Estate system

[Talaroc]

Didn't see a topic for this...

I am curious about the estate system, as presented in the wiki (http://themanaworld.sourceforge.net/wik ... tateSystem). I haven't really seen one of these in any of the games I am familiar with; in most, the player is just assumed to be a wanderer, and either sets up camp wherever (which then promptly dissappears when you log off) or stays at an inn (which is nothing more than a save point and a safe place to log in/off).

The system sounds fun, but I question a few things. First, where are these estates to be? Not on the main map, I hope; even modestly popular MMORPG's boast several hundred players, and that would mean either expanding the map or squeezing gameplay into successively smaller and smaller spaces, either one on a very regular basis as new players joined. The alternative, of course, is that each player's estate is in it's own small map, and these maps are accessed via common gateways (for example: the character walks up to and reads a "residence map," which lists character names, and clicking on a name creates a door/opens a portal/warps the character to the appropriate estate map). This seems to me the easier of the two, and the better overall. Then again, being unfamiliar with the system in general, there might be other options I'm unaware of.

Another thing is, it seems to be somewhat overly complex. The system of buying improvements, allowing/disallowing visitors, and having your "possessions" be safe from harm is all good, but butlers and gardeners? What would they be cleaning up? It would seem to me that it would be more of a difficulty to create a reason for them to exist than to just ignore it. As for the TMW "eBay," it sounds like a good idea, although I don't think that a broker should be needed; let the player do it themselves (and only allow the trading of estate-based goods on it; otherwise you might put the town shops right out of business ).

Anyway, other than that, it seems like an interesting system that could add an additional layer of roleplay (or chatting/meeting new friends) to the game.

[Kyokai]

As for the system of gateways, you're right on target, Talaroc. It's impossible to keep the players on a fixed sized map, so each one gets his own personal map, stored along with his character data.

The reason I suggested NPCs is because a big house gets somewhat lonely, and some other characters can be fun to interact with and give instruction to (plus that fact that no other MMORPG does this very well encourages me to do it better in TMW) I admit it is a stretch for them to exist. Maybe they can perform more useful functions, like making items for the players, or just taking messages from visitors and such.

Of course, the primary purpose of an estate is to store your stuff and show off the trophies you've collected on your travels. I think some players may even want to set up fraternity style arrangements where everyone keeps their trophies and items in a large collective (PC guilds will definitely want to do this.)

By the way, the whole point of an auction style system is to put the town shops out of business in favor of a player-driven economy...

[Talaroc]

The reason I suggested NPCs is because a big house gets somewhat lonely

I suppose, although I personally don't plan on spending much time in mine once this all comes together.

plus that fact that no other MMORPG does this very well encourages me to do it better in TMW

Fair enough.

By the way, the whole point of an auction style system is to put the town shops out of business in favor of a player-driven economy...

Won't that effectively KO the semi-controlled dynamic economy system?

[Kyokai]

Won't that effectively KO the semi-controlled dynamic economy system?

hmm... maybe, maybe not. Then again, why do we need to simulate an economy if we have a real one? It's just a thought. Of course shops will still exist for normal items. It's the things you can't get at the shops that would be sold mostly in the auctions. We could limit auctions to rare items only. I don't know. I'm open for suggestions.

[Talaroc]

Then again, why do we need to simulate an economy if we have a real one?

To support the dynamic politcial system, give consequence to town raids, etc.

We could limit auctions to rare items only.

I think that would be a good idea.

[Kyokai]

Maybe shops will only sell generic items, like materials. Raw materials are what is most affected by dynamic economy anyway. We can use our auctions for anything that is not a common material.

[Talaroc]

Sounds like a plan to me.

[Flare]

auctions should be able to sell all items really, because for example: in FF11 which i really didnt like, you could buy stacks of things for a bit cheaper than you would spend buying them single, and you could also use auctions as a message system to like send sort of mail to others, or just have that as an option int he game and for a trading system through liek an auction house, that was 1 good thing about FF11 was the auction houses other than that the game wasnt that good, way too expensive to play and not real money but the in game money took way too long to get the money u needed for items you needed to actually be able to lvl up, hopefully that wont be a probelm in this game.

[Kyokai]

Flare: that shouldn't be a problem in TMW, if I can work it out right. The reason that it was so hard to get things in FFXI was because most materials could only be found and not bought. Since players knew everyone needed basic materials, they could charge a huge price for them. By regulating most common materials with the shop prices, we can avoid this kind of inflation, as well as make the dynamic economy system work. But anyway, this is not the topic of this thread, so if anyone has anything else to say about Dynamic Economy, please open a new thread and we can talk about it there.

[Kyokai]

I updated the estate system a bit. To see what's available to your characters in the choice of rooming, check here: http://themanaworld.sourceforge.net/wik ... tateSystem

I look forward to hearing from everyone about it.

[Bjørn]

Sorry I'm really not interested in thinking about such things at this stage of development, I especially watch the elaborate list of room types in awe. While sure you are free to think about this, I don't think the rest of the team actually should at this point.

[Kyokai]

Sorry I'm really not interested in thinking about such things at this stage of development, I especially watch the elaborate list of room types in awe. While sure you are free to think about this, I don't think the rest of the team actually should at this point.

It actually does have a bit of relevance at the moment. I'm thinking the player's home will be the place they return to by default when they die. Also, it would be the safe logout point we've all been talking about having. If you read through the wiki page, there is an item described there that allows players to return to their homes from the field and vice-versa at any time. (Of course, this would have a timer between activation and use, to prevent people from warping out of battles. It would also not work exactly the same way in dungeons.)

[Bear]

at first, i doubted this idea, but now that i look closer, it could be a place for storage, somewhat kile the mog house in FFXI

[Kyokai]

at first, i doubted this idea, but now that i look closer, it could be a place for storage, somewhat kile the mog house in FFXI

Not only that, but it facilitates alot of other things too. A place for players to craft, garden, keep quests and domestic affairs in order, to entertain friends, and so on. Especially guilds will benefit when they can create their own private headquarters.

[Bjørn]

Well I don't agree with having the player respawn at their home. I mean maybe that'd be an option, in maybe half a year, when somebody got around to implementing the estate system. But for now, players would probably just respawn in the last visited town when they die.