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I hope the developers can learn what it took the creators of FFXI online many years to learn, but eventually did catch on to. For years the players clamored for more solo content.

MANY players ENJOY solo content. This must be emphasized because what we know so far suggests that solo play will be penalized.

My second concern has to do with getting missions and quests from other players rather than NPCs. This is one of the biggest turn offs I have for this game. I hope it evolves.

Shooter vs MMORPG
If this game mostly turns out to be a shooter, I will wish it to be a success for those that enjoy that type of game however I will not play just because my interests are different. If it is a hybrid, that is different and it will depend on how it evolves.


DEVELOPERS TAKE NOTE PLEASE!!!!

Here is the deal: I want to be able to log on and play for 90 minutes and I dont want to spend 75 of those minutes tracking down some 14 year old kid to get my mission, orders, etc. I am sure I am not alone in this.

OFF: Phew, after some years of lurking, managed to make an account just to participate in this discussion.

ON: You do realize that the system is thought up so that you can eliminate a leader from his position if he is untrustworthy or the majority denies his right to rule, do you? I think the leadership feature will be something akin to what CCP presented in World of Darkness, if anyone is familiar.
Regarding the 14-year old thing, I would not be pleased to follow some kid's orders as well and I don't think we'll be the only ones, so, if someone without a proper military mind will give orders, he'll probably be taken down by similar-minded players.

I also don't think that you will have to physically track down your commanders to get your orders. If you are a commander, then likely you will issue orders in a sort of broadcasting system that will go out to all other players like "meet up at the crater and help me kill the eldar mining camp." Then, you can fast travel or walk over to the crater, where the leader is either waiting or has already begun to attack, so you can join in as it goes or be there to begin the assault. Either way, you followed orders and will get bonus exp. Or, if you find that same eldar mining camp on your own, and see that there aren't many people there, you can go in and pick off a few and blow some stuff up. But you won't get the bonus exp.

In the end, as I was in the same bandwagon as several of the people here (meaning I preordered Age of Reckoning and got disappointed afterwards), I won't hold my breath for this one. The thing that gives me hope, however, is the fact that Miguel and the one of the others that work at this MMO have the much needed experience that Behaviour needs to make a successful MMO (Age of Conan, Anarchy Online, The Secret World, etc) plus all the team's enthusiasm and that they're all tabletop players. I'm sure that they won't butcher the lore to make a design simpler like the guys that made WHO:AoR did. I'm hoping for something that blends Planetside when it comes to PVP and Space Marine combat for melee. Ofc, there has to be a camera toggle option, especially for gunplay, that allows players to either chose third person or first person for finer things like sniping or extreme range firing all together.

I want to know more about the customisation and ranking system, any word on this?

Thanks you guys for a lot of good feedback and suggestions. Dark Apostle, some (not all) of your questions will be answer with this friday upcoming news letter. If David succeed in the mission I gave him this week... we MIGHT have a surprise for you soon as well. I wanted to share something with you as well. I see a real possibility for a new (fun) Cold War. Did you know that Russia, so far, rank number 2 for Eternal Crusade in terms of traffics, BETA sign up and fan pages etc... :-) They even sent TV interview to meet me at E3. They even produce our first video LOL :-) without us even knowing about it. Hey, a good trivia, try to find out where all the cuts scene they use comes from. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuitpcZ9rgk

Yours Truly

Miguel
Your Not so dead Emperor... Head of Studio

Blessed is the mind too small for doubt

Nice! I'm surprised about the numbers for Russia. I'm guessing the US is the first?

Also, fun fact, there are new voice clips on their website:
http://bhvr.com/eternalcrusade/

 Enigwolf wrote:
Nice! I'm surprised about the numbers for Russia. I'm guessing the US is the first?

Also, fun fact, there are new voice clips on their website:
http://bhvr.com/eternalcrusade/

New voices? Seem the same to me

A surprise?! Lawdy lawd.

