New MMPOPRG

[viking]

Have been looking at this for a while as it has been developed. And I tell you I am definatly going to play this one.

If you like History and in paticular Roman and ancient Briton then this is for you.

It is a NON FANTASY MMPOPRG

Here's some info and a link at the bottom.

Welcome to Roma Victor® a non-fantasy MMORPG (Massively-Multi player Online Role-Playing Game) based in the Roman Empire, circa 180AD. Most of Europe is in the clutches of the Roman Empire. Commodus has succeeded his father Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher Emperor, and is exerting tyrannical influence. The Praetorians keep a strict and oppressive rule over the entire Empire, which is defended and (outside Rome) largely policed by the Legions. Many Barbarian outposts and enclaves exist peacefully outside Imperial rule particularly in Britannia, Gaul and Germania. These people however always live in fear of the Legions, which threaten their culture and their very existence. If they stand united, they may just hold them off.



This is a long read, Sorry no DK version.

But it is impresive.

Features

* Player housing

In the game at the moment almost every tester has their very own private home in which they can store their possessions. Players will be able to set their structures as public, private or even set up an entry fee. When going offline or leaving the area, they'll want to assign at least one NPC from their households to handle things in their absence. These merchant NPC's can also sell the contents and buy things from shoppers if the owner so desires - so people can set up shops, workshops, arenas etc.

At the moment we're not letting anyone break into structures and rooms but soon, if there are no NPC's to guard it, break-ins will be possible in the non-policed areas (i.e. beyond the reaches of Roman law). There must be no NPC's guarding the structure before a break-in can be attempted however and so it's prudent for players to assign NPC's to guard their structures when they're not going to be around. Even in the safer areas, the number of guards assigned to someone's private residence is somewhat of a status symbol and is often a good indicator of how 'important' the owner is.

* Real-time twitch combat balanced with character skills

All too often we've seen MMORPG combat consisting of toggling combat status and sitting back to watch the fight, occasionally throwing in the odd special move. That's why we think the combat in Roma Victor is pretty special. Combat is real-time, often very fast-paced and very tense! Sometimes it's almost sedate watching two experienced gladiators slowly circling around each other between frenzied attacks. Players can aim for specific body parts, alter their style of attack and time their moves just as one might in a real life melee. It's very difficult to describe all the nuances of combat in a couple of paragraphs but some testers seem to feel that if opponents' character skills and equipment are matched then it's all about timing and stamina - if you frantically slash and stab while energetically dancing around your opponent you'll probably find that you get so tired that it makes your opponent's life really easy and they can just step in with one or two well-timed and well-placed attacks that'll take you straight down. Wounds and injuries differ according to the clothing and armour worn, the type of weapon and attack, the strength, constitution and skill of the combatants etc. For example, if you hit someone over the head with a spear it's unlikely to break the skin but it'll still hurt. Thrust your spear at them or hit them over the head with a sword however and it's a very different story.
When incapacitated in combat your character doesn't necessarily die straight away. It'll be laying down unconscious for a short while unless someone administers some basic aid or administers a killing blow, which can only be done when your character is incapacitated. Needless to mention that deathblow sends you straight to Elysium and you'll have to negotiate your way back to the 'real' world. You might also bleed to death, which is why extreme caution should be taken when training with sharp weapons!

* Crafting

The crafting in Roma Victor is truly comprehensive and you'll find a huge amount of resources and components can be put together using the hundreds of skills in the game. Almost everything in the game world can be crafted. For example, having picked up a small wooden stick a player can use their knife to carve a notch in it, thereby crafting a simple handle. This handle could be combined with a sharpened blade to make another knife perhaps. The sharpened blade might come from some raw iron ore that has been smelted into a lump of iron in a furnace, cast into a flat strip in a forge, hammered into blade form at the anvil and then sharpened at a grindstone. As another example, flax can be grown, carefully harvested, left in a muddy retting pit to rot, taken out and dried, heckled into tow fibres with a comb, spun into twine at the distaff and then woven into a linen sheet at a loom. Grain can be milled into flour, which can be mixed with saltwater to form a basic dough, which when left out will go sour. Mix the sour dough with some fresh dough and bake it in an oven to make some bread. Of course a crafter's skill has a substantial effect on the quality of the components or products that they craft and this has a direct bearing on the economic viability of crafting as a whole. There is much much more to crafting but it's simply beyond the scope of this document - we just wanted to give some examples of the crafting activities going on in the game right now.

