Oh damn. I have options. I hate options. They leave too many things open for my uncreative and indecisive mind-brain.
First we'll start by picking a profession.
~dies~
Well, I got one of my monk friends to rez me, so back to work. Being dead has given me time to think. Mostly about the.. unpleasantness of life. We've gathered enough information. The profession for which the games are to be about: janitor. Or maintenance /custodial worker.
1. You work as a janitor for a large corporation in New York City. Skipping some other details for now... terrorists have planted bombs throughout the building! It is late at night, and the bombs are set to go off at 10:00am. You've tried warning the police, but they just think you're some cracked-out fool who is just blabbering nonsense. Make your way through each of the 100 floors searching for and disabling bombs. To make matters worse, you still need to do your normal functions too; like replacing light bulbs and fixing doors. Save the day and keep your job!
2. While cleaning up the office of one of the head-bosses you overhear a conversation... Your company's leaders are plotting to take over the world. You can not let them get away with this! Unfortunately, you were doing some dusting at the time, and as a result, sneezed just after they finished their evil laughing. Your presence has become known and now they have sicked the guards on you! (As well as some horrible abominations that were created in the labs). Get out of the building alive and make this shocking news known!
3. You had such high hopes. Everything was going to be great. Sadly, thing did not turn out the way you planned. You've been working as a custodian for the last 8 years for the company you planned to run. After 8 years, you've grown tired of doing the same labor day after day.. you're going to get out of this position! Work your way through various levels of employment, and seek some additional education. (some phases: janitor, intern, get your GED, temp, 2-yr college, secretary, manager, head-honcho.)
4. Janitor by day, cat-thief by night! Use your impressive knowledge of the various buildings you've cleaned and fixed to rob them blind during nights. You'll have to study the floor layouts, security measures, create alibis and several other things to get through this stealth-game. Also, don't hit every place you've worked, and try a few that you haven't worked off to keep those pesky detectives from looking your way. (You might even consider working at the police station and destroying their files when no one is watching..)
5. You've just been notified. Your union is going on strike. While you may not be the most pleased by this, you must reluctantly go along with it. Needless to say, the company isn't too happy. There is a mob of people outside with signs and flickering lights inside. So what do they do? They sent ninjas after you. They even stooped so low as to hire some ninjas to replace you and your comrades. They leave the place spotless and fix everything without even being noticed! Fight off the ninja's as they try to kill you and then lead the offensive against the scabs!
They may have ninja stars and katanas, but you have your broom and trusty cleaning supplies. Nothing stops a ninja faster than bleach to the face. (it makes their black outfits white, and then they can no longer hide in the shadows.)
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Give Me MMO!
I've said the thing I like the most about MMORPG's is that you can not defeat them. The thing I like second-most about them is the MMO. RPG's are fun, ..er not always.. but can get old fast. There are people who call them MMO's or MMOG's rather than MMORPG's, and actually, that is probably more accurate. Probably less than 5% of people playing these games are role-playing... And those that are, are laughed at / not understood. I've done some, no one has any idea what I'm talking about when I do. XD
The big draw to these games is the community. It's basically a chat-room. I often use it simply for that too now (and in the past)
Massively Multi-player Online. All words, true. It provides the kind of experience you will not get anywhere else. I know people across the world, we've discussed many things and I have learned much about different cultures and what is going on in the world.
Now, I have also met and talked with people closer to home.. I know 4 others in the game from Connecticut, 2 others from Ithaca, one who is usually a yard away from me during class, the other I have not seen in awhile..
I know someone from Seattle, Oregon, a few from Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, Arkansas, Idaho, Texas, Edmonton (Alberta), and Montreal Canada. I type with a Brazilian every day and have discussed things with people from the UK, Greece, a self-called "crazy one" from Africa, the Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, and Australia.
I've waited for an Australian to eat dinner before continuing with an area. From this I learned that 4am my time = dinner time in Australia.
It is funny to see people say good night and then 2 minutes later see one say good morning. (Our alliance has two European guilds) It has shown some differences in our cultures as well.. in some aspects, Europeans seem to be much more open about things than some of the Americans I know.
I take my orders from a bi-lingual French Canadian. We've talked about tuques and the greatness of snow.
Being online allows you to be who you are. Or at least, who you like to be. My persona online is very, very different from that irl. I find it hard to stop typing and always want to do something with my comrades. (well almost always) While irl, I just want to get away and back on my favorite game...
Oh, yes, ummm these kinds of games make you very heavy with the use of acronyms, l33tspeak, or just shorthand. The faster you can communicate the better. Which is why some use Voip's like TS or Vent. In case you don't know -- those are voice-over programs (lets ya do with the talk-talk) Team Speak and Ventrillo. I have used TS a bit, it is fun. Easy to use, had a hard time understanding my Brazilian friend, but hey, he's speaking English, thats more than I can ask... I can't speak Portuguese (other than a few words I have learned from him) Also, I think he can type English faster than me lol....
