:: Updated by Hannar @ 01/20/04 06:56 pm ::
14. Mobs and NPC’s
Wed Aug 13, 2003 12:03 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=62194&highlight=#62194
| Moorgard wrote: |
The team likes to show off minos because, well, the art folks did a tremendous job on them. Plus, rumor is that a few devs have a bovine fetish, but I have no confirmation on that at this time--thank goodness.
A particular favorite around here is the rare albino minotaur, or as I like to call him, the lost Winters brother. |
Sun Aug 17, 2003 01:36 am
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=64973&highlight=#64973
| Moorgard wrote: |
Ah I realize what you meant now, sorry.
Yes, you'll see that certain humanoid monsters are able to wear the same kinds of armor/clothing that players can, which both makes a lot of sense and allows for some very cool looks and variety. |
Tue Aug 19, 2003 01:52 am
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=66487&highlight=#66487
| Moorgard wrote: |
| All you Deathfist fans had better be careful what you ask for. Those orcs got *nasty* over the last 500 years. |
Thu Aug 28, 2003 07:07 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=76056&highlight=#76056
| Moorgard wrote: |
You are not alone in your thoughts. 
Of course, such a concept would require careful balance and tuning.
An_orc_centurion01 says, "Get the cleric!"
An_orc_centurion02 says, "Get the cleric!"
An_orc_centurion03 says, "Get the cleric!"
An_orc_centurion04 says, "Get the cleric!"
An_orc_centurion05 says, "Get the cleric!"
An_orc_centurion06 says, "Get the cleric!"
I'm sure you see my point.  |
Sat Sep 06, 2003 12:44 am
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=84166&highlight=#84166
| Moorgard wrote: |
I can't *wait* until you guys see the death animation for the evil eyes!
/giggles gleefully  |
Tue Sep 16, 2003 08:15 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=90328&highlight=#90328
| Moorgard wrote: |
| Hannar Stormwolf wrote: |
| I don't recall MG mentioning it any time recently, although I could certainly be wrong. Anyone happen to remember the topic or the post? I'd like to find it. |
I don't remember doing so either. |
Wed Sep 24, 2003 11:57 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=97661&highlight=#97661
| Moorgard wrote: |
Our mobs (humanoid body types, anyway) certainly have the ability to wear armor and wield weapons. Some monsters don't have arms or legs or torsos or heads, of course, so that kind of rules them out.
That said, if you see an orc in full leather, don't expect it to be dropping all that stuff. It would be pretty unbalancing if you could kill one mob and loot a full set of armor. However, we reserve the right to dress up our mobs if we want to, because frankly it looks really cool.  |
10/01/03 09:22 PM
Stratics
| Moorgard wrote: |
Mobs won't be zoning after you.
It's a concept we tried initially, but it didn't work the way we intended. |
Sat Nov 08, 2003 01:30 am
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=132442&highlight=#132442
| Moorgard wrote: |
| Kerrigor wrote: |
| It always bugged me how your head never physically looked up and down (or side to side for that matter) when you moved your view that way. |
The heads of most NPCs track you as you get close to them.
Your character's head doesn't move as you look around. After all, in real life you don't need to physically move your head to look up or down; you can do it just with your eyes. Of course character heads move with their animations, but that doesn't correspond to where you're looking.
While adding a separate control for head movement might increase the realism factor, I think it would be cumbersome for most people.
Plus, that tank staring at the ground would look less than heroic doing so. |
Mon Nov 10, 2003 12:52 am
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=133500&highlight=#133500
| Moorgard wrote: |
| Nefarious22 wrote: |
| So with their new system system mobs will have to be toned down to be equalled to us because now we are gonna be fighting mobs 6 on 6 instead of 6 on 1. |
Mundane mobs are indeed more comparable to players in terms of power and statistics.
| Quote: |
| So i hope that in combat situations players and NPC are made collidable so that when you see that NPC running at your cleric you as the warrior can step out infront of him and intercept him without him running thorough you. |
Unfortunately anytime you give players the ability to physically stand in a mob's way, you open the door to all kinds of exploits. You could aggro a mob in a room, have tanks block the doorway, and let casters stand back and nuke without fear of retribution. That's definitely not a tactic we're interested in promoting.
This is one of those situations where gameplay has to supercede realism. |
Mon Nov 10, 2003 12:26 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=133700&highlight=#133700
| Moorgard wrote: |
| Valderen wrote: |
| We will be able to walk through other avatars. This was comfirmed by Moorgard. Reason being that there's too much room for exploits if you allow people to block others. |
My quote in the other thread was talking about mobs, not other players. |
11/25/03 11:39pm
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=60136744&start=60195583
| Moorgard wrote: |
| We recently did a demo for the executives that showed off one of our new boss mobs. When you see it, I don't think you'll be disappointed. |
Tue Dec 09, 2003 01:02 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=153993&highlight=#153993
| Moorgard wrote: |
| Rio Rio wrote: |
| There could be a couple of unkillable mobs at start. |
12/11/03 3:43pm
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=60945732&start=60978424
| Moorgard wrote: |
Eyes of both players and NPCs blink and look around in a very lifelike manner.
