Voicechat Notes - 15 October

[Zombilicious]

Q: I think maybe this has been touched on from a different angle before, but are there any plans to open certain skills to the public, even if it is only for rp purposes at the moment? My specific examples would be dancing and music.
A: Yeah, dancing and music just don't have general trainers at the moment because there's no way to skill up. Once they're implemented, they'll been open for everyone like Storytelling.

Q: Do the warmth categories of clothing have gradations? Can two items have the same warmth category and one offers more warmth than another?
A: Yeah, categories are categories; it's not an instance of 1 is 1, 2 is 2, etc. 2 things could show up in the same category and have a slightly different warmth factor. Layering does work.

Q: But there is gradation in excellent? (not looking for immunity, just want to know when to tell people to stop adding layers).
A: He couldn't find it. He thinks once it says Excellent, you have as much warmth as you can get.

Q: I'm gonna hop in on the "questions before I forget" train - Do you have a planned usage for the Runes command for PCs?
A: Yes. (Zombilicious was, unfortunately, busy saving Mourn.)

Q: Winnowed rimeveil cannot be sold to the market, but must be spun first. Is this a bug or a feature?
A: A feature, it seems.

Q: A sillier question, but how often are new randomized login messages added, if ever?
A: Whenever Rias might feel like adding another one that's good!

Q: Are there any remnants or physical signs of the Cataclysmic Event that Vodr helped the world avoid? ex. - "That lake was formed by that wild thing that happened?
A: For the time being, he says "There are places that people claim are that." He does not want to truly confirm or deny. He has it as a clear, solid part about it in the history but he needs to polish details.

Q: Are there any historical records or folktales that describe that cataclysmic time or event, that PCs would be privy to?
A: Yes! He will put them out there for people to discover at some point. Currently, no, but lorewise possibly. He won't put them on the wiki. Maybe he will. HE HAS INFORMATION, THOUGH. FIND IT.

Q: Are there any records of what other Prime Immortals, besides Vodr, were lost?
A: No comment for now. This is digging deep. Eventually, there will be more about the term Prime.

Q: Are there any current Immortals listed on the wiki (aside from Vodr) who would be considered a Prime Immortal? What makes a Prime Immortal Prime?
A: Yes, there are others on there that are Prime Immortals; he doesn't want to go a lot into it, but Vandin is one of them, whereas Naia, Nereia, and Serafina are NOT Prime Immortals, they're low on the power influence scale. Shethsut and other Nuumic stuff, the Nuum had tiers: Big Boys and Tons and Tons of Lesser Bois varying in scale and power and stuff; Ol' Shethy has been gone a long, long time.

Q: Is it known whether or not Sorcery happens on other continents like Tyr-Gwyrd or Constantia, and if those areas have ambient nether or not?
A: Yeah, it's reported/observed everywhere, it seems like. It's not just in Arad.

Q: Is there a general point in documented history where Sorcery (and Nether and Nethrim) first started to appear?
A: No comment for the time being. He has to put together the player-facing timeline.

Q: You may have answered this before but - is there any kind of physical or very noticeable distinction for the God-Kings of Tatlhuecatn that make it obvious that they're imbued with the divine splinter of Toteo, or is that a "the priests say so" kind of thing?
A: They don't have any physical distinctions, so no. How much is actual power? How much is the priests saying it, or the people saying it? They don't walk around people a lot. It's hard to say what's real and what isn't.

Q: Are signet rings for signing paperwork still in the works?
A: There in the works as much as "They're a cool idea, and I want to add them sometime."

Q: What's next after all the festival stuff is over?
A: For more stuff, Rias is excited about: fixing market code and code efficiency updates! As far as what everyone else cares about, NotShad and Societies!

Q: Are you aware that kite shields vs round shields offer no bonus, and if anything, kite shields just weigh more?
A: Rias laughed at this. Yes, he needs to give them something, he added them and knew he needed to add something to differentiate them but then forgot because that's Rias for you. Ideas from Kaiju: Percentage bonus to defense like in The Other Game.

