Greetings Friends!
I’ve compiled a list of the Q&A from the recent Soulbound Studios ‘Ask Me Anything’ on Reddit on May 27th. Hope this helps answer some more of the community’s questions! Questions are in no particular order.
Q:
One thing some friends and I have been wondering, will we be able to not only hire npcs, but be able to direct them with commands? For instance, if I was a duke, would I be able to have my npc guards follow me around?
A:
You will definitely be able to issue the NPC commands. However, NPCs in CoE have attitudes and personalities. Depending on the situation they may or may not listen to you. For example, you won't be able to just click and tell someone to "move here". It's more of a "hey, can you go to this location and await my next instruction?" To which they may respond with "Sure!" or it could be "I've got better things to do than sit and wait around." The better your frame and reputation with the NPC, the more likely they are to do as you ask.
Q:
The number one criticism I've seen about COE is the deadline, what makes you confident you can hit what so many consider a short turn-a-round?
A:
The answer has to do with my specific development paradigm, which is to develop features as thin, vertical strips. Or as I like to say, we implement our features as "rope bridges", that is, the minimally functional version of something that allows us to test and validate the integrity of our designs and systems.
As an example, we need to be able to walk around in the world in order to test many of the features in the game. We could have spent time getting the male and female models rigged, animated, and equipment made for them, however we only did the male. The female has been modeled, but she remains unrigged and unanimated. We did this because we didn't need her to test the animation system, combat, etc.
By implementing only what's necessary to test our assumptions, it allows us to tackle the hard problems early in development, rather than at the end. Then, once we know we have working solutions for all the tough problems, we can go back in a stress-free, confident way and flesh out the systems we've already laid down with more content.
So I guess the short answer is, by doing all the hard stuff at the beginning.
Q:
Since the game will have different biomes and cultures from the start, does that mean we will be able to build different themed houses and craft different themed clothing / armor too? Like Arabic looking stuff in the desert, or eastern looking stuff around Asian influenced regions?
A:
Of course! Different blueprints/designs require different materials to construct. Those materials, ie. clay, timber, stone, etc... define the look of the buildings. Similarly, the animals and plants in an area will allow you to construct clothing that's conducive to the environment. Sheep, wolf, fur, cotton, etc. So wherever you go, the characters and buildings should look like they belong there.
Q:
There have been some questions, comments, and concerns about the studio's server and networking tech and staff experience being able to support such an ambitious game. Destructible environments, fully action-oriented combat, no instancing, etc. What makes you confident in being able to make such a game, especially since something of that level of technical complexity has been avoided even by large MMORPG development studios to this point?
A:
There's two answers to this question. First, I (the CEO), spent the last several years building scalable, distributed, service-oriented architectures for Microsoft. During that time I came up with an architecture which I believe works really well when applied to games. Part of the secret is the use of .NET for our back-end, which allows us to create new processes that do the things we need them to do very quickly. Interaction with web services, databases, etc. is readily accessible and with cloud APIs like AWS and Google Cloud, it's possible to easily scale up the processes managing our world dynamically.
The second answer is, we're leveraging as much middleware as we possibly can. We don't believe in re-inventing the wheel, and where others have made progress and have license-able technology available, we'll be looking to leverage that.
Q:
When do you anticipate (or want) pre-Alpha/Alpha testing to start? How long do you expect to run Alpha testing? Same questions for Beta.
I know exposition is 3 months prior to game launch but at current plan (end 2017/early 2018) with a game of this size, it seems extremely optimistic to only have ~6 months each for Alpha & Beta testing at that timeline.
A:
We want pre-alpha (Alpha 1) testing to be as early as possible. The sooner we get feedback from players, the more time we have to make sure their feedback is addressed. We're hoping to have Alpha 1 available as early as Q1 2017, with Beta beginning in the summer.
As for how optimistic it is, I spent the better part of the last 5 years developing automated test infrastructure for Microsoft. The plan is over this summer to roll out a similar system of automated testing so we catch a lot of the more common issues way in advance, and not have to rely on live testing to discover.
Q:
What are the mechanics of exiting or transferring vassalage from one's leige?
Is a secessionist county obligated to join a neighboring friendly duchy?
Can a duchy declare independence and become a Kingdom of one duchy?
Can two or three duchies seceed, merge and start their own archduchy?
Can independent entities of the county and duchy size exist, and would they get their own "kingdom" interface?
A:
Transferring vassalage, or really transferring anything in CoE is done through a contract. A county that secedes from its current county becomes a new county under the same duchy. To become a duchy of their own, they must secede from the duchy as well. And so on. To be declared an independent Kingdom, you'd have to potentially overcome the military force of the entire Kingdom. It's do-able, but as in our world, difficult. We don't want hundreds of kingdoms popping up every day. Finally, two or three duchies seceding from their current kingdom would form a new kingdom.
Currently it's not possible for an independent "city-state" the size of a county to exist as its own "kingdom." However, it's something we'll probably introduce as the in-game story continues.
Q:
How easy/hard will it be to acquire tools and workstations of various trades? Will I be able to use my own crafting skills in other professions to help me craft what I need to get started in another profession and will I need to get a pattern or recipe for the tools?
How does the parcel of land that you receive when you get a T2 or T3 profession kit work? Do you get to claim some land for free within the bounds of a settlement or is usable for claiming land in the wilderness as your own? Does this advance your social class at all?
I am considering buying and combining several of the prebuilt IP commercial/residential buildings, can I turn this into a guild hall for me and my friends in some official capacity or do we just use it like that? Can guilds be created by anyone anytime or do you have to register them somewhere?
What sort of things should I expect from the tinkerer profession? Is this primarily for interactions between other professions or a specific profession in its own right?
A:
It's fairly easy to purchase crafting stations from people who build them. And you can certainly use your crafting skills in carpentry, smithing, etc. to create your own crafting stations for your other interests - or create crafting stations to sell. To construct a crafting station for the first time you'll need to have developed sufficient skill and learned how either through observing others, reading a pattern, etc.
The parcel of land you get from the T2 or T3 profession kit can be used to claim any unclaimed land. This will generally be outside of a settlement, as land in a settlement had to belong to someone to become part of a settlement.
To be a proper Guild Hall requires a specific workstation to allow you to manage your guild. However, you can construct the building however you like, including purchasing several building types and then combing them with the construct of additional rooms between them.
Tinkerer profession is mostly for mechanical things, ie, things that require gears and wheels.
Q:
When you claim the land outside of settlements does it then follow the standard rules for land ownership/management?
Will you still have to pay taxes or some form of land rental if its close enough to someones settlement?
Does owning this land elevate your social status at all or are you still a good old peasant if land is acquired this way?
A:
All land is within a Kingdom, Duchy, and County even if it is outside of a town or stronghold. So when you acquire land it must be from the Count who presides over that land. Note that the Count does not initially OWN all of the land, but is still the manager for creating purchase contracts. So, yes, you'd need to pay taxes to the Count upon acquiring land.
Q:
I know it is a focus to make this game accessible for those of us with families and work, etc. So with day seasons and night day cycles, how will people with limited play time ensure that they are able to play during daylight hours? I am worried that crops won't get planted because with limited play time I'll somehow managed to login and have it be dark. Will the cycles be regular (9 am pdt is always daylight)? Or will it slowly change?
Also will livestock be the typical chicken, cow, etc, or game specific?
A:
The day night cycle is 1.5 hour of day, and 1.0 hour of night. We made sure it was 2.5 hours instead of a multiple of 24, so that each day if you log in at the same time it'll be a different time of day.
As for the seasons being a day, this is one of those concerns that keeps coming up. Seasons being a day is a great starting point for us, as it works well with the survival system, it means farmers have something to do every day, and it also means that the bad stuff "like being stuck in a snowy environment" doesn't last for days at a time.
But, this continues to be one of those systems that will require a good amount of play testing. Mechanically speaking, it's very easy to change the rate at which seasons change. We'll just have to wait until Alpha 1, get feedback from players, and then make updates as necessary.
There will be typical livestock, as well a Elyria-specific livestock.
Q:
As a count, who also would have a baroney, would I need to use my IP initially to purchase buildings? Or can I use property that already exists in the Town/Village etc. that I've chosen? By property that exists I mean buildings specifically that exist in the pre-formed "town".
A:
For both your County (via Count title) and Town/Stronghold (via Baron/Mayor title), you'll get to choose some of the pre-developed parcels of land within your domain as your own. Those parcels of land could be ones within towns which already contained buildings such as houses or crafting stations. From there you could use your IP to purchase other buildings, more land, resources, animals, etc. You could also use it to modify the buildings that are on your chosen land, to add rooms or floors, change the materials, etc.
Q:
My questions:
Do you have an idea what the ratio of player to (human) non-player characters will be?
