What would you like to see?

[Adhira]

This is a brainstorming thread, what would YOU like to see staff take submissions for? What's missing from the game or needs more work? We're talking objects and NPCs here, not code.

Please list your suggestions below. There's no guarantee but perhaps something on the list will strike a staffers fancy and we'll be able to get working on something you'd like in game.

[MeTekillot]

Maybe you guys could build a cabal of like 100-150 NPCs per city and have them switch out randomly every ten or so IC years to make the environment seem a little less static.

[Zoan]

I'd love to see more non-static environments. Not saying there are some, but anything that enriches the environment you're in is awesome - preferably interactive things. Essentially, things that really immerse oneself in the creed, lifestyle and nature of, say, Allanak or Tuluk - I love the cool scripted things that have been put in. More of those would be excellent.

[MeTekillot]

Also my idea would throw a wrench into the timeless tradition of figuring out which NPCs are good for training backstab on.

[Malifaxis]

More migratory patterns.

Subtle nuances to storms if possible, like windbreaks and things that aren't actually shelters, and don't stop the storm, but maybe lessen its effects if the wind is coming from a certain direction primarily.

[Adhira]

To help hone what you're looking at. Migratory patterns and more alive ecosystems are great, but also driven by code.

I'm looking for thoughts on what players might be able to help us build, objects and NPC type categories, that we can put up calls for submissions for.

[LauraMars]

I'd like to see more rooftops and three dimensional qualities to Allanak (and maybe red storm).

[CodeMaster]

+1 for Mek's idea, I would even love to see that on a per-reboot basis (n.b. this doesn't have to be a coding project!  There are old builders tricks you can use to inject a random subset of a large NPC population into a zone -- think of a 'source' room that has exits into the city, but also exits into no-exit rooms; non-sentinel NPCs can wander themselves into one of the two).

I would like to see more NPCs with non-empty containers.  Backpacks, satchels, and belts full of items representative of their lifestyle.  A seamstress with a needle case containing actual needles.  A mercenary with a few scraps of leather for repairing armor with.  A stoneworker with a chisel, a few bits of rock, and a partially completed statuette.  Solicit players for small (and interesting) item lists that would clue you into the NPC's virtual profession.

[Adhira]

Yes Mek's idea is doable. The other two were the code projects I was talking about.

[MeTekillot]

More shops. I think Nyr made a post about how they don't let most players make shops because that niche is already filled by a couple of shops in the Bazaar, but I really think that having the Bazaars brimming with like 2-5 stalls per room would be really immersive. You'd really have to LOOK to find the shop that sells shields the way you like instead of just going that barrel stand for novice shields and the Salarr merchant for when you want a decent shield but can't pay for a mastercraft.

[Tiktak]

Jewelrymaking - General and simple crafts using various documented gemstones such as diamond, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, spinels, aventurine, tourmaline, sunstone, beryl, moss agate, lapis lazuli, and more. These would be basic, polished pieces of jewelry that wouldn't in any capacity compete with the Clans that should have supremacy in such fields. It would be cool if said items reflected their lower quality in having cracks and flaws or other imperfections.

Jewelrymaking - Crafts for charm bracelets and recipes for carving new charms for said jewelry such as with wood, bone, and some basic stones.

Territory - It would be cool if more item recipes were location specific due to their materials used or styles that would be one City State over the other in popularity.

Candlemaking - Preferably using 'cooking' but likely 'brew' might be a better fit considering soap. Could be super cool.

Clayworks - Ability to make stuff with clay.

Toolmaking - More tools such as stills, kilns, portable grills, roasting spits, etc.

Moonshine - Ability to brew really shitty, horrible tasting moonshine-style liquor without any clan affiliation.

Grains - Ability to forage grains in the wild and make into a coarse grain for those non-city goers.

Sea - Ability to forage Sea-specific foods with a Zalanthan twist. How terrifying do you think a Zalanthan mollusk would look and imagine eating it? The ink could be used for tons of different things and open up a lot of fun potential crafts like ink-making, dyes, paints, used in poisons, cures, etc.

Obsidian - Volcano... obsidian deposits... enough said?

Game - More balance in the animal kingdom. Some animals are just ridiculous to get to because they are picked off by other beasts. Example: Vestric.

