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Heskey
15-01-10, 11:28
Hey guys,

You may or may not be interested but the least I can do is give you a heads up.

A number of people invested in the T&T community, like me, play or have played Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs); epic games of grand proportions that generally charge a monthly fee (usually similar for every MMO for competition-sake, around £9 a month) in order to support their large servers that can hold upwards of 3000 unique individuals from all around the world on one seamless universe with no separate servers requiring loading screens from zone to zone.

MMOs these days, no matter what their story line are background tend to be a grind; you start at level 1 with the class type you've chosen, and commence an endless journey of quest completing and XP grinding, every few levels running through a dungeon with a bunch of morons to kill hard 'bosses' who reappear as soon as you turn your back.

Ladies and gents I present to you Mortal Online; a retro-nextgen MMO that has been in development for quite some years now, under about half of the original development team that started the MMO genre off with that timeless classic (now ruined by EA), Ultima Online.

So what's going to make Mortal Online (and made UO (in its day)) so different to the other run-of-the-mill MMOs out there?

Mortal Online is a sandbox MMO; there are no levels, quests, respawning mobs, classes, 3rd person camera, respawning monsters.

Just as UO used to be back in its golden age, you will create a character and join a world where the only place you're moderately safe is in towns where town guards operate (thieves could still steal from you though). You won't start next to someone saying "thank god you're here, kill these boars for XP"; no, you'll join the world and what you do from then on is up to you. You can go out and start killing what you find out in the wild to raise your combat skills for instance.

Outside of the town is no-mans land, and apart from charitable players, there is nothing stopping another player from mugging or murdering you; or you doing it to them. There is no name above a players head magically telling you who they are, and there's no 3rd person camera so you can't pan around on the move to see if you're being followed.

Another big thing is that combat is on a user-input basis, manually moving your arms to attack and block - No more sequential button bashing!

I mentioned no respawning mobs; there will be hard monsters in the game (and I don't mean hard as in WoW raid bosses), I mean, it will take a seriously co-ordinated effort of a hell of a lot of players to take these mobs down, and once they're dead, they're dead forever, and their remains will become a static part of the game landscape forever more.

As an avid roleplayer as many of you know from UO, it's very likely that if Mortal Online holds up to be what it says it will be, I will unlikely play another MMO again, and live out my nerdiness on Mortal Online along with my bro and our friends.

Speaking of which, stop listening to me and read through this long image of promotional stills my brother send to me:

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/8981/29272089.jpg

This game is currently available on pre-order and is in beta; my bro has an account and it really is beta. Not like other betas these days that are like free-trials; proper beta where the AI ain't really implemented yet, there's very few NPCs in town, and up until yesterday there weren't really any animals out in the wild! To most of you this is probably just a load of crap but to me it's smacks of the good old days, and I'm letting y'all know about it on the off chance that you're interested, in which case I'd be more than happy to play with you =D

Drew's older brother, Alex was going off on one last night whilst we were all playing LOTRO saying he wants to revive an RP guild from Ultima they all used to be a part of called 'The Crimson Rogues'; I guess I don't really need to go into detail about what they did.

I personally used to be part of the peasant's Guardsmen Militia, and I might recreate my own kind of 'wilds militia' in this to protect people out of town from brigands =P Just an idea though.

Like I say it's completely sandbox so you can make guilds how you want them, good or bad.

Other features are things like no horses-in-your-pocket; if you have a horse, it's a bloody horse and if you get off it it's still there and can be attacked - Just like any NPCs in town also, you won't be told "You cannot attack this"; you could try, and then try to outrun the guards ;)

Also, loot and dying will work like it did in UO - You don't click a corpse and auto-loot, you gotta grab what you want physically, and if you die your body will remain where it was free for people to loot you like vultures, take your arms and armour; unless you've got a friend nearby who'll do it for you first! (Not sure how death will work in Mortal, but in UO for instance you re-spawned at your point of death as a ghost unable to be seen by, or interact with the world and you had to run around woodlands to find 'Wandering Healers' or visit healers in towns to resurrect you; revived with only your white death shrowed and very low health, you had to run back to your corpse and manually loot your items back whilst trying not to get killed again by the nearby monsters that killed you in the first place; this used to get very frustrating but it's a far preferable system to 'oh no i've died; now i've gotta run back to where I was, but at least I've still got everything on me!'.

There aren't many towns, and the wilderness can be quite open rolling plains, because player housing isn't tidied away into a corner somewhere, player housing like UO is in THE world; groups of players can get together and place houses in such a way as to create player towns.

