Adventurer's Guild Patch Discussion

[blckfire]

So, I'll release here the changes I've made so far so we can discuss this a bit and so that we(the staff) can have some feedback in order to change or maintain what was implemented.

In the shopkeepers side, everything should be the same but without any exploits.

Adventurer's Guild Guildmaster Re-Work
Here is where we have some massive changes.

What we realized needed changing:
- The system allowed some fishing of quests which we do not agree (to some extent)
- It was hard to track quests status
- The system was poorly designed and could work pro or against the player depending on their level of play
- Some commands were lacking

To address this issues I implemented the following:

Command List

Join: We thought that the entrance fee was too low and could cause new characters to actually loose money instead of gaining. Because of this we set the entrance fee at 10k and weekly fee at 1k.
Quit Guild:
- Basically the same as before, one week delay before being able to rejoin.
- This command can be called by using several synonyms of 'quit', for example, 'resign' or 'leave'.

Quest:
- Before, it was possible to always get at least one new quest each time you called this command.
- Now, it'll refresh a quest if that quest was on the quest list for more than 24h.
- Players will not be able to run more than 3 quests at the same time.
- The maximum number of "Find Item" quests (the ones that asked you to search for an item inside a dungeon) is limited to one.
Quit Quest:
- This command can be called by using several synonyms of 'quit', for example, 'resign' or 'leave'.
- This command will show you a list of the quests you are running
- Maximum number of quests represent quest slots and so, a player will be able to quit the quest in each slot every 24hs.
For example:
- You decide to quit the quest in slot 1
- You then add a new quest that will be added to this slot
- You try to quit the quest in slot 1 which will lead to a warning saying how much time there is still left before you can quit that quest.

- Removing a find item quest will not unlock the dungeon timer. This means that if you accepted a quest for Fire you'll have to wait the timer of this dungeon until you can accept a quest for Fire again.
Quest Status:
- This command will show a list of the running quests with the time left for it's deadline.

Pay:
- It'll deduce the money owed from the money inside your backpack. Be sure to have enough money before you go talk with the guild master.

Mechanics

When using some commands the guild master will check if you have failed a quest and if so it'll demand payment. It'll also specify where the money owed comes from.

Unpaid fees or fines for quests failed, will block any interaction with the menu to request new quests.

Notes
We're still unsure if we're going to release "Find Item" quests just yet, because we also want to update the place where the monsters spawn and we want to avoid them to get stuck. We will also be looking into adding this type of quest in all dungeons and not only limited to the last level of each dungeon.
This last part as you can imagine involves a lot of work, first to map and then to balance.

I guess that's all for now, feel free to write down your thoughts on this and leave the comments of religions to other posts that already deal with those thoughts and feelings.

[Diam Larkei]

I have never used the Adventurer Guild system but here are my two cents!

Join: We thought that the entrance fee was too low and could cause new characters to actually loose money instead of gaining. Because of this we set the entrance fee at 10k and weekly fee at 1k.

10k Seems a bit rubbish(To not say Rip-off).To me, the Guild is meant to make some extra cash and get prizes from the actual normal hunts. Let's consider a newcomer. He wants to more fun from his hunting. He sets his mind to become a member of the ADV guild and to his biggest surprise(and disappointment), he was to pay 10k to enter and 1k a week for every following weeks. He will loose interest to the system as soon as he sees how it goes.


Idea: Layered Membership. Novice,Inter,Advanced.Each Layer of membership will cost different fees and will give access to different quests.(Let`s be honest,every was getting the Destard quest with the old system) I think we meet a great pattern here.

- Removing a find item quest will not unlock the dungeon timer. This means that if you accepted a quest for Fire you'll have to wait the timer of this dungeon until you can accept a quest for Fire again.

I like this because members will think twice before taking quests. They have to consider their own limits.

