I am just bringing this up because in some MMOs, the dam rain is too constant and takes away from the immersion. It should not rain a few times in the same zone every % minutes... If it becomes a nuisance, I do not see it making much sense for the game.
Now, I would love to see a storm front roll in out in the horizon, then pummel you as it rolls in naturally. That would definitely add to the effect and immersion. It would also give you time to prepare if the elements are a factor like they say it will be.
What are your thoughts on weather?
For me, some of that depends on the zone / area. For example, if a zone is intended to be a harsh polar area, I think constant and common blizzards and heavy snows would be appropriate because that would fit with the theme of the zone.
However, I understand the point where, if a zone is supposed to be some sort of moderate climate - raining every 10 minutes might get annoying.
Wandidar said:For me, some of that depends on the zone / area. For example, if a zone is intended to be a harsh polar area, I think constant and common blizzards and heavy snows would be appropriate because that would fit with the theme of the zone.
However, I understand the point where, if a zone is supposed to be some sort of moderate climate - raining every 10 minutes might get annoying.
Exactly. I would expect in a rain forest that it's almost always raining and expect in a desert that it almost never rains.
I really liked the weather fronts in Vanguard. Very realistic and quite beautiful, only they happened a bit too often. When it storms, really make it dark and fully clouded. I get tired of games that make it rain and yet you still see stars and sunshine. If you do weather, do it right, add variety. From single storm clouds that drop rain for 5 minutes to cold fronts and overcast with drizzle for hours. Not all storms should have lightning and thunder. Mix it up. Sometimes it should be a really windy storm and other times a calm spring shower. Vary the degrees of snowfall. Yes, a winter zone needs snow, but it isn't always a blizzard. Some of my favorite snowfalls as a child were the very calm, large snowflake events that were virtually silent with no wind, they were magical.
Deserts can and do get lots of cloud cover and even storms, they just don't drop their load till they hit the mountain range on the other side of the desert expanse, but they make for dramatic contrast with the hot, brown desert sand and the dark ominous clouds on the horizon. Have the rare tornado event that actually damages players and property. Make it remotely possible to be struck by lightning if you're in the open and the tallest thing there. Weather is such a great immersion tool and can be a great addition for content.
Pyye said:I am just bringing this up because in some MMOs, the dam rain is too constant and takes away from the immersion. It should not rain a few times in the same zone every % minutes... If it becomes a nuisance, I do not see it making much sense for the game.
Now, I would love to see a storm front roll in out in the horizon, then pummel you as it rolls in naturally. That would definitely add to the effect and immersion. It would also give you time to prepare if the elements are a factor like they say it will be.
What are your thoughts on weather?
Vorthanion said:Deserts can and do get lots of cloud cover and even storms, they just don't drop their load till they hit the mountain range on the other side of the desert expanse, but they make for dramatic contrast with the hot, brown desert sand and the dark ominous clouds on the horizon. Have the rare tornado event that actually damages players and property. Make it remotely possible to be struck by lightning if you're in the open and the tallest thing there. Weather is such a great immersion tool and can be a great addition for content.
I live iin the desert and you couldn't be more wrong... Look up the term "monsoon" as it applies to deserts. It also rains here in the winter.
Pyye said:I am just bringing this up because in some MMOs, the dam rain is too constant and takes away from the immersion. It should not rain a few times in the same zone every % minutes... If it becomes a nuisance, I do not see it making much sense for the game.
Now, I would love to see a storm front roll in out in the horizon, then pummel you as it rolls in naturally. That would definitely add to the effect and immersion. It would also give you time to prepare if the elements are a factor like they say it will be.
What are your thoughts on weather?
I wonder how it would play to have the weather actually matter and it rain, snow, storm MUCH longer. Of course you would need a game with more than one zone avalable to level in. (Yeah yea... I know the "but I WANT to level in that zone and I should be able to".. get over it snowflake)
So let's say there are three zones good for leveling around 30. One of them is storming for a real life week. Players have a decision to make. You can stay in the rain and maybe have the zone to yourself. Or go to another that maybe has sunny weather at the time where you need to fight for a camp.
After the week you see storms on the horizon of the sunny zone...
"storms a comin in zone-A, we may want to head to zone-B, I hear in guild it's been clear there the last few days"
Just a thought.
Edit: my wife says I need to clarify... I live in Washington State. We're on the edge of a rain forest and when it rains here its for like 9 months straight. So a bit of rain is nothing to me.
Another thing that would be cool is to see weather travel across zones. So let's say there was a storm blowing from east to west. It would blow across the zones in an east-to-west direction. One thing that was always weird to me was being in a zone where it was pissing rain and poof, you zone, bright sunny day.
