It is with tremendous pleasure that I announce "DR3"’s impending release next weekend on January 19th at approximately 8:00am PST. "DR3" is the project name that describes a huge number of changes to the game and its mechanics.
In order to facilitate discussion, I've got some As for some of the more common Qs:
Q: What is "DR3"?
A: "DR3" is a huge change to most of the underlying mechanics of the game. For the full information, I recommend checking out the Elanthipedia page (http://elanthipedia.org/w/index.php/DragonRealms_3.0 ). This post will be a good starting point for anyone first learning about the changes, but Epedia has all the details. The major changes are outlined below, and more specific Q&A follows the overview.
Q: The game was fine the way it was! Why did you change it?
A: DragonRealms was originally designed for circles 1-20, with 100 ranks being a huge deal. Today’s game is the result of years of patching the original design. While these patches kept the game running, the years of piecemeal tweaks created an unbalanced game, both in terms of content (i.e. not enough high level hunting) and mechanics (i.e. skills that do almost nothing, 1-shot deaths, varying spell damage between guilds for no good reason). Little has been done to renovate the game to take advantage of modern gaming culture, design principles, or coding standards.
"DR3" is a massive effort to bring DR into balance and allow it to scale from 1 to 1500+ ranks in a way that keeps the game fun. If we want to continue releasing interesting systems and fun content, we need to be able to build those things on a solid foundation, in a game designed for current players. The only way to do that was to make some changes.
Q: I want to try it now! Can I?
A: Sure! The Test instance is available to all players right now. If you log in, your character will be copied over from Prime, and you'll be able to see the changes. Be aware that we're still tweaking some things to work just right, so things might be different than you expect. The CHATTER system is turned on in Test, and there are often people there that can answer your questions. However, if your questions are easily answered by reading the information already provided, you'll probably get directed to http://elanthipedia.org/w/index.php/DragonRealms_3.0.
Skills
- Many skills are being combined and a few new ones added (including three new crafting skills). See http://elanthipedia.org/w/index.php/Skills_3.0 for more info.
- Circle requirements have changed for all guilds. You will have all of your skills grandfathered to be at-circle. No backtraining!
- Because so many things are changing, almost everyone will gain or lose a varying amount of TDPs. You will, however, be getting back any TDPs you have previously spent on anything other than stats.
Combat
- Combat has been totally revamped. See http://elanthipedia.org/w/index.php/Combat_3.0 for more details.
- Mandatory "combo chains" have been removed! Instead, every maneuver has benefits and penalties, including roundtime, defensive effects, balance changes, etc. ATTACK still acts as a generic all-purpose maneuver.
- Combat is being slowed down slightly. The end result is that killing things may take more time and roundtimes might be a little longer, but in return, creatures won't be hitting you as hard and they'll be doing less damage, so it will take longer to get killed.
- All To-Hit calcs have been revised. Every attack has at least a minuscule chance to hit or miss, regardless of the skills, stats, or circles of the combatants.
- To-Hit and Damage are now separate. No more open rolls or insta-deaths at high levels.
- Wound Damage is reduced at high Vitality.
- Weapon experience is now based on the difficulty of the creature you're fighting more than damage dealt. Therefore, even missing a challenging target will grant some experience.
- Weapon, Targeted Magic, and Defense experience have been brought into line with each other. No more needing different critters for different skills at the same level.
Magic
- Magic has been totally rewritten. See http://elanthipedia.org/w/index.php/Magic_3.0 for more info.
- All spells have been rewritten. Some have changed function, and many have changed difficulty. It is HIGHLY recommended that you read your guild spell list for more information.
- Magic experience is more highly associated with casting difficulty. Higher-mana casts are now much more important for training.
- DISCERN, a new verb, allows you to learn more about spells you know. Depending on your Arcana skill, you will see how the spell works (similar to ASKing your guild leader about it) as well as how much mana you can put into the spell.
- Spells that previously relied on Primary Magic now rely on one of four new skills - Augmentation, Debilitation, Utility, or Warding.