Q: Fur hats and glove liners when?
A: That'd be nice since it's getting cold. Rias will have to play with that.

Q: Is excellent warmth max warmth?
A: Yes. There isn't an immune-to-cold warmth rating. There might be some kind of special buffs or materials that can grant it, but not mundane stuff.

Q: Is the lower block roll with kite shields due to weight intentional?
A: No.

Q: The nether and immortal questions had me wonder. What is the Huec view of sorcery? I played one at one point that believed it was a broken or dead aspect of Toteo left scattered over the world, but is there an official place for it in their cosmology?
A: That's a good question! He hasn't really put a solid thing for it, so he has to think about it; it's definitely something they acknowledge. Some of them use it and stuff.

Q: Is there, or are there plans to be, provision for characters to start with cultural tattoos or brands if appropriate to their background? Ythwir brands, etc. I'm sorry if this is posted somewhere; I asked on chat the other day and there was no answer.
A: Yeah, that and things like the Fasa Tattoos and stuff, will definitely have those character-creation options. When it comes to that stuff with people who don't have them: it's OK with getting one at things like the Tattoo Merchant at the Octum Festival and then act like you've always had it.

Q: Is there any preference to Giganti weapons/armor via Clan? I assumed stuff like Jernmeis/Svartsten, Fallansten for example would be very heavy armor-based, while Skjelfuru/Rullenbolg/Hvituvlv are more based around light armor. Not, like hardcore split, but their environments from pure rugged mountains/underground to water/artic.
A: Yeah, you got that about right. It's clearly very intuitive; Hvitulv are very high mobility, whereas Fallansten are an immovable bastion of might.

Q: Bit obscure here, but how much can Arcana affect natural forces? I can elaborate on that a bit. We have a glyph that levitates objects, a glyph that blurs a moving image, vice versa. Is the intention for it to be kinda similar to alchemy (as a real-world science) but more temporary in affecting how things work, or does it have a grander scale?
A: This one is tricky to answer! He'll have to get back to us on that one. Regarding on-weapon glyphs that generate effects on hit, like force blast: that sort of stuff is possible, but he doesn't know what he'll put in yet. Arcana is still in flux!

Q: On societies, though slap me if someone asked this before. Do you intend to do anything special for, say, druidry-focused societies as society-specific abilities instead of say, exclusive services/gear?
A: He doesn't want to do societies that are based around exclusive skills, they become no-brainer options for people who have that skill and they become very exclusive to others joining. He wants them to be more broad scope/cause that anyone can join. There are groups out there that are focused on these things, but they won't be joinable for gameplay. They're too narrow in scope.

Q: Related to the society answer, you mentioned an 'assassin' guild on the last post. As only nightblades have an assassination ability, did you have plans for ways to open it up to non-nightblades, or make it not a given for them like a druid society would be for primalists?
A: It's kind of like the Shady Society. Of course, all the rogues and stuff are going to end up there, but you could also join it as a Guardian, styled as a Bodyguard or Thug. Similarly with the assassin group. It's a clandestine group that are taking people out for a cause. Some might be doing it in a typical Assassin way, but others may do so in other ways; for example, a Dreadnought smashing someone out in the middle of nowhere, boom, assassinated. It's more secretive than stealthy, not that stealthy people aren't going to have something of a mild advantage/tendency to seek out that sort of thing. You wouldn't join it and then learn to be an assassin; you'd join it and employ your skills in your own way.

Q: Are they exclusive unionized bounty hunters?
A: Possibly? It has an underlying cause behind what they're doing; it's not just a hitman guild, though that might be something that they do, it's not everything that they do; they have something they're fighting for.

