Time to be American: Speculate on the other meat of the DCC letter

[marct]

The game software and tools software are being cleaned and optimized.
This is a very important part of the job that has to be done before we can properly add new features to the game. There is nothing really sexy here, except that it will make the existing game smoother to play and easier to manage.

If you are paying attention and know where to look, you can really see this happening.

New features are being developped and tested.

• The Outposts. They are an important but still missing feature in the game to date. They will give you the opportunity to conquer and control pieces of Atys. They are also a very important basis on the top of which other features will later arrive in the game.

Well, This says many things. First off, 'features that will arrive later in game,' so we should expect to see a shell of an outpost from the start I would think, with more features to be added? Surprise me and prove me wrong.[/list]

• A new user interface is under construction featuring a better ergonomy and an immersive look.

My BIGGEST point to overcome the new player experince over the past 2 months. Bravo! And, my concern, as a power player, I LOVE the current setup. I do not want to be stuck in the same UI as everyone else. Make a UI for begineers, and an advanced UI. I should be able to choose the individual feateres, because maybe the begineer teamlist is better than the current one.[/list]

• The events dimension of the game will be grown bigger as new tools are being released.

The new tools we already know about? How about some details on how the tools help the staff. We will be happy to see this.[/list]

• A new website will soon be released featuring better tools for us to communicate more and better. It will also be closer to the in-game story evolution.

Yup, Xavier mentioned this too. Hope it really delivers. I would love to see the website be more functional, especailly the forums.[/list]

• New Kami and Karavan contents (I can't tell you more without spoiling it ).

Well, Well, Well. Here comes the religion. Hope it delivers on your teaser. This must be big, since there is clearly no lead-in in-game to it currently. Religion is just BS.[/list]

An important SoR extension will soon be announced.
All I can tell you for now about this new extension, is that it will be free, and that it is designed to give you never seen means to impact both the game world and the game story. This extension will officially be announced at this year's E3, and I personnally believe that it will open entirely new horizons for the players of SoR. It also represents a huge part of my personal motivation in creating Nevrax, and the Saga of Ryzom.

Time to really micro-analyze. This looks and smells like the ability to develop one or more of the following, and have it included in game: missions, rites, levels or dungeons, turorials, npc interactions, creatures, puzzles, etc. Looks like we are going even more open-source. If I cannot provide the content they desire some silly people will provide it to me for FREE! This is great for the existing over devoted community, but the difficulty with SoR is that it does not appeal to the masses. Secondly, are you kidding? There is a huge downfall to this also, it presents the distinct ability for the game to become completely disconnected from where it is to be going. Hope if you do this, you do it well. I am supremely delighted (since maybe we will have the stuff we alll desire) and even more so supremely worried as this may destroy things to an even greater degree.

However, I would love to develop the NPC that teaches you about the chat channels and windows or editing Stanzas.

Seems like some could read into this that a new world or land, new creature, new races, outposts, or somehting else is also indicated here.

Nevertheless, this extension is not here to replace the existing game which still has the biggest part of our attention and development resources.

Oh, and don't polute the EE community you silly Americans. We really really want you to think we will develop the game forever, even if it is not profitable.

You have teased me with not enough detail, and now you will have to deal with everyone forming there own ideas, and ending up with expectations that you had absolutely no desire to fulfill. As a result a great number will be disappointed in the fact that the expectations were not met, even if they were false. Time to learn another lesson, you have learned a few very well, which is better than can be said for most. Do not tease with nothing. You would be better server by surprising us than making us wait until the mid to end of May to find out what the heck you mean.

BTW, This is my insight from a Start-up / Business Development / Technical Development background. I did have a little fun at their expense, but also, I WANT to speculate. It is the American way. Give me more details if you do not wish for this.

And as a parting note, I think some of the merge is good (Still a lot to be felt out.) It will be a tumultuos 3 or 4 weeks till everything settles down once the merge happens. I am more concerned about where the game is going. And if you really know me, I am the pacifist and the calm person. Look out for the loud ones. I pump the game to everyone I know, and I still have high expectations (I am an American in the north-east Megaopolis after all. I want results and yesterday, and they better be great results!) P.S. Don;t forget it is ALL about customer service for the Americans today!

[systemv]

Yeah, it seemed pretty obvious to me that the tools they're talking about is an open source initiative to let us, the player, add content to the game. I'm envisioning an ability to make "instance" dungeons that will be reviewed and then added to the game.

A good thing in the long run I guess but just pushes this game into an even more "niche" market. Is this what they want then? A husk of a game with content quilted together by the players? Never Winter Nights operates on this philosophy and seems to be doing ok...