Look forward to the newsletter.

MadMuzza wrote:

 Enigwolf wrote:
Nice! I'm surprised about the numbers for Russia. I'm guessing the US is the first?

Also, fun fact, there are new voice clips on their website:
http://bhvr.com/eternalcrusade/

New voices? Seem the same to me

Those weren't there the first day I looked the webpage, so.

Great yo hear about this Miguel, this may sound stupid but will us here at dakka get priority beta positions? Pretty please.


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Also this is takin from my message to bhvr,

"Hey, I'm a big fan of 40k and it's related games. I played space marine with a large group of guys and was a pretty high rank in my clan. But the thing that put me off playing space marine seriously was the lack of in-depth customisation and the ability to show my character off as my respective rank. I like many others have a character in 40k that we tried to replicate in space marine but we never got the chance for instance my personal character is a thousand sons sorcerer lord with a termie armour and combi bolter and dual bolt pistols and for CQB a greatsword and a storm shield and
many physic abilities as a sorcerer. In space marine I couldnt come close to making him but I really hope I will be able to get it right in eternal crusade and lead my men to throne of the corpse god"

I'll add more on aesthetic customisation later.

I would love to be able to write our own little messages on purity seals and stick em where ever, as an aspiring chaplain, you must have material written down in case you forget during the heat of battle.

 unmercifulconker wrote:
I would love to be able to write our own little messages on purity seals and stick em where ever, as an aspiring chaplain, you must have material written down in case you forget during the heat of battle.

inb4 90% of the players running around with "YO MAMA" jokes on their purity seals.

Or just a mass collection of YOLO purity seals covering ther face.

Besides, the Angry Marines need some love somewhere.

Where can we sign up for the beta?

unmercifulconker wrote:Or just a mass collection of YOLO purity seals covering ther face.

Indeed, any sort of player input will have to be judged carefully, under consideration of what sort of people the playerbase will include. The names we will have to face will be bad enough (as in every MMO) - customisation would be exploited in similar fashion.

Of course, there are compromises, such as offering a "library" of predefined phrases and symbols. Or allowing players or groups of players to submit their own material to be judged by studio moderators before it would become available (Pirates of the Burning Sea did this for sails and flags).

Consider, however, the possibility that the graphics won't be detailed enough to even support such a feature at all, so the entire point may be moot. I mean, this is an MMO shooter, and the writing on purity seals is pretty damn small!

Miguel: Cool, looking forward to hear more.

Will there be a console beta, or just PC?

I just thought of a good idea for levelling in this game, to encourage not-immediately ranking up to tge next rank thus causing higher ranks to be less common and those who are patient will benefit the rewards.

So, as an example you start off as a regular marine and you get levels say 50 is the max but you are given the option to rank up to sergeant at lvl 25.

So when a person ranks up they get a certain amount of benefits say +5% armour. Now when they reach lvl 25 they can go to sergeant and reset to sergeant lvl 1 OR they can
wait and continue to perfect being a marine then when they reach lvl 50% they become a sergeant AND they get an extra bonus, like possibly specialisation to become a devastator, assault marine, veteran or maybe even gain minor phsycic abilities. Then depending on there choice of base marine lvl 50 bonus they get an upgrade of that when they are lvl 50 sergeant. If you pick veteran you get the crux terminatus, if you pick assault you get vanguard veteran or sternguard veteran for devastators and librarian status for the phsycic abilities.
And so by waiting and being patient you can specialise your character. but also you'd get bonuses for 26-49 like everyother level so a sergeant who waits for 50 compared to a sergeant who promotes immediately would be 2x as strong and of course have his specialisations

BTW: lvl 50 captain would gain the crux terminatus for there rank like assault terminater, heavy weapons terminater, phsyker in termie armour excetera

Anybody have anything to add to this or opinions?

So... much.... grinding...

That almost sounds like tricking people who aren't familiar with the leveling system though. Especially those who may be comming from the popular FPS CoD where you could do that every time you hit the highest rank.

