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Shards Online

Taoiseach de na Arach Glas
Foghladha
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Posted On: 11/27/2014 at 11:55 AM
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OVERVIEW

  • Both official and community-run servers
  • Skill-based character development (no restrictive levels or classes!)
  • Own your land, build a house
  • Tame animals and creatures
  • Learn to craft unique items as you explore
  • Employ NPCs to do day to day tasks
  • Visit worlds that span many genres
  • Obtain unique armors, weapons and rare artifacts
  • Play by your own rules! Many different rule-sets to choose from
  • Create your own unique rule-sets, stories and live content on your community-run server

LIVING VIRTUAL WORLD

The multiverse of Shards Online is built on a philosophy of creating living, breathing worlds. Unlike other games where quests are eternal, or special events can be relived again and again, Shards Online is a game in which actions have real consequences.

You can talk with the NPCs about the latest gossip, hints for adventures, or about the weather. Walk away, and you might find them already moving on to visit the pub or talking with another NPC. Everything is in motion.

Coupling dynamic behavioral systems with real players and gods gives us incredibly rich opportunities for cause and effect. The egg you steal from a dragon today may be the reason she’s attacking a town you left behind tomorrow.

In Shards Online, if a tree falls in the woods, we can prove it made a sound.

OPEN ENDED CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Most MMOs use a class based character development system. TWhat happens in most MMOs when you realize 20 levels in that you don’t like playing the class you chose? Well either you start over from scratch, or you quit the game.

Shards Online removes these restrictions on character development by focusing on skills as the core aspect of character development. When you first create your character, you only have the basic knowledge of swinging a weapon. Learn new skills from a trainer in town, read a dusty tome found in the depths of a dark dungeon, or learn them from another player who has already mastered them.

Once you have learned the basics of a skill, you can begin to earn experience towards it by engaging in activities related to that skill. As you advance, new abilities will unlock.

There is a limit to how much skill one mortal can possess which forces you to specialize. Upon reaching your skill cap, you will need to deactivate certain skills in order to gain in others.

Skills

CRAFTING AND NPC EMPLOYMENT

Crafting skills will allow you to create new items, weapons and armor from raw materials. Since each ‘shard’ has their own stories and their own cultures, the crafting skills available to learn will also be different. Learn to craft platemail on a fantasy ‘shard’, or learn to craft bombs on a steampunk ‘shard’.

Just like real life, each craft employs different tools and methods. The creation of many items will require multiple steps and skills. Some items like armor and weapons will be initially very crude and need to be refined and enhanced in order to contain special properties.

Another unique aspect of Shards Online is the ability to hire NPCs (non-player characters) to assist you in day to day tasks. Do you lack the mining skill to obtain some ore you need? Or maybe you just don’t enjoy mining? That would be a perfect opportunity to find someone else to perform the task for you… at a price. If you are rich enough, you can even run an entire trade empire without lifting a finger.

PLAYER HOUSING

In Shards Online, players are able to build their homes in the actual game world. Many of the ‘shards’ in the game have large areas of undeveloped land for you to build houses on.

There are many different house layouts to choose from and the size of your house will depend on the size of your build-able area and the resources you have to build with. Cultivate the land for a farm, or have a beautiful garden.

We have big plans, currently post release, to allow for truly customizable housing. Build your house wall by wall to your exact specifications and desires!

TACTICAL COMBAT

While character attributes, spells, special abilities, and equipment define the combat tools available to the player, ultimately player skill unlocks their full potential.

Equipment/Weapons have costs and benefits causing them to behave differently. Picking up a sword versus a spear, or leather versus plate, will impact how your character behaves in combat.

Since you choose the skills, and the gear, there’s no reason you couldn’t be a spell wielding assassin. Two players can have characters with the same skills and equipment, but implement different strategies in combat as if they are completely different.

Forget the rock-paper-scissors-shotgun approach to combat. In Shards Online fights can go back and forth and its not over till someone eats dirt.

 

Getting Involved

 

First and foremost, they can pledge their support to the project through our Kickstarter campaign. It is really important that we nail as many stretch goals as we can. These stretch goals are focused on cramming more awesomeness into our initial alpha build. Our initial alpha build is critical to our continued success and its the fans that are making that happen.

The campaign also allows you to get involved directly in the development process not only by becoming an alpha tester but also securing your ability to provide feedback during pre-alpha. The pre-alpha playtester group at the 75$ level will participate in regular playtests throughout the rest of pre-alpha and will be instrumental in helping us make our alpha build the best we can make it.

Taking it one step further, the early admin group at the $200 level will get the opportunity to run and mod servers during pre-alpha. This group is even more important because it is critical we work out the kinks in the player-run aspect of the game before we reach that initial alpha build.

