[Server News] Engines of Ascension Launch Announcement
Aug 16, 2016 10:14:32 GMT -5
greypawn and Rekov like this
Post by Psionic-Entity on Aug 16, 2016 10:14:32 GMT -5
And We're Off!
The server is currently live, you can direct connect at engines.ddns.net or view the hak download link in the announcements forum to get started on loading the required files. We don't have much in the way of DMing scheduled tonight so take the opportunity to load up, run the intro quests, and explore some of the early dungeons. Events will kick off tomorrow with some great stuff the DM team has been preparing.
Since I lost access to the main server computer these will be credited in mid September. It's still cool to PM me with account, login, and character name details if you want a switch. Next week's building will mostly center around small content improvements and squashing bugs. Please post them as you see them and be sure to include steps to reproduce the bug, not just what you think is wrong.
The original launch announcement is below:
Engines of Ascension Launch Announcement
After a year of open beta we've finally reached a point where I'm comfortable announcing an official launch date for Engines of Ascension. We'll be kicking things off Friday, August 26th by opening up the server early and starting DM events that night and over the weekend. This also means that the beta will be coming to a close, so if you're interested in previewing some of the changes and new content you'll be able to do that up until the 19th. Along with the official launch I'm announcing a few other things in relation to the launch schedule and our plans for the server this year, a year from now, and going forward. We're also hoping to recruit several more DMs leading up to launch, so if you've participated in the beta and are interested in DMing, even in limited capacity, please give us a PM using our application form.
Launch Schedule
Below is a rough schedule covering the launch weekend. Staff attention will be split between giving returning players a look at what's to come and introducing new players to the server. We're hoping to make this an even busier weekend than last year's so I'll be on deck essentially 24/7 to keep the place running, and our launch DMs have cooked up some really cool plots to showcase.
August 19th: Beta shuts down, any players who've logged in before this point are added to a database to receive beta participation bonuses in the form of bonus XP and timed bank deposits.
August 21st: Server re-opens under password to test the beta rewards system. Changes to login and character names should be PMed to me on the forums and will go live during this period.
August 22nd-25th: Stress testing as needed, these opportunities will be passworded and announced on the forums.
August 26th: Official launch night. Server will open in the early afternoon and DM events will begin that night.
August 27th-28th: Launch weekend will feature introductory DM events and plot hooks for some of the longer story arcs we'll run during the first few months of operation.
The Engines System
There have been a lot of changes to the game system since the start of beta. The overall goal has been to eliminate some of the less entertaining aspects of the system (carry and reloading come to mind), and to create more options for diverse builds. What we really lacked during the beta was a good spellcaster option, so most of the design work has gone in to creating a large number of spell-like abilities for characters investing in skills like Demolitions, First Aid, and Animal Training. There are now quite a few powerful buff potions and a strength potion to add carry, which should provide something for toxicity characters that extends beyond simply using more potions to recover health or stamina. I'm hoping that feedback on the new system will come quickly and in large volume, so that redesigning abilities is extremely rare (hopefully never) and balance adjustments are mostly done by the end of October.
- The number of levelups has been doubled and the amount gained in a stat selected on levelup has been decreased from 10 to 5. This also increases the number of abilities available.
- Carry has been replaced by metabolism, which controls toxicity. All three of hit points, stamina, and toxicity are viewable from the character sheet.
- Carrying capacity now starts at 150 lbs and can be increased by taking the Endurance ability or using specialized equipment.
- Most melee and armor skills are unchanged, but marksmanship has several new abilities, including being able to fire while reloading and a single shot slowing attack.
- Bestiaries are now tied to the Hunting skill, and have a % completion that can be progressed by damaging creatures with damage types listed as weaknesses.
- Item properties are learned by deconstructing items or purchasing schematics, and there is no longer a skill requirement.
- Pets have been added through the Animal Training skill, which lets you train animals that behave similarly to henchmen.
- Demolitions now has four ability trees tied to giving spell-like abilities to grenades. Grenades now have critical hit mechanisms and there are several new grenade throwing ability trees.