* Construction

Construction is simply a glorified term for crafting big things! Construction involves more resources and components than crafting. Crafting usually requires a few resources and components, a stationary device (such as a forge, anvil, workbench etc.) and at least one tool of some kind. In addition to that Construction usually involves bringing large amounts of resources and components to the construction site. When building anything from a forge or an oven, up through simple buildings like roundhouses and simple stone huts, all the way up to temples, major buildings, bridges etc. you'll need to ensure you have all the necessary skilled labour and a good supply chain to finish the job. This almost inevitably involves other players and NPC's.

* Day & Night

There's a realistic day and night cycle that actually tracks the real celestial locations of the sun and moon according to the exact (in-game) time and day, longitude and latitude - of course adjusted back to the second century calendar! We've accelerated the passage of time of course (it's set to 24 game hours every 8 real-life hours on the test servers on the moment) but night-time is still something to be very wary off unless you're somewhere safe - and you're going to need a torch!

* Open PvP and safe areas

Certain areas are well policed by representatives of Roman law, be they Prefects, Auxiliaries, Legionaries or even Praetorians. In some places it's completely impossible to break the laws; in some places you can attempt it but it's extremely difficult to get away with and in some places you're beyond the reach of the law altogether. This allows for a seamless blend of PvP and non-PvP environments with no real faction restrictions. Obviously Romans have a hard time getting away with crimes committed against fellow Romans - but it is possible in some circumstances. Don't go thinking that anything considered part of the Empire is safe however - even some parts of Italia itself might still be dangerous areas for a lone Roman to visit.

* No levelling treadmill

There are no character levels in Roma Victor. None. Instead there's the huge, diverse skill tree that we've already mentioned. There are no level-based restrictions by design or consequence like you'll find in most MMORPG's. You won't be forced to find people of a similar level in order to play in a group and you won't be restricted to certain types of encounter. Of course this also means that you won't be trying to catch up with friends that have played more than you (and therefore 'levelled' faster), or indeed trying to slow your own development and/or 'level up' your friends so that they can come and hunt with you again. Character development in Roma Victor is much more like real life.

* Realistic character limitations

In Roma Victor, as in real life, your skills and personal statistics decay. This means that without practise your character's ability in a given skill will worsen. If, for example, as a newbie you spent a lot of time developing your archery skills but then moved on to focus on your farming you'd find that your archery decreased over time. You can easily counter this by simply practising with your bow every so often but it makes the prospect of juggling several careers quite daunting. Anyone trying to be a gladiator/cook/farmer/smith/potter/priest/carpenter/whatever-type character will find it near impossible to become highly adept at all of the involved skills.

* No camping

Here we're referring of course to the MMORPG term 'camping' and not sleeping out in the wilderness. There will be plenty of the latter! There are however no fixed regular spawns, no uber loot drops and no reasons to find yourself having to sit at a certain location waiting for hours on end for your group's turn to kill something and loot it. The world is dynamic and varied and NPC's have their own 'lives'. If you run into some bandits on the road between Eboracum and Londinium then that's because those bandits are 'working the road' and they'll be doing so until killed, captured (and usually sold) or chased off. If a group of barbarians should find themselves at a Roman villa, are confident that there isn't sufficient Roman support nearby and raze the villa to the ground, taking what loot they can, then that villa has been razed. Someone (NPC or player) would have to repair the ruin, renovate and reoccupy it before they'd be able to consider raiding it again.

* Fully freeform gameplay

There's plenty to do in Roma Victor but no one's forcing you to do anything. To as great an extent as possible, you are in control of your own destiny. Your choices, career path, activities and actions are all down to you, limited only by your own imagination and the harsh realities of a second century existence. Have a look through the skills list to get some idea of what you may find yourself getting up to:
http://www.roma-victor.com/game/skills.php

* Historic authenticity

In most important areas the maps are based on real world archaeological data (modified to disallow anything later than the second century of course). Both the extended RedBedlam team and Roma Victor's outstandingly well-informed community have invested years of painstaking research into bringing unprecedented levels of detail to the historical authenticity of this world. Buildings follow the correct floor-plans; equipment and clothing is appropriate for the period and region; crafting activities, trading practices, combat styles - every aspect of the world that you can think of are all based upon what is known, expected and believed about life in second century Europe.