- The new Sorcery skill now controls casting spells from outside your mana type as well as guild sorceries (like Sever Thread). It’s learnable by casting these spells, listening to classes on other mana types, and (at low levels) focusing on runestones for spells that utilize different mana types than your own.
- Your Harness pool now regenerates faster when it’s less full, and slower when it’s more full. This is a HUGE change, and means that if you wait for your Attunement to be full every time you cast a spell, you’ll have a bad time.
- New spell types have been added - Cyclic (held-mana spells and enchantes), Ritual (requiring a device and very long prep times), and Metaspells (spells that affect other spells).
- Spell slot counts have changed for all guilds, and some spells now cost multiple spell slots.
- Magic Feats have been added, which allow you to spend spell slots on passive bonuses to your casting.
- You can now RELEASE any beneficial spell you've cast on yourself, and spells can now be Dispelled.
- Prerequisites no longer determine the magnitude of a spell’s effect, but instead determine its complexity. For instance, an introductory Targeted Magic spell and an advanced Targeted Magic spell have roughly the same damage potential, but the advanced Targeted Magic spell might also have an associated debuff or utility feature.
Guilds
- Barbarians have undergone a major rewrite, including new ability sets and mechanics. See http://elanthipedia.org/w/index.php/Barbarian_3.0 for more details.
- Bards have had their enchantes rewritten to fit into the new spell models (Cyclic and otherwise). They will see development continue through and beyond the 3.0 release as more Bard-related systems are fleshed out. See http://elanthipedia.org/w/index.php/Bard_3.0 for more details.
- Clerics have received a major facelift including a new skill and many changes to communes, spells, and rituals. See http://elanthipedia.org/w/index.php/Cleric_3.0 for more details.
- Empaths have had major developments related to Shock as well as several other changes. See http://elanthipedia.org/w/index.php/Empath_3.0 for more details.
- Moon Mages will see tweaks to the Prediction System, Prediction Tools, and Teleologic Sorcery. Additionally, several of their spells have been updated or changed. See http://elanthipedia.org/w/index.php/Moon_Mage_3.0 for more details.
- Necromancers will not be seeing major changes, being as how they’re a relatively new guild. Still, some spells will change, as will some aspects of the Outrage system. See http://elanthipedia.org/w/index.php/Necromancer_3.0 for more details.
- Paladins have had their spells updated and will eventually gain Endurance as a guild-specific spell, though this will not be fleshed out at release. See http://elanthipedia.org/w/index.php/Paladin_3.0 for more details.
- Rangers will see changes primarily to their spells. See http://elanthipedia.org/w/index.php/Ranger_3.0 for more details.
- Thieves will currently see no major changes to guild abilities, having received a rewrite in recent years. See http://elanthipedia.org/w/index.php/Thief_3.0 for more details. This does not mean new features, systems, or updates are not planned for the future.
- Traders are slated for more changes post-3.0. In the initial release, they will see minor changes to Speculate Coin and updated circling reqs. See http://elanthipedia.org/w/index.php/Trader_3.0 for more details.
- Warrior Mages have a new Guild-only skill and a new system known as Elemental Charge for powering some of their abilities. See http://elanthipedia.org/w/index.php/Warrior_Mage_3.0 for more details.
- Many other areas of the game have seen some small amounts of development - Read about all of the changes at http://elanthipedia.org/w/index.php/DragonRealms_3.0
*More Q&A!*
Q: Will there be downtime?
A: Yes, the game will go down for backing up, maintenance, and rollout around 8am PST. This will be kept as short as possible, but the game will be down for at least a couple of hours.
Q: Will I have to change what I'm hunting?
A: Maybe. Previous changes to combat dropped people down the hunting ladder, but we tried to avoid that here. However, since the underlying mechanics of combat have changed so much, you may find yourself being over- (or under-) whelmed by your current "foe of choice." Because combat will take longer, you should notice if things are going poorly for you well before you get killed. Additionally, since skill gain will now be more more based on challenge, you may find that critters which taught you while hitting you don’t teach as well.
Q: I got an AFK scripting warning recently. How will that affect me?
A: Due to the magnitude of these changes, warnings will not prevent you from being grandfathered. All characters will receive the full montage of upgrades and increases, regardless of their sordid past.