For example, I'm playing and I level up and it tells me I have the option of becoming a sergeant. Me sensing that I'm being rewarded, take the promotion and keep going, not realizing that if I just kept going I'd end up getting to max rank sooner. Then I get the next promotion, get sent back to level one and do it again and again like a hamster in a wheel. I'd get fed up playing the endless grind before I'd ever feel the reward of my progression.

I do however like the idea that people should earn rank to get specializations. I don't want 40,000 terminator chaplains running around my server. I honestly would be happy with at most 4 per 1000 people.

 DemetriDominov wrote:
So... much.... grinding...

An MMO with no leveling system could be an interesting concept (I know you didn't suggest that but the comment sparked the idea for me).

This is just my preference for a certain amount of realism, but I'd prefer mechanical bonuses (such as armour) tied solely to items, not experience. Your power armour should not magically gain another half inch of thickness just because you got promoted.
The promotion could, however, open up new options in the armoury.

There are other things that could increase via experience, ranging from health to weapon accuracy and melee strength, or perhaps willpower (to resist or at least decrease the effect of psychic attacks used against oneself).

And I agree with Demetri - unlocking specialisations sounds ideal to me as well. It should not take too long, I suppose, else the first weeks of the game would be fairly bland in terms of what fights what. At least "basic" specialisations such as Devastator should come fairly soon.

Aye, it would be nice to see some sort of physical representation of improving stats such as combat drugs or gaining artificer armour or stats like willpower.

Ha I just realised tomorrow is friday, cant wait for the update.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I also wouldnt mind clear abilities which would encourage this rank and order system. So people who seek to be sergeants and earn the right to be one provide a aura buff such as +5% health in a certain radius so it encourages people to stick together and in squads.

 Cheesecat wrote:

 DemetriDominov wrote:
So... much.... grinding...

An MMO with no leveling system could be an interesting concept (I know you didn't suggest that but the comment sparked the idea for me).

A fight for resources perhaps?

Specializations, eg. Assault, Devastators, Terminator Honors, are awarded based upon your experience so there's old school progression alleviated through playing in really fast paced FPS type gameplay. (honestly, advancing in BF3 almost never feels like grinding until you reach levels above 40.) There could also be specific randomized tasks each player must accomplish to get an award. Great example's would be getting a certain number of vengeance kills, dying defending a strategic position, taking a certain number of positions, destroying a certain number of vehicles, ect...

Equipment however, could be based entirely upon an in-game economy utilizing STC's, Relics, and Artifacts. This is perfect because ALL FOUR RACE'S ARE DESPERATELY SEEKING THESE THINGS FROM EITHER THE GODS OR ANCIENT HISTORY, AND ONLY THE ORKS USE UNIVERSAL CURRENCY IN LORE. Personally, I'd say that it would be a good idea to do away with any type of in game currency, but instead use reknown, fame, infamy, influence, reputation, honor, privilege, esteem, or some other word for non-material currency to determine an individual's or guild purchasing power. Unlike WAR, this influence is not statically rising through the game, but fluctuates depending on how a player interacts with their faction.

For example:

A Chaos Cultist has the choice of taking a mark of Tzeentch, Slaanesh, Khorne, Nurgle or remain undivided. If the player decides to take a mark of Tzeentch, he or she will rapidly gain the favor of the Fateweaver, but will rapidly loose favor from Nurgle and gradually loose favor from Khorne. If he or she stays or reverts to worshiping the Gods with an undivided mark, they will lose a small portion of Tzeencth's favor, but will gain favor from all the Gods equally until the player decides to take another mark.

The same is equally true with the IoM with different branches of its great bureaucracy in constant strife with one another. I.E. The Inquisition, The Ecclesiarchy, The Adeptus Mechanicus, and the Administratum. Ally with the Techpriests and rapidly gain favor with the Adeptus Mechanicus, rapidly lose the favor of Ecclesiarchy and gradually lose the favor of the Inquisition. Take a pledge of loyalty with the Inquisition and rapidly lose the favor of the Administratum, while gradually losing the favor of the AdMechs.

