Here is an interesting question that I had concerning the races of Pantheon. I am sure us lore nuts and role-players would be greatly interested in such a thing but how long is the average life span for the various races of mortals?
Depending on the mythology involved or the way the lore is devised this can vary widely. In classical or Tolkien-esque mythology it was stated that elves were immortal but with that said the "afterlife" for the elves was normally very detailed either being tied to the land itself, the magical world (Irish "Veil" myth), or in Tolkien to Middle Earth and Aman (Valinor). With some modern games, elves were given more finite lifespan ranging from 100-300 years as in The Elder Scrolls (any longer then that was considered extended by powerful magick), to early 1000s such as in World of Warcraft or Dungeons & Dragons (Faerûn).
That just covers the elves, but what about other races along side? Generally, the larger the race the shorter their life span with the smaller races living longer but generally not longer then a few hundred years.
That leads me to my next thread as well, what happens when they die? https://www.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/2435/-/view/post_id/33293
I like the idea of aging and then retiring or passing away put have offspring with hereditary traits or heirloom items. Thinks like as characters age they gain str and stam and then once middle aged start to lose it and continue to gain wisdom. So a 70 yr. old human warrior would be a weak slow individual but a 70 yr. old human shaman would continue to gain wisdom. And as far as heirlooms a Skar Dire Lord that has a Wurmslayer looking halberd can pass that on to his offspring who could be proficient at it earlier than other toons and have gained it sooner than normal but it has penalties until required level so as to not unbalance the game. Just some thoughts for the immersion aspect.
Yup, I love these kinds of little lore details, myself. Lifespans, diets, diseases, sleeping habits...
I've always wondered about how to make lifespans matter in an MMO. It's a neat idea because it's often such a big part of what some of the races are. But even if it doesn't matter, the lore helps the atmosphere.
Abacda said:I like the idea of aging and then retiring or passing away put have offspring with hereditary traits or heirloom items.
That's sort of what the progeny system is, right? But I like the idea of lifespans having some effect on it, like somehow retiring a max level 6 month old character is different from retiring a max level 5 year old character.
Heh, I especially like that it would probably lead to some elf and gnome players taking advantage of their long lives by never retiring just because they can, making a kind of elder class of the races best suited to it. :P
KCRiley said:
I've always wondered about how to make lifespans matter in an MMO. It's a neat idea because it's often such a big part of what some of the races are. But even if it doesn't matter, the lore helps the atmosphere.
I like a subtle variation of capturing this by having it impact character appearance? have it that lifespan impacts your character creation? know the avg life span, be asked to pick an age and by doing so it defaults you be able to create a toon that would appear within the age range chosen? ie if you aim to be a 40 year old human you can't appear to be a 21 year old human
this could manifest by also impacting how you are treated within your own community/race. respect and chat options and npc responses could play a part (an uneviable programming task i am sure)
Abacda said:I like the idea of aging and then retiring or passing away put have offspring with hereditary traits or heirloom items. Thinks like as characters age they gain str and stam and then once middle aged start to lose it and continue to gain wisdom. So a 70 yr. old human warrior would be a weak slow individual but a 70 yr. old human shaman would continue to gain wisdom. And as far as heirlooms a Skar Dire Lord that has a Wurmslayer looking halberd can pass that on to his offspring who could be proficient at it earlier than other toons and have gained it sooner than normal but it has penalties until required level so as to not unbalance the game. Just some thoughts for the immersion aspect.
KCRiley said:Yup, I love these kinds of little lore details, myself. Lifespans, diets, diseases, sleeping habits...
I've always wondered about how to make lifespans matter in an MMO. It's a neat idea because it's often such a big part of what some of the races are. But even if it doesn't matter, the lore helps the atmosphere.
Abacda said:I like the idea of aging and then retiring or passing away put have offspring with hereditary traits or heirloom items.
That's sort of what the progeny system is, right? But I like the idea of lifespans having some effect on it, like somehow retiring a max level 6 month old character is different from retiring a max level 5 year old character.
Heh, I especially like that it would probably lead to some elf and gnome players taking advantage of their long lives by never retiring just because they can, making a kind of elder class of the races best suited to it. :P