For instance, in this picture (http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/252/ravenstonekeep.jpg) you can see about 3 buildings of a total of 7 in a small clearing in Ultima Online that made the 'player town' of Stonekeep; the Guardsmen Militia' garrison. In terms of gameplay mechanics these were just 7 separate houses, but their function was that of barracks, HQ, tavern, shop, armoury, church, storage etc...

Rico
15-01-10, 11:45
You tried the beta?

Heskey
15-01-10, 11:50
I haven't, but my brother is in it - I believe if you pre-order it you get in.

I will warn you from what I saw it REALLY is unfinished beta, but the whole concept has me jizzing in my pants. I may pre-order it myself just to doss around in the beta.

Was watching Mark last night killing gizelle and some fella comes up eyeing him up, presumably to decide whether or not to kill him (or maybe worrying if Mark would kill him). With a bit of goading after the guy ran off, I encouraged Mark to sprint after him (before he reached the town where he was heading) and plant his axe in his back! Was great; this kind of PvP really gets the adrenaline pumping - Especially when on death you stand to lose everything you're carrying/wearing.

PS. Re-read below the image I posted, I keep adding stuff lol

Heskey
15-01-10, 12:01
I mentioned there are skills and no levels, this again will work a lot like UO used to (a lot of it is based on UO tbh back when it was good; like I said the dev team is the old UO guys who left what was then known as 'Origin' when EA took over).

You don't level up and become great, you choose what skills you want to train and become better at them by practicing and using them; every skill ranges in points from 0 to 100 - the more you use it the better you'll get at it.

You can't become a master of everything though, there is a skill cap of 800 (UO was 700), which basically means you can choose to be amazing at 8 things, or less-amazing at a lot of things.

When the ability to ride a horse (and whether you'll fall off, how fast it goes etc) is one of these skills, it's really gonna make you ask yourself if you want to be a mounted knight, or forego the ability to ride a horse and get around quick so that you can learn how to poison your weapons, for instance.

There's also friendly fire, so becareful where you swing in melee, and where you cast if you're a mage!

It's just great that from the same common ground of starting with nothing, you can become an assassin, mage, crafter, explorer, fighter, all through practicing a combination of skills of your choosing.

Rico
15-01-10, 12:02
Looks interesting, but MMO's have the habit of sucking souls and destroying lives if you really get into them. I tried Conan and it took up far too much of my time!

Heskey
15-01-10, 12:11
Looks interesting, but MMO's have the habit of sucking souls and destroying lives if you really get into them. I tried Conan and it took up far too much of my time!

Well matey this is where Mortal will change the rules for you.

Games like WoW are an occupation to keep on top of; you gotta 'raid' loads to get good equipment that becomes obsolete within the first few levels of endless expansions, and you have that addiction to just do a few more quests to get X or Y item before you go to bed...

But Mortal Online, like UO, you go on and do what you want. There is no 'end game', you make and play the game as you want; just like we do in Chernarus - I scrape and save to try and get good equipment, whereas epoch never really advances in terms of getting rich or getting good stuff; he just goes around causing annoyance with his lighter and lockpicks lol. What I'm getting at is from the word go, you can go decide 'I want to be a warrior!' and go fight to get good, or you can just piss around and do what you like; dabble in a bit of stealing, murder, griefing, maybe learn to craft yourself some shoddy armour.

Maybe one day you become fed up of being a fighter; there's nothing stopping you un-training skills in place of something else.

In the early days of UO, Mark's character "Heskie" (from who I originally take my nickname), went from being a warrior, to a crafter, to a treasure hunter, to a mage, to finally an animal tamer.

In essence, you don't need to spend months grinding to some 'master level' to be able to compete in PvP; strength in numbers applies, and because player skill (such as where you swing your weapon!) also counts along with the skill points you've earned.

I remember old days of Ultima were me and my brothers would go on a random server, start with about 3 bandages and 100 gold (that's not like 100 gold in WoW btw lol); we'd buy a sword for about 40 gold and a shield too for about the same.

With the 20 (out of 100) swordsman skill we started with, we'd go run to the mountain ranges and caves to try and find miners (who because they've trained in Mining/Blacksmith/Tailoring/Fletching/Carpentry (remember max of 700 skill points), they couldn't fight or defend themselves. We'd murder them in cold blood for fun, loot their ore and sell it back in town to someone too lazy to go mine it themselves!

Just because you had 60 Swordsmanship and your opponent had 100, it didn't mean you'd lost - It depended on how well you could heal yourself, and let's say you bought a poisoned weapon, well, they'd be done for! =P

Ultimately what I'm saying is the playing field isn't even, because it doesn't have to be. PvP isn't just for the 8x GM (Grand master (100 points in a skill) players like PvP in other MMOs is only for the 'level 80s'

Heskey
15-01-10, 12:34
All I can say really is read the image I originally posted (http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/8981/29272089.jpg) - It will tell you more about the game than I can!

