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[telkoth]

I started up a browser roguelikelike... threeish years ago, and then stopped working on it for about two years... and now have been into it again. it seems like ~20 players have survived my extended leave and only ~1 or 2 post on the forums I have there, which doesn't exactly give me a wide range of feedback. (trying to develop too much based on one opinion, plus myself and my girlfriend... isn't quite enough )

THE POINT: since I'm eager to develop again, I'd definitely enjoy some more feedback!

here is a screenshot. I probably should have included this to begin with >_>



Thomas Anderson there is still very low-level, and can't even equip the level 2 Fatal Hunting Pike he found while exploring this excavation. he also doesn't have many actions he can take during combat... the lower levels are a little less interesting in general, something I've been struggling to improve >_>

(as a little side note: switching equipment during combat is allowed, but takes time, which may give the opponent a free attack... combat is turn based, but each action takes "time", so it's possible to do two very quick attacks before your opponent does one, or vice versa! anyway, I'm getting off-topic!)

character progression uses levels like many games, but does not really use stats in the same way most games would. you pick up "knowledges" (mostly from leveling, but sometimes in other ways), which individually add damage, dodge, increased chance to identify excavated artifacts, and weirder things. at levels 10 and 20 you can take a speciality (class), which unlocks various knowledges... the specialities are arranged in a sort of crazy web: all the level 10 specialities are available to all players, but the level 20 specialities depend on what you took at 10 (normal so far), but there's overlap! for example, you could become a Trader and then a Scoundrel, or an Adventurer and then a Scoundrel, which of course makes for a very different Scoundrel in the end. (and a trickier job balancing the game >_>)

recently I've been trying to emphasize story-telling elements in the game... for example, there are sometimes "local events" - like a festival, or fair - that you can attend, and depending on your knowledges, might play out differently. for example, if you have the "Speak with Spirits" knowledge, you might overhear people talking about a poltergeist. investigating, you discover a spirit which has been trapped in tangled leylines. you free it, earning not only the gratitude of the people living in the house, but of the spirit, which joins you (in the form of a knowledge: Guardian Spirit) providing some little bonuses.

I also just recently added an option when creating your character to accept a flaw - such as "One Eye", "Uneducated", etc - in exchange for starting at level 2, although this option is not available during your first playthrough, since I don't want to overwhelm new players.

it's too easy to ramble. I'll shut up now. but you should play. and tell me what to do.

here are my "design pillars" for the game: http://www.theruinsof.com/help_designpillars.php
and here's the game itself: www.theruinsof.com

[telkoth]

despite what I said about trying to focus on character development, I found myself redoing how knowledges are stored in the database (why do I keep using comma-separated lists? I should really know better by now >_>), and making monsters able to poison you during combat. (poison in a mechanic that's been in the game for a while, but has previously only been given to players when drinking from mysterious, unidentified springs.)

I did add a new "motivation" - a low-powered "knowledge" that players can take upon character creation - "Bon Vivant", which awards you experience points and things when eating prepared meals. (it is my intention to eventually add cooking to the game, but so far this has not happened.) I make "motivation" effects low-powered so as not to discourage players from just picking whichever they think best describes their character, but I've wondered if I should remove the stat-like bonuses they provide, and instead work motivations into the game in other, subtler, harder-to-quantify ways...

FINALLY: I feel a little awkward double-posting after no one has shown any interest for a couple days, so I promise not to do so again! (there's a nice screenshot now, though. so that's pretty cool )