Recently Turbine published a Letter from the Producer. The first half is spent reflecting on the last two major updates - the 100th update and the 10th anniversary. The second half outlines some ideas Turbine has for the next big update, planned for the late spring or early summer of 2010.
The Wedding
The premise for this update seems not to be an important milestone for the game itself, but rather the in-game wedding of two yet to be revealed characters. The article does however mention the the King and Queen, meaning the happy couple is likely going to be Queen Elysa and an unknown character, King Varicci and an unknown character, or more likely Prince Borelean and Hoshino Kei, who were King and Queen during the "Golden Age" of Asheron's Call 2's backstory.
This seems like a fine premise for another big update, and it sounds like there will be some fun live events, probably including the big wedding. I am a little concerned on what this could mean for AC, though. While AC2's version of AC1's future is no longer strictly followed, the idea of possibly entering a golden age of peace and prosperity does not sound too thrilling when it comes to new and exciting content.
Facial Appearance Updates
The first feature mentioned for the big spring update is new facial textures and hairstyles being created. And with those, the possibility for existing characters to modify their face, hair, and even skin tone.
I'm all for new styles being added, since it seems like a pretty trivial task. But I hope Turbine does not waste dev time that could be spent on new mechanics or content on instead granting existing characters the ability to modify their face. I am not against the idea entirely, but I do think if implementing this feature is at all difficult, they should simply scrap it. The reason for that is simple: No one looks at their face. Most people never remove their helmets, and for me at least, the majority of the time I see my characters I am looking at the backs of their heads.
Turbine mentioned the possibility to "hide" your equiped head gear, so that you could show off your new looks. Personally, I think this is pretty dumb - it just doesn't feel very realistic. And it could potentially cause some issues for PKs, since seeing your opponent's equipment can help you decide where you want to attack. The invisible helmet mode seems like an attempt to justify the otherwise wasted time that would be spent on the facial alteration feature.
Armor Tailoring
The next feature mentioned is described as armor tailoring. Essentially, it is the ability to transfer all stats of one piece of armor (armor levels, spells, etc) to another piece of the same type. For example, you could transfer the stats of those really powerful but incredibly ugly Studded Leather Sleeves to a pair of nice looking Lorica Sleeves - preserving the stats but updating the art.
I'm most excited for this feature. While I understand it may annoy some players who spent countless hours and MMDs finding that perfect set of single slot yoroi armor, overall it will add new facets to the loot system. Armor with poor stats but great art will suddenly have some value, along with those ugly but powerful pieces. And in an MMO, pretty much every update will make the achievements of the older players worth less. You can't be held back by people worried about the value of their work being cheapened, or nothing new would happen and the game would die.
Animations and Anti-aliasing
Turbine wants to spend some time fixing character animations that cause gaps in the pieces of the model. I don't really care either way if they do this or not. I can see how as a designer it would feel nice to correct these mistakes, but it also does not improve gameplay, which as a player is more important to me. If they are going to be in the code tinkering with animations, I'd rather see them fix animations and animation bugs - such as the awkwardness of entering/exiting thrown weapons combat, or melees simply stopping their attack animations - than see my archer's arm properly connected to his torso when wearing slim armor. As for Anti-aliasing, anything to improve the game's look is welcome, so I hope they are able to get this added.
New Races
I am most concerned about this feature. This is what the Letter from the Producer states:
- The happy couple will celebrate by welcoming many of the estranged races of the land to join their kingdom as full citizens. Although many creatures will ignore their invitation, some stragglers, progressives, and visionaries from other races of Dereth might trickle into the kingdom. We hope to be able to offer one or more additional race as player characters to represent these exceptional beings who come to the kingdom and accept the citizenship from the King and Queen.
Before I get to my concerns, lets look at the likely suspects for the new races:
- Tumeroks & Lugians - From a story perspective, these are the most likely races to be added. In the current day, New Aluvia is already allied with the Lugians of Linvak Tukal and the Aun Tumeroks. We have an alliance stronghold - Candeth Keep. Aun Tumerok and regular (non-Gotrok) Lugian creatures are already passive to us. And, fitting in with the AC2 story of Borelean and Hoshino potentially getting married, Tumeroks and Lugians were the other two playable races in AC2, and were at peace with humans during the Golden Age (Borelean's reign).
