Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2017 14:35:53 GMT -5
Evolution of Esos has been down, for a wide variety of reasons, from real life struggles, work, countries in revolution, while we try to take the time to put out a product that we are not only immensely proud of but something that continues to push immersive storytelling for our players and the mudding community at large. Some of our goals have, unfortunately, fallen short of our aspirations, there are simply not enough hours in the day for the code and building needs to meet up in a timely fashion with our plans. So we've decided that rather than continue in our "down" state with limited production and interest, we retool with what we have available and get Esos back live and on track. So with that preamble, I will disclose to you Esos' next evolution.
Evolution of Esos: Outcast
The Premise:
With the advent of sandbox role-playing games like Skyrim, GTA, Red Dead, linear storytelling is no longer the driving force between telling a good tale. But, muds on the other hand, oftentimes have a large, story arc that the low level character might interact with, touch on, and be part of the world story, which they will likely literally, never, ever be able to impact. There are glass ceilings everywhere, players by design have more power because they can control npcs, have jail code on their side, start with more money because they are supposed to because of family? All of these things don't allow for the achievement model that drives some players and forces others to produce entirely in social roles just to get by. So by and large, it's impossible to push immersive storytelling at the micro level. So Outcast will work toward producing RPI caliber storytelling and gaming, at a micro level.
How do we propose to do that? The entire game geography, from Shae to Tow to Kaiden, Goblin Tree, the entire map will be open, available and ready for people to explode, conquer and manipulate. The catch is that there will NOT be a major civilization available to play in, trade in, hide your coins in, be jailed by "nobles" or killed by soldiers. As an outcast, you're on your own. Bear with me, it will make sense.
What Does this Mean?
The world is open. The mud is going to be entirely player versus player and player versus environment. The cities are closed and unavailable for play. This will motivate and require players to find somewhere safe to make home in the expansive gameworld environment, your job will be to protect it, exploit your surroundings, keep it from others who might want your things. Going into Outcast, we will allow people to start out in no more than pairs, no instant clans will be allowed. You can have a partner to help you get things moving, but solo or in a pair, it WILL be difficult. Think in terms of Minecraft, life you've been tossed into an environment, and you have to figure out how to not get killed by your surroundings. Now these homesteaders, we will give some reasonable starting materials so you're not instantly screwed the moment you go into the gameworld. But they will be minimal and entirely within reason. Additionally, there will be no starting currency, no coins, no banks, if you have products or materials to work or sell, you have to protect them youself, you have to haul them yourself and you have to figure out how to store them yourself. The roads will be dangerous to travel on, but the quicker means to do so. The potential for raiders, bodyguards, miners, traders, means that the "broken" economy will be a thing. You will have to find someone who has skills or resources you don't, trade with them, exploit them, and maybe regret killing them if you have done so. All races will be available in Outcast, which means language barriers, communication issues, no central location for a tavern. The world is wild, and feral. The figure on the horizon might be about to rob you, kill you or beg you for water. Maybe you have a functional farm with food you could trade, but you don't know who or where would want them? The potential to grow your own commercial empire, from the ground floor, is there. Or you can be a homicidal nomad who simply pillages and takes what he wants.
Context
I am personally a huge fan of westerns, the genre where the world is still young and expansive, where the environments mean something and around the corner could be danger. Where unlikely allies come together to do something greater than themselves. So the genre is very much western in mindset. But, in order to personalize the stories, we'll also be incorporating a horror element to the mud. The individual stories will be heavily rooted in horror tales, myths and legends. And obviously, the setting remains fantasy. There is magic, there are other races, there are mystical elements which can be utilized on a person to person level. I am motivated by the micro-RPI concept where instead of a game of thrones mindset of VNPCs and npcs who are well over the pc's level, trying to screw each other politically, we will remove the political element. It's just too easy to turn a mud into a situation where all they want to do is play chess with the playerbase because it amuses the staff and fits their ongoing story arc. Outside of the PvP and PvE, the story will be the ghost stories of living on a haunted plot of land, the zombies that have escaped from Kaiden, OOPS, and whatever spirituality your character is bringing to the gameworld. We will not run some super tree that might kill you, dragons who destroy cities or overbearing city destroying events that you couldn't stop and would only die to, to much fanfare. This in theory will allow us to cater mini, micro RPTS for you on an individual, pair or small group basis without having to be reliant on needing the world around just to tell a story.
Why is it called Outcast?
In order to take this storyline to the next level, we have to commit to actually blocking off years of building and storyline, which I genuinely believe, is going to be for the greater good. We're trying to do something different, and this will most certainly accomplish that. The new characters, broken from society, are outcast from their respective civilizations and societies. Some races will view you as a heretic, others as a plague carrier, and others still like you're cursed. Because of the feral, lawless, and broken nature of the wilds, all cities have closed their gates entirely and shunned outside contact. Some, like Shae and Tow, are able to survive because of their internal resources, whereas Kaiden is suffering greatly and is on the brink of collapse. Nobody in. Nobody out. Zero exceptions. You are an outcast, alone in the wild, dangerous world.