You stated in a Dev Journal that on a continent there could be up to 200k people on one continent. Could there be multiple continents per server?
What are your plans for very high interest from players in your game? Do you introduce new continents to the existing server or do you add new servers? If you add new servers do they get the same exposition phase the original server had or are you copying geography/history from the original server?
For Kickstarter backers you are offering the option to purchase an extra copy of the game. Are these extra copies a cheaper version of the pledge for $35 or do these copies get the same access as the original purchasing account (as in acccess to Alpha, Beta, Exposition phase)?
A:
Answers -
We plan to seed the world with 100K characters per server, so the ratio will really depend on how many humans join the game. We imagine at the start it will be closer to 30K humans and 70K NPCs, but that will change over time.
I think the max we've ever mentioned was 100K per server. Right now each server is a single continent, but we will consider multiple continents per server.
If we end up taking up all the 100K spots with players, we'll create new servers for new players.
The extra copy of the game as a Kickstarter Add-on is just a basic game without any additional access levels. If you want a second copy with access, you'd need to back with a 2nd Kickstarter account because of the way KS works.
Q:
We have a heard your ideas about the "punishment system" ingame, like warrants, prison time and higher death-lifeloss penalties for PKer etc. Things that will work if the player cares about his char, the reputation, if he is kicked out of cities or the money he has to spent.
But what about Griefers who don't care if they waste a character. How are you going to handle them and the damage they might do, especially if the damage is done to the economy (Exploiter using early bugs)?
A:
It is certainly a factor we'll have to balance out. We have a pretty good min/maxer with some griefing tendencies on staff to help us with that during Alpha/Beta. We know that this is really key to a fun game, so expect us to put a lot of work into this.
As you mention, we have the real world financial penalties. Secondarily you can be blacklisted from cities/Counties/Duchies/Kingdoms based on your reputation. So you could basically get shut out of interaction and places where you can cause the most damage. We also know there are several guilds and organizations already forming which have the intention of hunting down those types of people, so there's that part too.
Q:
Will it be possible to hold multiple same rank titles such as 3 counts or 2 kings for example. How would it work?
Will we be able to mark our exact location somehow (when we happen about a nice location in the wilderness) to be able to find the exact plot to Buy at the county table?
A:
Answers -
Yes. you could marry someone of the same title rank and consolidate the Counties with your children. Or you could use Casus Belli to invade and conquer someone of your same rank, thus also consolidating the 2 titles together.
That goes back to the cartography & navigation system. Two things will impact your ability to pinpoint your location - the quality of the map and your skill in navigation. So don't buy a map from just anyone on the street, and learn how to use a compass, and you should be pretty good.
Q:
If people have IP but aren't going to participate in the 3 month exposition, will there be a system where they can buy items before it gets converted to SP?
A:
IP is specifically for using during exposition. At the end of exposition, just before the game launches, all remaining IP will be converted to SP. We'll give people plenty of notice of when that will occur.
Q:
Only those who've pledged at 120 or more can be in the exposition. Doesn't this mean that those under that pledge level shouldn't bother with upgrading or contributing more in order to get more IP?
A:
You will be able to earn your way into Exposition by having enough IP. Right now that sits at around 1K IP, however we hope to get everyone with at least 100 IP into Exposition with a rolling start so that they can use their IP that they've earned or bought.
Q:
I was wondering what kind of post-launch support should we expect? Will the game continue to get content/feature updates regularly or will we be left to our open world with most patches being focused on bugs/exploits? Do you have an explicit plan for this or are you waiting to see what parts of the game need some love the most?
Thank you for doing this.
A:
Right now one of the business models that is growing in popularity is the "Buy to Play" mode, similar to GW2 where you buy a game and/or expansion, and then play for free. We really like this system, but the problem is it encourages the developers to hold onto features and new content until the next Expansion, so they have something to charge for.
We use a B2P model where people buy Sparks of Life instead of expansions, specifically so we can detach the rate at which we release new content from the money. So yes, you will continuously get new content from the moment of launch until we end the game. This will come in the form of new story arcs, more and more capable and intelligent NPCs, new technology being introduced in the world such as mechanical things, and things which require a power source.
Q:
Will we get to see your engine/server tech in action before the end of the Kickstarter?
What is the biggest test (players/bots/either or both) you have ran on it internally?
Are you confident you can attract developers when other inde studios have struggled with that? If so how?
Are you using voxel tech or something else for building and destruction?
What is the big announcement that has been rumored?
A:
We'll be revealing more about our engine / server tech next week. As for seeing it an action? That's hard to say. It's difficult to demonstrate a lot of what's happening on the back-end when the client functionality isn't there yet to demonstrate. But, we will be answering peoples' questions about the tech.
Yes, we're confident we can attract other developers. Our team is primarily built up of people who have worked together over the years, and we'll continue to be bringing on people we know that are excited about our project. We will be doing hiring as well, but where we're located, Bellevue, WA is a hot-spot for development right now, especially MMOs.
We are not using voxen tech currently for building and destruction. We're using component-based construction with destructible elements. However, we've been looking at a few pieces of voxel-based middleware, so that could change this summer.
The big announcement that has been rumored, is rumored to be announced early next week. ;-)
Q:
Questions –
1.) When can we expect to see a finalized layout of world/kingdom layouts?
2.) Can kingdoms EXPAND into other kingdoms or are borders permanently set?
3.) What are your thoughts on player controlled banking?
4.) How hard will it be to grow a city/county with just NPC's until more players join a county?
A:
Answers –
While this might change based on feedback, we were planning to have a finalized version of the world map available near Beta 2 and Exposition. The amount of alliances forming so quickly now, may require that earlier.
Yes, borders at any level can expand.
We think player controlled banking is a fantastic idea. That's the kind of meta that the contract system was developed for. Imagine a group of people deciding to rob that bank, and the conflict that would ensue. That being said, we also think many people will choose to store their wealth themselves, thus creating intricate player run dungeons.
It depends what your ultimate goal is. If you want to run a city with NPCs, that would be possible. If you're talking about growing it, that might prove more difficult. You'd have to buy all the land and build out houses and commercial buildings, plus the roads to the town, to draw in more NPCs.
Q:
What kind of server test have been performed to validate the idea of fully destructible environment even being possible?
It is common for even single player games to have the save file (aka the world) to take longer and longer to load to due to change state. Given there will be more and more objects to keep up with.
A:
The main complication with the destructible environment is the need to update all the clients with the new state. However, the way we maintain state makes it so there's very little data that actually needs to be transferred to the client when a building is removed/destroyed. The animations, etc. are all handled on the client, and aside from any large, physical objects which get spawned and added to the physics system, it's relatively in expensive to destroy stuff.
As for the world file taking longer to load, we use streaming technology to make sure you only have to load the stuff immediately around you. So regardless of what's happening a county away, your load times should be consistent.
Q:
This Question is for Brandon Carpenter -- Recently, DM21 Gaming has led a campaign to make you famous. What have you, specifically, contributed to Chronicles of Elyria (so that we may make a meme of it)?
Further -- With everything being so innovative with CoE, can you speak to the ways in which you innovate in Character Animations, and Art, to make CoE the best game it can be?
A:
Ummm...Brandon actually ended up being out of the office today (I need to edit the original post), but I will definitely pass that along to him.
Brandon is definitely famous in the office for getting shot in the eye with our Nerf darts. He was the first casualty of war and had to see the eye doctor to deal with swelling in his retina. We're a very dangerous place to work apparently, so now he (and several others at SBS) wear protective glasses during our wars. Beyond that Brandon has been responsible for the cloth physics, body dynamics, character movement, and thus has starred at a whole lot of naked character butts in UE4.
Q:
With many online games dominated by the type of gamer simply interested in ruining other peoples days, what steps are you going to take to prevent hordes of basic tier players from becoming the rampaging hordes of murderers and looters that you see in other sandbox games? I understand your proposed jail system and its effect on character longevity...but unless this is VERY strict..like 3-4 murder violations and the character goes POOF! strict requiring the player to re-up another $30, I do not see it as being an adequate enough deterrent to prevent the type of behavior many of us are concerned about...especially with our characters and hard earned property persisting in-game even when we are logged out. Please elaborate on how you plan to reduce rampant murder and destruction, and shouldn't crimes against the aristocracy and nobility carry stiffer penalties...just like they do in reality...they have the most to lose and set the laws and punishments...do they not?
A:
Our system of preventing griefing isn't a single solution system. It's many systems combined. In response to "basic tier players", combat in CoE is skill based, not (just) number based. So in order to become that rampaging horde of murderers, you also need to be a good horde of murdering players. Otherwise, you're just going to get slaughtered a lot.
