Feedback Thread: Viamontians

[Ibn]

Use this thread to let us know what you think of the new Viamontian heritage group!

[StormyEyebright]

The heritage skills are interesting, and it is nice to start with spec'd Loyalty. The dungeon looked good, but the town sucks because everyone is trying to get the levels. It might be a good idea to put the level vendors in spaced out places OUTSIDE of town so that the people would be more spaced out. For the few players like me that actually want to try the quests for low levels it is lame to listen to people saying that others should leave or shut up about the lag when you are there trying to complete/start a quest you have been given.

[Zeds]

not much is what I think of them

they should have had a racial weapon

it is in a way overpowering for them to not be saddled with a useless racial weapon when the rest of the races are.

w00t , they are blue , big hairy deal

I gues they are ok but I wouldnt get all excited about them or anything like that.


""Sorry! The administrator has specified that users can only post one message every 360 seconds"

this has to be the most asinine posting rule I have ever seen on any board , ift isnt as if I care enough to farm for numbers of posts or whatever the board weasels do

[jfilip112]

There are a lot of people who don't care about having a racial weapon though. Most melees never use their racial weapon (unless they're UA), and mages don't use theirs much either. It's just another option. I'm sticking to my Aluvian character for many reasons, but the lack of a racial weapon doesn't bother me at all.

[Sangria]

I liked the new race - It was new. Not really outstanding or wonderful - just new as in something we didnt have before.

They are blue. Didn't like that at first but it grew on me. The new hair styles helped out.

I wish I could say they were spectacular in some way but ... eh.

[Fyire]

Havent gotten to play much with them yet. played for about 15 min before servers were brought down for maint. :(

ill let ya know tonight. so far I do like them, armor tink and spec'd loyalty is kinda nice too

[Bardo]

I like them but they are a little too overpowered with their starting skills I think. Remember when everyone went Gharu because they started with a tinkering skill (before salvage skill)? This is going to be far worse than that because anyone who knows their patron is going to love the idea of auto-spec loyalty and the tinkering skill to boot... and not just item tinkering either...

Not to say I don't like them, I do. I like them too much over the 3 exsisting races.

[Heideggar]

With armor tinkering as a racial skill it enables tinker mules to get extra credits to use in some other copacity because credits aren't used to buy armor tinkering. Not only that, but spec'd loyalty gives this heritage group an advantage in passing up xp.

Why should any single race be better at passing up XP and being a better tinker bot than any other? Possibly more skill credits for a mule, and more xp. Those are very nice things to have if you don't use your racial weapon or skills... like most people do.

If I had to rate the racial skills:
Sho (10/10)
Viamontian (9/10)
Gharu'ndim (4/10)
Aluvian (4/10)


Turbine, you should have stuck with the same scheme as the other races. You're gonna end up making it even harder for yourselves to balance the racial skills like you said you'd do over a year ago.

Blue skin? eh. Armor is armor. With buffing the way it is, I just go for single slot armor pieces anyways.

[ZiggZagg]

I like the new race, took a little bit of getting used to since I made my first character and couldn't find the slider to change how light/dark their skin was.

[Order of Chaos]

Good for mules, but that's it.

[Bardo]

Well of course, here is the kicker... I think

Sure the tinkering is nice and the auto-spec loyalty... But since they raised the level cap which means that there is a decent chance you might want to spec something else... well you are already a couple credits short of that 64 you were given

like a BM, Spec War, Spec Life, Spec Loyalty... now you can't spec Creature, that would put you over the 64 mark (War 28, Life 20, Loyalty 2, Critter 16 = 66). Maybe the spec loyalty is a downside more than a positive?

[Ebon Enchanter]

I like the color blue.... that being said the new race is a sign of what is wrong with the whole expansion. There is not enough change in functionality. Turbine took extra time to bring the AC1 expansion to us vs the time it took for AC2 and yet except for graphics changes there is nothing new! What is the point of making a new race when it is to all intents and purposes the same as others? Make a difference for god's sake! In the DVD preview the Viamont warriors were shown as hulking brutes, allow the characters to progress graphically based on points spent on strength, endurace, focus etc. Have the Viamonts start with base 100 strenghth and coord. Use this as an opportunity to change the other races in similar ways. Why arent there any boats ? I thought the idea of an island based race would bring about boating and other water opportunites. For instance house boats as new housing , electical spells that do area affect , as well as electric melee weapons doing the same. One of the biggest changes I saw talked about that would have shown the functionality changes I am talking about was the creation of a Turbine created user interface mimicking the effects of Decal. Come to find out Zyrca did all the work but it was nerfed due to the realization that that work was based on the AC engine and it would all have to be reworked for TOD. Realize that AC has some of the best and most loyal followers. We deserve better, dont make what we have seen so far be what TOD delivers.