- Derek Brinkmann

 

 

More Information: http://shardsonline.com/

 

Last Edited on: 08/03/2015 at 02:05 PM
"It's not the loot and accolades you walk away with, it's the memories and friendships that you cherish forever." - Foghladha
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Response:

Ban Fili de na Ulchabhan Dearg
Seacoral
Ban Fili de na Ulchabhan Dearg
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Replied On: 11/28/2014 at 03:58 AM PST
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On the fence, when they say features that players are asking heard that one before.

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Seaimpin de na Faolchu
Aiden
Seaimpin de na Faolchu
Replied On: 11/29/2014 at 07:30 PM PST

Unless we can mod this, it will not work for the family.  64 max users per Shard and no real RvR.  Now our own private server sounds cool but I just don't know.

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Taoiseach de na Arach Glas
Foghladha
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Replied On: 11/29/2014 at 07:50 PM PST
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Aiden the 64 person limit is for early alpha. I've seen Shards open with 10000 person limits. I think through the process thier going to gradually increase until it takes a performance hit.

"It's not the loot and accolades you walk away with, it's the memories and friendships that you cherish forever." - Foghladha
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Ban Muintir de na Capall
Ysolde
Ban Muintir de na Capall
Replied On: 11/30/2014 at 05:08 PM PST

Omg its like Rift meets Stargate !

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Ban Fili de na Ulchabhan
Rhynor
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Replied On: 11/30/2014 at 08:17 PM PST
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Couple of interesting things from the FAQ ( http://shardsonline.com/shards-online-faq/ )

 

Will this game be supported on Mac and Linux?

We’re targeting a standalone client running Shards on PC/Windows at launch. We are also currently investigating officially supporting the Mac and Linux platforms.

 

Do I need a subscription to play Shards Online?

Nope! Buy it once and it’s free to play on free official servers and any community servers, AND you can run one of your own.

 

Is this a high fantasy game?

It hints at a fantasy setting but there’s much, much more. Shards is a multiverse of competing mythologies, cultures and technologies. Adventurers might step through a gateway and indeed find themselves in a medieval world of elemental magic, but then enter another gateway to be bewildered by clanking gears and gushing steam-engines in a Victorian setting.

Players will not only travel from world to world in Shards, they’ll create their own. A shard can be added to its own private server and ruled as its creator sees fit, or connected to the public and shared with all.

 

What is the maximum number of players per "shard"?

We want to be sure that ‘shards’ are easy enough for anyone to run and small enough for them to be run on almost any computer. The 64 player limit mentioned in previous interviews is only the number we are sure we will be able to support at this early stage in development and will likely increase between now and alpha. Clusters, on the other hand, will support much larger numbers by connecting ‘shards’ together. This is what separates Shards Online from other player-run games by allowing thousands of players to play in the same player-run universe simultaneously.

 

How customizable are community run servers?

Yes, customizing your server will happen on many levels. At the lowest level, you’ll be able to write custom scripts that add to or replace any piece of gameplay you want. You can completely change the way melee combat works, or create entirely new spells and abilities. You can even write completely new and exciting monster AI. Truly, we are putting all the power in the hands of those who dare.

 It’s important to make something clear — Shards is not Minecraft in the sense that you dig holes and build walls brick by brick while the game is running. Instead, behind the scenes, the gods (devs and server admins) will shape the world and the content surrounding it. The players will make their home in these worlds, explore them, fight enemies and each other for fame and glory. Lot’s of people haven’t played UO, so I try to explain it like this: Take an open ended moddable virtual world like Skyrim, make it fully multiplayer (don’t forget to add PvP), let players run their own servers like Minecraft, and THEN connect those servers together so you can travel between them. This paints a clearer picture of the beauty that is Shards Online.

 

What is the difference between a "shard" and a cluster? Do we have to host our shards through Citadel?

The current plan is to have ‘shards’ hosted in the way other games like Minecraft host their servers. You get the binary when you purchase the game and can run the server out of your house or rent space from a game server hosting company. If you are tech-savvy enough, you can run them up in the cloud yourself!

 You can run a single ‘shard’ for people to directly connect to (just like Minecraft) without the use of our cluster technology. However, if you want to connect multiple ‘shards’ together, you will sign up with Citadel Studios for a hosted cluster. Among other things, this provides you with a web interface that allows you to specify which ‘shards’ can connect into the cluster, and what players have admin (god) access.

Not all those who wander are lost ~ JRR Tolkien
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Taoiseach de na Arach Glas
Foghladha
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Replied On: 11/30/2014 at 10:10 PM PST
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Melcom, we have derek on board for an interview in Gaiscioch Magazine Issue 4 :)

"It's not the loot and accolades you walk away with, it's the memories and friendships that you cherish forever." - Foghladha
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Laoch de na Iolair Buí
Sekkerhund
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Replied On: 12/02/2014 at 01:34 PM PST
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Hm, this sounds like a graphical MUD, by the most literal definition.  MUDs are nice as a hobby game, I spent several thousand hours of my life playing them during the 1990's, so I definitely wouldn't turn my nose up at the idea.  I was actually in the middle of coding my own (using a modified MercMUD code as my base) just before Everquest came out, then I dumped the project and never looked back at it.

