Titles & "Circles"

[Thaos Nightwind]

~o)

Well, as pertaining the 70+ Titles to be in HJ, I thought it interesting to scope out the Titles section of Simu's Dragon Realms site. And what a rich selection of Titles they have there. Scroll to the bottom and just check'em out:

Dragon Realms Skill Based Title page. Look at all the CIRCLES!!!

Interesting to speculate as to whether or not HJ will import some of thse *or* create and entirely new Title System for HJ. It does show just how massively creative they can be though. *tips hat*

But even more interesting, is this little snippet that caught my eye on the their Skills page:

"As you begin to play DragonRealms you will find your character learning new skills quickly. Eventually, though, you will want to specialize in a particular field. To do this you must seek out a Guild of a particular profession, such as a Barbarian or Moon Mage. The Guild will assign your character a rank (called a Circle) based on the skills learned, and guide you to learn new ones to reach each successive circle.

Each skill fits into one of the following categories or Skill Sets: Armor, Weapons, Lore, Survival, or Magic" - Dragon Realms

Which then reminded me of 'Circle 37' from this screenshot.

Which then took me back to the statement from this article. (<---needs right justified btw)

So!! If we put the word 'Flex' before the notion of a Guild Rank (aka Circle), what do you think the implications could be??? And what do you think of all those GREAT Titles??

 

[Ainilome]

*snickers* Someone else linking the DR page for once.

I love the title system in DR, I love that some of them are guild only but most are skill based. I'm a thief, in DR thieves are fully undercover. Currently I'm "Scavenger Tsuim". It has nothing to do with my thief skills and is in fact a foreaging title. Looking at me in green and cream, with an herb pouch, a longbow and a quiver you'd guess I was a ranger. It makes it not so obvious who everyone is just by their title. Example:

Yesterday I died. Bit it hard from some goblins. When I died I dropped what was in my hand, a midnight-black sabre given to me by a friend. Not only is it a nice weapon but it has sentimental value. So I'm laying there dead-afied and someone named "Sticky Fingers SuchandSuch" wanders by and picked up my sword laying next to my corspe. My first thought was "Oh please don't steal my sabre". The person however grabbed me and started dragging my back to town, plops me down in the clerics guild and...starts healing my battered corpse. "Sticky Fingers" was an empath She healed me, found a cleric to raise me and gave me my sabre.

I like that, it's not as simple as "Oh look, that person has an empath title given at 20th circle. Woo I'm saved" Plus, it gives you the fun of leveling different skills, doing odd things (The Gypsy title for example requires you to have money depositied in five different city banks) to atain a fun title. There's one I really want that focuses on swimming skill, Tsunami. I so want to be "Tsunami Tsuim"

 

[Kuzzle]

It'd be cool if you could earn special titles. Like, say... Knife a trader that's bringing supplies to another faction in the kidney, you could earn the title "Something related to knifing a trader in the kidneys for political reasons", or something. A-yup...

 

[HJ-Navarre]

Which then took me back to the statement from this article. (<---needs right justified btw)

So!! If we put the word 'Flex' before the notion of a Guild Rank (aka Circle), what do you think the implications could be??? And what do you think of all those GREAT Titles??

Thanks! The justification issue has been fixed. I use Firefox 100% of the time, so I often forget to check and see how it looks in Internet Exploder.

btw.. Levels are called Circles in DR.. that's all.

 

[Thaos Nightwind]

... It makes it not so obvious who everyone is just by their title.

I find this to be a good thing. Very good in fact. It completely removes the whole initial cookie cutter 'I can tell what level you are by the armour and weapons you carry.' mold that has become all too familiar.

I like that, it's not as simple as "Oh look, that person has an empath title given at 20th circle. Woo I'm saved" Plus, it gives you the fun of leveling different skills, doing odd things (The Gypsy title for example requires you to have money depositied in five different city banks) to atain a fun title. There's one I really want that focuses on swimming skill, Tsunami. I so want to be "Tsunami Tsuim"

Yes this is very good as well. The leveling of skills apart from the constant formulaic slaying-leveling-acquiring new skills equation. The actual leveling of the skill...tyring to think if I've played any games that have done that.

I like the sound of that. It's an extra 'Something to focus on' thing, something else to do that i'd look forward to. Especially if there are skills to be acquired and other ways of augmenting them instead of combat.

(Just goin' over some stuff in my head so 'xcuse me a sec, early Sat morn and need to get my HJ fixation out)

Add some other systems in there, Journey Sys, GM Sys, Political (faction) Sys, and that "living world" system thing (which I really like the sound of - creature AI does stuff in the world for a reason, they're not just "randomly wandering “bags of loot.” ) and HJ sounds to be a very rich immersive game offering. Sometimes methinks the game will be more vast than I feel that i'm accustomed to. Especially with the way most games seem to have been boiled down to combat centric basics as the primary draw/highlight.