Q: I could be circle 150 right now, but I'm not circling for RP reasons. Will my skills get grandfathered as if I was 150th circle?
A: Unfortunately, no. The system can only know what level you ARE, not what level you should be. This was one of the reasons that the circle range above 150th circle was opened up - to allow people to be grandfathered appropriately. We strongly advise everyone to circle as high as they are able before 3.0 in order to get all of their skills grandfathered appropriately.
Q: My guild didn't get anything from this release! This sucks!
A: I wish we had enough volunteers on staff to give all guilds the attention they deserve. It's absolutely true that in the years that this has been in development, some guilds didn't get focused on as much as others. In a perfect world, all guilds would have seen as much development as Clerics or Barbarians. However, rest assured that once the dust settles from this release, the guilds that have seen limited development in the last few years will be attended to.
Q: Will I have to re-quest for my quest spells?
A: Not for most of them. Aside from a few, most quest-requiring spells remain in your known spells.
Q: Will there be a spell wipe?
A: Yes, by necessity. Since so much has changed with magic, we wouldn't force you to abide by your old choices.
Q: Will there be a Global Magic Preview?
A: Yes. For several weeks (or more) after the release of "DR3", all spells will be on preview. You'll be able to cast all spells available to your Guild without having to choose them from your Guildleader. In fact, you won't be ABLE to choose spells from your Guildleader.
Q: What happens to Magical Devices?
A: Some Magical Devices will survive the transition. Others will not. Some scrolls that contained one spell will now contain a different one, and others will simply (by necessity) crumble away. Additionally, several older magic items will be nonfunctional for a while after we release.
Q: My favorite spell changed/is gone! This sucks!
A: The unfortunate truth is that there's not a lot that can be done. Several guilds had major changes to their spell structures. While most spells have been rewritten (nearly 300 of them), there are some still waiting in the wings and new possibilities abound with the new mechanics.
Q: Are Khris getting converted to the Supernatural skillset?
A: Not for "DR3". It's an eventual goal, but Khri work really well as they are now, so there's not a high need to convert them to Supernatural before we release to "DR3".
Q: Will there be bugs?
A: Absolutely. It would be foolish to even suggest that such a major rewrite would be bug-free. When the release happens, I'll post a guide to help you decide what needs to be BUGged vs what you should assist about. The reason we're happy with the release happening, though, is that we're pretty happy with the current level of playability the game is at.
Q: Will we get a Stat Respec?
A: Yes. When you're converted, you'll be able to restore your stats to your racial minimums and receive a refund for all TDPs spent. When you do that, re-training your stats will not cost you any money.
Q: What happened to the Endurance and Expertise skills?
A: Those skills exist (EXP ENDURANCE will show 0 ranks) but they aren't currently developed. When sufficiently robust systems are designed for them, they'll have their day in the sun (and will be grandfathered accordingly).
Q: I want to discuss these changes! Where should I do that?
A: Use the "DR3" forum: http://forums.play.net/forums/DragonRealms/DragonRealms%203.0/view . There is a lot of useful information there already (tons of answered questions, discussions, etc), and the "DR3" GMs are monitoring it. However, please follow these rules:
- Be civil and be constructive. No guild vs guild, attacking other people, flaming, nastiness, unbridled negativity, etc. You'll find that is eerily similar to the normal Forum Policies and Posting Guidelines.
- No "Chicken Little" posts. Crying out that the sky is falling will not solve anything. Ask your questions and post your concerns in a constructive manner and somebody who knows the answer will have it for you.
- Again, remember to please be constructive.
Thanks to everyone involved with all the testing efforts and especially to the Platinum Community. We're thrilled to be able to finally announce, over three years since the inception of this project, that it's coming to a conclusion. We're really pleased with the end result.
Please join the discussion in the 3.0 forums - We'll see you there.
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"The ninety and nine are with dreams, content but the hope of the world made new, is the hundredth man who is grimly bent on making those dreams come true." -E.A.P.
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"The ninety and nine are with dreams, content but the hope of the world made new, is the hundredth man who is grimly bent on making those dreams come true." -E.A.P.