Q: And this one's only meant as a lore question due to something that came up in chat! Prosthetics. As early as the 1400s, real-life had instances of metal hands, including a famous one worn by Gotz of the Iron hand, that could lock its fingers via its spring-loaded system to things as delicate as writing with a quill. Is there anything similar in COGG's world, how do people cope with limb loss when not Undying?
A: He can see stuff like that, especially in places like Khaldea where they love that. To what level, he's unsure; he doesn't know enough behind the science to make adequate assumptions on implementation. If they can find some way to get around a missing limb, with the technology available -- peg legs and stuff. In Khaldea, they're definitely doing fancy stuff. Purely as a lore thing; not for characters generally, thus now. It starts to get dicey.

Q: Are there decency laws?
A: Not yet, but they will eventually be implemented.

Q: Can we have more gender-neutral responses (red text of death, etc.) to female toplessness and male toplessness, for the purpose of ensuring male druids and female druids are allowed to have the same amount of skin revealed?
A: We may get chest wraps changed to not count as coverage of skin; he doesn't want everyone walking around naked, though. Put your darn clothes on.

Q: Is there a wiki page or forum post about the reputation system?
A: Yes, we definitely want some laws that cause disruptions to encourage you to keep stuff to your designated picking spot. Naturally, when more dangerous traps come out, this will be even more important.

Q: Do you want help with wiki editing/building of guide text for systems? A player was asking a lot of questions about how the weather system worked on an OOC level a while ago and I was thinking "help weather" could list how weather works on an OOC level.
A: Yeah! If you want to help on the wiki who doesn't have an account, send an e-mail to cogg@contrarium.net and ask for an account! Make sure you send your account name to them; he wants them to match.

Q: What's the best way to give feedback or such about hidden abilities?
A: It's not like they're super ultra take-it-to-your-grave secret, post on it and be circular if you want to; be vague if you can. Definitely avoid location, names, etc. If you have to ask about those, mail cogg@contrarium.net -- but don't wheedle lore out of him!

Q: On the subject of hidden abilities: do you have plans for hidden glyphs and stuff like that?
A: Yes.

Q: Are you planning on putting them in boxes as plates?
A: When it comes to plates, he has several ideas on distribution of them!

Q: What would a formal introduction be like for Giganti, if any? Would them being part of a sub-clan change the response to this question?
A: For the first part, they have a typical son or daughter type name if they're proud of their parentage, and then their clan name, and then any epithets they have bestowed upon them (so Black, the son of Grey from Jerkface Clan, The Bulwark of Shadgard). For sub-clans, it would depend on the relationship to the main clan, for instance, if they're conquered or something; feel free to flavor it as your character would! If they're bitter about it, they may not mention it's a sub-clan or something.

Q: I noticed materials lists bloodglass as a lithic. Is it naturally found, or made from something else? Is it also only found in deserts?
A: It seems exclusive to the deserts of Nuum; in the Other Game there was blood sand that you had to smelt into bloodglass, that won't be the case here, probably. It's probably a similar concept, though.

Q: If there are materials that aren't necessarily in-game yet, is there going to be an opportunity to procure them during Octum?
A: Yes.

Q: Sorry, this one is not entirely a question, but I did submit two not-very-helpful confusing reports. So to describe it better here, it seems the Glyph Retention ability is counting the 33+ re-take mechanic from the point at which you first learn it, and not 1 arcana skill.
A: It worked when he tested, but he'll take a gander at it!

Q: Considering how much Shadgard hates sorcery/etc, how do they consider the Octum Festival? Is it a taboo thing, or is it cheery and well-loved?
A: There are parts of it they love; they love the harvest festival stuff, the stuff to ward off netherim, etc. There's more of a "Stay away from Flannigan." but they don't think the festival is bad. It's not something you have to keep quiet in Shadgard, plenty of them go if they're willing to brave the roads.