If it weren't for the people I game with online, I would have quit playing a long time ago. (I've known some of them over 2 years now)
The big draw to these games is the community. It's basically a chat-room. I often use it simply for that too now (and in the past)
Massively Multi-player Online. All words, true. It provides the kind of experience you will not get anywhere else. I know people across the world, we've discussed many things and I have learned much about different cultures and what is going on in the world.
Now, I have also met and talked with people closer to home.. I know 4 others in the game from Connecticut, 2 others from Ithaca, one who is usually a yard away from me during class, the other I have not seen in awhile..
I know someone from Seattle, Oregon, a few from Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, Arkansas, Idaho, Texas, Edmonton (Alberta), and Montreal Canada. I type with a Brazilian every day and have discussed things with people from the UK, Greece, a self-called "crazy one" from Africa, the Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, and Australia.
I've waited for an Australian to eat dinner before continuing with an area. From this I learned that 4am my time = dinner time in Australia.
It is funny to see people say good night and then 2 minutes later see one say good morning. (Our alliance has two European guilds) It has shown some differences in our cultures as well.. in some aspects, Europeans seem to be much more open about things than some of the Americans I know.
I take my orders from a bi-lingual French Canadian. We've talked about tuques and the greatness of snow.
Being online allows you to be who you are. Or at least, who you like to be. My persona online is very, very different from that irl. I find it hard to stop typing and always want to do something with my comrades. (well almost always) While irl, I just want to get away and back on my favorite game...
Oh, yes, ummm these kinds of games make you very heavy with the use of acronyms, l33tspeak, or just shorthand. The faster you can communicate the better. Which is why some use Voip's like TS or Vent. In case you don't know -- those are voice-over programs (lets ya do with the talk-talk) Team Speak and Ventrillo. I have used TS a bit, it is fun. Easy to use, had a hard time understanding my Brazilian friend, but hey, he's speaking English, thats more than I can ask... I can't speak Portuguese (other than a few words I have learned from him) Also, I think he can type English faster than me lol....
If it weren't for the people I game with online, I would have quit playing a long time ago. (I've known some of them over 2 years now)
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Guild Wars Titles and Replayability.
The thing I like most about MMORPGs is the fact that you can not exactly beat them. Yes, you could finish the story-line on some of them, but its an ever changing world.. (Think Everquest and its name.. Ever - quest ..you'll forever be questing) I have played Guild Wars for thousands of hours... and there is still so much I must do that it is overwhelming and I often don't know where to start.
I have defeated the 3 campaigns and the expansion (the main mission/storyline) with one character ( I have several others who have some, or should..) Then they introduced Hard Mode, so i get to challenge myself and beat all the missions again at a more difficult level of play..
But perhaps Guild Wars gets most of its (well it's not exactly re-playability, but it is also) from its titles. Titles did not always exist (unfortunately; I would have tried for others that I now can not), but were introduced not too far into the game's life. At first there were quite a few, but they keep on adding new ones every so often. At the moment, there is about 30-35 titles a character can achieve. Or rather, title tracks. In each title track is a varying number of tiers, each with a slightly different, or even very different name that you can display beneath your characters' names. Some title tracks have one tier, and you only earn it once you achieve the end goal of it, some have 2 tiers, some have 10, and a few even have 12 tiers! Titles tend to take forever to achieve (top tier ones), can require a lot of skill of the player, or even just a lot of money.
While many titles do nothing, some have practical purposes, such as increasing your abilities with certain skills, or improving your salvaging chance of not breaking an item.
There is even a title track about titles! The first tier of this track is called "Kind of a Big Deal," which is what most people will call it, or KoaBD. This tier of the title requires you to have 5-9 maxed titles. When you get 10-14 maxed titles, you will earn "People Know Me." After that is, "I'm Very Important," which you need 15-19 maxed titles for. Then there is "I have many leather-bound books," "My Guild Hall smells of rich mahogany ," and finally, "God Walking Amongst Mere Mere Mortals." -All of these title names are quotes from Anchorman, lol...
Some other titles are the "Protector of ..." ones, which require you to beat all primary and secondary objectives of every mission on a different continent on Normal Mode. -there is one for Tyria, Cantha, and Elona.
"Guardian of..." is similar to the protector ones, but requires you to do the same tasks, but in Hard Mode. Once you get all 6 of these, you will earn "Legendary Guardian," a title that the only person I know with it is my Brazilian friend. -He also has the "I have many leather-bound books" title; he plays too much and is very good.
There are skill hunter titles, that require you to get every elite skill on a given continent. When you get all 3, as a bonus , you earn "Legendary Skill Hunter"
There are cartographer ones, with several tiers.. ranging from 60% to 100% of a continent explored. At 100%, you earn " ...ian/an Grand Master Cartographer" When you explore 100% of each of the 3 maps, you earn "Legendary Cartographer."
