think (if the Primal Quest is "Hard" thinking, aim for "Medium") than needing to be a certain size. I foresee Flisk's Aleria addition being a big hit, simply by virtue of that it sounds as if it will be a very large addition, a mentally challenging addition, and an addition that includes almost all play sizes.

When we turn bugs into you, please make them your priority. If this means halting content for a week or two, in most cases it is worth it. To this day, two bugs I mentioned to you in GDH2 long before it was shelved remain unfixed (Cavebear's brain does not cause him to become un-pronable at a certain point as you said was intended and I've still yet to see the Green Dragon Tongue drop added.) Prior to that, the bug with Lisa in Cobrahn had been going on forever, and still is. The boat ride back from Urmak still takes you to the Maeling badlands instead of N3.5. How can we as players have confidence in Drakkar's customer service when issues like these go on for months. I understand and sympathize with your lack of time and real world obligations, but when something is broken, we want it fixed before you move on.

Finally, keep the lines of communication open on the forums. Before GDH2 was halted and Test Cob was started, I definitely think a feedback thread should have been started on your part Brad. If you run out of ideas, let us help. I think it's fairly obvious that even less people than were playing in GDH are now playing in test cobrahn, and banking on the cob/nork events to bring players back could work against you.

On point two:
Prior to bringing new blood in, a focus needs to be put on bringing the old blood back. I personally would much rather have people I once knew and hunted with come back before people I'm unfamiliar with come in. Yes, this is a personal preference, but it's a preference I'm sure is shared by the same people who say they miss the old days. How do you get the old blood back, monumental changes. In my opinion, you won't bring the old players back without something that figuratively grabs them by the throat and makes them wish they'd never left. Content creation tools, which I will discuss later, are something that I believe would almost certainly achieve that goal. If the prospect of making content for Drakkar doesn't do it, the promise of frequent content updates should.

When we talk about getting new people in, you have to address the issues a newcomer faces. These days, two of those issues are lack of a strong 'hook in the mouth' and confusion. The former used to not be a problem, prior to the MMORPG market explosion, because Drakkar had a feel that hooked the former LOK/IOK players. These days, I think the only real hook Drakkar can have, without some drastic, gameplay altering changes, is getting the right kind of person to log in. The latter is a simple fix. It may just be me, but all the time I see a new player log in and say "I don't understand this game." I think it's time an 'official' tutorial, in addition to the Norken School, were put in. Something along the lines of a button a new player would click on the Lobby interface, that would be an easy to understand walkthrough on how to get a character started, and some basic control information to get the player oriented, and prepared to get the rest of the information they need from the School. Then, at the end, a simple 'Beginner's Guide To Nork Proper' to get a player oriented in the beginning town and able to discern where the first dungeon they should head to is (N1.)
Originally posted by Brad
User friendly, self contained, Content creation tools? You bet that would rock
It would rock VERY hard, but the question of course is, can you do it? If you can, I could see it revitalizing the game. A mass email saying 'Come back to Drak and experience our new Content Creation tools!" would probably entice more people than 'Come back to Drak, and experience Cobrahn at 3x the speed with no starter gear!'

If the game grows in a direction the players want, it's fairly safe to assume that the players will stick around.

I'll make another post later about your ideas Merlin.
Last edited by Darge on Wed Apr 25, 2007 6:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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