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epitheta · 2 years

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hi! I napped a little too hard!! let me cover the bases for the mmo tag and never speak of it again unless prompted, probably. the read is (2k).

PREFACE //

...OK. let’s bear in mind that I have not played a MMO properly in so long I miss them, but I did absorb enough of them to lay some groundwork. I’m always up for clarifying/revising these things at a later time if something’s weird/too idealistic (but it’s an AU who cares who cares) or bouncing off some thoughts. [-:

BASICS //

First and foremost: this is a card game at its core — just with a more expansive world because this is an AU and we are having fun with it. Indulge me and pretend that the ACT II game was successful enough that it had earned a passionate community, one large enough that it gave way to a relatively active online game with passionate developers and moderators for this funky fictional world.

Minor variations may be introduced when it comes to the Scrybes and their respective domains. They do not have entire campaigns for you to play, but they might be subtly revealed in their maps and/or events and the like. As a minigame, you’ll usually find these are lackluster/optional in the start of the game’s release since the focus was... well, not there.

(But it’s why the player can have a weapon! For fun.)

You still follow what is done in the base game. Defeat everyone’s subordinates, their Scrybes, and battle the one you want to “replace.” This does not actually replace them, but you do earn some sort of merit for it, whether it be in visuals, title, name-card, and so forth.

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SETTING //

Open world. Why? For fun. Think W 101, but with cards and only the standard UI for playing — no Magnificus models to appear before your eyes since that would be troublesome. Your challenger and the rest of the environment best resembles how you saw those in ACT I and ACT III, albeit interaction is limited.

It’s a very optimized game that can run even on the worst of computers (though that usually means low-poly no texture type of beats).

The game does not necessarily have servers, but it does have instances (one opens up once one is filled with the maximum amount of players allowed). Allows for playing with those overseas. Most chats are region-locked, though.

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CHALLENGER // Character creation aspect.

You start with the game’s intro, the details omitted. From there, you can customize the appearance of your challenger with the usual presets alongside custom slider scales. The options are limited. Appearance can be altered later on through Grimora’s mirror or random apparels.

After, you select the deck you wish to start with. This is accompanied by needlessly impressive visuals of the monuments and a little bit extra; beyond that, it’s a simple selection screen with the starter pack art and no further details. This only changes the UI slightly, but most importantly: it will lock you into a temple faction, regardless of if you utilize different cards or play a variety of them at any given moment. (How much you play of one temple’s deck can determine the color of a purely visual function — like your name or something.

Which is the final step — your name! Then you play and mind your business happily.

At the game’s first release, it was impossible to change your name even though you logged in by email (of which you can only have one challenger on each email, since alternate accounts (though difficult to work with) can give way to exploits/cheating). With it gaining more traction, a unique ID was implemented (mostly for friending) and to make it easier for those to change a name they felt unhappy with. This may or may not give rise to impersonation incidents as well as a strange congregation of people with the same Scrybe alias just hanging around each other in solidarity or joke groups.

Changing your alias is generally a formal process to ensure no unsavory names are kept in and to make sure you aren’t changing it on a whim. It requires premium foils (your money). Like five dollars at most.

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MULTIPLAYER ASPECT // Note: Online play is entirely optional and does not disrupt individual, offline play whatsoever. Maybe achievements, but those are a separate category that do nothing more than function as possible aesthetics.

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BATTLES // It’s time to duel! (Please do not get us copyrighted.)

The ability to know what the opposing party will play is removed. Your standard stuff. Settings are set and agreed upon beforehand (such as a time limit to how long a player can decide during their move, if the battle can end prematurely, etcetera). Also includes Scrybe gimmicks, which only comes with both players completing the game.

The [cards]? [Ouruborous] is not removed; however, it is nerfed in that you have to start from [1 : 1] stats in order to use it. The [Stim Mage] also has a damage and health cap if you use the energy conduit gimmick.

There is a list you are able to create and see of cards that you or another challenger do not want to play with and/or against. This is for those who want to have an absurd time, or a more serious play. (Maybe to fulfill a quest.)

New players generally cannot play against those who have gimmick cards in their hand to prevent them from being too overwhelmed by damage hell.

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CHAT //

1. :: You have to enable chat yourself. This works the same with disabling private messages and the like; people will be able to see whether or not you can chat.

2. :: Filter is default toggled on and replaces words with #$%^ or increasingly creative words (there is a thread compiling them on the forums since there seem to be that many).

3. :: Free chat. Profanity and the like are allowed, but players are warned beforehand that messages are logged.

