5th playable race: Mechro - IDEAS FOR RYZOM

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	IDEAS FOR RYZOM

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#1 Added by Soularis(arispotle) 1 decade ago [en]

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Good Morrow :)
first of all thank you for this great game; it is so innovative and true joy to play this wonderful MMO. Together with Somkit & Aseeker, we came with the following idea:

A very old game I used to play was Dune 2 and what was so great about it, was there were 3 sides in this game. Blizzard later stole this Westwood idea and used it in Starcraft. What I would like to propose is not 3, but 5 sides, where each side has 2 allies and 2 enemies (and I stole this idea from the card game Magic, The Gathering ;P).

For this to happen, we need a 5th playable race.
Almost every sci-fi has a robot in it, except Ryzom, so we suggest some type of cyborg race, which have sprung into exsistance from Karavan/Matis/Tryker ingenuity; where technology gets more interwoven with their living tissue and the Mechro race is born.

Every race has its own skill speciality; Fyros -> Fight, Matis -> Craft, Tryker -> Forage, Zoraï -> Magic. Therefore we propose Mechros to be skilled in "Summoning".

Summon Pets:
When a mob

Last edited by Soularis(arispotle) (1 decade ago)

#2 Added by Soularis(arispotle) 1 decade ago [en]

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Summon Pets:
When a mob has been killed, then it is possible to raise the dead animal from the dead through some kind of nanotechnology and control this creature as your pet (very much like the Borg from Star Trek). This pet (yuborg for example :P) can help you out attack and kill other mobs.

Summon Portals:
Because the Mechros are rejected or fallen from the Karavan and disliked by the Kami, a 3rd religion arises; Atheism. Because of this; teleports can no longer be used by this religion and to counter this the ability to summon team members to any location arises.

Location:
We think Atys is a moon orbitting a planet and the seasons are so fast because the moon gets behind the planet from the sun's perspective. This moon has also a tilt and Atys's Northpole is facing the sun at all times, which explains that the length of Atys days and nights are the same in summer and winter. Because the northpole of Atys has 100% sunshine at all times; we would like to make this the home of the Mechro's and let them have

#3 Added by Soularis(arispotle) 1 decade ago [en]

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Because the northpole of Atys has 100% sunshine at all times; we would like to make this the home of the Mechro's and let them have solar panels, where they draw their energy from (the dryest place on Earth is on Antartica).

Relationship:
Now getting back to the ally and enemy status. At the moment it is very 2 sides; Fyros/Kami/Zoraï against the Karavan/Matis/Trykers.
I would like to change this to a more complex political system.

Mechro race are allied to Matis & Tryker and are disliked by the Fyros and Zoraï.
Tryker race are allied to Mechro & Zoraï and dislike Fyros & Matis (because they used to be their slaves)
Zoraï race are allied with Fyros & Tryker and do not like the Mechro & Matis.
Fyros race are allied with Zoraï & Matis and hate Tryker & Mechro.
Matis race are allied with Fyros & Mechro and look down upon Tryker & Zoraï.

So each race has allies, which are enemies with eachother. And each race has enemies, which are allies with eachother. This kind of setup was great fun to play in the cardgame

#4 Added by Soularis(arispotle) 1 decade ago [en]

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This kind of setup was great fun to play in the cardgame Magic The Gathering and I really hope to see this back in some MMO one day. :)

Looks:
Since Mechros are so dependent on the sun, they will need solar panels of course. I was thinking of a solar panel on the forehead in different customisable shapes maybe. Mohawk solar panel could also be a possibility all the way down the back. I would also love to see mechanic knees bend backwards instead of forwards, but still be able to wear armor of all kinds of sorts of stuff. I have here no real good picture in my head, so you can maybe be creative yourself. ;)

Extra info:
Mechro comes from Mechanic Necromancer; they raise bodies from the dead and are robotic. It also fills the gaps in this Sci Fi & Fantasy genre, which I think are missing in Ryzom.