NPC heads do indeed track you when you come into their area of awareness.
kulid > Phayt |
Indeed there could be. |
Thu Dec 18, 2003 12:54 am
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=158372&highlight=#158372
| Moorgard wrote: |
| Some up-close and personal chatter with one of our most notorious personalities. |
12/18/03 9:56pm
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=61312473&replies=16
| Moorgard wrote: |
| All you wanted to know about the Overlord but were afraid to ask! |
Fri Jan 30, 2004 03:25 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=197177&highlight=#197177
| Moorgard wrote: |
We are very mindful of how we use child NPCs in our game, and you can bet we won't be putting them in objectionable situations.
By the way, it's simple for us to put NPCs in the game that you can't attack. |
Fri Feb 13, 2004 01:47 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=211850&highlight=#211850
| Moorgard wrote: |
| Razzia_Rakehell wrote: |
| So is the day of the ubermob over? |
On the contrary. You ain't seen nothin' yet. |
Sat Feb 14, 2004 11:39 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=213069&highlight=#213069
| Moorgard wrote: |
| It is indeed an aqua goblin. |
Tue Feb 24, 2004 12:30 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=219789&highlight=#219789
| Moorgard wrote: |
| Antonia is getting a unique and updated model. Lucan is staying pretty much as-is. |
2/17 10:15am
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=64121286&start=64461093
| Moorgard wrote: |
This is one of those situations where you have to be careful what you wish for.
When you say you want smarter mobs, what you *really* mean is that you want mobs that are a little smarter and have cool behaviors without being *too* smart.
If mobs were smart, their first order of business would be to ignore the tank and take out the healers and mages first--every time. Why should a mob care if some tank is in front of him whispering "Hate me more. Hate me more." A smart mob wouldn't buy that for a second.
If mobs were smart, they'd go get help as soon as you demonstrated you were a threat. Think about it... you just entered a dungeon filled with bloodthirsty orcs. What's the smart orc going to do? Sound the alarm and call every one of his buddies to help dispose of you in record time. That's what you'd do, right?
Having mobs play the same way players do would call for a very different game design concept, because simply adding the kind of mob behavior I listed above to EQ or EQ2 would make the game very un-fun.
In our game, mobs do act smarter in ways, and they are certainly more tactical and lifelike in many of their behaviors. But if we made them act exactly like players then it would be one zerg army vs. another.
As far as combat speed goes, I don't think it breaks immersion. When you're concentrating on swinging your weapon, executing a special combat art, healing an ally, or summoning mystical forces against your opponent, should you really be moving at full speed? It seems logical to me that when engaged in heated combat you would be a bit preoccupied to be moving very fast. Of course, willfully leaving combat means you are directing your energies elsewhere, thus allowing you to run as fast as you can.
Designing a game is about creating a world with a set of rules in place. Some of those will coincide with real-world principles while other choices are sometimes necessary for purposes of making a challenging game. One can debate whether bishops should only be allowed to move diagonally in chess, but ultimately that's just how the game is played. |
2/17 11:23pm
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=64121286&start=64502381
| Moorgard wrote: |
| Quote: |
| "No such thing as too smart.... If you leave out smart AI, I mean darn near realistic AI, then you take away a point of tactics." |
My point was not that mobs shouldn't be smart, but rather that the design has to take their relative intelligence into account. When mobs really can be as smart as players, the players will be faced with a very different set of challenges. Ultimately that will be a good thing, but the design has to be there to support it. As I said, simply taking NPCs with human intelligence and sticking them in EQ's existing framework would not be an ideal situation.
Look at Planes of Power. Does it make sense that a raid force can enter the Tower of Solusek Ro and stand there at the zone line well within sight of multiple patrolling guards who do nothing about it until you get within some mysterious aggro range? These elevated planar beings don't seem very smart to me. I mean, the whole zone is packed with huge guys with flaming heads and giant weapons, and as soon as they see you kill a few at a time, their buddies should be bringing the house down onto you. But then, that wouldn't be very fun.
The DAoC example is a fine one of mobs exhibiting a particular behavior. Our mobs in EQ2 have varied brains (essentially a collection of possible behaviors) that make them choose from a variety of actions depending on the situation. The smart ones will coordinate their efforts against you, but I'll let you discover the particulars of that for yourself.
| Quote: |
| "That means if I'm simply running by at mach-3 just trying to get from point A to point B and I accidentally agro something... POOF I'm instantly slogging uphill through pudding with an Orc behind me earnestly attempting to give me a steel enima." |
As was pointed out earlier in the thread, you don't drop to combat speed until you do something to pick a fight. You have to attack, taunt, or take some offensive action against a mob to enter combat. Simply running past and getting aggro doesn't lock the encounter or drop your speed. |
:: Updated by Hannar @ 03/15/04 09:56 am ::
Mon Mar 08, 2004 08:23 pm
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=232164&highlight=#232164
| Moorgard wrote: |
Wait until you see her fight. She grabs her vines and uses them as whips!  |
Thu Mar 11, 2004 01:50 am
http://www.eqii.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=234470&highlight=#234470
| Moorgard wrote: |
| Venamous wrote: |
| You're correct, Darkfiend. Naggy won't be there. I'm not even sure how much of the landscape will be the real castle. It was an old video and they've said many things have changed since then. |
You will indeed see Castle Nektropos in game. And you are correct, Nagafen was only visiting for a while when we happened to be doing a demo.