There are also titles for drinking booze (Drunkard, and then Incorrigible Ale-Hound), consuming sugary goods (Sweet Tooth), and using festival items, such as fire works (Party Animal).
The Friends titles are Factions-based and require you to earn points among either the Kurzicks or the Luxons.. these titles have 12 tiers and take bloody forever to get anywhere at higher levels.
The desire to earn titles keeps many a player going when they would normally not know what to do with themselves anymore.. and is a good way of showing off your l33t skills.
I have defeated the 3 campaigns and the expansion (the main mission/storyline) with one character ( I have several others who have some, or should..) Then they introduced Hard Mode, so i get to challenge myself and beat all the missions again at a more difficult level of play..
But perhaps Guild Wars gets most of its (well it's not exactly re-playability, but it is also) from its titles. Titles did not always exist (unfortunately; I would have tried for others that I now can not), but were introduced not too far into the game's life. At first there were quite a few, but they keep on adding new ones every so often. At the moment, there is about 30-35 titles a character can achieve. Or rather, title tracks. In each title track is a varying number of tiers, each with a slightly different, or even very different name that you can display beneath your characters' names. Some title tracks have one tier, and you only earn it once you achieve the end goal of it, some have 2 tiers, some have 10, and a few even have 12 tiers! Titles tend to take forever to achieve (top tier ones), can require a lot of skill of the player, or even just a lot of money.
While many titles do nothing, some have practical purposes, such as increasing your abilities with certain skills, or improving your salvaging chance of not breaking an item.
There is even a title track about titles! The first tier of this track is called "Kind of a Big Deal," which is what most people will call it, or KoaBD. This tier of the title requires you to have 5-9 maxed titles. When you get 10-14 maxed titles, you will earn "People Know Me." After that is, "I'm Very Important," which you need 15-19 maxed titles for. Then there is "I have many leather-bound books," "My Guild Hall smells of rich mahogany ," and finally, "God Walking Amongst Mere Mere Mortals." -All of these title names are quotes from Anchorman, lol...
Some other titles are the "Protector of ..." ones, which require you to beat all primary and secondary objectives of every mission on a different continent on Normal Mode. -there is one for Tyria, Cantha, and Elona.
"Guardian of..." is similar to the protector ones, but requires you to do the same tasks, but in Hard Mode. Once you get all 6 of these, you will earn "Legendary Guardian," a title that the only person I know with it is my Brazilian friend. -He also has the "I have many leather-bound books" title; he plays too much and is very good.
There are skill hunter titles, that require you to get every elite skill on a given continent. When you get all 3, as a bonus , you earn "Legendary Skill Hunter"
There are cartographer ones, with several tiers.. ranging from 60% to 100% of a continent explored. At 100%, you earn " ...ian/an Grand Master Cartographer" When you explore 100% of each of the 3 maps, you earn "Legendary Cartographer."
There are also titles for drinking booze (Drunkard, and then Incorrigible Ale-Hound), consuming sugary goods (Sweet Tooth), and using festival items, such as fire works (Party Animal).
The Friends titles are Factions-based and require you to earn points among either the Kurzicks or the Luxons.. these titles have 12 tiers and take bloody forever to get anywhere at higher levels.
The desire to earn titles keeps many a player going when they would normally not know what to do with themselves anymore.. and is a good way of showing off your l33t skills.
Negative Space Games
1. This game would be about testing the player's recognition of objects. It would display an image (like the 2 people or candlestick one) and the player would have to choose the correct object. There would be several levels of play, from easy to hard to impossible. Harder levels of play could be timed, and if the player is stupid enough to select Impossible Mode, no matter what they guess, the game would tell them that the other option was correct. On the reverse, there could be a level for 5 year olds, where no matter which option they choose, the game says they are right. These 2 levels of play would hopefully not be used very much, but would be more of a joke. There could be internet-connectivity, and players could create their own images to send to others or just put out in the internet tubes and let others download a new batch of images once they played through the retail copy.
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this topic is quite difficult..
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2. You play as a ninja. Like any good ninja, this one is skilled in Shadow Arts. Take advantage of the shadows and your ability to morph into one to sneak past guards or whoever is in your way. When you need to kill someone, you can switch back into a solid form, dispatch your enemies and move on.
If you switch forms too many times or stay in one for too long, you start to lose your perception of which is real and which is just a shadow world.
This idea is already confusing me.
3. This is a game similar to Tetris, however, the shapes only come in two colors rather than the various ones in some versions: black and white. In order for a row to disappear, not only does the entire line have to be covered by blocks, the blocks must all be of the same color. In order for this game to actually be possible, some more game mechanics must be changed or created, such as the ability to change an objects color properties every so often.. Game would be very difficult and a brain-challenger.