- Gear Knights - Currently Dereth is being invaded by Gear Knights that want to destroy all Empyreans and their allies - and humans have been identified as one ally. However, these invaders are part of a rogue faction of the Gear Knights, and are from the Military branch that is programmed for combat and conquest. But not all Gear Knights would feel the same way. In the article, it even hints at gear knights being friendly (These creatures/constructs provide a new threat -- and potentially a new source of allies -- to the players).
- Empyreans - Specifically the Yalaini trapped in portal space. With AC2's story being non-canon, the developers could bring back the trapped Empyrean at any time. And they did bring them back as a playable race in Asheron's Call 2: Legions, so it is possible they could do the same thing in AC1. And they could potentially recycle some of the textures and sounds used in AC2 which would save on development time.
- Other Potential, but in my opinion less likely, races include: Virindi, Burun (specifically the renegade Ruuk with whom we are allied), Mosswarts, and Drudges.
So, why am I concerned about new races?
Innate Abilities
One of the core features of Asheron's Call is the lack of classes and total freedom in character creation and developement. You might not think about it, but this whole idea hinges on one main point: We are all humans. Every human has the same potentials. In character creation, this is represented with our choosing of innate stats and skills.
But think about other races: Logically, a lugian should be able to potentially have higher innate strength and endurance than a human - they are hulking giants made of muscle. It wouldn't make sense to limit a lugian to 100 innate strength or Endurance. A Tumerok, with their powerful hind legs and tail for balance, should be able to have more innate quickness and potentially coordination than a human. An Empyrean, with their long lifespan, keen understanding of magic, and advanced education system, would surely have more starting credits and/or a higher specialization cap than a simple Isparian commoner.
Much like the current innate racial skills force class lines (a dagger user will be Aluvian, a UA will be Sho), the differing innate abilities of each race would create new class lines. If lugians are stronger and hardier, the best melee characters will be Lugian. Lugians also would logically be worse at magic, so the best mages will not be Lugian.
Art and Equipment
New races will need new artwork. The 3d models and 2d textures of human's chainmail armor won't work on an Aun tumerok. If most/all equipment is going to be usable by all races (armor would magically resize, or whatever), it will all need additional art. If instead Turbine goes with strict race restrictions (all current equipment becomes "Must be Human to wield"), there are more problems. 1) Loot will be extremely diluted if it has to support the full equipment for multiple races, and 2) The new races won't be able to use 10 years of quest gear.
Whatever they decide to do with equipment, it will require a lot of developer resources to get it to work.
The Isparian Element
Something people might not think of is the fact that for all of it's development and 10 years of being live, Dereth has been designed for Isparians that are all 6 feet tall and take up the same space. In AC2, Lugians were shrunk down considerably. But unless we are only going to have access to prepubescent and dwarf Lugians, they'll need to be 7 to 9 feet tall, and considerably wider than a human. Consider that, then consider the size of doorways on shops, or the particularly narrow dungeon halls, or any number of tight squeezes that humans can make that a Lugian or Empyrean might not be able to make.
They could make the physical (non-ethereal) part of the models the same size as a human, but you will then Empyrean characters who constantly have their heads inside door frames or ceilings, or Lugians with their broad-set arms inside the walls of narrow hallways.
Conclusion for New Races
Most of these issues could be resolved with some clever planning. However, what I worry about most is the balance issue. If they truly balance new races so that no race is any better or worse at a particular skill set, and thus preserve the classless system we have now, they will have essentially have just made new Human heritages. And if the new races will essentially be the same as humans, I'd suggest using one of the four remain Isparian cultures, to avoid the issues with art, equipment, and physical size I described above. Then again - if you are only going to add new Humans, that is not all that exciting, and we are back to adding non-human races.
I hope turbine knows what they are getting into with new races, and above all else, I hope they have an open discussion with the players regarding the balance of these races. Because we all know, if something is potentially exploitable, the AC player base will find it ;)
--An Adventurer 18:17, November 8, 2009 (UTC)