What Do You Get:
When you make a concept or role for EoE: Outcast, you are going to go into the dangerous gameworld, dropped random based on the environment you want to start in, with rudimentary gear for said environment, with just enough to not instantly die. You'll be supported as you try to construct basic shelter, and supported still when you make it something bigger or sturdier. Find a cave, maybe it's occupied, maybe it's full of ore to exploit and trade. But you'll be given every chance to make your story, where we offer help following that direction, while you simply live a character's life. Long or short. Just you and maybe a partner, trying to struggle to survive. Maybe a possee of your neighbors will show up to serve badlands justice.
What Won't You Get:
There will be no nobles. No stat boosts. No piles of coins. No super npcs. No godcreatures you will never see. No crimcode. No banks. No skillups. No perks. The army won't come after you.
How Do You Get Involved:
We're not going to put the mud open for generic applications. Everything in growing the playerbase will be word of mouth. No random newbies, no random characters. Anyone wanting to participate in the Outcast gameworld will need to email the following to esos@eoemud.com
1. Character's First and Last Name
2. Sdesc:
3. Mdesc:
4. Generic Racial Background to explain why you were before your civilization threw you out into the wilds.
5. Your character's former career.
6. One "legacy" item from your former life.
7. The first and last name of your partner coming in (who will also submit the same information).
8. What "environment" do you want to start in. Hills, arctic, jungle, swamp, forest, fields?
9. Your preferred "immersive" storytelling method. Hauntings, supernatural events, physcial danger and surroundings?
10. What is your favorite type of roleplay scene that we, the staff can build off of?
Lastly
This might fail on an epic level with one or two lonely bastards stuck in a gigantic gameworld looking for people to kill or trade with. But I will promise that the only way this turns into social Saturday night in the mud taverns is if someone gets a small army of characters behind them, builds enough buildings for a roadhouse tavern or village and somehow manages to not murder the players nearby who might show up to hang out there. This is not that kind of mud. This is the kind of mud where it's kill or be killed, prudently. Because what if you murder the only guy who knows how to forge iron? Players can still learn all non-magick skills, but outside your "talent tree" they are harder to pick up. So you can be a ranger, who knows some craft skills, but you'll never be as good doing that as the merchant who has some hunting talent. And vice versa.
We'll take applications to email, forever, but the goal is to unveil Outcast for players as soon as this Monday. So take your time, think of what you'd do in this kind of world and be ready to run with it.
Evolution of Esos: Outcast
The Premise:
With the advent of sandbox role-playing games like Skyrim, GTA, Red Dead, linear storytelling is no longer the driving force between telling a good tale. But, muds on the other hand, oftentimes have a large, story arc that the low level character might interact with, touch on, and be part of the world story, which they will likely literally, never, ever be able to impact. There are glass ceilings everywhere, players by design have more power because they can control npcs, have jail code on their side, start with more money because they are supposed to because of family? All of these things don't allow for the achievement model that drives some players and forces others to produce entirely in social roles just to get by. So by and large, it's impossible to push immersive storytelling at the micro level. So Outcast will work toward producing RPI caliber storytelling and gaming, at a micro level.
How do we propose to do that? The entire game geography, from Shae to Tow to Kaiden, Goblin Tree, the entire map will be open, available and ready for people to explode, conquer and manipulate. The catch is that there will NOT be a major civilization available to play in, trade in, hide your coins in, be jailed by "nobles" or killed by soldiers. As an outcast, you're on your own. Bear with me, it will make sense.
What Does this Mean?
The world is open. The mud is going to be entirely player versus player and player versus environment. The cities are closed and unavailable for play. This will motivate and require players to find somewhere safe to make home in the expansive gameworld environment, your job will be to protect it, exploit your surroundings, keep it from others who might want your things. Going into Outcast, we will allow people to start out in no more than pairs, no instant clans will be allowed. You can have a partner to help you get things moving, but solo or in a pair, it WILL be difficult. Think in terms of Minecraft, life you've been tossed into an environment, and you have to figure out how to not get killed by your surroundings. Now these homesteaders, we will give some reasonable starting materials so you're not instantly screwed the moment you go into the gameworld. But they will be minimal and entirely within reason. Additionally, there will be no starting currency, no coins, no banks, if you have products or materials to work or sell, you have to protect them youself, you have to haul them yourself and you have to figure out how to store them yourself. The roads will be dangerous to travel on, but the quicker means to do so. The potential for raiders, bodyguards, miners, traders, means that the "broken" economy will be a thing. You will have to find someone who has skills or resources you don't, trade with them, exploit them, and maybe regret killing them if you have done so. All races will be available in Outcast, which means language barriers, communication issues, no central location for a tavern. The world is wild, and feral. The figure on the horizon might be about to rob you, kill you or beg you for water. Maybe you have a functional farm with food you could trade, but you don't know who or where would want them? The potential to grow your own commercial empire, from the ground floor, is there. Or you can be a homicidal nomad who simply pillages and takes what he wants.