I'd recommend outlining ahead of time, who will have access to the admin features, because that seems to be the most popular item of interest that people are noticing.  It was pretty much the same for the old school text-based ones, too.

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Ban Fili de na Ulchabhan
Rhynor
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Replied On: 12/02/2014 at 02:38 PM PST
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Found an interview with their CEO (who Fog was referring to) and it does sound like the old dungeonmaster format. Very interested in how that will play out.

From ZAM's "Shards Online: An Interview with Derek Brinkmann"  (source: http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=35422 )

 

One of the great part about the player-run servers for Shards is that the administrators of a server can create a God (which Derek likened to a Dungeon Master from Dungeons & Dragons) to "watch the world, make sure people are following the rules, and can jump into NPCs to engage with and create a dynamic experience for the players." Controlling an NPC will grant the God the skillset that NPC has, as every NPC in the world has skills and abilities just like players do. "It really opens the doors for a lot of possibilities with roleplayers," Derek commented. The "base immortal" will get basic God powers, so multiple immortals can help interact and help players, keep watch, and report back to the higher Gods.

The basic ruleset offers a way for mortals to earn their way to immortality on their own, but LUA scripting will allow server admins to customize their shard to change or remove this capability, along with a plethora of other choices. Derek thinks that good customization and servers with active, friendly admin will be the successful ones that players will gravitate toward.

 



» Edited on: 2014-12-02 14:52:52

Not all those who wander are lost ~ JRR Tolkien
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Tiarna de na Iolair Corcra
Jairone
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Replied On: 12/02/2014 at 06:14 PM PST
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It sounds alright, but a lot of what will happen depends upon how controlled the environments in the cluster are.  After all, the moment somebody decides to make a super weapon for sale, things go downhill fast.  That has killed a lot of creative style games.

I like a lot of the premises here, although there are also some things I do not like (that isometric view is something I am not particular to, for instance.)  IF the connected official realms (shards) have hard rules that are enforced, such as standards for value and gear, then it might just be fun.  I do like the living breathing world type ideas, but I am not sure how well that will work in cases where one shard has cars you can drive around, and then you go to a fantasy shard and are using them to avoid mechanics.

I personally will have to see more to give a good indication of my likelihood to play the game.

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Seaimpin de na Ulchabhan
Dirkdaring
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Replied On: 12/02/2014 at 07:07 PM PST
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  Played a few muds  years ago  old wheel of time and mozart etc always fun . will have to see how it develops

 

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Taoiseach de na Arach Glas
Foghladha
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Replied On: 07/02/2015 at 09:40 AM PDT
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Moving to the StreamTeam forum as it is no longer in the running for possible chapter. We will however have a Guild Setup for use in our livestreams that yyou're welcome to gather in and hang out if you like under the understanding that it's not a formal guild and we wont be organizing it at all. It will be purely for use during our visits with the Streams of Epic Adventure and Fog's Side Quests.

"It's not the loot and accolades you walk away with, it's the memories and friendships that you cherish forever." - Foghladha
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Fine
Griffith
Fine
Replied On: 03/25/2016 at 04:38 AM PDT

Is anyone in the community Playing Shards Online?

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Draoi de na Griobhta Bán
Kitty
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Replied On: 03/25/2016 at 06:39 AM PDT
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Is it out yet? :D

"Be the player you want to meet".- Foghladha
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Jairone
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Replied On: 03/25/2016 at 02:48 PM PDT
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Only at an alpha level for those who pledge to them (aka buy in.)  I believe we are intending to wait for a full release for guild stuff beyond testing... but Fog would have the final word there!

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Draoi de na Griobhta Bán
Kitty
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Replied On: 05/30/2016 at 10:55 AM PDT
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Any news if this is going to be free to play or buy to play? :3 Also bump! Also possible Social Adventure?

"Be the player you want to meet".- Foghladha
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Sekkerhund
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Replied On: 05/30/2016 at 04:44 PM PDT
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Of course, all you need are a couple of interested family members:

Open Adventures

Additionally, you can even run Open Adventures in games that are not included in the official lineup. These can be created in you evil laboratory or dreamed up in you brilliant mind. Anything and everything you can think of doing with 4 Gaiscioch members you can claim for social points. From 4-player co-operative console games to MMORPGs, any activity a member can dream of where 3 or more members claim participation will be eligible to earn social point. While these adventures do not have badges, forums, progression, or structure, they will help members build their Social points which will allow them to earn Family Vault Credits to spend in the loot vault. Social points for these adventures will be awarded at half the rate of an official adventure.

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Draoi de na Griobhta Bán
Kitty
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Replied On: 05/30/2016 at 05:39 PM PDT
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Ah, found my answer about the model, it's going to be Buy-To-Play:

Do I need a subscription to play Shards Online?
Nope! Buy it once and it’s free to play on free official servers and any community servers, AND you can run one of your own.
 

Source

"Be the player you want to meet".- Foghladha
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