| Quote: |
| If you're looking for a castle, the one that they've shown is Marr. |
Marr was an early experiment in zone design that the team learned a lot from. But it was more of a test case, and it wasn't needed for our storyline, so it won't be a zone in game. |
:: Updated by Hannar @ 07/03/04 05:13 pm ::
04-09-2004 12:40 PM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=general&message.id=40024#M40024
| Moorgard wrote: |
| Bawang wrote: |
One thing that concerns me and which hasn't been addressed is that, according to a SOE official, "most mobs will run faster than unbuffed PCs". So how do you keep from dying when you accidentally agro a mob and it gives chase? |
Sorry, but part of learning respect for the environment is that there have to be consequences for screwing up. To give players too many outs--ways of completely avoiding making mistakes--would be detrimental to the health of the game.
You mess up, you die. Hopefully you'll know better next time. As a little orphan once said, "It's a hard-knock life." |
05-08-2004 03:25 PM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=general&message.id=83167#M83167
| Moorgard wrote: |
| Klevari wrote: |
Can I go around killing Freeport NPC's and Guards and leaders and such without having to worry about my "relations" with freeport? |
You pretty much can't attack anyone or anything in a town, nor the guards outside of it. For example, Freeport citizens will not be camping the gates of Qeynos killing guards for XP.
That said, you might of course be given the task of taking out a specific guard or citizen of the opposing city as part of a quest.
We intend for guards to be able to do their jobs, which they can't do if they become targets for hunting. And we don't want to allow players to destroy their city faction unless they purposely decide to take on the betrayal quests. |
05-15-2004 10:04 PM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=general&message.id=98107#M98107
| Moorgard wrote: |
| twolfer wrote: |
wondering if we will be able to attack any NPC that we want. I hope we can because it would open up more types of missions...like assasination missions for umm...assasins |
I responded to another post recently that answers your question.
/summon Hannar |
06-12-2004 10:22 PM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=general&message.id=131591#M131591
| Moorgard wrote: |
Grimgash is mean. That dude has killed me several times... but it was never my fault, I swear!!!
His cave is a pocket zone, and it's a single group encounter. You can only level to 6 on the island, so it's never going to be trivial for you.
Hit locations are random, not controlled. We're removing the messages from player attacks to avoid confusion. If we introduce targeting later as an advanced form of combat then the messages would make sense to have. |
06-13-2004 03:31 PM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=general&message.id=132057#M132057
| Moorgard wrote: |
| The Grimgash encounter is the culmination of the archetype quests. You don't have to complete all of them to leave the island; you'll be given that option earlier. If you do finish all the quests and defeat Grimgash, you'll have a good suit of gear and a nice weapon with which to make your way in the world. But whether you choose to do so is entirely up to you. |
06-14-2004 08:05 PM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=general&message.id=132956#M132956
| Moorgard wrote: |
Antonia and Lucan (especially Lucan!) aren't standing around waiting for refugees to come up and /moon them.
However, they will make their presences known. After all, they're two of the stars of our game! |
:: Updated by Hannar @ 07/04/04 08:14 am ::
06-21-2004 12:41 AM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=lore&message.id=3085#M3085
| Moorgard wrote: |
| They can communicate to one another without speaking, yet they sometimes speak aloud to other races. |
:: Updated by Hannar @ 08/01/04 04:21 pm ::
07-18-2004 10:27 AM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=general&message.id=154374#M154374
| Moorgard wrote: |
Our faction system, for wont of a better word, simply works differently than what you saw in EQ. When you kill an opponent, you don't get messages saying that faction X is now higher and faction Y is now lower. If you do a task on behalf of your city, we have a different means of showing you how your standing is affected.
But as I've said before, it won't be the case where a Freeport citizen can kill a jillion gnolls outside Qeynos and become accepted by the good city. You can kill all the gnolls you want, but it won't make the people of Qeynos like you any better.
You need to progress through certain quests to unlock others, but that doesn't need to be tied to an EQ-style faction system in order to function. We could, of course, implement a Velious-like faction system if future content took us in that direction. |
07-24-2004 02:07 PM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=lore&message.id=4607#M4607
| Moorgard wrote: |
I say it:
lϋ'-kәn dә-la(ә)r'
(lϋ' as in goo; kәn as in done; dә as in duh; la(ә)r' as in hair)
There are slightly different inflections as well. Some people say it more like lϋ'-kin, which works too.
I've never asked the Overlord himself which he prefers, though... |
07-29-2004 10:22 AM
http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=general&message.id=162008#M162008
| Moorgard wrote: |
Guards will kill hostile targets that comes within range of them. In other words, don't bring mobs too close to the guards if you want the kill for yourself.
We don't have guards randomly wandering through zones, however. If you want their help, you have to run to them. |
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