* Many communities, one world

We've seen in many virtual worlds that a small community that usually consists of a few hundred people online at any one time is a healthy, strong and exciting community to be a part of. A single community consisting of thousands of players online together often shatters that sense of community and ends up leaving players alienated and out of touch with each other. With Roma Victor's design there is one single world in which all players can co-exist yet the right scale of community is maintained thanks in part to the vast geography involved. Roma Victor's single world will consist of hundreds of communities varying in size but never being totally prevented or excluded from contact with each other. There's nothing to stop players from travelling to a new part of the world and becoming part of a community there - unlike most MMORPG's where switching servers simply isn't possible; and in the rare cases that it is possible it almost inevitably involves a great deal of upheaval.

* Furniture & Decoration

Buildings have been purposefully designed without much in the way of integrated decoration and this allows much more freedom for the players to furnish and decorate their households as they'd like. An ever-growing range of furniture, banners, statues, mosaics etc. lets players ensure that their home is both stylish and unique.

* Clothing & Armour

The broad range of clothing and armour, all of which is both historically authentic and appropriate is expanding all the time. Furs, hides, plant-fibre textiles, metals and alloys can all be crafted into wearable items and this natural diversity yields substantial variation in character appearances.

* Socials & Animations

Whether it be Roman military salutes, laughing, crying, yawning, taunting, cheering, clapping etc. there are around 200 unique character animations to choose from to help maintain the atmosphere and bring your character to life.

* Ranged chat

As with real life, there are different types of communication consisting of saying, shouting, screaming etc. Saying things works very well for those in your immediate surroundings but as people get further away or enter buildings they'll no longer be able to hear things you 'say'. If you want them to hear you, you'll have to 'shout' but not only is the amount of text you can fit into one 'shout' less than the amount you can fit into a single 'say' but also shouting can drain your vigour. Screaming takes a lot of vigour but it can be heard quite a considerable distance away although you'll only be able to scream a single short word.

* First & Third-person perspective

The game is naturally played in first-person perspective placing the player 'within' the body of the player's character but there is a third-person perspective option too for those that prefer it. However there are some simple limitations applied to the third-person perspective (it makes combat much harder and is disabled altogether inside buildings).

* 3D audio

A sophisticated 3D sound engine makes the most of modern 3D sound hardware and really brings Roma Victor's audio to life. The geographically and historically correct species of birds and other fauna supply an ambient chorus of sounds and you're more likely to hear someone creeping up behind you in dry woodland or on wet mud than you are if they're treading on soft grass, for example.

* South Caledonia

At the moment the test is limited to one playfield, which is Southern Caledonia. In fact for quite some time we've restricted the testers to one very small region within Southern Caledonia and we're only just about to take down the invisible walls and let them wander out into the rest of the playfield. The Southern Caledonia playfield actually consists of a pretty substantial area, which includes part of Northern Britannia. As well as containing a selection of minor Roman and Celtic Briton settlements it also features two fully Romanised towns - Luguvalium and Corstopitum - and of course Hadrian's wall itself, which is easily one of the most impressive and formidable landmarks ever constructed in ancient Europe. North of the wall is a very interesting part of the world indeed and the northern-most regions of this playfield are well beyond the reaches of Rome, which is a very good thing from the perspective of the Scots and Picts that dwell there.

* SpeedTreeRT

SpeedTreeRT(TM) has made it possible for us to not only enjoy realistic and visually stunning tree and plant-life but also to maintain the authenticity we strive for in all aspects of the project. You won't see any species of tree that didn't exist in any given region during our particular period but you will see an abundance of what was known to have flourished yielding an excellent mix of fibres, barks and wood types for the players to put to good use in their crafting activities.