I know this is way to much to ask from the devellopers and I know it will most likely not happen at all, but it is an idea I have brewing in my head and I just had to vent it out. No worries in disapointing me. :)

#5 Added by Redishwolf 1 decade ago [en]

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Well gee way to throw it all out there :)
This sounds like a fantastic idea except i only have two complaints, for the fame system everyone would need to make completely new allies and the outpost and battles would get all screwy with confusion while people decided wether since they liked a certain race should they fight them in battle because they are atheist or wether they should help the atheists and what not. Second, scripting for Ryzom seems to be trememndously slow and many changes take months and years to complete, this would require an entirely new zone (they have not even finished the KL yet) and a new craft plan sets, abilities, features etc. Your idea sounds fantastic but a wish that has very little chance of being granted.

#6 Added by Soularis(arispotle) 1 decade ago [en]

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I know there is little chance for this idea being realised, but one can always hope. :)
Maybe the devellopers slowly work towards this setup and slowly build up the story line towards the 5th race and build in the necessary changes... like the fame issue...? :D

With outposts and such I think it will be most interesting when religions cannot join; so when a Kami outpost is under attack, they can be attacked by both Karavan and Atheist, but only one religion can win; so if the Kami are loosing, the Karavan and Atheists still have to fight eachother for the outpost to win... it will be chaos, but also very tactical and fun I hope... just like Dune2 :)

I had a little additional thought for Summoning pets; headsets, that connect you with the summoned pet. Amps are a great help for magic. We could do the same for controlling pets. The head is with Light and Medium Armor vacant and can be filled up with a headset; that way Tanks in Heavy Armor cannot control pets; they are to busy with fighting the boss anyway :P

#7 Added by Marelli(arispotle) 1 decade ago [en]

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I agree the Ryzom system is unfortunately too often simplified into only two sides, generally Karavan/Matis/Tryker and Kami/Fyros/Zoraï, and I wish there were more shifting allegiances.

Many do this, your "five sides in a circle" idea, with each side allied to it's 2 neighbours and enemy to it's two opposites, isn't just used in Magic the Gathering. I vaguely recall Heroes of Might and Magic having such a system, though I never played it. More relevantly, Fallen Earth has "six sides in a circle", with each side allied to it's 2 neighbours, somewhat hostile to it's 2 diagonal opposites and mortal enemies to their 1 direct opposite.

#8 Added by Marelli(arispotle) 1 decade ago [en]

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But, what you may not be aware, the 4 races in Ryzom are actually set up as a "four sides in a circle" system, which each race friendly-ish with it's 2 neighbours and hostile with it's 1 opposite.

The opposites here are Fyros - Matis and Tryker - Zoraï. I once decribed it from the lore as follows: Matis get along with Tryker because both worship the Karavan. Tryker get along with Fyros because both are more practically-minded. Fyros get along with Zoraï because both follow the Kami. Zoraï get along with Matis because both are very religious. However, Matis and Fyros are total opposites, and Tryker and Zoraï are total opposites, so they don't get along.

You can see this system was build for shifting allegiances, with Tryker and Zoraï being conflicted about who to support in Matis vs Fyros clashes, and Matis and Fyros being conflicted about who to support in Zoraï vs Tryker clashes.

#9 Added by Marelli(arispotle) 1 decade ago [en]

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Unfortunately, the Zoraï vs Tryker rivalry was never really explored ingame, so only the Fyros vs Matis rivalry played out and naturally turned into the standard Kami vs Karavan rivalry.

It seems to me the original developpers weren't really sure about what system to go for, because they build the 4 races in this system that allowed shifting allegiances, but then they also build in the Kami and the Karavan as an overarching "two-sides-only" dichotomy. Maybe because that was the standard and they were worried the 4 races system would be too complicated for the average MMO player? :p

(Blizzard may have done the 3 sides well in Starcraft, they completely screwed up in WoW doing only 2 sides with no room for politics at all.)

It's hard to tell why the "2 sides" Kami vs Karavan system ended up swallowing the more complicated 4 races system, whether it was because the players pushed it or the devs.

#10 Added by Marelli(arispotle) 1 decade ago [en]

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Now, as for your 5th race, the way you describe them sounds too much in the style of classical sci-fi and fantasy. Cyborgs and necromancers would not be impossible in the Ryzom setting, but they'd have to be adapted to Ryzom's unique flavour in order to not seem totally out of place.