[Ghorak]

Well of course, here is the kicker... I think

Sure the tinkering is nice and the auto-spec loyalty... But since they raised the level cap which means that there is a decent chance you might want to spec something else... well you are already a couple credits short of that 64 you were given

like a BM, Spec War, Spec Life, Spec Loyalty... now you can't spec Creature, that would put you over the 64 mark (War 28, Life 20, Loyalty 2, Critter 16 = 66). Maybe the spec loyalty is a downside more than a positive?

Good point Bardo, didn't really think of that at first. Spec loyalty is nice but if it counts toward my 64, that just plain stinks.

.

[hippiechick64]

Its free. That its not a weapon doesnt make it any different in terms of skill credits. Race weapons/skills are free.

mj

[Sajuro]

Well of course, here is the kicker... I think

Sure the tinkering is nice and the auto-spec loyalty... But since they raised the level cap which means that there is a decent chance you might want to spec something else... well you are already a couple credits short of that 64 you were given

like a BM, Spec War, Spec Life, Spec Loyalty... now you can't spec Creature, that would put you over the 64 mark (War 28, Life 20, Loyalty 2, Critter 16 = 66). Maybe the spec loyalty is a downside more than a positive?

As a Viamontian, specialized Loyalty will not contribute to your total pool of specialized skill credits. A Viamontian will be able to specialize War Magic, Life Magic and Creature Enchantment post-creation in addition to having Loyalty specialized at character creation.

[Lady of Roses]

Honestly, I can't see a reason to re-roll as a Viamontian at this point. I was going to make one to play their racial weapon, and was rather looking forward to using one of the "odd" weapons like mace or spear. Instead I'll be getting a skill that would only make my patron happy, and a tinker skill I wouldn't care about unless I was going to turn my character into a tinker mule.

[Fzzt]

...but their blue!
Any new character or old character I reroll will be a Viamontian. I really like their look & lore and hope the coming story arcs in the monthly patches further the Viamontian story.

[Nightstarr SC]

I like them. But in Honest there is no real reason to work one up once it goes live due to the fact I have a 128 xbower, a 87 4school, and 67 tinker. I will make one and I may explore the low level content. But there is nothing about them that would make we want to drop my other toons and spend the time to lvl a new toon.

Now had it been mana C or healing even Lockpick. I would have started a fresh toon.


Mana C helps everyone, Healing helps melees and 3schools, lock pick helps with exploring and soloing and helps avoid those times when you in a dugeon and you hit a lock door and you say @#$% anyone got lock pick?

[Kaleb]

Personally, I'm very happy with your choices for the racial skills. Specialized Loyalty is appealing to me because of how often I reroll. I get characters to level 126 then start all over again. This will make my other characters quite happy in the long run. As for Armor Tinkering, it's also quite convenient. About half of my characters are mages with 100 End/Foc start, so they could completely max that skill. To say the least, I really like it.

As for appearance, the blue skin seems a bit odd, but I'm QUITE PLEASED that you allowed the color slider to turn them either ghostly white or dark grey. The dark grey skin is my new favorite color. :)

[Shaolin]

Should have been a playable drudge or shadow or etc
Another human type isn't exactly fresh.

[Arcane Katty]

I like them, because for a while now I've been trying to figure out how to roll a playable armor tinkerer. Only way I know to do it and make them playable is to make them a mage. 100 end, foc and self. With the Viamontian being born with armor tinkering, it makes my template that much easier to work together. Then my trade mule with 100 str coord and foc has all the other skills I need, and is who I swear to. And then there is the spec loyalty bonus! Great for my plan :D

Granted it sux to have to re-roll. But it's worth it to me for this reason only.

[Miss Stephanie]

I would have preferred a different race like lugian, tumerok, drudge, etc. instead of human. Turbine did this for AC2. I guess this is alot more work than to retool a human temp. Also would have preferred a free racial weapon. The free loyalty and armor tink doesn't really do it for me. On a positive note I like the new blue coloring and I especially like their lore.

[Lynx]

I like the color blue.... that being said the new race is a sign of what is wrong with the whole expansion. There is not enough change in functionality. Turbine took extra time to bring the AC1 expansion to us vs the time it took for AC2 and yet except for graphics changes there is nothing new! What is the point of making a new race when it is to all intents and purposes the same as others? Make a difference for god's sake! In the DVD preview the Viamont warriors were shown as hulking brutes, allow the characters to progress graphically based on points spent on strength, endurace, focus etc. Have the Viamonts start with base 100 strenghth and coord. Use this as an opportunity to change the other races in similar ways. Why arent there any boats ? I thought the idea of an island based race would bring about boating and other water opportunites. For instance house boats as new housing , electical spells that do area affect , as well as electric melee weapons doing the same. One of the biggest changes I saw talked about that would have shown the functionality changes I am talking about was the creation of a Turbine created user interface mimicking the effects of Decal. Come to find out Zyrca did all the work but it was nerfed due to the realization that that work was based on the AC engine and it would all have to be reworked for TOD. Realize that AC has some of the best and most loyal followers. We deserve better, dont make what we have seen so far be what TOD delivers.

