Development Cycle Archive
Thread: In Development: The Village of Aurilia
CheeseBurgerAnimal
Tue Aug 03, 2004 12:24 am
#612
Thunderheart wrote:
“I don’t know. You can’t see the stars here.” Paemos complained.
“You can’t see the stars anywhere on this planet, can you? I mean with the trees and the clouds…”
Noldan stopped speaking and turned his head towards the elder, Rohak. Rohak knelt down to the ground and lifted a handful of dirt to his face. He breathed in deeply, relishing the smell.
“It’s good here. Green. Life.”
The others nodded their heads in agreement. The three men stood and looked at each other for only a moment before Rohak spoke again.
“This is where we shall begin.
The Village of Aurilia. The dream becomes reality…”
The hidden village of Aurilia (Ah-ree-lee-ah) was formed on a planet in the outer rim, near the Meridian Sector by a small group of like-minded Force sensitive refugees who had, for one reason or another, abandoned their old lives. They all possessed strange knacks for piloting, healing, combat or some other special ability in tune with the Force making them dangerous to the Emperor, and the rumors of a Sith Lord who held a high power amongst the Imperials.
Many of them were hunted by vicious agents of the Empire and also had dealings with the Jedi council. Some were brought forward to the Council in the old days by Jedi warriors after discovering their natural abilities while others sought out the Jedi, hoping to be trained or at least given some explanation for these strange gifts that made other people look upon them with fear or trepidation.
All of them were turned away from official Jedi training for various reasons: political ramifications, age, some did not display the qualities of a Jedi knight, and other personal reasons. This village has stood undisturbed for many, many years with the people there, living a rustic and agricultural life. They bother no one, trade with no one, and cause no trouble for the Empire, the Rebellion, or any of the various criminal organizations that exist throughout the galaxy. In this, they have hidden themselves in plain sight. They don’t do anything to actively discourage anyone from finding them, which in itself keeps them off the radar of most governments.
Though they have no formal training many of them have become quite confident in their abilities, and they have no qualms about teaching what they’ve learned to anyone who is willing to listen.
This is where you will begin your journey.
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Creating a way for players to experience a mysterious but not impossibly hidden path from being “normal”to Force Sensitivity is a difficult task. Ultimately, it must be a story driven path that doesn’t go counter to the Star Wars experience, while also bending continuity in the game so that the MMO game experience can deliver a play experience that is satisfying and fun for those that do want to seek out Force Sensitivity.
Without revealing the exact path to Force sensitivity, let it be said that it is not hidden in the way that the Holocron/Professions system was hidden. The path to Force Sensitivity has underlying mechanics, but essentially it is to just play the game. It is definitely achievable, but mysterious and unknown. We don’t want people to grind anymore, so ticking off master professions will cease to be part of the equation. We may or may not reveal more as time goes on. It depends on how the flow of players through the system goes. (If too many players are pushed through the system, we may have to make additional changes based on technological needs, but if we do that, we will let you know in advance). It may not be long before you are visited by a mysterious stranger.Once players are on the right path they will be welcomed to the village with open arms, and will be given the training they need to understand how their Force Sensitivity works.
This place is the Village of Aurilia. It is a place where a group of Force Sensitive characters have gone to have some privacy and solitude in their lives. With the Empire slaying all the Jedi it can find, Bounty Hunters tracking them for profitsand shunned by galactic citizens, these sentient beings needed a refuge. This village is that refuge. The player experience is one where they too can be a character that has these abilities and is seeking both help to understand their abilities and become part of this story. The village has heroic NPC’s, rogues and enemies. There are different stories a player may pursue and different Force Sensitivities that they can develop to make their character somewhat unique.
As players use their characters to play through the Force Sensitive training, their powers will grow and they will choose their Force Sensitivities using the existing skill system by completing quests and then purchasing them with experience and skill points. An exciting new feature about this part of the process will be a new “Quest Journal”. Players will have a new user interface that will help them track the progress of their questing and also give them fictional descriptions and important information in the quest journal.
When players finish their Force Sensitivity training, they may choose to either remain simply an FS character or go on to Padawan training.
•Do you like the idea of the Village of Aurilia?
•Do you like the idea of adding a quest journal?
Message Edited by Thunderheart on 07-16-2004 06:50 PM
Cafa
Tue Aug 03, 2004 12:30 am
#613
Yes and Yes.
But if it takes 6 months to become a jedi you will not have any players suppoprting this I'd imagine.
darthjaina
Tue Aug 03, 2004 1:35 am
#614
Alot of people have been askin for some updates dont you think its about time we get a bone here devs?
And dont make it so it takes 6mos to become FS or youll lose alot of accounts.