The chat system is mostly available anywhere, even during battle or cutscenes. You have: a local region chat (e.g., if you are in Temple of Beasts, you will be able to speak to those who are also in that instance but not in another temple), a general region chat (doesn’t matter where you are, might matter internationally), and other usual hubbubs, like friends/guild/trading/community help tabs.

Once again though, there are forums for both your faction and in general. [-:

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FOIL SYSTEM //

To prevent farming with other players or certain NPCs (like the training dummy), overdamage will not give you foils past a certain point due to the existence of gimmick cards... er, well. There is still farming, but it’s harder to do that alone than it is to play a natural game with someone else or the game itself. This currency is used broadly.

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TRADE //

Toggle. Accessible in most places, and some areas are designated by the community as a hub for that (even with the existence of a trade chat, since that one limits how often you can speak there). WTB/WTS/WTT... rare cards are, well... Rare, in this game. Sometimes there’s some person trying to just mycologist-experiment a lot of their nonsense, though.

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...COSMETICS? //

You can buy some of these with foils or earn them as a reward/benchmark.

There is also a Gamblobot variant that allows you to use your foils/sacrifice cards (the cards are able to be sold at standard NPC price, which is only moderately affected by volume). What do you get from this thing?

Colors. Maybe some extra visuals.

Listen. Why not get the power to change your section of the board, your UI, or even a bit of your challenger’s model? Sure you can’t change the appearance of the faction being played, but why not get fancy?! (This option can be disabled by other players.)

Outside of that, there are titles that can be obtained by general (or extremely bizarre) play.

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STATS //

This is already a little long-winded, but I’ll put it short as similar to the analysis screen you see in Kaycee’s Mod, if not more detailed and with some additional flairs/titles.

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I’m getting a little tired so let me try to wrap it up here.

THE DEAD //

I like to think that you could travel to the temple through something similar to The River of Styx. It’s a very barren territory with a constant fog cast over the lands; it’s gloomy and headstones are everywhere. It’s worth noting that these tombstones have the names of other players who started with the deck. Epitaphs are only given to those who best a Scrybe in the final fight, no matter who. (This may or may not be editable... for a fee and the necessary replay.) These headstones are cleaned by those who visit them and by how active a player is.

What’s important is that it matters more on the inside of that crypt, which can be considered a labyrinth.

Grimora generally tasks you with things that involve the death of cards. She only asks you to outright toss a card once (which can be as new as buying it from a Trader). In other cases, she wants you to get used to losing them and spending time with them. Playing to deliberately lose does not make a worthy challenger though.

Sometimes it’s just a bit of memory game with the cards and other people (similar to the tombstones of her subordinates).

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BEASTS //

It’s your standard path through his territory. There are a few odd tasks involving screenshots and the like on your way through, but it’s a matter of enjoying the atmosphere and getting into the groove of considering your caravan of cards as (disposable) companions.

In any case, it feels more like roleplay than anything else...? Side-quest valley with his subordinates.

You can pet the dog. There is a pet counter, and there’s a fishing mini-game. (´。＿。｀)

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TECHNOLOGY //

Mix of futuristic cyber aesthetics alongside some possibly out of place stuff, like western NPC robots milling about and old objects. Everything is towering and big; these are machines, and those machines are quite impressive to look at sometimes.

As said in another post, the tasks really here really are just a matter of forcing you to mess around with a bunch of cards and get creative with your play (or very standard but efficient). P03 will have you pilot all sorts of things to get you to understand the synergy of cards and sigils so that you can be at least tolerable enough company when it comes to its fight. Its deck is pretty simple and easy enough to use, isn’t it? It’s to get you involved and introduced to the game.

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MAGICKS //

Also ridiculously massive structures and the like. What is a wizard if not for some inane pride? Challengers first study into one Mox tower and gradually graduate from all three to then go through the final exam tower. Magick starter students go through this process a lot more intensively and their forums are horrifically long when it comes to strategy and the puzzles involved.

I will best note this with the Magick Trio getting to have more interaction and screen-time gd bless. (Sorry Goobert. No matter how many challengers you defeat or lose against you’re kind of...)

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I recognize this is all rather idealistic and omitting a lot of details, but I am tired!! And just wanted to note the basic stuff to make you a little interested, but it’s okay if you considered it all boring LOL in my heart I would be able to have a group of friends and we would sit on the bridge together watching the sky transition in-game into night or hang around a campfire at leshy’s territory while we mess around on different tabs.

I don’t know I don’t know... would love to see what the scrybes’ domains would have looked like 2D or 3D with a lot more playroom and not just (straight into the designated area)... the final fights, too... pain! I yearn! but that is all for now, I think.

#[is.txt]#[mmo tag]#|| > do you like my new divider. I should mess with the other ones it's fun #hits the ground and sobs.

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