World of Darkness Online - Confirmed

Cleverest of Things:

c34r34lk1ll3r:

i can see that as a good idea but all the power gamer min maxers would roll em and not have as much to do with the actual pilgrimage

It wouldn't be an easy task to complete the Pilgrimage.  It'd be an epic-level feat, something with a lot of different things involved. IF there are people playing the NPCs, there might be a Qasmal that appears to test him, and would probably be able to tell whether the person is roleplaying out the Pilgrimage, especially if certain Story events and cutscenes are kept in a person's memory record.

And then, if the occassional min-maxer goes through all of that effort to become a mortal and reroll as something else, all the more power to him.  It was probably very fun for his friends to go along with the ride.. and it will be exciting to have a new powerful PC show up in the area and cause a shift in power.

Perhaps every race could have this option.. Vampires have Golconda, Mages have Ascension, Changelings can become Fae, etc.  The Prommies are the only ones that are almost all moving towards that goal, but it'd be the ultimate feat that the Expansion Pack has to offer.  In WoW terminology, it would've been the Arthas or Illidan of the game.  Also, considering the fact that Prometheans are the best solo characters, they are incredibly resilient, AND they can purchase extra lives through exp (How would Death be handled in a WoD MMO?  Would it happen more rarely than in a typical one?  How serious would it be?), the reroll would just mean that Prometheans would appeal to solo and casual gamers.  They have their own built in goals, their own survivability, and the ability to return from death.  This means they will be less likely to rely on others than, say, Changelings or Mages.

the only problem i have is that eventually let me repeat that  EVENTUALLY everyone will be at primal urge/blood potency/Azoth/Gnosis/ Psyche/i dont know the one for changeling at 10 which will lead to hell on earth

c34r34lk1ll3r:

the only problem i have is that eventually let me repeat that  EVENTUALLY everyone will be at primal urge/blood potency/Azoth/Gnosis/ Psyche/i dont know the one for changeling at 10 which will lead to hell on earth

Not necessarily.  Plenty of people will not want to raise their power stat, focusing on other forms of self improvement.  Others will die before reaching that kind of power (Which may permanently kill the character, or delevel it somehow).  Similarly, such powerful characters will draw a lof ot NPC and PC attention, and may be targets of assassination or attack.  Plus, there are drawbacks to having obscenely high power stats.

i keep forgetting about the fact this is open ended like Ultima Online and not closed top end stuff like WoW and AoC

Klonoa:

Obviously, you aren't going to be able to Creative Thaumaturgy, so it will boil down to rotes and maybe the ability to manipulate certain terrains/objects.

I disagree. Select target(s)/area, select an effect from a list (pop-up menu for each arcanum, probably listing the practices), select duration (if necessary). The time it takes you to do this can amount to your casting time, with rotes functioning like/off hotkeys and a minimum casting time to prevent people from using preprogrammed set-ups to sling together spells really quickly.

What I'd most look forward to would be the proper use of the Morality stat in an MMO. To use negative magic on a human in Mage is a sin right down to Wisdom 3, meaning longer paradox, while raising your Gnosis boosts the odds and severity of paradox significantly. Powergamers will use silver/agg weapons in Werewolf and suddenly find that none of the spirits will deal with them and they lose control of their character more often. Lings with high Wyrd will be more vigourously hunted by the True Fae, a foe they have no realistic chance of defeating. If the true spirit of WoD is put in this game, powergamers will fall flat on their face, at least for the first few months.

Atholl:

I disagree. Select target(s)/area, select an effect from a list (pop-up menu for each arcanum, probably listing the practices), select duration (if necessary). The time it takes you to do this can amount to your casting time, with rotes functioning like/off hotkeys and a minimum casting time to prevent people from using preprogrammed set-ups to sling together spells really quickly.

This is exactly what I imagined for Magic.  I could see creative magic functioning somewhat like debugging or programming, with certain functions available based on the parameters of your spell.  All in all, Mage would be a lot like playing Second Life--A Life-heavy mage can alter his in-game avatar, can heal people's wounds, can create small pets, etc.  Matter mages might be able to alter objects in the environment around them, change their properties, turn them into other things, etc.  It could be a lot of fun to see how it plays out, and certainly would take "Casting time" to create improv spells, and the "quick-cast" Rote-spells would be a neat addition.

I think Actions would be the standard "Abilities" for the game, each using your stats to determine how successful the action is.  From what Ive read about Eve online, the game uses trait-specific training rather than level grinding.  It even has downtime built into the system, and training time.  You could put Actions on your hotkeys, as well as individual Disciplines, Rote Spells, Gifts, Shapeshifts, etc. 

Also, EVE online seems to have a built-in criminal element.. corporate espionage, pirating, kidnapping, and the like seem to fill both the roll of PVP and faction/hostility.  I would love to see how legal and illegal activities affect your character, how it affects pvp, dealing with humans, etc.  It'd be cool if a vampire that kills too many people gets the attention of the police, or if a Changeling could make a decent living swindling and conning people.

maybe creative thaum would follow something similar to the spell research system in asheron's call. Unless time in game is simulated real time (like in WoW), I see this game starting as a mortals only game with splats being content expansions (big 3 anyways).