4. Racial tension is still very much a problem for some blacks and whites. For the black guy, there are white obstacles everywhere he looks, but he must overcome them! The white guy thinks affirmative action is going to stand in his way from achieving his goals. In a game world, where everything is literally split in two, choose a character to play and get them through the levels while keeping the other character from getting anywheres. Different levels would have different characteristics, for example, in some levels the character you don't choose to play as will be controlled by the computer, but in other levels, you will also control this character, and every action you do with your character will result in a equal (and sometimes opposite) of the other character. There would be some "live play" as well as turn-based strategy components.
5. You live in a gray and dreary world. You are a general contractor / builder. You have been commissioned by the city's government to create buildings and other architectural items that will please the community and get the people out of the doldrums. However, this city is split into two tribes: the Whities and the Blackies. It was their feud that cast the world into grayness. Each side has different preferences when it comes to the appearance of things that surround them, so find out what they all like and construct buildings and landscape that each side will like. (some things the Whities should like 100% while the Blackies like 0%; some things the Blackies should like like 100% while the Whities like 0%; and some things should be split 50-50.)
As soon as there is enough black, white, and gray in the city, other colors might soon venture back (believing it to be safe once again) and you will be rewarded handsomely for your efforts.
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this topic is quite difficult..
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2. You play as a ninja. Like any good ninja, this one is skilled in Shadow Arts. Take advantage of the shadows and your ability to morph into one to sneak past guards or whoever is in your way. When you need to kill someone, you can switch back into a solid form, dispatch your enemies and move on.
If you switch forms too many times or stay in one for too long, you start to lose your perception of which is real and which is just a shadow world.
This idea is already confusing me.
3. This is a game similar to Tetris, however, the shapes only come in two colors rather than the various ones in some versions: black and white. In order for a row to disappear, not only does the entire line have to be covered by blocks, the blocks must all be of the same color. In order for this game to actually be possible, some more game mechanics must be changed or created, such as the ability to change an objects color properties every so often.. Game would be very difficult and a brain-challenger.
4. Racial tension is still very much a problem for some blacks and whites. For the black guy, there are white obstacles everywhere he looks, but he must overcome them! The white guy thinks affirmative action is going to stand in his way from achieving his goals. In a game world, where everything is literally split in two, choose a character to play and get them through the levels while keeping the other character from getting anywheres. Different levels would have different characteristics, for example, in some levels the character you don't choose to play as will be controlled by the computer, but in other levels, you will also control this character, and every action you do with your character will result in a equal (and sometimes opposite) of the other character. There would be some "live play" as well as turn-based strategy components.
5. You live in a gray and dreary world. You are a general contractor / builder. You have been commissioned by the city's government to create buildings and other architectural items that will please the community and get the people out of the doldrums. However, this city is split into two tribes: the Whities and the Blackies. It was their feud that cast the world into grayness. Each side has different preferences when it comes to the appearance of things that surround them, so find out what they all like and construct buildings and landscape that each side will like. (some things the Whities should like 100% while the Blackies like 0%; some things the Blackies should like like 100% while the Whities like 0%; and some things should be split 50-50.)
As soon as there is enough black, white, and gray in the city, other colors might soon venture back (believing it to be safe once again) and you will be rewarded handsomely for your efforts.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
GameShip Wrecks in 1941
1. You are the captain of a submarine. It is your task to search the dark depths and find the ancient ships that lie at the bottom. You are doing this for money, glory, and the thrill of uncovering lost artifacts. You will have to avoid obstacles such as rocks, whales, other sea-life, the competition (others in submarines, but for some reason they thought in necessary to have torpedoes, and they don't like you...) Every ship you uncover will earn you fame and money, slightly dependant on how important the ship was.
2. A terrible war has started. You are a member of the Royal Navy and your commander has given you the objective to fly out and sink as many ships in the Kriegsmarine as possible before your inevitable shooting-down. (You fly a plane.) Obey your orders and help insure victory for England. But also try to avoid the last bit of your commander's assignment. You aren't up for a suicide mission just yet.. Drop bombs, avoid missiles, and end the day of the aircraft carrier partying it up with the other surviving members of your unit.
3. You are the captain of the Bismarck. Upon hearing word of Churchill's order to sink the Bismarck, you have decided not to let that happen. Command your way through the Atlantic Ocean back to Germany. Defend against the attacks of the Royal Navy and their allies, and then lead an offensive. In this what-if game, the player would try to experience what might have happened if events did not unfold the way they did.
4. In a game, similar to Battleship, players would chose locations to bomb and try to sink the other player's ship. The game would have many more ships than the current Battleship, and there would be several sides. It would be an online game, with up to 4 players in a single match trying to defeat their enemies. You could choose to ally with another side to help bring the other's to an end sooner. The game could also be played 1v1. Instead of a number+ letter system, players would have to use the global coordinates. The game would probably take several hours to play and would not exactly be for children. There would be a voice-communication program to talk with the others playing, and a chat box on the screen so you could have secret talks with another player. You would be placing specific ships at locations, not just "destroyer" or the other types. There would be a time-limit on how long you can spend to choose a location to bomb.
