AA - New feature descriptions

Page: 1 2 3
ID:23789
 
Dec 5 2006, 12:21 pm (Edited on Dec 5 2006, 12:33 pm)
Based off of the comments I received from the last entry, here are a couple of quick comments on the new game HUD (see the screenshots in the post below for reference).

You'll notice that a green bar now runs along the top of the main HUD. This is pretty simple to explain: like WoW this bar displays your experience and how close you are to reaching the next level. I made this addition to the main HUD based upon input from private testers.




Also new to the HUD is the snake's tail. Aside from displaying your character's level, the circle changes color. When the circle is blue it is safe for your character to logout. The circle turns red when you are in danger (in the dungeon, engaged in PvP etc.). If you logout while the circle is red, you'll drop half of your gold.

This penalty system will prevent players from abusing their ability to logout anytime.
Dec 5 2006, 12:22 pm
Not Found
The requested URL /acheron/images/screenshots/aa_logout.png was not found on this server.
Dec 5 2006, 12:25 pm
Thanks, fixed.
Dec 5 2006, 12:28 pm
What if someone placed all their gold in the bank, or has none, before going to whatever quest/etc that has the red tail? Maybe you should think of other penalties as well (EXP drop is an example, but if it's 0 or another low amount, it isn't much)...
Dec 5 2006, 12:30 pm
I'm not sure about dropping half your gold. That's a bit extreme considering even people who have broadband tend to drop out from time to time.

Couldn't you just make it so that your character sticks around after you logout for 30 seconds or until combat is finished? That way you can't just logout to solve getting attacked, but you can still log back in and resume combat if you dropped out.
Dec 5 2006, 12:31 pm
They also suffer 8 minutes of "resurrection sickness" when they log back in.
Dec 5 2006, 12:32 pm
DarkView wrote:
Couldn't you just make it so that your character sticks around after you logout for 30 seconds or until combat is finished?

Potentially, yes. I toyed around with that idea, and if this system turns out to be too much of a hassle then I can always go that route. Input from players will be critical in the first few months of release.
Dec 5 2006, 12:44 pm
I agree that dropping half your gold is a bit extreme. I use to have wireless internet, and boy, what a flaky connection that was!

Is the battle system turn based or real time though?

If turn based I think you should be forced to finish the battle than have penalties. It is enough of a penalty if you are partied with someone and you cannot fight those NPCs alone.

If not, yeah penalties will need to take place. But let's not make it too extreme.

~ Meteosync
Dec 5 2006, 12:45 pm
I'm going with DarkView on this part. Dropping half of your gold is a bit harsh, especially for an online game. My DSL, though rather fast, is weak. Spend a night in wiz_chat and you'll see me logout seven or eight times because of this reason. Maybe you could have the monster stick around after the player logs out, or simply have it disapear until they re-login. Depending on how long the player is out, they may have brought some friends with them. ;P
Dec 5 2006, 12:49 pm
Where do you go when you log in? Do you reappear where you left? That might help a bit against unstable connections, since the gold will be right there for you to grab again.
Dec 5 2006, 1:22 pm
SilkWizard wrote:
DarkView wrote:
Couldn't you just make it so that your character sticks around after you logout for 30 seconds or until combat is finished?

Potentially, yes. I toyed around with that idea, and if this system turns out to be too much of a hassle then I can always go that route. Input from players will be critical in the first few months of release.

Vote. Connections drop far too much in this day of wireless. It isn't much of a hassle to implement leaving the character online anyways -- it's BYOND default behavior. Just make the character "finish" logging out say, a minute later.
Dec 5 2006, 3:03 pm
I too feel that just keeping them logged in will be penalty enough. I guess the only reason AA keeps looking more and more like WoW is because it just has such great ideas. :p
Dec 5 2006, 4:05 pm
Woo- lots of good feedback. Alright guys, well maybe I'll have to code this and see how it works. Shouldn't take too long.

Thank you very much for the input; I'll let you know how it turns out!
Dec 5 2006, 4:34 pm
Instead of losing gold.. You can lose like 1/3 or exp or something like that?
Dec 5 2006, 5:34 pm
Even being left in the game could possibly be too much. If I'm in a PvP area and lose my connection, last thing I want is to log back in to find that I'm down to 6 HP, and being beaten by a newbie with a stick.

PvP: If someone attacks you within 1-2 minutes of being logged out, give them an ailment of some sort. A "slow" or "weak" status effect. They can wait for the player to become open game, but I'd feel sorry for the guy waiting there when the person logs back in.

Monster: If a monster is in combat with you, delay it's attacks toward you with a sizable multiplier for the first minute or so.

Give subscibers (or holders of a special item) a longer "safe" time.
Dec 5 2006, 5:56 pm
Giving a subscriber something like that, even though it would seem minor, could throw the game off too much. It's never a good idea to give someone rewards that directly effect gameplay. At most, you should give them something superficial (new, cool-looking clothes, weapons, armor, etc, as long as said items don't have anything very special with them). Also, if the game will have residences of some sort, a nice house or one with pre-set items could be a good incentive.
Dec 5 2006, 6:08 pm
SilkWizard wrote:
Potentially, yes. I toyed around with that idea, and if this system turns out to be too much of a hassle then I can always go that route. Input from players will be critical in the first few months of release.

Fair enough. As long as it'll get changed if it doesn't work out I'm fine to give it a shot. I don't like the idea of another player getting half my coin just because my internet connection dropped out. On the other hand if I got their coin I'm sure I'd lord it over them for the remainder of the night.
Dec 5 2006, 6:29 pm
Yota wrote:
Even being left in the game could possibly be too much. If I'm in a PvP area and lose my connection, last thing I want is to log back in to find that I'm down to 6 HP, and being beaten by a newbie with a stick.

It's not a nice thing to log back into but it's something most people are willing to live with in order to stop people from just logging out when they're about to get beaten. As stupid as it sounds that's a huge problem in most online games (even the ones that where winning and losing has no permanent effects).

Also there is no indication (or at least I'm assuming there is no indication) of whether a person is logged in or not. If a newbie walks by and you logout they wont be able to tell your an open target. Especially if it's setup so that your mob can continue fighting on a basic AI system after you've disconnected.
That way you can legitimately get disconnected and not lose a fight to just anybody, but at the same time you can't logout to avoid your fate (although it might suck to have the AI break your strategy, it's still better than the alternative).
Dec 5 2006, 7:31 pm
I'm not sure if anyone said this because I didn't read any of these, but how bout when you log out, if you're "in danger" you character stays there until you're no longer "in danger". I forget, but I think this is how WoW does it. And if you log out when someone attacked you and log back in a moment later, you're still there being attacked. I say no AI to help you because if you log out to try to avoid it AFTER they already attacked once, you deserve to die. >_>
Dec 6 2006, 3:50 am
All I can say is keep up the great work! I love the idea behind the penalties upon logout. Plenty of players do this in other games, such as Mystic Journey.
Page: 1 2 3