Second, as you pointed out, when someone dies, there's a 2.5 hour lock on their spirit loss. So they can only lose 2 days of play-time per 2.5 hours. However, there's no cap on spirit loss for committing crimes. So if you kill someone 3 times in a 2.5 hour period of time, and are caught, you'll suffer at a minimum 6 days of spirit loss to their 2.5, and again, that's assuming you could beat them to begin with.
Next, this is a survival game. People need to eat, drink, etc.. or become fatigued. So being out in the wild is a time-limited thing. But if you become known as a griefer, that is, if you develop a very negative in-game reputation, people will simply refuse to let you into their settlements. Now you're stuck in the wild with no food, no water, and no support structure. That will quickly make the game un-enjoyable.
Also, "re-up'ing" the $30 happens when your character has reached their max lifetime. This starts at around 12 months (354 days) and goes down each time you die by 2 days (capped to once within a 2.5 hour) period of time. So in most cases, even getting killed a couple times won't have a noticeable impact overall.
And yes, the punishment for a crime is related to the spirit loss of the person whom you wronged. If you kill a King for example, and then are caught and sentenced, you'd lose the same (or more) play-time as they would. The punishment for killing a king and being captured and sentenced is roughly two months of game time. So criminals must be either very clever, or very brave.
Q:
Will cartographers be able to make our own stamps or even draw free hand to create unique maps? This is so that even if a thief takes your precious map he still needs to know your symbols, this is also to grow the usages of maps over the extent implemented by you guys.
Second question:
Will we be able to make maps on the fly or do we need some kind of special workbench. If we can make them in the wild will this reduce the quality of the map made?
Third question:
Will tents be a thing and do you haft to be at a tavern or other house when you log off to be able to survive?
A:
Answers –
For creating maps, we need character skill to play into map quality in addition to player skill, so freehand wouldn't allow that (you could simply trace a printed map). You will be able to create your own stamp (for example, if you wanted to mark a well, but no stamp is currently available). As for the thief, they'd need certain cartography or forgery skill to be able to copy your map.
You can take notes and do some stamping in the wild, but can't actually draw the map and lay of the land until you're back at your crafting station.
Yes, tents will be a thing. You can survive as an OPC in the wild, but you need enough food & water to do so, and we'd recommend guards as added protection.
Q:
Will counts be able to restrict access to the property table to prevent people from taking advantage of adverse possession, and what other consequences will that entail? What are good games to practice combat for COE? Thank you for your time.
A:
No, you can't restrict access to the Land Management Table. For parcels of land that are unowned, the Count can limit the number of parcels available for sale. For parcels that are abandoned (28 days without the owner or family on the land), the Count would get first right of ownership, which they could use to either help the people gain their property back or could decide to develop the land for themselves. Then the land would automatically go to the Land Management Table so that people could choose to use Adverse Possession. But even then the Count could help or hinder that process.
The responsiveness and ability to respond to combat moves would come from fighting games. As far as mechanics, Dark Souls or Bloodborn.
Q:
Are you guys having second thoughts on the one day one season [edit] cycle or are you confident it will work well?
A:
We feel pretty confident that one day, one season will work. However, we're not tied to it. We wholly expect during Alpha 1 to get player feedback one way or the other, and will use that to make decisions going forward. It's possible that variable length seasons or longer seasons could occur, but it would require enough feedback that feel it's worth re-balancing all the related mechanics the are associated with seasons.
Q:
So, when we discover new, uncharted lands (on this continent or another) will there be indigenous NPC/players for us to communicate with?
A:
Possibly, or there might be no one at all. There will definitely be NPCs who hold towns where no player has been, particularly since the world is so large - it will take 48 real-world hours to walk across the continent.
Q:
A few question :
I believe in a previous Q&A it was said talents wouldn't appear in the first 3 months, if that was correct when can we expect them to begin manifesting?
About building, When erecting a new shop, home, hideout, etc what will all of this require, I assuming the blueprints will we be done by an architect will we need to hire carpenters, masons, and the like to actually construct the buildings? Also dealing with the ip buildings will it just be blueprints and you have to build it, or will you get to place it and it already be built?
We've heard of and seen of a few creatures in the game can we get any hints or sneak peaks on more?
the player pets such as the Leffit, will these have a purpose or are they just for looks?
When it comes to warfare and armies will there be npcs you can hire or raise from your npc families or will they just be of player chars?
When the topic of natural disasters came up what kind of them could be experienced Tornadoes, Hurricane, flooding, tidal waves, earthquakes, maybe even a zombie apocalypse?
A:
Answers –
We haven't talked about this further, so I'm going to stick with the 3 month timeline. Talents will be rare and only added as needed in the story.
When you add a new building in-game (not with IP purchases), you will need blueprints from architects and manual labor for building. Whether that is yourself and friends or a skilled laborer, we're not sure. You will also need the resources to build the item (wood or stone, windows, doors, etc.).
I think we've already released all of the chimera creatures that we've created: Canis Rabbit, Trison, Ursaphant,Leffit, Conifer Rat.
Each pet will have an impact on your stats and skills.
You can hire NPCs for your army, but depending on pay, they can always refuse.
Natural disasters at this point are just a concept, so we don't have any hard yes or no on any particulars.
Q:
My question is will we have the option of being able to smith/craft mount and pet/follower armor? I saw the War Trison and it looks fully decked out in armor which appears to have come from a gifted blacksmith.
Follow up question, How customizable will armor be? Could we add like golden tips to armor spikes or will all crafted armor look the same?
A:
Yes for mount armor. We haven't discussed armor for pets yet.
We really need to release more info on armor customization since we have such a great system here. Our goal with blacksmithing (and all crafting really) is to be able to make things unique. Not only will you have to size it for the character you're creating (and people can size out of their armor), but you will be able to change individual components. Yes, you can decorate sections with spikes or jewels. We also have a layering system so you can be wearing a padded piece under your breast plate. Likewise, if you're wearing a ring you won't be able to equip your gauntlets, but you could do so over leather gloves.
Q:
Any ETA on when the alpha 1 will start? When will we get to learn more about the lore?
A:
Alpha 1 will start as soon as possible. Ideally Q1 2017, but we'll know more as time goes on.
As for lore, we will be releasing more and more lore beginning soon. I'm even planning a Kickstarter Update next week that introduces players to some of the lore. Also, Heat (Eddie Smith) has begun working on some concept art of the different gods, etc.. to share with people. Including some we think will really excite people.
Q:
Will groups of friends that pledge to be Barons together be able to combine their towns and forts into one location so they are able to play together?
A:
Friends who pledge at the baron level to govern settlements together won't be able to combine their towns/forts into one location.
During settlement selection the mayors and barons will get to select the pre-established settlements to take control of, and then take over management of that settlement from there, including adding new buildings, etc.
We aren't planning to have settlements close enough together that you could easily build them into a single settlement during Exposition. Though, doing so isn't impossible, and as long as the contracts are in place, you could combine your towns and create a city if that were to occur.
Q:
If you marry someone of the same gender and get a child contract, will the have different genes if so will you be able to choose the genes?
A:
As you state, you can absolutely marry someone of the same gender. However, just like IRL, babies in Elyria are born from opposite gender parents. So you'll need to seek an opposite gender player or NPC willing to enter into a Child Contract with you, and their genes would play into the child's genetics.
Q:
Could other players join as part of an existing family without having to be children of the current main player. I mean, could they be brothers, cousins, without title inheritance?
If so, to what extent? Could we have let's say 5, 10, 20 players join?
A:
We recognize there are lots of groups out there that wont to role-play larger families. During exposition people will have the opportunity to join as extended members of the family by becoming NTCs. It's also possible for players to join families as siblings, etc.
As for 5, 10, 20.... a single family is limited by the physical size of its noble house. But get the houses large enough, and be willing to extend to cousins, etc.. and it should be possible.
Q:
I read that it's possible to sale or lease land, will that be the same with homes and inns?
Will scripting your player to craft as an OPC give you the same amount as skill leveling as it would do without OPC?
How far will the game evolve in age?
When will be the testing phase?
How many duchys to a kingdom?
A:
Yes! Inns, etc. are very important, as is simply controlling access to rooms in guild halls, etc. Players will be able to specify which rooms people can access and rent their rooms for the night.
No. OPCs can only craft things which are considered no longer challenging for you. Ie. you wouldn't advance in skill from crafting it.
We have no idea how far it will evolve, however as an estimate, the game is planned for a 10-year story, which each real-life year being about 90 years. So consider it's roughly 900 years worth of advancement. While Elyria isn't Earth, and technology will develop at a different rate, it's at least one measure to go by.
Testing will come in various phases. Read over the AMA as we've talked a few times about when Alpha will be.
The number of duchies to a kingdom is random, based on geography size and some RNG'ing, but the average is 8 duchies to kingdom, with the range being somewhere between 4 and 10 (weighted on the high side).
Q:
The IP Profession Kits (tier 3) come with a wood building (crafting station and building). can we upgrade these to stone or add a level to these like the commercial buildings?
