Music, Instruments, Bardic Arts, and Song

So, as is par the course for me, I'm yet again listening to strange and powerful musics whilst I browse the forums and I find I am drawn back to my days in DragonRealms (as is also par the course for me).

In particular, I'm interested in how players and music will interact. With DR, a major part of being a Bard was having musical skill training of some sort. You actually went and got your hands on an instrument and sat around and practiced it until you could play a tune half-decently, just like in reality. Or you sang yourself hoarse, preferably somewhere hidden away from easily offended ears.

Of course, DR being text-based, all you could get were the colorful descriptions written into the game, but it didn't stop people from having amazing ballads and songs. "Listeners" just had to rely on their imagination, and it worked for what it was. Music without sound inspired and attracted writers to be Bards, because the playing of the instrument was far blander than the actual lyrics created by the Bards themselves.

Thus, I come to my queries. Will HJ have musical instruments? How deeply developed will any music system be? Are custom songs possible? Or will we just have to emote? Will Bards just be goofy hybrid fighters lacking in their true vocation of song?

Discuss! *grins*

~Dune~
 
Honestly, all this time and no responses?

I mean, I understand my Elanthian Astronomy thread, as that was a bit daunting. But this is short, sweet, and even about something interesting like music!

Ahh well...

~Dune~
 
I very much hope that there is a musical instrument system in HJ, since there are Bards! Especially given, as you said, DR's rich music system.

I've heard tales of LOTRO's bard/music system. Vanguard also tried to have lots of customization in the songs. Perhaps HJ will be able to take music into the next step.

And to answer about Bards being some kind of hybrid scout/fighter...I truly hope not. Hopefully they'll still retain the actual BARD/minstrel qualities of their class name.
 
If HJ incorporates the LOTRO music system into the game, I'll be in heaven. Seriously, the BEST feature of that game was that system, it was amazing.

Vanguard sadly was kinda' weak, in my opinion. Sure songs could be customized, but eventually it became just a "buff" name and a type of "min / maxing" game. Hell, 99% of the instruments didn't even show up in the bard's HANDS... >.<
 
It's fairly simple yet inherently amazing. Basically, once you pick up a musical instrument and go into "music mode," you get to play the entire scale range of notes on that one instrument. Much like old MIDI files, people would create files you could then load into the game and you could easily play almost ANY song a midi program could. What's greater is each instrument sounded different. Some famous songs you wouldn't recognize on a lute for instance, but give the song to a slower, deeper horn and suddenly you'd realize what you were hearing.

It was very clever, and you could even compose you're own music and play it fluidly. It really is something revolutionary to "bard" content in games that I hope Simu decides to adopt or emulate.
 
Interesting. Does LOTRO filter such music?

I mean, theoretically you could play songs by major bands which are copywrited. Would people get sued for playing Stairway To Heaven? Is it even enforcable? Or is it completely free and open?

When I played DR a lot, I scripted out a rendition of "Far Over The Misty Mountains Cold" from The Hobbit, and did many parodies and alterations of other songs I enjoyed. Of course, DR was so insignificant that no one would ever come across my silly little usages of stuff, but theoretically I could have been in legal trouble for using people's work without their consent and whatnot.

I'm hoping, however, that it's more like youtube, where someone who plays Stairway to Heaven on their guitar is free to do so and anyone can listen and be fine with it.

The only place I can imagine things getting a little problematic is with transfer of in-game currency for the playing of out of game songs. If a bard plays Stairway to Heaven and gets tipped a few coins, that in-game currency could potentially be sold for real world capital of some sort, despite Simutronic's best efforts to stop such practices. (Unless they have really stellar anti-gold selling features, which I also hope).

There's a lot to speculate over, and I can't wait for some actual info.

~Dune~
 
There is nothing wrong with playing a cover of a copywrited song. To the best of my knowledge there is no difference between creating your own rendition of a famous painting and playing your own version of a famous song. The difference comes when you want to sell that work/song. For artwork you can just change it to make it your own unless it contains a trademarked character (eg: Bugs Bunny). Trademarked characters are a strict no-no. For music you would need an actual license to sell that song.
 