- First aid now has two ability trees tied to giving spell-like abilities to grenades, potions and first aid kits. There are also new first aid abilities that allow attacks when using first aid kits and improve potion effects.
- There are now several more buff potions that apply to a wider variety of character types. There are also strength potions which affect carrying capacity.
Static Content
Along with system changes there have also been some changes to dungeons and exploration. Mostly this amounts to a year of content creation, but there have been a few stylistic changes as well. To start, dungeons are being designed for smaller parties and any difficulty adjustments for very large parties will be in the form of stats and spawn numbers when parties are at a certain size, not global adjustments. Raid dungeons are always super fun and the plan is to have one at roughly every 10 level increment, but there is also a need for content that can be handled solo. To that end I've added henchmen to improve solo experience for support characters and also designed many of the server's new dungeon's to be playable with a party of two, with the sole exception of bosses. Party play is definitely the most fun, but it's imperative that solo players of any level are able to find somewhere to go where they can earn loot and experience.
- Dungeons now have defined level ranges and spawns adhere to them much more strictly.
- Henchmen have been added at the Sink Hole so players can always have a party of at least two. Many dungeons spawn the same number of enemies for one and two players.
- Spawners have been set up so that dungeon levels can be changed. For example a dungeon can be turned from 20-30 in to 30-40 overnight to address holes in the levelling curve.
- New explorable zones include the Nefarian Desert, the Emerald Isles, the crags to the North of Calidor, the swamp to the East of Calidor, and a forested area leading North from the city.
- Several new high level raid style dungeons have been added, covering about 10 areas each. One is aimed at levels 80-90 and one at 90-100. One for 70-80 is in the works.
- Three out of six dragon types have been added. Dragons are available exclusively as boss encounters and are the only way to get dragon hide, which can be used to make armor.
- The bestiary has grown to over 80 creature types, with more being added for each piece of static content.
- The Calidor areas are now complete, no more plagues or lockdowns keeping you out of Downtown or the Wards.
- The city now features a full-scale casino and carnival with gambling, mini games, etc. If you're good at poker it's fully possible to win money in game, but there is a hard daily hand limit.
Development Plans
Going forward I'm hoping to stick to a rough expansion schedule rather than a continuous stream of content. There will always be small additions of item properties and dungeons but I'd like to focus zone releases on being large and complete. This means, for example, that a new region will come out with city areas, exterior zones, dungeons, and new item/property releases all at once. The reality of content creation is that it's slower than exploration, and I think it's best to do it this way even if it means a slower update cycle.
2016: Fix bugs, address balancing issues with dungeons and abilities, and get as close to a lock as possible on the game engine. Adding dungeons in the 40-80 ranges.
2017 January-June: Expand the playable gameworld to the North, including the Dwarven capital. Add ultra high level dungeons, new item properties, and new metal types for crafting.
2017 July-December: Expand the playable gameworld to the West, including Azure city. Add an airship travel system, gnomish-themed items and properties.
2018 and Beyond: Add the cities of Solatium, Ur, areas in the waste, etc. Focus on building out the gameworld based on DM and player interest, and adding epic level dungeons.
Server Staff
We're always looking to recruit DMs and builders to expand the server staff. Our approach to DMing involves persistent stories that take place across many events run by several DMs. Our goal is to have events and storylines that could go in any number of directions. There are countless platforms where you can tell and consume stories, sometimes even with a large number of possible endings. Role playing PWs are special because nobody knows how the story ends, or even what the choices are. If you're interested in joining the team our application process is very simple, just send the staff a PM including a description of an event you'd like to run. If the staff thinks it represents a decent understanding of server lore and direction we'll have you run it with a partner DM in game, and see how it goes. There is no requirement to retire characters in order to DM, but those staff members who have done so are generally considered to have final word on matters related to factions and individual characters.
On the build side Engines' core systems are very different from other servers, so experience in making items, quests, or creatures is useful but not directly transferable. Our number one need is purpose-built high quality areas, both interior and exterior, for use in fleshing out role play areas, housing static content, and going in to new dungeons. Scripting experience is useful in building new dungeons, which typically include purpose-built scripts for puzzles, creature abilites, and spawning mechanisms.