* Patch system

Every time testers connect to the world using our patch utility, any required updates are downloaded and seamlessly installed thereby ensuring that all of your client files are the latest available versions.

* Realistic avatar characteristics

Characters in Roma Victor are not all created equal. During character creation, players can decide the balance of six physical attributes, which can be considered similar to summaries of that character's genetic composition. Balancing Muscle, Vision, Agility, Dexterity, Intuition and Stamina will give you a well-balanced character but you can alter the balance to suit your wishes. It's worth bearing in mind however that characters with low Muscle attributes will find it harder, but never impossible, to become very strong. As in real life, you can come across people with a low genetic tendency for muscle development that have nevertheless hefted weights out most of their lives and are therefore very strong. Similarly you can find people that have an extremely good genetic tendency for muscle development that have hardly ever stretched their muscles and are therefore pretty weak by comparison.

* Weight

Every object in Roma Victor has a weight. Weight has the consequences you might expect. Characters can only carry so much weight, pack animals can be overloaded and every time your character lifts or carries something heavy, it'll be stretching its muscles and therefore has a chance of improving its strength.

* Liquids

Liquids such as water and olive oil and liquid containers such as jugs and amphorae are essential aspects of ancient life - particularly where crafting activities are concerned. The liquid support in Roma Victor is more involved than simply providing pretty rivers, lakes, beaches and waterways. Drinking or tending your crops with saltwater is pretty futile, for example.

* Shops

Shops provide goods and services but the goods involved have to come from somewhere and the services supplied require skilled labour. Both player shops and NPC shops will depend upon good supply and management in order to thrive and there's nothing to stop enterprising players building up their own chains of shops - so long as they're sure that they can keep them staffed, supplied and safe.

* Tracking

Tracking is an extremely useful branch of the skill tree greatly aiding the hunting of wildlife and even humans. Players can use their character's tracking skills to hunt enemies, seek encounters and find prey, whether that prey be intended for wearing or eating!

* Combustibles

Almost every object in Roma Victor has a combustibility factor, which means fires can be started pretty well anywhere and can even get out of control if not attended quickly enough. This also means of course that people can gather around campfires and bonfires for warmth and flames can be passed on and just as in real life, you can light a torch from pretty well any substantial flame and then use that torch to light anything dry and combustible enough.

* Dynamic lighting & Shadows

The ancient world had two primary sources of light: fire and the sun. As the sun arcs across the sky on a clear day you'll see its shadow move and even be able to read the sundials. Haven't got a sundial? Stick your spear in the ground and observe its shadow. Torches and fires illuminate their surroundings and cast their own shadows.

* Wounds, Injuries & Treatment

In combat characters can sustain both wounds and injuries. Wounds decrease your character's six Attributes (Muscle, Vision, Agility, Dexterity, Intuition and Stamina), which can have a significant effect on the character's skills and activities. Wounds heal slowly over time although the healing process can be greatly hastened with the right medical treatment. Injuries are more serious and usually more debilitating. Characters with serious injuries will definitely be seeking medical attention.

* Elders & Masters

Elders and Masters are the NPC's that greet you when you first get in to the game. They'll guide you, tell you what you can do and how to do it. They'll also set you your first quests and they'll be keeping notes about how you perform various different types of quests, tasks and errands. If you seem to complete the smithing-related activities more quickly and successfully than other types of activity, for example, then your Elder/Master will begin to realise and gradually direct you to ever-more intricate and challenging activities of that nature.

* Player music

The player music system in Roma Victor is probably the most sophisticated player music system in any contemporary virtual world. A broad range of authentic ancient musical instruments have been painstakingly brought back to life, each with their own unique set of notes. Player musicians can learn songs, play together and entertain the masses in full 3D sound. No musical knowledge is required to join in and the more you play a particular instrument, the better your character's skill with it will become, meaning less mistakes and bigger tips!

* Diet

Without food and water your character will suffer the consequences. Although nowhere near as dire as such consequences can be in real life, those players interested in maintaining efficient character development will definitely want to keep their characters well fed. Different types of foods can have very subtle effects, but the most noticeable effects will come from alcohol, stale food and poisons.

