Updated FAQ Section of the Discord
https://discord.com/channels/1071081786962088018/1077529434002829322
Important takeaways/new info from this:
When is the Alpha starting? We’re still a few months away from a large-scale Alpha test. Rest assured that when we’re ready to announce it, we’ll publish official communication with all details.
My notes: Few months is vague, but…hopefully not too far away.
What is the purpose of the token field included in the account management?
We added a token field to the Alpha sign-up to allow groups of friends and clanmates to play together.The token can be a word or a combination of words. The most important part is not what it means, but that you and your friends use the same token. The system will flag everybody with the same token as a group, and we will do our best to invite the entire group simultaneously. We can’t guarantee it, though. Depending on different factors, we could end up inviting only part of the group.
Also, be aware that we only use the token to grant access to the Alpha. It won’t force anyone to log in to a specific server or jump into the world in a particular region. You’ll still need to sync up with your friends for these parts.
In a nutshell: increase your chance to play with your friends by using the same token!
My notes: This clarifies the friend token. It was once thought this would put players in the same place in the world. That is not the case. It just gets you into the same test..hopefully.
Will PvP be strictly opt-in? We want to make PvP feel more dynamic and more about social structures, roles and positions of power in player-formed communities, instead of just a static PvP toggle or zone restrictions. We don’t want PvP to feel like a separate mode and create a gap between PvE and PvP players. PvP should be an integral part of the world and economy. We plan to offer players interesting and meaningful ways to opt-in and dip their toes in PvP. The goal is to marry PvE and PvP together by offering opportunities for both to bring value to the other party – be it facing the dangers of PvP or creating the best gear for PvP players. The Heartlands will be restricted from PvP fights. Outside the Heartlands, players will have various options to choose if and how they want to experience PvP, and how much they’re willing to risk in doing so.
Will players lose all their items in PvP? Will PvP be ‘full loot’? There will be value loss in PvP, and players will be able to decide how much they’re willing to risk for greater rewards. However, we’re not ready to share full details on PvP loot at this point.
My notes: Some clarification on PVP. It is not only zone-based or PVP toggle. Players can choose how much they want to risk. My guess is players can choose items they will drop on death when opting into PVP, and the value of these items will give a boost to drops in PVE, or the amount and quality of gathering materials.
Will Pax Dei use any kind of fast travel system?
The game will feature different ways to get around, but as with many other parts of Pax Dei, there will be limitations and trade-offs when using them. The goal is not to trivialize travel and the logistics involved, but to offer a way to play most content and join your friends within a reasonable amount of time.
My Notes: Fast Travel might be only when players do not have gatherables in their inventory.
What class can I play? How will leveling work? Is it possible for one character to be able to do everything? Will skill points be limited? There won’t be classes in the way you think about it: you won’t choose one in the character creation and stick to it forever. That being said, no classes does not mean no roles. There will be roles, but we are not ready to share the full details yet. We can share one crucial element related to combat though: yes, the holy trinity Tank, Heal (Support), DPS will play a part in Pax Dei. When it comes to leveling, we don’t have a global character level, but we have skills, and these skills have a leveling system. We will give more info about the roles, the skills, and how they interact (or not) at a later point (before too long™).
My Notes: Pretty sure we knew all of this, but it is nice to get some confirmation as well.
Amrun talks about appointment play, i.e. time gated play essentially.
https://discord.com/channels/1071081786962088018/1088809478247415868/1089359895201067068
https://discord.com/channels/1071081786962088018/1088809478247415868/1089419705950928896
https://discord.com/channels/1071081786962088018/1088809478247415868/1089573341435801613
I can not say when exactly, it may not get into the Alpha even, but the Pax Dei world does have several different types of appointment play planned.
Appointment play is not “afk activities” :p
Just to outline what may be described as “Appointment play”… And NO, this does not say what will or will not be a part of Pax Dei
- You find a sapling of an apple tree, bring it home and plant it by your house. Then every autumn, you have a tree full of apples.
- You bring an item or a text to an appropriate crafting station and research it. Then, when you log in after an appropriate time, you can see if the research yielded anything.
- You put hops, barley water and yeast in a barrel, and then some days later, you have beer.
- You have made 20 steel ingots and you bring them to the market square, place them there, where anyone can buy them. You pop in later to see if they are still there, or you have some money waiting for you.
Basically what one is talking about are processes that you start and then come back later and check if you get the outcome you wanted.