Kalok said:Another thing that would be cool is to see weather travel across zones. So let's say there was a storm blowing from east to west. It would blow across the zones in an east-to-west direction. One thing that was always weird to me was being in a zone where it was pissing rain and poof, you zone, bright sunny day.
Pyye said:I am just bringing this up because in some MMOs, the dam rain is too constant and takes away from the immersion. It should not rain a few times in the same zone every % minutes... If it becomes a nuisance, I do not see it making much sense for the game.
Now, I would love to see a storm front roll in out in the horizon, then pummel you as it rolls in naturally. That would definitely add to the effect and immersion. It would also give you time to prepare if the elements are a factor like they say it will be.
What are your thoughts on weather?
Perhaps some code around the season/time of year and the latitude of the zone could be used to create more realistic weather patterns. It thunders more in April in xxx zone than it does in December. It snows more at 50 degrees north latitude than it does at 30 degrees north latitude.
MauvaisOeil said:While I would love changing seasons in some areas, to break the monotony and bring a more immersive world, It's not something I would give up any aspect of gameplay, dungeon or such to obtain. It remains really cosmetic and secondary.
You don't have to worry about losing anything. Weather will be in there. And in Pantheon it won't necessarily be "cosmetic and secondary". PvE really does mean player vs. environment in Pantheon and weather will play a part in that.
Kalok said:MauvaisOeil said:While I would love changing seasons in some areas, to break the monotony and bring a more immersive world, It's not something I would give up any aspect of gameplay, dungeon or such to obtain. It remains really cosmetic and secondary.
You don't have to worry about losing anything. Weather will be in there. And in Pantheon it won't necessarily be "cosmetic and secondary". PvE really does mean player vs. environment in Pantheon and weather will play a part in that.
I'm not speaking about the whole "attunement" feature with hard but predictible areas with weather you cannot bear if not prepared. But about evercycling seasons.
MauvaisOeil said:Kalok said:MauvaisOeil said:While I would love changing seasons in some areas, to break the monotony and bring a more immersive world, It's not something I would give up any aspect of gameplay, dungeon or such to obtain. It remains really cosmetic and secondary.
You don't have to worry about losing anything. Weather will be in there. And in Pantheon it won't necessarily be "cosmetic and secondary". PvE really does mean player vs. environment in Pantheon and weather will play a part in that.
I'm not speaking about the whole "attunement" feature with hard but predictible areas with weather you cannot bear if not prepared. But about evercycling seasons.
So am I. They've already said that weather is a thing and you may have to be prepared for it. As a side note, fog is also a thing in the game.
Iksar said:Seasons strike me more as an Earth thing, might not be applicable to Terminus.
Earth: Spring, summer, fall, winter (in parts of the world)
Venus: None due to virtually no axial tilt and a thick atmosphere...but it DOES have acid rain!
Mars: 2 types: Axial is winter (storms), summer (global dust storms); orbital is aphelion (farthest from sun), perihelion (closest to sun)
Mercury: Axial: None, no tilt; orbital: aphelion (-173 c), perihelion (427 c)
Jupiter: 3 year long seasons but little tilt
Saturn: 7 year long seasons with tilt like Mars, so it's like Earth
Uranus: it's on its side, seasons are 21 years long, giant storms predicted in spring
Neptune: not a lot of variation, 40+ years long seasons
Pluto: SHUT UP IT'S A PLANET unclear on seasons but probably a huge variation due to tilt and insane orbit
Bottom line, if it's a planet with atmosphere and there's a sun, it's got seasons.
I'm well aware all planets have "seasons." My point was more that they are far less distinguishable on other planets and/or are years to decades between changes.
Larr said: Have you considered that time flows faster in MMO's. 1day =72 minutes in most cases. Saying it rains once every 72 minutes is just saying it rains once a day. So it's harder to say "it rains too often" if we fail to realize that time is much faster in MMO's. In my mind I remember it rained(seemingly) often in the karanas but when you considered the time warp it ended up being once a day maybe
Saying "in mmo's" with a 72min pattern seems like an error. Let's just say "EQ"since no other game I think used 72min for a day. I guess no one knows yet what duration will a day have in pantheon.
Some regions are subject to quick climate changes, like the mongolian steppes, and some are subject to days straight of rains. EQ's meteo never looked like more "too much" to me than when I look at the windows during rainy days irl.
Not sure how long the day night cycle will be.
It should change by regions depending on terrain and which season it is in.
I would like to see storms rain snow at night.