A:
Yes. The Profession Kit tier 3 building is just a small wood building from the commercial buildings list. So you can upgrade with IP to add a floor or improve the material.
Q:
To what extent do you plan to allow us to 'script' our character's actions when we are offline?
Do you have any kind plans for two factor authentication for our accounts?
A:
Yes, we'll provide options for 2-factor authentication. It would be kind of stupid not to!
Our goal with scripting for offline player characters (OPCs) is to allow you to do basic tasks such as:
Survival - eating, drinking, staying warm, sleeping
Defense - fighting back, running away, staying hidden
Skills & Crafting - training, practicing, and learning skills + crafting
General - movement, running a shop, taking care of animals, etc.
Q:
Will Kings, Dukes, and Counts be given a password of some sort so that trusted allies can settle into their respective lands or will random people be able to claim territory without permission?
A:
We're going to have to work that out. I know there is a great conversation about that happening on the CoE forums right now. Our original intention was to allow people to create alliances, but given the limitation of the number of Duchies per Kingdom, we have some concerns about people creating an alliance that is too big for their potential Kingdom, especially since the number of Duchies varies. We need to figure out the right balance of encouraging alliances and also creating a natural amount of conflict in the world from the start.
Q:
First simple question to come to mind. Will you allow players to coup their NPC noble during Exposition?
Second question, how are you going to keep players (esp nobility) from making themselves virtually unkillable? E.g, locking themselves in a small room when offline with no windows, and 20 soldiers paid to stand right next to them?
A:
Exposition will come in three phases. Phase one there won't be any combat that's not mutually agreed upon (dueling). In the second phase there will be combat, but no coup de grace and no Casus Belli's. In the first phase, we allow the players to do as they will, even attempt to overthrow their NPC overlords.
We have no plans to prevent the players from making themselves virtually unkillable. That creates the challenge for those people who want to kill them. It becomes a game of chess. Can players find the right time to assassinate their targets? We feel that locking their NPCs into a small room with no windows and with 20 paid soldiers sound like a great puzzle to solve, and also means the OPC isn't doing anything beneficial while offline.
Q:
Will King be purchasable after the KS? Will there be land that isn't a part of a Kingdom?
A:
King will be purchasable after KS via our on-website payment system. Also, keep in mind that the real currency is Influence Points. We want to reward people for helping to make the game successful, regardless of how they do that. Those that work hard to share news of the game, provide support on the website, etc. will earn IP to make purchases with.
Is it possible to raise 100k IP to become King? Yes. But it would be extremely difficult. But, becoming a Mayor/Baron or something is well within the realm of possibility if you're willing to put in the time and effort.
Q:
COE has broad appeal but am I correct that you seem to especially be focusing on the Role Play, Pen and Paper and MUD players?
Can you tell us anything about Dragons in COE?
Which feature in COE do you feel creates the most emergent content?
Do you plan to license your engine to other studios?
A:
We're targeting an older audience with CoE, and indeed our analytics suggest we're most popular with the 25 to 40 year old audience. That audience tends to have an interest in RP, P&P, and old text-based RPGs. So while we're not specifically focusing on those players, we are making a game we'd want to play, and we like those things, so it stands to reason we'd attract that audience.
Dragons? Never heard of them.
We feel the contract system creates the most emergent content. Letting players define their relationships with others, create their own jobs and professions, and write their own laws will result in things being created we never imaged.
Yes. We plan to license parts of our engine to other studios at some point.
Q:
Other than funding, how all can I help support this project?
A:
There's the obvious - tell people about the project, whether that's IRL or on social media. Remember that you can earn Influence Points (IP) for doing so if they use your CoE friend code. We really want to reward people who are excited about the game enough to tell others.
Q:
Question: How much realism is being placed into combat? If I sustained a wound what would take my leg off, would a tinkerer be able to give me a prosthetic limb (for example)? Or I will be able to drink a bottle of red goop and make everything better in the middle of the fight?
Question: How much home and property value is being placed into COE? If I have a home on a beautiful beach in the middle of busy capital city, will the value be higher than a home in a small village in no-wheres-ville? With this in mind, can I build several homes and become a real estate mogul (not just selling land)?
Question: Will Coffee be in COE? If not, you shame Washington State as a whole and all descendants living outside her borders…please represent us well.
Question: Reference crafters being a player talent driven system. If I have no real-life artistic drawing ability, will I still be able to be an Artist in CoE or would that be a pipedream?
A:
Answers –
For combat we want there to be targeted shots & wounds to certain areas of the body. These will have an effect on the amount of damage inflicted. We won't have amputations (causes problems with the character mesh), but there will be limping and such which can be target healed.
Property values that fluctuate by location will be dependent on players, not us as devs, since they'll be the ones re-selling land/houses.
Yes, coffee is totally a thing, as is alcohol given how much I like a good rum.
All character skills do require player skills, but not as a 1:1 relationship. We use Skill Challenges to test for things like speed and accuracy. So, yes, you could be an artist in Elyria.
Q:
Will you be able to kill player's children? I ask for two reasons. If you had a CB, then killed off all of that nobles children, then assassinated them (made their character actually die), would you immediately get their title?
Also, children killing may make CoE rated for a more 'mature' audience (not that I really care).
A:
First, your heir doesn't appear in the world until you reach permadeath, so a person's title can't be taken away in this way.
Second, there will be NPC children in the world starting at age 9. Those children cannot be targeted, nor can they attack. As for player characters entering the world at 13 (Wards) until 15, these characters can't be coup de graced or do that to others. These characters can be incapacitated, but not 'killed.' This provides some learning period for the game and handles some of the 'mature audience' concerns.
Q:
I understand the mature content issue, but not being able to see your heir until permadeath? I'm not sure I understand how this works.
If I choose to make my heir my friend who's already in the game, surely that person will be there.
Also, how does this work for adopting children?
A:
I meant your heir if a child. When you have a child you can assign them as your heir, and thus they are kept out of the world until you play that character. That was done so that you could get the full value out of your new character rather than having to start with them at age 40+, which is what it would be if you had a kid at 30 and then didn't reach permadeath until 70.
If you choose a friend as your heir, then, yes, they are already there in the world.
We don't have adoption at this point because it causes problems with people choosing to be a Ward to get the min/max customizations, but then being able to join a family and get those benefits as well.
Q:
Mac/Linux/VR support is a stretch goal that is pretty far out. How large of a base do you guys calculate would be attracted to CoE based on support for those platforms?
Would your VR support be after launch or at launch? While Unreal does have VR plugins I wonder if locomotion and systems like that need to be taken into account to make CoE a truly immersive MMO experience we think it can be!
A:
We know there are a growing number of Mac users and some Linux users who are interested in the game, and we will grant them access to the game at some point. It's just a question of whether it'll happen at launch or not. The Mac/Linux/VR support is fairly far out, but we don't feel like any of the stretch goals are so far out they won't be achievable before launch.
We think it's naive to assume all we need to do to add VR support to the game is to enable the plugins. The reason we set it as a stretch goal instead of just adding it by default to account for any modifications that need to be made to support that perspective. However, given that we do already plan for 1st person, it shouldn't be too difficult.
Q:
What will keep a group of powergamers from being unstoppable (like cornering the resource market, or stealing from newbies)?
My other question is how crafting and minigames will work - if I really want to craft swords, but I suck at the associated minigames, am I out of luck?
A:
To answer your first question, nothing initially. CoE is a skill-based game that grants players the ability have infinite jobs/professions based solely on their imagination and the contracts they create. Having players or groups of player corner a market resource creates interesting challenges for other players and is really what the game is all about. With 10's of thousands of players, however, if something gets out of hand, there's systems in place to allow players to overcome those challenges.
And if all else fails, the story engine can always drop in plot hooks that encourage players to intervene in things that are going too far.
Crafting "mini-games" are undergoing revisions right now. We used the term "mini-game" early on and quickly changed to "Skill Challenge." But even still, what we're really trying to create are user experiences where crafting a sword feels like crafting a sword.
As a result, it requires a degree of player skill. That's always been the objective. So if you (hypothetically) really sucked at black smithing, you'd be less effective at it than someone else who didn't.
Q:
A couple questions related to there being multiple servers and how different they will be from one another.
1a) With the continents being procedurally generated are the starting continents for each server going to be different or will there only be one continent created that all servers use?
1b) I imagine the answer to this ties in with the answer to 1a but will each server have it's own exposition? or will there be a single exposition that each server will start the game with?
2) Since technology discovery will be player driven then will each server progress their technology separately or when someone discovers a technology will it get sent to the other servers as well (NPC discovering it on other servers)
3) Now the question I'm most interested in? Since the goal is to have the story be player driven, how flexible/branching is the overall 10yr main story going to be? After 5 years (half the main story) of time have passed will I be able to look at each server and see a completely different story with similar highlights? or will I see the same story on each server with slightly different outcomes that don't greatly impact the next part of the story when compared to different outcomes?
