[2021.02.12] Dev Diaries, February 2021

[Ollie]

We invite you to get acquainted with what awaits you in Skylore in the first half of 2021. Please note that the presented new items will be introduced into the game gradually, and we will disclose further details about them soon before each of the subsequent updates.

Do not forget that the project is under development, and the implementation and names of mechanics and decisions may differ from the original idea and description. We will keep you updated on the changes.

We are also ready to tell you some details about the new products that we plan to introduce before the rest, and we will slightly open the veil of secrecy over the most anticipated mechanics.

Happy acquaintance!

 

Group searching

Interaction between players in Skylore is very important, because any adventure will always be more fun and easier in the company of loyal companions. Of course, you can always use automatic matchmaking, but what if you want to assemble an effective group as soon as possible?

We took care of this, and now you do not need to use the world chat to search for groups. You can do everything with the Companion Matchmaking!

The new mechanic is a message board from players, with the help of which you can create a request to search for associates or join an already created announcement. When creating an application, players determine the area of interest for which the squad is assembled, as well as the classes and levels of characters required to join the group.

When accepting already created requests and after selecting a content category or activity, the player sees all the applications to which he can join, based on the current character level. Also, applications with groups containing characters from the friends list will have higher priority for the player and will be displayed higher.

So far, the mechanics provide for 5 categories, but we will definitely expand their list after the appearance of new activities and group content.

 

Increasing variety in equipment

So, after you can easily find companions for any adventure, we decided to think about expanding the possibilities for each class in order to diversify the gameplay as much as possible.

As you know, with an increase in quality, items of equipment of different types receive a random characteristic from their respective set. You can read more about it here — 

We decided to balance the equipment, so we made the following additions: now different classes of armor / accessories will give different amounts of the same stat. So, for example, heavy armor will give more maximum health, in medium armor it is better to dodge attacks, and in light armor, abilities will be used most quickly. We will definitely tell you all the details before making any changes.

But that's not all, because all classes will have access to any piece of armor! This is where the fun begins, because this innovation will allow you to reveal your character in a new way and equip him according to your play style. The impenetrable Alchemist, clad in plate armor, or the Hunter in the mantle, showering his opponents with a barrage of abilities - you are free to experiment, because anything can work!

In the future, we plan to expand the line of accessories - they will also be presented in three classes, each of which will have an additional bonus to one or another characteristics when they are received.

 

Guilds

By far the most anticipated innovation is the Guilds. Indeed, for an MMO, the opportunity to unite with your comrades, to communicate in a separate chat and to go in search of adventure and battle together is one of the most important values!

Guilds are an extensive mechanic that not only interacts with all aspects of the game, but also contains a large number of important details in isolation. We're working on a lot of player grouping tools in parallel, and we couldn't show you this mechanic until we've finished working on the core aspects of guilds.

So let's get down to the details!

 

Creating a guild

Any player who has reached level 8, will be able to create their own guild. For now, we plan that only a certain amount of resources will be needed for this. 

When creating your guild, it will be needed to specify:

• The name of your team: should not contain anything that breaks to the rules of communication in Skylore.
• Description: Here you can specify the especially important information about the team, for example, what content your guild is aimed at.
• Type of recruitment: closed - entry by invitation only, or open - entry by application.
• The minimum level: is the character level required to join the guild when the recruitment is open.

Description and some other settings will remain open to be changed after creating the guild.

 

How to join a guild?

To join a guild, your character must have reached level 3.

It will be possible to join the guild by receiving and accepting the invitation, or by submitting an application on your own, if open recruitment is allowed in the guild, there are free places and you fulfill the level requirement.

You can find such groups using the guild search mechanic - through the interface that displays the most suitable and available groups for you. There will also be located the information specified by the creator when forming the guild, as well as the functionality of sending an application to the community of players you are interested in.

For now, we plan to limit the initial size of guilds to 15 members. However, you will have the opportunity to increase the maximum by studying the talents of the guild.

 

Guild talents

This mechanic will allow players to develop their guild and get powerful bonuses for both PvE and PvP activities. The general layout of the talents of the guild and their study is similar to the talents of the character, but has its own specifics.

So, for example, the talents of a guild can be roughly divided into three categories:

• Guild abilities - talents, the study of which opens access to a bonus with an initial value.
• Enhancements to guild abilities - talents that increase the power of learned guild abilities, and there can be several of them for each ability.
• Guild option expansions - talents that develop any guild parameter and open access to new functionality and guild content.

Keep in mind! Talents of the categories Guild abilities and Enhancements to guild abilities are first and foremost aimed at raising stats of the members.

Each learned talent gives guild experience points. As soon as enough talent points are earned, the guild achieves a new level and with that, access to new pages of guild talents.

 

Guild buff

By themselves, the learned Guild abilities do not give passive bonuses to guild members, but can be used in a guild buff. The structure of this mechanic is similar to a construction set: players choose the necessary enhancements, fill the cells with them and activate the ability, after which all participants receive bonuses to characteristics.

The learned talents can increase both offensive and defensive abilities, as well as make character development easier. And since the guild buff is in effect for a certain time, players can always change the abilities that will go into it the next time they activate.

To activate a guild buff, energy is needed, and the number of ability slots simultaneously available for a guild buff depends on the reputation of the participants.

• Energy

Guild Energy is a special resource that is used to learn talents and activate the guild buff. Different talents and buffs with different amounts of guild abilities require different amounts of energy.

• Reputation

Reputation - a measure of the activity and the experience of players in the guild. It is individual for each guild, so the accumulated reputation points are not transferred when moving to another team. This value is limited for each participant and is added to the total value, and the maximum number of boost slots for a guild buff will be available only if all participants have pumped their reputation to the maximum.

Guild members can get energy and reputation by participating in guild activities. The first of these will be Orders.

 

Orders

The mechanics of orders are similar to the Activity Center you already know. Guild members will receive small tasks: for example, to complete several battles in the Arena or go through a couple of Dungeons.

For completing the task, the player receives a small reward, a certain number of reputation points, and also fills the general bar for completing the assignment alongside with other members of the guild. After the end of the time allotted for the assignment, the completed bar is converted into energy. Therefore, the more players manage to complete the assignments, the more energy the guild will receive.

After that, authorized members will be able to use the accumulated energy in order to develop and strengthen the guild, as far as the current level and reputation indicator will allow.

In the future, we plan to introduce other guild activities, for participation in which you can get reputation and energy.

 

Guild chat

Of course, for the coordination of their actions and simple friendly communication, the guild members will have their own chat available. For convenience, it will be located in a separate tab, and all messages in it will be displayed in a unique color.

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That's all we would like to share with you today, but we still have a lot of interesting information about the upcoming features. Follow the news so you don't miss anything!

See you!