Cyborgs, that is homin-machine interfaces, would happen through magic, like I could see a Zoraï controlling a mechanical amber arm through electrical magic, or through homin-plant interfaces, like how Matis technology is already all genetically engineered living plants, it seems a short step to attack a living plant to a homin's nervous system so they can control it.

So solar panels for example wouldn't look like Karavan solar panels or human solar panels, they'd look like huge rectangular leafs, or slabs of amber.

Necormancing would have to happen through some kind of Goo magic, making Goo-zombies :) The Goo-zombie-yubos could then be given mechanical parts as well because why not?

#11 Added by Marelli(arispotle) 1 decade ago [en]

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Heck, I could see the Marauders becoming this if they keep messing with their advanced technology and Goo experiments :P

And yes, a polar climate would be the obvious choice for new ecosystem to go with it. I wished for an artic region in another thread already, so that goes nicely.

I would point out though, that every part of Atys gets sunshine 100% all the time. The sun never sets, it just dims during the night, so no reason why it wouldn't do so over the pole.

#12 Added by Jarnys 1 decade ago [en]

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Actually there has been talk about a 5th race a while back (2005) - The Dark Matis.

And Tryker not liking the Zorai is because the Zorai kept the Trykers out of their cities when they were being hunted down in the old lands (I think it was during the beginning of the great swarm, but not sure)

In the past was the description for the Marauders anti-nation and neutral to the religions (neither anti nor pro).
The Trytonists were pro-nation but anti-religion (only anti Kami+Kara; never an actual faction though there might have been plans about it)
Then there are the Atys Rangers which just see themselves as protectors of Hominkind against the Kitin.

That's how I understood the factions that were (up to now) never joinable.

And just to show that not all Tryker/Fyros are Karavan/Kami - just take a look at the Tribes which are aligned with the government - some are Kami, some Karavan.

Last edited by Jarnys (1 decade ago) | Reason: typos

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#13 Added by Soularis(arispotle) 1 decade ago [en]

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I have given this some more thought now and got few more ideas. What I was wondering is, is the Dark Matis proposal there because it is not possible to develop completely new playable toons?

Never liked even numbers 4, 6, 8, etc., because no matter how high the even number is, there is always a 2-camps split. I really want something like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. With the religions it could go to Polytheism (Kami, since they accept Jena in some way), Monotheism (Karavan) and Atheism.

The problem with homin-plant interfaces is the summoning of dead animals as pets, which is what I was aiming for. I don't really see that happening and it would make more sense with Goo-mechanic-technology. "Summoning" isn't magic and no sap is needed; therefore a 5th bar will be required for the summoning, keeping alive and controlling of the pet. It is a seperate skill tree running on electricity or some goo-charge type of energy, which the Mechro cyborgs are masters at, but all races can use via headsets.

Last edited by Soularis(arispotle) (1 decade ago)

#14 Added by Jarnys 1 decade ago [en]

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The dark matis would have had an other look than the normal ones.

I thought they were among the devshots but couldn't find them in the archive (http://wayback.archive.org/web/*/http://www.ryzom.com/images/devs hots/*) there are some other interesting ones though ;-)

But they were mentioned here though: Immaculate vision - part 1 (by David Cohen Corval)
Read the complete text as it's interesting to see the old plans! You can see the Artwork in the bottom ;-)

And as I mentioned above: there are always the Trytonists which could respond to your Atheists

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#15 Added by Marelli(arispotle) 1 decade ago [en]

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Jarnys (Leanon)

And Tryker not liking the Zorai is because the Zorai kept the Trykers out of their cities when they were being hunted down in the old lands (I think it was during the beginning of the great swarm, but not sure)

That's the trigger, but there are deeper underlying causes. They don't get along because the Tryker and Zoraï ways of looking at life are nearly opposite. The Zoraï care more about their floaty philosophies and 'preserving balance' than about individual homin's lifes and happiness, like how they sacrifice their own to combat the Goo. Meanwhile the Tryker are hedonistic, frivolous, and superficial, they take lightly and even mock the worship of the Kami and the Zoraï philosophy and their shallow attitude erodes deep thought.

Really, the Tryker and the Zoraï are more opposite than the Fyros and the Matis, the only reason the latter conflict is hotter is because the Fyros and the Matis are both more militarised races than the Tryker and Zoraï.

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