A dream a little dream...

You guys are funny, thinking that they are going to somehow just slap a GUI around a White Wolf book and call it a day. I would be exceedingly surprised if the MMO looks anything like the PnP game mechanically when it is released.

You'll "level" up like every other MMO.. maybe you'll train specific skills like SWG did originally or like EVE does.. but it won't be like playing a Table Top game on a computer..

I'm hoping the game is a lot like Eve Online in that it is largely player run. The game gives the players the tools and the systems to get going, some basic mission types, but much of the gameplay, the politics, the wars, the backstabbing and the RP is entirely run by the players. Huge fleets taking over areas of space, individual freelancers making millions by working the market, massive battles and wars being fought. The developers of Eve practically get to sit back and watch what the players do. A large part of that is the fact that the game takes place on one single server. The market, the economy, controlled and uncontrolled space, it's all run by players.

Here is an interesting video that gives a clue as to how Eve plays, and how because it's everyone on a single server, in a single game, each player choice has consequences. And how a WoD Online game with the same type of style could turn out.

http://www.gametrailers.com/user-movie/eve-online-the-butterfly-effect/326105

So I would love to see World of Darkness Online largely the same way. A big sandbox that is a city and surrounding environs (or multiples there of,) the tools players need and thats it. Like Eve you could have various 'missions' available but much of what players do 'day to day' would be of their own political or social interactions.

Beyond that it comes down to needing more details on the game. Does it start as mortals? Will there be Kindred, Werewolves, Mages, etc? Will you start as mortal or start by choosing a race. Personally I'd like to see you start as mortal and become something else, or not. If Vampires are in the game perhaps they can embrace mortals (and the first Vampires being GMs to get the ball rolling.) Perhaps some mortals become hunters after a particularly brutal encounter with the supernatural. Others might Awaken or have their First Change. Perhaps when you start the game you make that choice, or you leave it up to whim and desire. Perhaps when you feel your ready to become something else you do a particular quest arc that once it ends you are embraced into your preferred clan, awaken, become a werewolf, etc, with the story-arc choices leading you to becoming the monster you want to be. After that it's up to you what choices you make, as I'd like to see, for example, the kindred Covenants be completely player run.

For now its all up in the air and these questions and ideas and hopes are just that. Hopefully soon, now that the game has been all but officially announced, we'll start to see the details. :)

I know one thing, we need a forum for the game, either here or at the CCP website. So we can get the ball rolling!

Hey, did anyone catch the bit of the announcement where they said the online game would be using D20 mechanics?




:)

MisterShifter:

I would be exceedingly surprised if the MMO looks anything like the PnP game mechanically when it is released.
(...)but it won't be like playing a Table Top game on a computer.

Congratulations, you've just been chosen as Captain Obvious of the Week! We'll provide a placard in the main office room shortly. Be proud!

...

Thank god it won't be like tabletop on a computer - what's the point of that? What the game needs to do is to preserve the setting's theme and feel given the medium's constraints. The rest is window dressing, no matter how much nerdrage flies around just because a player can't create a whole spell on the fly or whatever.

Atholl:

Lings with high Wyrd will be more vigourously hunted by the True Fae, a foe they have no realistic chance of defeating.

Well, the Fae aren't that overpowering on Earth: for one thing, their stats are capped at six while in the mortal world, and they can only stay for a few hours at a time. The problem is that the bastards won't necessarily stay dead. Besides, as the Wyrd of the changelings grows higher, the attitudes of the former masters become even more... ambiguous. Eventually they might not be as much hunted as persuaded to "come home", although the Fae certainly could try to show them where they really belong by wrecking the remnants of their mortal lives.

Mind this game is being made in house, literally. White Wolf has direct supervision of the game. I'm sure mechanics won't be 100% identical as when making a game you have to make a few changes for obvious reasons. But don't expect the game to vary mechanically as wildly as say the old Vampire - Redemption game did, having levels and a completely different mechanic system, etc.

:D Im excited about this game. The Vampire setting is perfect I think for a sandbox style player run game, I mean that's wot the Dance Macabre is all about, vying for Land, feeding rights and office titles in an elaborate and REAL (in the sense that each or most of the participants is a PC rather then an NPC) web of conspiracies, backstabbing's and plots that not even the developers can fully keep track of :P

I think servers are going to have to have far lower player caps than other RPGs, unless they do a lot of cities.

MisterShifter:

A dream a little dream...

You guys are funny, thinking that they are going to somehow just slap a GUI around a White Wolf book and call it a day. I would be exceedingly surprised if the MMO looks anything like the PnP game mechanically when it is released.

You'll "level" up like every other MMO.. maybe you'll train specific skills like SWG did originally or like EVE does.. but it won't be like playing a Table Top game on a computer..

You hit the nail on the head. There will be no way the actual game will resemble what we're dreaming of. I doubt Promethean will ever be a playable race. It would have to be saved for an expansion, and that's only if the game succeeds. With WoW still having an iron grip on the market, all of the other MMO's have suffered. When WAR came out, it was the talk of the town for a month. Yet, it lost a huge amount of it's player base with the following months. Same thing with Age of Conan.

When it comes out however, I will always keep a subscription running. I can't get enough WOD.