A:
1a) Each server will have a different starting continent.
1b) Exposition will start for all servers that are available at launch at the same time. If we're fortunate enough to need to add servers post-launch, we'll likely use another world as a seed and then let players migrate from one server to another, halving the population and allowing both servers to continue independently of one another.
2) Each server will progress through their own technological discoveries. Discovery of something on one server doesn't make it available on other servers.
3) That's a great question. As the number of servers will likely be small, we anticipate that each server will completely different, with similar highlights. Of course, it largely depends on the decisions of the servers. If they follow a similar route, as human-nature dictates, then the servers could look more alike than we imagine. But the important thing I think you're looking for here is, the potential for difference is there.
Q:
Can you designate a non-related character as your heir? I believe I have read that if you marry an NPC you would not be able to have children with them. Could you then start your next life as a Ward to whom you will pass your previous character's land and worldly possessions?
If you marry an NPC Baron/Count/Duke and are not able to have children with them, does the lineage end when your character dies of old age before their NPC spouse? If the NPC spouse predeceases your character do you automatically inherit all land and titles and would be able to re-marry and produce offspring?
A:
You can choose an unrelated character as your inheritor for wealth, possessions, land, and titles. However it needs to either be an existing player or your heir because Wards don't exist in the world until they are created.
You can't marry an NPC because of the issue of inheriting titles this way.
Q:
Wait, you can't marry NPCs? Surely it could be done so that you couldn't marry up in the aristocracy or nobility. This is going to make for a very lonely game for some people and, as far as having children are concerned, this will be a hit to the immersion if all it is is a contract with someone...
A:
We hear your concerns. We went back and forth on this, but ultimately the marriage system is a social system. All the benefits to being married assume there is a player on the other side supporting you. With that in mind, we removed NPC marriage.
Q:
1) I'm wondering about the mechanism behind the character spawn location when he/she first enters the world. If I create a character in a specific npc family but I also possess a stronghold/town, will I have a choice to claim my land away from my family location? And where would my character start - at the family location or my land location?
2) Will joining a family through marriage grant the same spirit walking help benefits as being born into one?
A:
1) We're actually revising the system for getting into the world a bit based on player feedback. Going forward, it's best to assume that if you own a settlement, you need to select from a family within that settlement.
2) Joining a family by marriage does grant the same spirit walking benefits as being born into the family.
Q:
I know most of the lands will be randomly generated with some areas being specially crafted by your team. Will the tools you use to craft unique terrain areas also be available to players to beautify other areas of the world? Similar to how you have a architectural blueprint system.
A:
It's unlikely the steps we take at the beginning to create specific story scenes will be available to players. Primarily because it generally requires creating custom meshes and models for the terrain, etc..
What's more likely is that as time goes on, and our tools improve, we'll start to use the tools we provide players for world customization ourselves, instead of hand-creating assets like we do today.
Q:
What separates this game from every other MMORPG?
A:
CoE has features unseen in any MMORPG before, and other features players have seen before but never done in this way.
We have: a brand new business model, aging & character permadeath, dynamic body systems, survival mechanics, souls & reincarnation, a fully skill-based profession system, player-created contracts/quests, a dynamic story engine, player-families & genetics/bloodlines, skill-based combat, etc.
And that's just a short-list. In other words, we're one of the few MMOs that have been seen in a long time that's created the game we want to play, not the game we see being successful. This is our vision for what an MMO should be.
Q:
What are the plans regarding 'Item Durability'? Will equipment slowly degrade over time, or only when the user takes damage? If it is a thing, how difficult will it be to get things repaired?
A:
Buildings placed in the wrong climate will slowly degrade. Beyond that, we expect items will reduce in durability through use. We don't have a concept of rust at this point. Though I can see value in adding such a system at some point the future.
Q:
Do you think the lower barrier to entry to this game will become a standard practice in the MMO industry, or will these types of games always be for the hardcore crowd (those that have a lot of time to invest in a game)? For context, the low barrier to entry I'm referring to is the buffing of players in groups and the references to leveling and power not being so tightly intertwined.
A:
We certainly hope this becomes standard practice. The audience of MMO players is getting older, we have different needs, and responsibilities than we did in the late 90's and early 2000's. The industry needs to change with us.
Q:
How long will it take architects/crafters to get the level of skills to required to build large stable and durable buildings? and how skilled does a person have to be to build their own dungeon without anyone knowing?
A:
Our goal is for the time required to be some multiple of the time required in our world. We're not sure what the exact multipliers are yet, and will have a better answer for that after play-testing.
But for the same of argument, if we assume it takes someone maybe 5 to 10-years working as a home builder before they had the necessary skill to build a home for themselves all by themselves, then you could expect (for this example) that to take 20-40 days of using your craft in different way.
But again, that assumes a 1:1 ratio, however that may not be true. It could be +/- depending on play-testing.
Q:
Which coding languages would you recommend for someone interested in coding games?
A:
C# is by far my favorite language to code in. And with Unity gaining huge popularity, it's never been easier to jump right in.
That said, there's several good gaming libraries and platforms available for Java, Python, and others. In fact, my 9 yo son programs Minecraft mods in Java.
Q:
Is there magic? if so how does it work? is it for all players and is it versatile?
A:
If magic existed in the world it's long been forgotten. But maybe that will change?
Q:
1: Can barons settle on a counts land without his permission; similarly, can counts be in a player's duchy without permission?
2: How much land does a count personally own, compared to a Baron?
3: Will barons and counts and such be barons and counts and such during the alpha and beta?
4: Can you just marry NPCs to keep the land in your own control easily, or do you have to marry other players?
A:
You cannot marry NPCs. Marriage is between a player and a player, though I'm certain an AI rights activist will claim this is unfair. ;-)
For questions 1-3, check over some of our other answers. I believe these have been answered for you.
Q:
Do you have any plans for voice acting within the game?
A:
We've already had some voice acting done for our lore video, and will continue to have voice acting for key, cinematics that we create as part of the ongoing stories.
Beyond that, the sandbox nature of the world without pre-scripted quests, etc. makes it very difficult to do voice acting beyond the "Hello there!", "What can I do for you?" type voice acting. But we will have actors for those.
Q:
Is your company looking for a moderately skilled, remote intern by chance? :p
A:
We look for either moderately skilled local interns, or highly skilled remote interns. :-)
Q:
You have stated both that Counties, duchies, and baronies can all be overthrown, and yet you can't lose your title unless you yourself have done something. How are these two statements congruent?
A:
When a kingdom, county, duchy, or settlement is overthrown you can lose your lands and titles. However, your liege lord cannot take away your titles unless you have done something to warrant doing so.
Q:
What was your inspiration behind developing a game like Chronicles of Elyria?
A:
I read a lot of fantasy novels growing up. I wanted to create a game which allowed me to re-create the encounters, emotions, and dramatic situations of my favorite fantasy novels within a living, breathing world.
Q:
1) How many crafting / gathering skills are done with their design phase? Are you open to community suggestions on mini-game design for crafting?
2) Chronicles of Elyria introduced itself as a world that will constantly change depending on the interaction of the soulbound engine with the players' decisions. The players' experience heavily depends on the success of the soulbound engine, and the development for the engine has started 8 years ago. How will you show the community that the soulbound engine is working as intended, without giving away the story? Or do you expect the community to simply have faith in your words?
3) Soulbourn engine tempt players to go further & further to the extreme of an soul affinity. Say three years after the game is launched, most early souls reached extreme affinity. What decisions will the engine provides to souls of extreme affinity? Will the engine tempt players to keep themselves from absolute good & absolute bad?
4) Can we make delivery contracts to a specific coordinate / location instead of a person?
5) How will the soulbound engine interpret the contract term : "we share 50% of the loot from this treasure map"? How will the engine decide if the players have fulfilled the terms?
6) If I witness someone picking others' pocket / assassaining others, how can I call guards?
7) If I do not know that person's identity (cuz he never introduce himself to me), am I any use in a trial?
8) It is easy to imagine multiple champions co-operate to fight a monster, or multiple architects co-operate to build a monument. But are there activities that require multiple explorers / gatherers to tackle? (Besides mapping the world)
9a) How will religion affect a player's day to day life?
9b) How will religion affect a player's combat style & profession/ crafting progress?
9c) How will the effect change "from the beginning through out the progress of the 10 years story?
A:
1) None of the crafting skills are fully through the design phase, and, yes, we're always open to community suggestions.
2) We'll test the Soulborn Engine during Alpha & Beta, asking players to take actions that will change their alignment to show that certain quest chains or opportunities are open to them and not people who changed their alignment the other direction.