LeChuck
15-01-10, 14:13
looks interesting

Heskey
15-01-10, 14:48
Mmhmm, but I reckon it'll be a while before it's "fully functional" - If you're not a very patient person with games and often don't see the potential beyond what already exists in the game, then I wouldn't recommend playing it until a while after release.

Would hate for people to decide "this is shit" on release and never want to go back to it - For that reason my bro isn't 'pushing' it to our friends. Me and Mark accept that it is currently buggy and empty (in terms of features still in development) as shit, and that because of its scope it may well be buggy on release, but it'll get polished.

thedoombringer0
15-01-10, 15:59
I heard about this a while ago along with some really WIP screens

seemed interesting then and still does.

This is something i would be interested in as long as the monthly sub isnt too expensive.

Heskey
15-01-10, 16:57
Doom it's been announced at about $14; around £9 - The same as most MMOs, they have to keep it in line for competition purposes or people would go play something cheaper, heh.

Aye Doom it definately looks interesting and it's good to see your interest - That yours is born from a new player interested in these concepts, whilst mine is drawn from "UO was like this before it got crap, and I want this sort of stuff back".

I've signed up to the official forums and started posting, mostly in the RP section.

Thinking of guild ideas for a guild a bit like the Guardsmen Militia I used to be apart of. As much as I'd love to get in with The Order of the Knights Templar before some 12 year old does, and ruins it, I want to keep it low-fantasy, grubby peasants rather than knights in shining armour (that have no originality because they're RL references).

thedoombringer0
15-01-10, 17:00
Im not much for high fantasy either.

I would rather go through a "sandbox" game as a wondering spellsword going from job to job with no alliances or affiliations.

But in every fantasy mmo i have seen or the one i have played this isnt possible and thats why this appeals to me. The sort of thing is where the base game actualy relies on some RP and relationships with other players.

Rico
15-01-10, 17:13
As long as I can play only a couple of times a week, and kill Heskey to loot all his stuff that he has spent weeks getting, I'm in :D

thedoombringer0
15-01-10, 17:16
One thing though i hope there would be minimal killing for the sake of killing.

Hopefully a system is enforced in a way similar to CLR where you play in the spirit of the game. I sense sticking to RP servers in this one.

SqnLdr
15-01-10, 17:20
I'm sure the game mechanics will be such that being killed is your own fault, in some way...
This does sound interesting, I can't afford anything monthly though...

Heskey
15-01-10, 17:27
Doom, they are copying the 'flag' system from Ultima Online.

Basically if you kill 5 innocent players you'll be flagged as a murderer; and you will need to wait quite a bit of time until you're 'innocent' again; and by quite a bit of time I'm talking days, not minutes.

During this time you'll be unable to venture into towns without getting attacked by the guards; anyone is free to attack you, and if you die you'll experience what's called "stat loss"; basically lose a percentage of the stats/skills you've earned.

Look up the UO flagging system for more in-depth info, but basically there's "blue" (innocent) "grey" (criminal) and "red" (murderer).

Grey was the middle ground; if you stole from someone you were grey to them but no one else; the guards couldn't be called but the person you stole from could then attack you (you couldn't attack them first without impunity as they were still blue), but what used to happen a lot was angry players would attack the thieves and start getting their ass kicked, but because both players are still blue to everyone else, no one could help them lol.

Attacking innocent players (blues) would make you grey for a period of time; generally after killing a 1-off person or stealing you'd go find somewhere to lay low for a few minutes.

Not sure EXACTLY how it'll work in MO, but I do know they have a flag system (5 kills to murderer, as in UO), and stat loss just like UO =]

---

It's much easier to explain a lot of the game mechanics to you guys because you've played CLR, and you understand basic concepts like the pros and cons of operating in and outside of the law:

1.) Inside, you're generally safe but will progress slowly.
2.) Outside, you take a great risk in being forever hunted, but your progression and profits will come hard and fast.

Rico
15-01-10, 17:41
Well keep us updated how it plays and if after a while they get it worth playing Ill consider at the time. I imagine it will need a few months patching before It'd be worth paying for like most MMO's.

Tegyr
16-01-10, 08:35
I'm in the beta, I also played Darkfall. Now darkfall got plenty of bad reviews but in my opinion it worked, I tested Mortal Online to see if they had pulled it off better. Trust me, It's shit. When I joined the beta it was talk of releasing in a few months or so. There was practically -nothing- in the game world. Seemed more like an early alpha with no content whatsoever.