If I had to put combat on a scale it would be amoviing target between, maybe 10-20% of being a 'reason' for me to log into a game. It's pretty low on the totem pole. 'Course the more annimation unique/diverse and intricate (combo moves etc) it can move up the scale a bit but it's never been the primary draw. So now it sounds like I would have a game related reason to combat HJ creatures as opposed to them being a required level metric.

As stated by some; this is where I hope HJ sticks to it's potential and not scale back for the sake of ...simplicity. I want that full rich immersive game experience.

So the "Flex Circles" thing, which sounds like overlapping flexibility with Guild Level Rankings somehow (<----- severe speculation), would be par for the HJ course as it sounds fluidic as well.

Allow me bore you with one more such fluidic example. The Grouping portion of this article and options it offers. Is that not great? It's pretty easy to broadly cover the traditional options MMORPG's can offer. But more often than not, by far, when looking further into HJ's versions of same it seems that they've tried to expand each one.

So thumbs up HJ!!!

 

[Vahsyl]

I find this to be a good thing. Very good in fact. It completely removes the whole initial cookie cutter 'I can tell what level you are by the armour and weapons you carry.' mold that has become all too familiar.

If this alone is true about the game I'll be happy. Sometimes, people RP a jerk JUST because they KNOW they are higher level than you and can kick your arse.

If they aren't 100% sure, the 'coward' in most bullies would shine through, and they would be more circumspect.

Plus, it's way easier to RP by saying "I've reached the 10th Circle in my guild."

And speaking of guilds, I adore the system in DR... I thought at first only being allowed to join an NPC run guild was not a great idea... but now I find it forces people together with their own members, and actually instills a sense of community. It's lovely, plus you feel like you are being 'judged' by your guild and THAT is what gains you a 'rank.' In other games... it was always kind of dumb to say "Oh I reached my next level" or "Oh I reached my next season" when... you really had no one to 'report to.'

 

[Kuzzle]

Yeah, but the guild system in HJ will, undoubtedly, be different, so I'm wondering if, like... Maybe "Circle" is no longer the correct term? Or maybe, like, PC-ran guild will have "Circles", and you'll be forced to join/make one to advance, or... Ok, that's just stupid, but my attention is, right now, almost entirely taken up by a Cadbury Fruit & Nut bar... Mmm.

 

[Ainilome]

Circle is just what DR calls levels, same as a good portion of RPers I've met in various games have called them 'seasons'. Because excepting DR, I can't remember a time that there's been an RP mechanic for "ding I gained a level" or "I just beat the felgercarb out of two hundred orcs and suddenly in a flash of light and a tumpet of sound I feel like I've gained more hit points and can wear better armor now"

I really love that in DR you have no real idea what level people are. It reminds me of EVE, you don't pick on people because there's no floating number above their head saying "Yes, you can kill this person" or "No, you can not kill this person". Even someone that looks like a newbie might be wearing a 'lower level' title that they just like, or not dressed to the nines because they choose a mundane outfit that morning. I look at Ginnai all decked out in red and rubies and I know that chances are he's richer than me and so probably higher level. If he dropped his title and came out in a simple outfit I'd have no idea what general level he was. Divi, when she loaded me down with herbs when I was busy bleeding all over the the guild hall floor was hidden behind a cloak giving no idea as to how awesome or non-awesome she was (Though I'm gonna go with the awesome). Love it, there's no way to tell what circle someone is unless you ask Will HJ go that route? Gards I'd be impressed and happy if they did. I think it might also upset powergamers, if it isn't obvious how freaking awesome high level uber you are to every player you pass what's the point?

 

[Kuzzle]

I see your point, and, believe me, it seems cool, I was just saying that, if "Circle" is a term used specifically in reference to guild rank, it might be difficult to carry over. I had some other point, probably, but my current lack of chocolate makes it all but impossible to discern.

 

[Thaos Nightwind]

...there's no way to tell what circle someone is unless you ask Will HJ go that route? Gards I'd be impressed and happy if they did.

I would be in favor of it. If not then at least dont display level #'s for all to see.

 

[HJ-Diviana]

I'm hoping it will be optional. If you want to show it, by all means let people know, but if you don't, then you don't have to.

 

[Thaos Nightwind]

Yes. That would be awesome Div. But you know what would be funny about that? LOL!!

When someone saw a character running up to them with their Level # all blazed out overhead...It would be like a umm...pretentious 'Ewwww...How tacky.' LOL!!!

/noseair

I just thought of something.