3) Extreme alignments or affinities would be presented with the most rare and dangerous opportunities to advance certain elements of the story (things that are dependent on light or dark). In order for you to have an extreme, you'd have to continue acts of that sort, otherwise you'd shift back toward the middle over time.
4) We haven't discussed this specifically, but I imagine yes.
5) We'll have to test those areas of contract specificity. Those elements aren't yet coded.
6) We would suggest shouting or running for the nearest guard. ;-)
7) If you saw the person you could act as a witness based on appearance...assuming they aren't using an alternative identity.
8) Absolutely. We envision both guilds of groups together doing gathering work, clearing areas of a forest, running a mine, or charting out where the local stock of herbs grows.
9a) Religion is a part of the lore of Elyria and so will have some elements in the larger story. Beyond that, from a practical standpoint, we've proposed statues that could be placed in a city to provide buffs to those residents or visitors when people worship at the statues.
9b) Religion will not effect combat or crafting.
9c) You'll have to wait to find out. ;-)
Q:
Can i assign an Acting Count/Duke for when i'm on vacation IRL?
What size building is included in the 400 ip profession starter kit?
Will passive learning also apply to people crafting?
Can i apart from titles also change other rewards into IP?
Will my crafting profession chew and spit everything out for me, or can i discover items myself. I.e. a Bow that no one else has ever made and with it, keep the 'recipe' for myself and have an 'exclusive' item until someone else finds out how to make it?
A:
Right now we don't have an official way to do this, but it sounds appropriate so it's likely when we design the system that this would be in.
The 400 IP tier 3 profession kit provides a small wooden building from the commercial building list.
Yes, passive learning will apply to all skills, including crafting.
Only titles and merchandise credits from reward tiers can be traded into IP.
You will be able to use research to help discover new technology and versions of crafting items. When you craft something you'll be able to commit to a sliding scale of either high quality or research which will let you decide if you're looking for something new or to produce the best possible version of something.
Q:
I have so many questions, but the biggest one is concerning the mechanics around beasts and monsters, whatever would be considered a "mob" in a traditional MMORPG. How will their entry into the game world work, and what will their behavior be like? I know that once something has been killed, it's gone forever, implying no respanws. When I read the line in the maps and navigation DJ about the spawning grounds for a den of Dire Wolves I got really excited. I've never been a fan of the spawn points plus aggro radius mechanics used traditionally and I would love to see a game that introduces mobs into the world in a more realistic fashion as well as giving them some level of realistic behavior. I would love if it was possible to have a scenario where a rancher player has to hire adventurers to protect their animals from nearby wolves or something like that.
A:
You have the right idea on creature spawning. Since all animals can breed, age, and die naturally, it is important to have space for that to happen. For canis rabbits it might be in a hollow, wolves in a den, and horses in a field. Animals will regularly breed based on different schedules for each type of animal. We don't yet have those rates set out as it will require a bit of testing to get the balance right.
Q:
A few questions. Not sure if they were asked before.
1) How strong will NPC guards be? Will there be "tiers" for guards (tougher guards costing more, that kind of deal)?
2) Who will have the power to hire NPC guards? Can an honest merchant hire one or two guards for his wagon? Can an innkeeper get a strongman at the door to keep order? Or just noblemen?
3) What can a Foreign Invader (not in your Kingdom) do to your lands if you're, say, a mayor or a baron or any landed gentry?
A:
1) Yes, NPCs will differ in strength & skill, but that won't necessarily be apparent (ie, no visible levels). As a result, you'll need to evaluate who you hire using recommendations (Yelp for CoE anyone?), tests, or reputation.
2) Anyone can make an offer to an NPC (guard or otherwise). It will be up to them (their AI) to decide if the offer is good enough.
3)It doesn't matter if someone is foreign or local, they cannot invade without Casus Belli to provide the authority. If they do have authority, they can destroy buildings and such toward their goal.
Q:
Will there be fishing? If so, will we be able to construct fishing docks at launch, which can be later upgraded to harbors that port large ships? Will land ownership include waterways?
A:
Yes, you can fish in Elyria. As you state, it will need to be from land at the start, and then from boats once the research makes them available.
You can own certain types of waterways - coves, rivers, lakes - but not oceans.
Q:
When can we play the PAX combat demo?
A:
It wasn't ever meant to be distributed. We didn't put any networking code into that demo since it was all local connections. We do have plans for a larger offline demo, though, but we don't yet have a release timeline.
Q:
Can you give any details on how R&D, ie discovering new technology, Is it just will be accomplished other than just crafting the same item?
What sort of things will you be able to do with a library, What is its purpose, Will be have books?
Architecture seems to be more of a meta profession? Will they be limited in what they can design until they "level up" in some way?
A:
Watch the DM21 video on Technology & Research. Or read the design journal. TL;DR - When you craft something you can choose whether to go for high quality or research to discover new things.
The game is Chronicles of Elyria, so, yes, books are a thing. They are also part of the story, so you'll find old parchment with writing on it referring to early history and parts of the story. Scribes can write new stories and create books or maps.
Architecture, just like other crafting skills, will require a combination of player and character skills. Similar to cartography, they'll use a stamp-based system to create walls, doors, windows, and indicate materials on their blueprints. Yes, different items and combinations will require additional skill and/or research before becoming available.
Q:
If we have purchased a title on KS will we have those titles during alpha and beta?
A:
No. None of the in-game KS rewards will be available during Alpha or Beta. Those periods are for testing, so different skills, titles, land ownership, animals, etc. will be enabled and disabled based on our testing cycles. Depending on time, certain things won't even be present in the world.
Q:
I really only have one question, but I have a feeling that it can be answered in several ways. So, my question is about the combat system in CoE. Now, obviously players will have a plethora of weapons to use to defend themselves, their county, etc. What I am curious about isn't the weapons that are available to players, but more so if there will be a fight style system in place for these weapons. Such as, will a player using a long sword be able to take different stances and be able to perform thrusts, overhead swings, etc? If so, how in depth do you plan on taking these fighting styles?
A:
Yes, absolutely. This is one of the things that makes creating your own fighting style so interesting. Each weapon will have associated stances and thus combat sequences. When attacking someone familiar with a weapon's combat style, they'll (depending on player skill) be able to interrupt your combos. If they aren't familiar, it will be more difficult to parry, disarm, block, etc.
Also, certain weapons are more effective against others. Yes, a 2-handed broadsword can do some wicked damage, but you'll get tired faster, and thus someone with a rapier may be able to slip in and swipe you across the face.
Q:
1: Can we get a picture list of the hair styles currently available. We only have a week to decide if upgrading to the $750 tier for the custom hairstyle is needed.
2: Can NPC Guards under your control be given their own OPC scripts?
3: Will the Figurine add-on be a custom 3D printed model of any character of your choosing.
4: Are you allowed to kill freely on land you directly own?
5: Can guards in a military building be given an order to kill on site? Are there advanced NPC combat commands like Phalanx Positioning?
6: Will Baron/Count/Duke/King Wards be able to build their own starting house or be given a basic family house with nothing in it?
7: If you were to put an IP price on the average entire amount of land per county, how much would that be?
8: Would you consider making a Volunteer Section in the forums for those wishing to help out with their writing/coding/environment/design skills to improve project development? Of course everything is at your discretion; NDA's and such.
9: As of the end of the kickstarter what are the exact time limits for upgrading and Add-on's via Paypal? There was a mention of 30 days.
10: Will the land selection App also include name, star constellation, and historic landmark reservation based on highest tiers first?
A:
1) We only have a few hairstyles created thus far. We've had a few people contact us via Kickstarter messages if they had a specific question about one of the design experiences.
2) Nope. NPCs have their own AI, so can make decisions at a higher level than OPCs. Thus you can make an offer, but they can decline if you're being too stingy.
3) At this point that would be cost prohibitive, so we're just planning to offer 3-5 options of well known Elyrian characters (Thandrus, Naomi Jade, etc.) based on community vote.
4) It is against the law to kill NPCs or players, whether it is on your land or not. As for creatures, that will be up to the law of the land, but overall you should be fine.
5) Yes on KOS. We haven't yet developed advanced NPC plans, but I would imagine so.
6) All nobility/aristocracy will get to select parcels of land when they start, which will include buildings. Wards could simply choose one of those residential buildings as their own.
7) No clue. That requires too much mental calculation for me right now.
8) Yes, we will consider that when the KS is over and things are more stable. We already have plans to create forms to allow for submission of NPC & location names, etc. to help seed the world.
9) There are a few stages to upgrading after the KS ends. The first 30-days will be for PayPal backers and will use the same backer tiers as on KS. At the end of this 30-day period we'll switch to new '2016' backer tiers with different values and amounts (though similar). We can only allow upgrades from KS tiers once we have that information tied into your CoE account, and we've been told by Kickstarter that it can take 2-3 weeks to get us this data. So upgrades will be available as soon as possible, but probably not on June 4th. Once that's available, we'll offer the ability to upgrade to the existing reward tier, and this will continue until Exposition begins.