[Zero_Washu]

Use this thread to let us know what you think of the new Viamontian heritage group!


One word summary : Lame.

Specializing loyalty was a dead give-a-way ya'll had no concept other than you needed another race. Making them blue was silly beyond measure, most of the time the textures make them appear as if they were manequins.

Basically short, skinny, wanna-be lugians with silly lore behind them.

It would have been far better to made them npcs instead of playable.

[PanzerArcher]

At first, I was encouraged by the Viamont. It was a new race with what appeared to be an interesting background for Dereth. Add in the concept of land management and I saw great potential here, perhaps pvp with a degree of underlying purpose.

But then the Land Management system was slashed. The Viamonts were left with just the lore and physical differences. Background lore became undercut by additonal info and storylines. And in reality, a warmongering people should have difficulty waging war in a land populated with folks who are unkillable...including themselves. Any offensives would be scripted and played out in Roll Outs and Teasers. And without any game mechanic, Vias would basically be blueskinned Sho/Aluvy/Gharu toons. Nothing keeps them "in-character". Normally that would not be such a big deal except on a RP server, but the sense of racial arrogance of the Viamonts (both sides) is stated, restated, and restated.

The Racial skills do not blow my skirt up. Given the Via's agressiveness, warmongering, and unified nature (in spite of civil war) I could see them actually gettign a bonus in the racial weapon department, even getting either one of the Defenses for free. Besides, they have been on Dereth as long as the other Ispar races, except that on July 18th all Viamont characters will be level 1. So they have to make up some leveling ground. And heaven help the actual real newbs that start playign, or even the returnign players from ages ago.

Armor Tinkerign is kind of pointless at this stage of the game. I already have a tinkerer. The guild I am part of has several tinkerers. There are pay and free tinkerers all over MT and I assume the situation is the same on other servers. So my current tinker toon will find himself outsourced. Otherwise it's like having a UA Gharu toon. Maybe thre Armor Tink could be explained int he lore as part of the Via's trainign in the military. But then, each Via newb would need to get a suit of Viamont armor at training hall.

Loyalty, Maybe an all Viamont guild. Combine with a premise of Viamont Guilds wagign war against the Bloodless and I could get into this. Lore wise, how can a Via be loyal to a Bloodless, even by their own lore? Just seems a bit cheap in my opinion.

Anyway, it's wait in see. In my own case I'll hope for the best and see how the wind blows post xpack.

[kclobo2003]

As I was reading this I had to agree with those that don't like spec loyalty and not having a racial weapon, but then again the speced loyalty is kind of explained in their character lore as a race. But not having a racial weapon doesn't make sense when they are suppose to be a race raised on fighting?

And then an idea hit me, how we can in a way choose what skills are pre-trained...and that is when we choose a "class" the system can automaticaly choose which type of class that character is coming from and fit it into their character and lore.

Like picking the "War Mage Class" I think it is and then onto the skills screen you would say start out with Mana C instead of picking Aluvian or Ghur(SP?) or Sho and starting out with that weapon type, could have a more focused and reasonable temp centered around the type of character you are creating...

ok now since Im not good at thinking out the long run of this... I do not know how will this would work out.

Other then my little idea there...I like that they are blue but that is about it, oh and their new lore and what not....good to have something different to choose from.

[Hamfast]

I think in a way the lack of a racial weapon for a war like race makes some sense... because the "Best Weapon" is an opinion...

Each Viamont learns the weapon their father (teacher? Mentor?) sees as the best weapon, unlike the other racial groups who have a "History" with some weapon, the Viamont do not... they have the best weapon and the loyalty not to see it differently

[PanzerArcher]

I'm colorblind so color of one's avatar does not matter so much to me. Besides, most of the skin is covered by armor, robes, clothes, etc.

I do like the idea of "best weapon" or using the weapon of one's father. Perhaps even the Via's could be specialized weapons based upon house ties. For example, and I create these names, Viamont warriors of House Tortinni are known for their skill as spearmen. Hence, most Tortinni soldiers are spearman and most spear units within the Viamont Armies are Tortinni in origin. Conversely, House Innocenti is known for their archers. And so on...

Arcane Lore might be a better used skill than Loyalty. The claim of Viamont loyalty is kind of weak when put against the lore, which is full of holes as well as forced scripting. I'm not going into that too much as I am at work. However, the mere premise of a Viamont standing side by side, much less swearing fealty to a non-Viamont is absurd. Then there is the matter of the Viamont king's most trusted warlords (and friend) plotting a coup, attempting assasination, engineering the death of one Prince, and sacrificing his own House. And what was this for? Cause his 13 year old daughter had a four day fling for a much older aristocrat who tried to show off by dueling a Prince with a cruel reputation and died. Oh yeah, there was that small individual plot point that was never really fleshed out or executed within the game.