The server is currently live, you can direct connect at engines.ddns.net or view the hak download link in the announcements forum to get started on loading the required files. We don't have much in the way of DMing scheduled tonight so take the opportunity to load up, run the intro quests, and explore some of the early dungeons. Events will kick off tomorrow with some great stuff the DM team has been preparing.
Since I lost access to the main server computer these will be credited in mid September. It's still cool to PM me with account, login, and character name details if you want a switch. Next week's building will mostly center around small content improvements and squashing bugs. Please post them as you see them and be sure to include steps to reproduce the bug, not just what you think is wrong.
The original launch announcement is below:
Engines of Ascension Launch Announcement
After a year of open beta we've finally reached a point where I'm comfortable announcing an official launch date for Engines of Ascension. We'll be kicking things off Friday, August 26th by opening up the server early and starting DM events that night and over the weekend. This also means that the beta will be coming to a close, so if you're interested in previewing some of the changes and new content you'll be able to do that up until the 19th. Along with the official launch I'm announcing a few other things in relation to the launch schedule and our plans for the server this year, a year from now, and going forward. We're also hoping to recruit several more DMs leading up to launch, so if you've participated in the beta and are interested in DMing, even in limited capacity, please give us a PM using our application form.
Launch Schedule
Below is a rough schedule covering the launch weekend. Staff attention will be split between giving returning players a look at what's to come and introducing new players to the server. We're hoping to make this an even busier weekend than last year's so I'll be on deck essentially 24/7 to keep the place running, and our launch DMs have cooked up some really cool plots to showcase.
August 19th: Beta shuts down, any players who've logged in before this point are added to a database to receive beta participation bonuses in the form of bonus XP and timed bank deposits.
August 21st: Server re-opens under password to test the beta rewards system. Changes to login and character names should be PMed to me on the forums and will go live during this period.
August 22nd-25th: Stress testing as needed, these opportunities will be passworded and announced on the forums.
August 26th: Official launch night. Server will open in the early afternoon and DM events will begin that night.
August 27th-28th: Launch weekend will feature introductory DM events and plot hooks for some of the longer story arcs we'll run during the first few months of operation.
The Engines System
There have been a lot of changes to the game system since the start of beta. The overall goal has been to eliminate some of the less entertaining aspects of the system (carry and reloading come to mind), and to create more options for diverse builds. What we really lacked during the beta was a good spellcaster option, so most of the design work has gone in to creating a large number of spell-like abilities for characters investing in skills like Demolitions, First Aid, and Animal Training. There are now quite a few powerful buff potions and a strength potion to add carry, which should provide something for toxicity characters that extends beyond simply using more potions to recover health or stamina. I'm hoping that feedback on the new system will come quickly and in large volume, so that redesigning abilities is extremely rare (hopefully never) and balance adjustments are mostly done by the end of October.
- The number of levelups has been doubled and the amount gained in a stat selected on levelup has been decreased from 10 to 5. This also increases the number of abilities available.
- Carry has been replaced by metabolism, which controls toxicity. All three of hit points, stamina, and toxicity are viewable from the character sheet.
- Carrying capacity now starts at 150 lbs and can be increased by taking the Endurance ability or using specialized equipment.
- Most melee and armor skills are unchanged, but marksmanship has several new abilities, including being able to fire while reloading and a single shot slowing attack.
- Bestiaries are now tied to the Hunting skill, and have a % completion that can be progressed by damaging creatures with damage types listed as weaknesses.
- Item properties are learned by deconstructing items or purchasing schematics, and there is no longer a skill requirement.
- Pets have been added through the Animal Training skill, which lets you train animals that behave similarly to henchmen.
- Demolitions now has four ability trees tied to giving spell-like abilities to grenades. Grenades now have critical hit mechanisms and there are several new grenade throwing ability trees.
- First aid now has two ability trees tied to giving spell-like abilities to grenades, potions and first aid kits. There are also new first aid abilities that allow attacks when using first aid kits and improve potion effects.