Other:
- Echoes or NPCs for other documented animals in the world such as mice, rats, birds, desert owls, lizards crawling across the sand, insects flitting/buzzing by or stinging you.
- Echoes or NPCs of raider groups in the distance snaking through the dunes and disappearing behind one.
- Echoes or NPCs of muggings and thugs in sketchy parts of cities and outposts to deter the meek.
- Documentation fleshed out for some basic animals such as giving names to the half dozen pet birds available to differentiate rather than color. It might also deter players from using 'raven' if those black birds had some specific name that could then be used as a descriptor.

Last but not least - probably a code want... for some items or materials to have an adverse effect when worn/used by magickers. An example would be maybe salts having some anathema like reaction with Whirans so that if they wear a salt-ring, they might have a seriously hard time focusing on casting or if they pick up a chunk of salt out in the salt flats they might lose their invisibility. I read a series of books that had such natural oppositions with their magickers and it seemed really neat.

[Ender]

NPCS:

A gemstone buyer/seller in Tuluk
An armor repairer in Red Storm.

[RogueGunslinger]

There are stands in Allanak that only ever have 1 or two item in them, and seem completely useless (an ivory buttoned vest or something). Perhaps fleshing those out with items made from those houses, or replacing them all together with something else.


I'd wouldn't mind seeing a southern mount that could carry a half-giant. If we can't get inix then:

A silt-horror has arrived from the west, carrying the gigantic and obese male wearing a silt-hued facewrap.

[MeTekillot]

That asshole is smiling slyly because you know he's selling spice on the side to keep his tent that only sells a bust-ass bone vest for 1,000 coins.

[Bushranger]

Tuluk oriented clothing should be in cotton or sandcloth. and follow the guidelines for Tuluki Fashions.

Adhira I'm asking this here because the thread is locked in the submissions forum. There are no lengths of sandcloth available at all in Tuluk, no NPC sells it. The Tuluki fashion documentation lists cotton and linen as the northern standards for common clothing. Did you mean to say sandcloth for Tuluk? If so can lengths of sandcloth be added to one of the merchants?

NPCS:
A gemstone buyer/seller in Tuluk
An armor repairer in Red Storm.

I echo this sentiment. These would be great.

Also I think a call for submissions on crafts using materials gained through the "salvage" command would be excellent. Patchwork clothing and armor made from scraps of cloth and leather. Crude weapons and tools made from shards of bone, chitin and stone. Things for the poorest 'rinthi, beggars, dung sweepers and scavengers. The sort of items no master crafter wants to focus on in game.

[Adhira]

Sorry bushranger, yes cotton and linen (not sandcloth).

[Bushranger]

It's all good Adhira, thank you for the clarification. I'll have three items submitted by end of day!

[Patuk]

More culture documentation; the cities can come across as very bland in that regard. I may write some myself regardless and see what the gdb thinks.

I, too, like the idea of more shops being added.

The south still could do with a few critters more, since its wildlife really still is very sparse.

I dig the option for more regional crafts as well, but I'd like to add another idea to it: allow mastercrafts to become clan or region only, rather than making people choose between mastercrafts that either everyone can use or are one time only. When I have some elf cleverpy devise a stiletto or somesuch, he'd never share it with the world at large. Similarly, some mastercraft for a necklace with a dragon engraved to it shouldn't be something a northern crafter would quickly consider making.

[Beethoven]

Similarly, some mastercraft for a necklace with a dragon engraved to it shouldn't be something a northern crafter would quickly consider making.

On that token, I think that patriotic emblems should be more common in the South--I don't know what's available up north, nor do I play up there enough to know what would fit. I know there are places where you can get soldier statuettes and jade cross jewelry, but what about dragon figurines/idols, pendants, etc.? I'm talking in particular about items that seem like they could be used as prayer aids. Some could have more abstract symbols than others, like a pair of outstretched black wings, or a wicked black claw, or even a "golden" pinnacle. The idea of a portable dragon "idol" opens up some interesting RP avenues for particularly religious or patriotic characters, not to mention for those who would rather deface such items.

[LauraMars]

I think you can make crafts already that are clan locked but I don't know if region locking them is possible. (Unless it's a clan that only operates in one part of the world.)

I like the idea of charms and charm bracelets, tiernan added that code awhile ago and I have yet to see any charm bracelets in the game. Of course, I might be looking in the wrong places!