Gate is correct, copyrighted material is only a problem once YOU want to profit off it through major distribution. If you just play it it's not agaisnt the law.

But yes, I had a great time in LOTRO just hanging out in the Bree inn, playing The Imperial March and Beverly Hills Cop theme and all kinds of hilarious tunes. They had almost EVERYTHING. What really worked well though was the Forest Gump theme on the harp.

I don't think that in game "tips" could ever be tracked or counted as actual "profit" either. There's nothing to worry about there.
 
Wasn't there issue with people in City of Heros making their characters look too much like the "real" super heros? Something in the back my head recalls that DC or Marvel tried to bring up a suit or something.

That would be a similar thing I would think.
 
Copyrighted CHARACTERS are, yes, a different story. Mainly, Marvel I think sued NCSoft for creating the game because you COULD create characters that might "sort of look like" famous super heroes.

They lost that lawsuit however, as it was honestly a joke.
 
But anyway, playing famous songs was just one small 'fun factor' of the system. The real awesomeness was people actually being able to "jam" in game, and also create their OWN songs and literally perform.

I'm... extremely obsessed with Bards in MMOs... so I very much hope they are done well in HJ. Very much hope...
 
That LOTRO system honestly sounds like a great way to do music, but one question... how many ensembles were ruined due to latency?

*Bard 1 starts playing drums*
*Bard 2 comes in on lyre*
*Bard 3 misses his cue due to lag, comes in on flute at really akward time and completely ruins the song*

~Dune~
 
That LOTRO system honestly sounds like a great way to do music, but one question... how many ensembles were ruined due to latency?

*Bard 1 starts playing drums*
*Bard 2 comes in on lyre*
*Bard 3 misses his cue due to lag, comes in on flute at really akward time and completely ruins the song*

~Dune~

OMG... yes, this happened a few times and made everyone's ears bleed. Ensembles were RARE and VERY tricky... I think I only heard ONE that worked well, and they were all playing slow, hitting the keys themselves (I.E. it wasn't scripted)
 
I did enjoy the music system in LOTRO...

Was the only thing that really reminded me I wasn't playing World of Warcraft :P

Hot damn, it was too much a clone.
 
I did enjoy the music system in LOTRO...

Was the only thing that really reminded me I wasn't playing World of Warcraft :P

Hot damn, it was too much a clone.

Ugh... I agree... that was the ONLY unique thing in it, and why I'm not playing it now.

While amazing and very clever... it wasn't enough to keep me interested in the least. Plus I couldn't find much RP... and RP I did see was way too "OMG that backstory contradicts one of the Tolkien books that mentions a note he wrote on a napkin once, YOU LORE BREAKER!!"
 
That... that sounds... whoa... inspiration has struck me here, I'm gonna run with it.

~~~~~~~

Lore Breakers are agents of chaos, the specialized infiltrators of a secretive arcane cult. Their first known activity consisted of a shocking and unprecedented daylight raid on the Hajhtal Academy and it's storehouses of official documents. These libraries were ransacked and burned with ruthless efficiency, and the academy's Loremaster abducted, his body later fished from the Naerwaith River.

Initial investigations failed to determine either motives or suspects for the attack, but it was only a short while before the ramifications of the event became apparant. With the loss of decades worth of tax records, land deeds, birth and death certificates, and official information of countless natures, the Hajhtal Academy's function as administrative center for the surrounding counties shuddered to a halt. Disputes cropped up over everything: property ownership, marraiges, divorces, finances, employment, debts, inheritances, court orders, criminal sentencings, executions, and far more else.

The resulting anarchy happens to have been the exact goal of the Lore Breakers, as it was not long afterward that cryptic propaganda materials began to be distributed amongst many of the regions largest cities and town. Through these publications, the Breakers very plainly stated their purpose: "Purification of the minds of all through the control of truth, by any means necesarry."

~Dune~
 
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