5. You have been commissioned to produce a documentary about war-ships lost during 1941. You will have to hire people to take you in a submarine under water to discover the wreckage and film it. Going through records and finding survivors will also be a task you must perform. Locate where they are now and try to interview them. They are getting rather old and have some bad memories of the time, so convincing them to speak with you will be quite difficult. They also want you to discover the plans for the ships and reconstruct one or two of them, You will have to raise funds, find the lost plans, hire capable workers to complete this task in a timely manner.
But it turns out it wasn't the BBC who hired you.. it was a secret organization who seeks to restart the war and they have named you commander of the fleet you created. If you do not do as they say now, they will kill you. Find a way out of this difficult and very strange situation...
2. A terrible war has started. You are a member of the Royal Navy and your commander has given you the objective to fly out and sink as many ships in the Kriegsmarine as possible before your inevitable shooting-down. (You fly a plane.) Obey your orders and help insure victory for England. But also try to avoid the last bit of your commander's assignment. You aren't up for a suicide mission just yet.. Drop bombs, avoid missiles, and end the day of the aircraft carrier partying it up with the other surviving members of your unit.
3. You are the captain of the Bismarck. Upon hearing word of Churchill's order to sink the Bismarck, you have decided not to let that happen. Command your way through the Atlantic Ocean back to Germany. Defend against the attacks of the Royal Navy and their allies, and then lead an offensive. In this what-if game, the player would try to experience what might have happened if events did not unfold the way they did.
4. In a game, similar to Battleship, players would chose locations to bomb and try to sink the other player's ship. The game would have many more ships than the current Battleship, and there would be several sides. It would be an online game, with up to 4 players in a single match trying to defeat their enemies. You could choose to ally with another side to help bring the other's to an end sooner. The game could also be played 1v1. Instead of a number+ letter system, players would have to use the global coordinates. The game would probably take several hours to play and would not exactly be for children. There would be a voice-communication program to talk with the others playing, and a chat box on the screen so you could have secret talks with another player. You would be placing specific ships at locations, not just "destroyer" or the other types. There would be a time-limit on how long you can spend to choose a location to bomb.
5. You have been commissioned to produce a documentary about war-ships lost during 1941. You will have to hire people to take you in a submarine under water to discover the wreckage and film it. Going through records and finding survivors will also be a task you must perform. Locate where they are now and try to interview them. They are getting rather old and have some bad memories of the time, so convincing them to speak with you will be quite difficult. They also want you to discover the plans for the ships and reconstruct one or two of them, You will have to raise funds, find the lost plans, hire capable workers to complete this task in a timely manner.
But it turns out it wasn't the BBC who hired you.. it was a secret organization who seeks to restart the war and they have named you commander of the fleet you created. If you do not do as they say now, they will kill you. Find a way out of this difficult and very strange situation...
Weaponry. And at this point I won't bother telling you what game it is...
Every class has its own set of attributes, and this attributes not only improve your skills, they determine what kind of weapon and possibly offhand you should use and how effective it will be.
Each type of weapon has its own traits which can effect game play quite a bit.
Warriors:
Swords - max damage: 15-22. attribute- Swordsmanship
Axes -max damage: 6-28. attribute- Axe Mastery
Hammers- max damage: 19-35. attribute- Hammer Mastery
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Shields- Strength and Tactics. max armor = 16
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Swords provide the most consistent range of damage and tend to have a higher damage per second (dps) than axes until you reach 11 in axe mastery (compared to 11 in swordsmanship, or equal thereafter.)
Axes have a wide range of damage and become almost exponentially better at higher ranks in axe mastery. Swords and axes have the same hit over time trait, 1 swing every 1.33 seconds.
Hammers deal much more damage than axes or swords, but the downside is that they are two-handed weapons, meaning you can not use a shield or other offhand. They are also slightly slower than axes and swords with one swing every 1.75 seconds.
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Rangers:
Bows- max damage: 15-28. attribute- Marksmanship.
Bows are the only real ranger weapon, however there are five types of bows all with different traits. They are all two-handed weapons so you can not use a shield or offhand. You do not need to carry arrows, everyone has an unlimited number of arrows. Hooray!
Here is a graph with bow statistics, this graph was taken from Guild Wiki.
Depending on the situation one or two types of bows may be better than the others.. so carry a few different ones with you if you can.
As all bows have the same max damage, the only things that effect dps are the refire rate, arc size and the armor penetration on the hornbow. Flight time and range do not directly effect dps, as once you start shooting, its a constant stream of arrows that depends on your refire rate, however, a target has more time to move and dodge an arrow that has a longer flight time.
Staves and wands.
All of the caster classes use either a staff or wand + offhand linked to their attribute, or sometimes, a one-handed melee weapon that can have special mods on it.