Heskey
16-01-10, 12:17
You get back on WoW, the most polished MMO out there lol

SqnLdr
16-01-10, 12:45
Teg - I think it's more about the concept and game dynamic than the content at the current time, there's no way it'll be released without enough content. Tell us about that, instead? :)

thedoombringer0
16-01-10, 17:11
was the whole concept not that it would be mostly player driven rather than throw linear content at you in huge droves?

Tegyr
16-01-10, 21:46
I think you're confused. I love the concept. What I referr to as content isnt in the form of instances and such. Its in the form of gameplay systems which gives players something to do. In the form i tried i played it in, you could swing your sword at another player. I played darkfall for the fact that they were going for the same concept, I liked it but felt the interface and some warfare systems were a bit clumsily done as well as my comptuer couldnt handle the really big battles. I had a great interest in Mortal Online as well, as far as buying the game when it came available. My hopes were completely crushed after logging in to see how far they were in what they claimed were 2-3 months off from proper release.

Heskey
18-01-10, 09:53
Like all games these days Teg, they're never fully ready when released and as with all those games, patching will solve the problem. Again, it's still in beta; i'd wager the client I'm currently playing on is quite outdated to perhaps the server they actually have with all the beta-test bugs fixed etc etc

Teg, MO will probably be an amazing game once finished; you don't have to buy it on release and for the reason it's at the stage it's currently in, my brother ain't even telling his friends about it for a while to stop them going "oh this is pants" and never going back to what has the potential to be the best MMO since Ultima Online (before shiny 3D graphics; in the days of Half-Life 1 Deathmatch!)

Tegyr
18-01-10, 17:44
You're talking to me like I have no experience. I've played betas before I'm well aware that MMO's are generally released 1-2 years too early. But as I said. When bought and paid for this game they claimed the launch was a couple of months off. Yet I've never entered a beta that's been in such a shitty state as this one. Even running from the start of the betas I've participated in.

You're taking a piece of paper with a circle on it where the artist says "It's almost done now" and saying "This will be a totally amazing portrait". I'd have no trouble keeping some faith in them if they had opened for closed betas now and said they were releasing in a few years. Darkfall was pretty much considered vaporware right before it finally came out, it spent something like 8 years in development beeing tossed around. Its insulting the people making MO would even think its close to a fit state to release in at its current stage.

Heskey
18-01-10, 18:08
Well eitherway I'm sticking with it, would like to be there for the birth of UO's second coming lol.

PS. Face of Mankind was a bit like this in beta, but now it's a finished product.

Heskey
20-01-10, 03:22
Joined a Roman-themed RP/PvP guild to help me find my feet.

After establishing a crafter, I've now made my fighter and been given a horse.

After gaining some proficiency in riding it and not falling off continually, I decided to go and venture into the big wide world... But not before courteously saying 'farewell' to the craftsmen-to-be on my way out of town, lol!

(Should add all beta graphics are in low res with no option to change for testing functionality purpose; also, no Anti-aliasing just yet - And yas that's motion blur at the bottom left from me looking back as I gallop past on my gee-gee)

http://www3.picturepush.com/photo/a/2802201/img/Anonymous/loooool.bmp

Spaz
08-02-10, 11:18
http://www.mortalonline.com/downloadbeta

Open beta is now up.

Heskey
08-02-10, 11:27
Wouldn't recommend anyone not hardcore plays it just yet; it's still quite buggy and I don't want to turn people away before it's got a real chance to shine =]

Spaz
09-02-10, 21:10
I finally got the game working, now all I need to do is figure out what to ingame. :p

thejollyroger12345
09-02-10, 22:50
gonna DL the beta over night tonight, maybe ill play some with you tomorow hesketh :)

thedoombringer0
09-02-10, 23:22
since heskey says give it a bit i will xD

Heskey
10-02-10, 00:28
gonna DL the beta over night tonight, maybe ill play some with you tomorow hesketh :)

Not playing just atm =]

nk87
11-02-10, 15:21
I downloaded the beta, played 5 minutes, laughed my ass off and quit. :P

Heskey
11-02-10, 15:28
Useful input mate (Y)

nk87
11-02-10, 15:40
No offense, but this game isnt worth anything yet. I had 40 second delay on everything, it looked like lineage. Not immersive or impressive in any way. My friend have tried it since closed beta, he says this will never be worth buying. Have you tried PvP yet heskey? :-)

Heskey
11-02-10, 15:44
nk87, please re-read the entire thread, and if not 5 posts ago I was telling people not to try it at it's current state unless you're a veteran UO player that wants to be back in the glory days.

I'll not repeat myself, but suffice to say the game isn't helped by people complaining that a beta is buggy, or playing for 5 minutes and then posting on the forums "where are all the quests?" having completely missed the aims and objectives of the game developers in attempting to create a sand-box MMO.