(remember the reason alot of ppl are playin right now is because school doesnt start for another month)
Jedi-scout
Tue Aug 03, 2004 1:41 am
#615
We are getting alot closer to how this game was envisioned by many of the community. I think the key element in implimenting a new FS system, is by allowing a player to stay within the roles/professions that they choose. The old system, in my opinion, rewarded those that would stem away from actually playing with groups, a problem being more and more rectified. As a "veteran" player, I had hoped to unlock the mysteries of the FS slot since day 1. I spent countless hours running to Dantooine, going broke in the process,trying to complete Drakka's missions, thinking this was a step towards my end goal. Once the way had been slightly revealed, I tried, as many others did , to start on my holo professions in hopes of gaining the one Profession I had bought the game for.
As it became clearer that the only way was to develop macro's, as to grind out several masteries, without would take close to a year if not much longer, it became less like playing the game and more like programming. I stopped. I never wanted to be a chef, it never even crossed my mind that I would have to do something I would never use or have interest in. This eliminated role-playing completely on a larger scale in a MMORPG titled game.
This is the largest concern by many veterans I have come across. The main issue, is continuity within your character. Having to alter one's template that they enjoy using in order to gain an option that most veterans are deserving of has created irate with many players. If you were to ask the current unlocked players, if they had a choice to unlock with a different sytem when they had and keep the professions/template they wanted, I doubt you would find one that would have preferred the holo grind.
The other issue is many veterans that have been playing since day one, have actually been at the keyboard playing each and everytime they have logged on. In fact, to this extent, they have logged more actual playing time than those that ran afk macro's to grind through several professions.
Adding further content, with an updated FS system, is encouraging. If it allows someone to keep within the boundaries they have set for themselves. I do not believe that player's fairly new should be given such an easy road, as this game was not paved on their work but rather that of the veterans. But for those that have given their countless hours and money, the reward should not be so far out of reach. By defnition this means that because someone who has played the game for 3 months, who has simply grinded out professions to unlock under the older system, should not be given an easier end task to complete sensitivity than those who have been here over a year. If so then why even change the system?
In closing, as I look at the page number listed, I hope that this reply would not go unnoticed. As I look at how long I have been playing, I would hope that this does not go unnoticed either.
/peace and /salute from a future Jedi hopeful.
biwan:
Fryar
Tue Aug 03, 2004 4:27 am
#616
Ok, I have read a lot of the posts and have still found no answer as to whether they are or are not taking away the second slot??? I can't believe they would as many paying subscribers out there have wanted a second slot for so long. I mean they said this in a friday feature, whylie to us and string us along?? SOE wouldn't do that would they?
http://starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/content.jsp?page=Jedi%20Archives%20Volume%203
It clearly states this in the bottom of the post:
If I complete the Force Sensitive quests after publish 10 and open up my Jedi slot, will my main slot or my second slot be Force Sensitive?
After Publish 10, "Trials of the Jedi", a player's Main Slot will become Force Sensitive. At this point, a second character slot will open up. You may choose to develop your main character as a Jedi Knight or you may use your second character slot to develop as a Jedi Knight (thus being able to leave your main character in tact), but you will have to complete the quests from the beginning with the second character.
Could TH please clarify this?
Rockard
Tue Aug 03, 2004 5:52 am
#617
Yep two great ideas....
But it's important that you can't miss the visit from the mysterious stranger.... It would be a real pain if you missed it while lagging... or taking a bathroom break... 
calcus
Tue Aug 03, 2004 6:48 am
#619
I agree. This game can't become like Knights of the old Republic. Jedi path should be accesibile but as hard or harder than holocron system without the grinding part of it. Too many jedi will ruin this game, and I for one would quit, because Jedi should be something special, and unique. Jedi in this time line are few and hidden away. Publish 9 already showed how many jedi's are out there (too many in my opinion) and FRS make jedi very visibile, so each day you see knights showing off in coronet or theed. Now ofcouse great majority of players wants to be jedi, but making it easy or fast to become one, then developing team may just as well add jedi as 34th regular profession. Also what makes players keep play this game is dream of jedi. Keeping it hard is way to go if you want long term player communty. Once you hit jedi some players quit cause its truly a hard path. Jedi exp is slow for a padawn and you need lot of discipline and commitemnet in order to level as jedi.
"Becareful what you wish for"
Enara
Tue Aug 03, 2004 3:49 pm
#621
I really like the idea of havingThe Village of Aurilia and hope that it will be instanced for each player. I also like the quest journal aspect.
I would really like to see special quests for players based on what profession they have. For an example, if a player is a creature handler, perhaps they would be given a quest to find and tame a baby of a creature that isn't normally found. Once they tame the creature, that quest is done, but they can still keep this unique baby.
Dimidixo
Tue Aug 03, 2004 5:16 pm
#622
I like both ideas!
But it would be great if we would get more information about the Village
PatchComm
Tue Aug 03, 2004 5:55 pm
#624
That is a good question that I would like an answer to as well.
TH: When is this expected to go into test? Also loved both ideas.
Message Edited by PatchComm on 08-03-2004 05:56 PM