Staves and wands both deal 11-22 damage. The damage type depends on what the attribute for the weapon is (what type of class it's meant for). For example, necromancers have blood, curses, death and soul reaping attributes. Their weapons deal either dark or cold damage. The type of damage can be very important depending on what you are fighting, as some things are armor-ignoring and some are not. Also, holy/light damage from a smiting staff/wand will do double damage versus undead creatures.
There are weapons for every spell casting attribute, which have been mentioned before so I won't waste your (or mine) time again by listing them all. Even though I probably could have in the time it took to write these last two sentences. Oh well, I never claimed to be the smartest person out there.
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Assassins use daggers that have a max damage of 7-17, but swing very fast and can also double-strike. This lets them have a respectable dps (with the right build and high enough points in dagger mastery.) For daggers, a vampiric or zealous mod would be much better than sundering (will go into this aspect at some later time) Daggers are meant to be used to kill one target at a time, due to the linking skills you must use.
Dervishes use scythes, large two-handed bladed weapons with an incredible max damage, 9-41.
What a range! It is much better to have a lot of points in Scythe Mastery so that your hits will be in the 41 area rather than the 9.. Scythes probably have one of the highest dps's and just to add onto the glory, they can hit up to 2 adjacent foes to your target! Hitting three people with a single melee attack is very nice. As scythes are two-handed, you can not use a shield or offhand while wielding one. They tend to do slashing damage, but that can be changed with a modifier.
Since there damage is so high, they can hit multiple targets, and since its a two-hander, scythes are not the fastest weapon around, with "one" swing every 1.75 seconds.
Paragons use a spear + shield combo. Their spears have a maximum of 14-27 damage. They are a ranged weapon (like the bow) and have an attack interval of 1.5 seconds. I don't play a paragon so I don't know everything about them, but it seems that even with the lower damage range, their dps is higher than that of the bow. However, they can not interrupt a foe as the bow can.
A paragon's shield's maximum armor level is also 16 and can be linked to the Command or Motivation attributes.
Each type of weapon has its own traits which can effect game play quite a bit.
Warriors:
Swords - max damage: 15-22. attribute- Swordsmanship
Axes -max damage: 6-28. attribute- Axe Mastery
Hammers- max damage: 19-35. attribute- Hammer Mastery
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Shields- Strength and Tactics. max armor = 16
--
Swords provide the most consistent range of damage and tend to have a higher damage per second (dps) than axes until you reach 11 in axe mastery (compared to 11 in swordsmanship, or equal thereafter.)
Axes have a wide range of damage and become almost exponentially better at higher ranks in axe mastery. Swords and axes have the same hit over time trait, 1 swing every 1.33 seconds.
Hammers deal much more damage than axes or swords, but the downside is that they are two-handed weapons, meaning you can not use a shield or other offhand. They are also slightly slower than axes and swords with one swing every 1.75 seconds.
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Rangers:
Bows- max damage: 15-28. attribute- Marksmanship.
Bows are the only real ranger weapon, however there are five types of bows all with different traits. They are all two-handed weapons so you can not use a shield or offhand. You do not need to carry arrows, everyone has an unlimited number of arrows. Hooray!
Here is a graph with bow statistics, this graph was taken from Guild Wiki.
| Weapon | Refire Rate | Range1 | Flight Time2 | Arc Size | Special Feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longbow | 2.4 seconds | 1.6 | 0.59 seconds | Medium | None |
| Flatbow | 2.0 seconds | 1.6 | 0.88 seconds | Large | None |
| Hornbow | 2.7 seconds | 1.4 | 0.59 seconds | Medium | 10% Armor penetration |
| Recurve Bow | 2.4 seconds | 1.4 | 0.40 seconds | Small | None |
| Shortbow | 2.0 seconds | 1.05 | 0.59 seconds | Medium | None |
As all bows have the same max damage, the only things that effect dps are the refire rate, arc size and the armor penetration on the hornbow. Flight time and range do not directly effect dps, as once you start shooting, its a constant stream of arrows that depends on your refire rate, however, a target has more time to move and dodge an arrow that has a longer flight time.
Staves and wands.
All of the caster classes use either a staff or wand + offhand linked to their attribute, or sometimes, a one-handed melee weapon that can have special mods on it.
Staves and wands both deal 11-22 damage. The damage type depends on what the attribute for the weapon is (what type of class it's meant for). For example, necromancers have blood, curses, death and soul reaping attributes. Their weapons deal either dark or cold damage. The type of damage can be very important depending on what you are fighting, as some things are armor-ignoring and some are not. Also, holy/light damage from a smiting staff/wand will do double damage versus undead creatures.
There are weapons for every spell casting attribute, which have been mentioned before so I won't waste your (or mine) time again by listing them all. Even though I probably could have in the time it took to write these last two sentences. Oh well, I never claimed to be the smartest person out there.
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Assassins use daggers that have a max damage of 7-17, but swing very fast and can also double-strike. This lets them have a respectable dps (with the right build and high enough points in dagger mastery.) For daggers, a vampiric or zealous mod would be much better than sundering (will go into this aspect at some later time) Daggers are meant to be used to kill one target at a time, due to the linking skills you must use.