* An ever-growing range of characters, faces and ethnicities

At the time of writing there are around a hundred different character appearances and well over a dozen different ethnicities. A character's body shape will be a direct result of their diet and activities so you can expect to spot the richer merchants from a mile away. Combining the increasing range of character appearances with all the different types of dyed cloth, fur and hide clothing and armours of bronze and iron players will have considerable freedoms in choosing their appearance.

* Weather

Europe wouldn't be Europe if it didn't experience a broad range of weather types and various visual and audio effects such as wind, rain and snow etc. will really help to set the scene. But it's not just for show - cold and wet weather can have a modest but adverse affect on your character, particularly if it's not wearing enough clothing or is underfed. However the patterns in which storms and weather fronts roll around the Roma Victor map are not entirely random and it's even possible to evade the worst weather if you can work out in which direction it's travelling.

* Lore

Some say that the rituals, prayers and sacrifices made by the various religious orders and cults are nothing but fruitless wastes of time. Some say that these forms of worship can yield great benefits and that they may potentially be the most powerful aspect of life in Roma Victor. The truth of the matter will hopefully remain as lively a debate in-game as it is in the real world to this day.

* Elysium

Death for whatever reason is not to be taken lightly. Unless your character has attained the (optional) 'Legend' class it will be instantly whisked away to the mysterious wonders of Elysium where your character will have to navigate its way through fantastic landscapes, puzzles, physical challenges, demons and duels. Those that have led a simple life can expect a relatively painless and trouble-free journey through Elysium and will soon find themselves licking their wounds back in the safety of their hometown. Characters that have led less virtuous lives can expect to have a much tougher time in Elysium and are therefore likely to take longer to return.

* Resources & Trade

The resources in Roma Victor, as with the resources in real life, mostly come out of the ground. They are either brought out by NPC's or by player characters and everything from straw up to gold will play its role. Players and NPC's alike will interact in diverse networks of trade and commerce.

* Guilds

The term 'guilds' can be applied to all of the player associations in Roma Victor ranging from small exclusive cults, through whole barbarian tribes and right up to the awesome 6000-strong Legions of Rome itself. Guilds in Roma Victor are not exclusively made up of players - the numbers can be augmented by NPC members, which can be hired and assigned to various roles and tasks by the higher ranking guild members, perhaps protecting the guild's property, carrying out assignments or simply acting as a merchant on behalf of the guild. The guild management interface also provides tools for communicating with and managing guildmembers, assigning individual sponsors to look after new members, adjusting contributions and fees and much more. For more information about guilds please visit: http://www.roma-victor.com/game/guilds.php

* Households

Every player has their own Household - it's a bit like a 'personal' guild. Household is the collective term applied to all the buildings and NPC's owned, employed and/or run by the player. There can be many buildings and NPC's within a household and using the built-in household management interface a player can set entry fees on their property, assign NPC's to act as merchants or guards, summon NPC's as an escort, hire and dismiss staff etc.


* Game mail

The game mail system in Roma Victor gives players the freedom to communicate using 21st century technology while maintaining the illusion and atmosphere of 2nd century communications. Players can read, compose, reply, forward etc. but the transport and delivery of the mail itself factors in the ancient time and distance restrictions and requires interaction with the appropriate kind of NPC's (representatives of the cursus publicus, tabellarii, etc.).

* Quests

The quest system in Roma Victor is dynamic and personalised. Quests are intricately linked with the NPC's and players that set them and can themselves often lead to further and more challenging quests. NPC's set quests according to a number of criteria including the levels of resources and goods in the area, any hostilities, emergencies etc.

* Reputations

In its simplest form the reputation system allows players to 'rate' other players as to their helpfulness, aggressiveness, generosity etc. This combines with a ratings system used by networks of NPC's to gauge a player character's abilities and social standing. Players can therefore have some idea of how (in)famous, (un)popular and/or accomplished another player character may be.

* Friends and Foes

Players can also define their overall opinion of another player as a friend, a foe or ambivalent. Such systems of 'social moderation' are already used to great effect elsewhere on the 'Net and have demonstrated their ability to both help form social networks and identify trouble-makers.

