Innate faction. I don't think some orphaned or wayward elf, just by virtue of their elfess-ness should have any "entitlement" (ooh!) among their elven kind.
Just because some strange new elf happens to be an elf in elf town doesn't mean they should be able to walk up to a random inn keeper or merchant and be able to start working, do you? no references? no family ties? no one to vouch for them,
Even if they do have some magical proclivities, what gives them the audacity to think they can start training with the top end sorcerers of the realm?
Just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me....
I mean by virtue of being a familiar face, sure, but you're still a complete unknown.
When does this happen? From what I recall in most games those top end sorcerers don't really talk to (let alone train) strangers or even proven yet novice casters.
Why wouldn't an inn keeper or merchant give a random elf work? You don't need a reputation/history to take on work, provided nothing is given upfront.
You enter the world of Terminus.
You are hungry.
You are thirsty.
You seek work with the nearest merchant.
"Sorry, you need at least 2 years of previous rat killing experience on your curriculum vitae for a job with me."
You are hungry.
You are thirsty.
You head to the inn to look for any work with the innkeeper.
"Sorry, I have no work available unless you can provide at least two character references."
You are hungry.
You are thirsty.
You head to the local militia office to try and join the city guard.
"Sorry, you need at least one certificate of weapon proficiency to train with us and a sponsor from within the guard."
You are hungry.
You are thirsty.
You have died of pain and suffering.
Game over.
Ezrael said:
You have died of pain and suffering.
Game over.
I agree, this was hilarious, thanks Ezrael :-) More seriously, I have no objection against a tutorial or even a tutorial script/zone as in EQ (the Mines of Glooming Deep were a success imo). After all, an already seasoned player who makes an alt or a player who is allergic to tutorials is NOT forced to do these, he always has the option to jump directly into the game.
if I consider my own gaming experience, well, I am rather clumsy and I don't have a good sense of direction, therefore a tutorial would be welcome.
It *was* good. Reminds me of one of the earlier computer games - back before floppy drives and graphics - where you needed to go down to the bottom level of a small dungeon and kill the Balrog. Then make it back up to the exit. If you weren't lucky with how much food you found you were likely to die of hunger sometimes just a few steps from success.
A new character that appears in its racial starting town probably didn’t just appear there. They could have been living there their entire life and just now reached the age where they want to venture out and try life on their own. The “random merchant” could have known them their entire life. It is why the merchant immediately responds with “Hello Telepath!” even though I didn’t tell him my name.
Manouk said:Innate faction. I don't think some orphaned or wayward elf, just by virtue of their elfess-ness should have any "entitlement" (ooh!) among their elven kind.
Just because some strange new elf happens to be an elf in elf town doesn't mean they should be able to walk up to a random inn keeper or merchant and be able to start working, do you? no references? no family ties? no one to vouch for them,
Even if they do have some magical proclivities, what gives them the audacity to think they can start training with the top end sorcerers of the realm?
Just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me....
I mean by virtue of being a familiar face, sure, but you're still a complete unknown.
I dunno about that. I think there should be a certain amount of innate faction among your own race. Alot? No... But enough to successfully navigate the basics. In addition, there should be a certain amount of innate faction among your race's allies. Again not necessarily alot, but enough to be successful with the basics.
Telepath said:A new character that appears in its racial starting town probably didn’t just appear there. They could have been living there their entire life and just now reached the age where they want to venture out and try life on their own. The “random merchant” could have known them their entire life. It is why the merchant immediately responds with “Hello Telepath!” even though I didn’t tell him my name.
This right here.
Unless the game is going to pull a FFXIV and literally show you travelling to the town for the first time upon making your character, we can pretty safely assume you were already living there.
Manouk: Just because some strange new elf happens to be an elf in elf town doesn't mean they should be able to walk up to a random inn keeper or merchant and be able to start working, do you? no references? no family ties? no one to vouch for them
In the UK before heavy industrialisation, that is pretty much what happened at harvest time. People moved around the country, looking for crops to bring in and were paid on what they produced. No references required and no vouching presented. You asked for work and if it was there then you were sure of a meal for the day.
Given that, I think indifferent faction does mean you would be able to pick up small jobs and tasks to do, as long as there was no immediate loss to the job provider. E.g., "Bring me 5 rodent skins and I will pay you a copper piece for each of them" seems like a very reasonable transaction for an unknown traveller to be given. I agree that faction should play a role in what you can do in a new area for the character, but, as long as general beliefs are in alignment, then starting up conversation that led to a task seems very reasonable to me.
Its not some random new Elf. When you create a new char and have a starting city. Thats your home, you grew up there. You have roots. If the game started you on a ship wreck on some random coast, then you would be right. No faction standing would fit. Your race, in your home city. You should have good faction standing.
Nanfoodle said:Its not some random new Elf. When you create a new char and have a starting city. Thats your home, you grew up there. You have roots. If the game started you on a ship wreck on some random coast, then you would be right. No faction standing would fit. Your race, in your home city. You should have good faction standing.
Maybe not good, but at least tolerable. You could be the local troublemaker! :)
Counterfleche said: I want to see different races have different innate trust. Maybe humans won't really give fellow humans much favoritism while Dark Myr will have very strong racial faction bonus, for example. Giving different values to different races based on lore feels more authentic and makes the game more interesting. Races with higher racial biases will end up with more homogeneous cities while more open races will have more cosmopolitan cities. Mathematically, this could be done like this. Human characters start with +10 faction to human NPCs. Non-human races gain / lose faction with humans at 150% the default modifier rate. Dark Myr characters start with +50 faction to Dark Myr NPCs. Non-Myr races gain faction with them at 33% the normal rate (and lose it at 150%). If all races gain and lose faction with each other at the same rate, it won't feel right.
Great response- although I loved the others! (dies of pain and suffering -rofl). the itinterant/migrant worker makes alot of sense, too
This is kind of in line with how I was thinking,