Dervishes use scythes, large two-handed bladed weapons with an incredible max damage, 9-41.
What a range! It is much better to have a lot of points in Scythe Mastery so that your hits will be in the 41 area rather than the 9.. Scythes probably have one of the highest dps's and just to add onto the glory, they can hit up to 2 adjacent foes to your target! Hitting three people with a single melee attack is very nice. As scythes are two-handed, you can not use a shield or offhand while wielding one. They tend to do slashing damage, but that can be changed with a modifier.
Since there damage is so high, they can hit multiple targets, and since its a two-hander, scythes are not the fastest weapon around, with "one" swing every 1.75 seconds.
Paragons use a spear + shield combo. Their spears have a maximum of 14-27 damage. They are a ranged weapon (like the bow) and have an attack interval of 1.5 seconds. I don't play a paragon so I don't know everything about them, but it seems that even with the lower damage range, their dps is higher than that of the bow. However, they can not interrupt a foe as the bow can.
A paragon's shield's maximum armor level is also 16 and can be linked to the Command or Motivation attributes.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Paradise as a game.
Well, calm things don't make good games (IMO) so let's shake things up a bit, ja?
1. The game starts out with you at some fancy resort/ spa, having the best two weeks of your life. You order another drink while at the open bar when all of a sudden, ninjas drop through the roof. No one knows why, but these ninjas seem intent on ending your holiday. You don't know how to fight and are a bit too tipsy to do so even if you did, so you must flee from the ninjas in terror. Make your way out of the resort and to a place of safety, such as the airport, because, as far as we know, ninjas still lack the ability to fly.
Bonus points if you manage to save your children or others from the ninjas' deadly wrath.
This would be a third person game for the consoles or PC.
2. You have been living in a room by yourself, so you watched what you wanted to, listened to whatever music you liked, kept the temperature at what pleased you and followed a sleep schedule only suitable to you. And then res-life got you a roommate. He/she is deeply religious, goes to bed at 9, is up at 6, enjoys country music exclusively, and likes the temperature 80 degrees for whatever reason. There's only a few months of the semester left, can you make it without killing yourself? your roommate? getting written up? How will you get through this?
Try to change your roommate's ways, do what you like as much as you can, and avoid having the roommate call the police, or worse, public safety.
3. You're on a beautiful island, in the middle of nowhere. You're a vegetarian so you're fine with just eating the local fruits you can find, and they are everywhere. You no longer need to pay taxes and you can forget about going back to your job. But the best part about the whole thing is that you happen to be stuck on this island with some lovely companions... But there's just too many for you and they are fed up with your spread-out attention. You can have only one to spend your private time with. You must make them compete, but push them too hard and they'll push back. And watch out for jealousy; you don't know how dangerous some of them might be.
4. AHHHH Finally!! Summer vacation is here and your folks no longer care if you get a summer job or not. You can do whatever you like with your summer, go on a trip, hang out by the pool, or even sit in your room and play computer games. Well, that was a nice month and a half. Now school starts up again in 4 days. You have 3 books to read, each with massive reports to do. You lost the list of books and topics for the reports weeks ago, your internet just happened to go out yesterday, and your computer succumbed to a virus anyways. While texting at the pool the day before, you dropped your cell phone into the water. Now thats broken too. Its a test against time. Find the list of books, get them, read them, report on them, fix your computer, get a new cell phone, and perhaps most importantly, find an apartment to live in for the next year. Be wary of that mother though, she doesn't want you to leave for months and will try to hinder your progress. Also, your girlfriend is kind of angry you spent 95% of your time over the summer without her and she is considering a break-up. Can you manage to keep her too?
5. You recently made it big with your #1 album. Now you can buy what you like, go where you please and just do whatever you want. Though that money is starting to disappear and due to some recent activities, a lot of people no longer like you and its going to be really hard to get another record deal. Lay down some good tracks, stay out of public view for awhile, and keep your possessions from getting repossessed from the IRS. This game would have elements similar to Rockband, in that you'd have a band, but you must play good music so you can sell more albums, make some cash and not lose everything you have. Mini-games such as getting to the store without being spotted by paparazzi and placing bets at casinos.
1. The game starts out with you at some fancy resort/ spa, having the best two weeks of your life. You order another drink while at the open bar when all of a sudden, ninjas drop through the roof. No one knows why, but these ninjas seem intent on ending your holiday. You don't know how to fight and are a bit too tipsy to do so even if you did, so you must flee from the ninjas in terror. Make your way out of the resort and to a place of safety, such as the airport, because, as far as we know, ninjas still lack the ability to fly.
Bonus points if you manage to save your children or others from the ninjas' deadly wrath.
This would be a third person game for the consoles or PC.