[bcw81]

Clothworking - Flags or blankets or what have you with city colors or emblems on them. More sexy hats. Those sandcloth hoods you can buy from Kadius are cool, but it would be awesome to see linen, and perhaps silk, cowls of the same variety.

Clubmaking - Please. Make more warhammers. Single handed warhammers able to crush through armor are awesome. It sucks that there are only about three in game that anyone ever sees.

More echoes for ecosystems. I think the Red Desert does this pretty well, but the scrublands, the salt flats, and a few other places just feel dead without echoes. Adding echoes to creatures in combat would also be awesome, but I'm not sure if it would be possible to make a one size fits all echo for them. Perhaps a single emote when they start to attack.

More echoes in the middle of the city streets. Everyone has seen those two dwarves fighting forever. Adding more to the list of echoes that come through when you're in the city would be awesome.

Shields - Kite shields, heater shields, hoplite shields that aren't made out of kank shell, scutum shields, coffin shields, wankel shields. Most of the shields in game are the generic round ones, from what I can tell. That's probably not fully correct, but their style in the sdesc would be cool.

Dying - Orange dye? If memory serves, there are a few generic colors that don't have dyes to them.

Bolts/crossbows - While it's been better for the past year, I still feel bolts and crossbows are lacking in variety.

Scabbards - Please. Please. Please. Let me have a goddamn leather scabbard, with no adornments. The only scabbards anyone can find right now are excessively expensive, ornate, Salarr only amazing. Amos the mercenary could surely do with a scabbard, or a strap to hang his warhammer on, but none exist in his pay range.

Alcohol - There are a few types out there, but it basically boils down to ale or wine when you go to a tavern. That's great and all, but what about mead? So far as I know, there's a single shop that sells mead, in a tankard, and it isn't even a tavern. Burbon? We had* brandy, but that seems to have gone the way of the dodo, perhaps a merchanting house took up the sale of that particular liquor? Rum?

[icewindsong]

Craftable Drinks - If there aren't any?  Drinks that people can make without specialized and immobile equipment (like a merchant house having giant vats and stills).  It doesn't take a lot of highly specialized equipment to make rum, or simple beer, ale and wine.  They could be bottled, and even labelled with I think its the scribble command?  Which also suggests craftable glass, tintable to different colors, to craft bottles and jugs, and perhaps jewellery.

Apart from those, non-alchoholic drinks.  Fruit juices, punch, yoghurts.  Soups?

It would also be interesting if high skill glass products could be put together for makeshift stills to make some alchohol products for drinking or incindiary purposes.  Maybe lamp fuel, volatile cleansers, accelerants?   With a chance your still can catch fire and explode as well, of course.

Honey.  If the kanks are gone, but there is still a limited supply of honey being produced, then there must be something else that makes honey.  Maybe it can become more prevalent, so we have honey to cook with?  A city could devote a huge warehouse to house and raise zalanthas deathwings - huge bees the size of a human head.  Workers to be given poison antidote with their pay, assuming they make it back to the entrance with some honey?

[Voular]

Just make submissions open.

In effect allow everyone to send in any description of an item/npc/texty thing they would like to see in the world. And just pick and chose. Give credit when something might be implemented that's not to spoilery. And then you'll have a big reservoir of npc descriptions/items and so on you can go pick and chose from when you need/feel in the mood.

/end of thread

[Barsook]

Clayworks - Ability to make stuff with clay.

I think that might require a hard coded still.

[FantasyWriter]

Sapient raider NPCs in the north and south, be they gith or races still open for play.
Gives combat-oriented clans something to do other than hunting or waiting on plots that may or may not provide them with contracts/badguys to kill.

Some ideas I had posted in an old thread, edited out the ones requiring code.

*A raider camp that spawns in random places[can be loaded by staff] which has roaming NPCs of varying combat abilities.  The camp itself is defended (also at varying levels of strength), and has a decent amount of loot to be reclaimed by those who wipe it out (tents/mounts/weapons/coins/plot items).  Once destroyed, staff can choose to drop another somewhere else if they wish.
....
*New resource deposit found in the north or south that the opposing team REALLY REALLY wants or needs.
  -Want to see Tuluk thrive? Find a reason to get people (characters, not players) from the rest of the world to come there (with or against the wishes of the powers that be) and Tuluki PCs popping in to either give them hugs or run them off!