There will be 2 kinds of quests, I thought:
Quests from NPCs that you accept, for loot and leveling up, and quests that are connected to the main plot, the great world narrative. Or so I thought, until I had a chat with a good friend of mine who is a game designer. I wanted his opinion and advice. My friend Mikkel had quit a well paid job for a game design company and instead spent max (over)time in a startup environment for 2 years, so I approached him carefully. I told him I wanted to make a game, and it should be an online multiplayer RPG but no matter where I read about developing MMORPGs on the internet, the #1 advice was: Don’t even start!
Mikkel surprised me by disagreeing. Not with me but with the #1 advice. He said, if you manage to build a great game world and get the game mechanics right, an MMORPG shouldn’t be much more work than creating other types of worthwhile games – because in multiplayer games players will engage with each other, team up, and make their own stories, quests and content inside the game world. Sure, you gotta set up hooks, incentives to follow, and give players some goals to reach and reason to reach them. When it’s engaging… let the people in and give them freedom to have fun.
For it to be true, it’s of course a condition that there ARE players. I’ll let you in.
This past week I’ve been setting up an in-game tutorial for new players, while Scor2k has worked on our engine’s quest-feature. Simple quests from NPCs like citizens, wardens, druids, etc. who need your help with something and will pay you a reward for it. Work for hire. Yesterday we finished the foundation for giving them, accepting them, completing them, cashing in the rewards from the NPCs. Today Scor2k integrates it into the gamemaster (God) UI, so GMs can set them up.
But first, let’s talk Characters again.
Character Attributes
I have covered the basic commands and actions a character can take in Wen Gods, but I haven’t gone into detail about what distinguishes one character from the next. What makes a character an outstanding pathfinder or mage, fighter, or business person. Why will some characters have an easy time doing certain quests that will cause other characters to fail?
How do you become skilled in special areas? I believe it’s time to expand a bit on that.
When you create a new character in Wen Gods, it starts with 25 CP (Character Points).
You use CPs to specialize your character. 1 CP represents +1 point to any of your basic attributes.
Attributes determine your abilities in Mycora and serve as the foundation for further skill acquisition. Attributes matter and you can’t undo your CP distribution, but don’t worry – you’ll get more than the first 25 CPs, so there is room for experimentation. Depending on what kind of character you want to be, you’ll want to spend your CPs quite differently.
Character attributes in Mycora are:
STRENGTH
– Strength (STR) is your physical strength.
High strength increases your attack power and ability to block and parry, and it effects how much weight you can carry.
INTELLIGENCE
– High Intelligence (INT) increases your ability to learn.
If you want to learn magic skills, a high INT is good, and with each additional INT you set, you also raise your MP- Magic Point -limit by +10. The higher the MP, the more spell power you’ll have.
DEXTERITY
– Dexterity (DEX) represents agility, which affects your ability to sneak, dodge, make accurate and acrobatic moves and your chance of hitting targets in both close and long-range combat.
CONSTITUTION
– Constitution (CON) is your stamina, your vitality and endurance.
High CON makes you more resistant to fatigue, illnesses, poisons. It’s about how much you can handle. Each CON ups your HP- Health Points -limit by +10.
SPIRIT
– Spirit (SPT) reflects your belief in yourself.
SPT increases your chance of luck, and a high SPT also makes you regenerate HP and MP faster.
Let’s keep it like that for now – but Spirit is interesting, we could expand it. How good is intelligence if you only see unsolvable problems? Agility if you feel down and rather want to lie down and sleep your troubles away? Physical strength, if you doubt your own worth? Does a high spirit work the same for “good” and for “evil” characters? Depending on player type some characters would be in high spirit after exploring / socializing / achieving / killing. But that means the stat should be effected by actions, not CP?
Thoughts? If you got comments, as always don’t hesitate to share them in the comments, I am all ears and … keys. 🙂
Questing in Wen Gods
This leads us back to being a character in Wen Gods, Mycora.
To advance in the game, you’ll have to earn XP (Experience Points).
There are several ways to earn XP, and one – not least for newcomers – would be questing.
Simple quests
One way to get your hands on money and loot is working for hire:
Do this or that for an NPC and get something in return (money, XP, special items, be offered a specialization).
You’ll meet world inhabitants who need your help – which might lead you on further adventures.
When you’ve completed a simple quest, you won’t be offered the same quest again from the same NPC.
Simple quests will be expanded with chain-quests after the MVP, when we move to next development phase.
Storyline quests
A great thing to have, if you ask me.
This is where the GM’s storytelling and design skills shine or won’t work.
It contains all world inhabitants, all of the above, and builds on top of the lore.
The Wen Gods world has a backstory that players can uncover gradually by playing, exploring the world, and which they will ultimately have to decide and deal with. This is a quest, where they have the opportunity to write themselves into history. Players can dig into this narrative, unravel hidden mysteries, push forward events and influence the story – change history and the world (and by doing so earn XP, unlock talents, make it to the Leaderboard – become Legend!).
Every NPC and creature and rare item in Wen Gods is there for a reason. The ones I create are there because they play a vital role in Wen Gods’s history and future. And this is what I’m working on, if I am suddenly gone, offline, AFK, radio silent on the blog, Twitter, and chatrooms for more than a week, even if I said I would post here weekly! 😉
Player generated quests
Oh yes, freedom they say. I believe in freedom.
Another way to level up is to simply go out and explore. Do something!
Find some hidden items, hunt some monsters, trade, figure out a way for yourself.
Maybe you find items of great value to you – or to others than yourself. Use or trade them.
Maybe you find a hidden cave with rare crafting materials that nobody else knows about yet. What then.
Or you might meet a master who sees potential in you and offers you a specialization that will make you more powerful.
You create your own storyline.
Set your own goals, make your own quests (earn trust, loot, XP, make a reputation, under the radar or on the Leaderboard).
Or, you might realize that playing solo is too dangerous.
Grouping together can be done in 2 ways:
In temporary groups where you meet with other players and decide to spend time together – just to have some companionship or to work together on completing difficult quests or fight a bossman who is too strong for one person.
And then there are official clans with codes of honor, internal rules and responsibilities, that require membership. They may be started by players on a certain level, and they may decide to compete for glory in other ways than I personally planned. They might sit by the camp fire and chat, or they can raid areas like mad, kill bosses that was supposed to be unkillable, flash clan badges on their character NFTs, start a UBI system among their members, build a new village, and it will all be good. Clans, I must say, hasn’t been completed and implemented yet, it will most likely come with the blockchain integration.
Next week, I’ll be moving in to the main game world with Scor2k, so we can get a better feel of it all, and co-create more.
/apenzl