2. You have been living in a room by yourself, so you watched what you wanted to, listened to whatever music you liked, kept the temperature at what pleased you and followed a sleep schedule only suitable to you. And then res-life got you a roommate. He/she is deeply religious, goes to bed at 9, is up at 6, enjoys country music exclusively, and likes the temperature 80 degrees for whatever reason. There's only a few months of the semester left, can you make it without killing yourself? your roommate? getting written up? How will you get through this?
Try to change your roommate's ways, do what you like as much as you can, and avoid having the roommate call the police, or worse, public safety.
3. You're on a beautiful island, in the middle of nowhere. You're a vegetarian so you're fine with just eating the local fruits you can find, and they are everywhere. You no longer need to pay taxes and you can forget about going back to your job. But the best part about the whole thing is that you happen to be stuck on this island with some lovely companions... But there's just too many for you and they are fed up with your spread-out attention. You can have only one to spend your private time with. You must make them compete, but push them too hard and they'll push back. And watch out for jealousy; you don't know how dangerous some of them might be.
4. AHHHH Finally!! Summer vacation is here and your folks no longer care if you get a summer job or not. You can do whatever you like with your summer, go on a trip, hang out by the pool, or even sit in your room and play computer games. Well, that was a nice month and a half. Now school starts up again in 4 days. You have 3 books to read, each with massive reports to do. You lost the list of books and topics for the reports weeks ago, your internet just happened to go out yesterday, and your computer succumbed to a virus anyways. While texting at the pool the day before, you dropped your cell phone into the water. Now thats broken too. Its a test against time. Find the list of books, get them, read them, report on them, fix your computer, get a new cell phone, and perhaps most importantly, find an apartment to live in for the next year. Be wary of that mother though, she doesn't want you to leave for months and will try to hinder your progress. Also, your girlfriend is kind of angry you spent 95% of your time over the summer without her and she is considering a break-up. Can you manage to keep her too?
5. You recently made it big with your #1 album. Now you can buy what you like, go where you please and just do whatever you want. Though that money is starting to disappear and due to some recent activities, a lot of people no longer like you and its going to be really hard to get another record deal. Lay down some good tracks, stay out of public view for awhile, and keep your possessions from getting repossessed from the IRS. This game would have elements similar to Rockband, in that you'd have a band, but you must play good music so you can sell more albums, make some cash and not lose everything you have. Mini-games such as getting to the store without being spotted by paparazzi and placing bets at casinos.
Friendly AI in.. you guessed it; Guild Wars
Let us start back at the beginning, in a land called Tyria, a chapter called Prophecies. After leaving Pre-searing, players will find a lot of changes. Two of those changes are an increased party size (2 to 4) and a couple of people hanging out by the door of any outpost / city. These fellows are quite the useful thing. They are called henchmen and you can grab as many as you like (until there are no more or your party is full) and go out killing. This means a lot less PuGing! Nobody likes PuGs! and in Guild Wars you almost never really have to. The henchmen start out at low levels, but as you get farther in farther in the game, their level increases and eventually they have Elite Skills as well.
Cantha also had a wide variety of henchmen and an interesting system with some of them as the nation is essentially split in two factions, the Kurzicks and the cowardly Luxons. A few henchmen belong to one of these groups so you won't find them in the other side's territory, but there will be someone else to replace them over there.
With the introduction of Nightfall came the... magnificent inclusion of heros. Heros are similar to henchmen, but about 83x better. You control their actions, their skill choice, their weapons and to some extent, their armor. And unlike henchmen, heros level up with you, or from you.. They start out at a low level but as the levels go up, they stay at that level, meaning you can have a group of 4 level 20's to wipe out some level 8's in seconds.
They can be set to attack, defend, or avoid combat.. which henchies can not be, and this is so incredibly helpful. However, you must remember to change their settings when you need to. The same goes for flagging - marking where you want the heros/henchies to stand.
Eye of the North introduced 10 more heros, one for each class, and I tend to prefer these ones over the NF ones. They also start out at level 20! And many of them are not humans, always a plus in my book.
Cantha also had a wide variety of henchmen and an interesting system with some of them as the nation is essentially split in two factions, the Kurzicks and the cowardly Luxons. A few henchmen belong to one of these groups so you won't find them in the other side's territory, but there will be someone else to replace them over there.
With the introduction of Nightfall came the... magnificent inclusion of heros. Heros are similar to henchmen, but about 83x better. You control their actions, their skill choice, their weapons and to some extent, their armor. And unlike henchmen, heros level up with you, or from you.. They start out at a low level but as the levels go up, they stay at that level, meaning you can have a group of 4 level 20's to wipe out some level 8's in seconds.
They can be set to attack, defend, or avoid combat.. which henchies can not be, and this is so incredibly helpful. However, you must remember to change their settings when you need to. The same goes for flagging - marking where you want the heros/henchies to stand.
Eye of the North introduced 10 more heros, one for each class, and I tend to prefer these ones over the NF ones. They also start out at level 20! And many of them are not humans, always a plus in my book.
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