- There are now several more buff potions that apply to a wider variety of character types. There are also strength potions which affect carrying capacity.
Static Content
Along with system changes there have also been some changes to dungeons and exploration. Mostly this amounts to a year of content creation, but there have been a few stylistic changes as well. To start, dungeons are being designed for smaller parties and any difficulty adjustments for very large parties will be in the form of stats and spawn numbers when parties are at a certain size, not global adjustments. Raid dungeons are always super fun and the plan is to have one at roughly every 10 level increment, but there is also a need for content that can be handled solo. To that end I've added henchmen to improve solo experience for support characters and also designed many of the server's new dungeon's to be playable with a party of two, with the sole exception of bosses. Party play is definitely the most fun, but it's imperative that solo players of any level are able to find somewhere to go where they can earn loot and experience.
- Dungeons now have defined level ranges and spawns adhere to them much more strictly.
- Henchmen have been added at the Sink Hole so players can always have a party of at least two. Many dungeons spawn the same number of enemies for one and two players.
- Spawners have been set up so that dungeon levels can be changed. For example a dungeon can be turned from 20-30 in to 30-40 overnight to address holes in the levelling curve.
- New explorable zones include the Nefarian Desert, the Emerald Isles, the crags to the North of Calidor, the swamp to the East of Calidor, and a forested area leading North from the city.
- Several new high level raid style dungeons have been added, covering about 10 areas each. One is aimed at levels 80-90 and one at 90-100. One for 70-80 is in the works.
- Three out of six dragon types have been added. Dragons are available exclusively as boss encounters and are the only way to get dragon hide, which can be used to make armor.
- The bestiary has grown to over 80 creature types, with more being added for each piece of static content.
- The Calidor areas are now complete, no more plagues or lockdowns keeping you out of Downtown or the Wards.
- The city now features a full-scale casino and carnival with gambling, mini games, etc. If you're good at poker it's fully possible to win money in game, but there is a hard daily hand limit.
Development Plans
Going forward I'm hoping to stick to a rough expansion schedule rather than a continuous stream of content. There will always be small additions of item properties and dungeons but I'd like to focus zone releases on being large and complete. This means, for example, that a new region will come out with city areas, exterior zones, dungeons, and new item/property releases all at once. The reality of content creation is that it's slower than exploration, and I think it's best to do it this way even if it means a slower update cycle.
2016: Fix bugs, address balancing issues with dungeons and abilities, and get as close to a lock as possible on the game engine. Adding dungeons in the 40-80 ranges.
2017 January-June: Expand the playable gameworld to the North, including the Dwarven capital. Add ultra high level dungeons, new item properties, and new metal types for crafting.
2017 July-December: Expand the playable gameworld to the West, including Azure city. Add an airship travel system, gnomish-themed items and properties.
2018 and Beyond: Add the cities of Solatium, Ur, areas in the waste, etc. Focus on building out the gameworld based on DM and player interest, and adding epic level dungeons.
Server Staff
We're always looking to recruit DMs and builders to expand the server staff. Our approach to DMing involves persistent stories that take place across many events run by several DMs. Our goal is to have events and storylines that could go in any number of directions. There are countless platforms where you can tell and consume stories, sometimes even with a large number of possible endings. Role playing PWs are special because nobody knows how the story ends, or even what the choices are. If you're interested in joining the team our application process is very simple, just send the staff a PM including a description of an event you'd like to run. If the staff thinks it represents a decent understanding of server lore and direction we'll have you run it with a partner DM in game, and see how it goes. There is no requirement to retire characters in order to DM, but those staff members who have done so are generally considered to have final word on matters related to factions and individual characters.
On the build side Engines' core systems are very different from other servers, so experience in making items, quests, or creatures is useful but not directly transferable. Our number one need is purpose-built high quality areas, both interior and exterior, for use in fleshing out role play areas, housing static content, and going in to new dungeons. Scripting experience is useful in building new dungeons, which typically include purpose-built scripts for puzzles, creature abilites, and spawning mechanisms.
