[DEVLOG] July 11, 2010

[zunath]

Okay, time for a much needed devlog.


As most of you know, the ability system just had a huge revamp. And although we're still working out the kinks things seem to be moving smoothly so far.

On that note, I wanted to talk a little about the manufacturing system changes I have in mind.

Manufacturing Changes

Keep in mind this is all a work in progress. Things aren't set in stone yet.

• Blueprint difficulty will be on a ten-point scale. Currently it's on a twenty-point scale and I feel that range is too large. In essence, this means you have a chance to create any item within 20 levels of your current skill level. I realize that this is, in a way, a nerf to the way things are handled currently. But on the same token, this just further emphasizes the usefulness of better skill levels.
  
• Experience will scale based on the difficulty of the blueprint. Right now, experience gain is static. If you have level 60 metalworking skill and make a level 1 blueprint, you get that blueprint's full experience reward. With the changes, this will make it so that you're rewarded for creating items within your skill range. Obviously the more difficult the item, the better the experience.
  
• Experience requirements will be lowered. Currently they require twice as much experience as other skills to level up. With these changes, the amount can be lowered and players will notice a gradual incline rather than a huge spike between skill levels.
  
• Blueprint levels will be displayed on blueprint descriptions. You can use this info to judge whether or not you're able to make the item based on your current skill level.
  

Next I want to run over some more changes we're working on for the class system. And just a reminder - these things are still up in the air.

Class System Changes

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I know we JUST released the class system, but we're already thinking about ways to improve it

Here's what we're planning so far:

• Main classes won't be changing. They continue to provide all of that class's abilities and the unique 1-hour ability.
  
• Subclasses will be removed entirely. Instead, they'll be replaced with something similar to the old ability selection system.
  
• Instead of subclasses, you will be able to choose up to six abilities from ANY of the other classes you have leveled. You cannot, however, choose any of the 1-hour abilities.
  
• You may only select abilities you have actually earned. I.E: You can't choose a level 18 medic ability if your medic level is 5.
  

The goal of these changes is to introduce more freedom to the current system.

Players will excel in a single role extremely well (their main class) but they can also choose their style of play via ability selection. This also allows us to easily introduce more class types down the road and they will be equally as useful.

We're still working out the current abilities so don't expect this change any time soon. It's on the back burner for now until we get the kinks out.



And that concludes today's devlog Catch you all in game!