(Orks and Eldar could use tribal or clan favor, ie. Bad Sun's, Goffs, Ect.)

The point is that an individual who remains in favor with all the factions will have basic access to each organization's gear, but only with the gaining of favor will specialized gear (in the form of STC's) become available so long as they remain at that level of honor. Honor could be gained in many ways, through grinding while holding the organization's mark, dedicating monuments in their honor, or securing resource gaining facility's for their coffers.

Now back to the STC's for a sec. Remember, for the most part, every agency isn't just going to hand you gear, they're going to hand you a ticket (an STC) to take the smith and allow you to craft your gear to your specifications (Customization fits here wonderfully). If you don't need or want the ticket, you can sell your ticket to other factions or players for their reputation. The highest bidders will be of the opposing sect, and will offer more than double the reputation you could gain from selling the item back to the vendor. Therefore, stockpiling STC's of an opposing faction you wish to serve in the long run could be very advantageous when you wish to cash out and trade allegiances.

Also, weapons, items, and gear from each agency can be used even after you no longer serve them. However, they will break the longer you use them without regaining their favor, and only the agency that gifted them to you can repair them.

Guilds gain reputation based upon their player base, so having congruence of up to two non-opposing agencies within the ranks is a great idea. CSM: example: Tzeentch and Slaanesh, or Khorne and Nurgle. IoM Example: Inquisition and Ecclesarchy, Admech and Admin.

Finally, having public events where players must unite the collective knowledge of their STC's from each faction would help drive the community and the economy drastically. Building an Emperor Class Titan (hopefully for players to use!), an Orbital Cannon, or even a civic project like a Cathedral Bastion that would benefit the capital for example would need a great amount of STC's from every agency within the IoM. Only when working together would the project be completed, would spur huge growth and trade of reputation, and would prepare each race for an even greater challenge.

Well, yea, leveling up and choosing specs could be a problem on the long run. Imagine, for example, that after some months of playing, 200 people unlock the terminator honors upgrade and they all purchase Termie armor. And those 200 players decide to take a Land Raider and a couple of Dreadnoughts and go after the Orks, who will mostly be f2p Ork Boyz. Hence the campaign would be in dire peril of ending ahead of time, the devs will release Tyranids to counter the SM assault. Now imagine being an Ork, caught between the Tyranid waves and the SM Termies. The only conclusion I can think of would be something like this: .
So, they really need to think about how progression is made so we avert situations like this or everybody having the most powerful stuff in the game after some time and new players not standing a chance.

I remain apprehensive, but I am also optimistic. I was very interested in Dark Millenium, so hopefully this is awesome. I'm fairly certain I will buy it either way...

Perhaps because each campaign is 3 (months?) levels and specs reset so with each new planet makes everyone start again so there wont be all terminators against ork boys.

Although people could pay a fee if they wish to keep just one character as they are such as those few who are high ranking positions. Thus every other charcter/race you choose will reset after each campaign.

\wrong thread.

That's quite a good idea conker

Kind of reminds me of Boneyards from back in the days of Total Annihilation, in a sense. Basically was an MMORTS of sorts, where your battles online added to the victories of each particular world, allowing your faction to conquer them. Once one faction won, the galaxy map reset itself.

It's a workable system.

 Melissia wrote:
Kind of reminds me of Boneyards from back in the days of Total Annihilation, in a sense. Basically was an MMORTS of sorts, where your battles online added to the victories of each particular world, allowing your faction to conquer them. Once one faction won, the galaxy map reset itself.

It's a workable system.

Hey! I remember that! It was a system that worked only about 90% of the time for me, but when it did it was incredibly fun. Also, more recent and similar, Shattered Galaxy and Planetside/2 anyone?