So, I have decided to submit some of my ideas that affect things like artifacts, linguistics, crafts, and houses/havens that I believe would improve the roleplaying atmosphere in Aetolia. Some of them are probably a bit rough around the edges or might even not be suited to the game at all, but I figured I should at the very least post them. There are even a few suggestions that already mimic existing features but are designed to be adding a bit more functionality and immersion to the game. Some are ideas that have been posted before. Here goes:
LINGUISTICS:
* Add a language for humans.
* Add geographically confined languages rather than racially based ones. Perhaps in the Tundra, mobs will speak their own native tongue, another language for the areas surrounding the festering wastes, etcetera. This may be a lot of work for very little benefit, but languages seem to me like something that should not be based on race but on where you live.
* Add different dialects. Basically, perhaps there's three tribes of dwarves each with a different dialect. Mechanically speaking, a dialect would treat your skillrank in a language as being lower than what it actually is (so if you spoke to those Taxas dwarves with their drawl, you would be treated as Virtuoso rather than Transcendant in the dwarven language). There could be different penalties for different dialects. Dialects would show up beneath their respective languages when using the 'languages' command, and you could master them to remove the penalty they impose.
The language ideas might be more of a hassle than anything else, but I actually like the idea of living in a world where communication isn't -always- easy. Ideally, linguistics would be moved away from being a talent and be available in one form or another to all players.
CRAFTS:
Forging:
Add 'greaves', 'cuisses', 'gorget', 'gauntlets' (remove them from tailoring), 'coif' (remove them from tailoring), and various other bits and pieces of armour. Add 'sheath' as container for swords (or purely for looks, should fit well on belt), belt hoops for maces/axes (tailoring design), etcetera.
Tattoos:
Add craftable tattoos. There already exist tattoo items in the game, so allowing players to make their own would just add one extra thing that makes Aetolia better than those other muds.
ARTIFACTS:
* a drinking artifact (choose between an ominious ritual chalice, a valkyrian drinking horn, an elaborate dwarven tankard, and an exquisite glass bottle) (100 credits)
The drinking artifact will make sure you never run out of your favourite brew, producing unlimited quantities of whatever liquid it is filled with. Simply 'pour [pot|glass|cup|glass] into [chalice|horn|tankard|bottle]' to fill it, and 'pour [chalice|horn|tankard|bottle] out' to empty it. NOTE: It is not possible to fill a drinking artifact with curables nor is it possible to transfer liquids from the drinking artifact to other containers.
* a Delvian steel tap (200,000 gold)
The steel tap can be filled up from couldrons and pots like normal and then be placed in a shop to refill the empty mugs, glasses, and cups of thirsty patrons. NOTE: The tap is priced -per sip-, meaning that it might cost 20 gold to refill a shot glass and 100 gold to refill a cup if you price your tap's contents at ten gold sovereigns. This also means that it is possible to refill half-full (or half-empty) glasses. It is not possible to fill a tap with curatives (SEE 'HELP CASKS'). Although paid for in gold, the tap is considered an artifact.
* a stylish mannequin (200,000 gold)
These stylish mannequin's come in male and female models of Sapience's most prominent races, allowing shopkeepers to show off their finest garbs and jewels for anyone coming to browse their shops. NOTE: Only the owner of a mannequin can dress and undress it, and any items on display will continue to decay while worn. Fortunately, the mannequins will send you a message if anything they are wearing should fall apart. Although paid for in gold, the mannequin is considered an artifact.
DRESS MANNEQUIN [item]
ATTIRE MANNEQUIN [item] <way of wearing>
UNDRESS MANNEQUIN [item]
SEE ALSO: HELP ATTIRE
* a splinter/shard/crystal of the Dreamer (50|100|200 credits)
These items are used to deliver messages of their owner's choice into the room that the artifact was placed (similar to pet and house mob reactions). The messages will either be displayed randomly at a set interval or at specific times. These artifacts can only be placed within rooms that are also owned by their owner, the only exception being city shops that are also being owned by the owner. NOTE: The messages displayed with this artifact adhere to the same standards as reactions for pets. Do not abuse it.
ANCHOR [splinter|shard|crystal] to bind it to a room.
IMBUE [splinter|shard|crystal] <text> to set its message.
TURN [shard|crystal] to change the artifact's current message slot.
TOUCH [splinter|shard|crystal] to see all messages and when they are being displayed.
ATTUNE [splinter|shard|crystal] INTERVAL [sporadic|normal|frequent] to set slightly randomized intervals for the message to be displayed: sporadic messages show roughly once every two Aetolian days, normal messages show roughly twice per Aetolian day, and frequent messages show up to four times per Aetolian day. NOTE: If several different messages are set to the same time, the artifact will broadcast a random one at that specific interval. Example: You have three messages that are all displayed with the frequent time. Every fifteen minutes, one randomized message will be shown.
ATTUNE [splinter|shard|crystal] TIME [dawn|noon|dusk|midnight] to set messages at specific times of the Aetolian day. If multiple messages are set at the same time, they will be displayed with a slight delay.
ATTUNE [splinter|shard|crystal] PHRASE <text> to show the message when the specific phrase is spoken.
ATTUNE [splinter|shard|crystal] CONDITION [pull|turn|shake|push|ring|touch] [item12345] to show the message when manipulate a specific object (such as a piece of furniture or a room object). The message will become disabled if the item that it is meant to react to is not present in the room.
CONCEAL [splinter|shard|crystal] to hide it from showing up in the room and on 'info here'. NOTE: The owner of a room will still see the artifact when SURVEYing the room. It can also be seen on 'artifact list'.
REVEAL [splinter|shard|crystal] to reveal a hidden artifact.
UPROOT [splinter|shard|crystal] to remove an artifact you own from the room.
The splinter holds only a single message, the shard holds up to three messages, and the crystal comes with an astounding ten messages.
The point of the splinters/shards/crystals are to make room reactions mostly obsolete by allowing players to tinker with their messages at will. Being able to change messages, move messages from one room to another, have specific messages going off at specific times, etc, without having to send Razmael emails and waiting for him to do it for you. Imagine the atmosphere you could add to your shop, haven, or home by being able to set custom-made messages for your own roleplaying scenarios: guests bustling through your ballroom, servants carrying trays of food, music playing in the background, for as long as the event is going on, then once it's all done you go back to your old standard random messages!
HOUSES/HAVENS:
* Remove the gold costs for renaming and redescribing player owned houses/havens. I am sure I am not the only one who has spent a lot of gold changing room descriptions because there was a spelling error you didn't see the first time. The gold costs would remain the same for organizational structures (guildhalls, undead houses, city rooms, etc).
* Remove the gold costs for linking together rooms and setting rooms as indoors/outdoors in player owned houses/havens. Spending credits to add new rooms and then being charged gold to link them together or make them outdoors just seem excessive.
* Add a 'build unilink west to ALEXINAHAVEN1' syntax to allow players to add one-way exits to their houses/havens.
* Reduce the cost of buying haven points. They are quite simply too expensive at the moment, a set price of 50,000 or 75,000 gold per would be a lot more reasonable.
* Allow people transfer haven points, possibly at a cost.
EDIT:
Edited a gazillion times for errors.
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Comments
And they already have an endless booze artifact--'s auction only. Fermian's Flagon