Context
I am personally a huge fan of westerns, the genre where the world is still young and expansive, where the environments mean something and around the corner could be danger. Where unlikely allies come together to do something greater than themselves. So the genre is very much western in mindset. But, in order to personalize the stories, we'll also be incorporating a horror element to the mud. The individual stories will be heavily rooted in horror tales, myths and legends. And obviously, the setting remains fantasy. There is magic, there are other races, there are mystical elements which can be utilized on a person to person level. I am motivated by the micro-RPI concept where instead of a game of thrones mindset of VNPCs and npcs who are well over the pc's level, trying to screw each other politically, we will remove the political element. It's just too easy to turn a mud into a situation where all they want to do is play chess with the playerbase because it amuses the staff and fits their ongoing story arc. Outside of the PvP and PvE, the story will be the ghost stories of living on a haunted plot of land, the zombies that have escaped from Kaiden, OOPS, and whatever spirituality your character is bringing to the gameworld. We will not run some super tree that might kill you, dragons who destroy cities or overbearing city destroying events that you couldn't stop and would only die to, to much fanfare. This in theory will allow us to cater mini, micro RPTS for you on an individual, pair or small group basis without having to be reliant on needing the world around just to tell a story.
Why is it called Outcast?
In order to take this storyline to the next level, we have to commit to actually blocking off years of building and storyline, which I genuinely believe, is going to be for the greater good. We're trying to do something different, and this will most certainly accomplish that. The new characters, broken from society, are outcast from their respective civilizations and societies. Some races will view you as a heretic, others as a plague carrier, and others still like you're cursed. Because of the feral, lawless, and broken nature of the wilds, all cities have closed their gates entirely and shunned outside contact. Some, like Shae and Tow, are able to survive because of their internal resources, whereas Kaiden is suffering greatly and is on the brink of collapse. Nobody in. Nobody out. Zero exceptions. You are an outcast, alone in the wild, dangerous world.
What Do You Get:
When you make a concept or role for EoE: Outcast, you are going to go into the dangerous gameworld, dropped random based on the environment you want to start in, with rudimentary gear for said environment, with just enough to not instantly die. You'll be supported as you try to construct basic shelter, and supported still when you make it something bigger or sturdier. Find a cave, maybe it's occupied, maybe it's full of ore to exploit and trade. But you'll be given every chance to make your story, where we offer help following that direction, while you simply live a character's life. Long or short. Just you and maybe a partner, trying to struggle to survive. Maybe a possee of your neighbors will show up to serve badlands justice.
What Won't You Get:
There will be no nobles. No stat boosts. No piles of coins. No super npcs. No godcreatures you will never see. No crimcode. No banks. No skillups. No perks. The army won't come after you.
How Do You Get Involved:
We're not going to put the mud open for generic applications. Everything in growing the playerbase will be word of mouth. No random newbies, no random characters. Anyone wanting to participate in the Outcast gameworld will need to email the following to esos@eoemud.com
1. Character's First and Last Name
2. Sdesc:
3. Mdesc:
4. Generic Racial Background to explain why you were before your civilization threw you out into the wilds.
5. Your character's former career.
6. One "legacy" item from your former life.
7. The first and last name of your partner coming in (who will also submit the same information).
8. What "environment" do you want to start in. Hills, arctic, jungle, swamp, forest, fields?
9. Your preferred "immersive" storytelling method. Hauntings, supernatural events, physcial danger and surroundings?
10. What is your favorite type of roleplay scene that we, the staff can build off of?
Lastly
This might fail on an epic level with one or two lonely bastards stuck in a gigantic gameworld looking for people to kill or trade with. But I will promise that the only way this turns into social Saturday night in the mud taverns is if someone gets a small army of characters behind them, builds enough buildings for a roadhouse tavern or village and somehow manages to not murder the players nearby who might show up to hang out there. This is not that kind of mud. This is the kind of mud where it's kill or be killed, prudently. Because what if you murder the only guy who knows how to forge iron? Players can still learn all non-magick skills, but outside your "talent tree" they are harder to pick up. So you can be a ranger, who knows some craft skills, but you'll never be as good doing that as the merchant who has some hunting talent. And vice versa.
We'll take applications to email, forever, but the goal is to unveil Outcast for players as soon as this Monday. So take your time, think of what you'd do in this kind of world and be ready to run with it.