COMMUNITY - FORUMS - GENERAL DISCUSSION
Technology or Power creep

Will technology be power creep. The way they have talked about technology were things like "research a metal that is better than another".

Personally one of the things that attracted me to the game, is like real life each thing has its own advantages.

EG: Hitting a persons body with a stone club isnt so different than hitting with a large hammer. In some ways the club is better as it may require less technique. A rusty sword is certainly worse for cutting than one newly forged but you still wouldnt want to be hit by one, and you have more chance of getting disease if you are hit by one. A rusty sword is still much more dangerous than fists but it has weight and isnt readily available.

Most swords today would be decent, but not amazingly since they are mass produced rather than built by skilled craftsmen. And more complex weapons are also more complex to repair. And there is also utility in weapons such axes, knifes and weaponised farming tools being multi purpose and also being cheap (less metal, more wood). Maybe it would be cool if in limited situations you could adopt a combat technique from farming etc to reflect the familiarity with the tool.

So I hope technology can work in creating differences in weapons etc. but not neccesarily a 100% better product. Historically weapons evolved primarily to counter other weapons and armour.


2/24/2017 6:49:27 AM #1

Typically defense is one step behind offence technologically... Basically. But offense as a defense will hold true here. The thing is about this game there WILL be a discrepancy between kingdoms like in real life who ever has the best technology will likely be the strongest, and the safest.

Power creep? if the game aims to be pseudo realistic. A bow is a bow, In real life a bow can kill just about as well, just not in range as a gun. I suspect that things will be some what similar from the murmurs I have listened to about this game.

2/24/2017 7:06:47 AM #2

Yeah I think if things are like reality then it should be fine. But if it is like other MMOs then it will be bad. So far most of what Ive heard sounds right to me. Cant really get much information about this kind of stuff till more comes out about how research will work. It confuses me a bit since it sounds like they plan for you to be able to research stuff that the Devs haven't even created in the game yet.


2/24/2017 6:38:30 PM #3

I agree with the principle that things should behave in some believable way. MMOs moving to items that just make you better at everything was bad.

That said, over time there should be a healthy dose of improvement, and some things are just better. The finest medieval plate armour is just flat out better than armour from early periods. Many weapons from older times would barely scratch it, and potentially be damaged by it.

A quality halberd wielded with well developed technique is certainly more deadly than a stone hammer picked up by someone who's never seen a weapon before (though as the OP points out, that's still potentially deadly to an unarmored human).

It's not always as simple as newer = better - a war bow in the hands of a skilled archer is a better weapon than early firearms in most regards. But that bow is itself the product of centuries of refinement as is the technique of the wielder.

So all in all yes I'd like to see the early items stay usable as they should. But advancement should still allow better things over time.


2/27/2017 2:48:56 AM #4

Here's the difference between power-creep and elyria's technology goal:

With a power creep, progress is tied to the individual. Everyone has to start at the bottom and work their way up individually.

With technology, progress is tied to society. If a blacksmith invents a new weapon, and doesn't keep it secret, a brand new blacksmith might be able to make it as well, without having to start from the most basic weapons.


2/27/2017 3:28:48 AM #5

Remember that technology will be researched in two main ways, by guild and by school. Where a guild may patent a technology a school will provide that information for free to better society. With patents there will be a cost and it will increase each time you renew it so given time it won't be worth the investment. This is smart and will release the technology to the public with time. Will technology offer an advantage, most likely, but technology will not be standing still and will march ahead be it delayed in some cases.


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2/27/2017 12:38:54 PM #6

Posted By Sullen at 04:28 AM - Mon Feb 27 2017

Remember that technology will be researched in two main ways, by guild and by school. Where a guild may patent a technology a school will provide that information for free to better society. With patents there will be a cost and it will increase each time you renew it so given time it won't be worth the investment. This is smart and will release the technology to the public with time. Will technology offer an advantage, most likely, but technology will not be standing still and will march ahead be it delayed in some cases.

In fact that is not totally true. technology will be researched by individuals be they members of a guild, a school or none.

What guild and school bring are crafting stations, eventually bonnuses and support/teaching.Then if a breakthru is made, if inside a guild, the guild will be the owner of the new discovery, if made in a school, the school will disclose it to the public, if made on your own, you own it and do with it as you please.


2/27/2017 2:56:49 PM #7

It has been stated that once something is discovered by someone, it has the increased likely hood of being discovered by someone else. So if i discover a new metal by combining certain types, I may be the only one to create it for a time being but other people doing research could discover it in a day/week/month time from that point.

When it comes to Markof's statement. Just because someone in a guild discovers something new, doesnt mean he/she has to share it with the rest of the guild.. Remember guilds in CoE aren't normal guilds. The person who makes the discovery is the one that knows the info and it is their choice to share it or not.


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2/27/2017 4:47:49 PM #8

Another thing i would curious about is if its possible for there to be lost technology. Eg. If i destroyed all recipes. Or are all recipes etc bound to an account and just always available for all the spirits you play with after the discovery?


2/28/2017 8:51:31 AM #9

Posted By Gunghoe at 10:49 PM - Thu Feb 23 2017

Power creep? if the game aims to be pseudo realistic. A bow is a bow, In real life a bow can kill just about as well, just not in range as a gun. I suspect that things will be some what similar from the murmurs I have listened to about this game.

It's funny people say that because if you look at real world technology, although you are right that a bow is a bow, a primitive "stone age" bow is absurdly less powerful than something like a modern composite bow. Not only are they more durable, have a stronger draw weight, lighter, easier to use, penetrate better..

Well.. okay actually the point makes itself pretty well. That doesn't just apply to bows either. Swords went the same way, swords used to be nothing more than glorified pounded metal and ended up as very easy to use, durable killing machines, and that advancement lasted right up through the renaisance. Guns should be an obvious, muskets were awful, you could miss someone standing right next to them.

Basically I foresee the same kind of technological improvements in CoE. If someone is in fancy steel armor they are probably going to not only be more well protected(less damage from weapons, less chance of bleeding or something) but they'll probably be able to move more fluidly than someone in an older but similar style of armor.

If you think about it though, game wise even a tiny improvement could be a big advantage. If the gameplay goes down to quick sword strikes and parrying I imagine a sword that you can swing 30% faster would greatly increase your chances of winning. You might be able to get a good hit on someone before they even have a chance to recover, kind of thing. So it might end up as "power creep" in some ways, without having to be as gamey as WoW or something.

A lot of things people think about real world technology is often a pretty big misconception, like people not being able to do anything but waddle along in steel armor because it weighed ten tons. It often weighed less than soldiers carry in to battle in modern times with how heavy firearms are and all their support equipment.