10) Name, star/constellation, and landmark names won't be within the pre-Exposition app. Those will be handled via a separate form and will be handled in descending IP order.
Q:
1) Will pets/animals be able to learn commands? like "doggy search" and he searches for unusual smells or what ever I trained him to search, like blood, corpses, ruins,.... could I order a pack of wolves that I tamed that they should assist me with hunting, like round up a deer? or a falcon that gives me a signal that he saw something approaching ahead?
2) Will there be electricity from the start? like can I build a lightning rod (long metal stick) and place it at my neighbors roof but not earth is properly, and so set his house on fire?
3) Will there be magnetism? and if so could I build an induction or asynchronous motor early on? like with a windmill? or will I be able to use lightning to electrocute someone? in the sense of a trap?
4) What will be the limit for breeding? like how often can I breed like a Trison and what will be the effect on the female while pregnant?
5) will a Trison, because it can stand on two legs and has opposable thumbs, learn to throw rocks or barrels (Donkey Kong ;)), or even throw big spears, or use a shield?
6) Will I have to test poisons/potions on test subjects like rats first to find the right dose and effects? so do I have to set up a lab?
7) how will my real life skill of riding on horse back be reflected ingame? I mean simply put the skill of riding is to not obstruct the horse while moving, so you acually learn to do less, so how will this be reflected in skill challenges? Will the real life skill of handling horses, or any animal therefore, be represented? like will I be able to get closer to a wild horse because I know how to get closer? (what angle, speed I approach, how often I look at the horse directly, ...)
8) Would a player, most likely a king be able to imprison Anara Starsong? He lets his men search for her and and after a long time she is found and imprisoned in a tower, where she is forced to write her chronicles only for his eyes, or killed. how would the game handle that?
9) How many men will a baron have in the beginning in a Stronghold? let's say a 10 parcel stronghold?
10) With tunneling, can I build a ditch and fill it with water or do we need terraforming for that? or like build a watering system for fields?
11) there will be collision right? like ride an armored trison into the enemy troops, would they at a certain dmg point be CDG? like hitting them exactly with the horn in the head or torso, or would it still need an intentional extra blow, I mean I'm riding straight at them, so it's pretty intentional ^
12) Will I be able to have multiple pets? like lemur + phoenix? or even all of them?
13) Will there be wind? in reference to archery, like will wind influence the trajectory of projectiles, like arrows or siege related ammunition?
14) will the asian/japanese culture be found on another continent and then distributed and made known so we can build in this style? And will ppl be able to spawn there after it is discovered?
Q:
1) Likely yes, but we haven't discussed the specifics of pet commands yet.
2) Nope.
3) Nope.
4) Animals will have certain breeding cycles, much like Elyrians with their 4 day wait period. They will not show pregnancy either.
5) Trisons will be able to stand on their back legs and swipe at things. As for actually gripping things, we're not 100% sure.
6) We don't have poisons designed or implemented yet, so unsure.
7) The use of player skills (vs. character skills) in the game isn't that specific. It's more about your twitch reflexes, your ability to focus, memory, speed, etc.
8) I can't give away any parts of the story having to do with lore characters.
9) We don't have decisions on NPC #s in starting towns/strongholds/counties/etc. It will likely have to do with distance from larger cities, size, available homes and commercial buildings, roads, and surrounding resources.
10) We don't have the tunneling system fleshed out yet, so I don't know if irrigation ditches would be part of that or terraforming.
11) Yes, we detect for collision. Within a city it would cause people to be shifted aside. During battle, especially with a massive mount, the idea it to include collision damage, but we have to balance it out before deciding.
12) Yes you can have multiple pets.
13) Yes, wind, weather and distance will have an effect on ranged projectiles.
14) Different cultures, including Asian & Arabic will potentially be available on the starting continent. This will effect building styles, clothing, weapons and fighting stances, etc.
Q:
Will it be possible to live a truly nomadic or gypsy lifestyle? I see gypsy and merchant wagons in the IP table but could these be used as mobile homes? Children need to be born into a house with an extra room, is there a way around this for a nomad, ie extra gypsy wagon? also will any crafting be mobile? obviously you can't bring a forge and anvil on the road but could you be a tailor, leatherworker, fletcher type crafter in a gypsy wagon? basically, do you need a house to be able to full function?
A:
We have a bit of a compromise for someone looking to live a nomadic lifestyle. While you can caravan around the world and use that as your crafting base for many skills, you cannot use a caravan as your only housing for children. You must have a stationary house with enough bedrooms for your family. And, because of the Adverse Possession rules, you (or a family member) must visit that house every 28 real-world days. That doesn't mean you really have to live there, but that you must own it.
Q:
How will player abuse be handled not talking about cheating but, lets say there is a mechanic of the game that allows for an unintended situation and players use it as a loophole to skirt around the intended function of the game, such as exploiting the contract system to prevent all in game methods of enforcement? example: player refuses to uphold their end of a contract, the court/count rules in favor and tries to use in game means to enforce but, due to condition X,y, or Z all the in game methods are being circumvented by an unintended feature?
A:
We have a really good min/maxer and 2 devs with griefing tendencies who, in addition to the community, in Alpha/Beta will help us root out these loopholes.
That being said, we'll be on the watch for that after release and can modify rules as needed to catch this in the future. We don't want to go to a full GM route since they can add their own biases which we'd like to avoid.
Q:
how will work the sensory map? It will use all five senses? If you are implementing senses it can be used in other stuff? Like combat?
A:
Since we don't have a mini-map to let you see visually around your character, the sensory map is partially meant to give you a sense of your surroundings using sound and smell and also the senses of your pets. The other senses don't really make sense except for sight, but that would make it a mini-map.
The sensory map would be used to alert you if someone was sneaking up on you, provided your senses are good enough to either hear or smell them.
It probably wouldn't be useful in a live combat situation because weapons tend to move faster...and you can see them anyway.
Q:
I believe you guys said upon death you lose a bit of stats but gain them back slightly quicker. My question is after you make a new character are you going to go through the same areas and the same quests all over again? Would this not be a bit of a chore? Do you have ideas in place to make sure each time you come back to life it is still a fun and fresh experience rather than a repeat of what you did on your last character?
A:
CoE doesn't have any starting zones or repeating quests, so there would be no way to do the same quests all over again.
When you create a character you do so as a part of a family (NPC or player run), and that is your starting place. So if you choose your second life as your own child, you would start in the same place...your home.
That being said, quests are created as tasks by other players, NPCs running shops who ran out of reagents or the farmer who needs help with his crop. We also have story line quests, but it isn't a repeating story that everyone experiences. What you do effects the world around you, thus moving along the story for everyone. If you kill the big dire wolf that has been hunting around town, those villagers may throw a party for you and send news to the local Count, who could invite you to visit him after hearing of your heroics. That dire wolf wouldn't respawn so another player could do it again. You would be the only hero of that particular story.
Q:
Will we be able to wander out and tame more animals/creatures we come across? Or are we limited to the 5 that we're posted as part of the beastmaster tier? If so what's the tame process going to be like? Can I use them in combat or to carry a small amount of resources?
A:
All animals can be tamed and bred, so you can certainly find one in the wild or from a breeder (NPC or player). We don't yet have taming designed or developed, so I don't have an answer there. Yes, you will be able to use pets in combat, but some will be much less effective than others.
Q:
It's becoming very clear that the most vocal members of the community are those who are exceptionally interested in "PvP realism", to the extent that I have seen plenty of comments accusing you, the makers of the game, of "not knowing what the game is about". In the upcoming years, how do you plan on balancing the vocal community's cry for more destruction and the more populous community's cries for balance?
A:
The tone has definitely changed over the last few weeks with the details released within the Kickstarter. Before that I'd say the community's interest was more in the unique feature sets of the game - families and cartography being 2 that come to mind. So while the feel that PvP is important may be the case right now, that might not continue.
Yours isn't the first concern that we would cave to community demands, but the most recent one I heard about was actually that we would nerf the game after complaints from a minority of "care bears" that want PvE areas.
We are very responsive to the community, but have no desire to make this any game other than the one we came to make. We are no more interested in creating 'safe towns' than we are in allowing casual destruction of the world. Neither would be fun, or sustainable. And we'll do extensive testing in Alpha/Beta to make sure we're getting the right balance. We're also introducing some of the PvP elements as a slow release during Exposition so that people can get used to them.
Q:
In CoE, will you be able to design houses by yourself or will you have to choose an existing design?