If HJ will accomodate players with time constraints by letting them temporarily flex their Circle within the wider Circles (<----adopts DR lingo) of friends who have more time to play. Maybe that's what it referes to guild wise?

 

[Nil_CinVin]

I'm hoping it will be optional. If you want to show it, by all means let people know, but if you don't, then you don't have to.

It either needs to be able to be display or not able to be displayed. If it is available, and you just turn it off, then someone will develop a cheat that lets you see it.

When DAoC tried to give us the option to do away with the giant red names above our heads, people just modded so that they'd show again.

 

[Vahsyl]

I love DR's system though... it IS optional. It's like real life. You can GUESS someone's experience by what they say, what they do, what they look like, and what their wear... but honestly, you don't REALLY know for sure unless they tell you.

I just love that.

 

[Ainilome]

*hands Vahsyl a DragonRealms Fanboi Hat*

*thinks*

*yoinks hat, paints a giant ant on the front of it then gives it back*

 

[HJ-Navarre]

Titles have come a long way in DR. The list used to be much smaller. I still have the original list of titles around somewhere...
I miss my 'Lord Marshal' title, which used to be for 70+ circle Paladins. They have removed that title completely.

I love that a circle 100 character can choose to wear any title they have previously aquired or none at all. A 100th circle Squire?
I have had a lot of fun in the past pretending to be much more inexperienced than my character actually was.

...there's no way to tell what circle someone is unless you ask Will HJ go that route? Gards I'd be impressed and happy if they did.

I sincerely hope so.

 

[Ainilome]

70th circle? *blink* *twitch* *blink* That's a lotta circles, Nav.

I sincerely hope so.

The more I hear of small details of DR tranlating into HJ the happier I'll become I'm not looking or hoping for a graphical DR (I'd die. Happy happy die.) but they got so many things right in DR in my opinion, small things that really suprise me I've never seen before. Things simple, smart and fun that I hope Simu realizes they did well with and expand on.


Also I -adore- that there's no for certain level cap (I'm sure there's a point at which things stop giving you experience, but no hard written in stone number) Without a level cap, there's no rush to -get- to level cap. There's no certain destination that everyone is aiming for. I'm not going "Oh look, another level 50. Blasted heck I'm behind" And if I see a high circle player I don't think "Wow, they must have busted their butt to get there" (which they likely did, but not my point) I see higher level people and think "Wow, they must really love this game and have been playing for a long time."

The formula of play the game as fast as you can so that you hit level cap because the really fun stuff only starts in end game seems so common. *points above to the two google ads offering 1-60 in 24hours or 70 levels in 4 days* I have hope. It's Hero's -Journey- after all. Not Hero's Destination. But then again Vanguard was suppose to "Set me Free" and I think it only gave me a headache and made me want to toss my PC out the window XD

It seems a small thing, but an important one. I've been playing for silly amounts of time recently (10+ hours a day I'd say on average) and working on circling not intensive but focusing atleast and I'm only 8th almost 9th circle. It's slow and I love it, I don't feel behind because I know that all these uber people around me have probably been playing a -lot- longer than me. It doesn't give me that icky "I need to work harder, look how behind I am" feeling that I tend to get in most every other game I've played. It's a system that really works for me which is suprising because I was certain there wasn't one out there

 

[Ginnai]

I love that a circle 100 character can choose to wear any title they have previously aquired or none at all. A 100th circle Squire?
I have had a lot of fun in the past pretending to be much more inexperienced than my character actually was.

It all depends on how well known or unknown your character is. If you usually hide out in remote areas most of the time (like me) people have no idea who you are when you come out of the woodwork.

 

[Kuzzle]

It all depends on how well known or unknown your character is. If you usually hide out in remote areas most of the time (like me) people have no idea who you are when you come out of the woodwork.

It's like "Doo-dee-doo..." *BAM! Right in the kidneys.* "*cough, gasp* Who... are you?" "Death. Mwahahahahahaha!"

 

[Vahsyl]

*hands Vahsyl a DragonRealms Fanboi Hat*

*thinks*

*yoinks hat, paints a giant ant on the front of it then gives it back*

... you're so dead...

It seems a small thing, but an important one. I've been playing for silly amounts of time recently (10+ hours a day I'd say on average) and working on circling not intensive but focusing atleast and I'm only 8th almost 9th circle. It's slow and I love it, I don't feel behind because I know that all these uber people around me have probably been playing a -lot- longer than me. It doesn't give me that icky "I need to work harder, look how behind I am" feeling that I tend to get in most every other game I've played. It's a system that really works for me which is suprising because I was certain there wasn't one out there

And same. I couldn't play last night 'cause of family and life stuff... do I feel I am now horribly behind and will never catch up and be left in the dirt? Nope.