[Cyrus Tegyr]

Personally I don't like the idea of some fee, I'm sure its here to stay but one thing I think ought to be considered is removing both the entrance fee and weekly dues.

I think the adventurers guild ought to be treated as just a random daily quest or quests if you're able to do more than one within a 24 hour period. Just make it open, I don't think money sinks for money sinks sake is a great path forward.

One of the other things I have proposed in the past is removing the ticket aspect so instead of tickets being a non item and instead a cprop on the character why not utilize the graphic which is in place for copper or silver coins? This makes them tradeable through the normal means of trading whilst also thievable? I know no one likes things that are stealable but it is more in lines of how Ultima and not just Pangaea were designed, items and currency for the most part were never to be considered "safe" from players crafty or brutal enough to take what they want if they remain in your inventory.

Plus, I just like the idea of having a secondary tangible virtual currency and could open the door to future uses should the staff wish. Just a couple thoughts.

[blckfire]

Idea: Layered Membership. Novice,Inter,Advanced.Each Layer of membership will cost different fees and will give access to different quests.(Let`s be honest,every was getting the Destard quest with the old system) I think we meet a great pattern here.

This is actually the plan going forward with adv guild (not exactly like what you described but pretty close). Because of time constraints we can't implement it yet, but everything is in place to make this happen.

Regarding fees, it's fairly easy for a player inside a class to make the 10k plus the 1k a week, I also said we are reviewing rewards, so that it'll actually be interesting for a classed player to join the Adv. Guild. With fees we are trying to push recently created characters away from the Adv Guild, giving the player time to get to know the world before he ventures fully into it with the help of the Adv Guild.

[blckfire]

Plus, I just like the idea of having a secondary tangible virtual currency and could open the door to future uses should the staff wish. Just a couple thoughts.

We already talked between us(the staff) to put something like this out... Even thought of implementing the "Checks feature" so that you can write a check for 10Million for example, instead of having to carry all the coins around...

When the "Transfer Tickets" command is in place, players can actually establish trade for Adv. Guild tickets.

We will, for sure, address this sort of things once we are done with religions and after players had time to experience the system in place.

[Demian]

Quest:
- Before, it was possible to always get at least one new quest each time you called this command.
- Now, it'll refresh a quest if that quest was on the quest list for more than 24h.

If I understand this right, in this new system, you can only refresh the questlist every 24h? So, if you have a list full of "collect 5 ratman/lizardman heads for 15 tickets", you're stuck with that for a whole day and all you can do is hope that you actually get something worthwhile the next day. Given the amount of such silly quests, I think this is a pretty big problem in the system.. You could go days if not weeks without any quests suitable for your level. Ofcourse, if the adventurers guild is updated to accomodate players of different skill-levels by giving out more compatible quests, this won't be such a problem later, so I hope it will happen and that it's not just a thought.

[Argon]

Blckfire might correct me if I'm wrong, but for what we agreed is that you will always have finditem quests on your list.

[blckfire]

With the way we have it set up it'll be unlikely that you will not have a single "Find Item" Quest.

The RnG is made to generate enough of those quests so that at least 1/3rd of all the quests will be "Find Item" Quests, this will then be changed according to the players skill/level.

If for some reason the players exhaust all "Find Item" quests in one guild master, which I find unlikely, you'll always have the option to visit another guild master. Each of them will have their separate list. So, if you come to the point where by a rare chance no more "Find Item" quests show in one, you can always try another.

I haven't implemented the system to make sure a "Find Item" Quest will be shown, since I believe this will not be necessary, due to the constraints we have put on the player's side. Still, during the first week of the live version we will access if we need to do any adjustments to this.

[aldath c'om]

imo heightened chars should never get such finditem quests to despise or other low lvl dungeons. but also they shouldnt allways have one for destard.

[Ert]

Would this new system allow boss monsters to spawn? i think that would be super interesting

Also will there be any change with how quest item mobs are spawned or defined? I remember someone mentioning that at one point