Amrun
Amrun talks about alts, and how Pax Dei might be alt friendly
https://discord.com/channels/1071081786962088018/1089267122061967371/1089357309114851418
First of all, alts can be good and alts can be bad. One of the first things I did in this project was to do a writeup of all the types of alts there are and why people make them. So, we have given alts a lot of thought. While not saying anything about number of characters on each account, I can point out two things that make it much more accessible to maintain meaningful alts: 1. Anything you build and the facilities and installations you have in your home, crafting hall or village, should be accessible to any of the characters you choose to create. 2. All items are tradable. It is fun to twink out new toons, whether it is your own character or someone else.
Amrun
Amrun says the next trailer “might” be around the first alpha date announcements
https://discord.com/channels/1071081786962088018/1087507807147925564/1088156785766043728
We released the announcement trailer when we were ready. The next trailer is on a similar release schedule Cant say anything now, but when you see dates for the Alpha start coming, I would think we would be releasing something.
Amrun
Amrun drops a very vague hint on monetization…
https://discord.com/channels/1071081786962088018/1087091394486747238/1088154995188305991
If you are not paying for the game, I would not expect to be able to claim a plot.
I doubt you would be playing the game at all.
Amrun
Amrun talks more about Plex
https://discord.com/channels/1071081786962088018/1081995695558508565/1087075539371696269
https://discord.com/channels/1071081786962088018/1081995695558508565/1087054145820823662
3 things. 1. When I talk about “plex” like item, it is an item that is bought on the game website, costs the same, or similar amount as monthly sub, can be traded between players and can ONLY be used in a relation to the game by destroying it to add one month sub to the account. 2. Players will in some way have to pay the costs of making and running the game. There is no way around it. Our aim is to do it in a way which is agreeable to all who appreciate the game enough and are willing to contribute what is needed in order to do so. 3. I honestly have no clue if we are going to introduce Plex or not. All I know is, that it is a simple and extremely easily understandable system that is good for the player market, first and foremost the people who spend a lot of time in the game.
This is indeed a what “plex” like item does in a game where they player economy is entirely player driven and where the only thing you can do with it is to destroy it to pay a sub.
Amrun
Teral talks about bounties and why they might not be needed
https://discord.com/channels/1071081786962088018/1077535952500699146/1089332901163843605
https://discord.com/channels/1071081786962088018/1077535952500699146/1089332548276072468
Don’t take me wrong, it is nothing official, hack I don’t even have no idea if designers consider this or not, but from my personal experience and actual studies, a bounty system somehow boosts toxicity in the game. Why, just because people want to get a bounty so they will be true criminals, they are doing stuff, I have seen at eve 10 days old characters start attacking people so they can get a bounty for no reason.
and games like Eve, you dont need a bounty, you tell your corp and allies that “this guy is KOS from now on” and problem solve it self
Teral
Taika Mentions that the amount of plots a player can own is limited, which gives new players a role in the game as they can add their plot to other existing players plots and add more building space.
https://discord.com/channels/1071081786962088018/1087765583006806098/1088001489596858408
Hey Jethronos, thank you for the question! You folks have already listed some very good examples! We also want to create an experience where new players feel welcome and valuable to the existing player base. Maybe one detail I can share here is about the plot system. Every player will have a restricted amount of plots available, so a new player will always be of use to help extend a villages or kingdoms buildable area
Taika
Groke mentions that players can, given enough time, master all crafting professions and skills…potentially, but that won’t give them a huge advantage over other players. They don’t want to put a lot of limits on potential emergent gameplay by having these kind of restrictions
https://discord.com/channels/1071081786962088018/1081749084383236180/1084049301233217557
- “I think it’s perfectly understandable that people have concerns about various things especially because everyone has their own gaming background and ideas about how systems might work but one really important thing is keeping in mind that every time there’s a need to design and implement a system to prevent players from doing something, it usually tells the underlaying system and design is flawed. We aim to maximize emergent gameplay and explicit systems are the biggest enemy for that.
In most cases we don’t explicitly need to prevent anyone doing from things X and Y because of how the whole game and its systems work. Like as an example, maximizing all skills shouldn’t matter or be away from anyone else’s experience because you can benefit from those skills only so much and there are many many other things that affect what you can do in the game and the outcome of it – be it crafting or combat.
As another example, we have no need to figure our specific systems to limit people getting the best gear in the game because there simply is no best gear for everything – no gear works the best in all activities, playstyles and gameplay and especially with value loss and the effort/cost to obtain everything, it’s very unlikely anyone is willing to waste the most valuable things for mundane actions/encounters/creations and probably wants to save them for situations where they’re really needed.”
Groke