I'll be here either way but I worry if myself and the 5 other people on the server will get any satisfaction out of it by that time -.-

[zukor]

Yeah, it seemed pretty obvious to me that the tools they're talking about is an open source initiative to let us, the player, add content to the game. I'm envisioning an ability to make "instance" dungeons that will be reviewed and then added to the game.

A good thing in the long run I guess but just pushes this game into an even more "niche" market. Is this what they want then? A husk of a game with content quilted together by the players? Never Winter Nights operates on this philosophy and seems to be doing ok...

I'll be here either way but I worry if myself and the 5 other people on the server will get any satisfaction out of it by that time -.-

This cannot be correct. No one would pay $15/month for the privilege of creating their own game content. And Nevrax would completely lose control over their own game. I'm sure this is wrong.

NWN certainly does operate on that principle but it isn't a MMORPG, and there is no monthly fee associated with it. That is not an apt comparison to SoR.

Doctor Z.

[grimjim]

This cannot be correct. No one would pay $15/month for the privilege of creating their own game content. And Nevrax would completely lose control over their own game. I'm sure this is wrong.

NWN certainly does operate on that principle but it isn't a MMORPG, and there is no monthly fee associated with it. That is not an apt comparison to SoR.

Doctor Z.

I don't think its necessarily going to be that 'open' as Neverwinter, but self-customised content would be a cool thing IMO.
I'd pay twice that for something that could incorporate player content in a responsible and 'good' way. Creativity is all part of the RPG experience.

[madnak]

No one would pay $15/month for the privilege of creating their own game content.

I would. Remember, this isn't making your own content, this is adding your content to a communal game, being able to explore everyone else's content and have them explore yours, all within an environment that is maintained as consistent and coherent.

[zukor]

......being able to explore everyone else's content and have them explore yours, all within an environment that is maintained as consistent and coherent.

Much as I respect your opinions, I completely disagree with you on this. I don't believe what you say above is possible with potentially hundreds or thousands of individuals creating their own "content". Who would maintain it to make sure it's consistent and coherent? Who would test all of this stuff? Or would it not be tested? Nevrax has enough problems getting stuff into the game without adding bugs as it is. Now they will devolve some of their efforts to amateurs?

The whole idea seems very far-fetched to me.

Doctor Z.

[madnak]

I've seen it work marvelously on many MUDs. With the proper tools, bugs are not an issue. The tools alone need to be properly tested, and of course the sophistication of the tools will determine the flexibility of the players. Play content ranges from being able to customize furniture in your apartment to having full control over game scripts and objects. I have seen both levels and many in-between work very well.

Also I believe this is where games are going, or at least I hope it is. Allowing games to be a creative challenge, rather than a challenge of reflexes and muscle memory, will take things forward beyond what I think we can imagine today. Emergence and player-driven content are, I believe, the key to evolution in gaming. Not that there's anything wrong with quake, or super mario brothers, or pong. I enjoy games as simple as Klondike solitaire or tetris or nethack to this day, and I still use my NES emulator.

But I'm playing Ryzom because I believe it has potential to be a step forward in gaming, and being spoon-fed "content" in the style of other MMORPGs gives me no creative outlet and is unappealing to me. It's fine if that's not where Ryzom goes; I'll keep looking. But that is where I want this game to go.

[borguk]

But I'm playing Ryzom because I believe it has potential to be a step forward in gaming, and being spoon-fed "content" in the style of other MMORPGs gives me no creative outlet and is unappealing to me. It's fine if that's not where Ryzom goes; I'll keep looking. But that is where I want this game to go.

Im playing WoW as well atm and as I reach the upper levels (52/60) the "spoon fed" syndrome is getting a bit tiresome, I would have thought more freedom by this point but its completely the opposite.

[dazman76]

The whole idea seems very far-fetched to me.

Well, that's because you aren't thinking your way through it I'm not going to start the whole "I'm a developer" thing, but this is quite possible in several ways. The key is control (as Jyudas pointed out), and constraining players' actions to certain areas of the game, and indeed to a certain list of interactions/modifications.

There's no need for any of that to interfere with anything else, if it's purely instanced.

[zukor]

Well, that's because you aren't thinking your way through it I'm not going to start the whole "I'm a developer" thing, but this is quite possible in several ways. The key is control (as Jyudas pointed out), and constraining players' actions to certain areas of the game, and indeed to a certain list of interactions/modifications.

There's no need for any of that to interfere with anything else, if it's purely instanced.

You may be right. However, I'll continue to doubt that the game will move in this direction, unless I see it. Time will tell.

Doctor Z.