Q: Are you intending other combat tiers in regards to things like Shield Bash, where you can use it without balance. There's no negative to using it. Are you imagining other abilities like that, or is Shield Bash on its own?
A: Shield Bash might need a glance if it's too powerful. It would be nice to have other abilities; he wants to make it a thing for Marauders, who would have 'desperate moves' and wouldn't require balance quite as much. It won't necessarily be exclusive to Shield Bash and Marauders, though.

Q: Have you considered the fact that reactive shield bash maybe needs a lesser effect?
A: I think that'd be the best way to do it.

Q: What is an 'aum'?
A: An arbitrary unit of measurement. Because Rias is silly.

Q: Great Swords when, and when are we getting bone, wood, chain, plate, etc armor?
A: He needs to stop overcomplicating it and work on it. Splint, bone and wood will be out pretty soon, but the other stuff are on his list.

Q: Bone and wood, is this one-shot stuff or is this easily craftable, or is it sustainable?
A: It's repairable. It will require more replacement parts than other repairs, though. You'll still be able to get a set of bone-splint armor, get it altered, and know you'll never lose it when it breaks.

Q: Does that translate into crossbows and bones? If we can repair wooden armor, can we repair bows and so forth?
A: He's going to come up with some way to make it so you can have your fancy longbow with a cool description and have it repaired after it gets damaged, through some sort of maintenance; maybe occult, maybe druidic, maybe a craftsman-related thing.

Q: Iarel's helpfile focuses mostly on the knowledge-giving side of her, as I recall. With the Faewyr focus on animal spirits, I had three questions: Is there a serpent great spirit, what is the view of the spirit if so, and how does it intersect with Iarel?
A: Yes, there is one. The answer to the other two is "It's complicated." He doesn't want to say anything until he has an official document.

Q: There is a certain constellation, at least from before, which had a secondary association with serpents for druids: the River. Is this still so?
A: Yes! The constellations are the same.

Q: Are there superstitions around birth constellations?
A: Yes, but it doesn't particularly align with the real world, so people interested in astrology will have to remain calm.

Q: How can the Hanged Man Inn stay in business selling only dry mugs?
A: He just needs to add drinks.

Q: What other weapon bases are you considering at the moment, beyond the greatsword?
A: Macuahuitl is on the list! There were also lots of requests/suggestions, so we discussed them.

Q: When is Gralt's auction? Do we have a date? Do we have a time? Will I be able to make it?
A: Rias has to check, but no, you won't have to be there in person because this is a really nice cuirass. He'll double-check but he doesn't think it will be that way. He will check and make a clarifying post somewhere.

Q: How come nightblades don't have the means to see in the dark?
A: Because that would be extremely powerful. Rias said it was a thing in the other game, but he didn't like how powerful it was.

[Rias]

Thank you so much to everyone for this awesome voicechat! I'm sorry I ran off pretty quick at the end there, but it was a good hearty 2 hours with lots of people and lots of great questions. I usually try to express how much I appreciate and enjoy you all before leaving the voice, but I had something I needed to get to, so I apologize for failing to do that this time.

Thanks Zombi for emceeing and taking notes. And thanks to everyone who plays and gets into their characters and makes me feel like developing and sharing this world is worth doing. It's difficult to express how meaningful that is to me, and through playing your characters and sharing them you all help me shape and refine the world further. I've heard some new character concepts come up that I'm really excited to see take root and grow!

[Maina]

Thank you very much Rias and zombi!

Small correction, maybe?

Q: Is there a wiki page or forum post about the reputation system?
A: Yes, we definitely want some laws that cause disruptions to encourage you to keep stuff to your designated picking spot. Naturally, when more dangerous traps come out, this will be even more important.

I believe this was the answer to Alila's question, not the reputation one: Tangentially, will there be law breaking tied to triggering certain traps in public? Presumably triggering a darkness trap in the middle of the Commons while some hapless miner is enjoying their lunch under the shade of the robed statue would make them very upset.

The reputation was something like "it's still very undeveloped and mostly manually set by GMs"