* Badges

Badges are simply invisible tags assigned to players as they achieve various different goals. Using these badges along with the Reputations and Friends/Foes system as a guide, NPC's can accurately assess your character's social standing and achievements and interact accordingly. If suitably impressed they may even relate tales of your achievements to passers-by in your absence.

* Encounters

Using Reputations, Friends and Foes, Badges etc. NPC's can get a pretty good idea of who you are and what your character is about. So long as they have no reason to dislike you, your interaction with most NPC's should be fairly pleasant. They'll converse with you and may even trade depending on whether they actually have any money, goods or services to trade. Alternatively they may be more inclined to come running at you with axe swinging. Throughout your travels in Roma Victor - particularly off the beaten track - you are likely to encounter NPC's that have an irrational desire for your belongings. Alternatively you may simply come across a bear or a pack of wolves, equally keen to attack yet less interested in your goods. In either scenario fight or flight becomes a decision that should be taken pretty quickly.

* Britannia

Using authentic terrain topology, the hills, rivers, flora and valleys of the 2nd Century British landscape are being brought back to life. From the wild untamed north, past the mighty fortifications of Hadrian's wall and all the way to the south coast, including many towns and settlements such as Luguvalium, Corstopitum, Eboracum, Londinum, Aquae Sulis, Neomagus etc. you'll find a deeply fascinating and truly exciting world to explore.

* Battles & Raids

In the more hazardous parts of the world, there are likely to be regular battles and raids in which players can take up the central roles. Acting as General, Commander, Soldier or Skirmisher players can work together and against each other in epic battles and skirmishes involving both players and NPC's. For more information see: http://www.roma-victor.com/game/cnc.php

* News networks

NPC's will faithfully recount stories from their travels and encounters, both based on the in-game story arc and the activities of the players themselves. Additionally a network of storyteller NPC's will provide an immersive interface to a modern message-board style network of news services whereby players can keep up to date on the activities of their friends and enemies, not to mention contributing their own perspective.

* Law & Politics

Already players are taking up key roles such as Lords, Ladies and Magistrates. These powerful positions are elected by local communities within the game world although the elections certainly wouldn't meet modern democratic standards. Corruption, violence and other power struggles all help to ensure that all of the dynamics of 2nd Century politics are well represented!

* Interactive story arc

Our story begins with the death of the philosopher Emperor Marcus Aurelius. One of the first acts of his son Commodus upon assuming sole leadership of the Empire was to send the stern and infamously heavy-handed Lucius Ulpius Marcellus to put down the rebellions in Britannia and oppose any further incursions across Hadrian's wall. Will the barbarians be able to withstand the attentions of this cruel Roman or will he be able to swiftly and successfully assert his authority and therefore confirm that he is the most likely candidate to become Governor of Britannia?


Post-Launch features:
* Permanent death for Legend-class characters
* Careers & Missions
* Animal taming & breeding
* Mounts
* Gaul
* Germania
* Hispania
* Italia

Possible expansion features:
* Geographical expansion into SE Europe, Africa & the Middle-East
* Ships, shipwrights and sailing.


http://www.roma-victor.com/

[Sereth]

Originally Posted by Viking

This is a long read, Sorry no DK version.

DK Version

It's a mmorpg game...It's kick ass...You'll like it...PLAY IT!

[Anisha]

moved to MMORPG forum

[Zhul]

Sounds cool!

[JuJutsu]

Sounds detailed and historically accurate; I'm withholding judgement on the 'fun factor'.

[viking]

They had a crucifixation recently.

Ist offence Bloody teaches pet

[Thalia]

Yeah looks great from your writeup, I'll hop on off to the site, for some more info.

[viking]

Cut and paste actually

[Thalia]

Im abit worried about this games charging system.
They say instead of the $pm system which is unfair to people that dont play much, they are having a kind of pay per use system.

From reading it, I get the feeling im going to be required to pump in c/card details more often that id like to.

I'll keep an eye on its progress, its coming out soon, But id like some more info on what you get for your payment, and how long that cash lasts, before id sign up for this. since i usually end up playing alot, id probably be better skipping this one, and sticking to the usual x$ per month systems.

[Jello63]

This sounds huge. Might have to join you in this one Viking.

P.S. Call my char Brian?