A:
When purchasing with IP for Exposition, you'll be choosing from pre-designed and pre-built houses and buildings. Once placed you'll be able to hire an architect and gather the resources needed to make modifications. Same goes for building from the ground up except that you have more control because you're not limited by existing walls.
Q:
Is there any chance we can see the current development progress via a stream before the kickstarter is over?
A:
Quite honestly, we'd love to. The limiting factor is taking the time to figure out how to set up a live stream, figure out who to stream and what to show, etc. We have lots of things going on, so it's a constant balance during this limited period of time.
That being said, it has always been our intention to do more interview videos and livestreams. So after the KS ends, that's a definite.
Q:
Are you planning on supporting the development of communities of foreign languages on your servers with for example an option in family selection about language?
I have some concerns about music. How will we be able to play it? Will it be possible to import midi files? Is it an ingame system?
A:
We will have certain options that can be used for filtering original families - hardcore vs. casual, time zone, etc. We'll consider language and RP if the community wants it.
We don't have the music system worked out, so not sure if we'll go with midi files or an ABC system. There are several games' music systems that we're looking at to find the one that will work best for CoE. We want people to be able to play music as a group and compose their own songs. That will likely require offline coding which can be imported.
Q:
Just a question about relics from the Artificer Tier.
What would be considered just above what is considered "too powerful" and what would be considered a comfortable level of power for a relic?
What is meant by "story significance" in regards to the unique relic crafted?
A:
We'd probably have to discuss the details with you to give the answer you're looking for. Message us on Kickstarter. But to give a general sense, we are ok with some magical abilities on relics, but nothing OP.
The real goal of a Relic isn't about the item itself, but rather what it means for the story. Relics are items tied to the story to trigger a special event. You won't know what the trigger is, but it could be destroying the item, giving it to the Queen, or traveling with it to a location. Upon being triggered the Relic would initiate the next step in the story. This could be the appearance of a world boss, a sudden natural disaster, a new epic quest chain with a big discovery at the end, etc. Think of it on the scale of the LoTR ring or Inigo's sword and resulting journeys.
All that being said, our goal with any Design Experience is to tie it to your character and plans for the game. So if you want to be the best jeweler in the Kingdom, we wouldn't send you on a great adventure to fight a baddie. Your Relic would more likely be a great necklace that you might gift to the queen, only to find her wasting away because of a curse placed on the gem.
Q:
So, IRL horse-breeding is a huge science of its own, so I just have a few questions:
Will we be able to geld (castrate) horses we want out of the gene pool?
Will different horses have different dispositions?
Will a horse that is being ridden make mistakes, or act against its rider's will?
Will different horse breeds arise to fill different niches? Throughbred horses, for example, shouldn't be expected to be pulling a plough.
Will donkeys be substantially different from horses? Notable differences are that they are usually stronger pound-for-pound, smarter, slower, more independent/stubborn, bad travelers (won't drink except from their familiar watering holes, for example), and their first instinct when threatened is to stop and think rather than to run blind.
A:
While the true answers to those questions will come down the road when we implement the breeding system, my instinct is to say no to questions 1-3. This is a game, and it needs to be fun, so there are reasons to go against true realism in favor of enjoyment. As for different breeds with different uses, we have that as an option already with the thoroughbreds providing speed, etc. Not sure about the donkeys and pound-for-pound usefulness.
Q:
Sorry, another question. What percentage of creatures are going to be tame able? I think after the Facebook comment about the canis rabbit being untameable this has been a large concern.
A:
What we meant by it not being tame was that the canis rabbit is a very vicious creature. It is unlikely it would react well to being captured or any attempts to tame it. It would be like someone in our world trying to take a wild wolf or crocodile and attempting to domesticate it. While it is technically possible, it is unlikely you'd see good results from the attempt.
Q:
Question regarding buildings, now that we have the residential and commercial IP graphics out. Will it be possible to have a small commercial building as my shop with a second floor used as my bedroom? (i.e. can I "live above my shop" or is it not possible to mix residential and commercial purposes in the same building.)
A:
Yes, that's definitely possible and even likely. Each room can only have a primary purpose, but a building can have multiple.
Q:
I have a couple questions, why haven't you created a biography page on Soul Bound Studios site with all your team members, and blurbs about each of them? Second question, what mu?ic does Van Ong normally listen to when he works?
A:
Uhh, lack of time! We need to get the whole team listed on the SBS website, but it just hasn't bubbled up to top priority.
Van says: A pretty eclectic mix of Rock, techno, rap, etc... my last few songs jumped from Radiohead, to Kendrick Lamar to Daft Punk.
Q:
1) Which profession kit would someone pick if they wanted to make traps?
2) The leffit reacts to peoples personalities, and the conifer rat can hear people approaching, do any of the other pets have abilities?
3) If i discover an island will the king/queen know automatically? or would i have to report back to them?
A:
1) We don't have a 1:1 association of profession kits to skills. You won't be choosing your actual IP purchased buildings until you get into the world in Exposition, and there will be many changes before then.
2) Yes, the other pets have abilities. We just haven't revealed them yet.
3) There is no automatic communication, so, no one would know about a discovery until the news was conveyed.
Q:
I am seeking clarification regarding the tunneling feature in regards to the developer journal about player created dungeons.
Is tunneling required for any building underground whatsoever? And what impact does the luck of a tunneling feature have on that particular developer journal?
A:
Without tunneling you won't be able to dig into the ground to create underground rooms, so a basement wouldn't be a possibility. That being said, the concept behind player-created dungeons still stands. We have features for rooms hidden behind bookshelves and other ways to conceal your stash. So players looking to defend their wealth can still do so with the ideas here: http://chroniclesofelyria.com/blog/1365-DJ-15-PlayerCreated-Dungeons
Q:
Hi! I was curious about the 90 in-game years per 1 meta-game year. Will you have a Game of Thrones-esk X number of in-game years of Winter/Spring/Summer/Fall? Or will the seasons change meta-daily?
A:
As said in other comments, we currently have 1 real-world day seasons and day/night cycles of 1.5 hours day, 1 hour night (with twilight and dawn in there). Our reasoning for 1 day seasons is to allow for farming, with daily harvests or planting, etc. And it means that you can plan for seasonal changes to the weather and resulting game mechanics. A thief might avoid stealing during winter days so their footprints wouldn't be tracked in the snow. While an entertainer at the local pub would find those days desirable.
Q:
The $250 tier comes in two aristocratic versions -- mayor/town and baron/stronghold. Is there any scope for a gentry-level version of comparable value where the bundle is based around residential/commercial property rather than either a stronghold or a whole town? Or are the only options to either take a lower tier & buy IP, or get a barony and sell the title (for IP) and the stronghold (for gold)?
A:
The 2 options you mentioned would be good ideas. If your goal is to be a landowner with property, then you should focus on just that via the IP purchasing. Or, given that a Mayor title comes with the choice of certain parcels of land and the buildings on them, that would be an option.
Q:
Question How is the Mayorship handled from the KS title, is it elective per life, per x years, or can your heir inherit the position as a heritable position? We've got both styles in the old medieval from mayorship being inherited (appointed) to it being a elective.
A:
Mayors and Barons are inherited positions in Elyria.
Q:
What happens to children that are reserved for a friend, but then are never used? Do they enter the world eventually or are they lost forever in limbo?
A:
They would disappear from the world, much like a dead character that doesn't sign on for 28-days.
Q:
Will devs be playing the game along with us and if so will they be on equal terms or will they server more like game masters that drive the story forward and keep order?
A:
Equal terms. No dev will be able to start as a noble title and we cannot earn or buy IP. Beyond that, none of our current dev team have an interest in noble duties. Caspian wants to be a Robin Hood type, we've got a cartographer, a musician, a farmer, and, to be honest, at least one with griefing tendencies.
Q:
As a big fan of the fantasy/ medevil genre i was quit dissapointed that there is no magic/ or the lack of magic in your mmo. Is there any reason to that or do we see magic implemented in another way?
A:
As the others have said, magic is a gifted talent based on world need and your activity. That being said, magic is a part of the larger story line, but as a dangerous thing in the world, not just common magic seen in 'fireball, fireball, lightning bolt'.
Q:
Is it possible to own a parcel of land and lease/rent it out to someone, so that they may build on it, but with the land still remaining in your name?
A:
Yes. You can use the Contract system to allow a tenant to build on the land you own.
Q:
Is the lifespan of an Elyrian horse longer than that of an Earth horse? I ask because Earth horses live to around 30 years or so, and that'd mean replacing your horse at least two or three times per soul.
A:
Yes, Elyrian animals live longer than Earth animals, horses and pets included.
Q:
Will you have sketches or concept arts of the different carriages/wagons in the IP kit.
Will half stairs (stairs with landing pads) possibly be a thing?
A:
We don't yet have concept art for the vehicles in the IP kit.
We're too early in development to know if half stairs will be in the game.
