Couple of suggestions

i'd like to see a meta map of the world (the entire world). perhaps just dots to denote cities.

in line with this, currently there is a no capture bot policy, could this policy be revised to allow for third party tools, such as a meta map?

naive wrote: i'd like to see a meta map of the world (the entire world). perhaps just dots to denote cities. in line with this, currently there is a no capture bot policy, could this policy be revised to allow for third party tools, such as a meta map?

Hum, yes and no.

We definitely won't allow capture botting (as this is often a quick way of bringing a server to its knees).

But we do think the idea of a meta map of the world is superb - and want it to happen.

However, the dev team is short of time - lots of content to add over the next few weeks / months, ranging from new spell schools to new quest categories (and new quests), NPC interactions, reports etc etc etc.

So, we're very approachable about the possibility of releasing some slightly time-delayed "official" data, perhaps in some sort of XML-web-servicey-thingy for third party developers to use in designing their own Illyriad applications.  This would also be able to avoid many of the pitfalls of using a capture bot method such as changes in page design and player-specific map data.

If there's someone (or multiple people) out there who might be interested in designing third party apps against Illyriad datasets, then let me know in this thread.  If there's enough interest I'll set up a dedicated "Illyriad tech" Forum category for us all to discuss the idea further and get down to the nuts and bolts of what data we could provide.

Think we can prolly discuss the details elsewhere (if there's enough interest in third party apps) - as I don't want to derail this thread too much!

Data Extract would be great - let me know where to post thoughts.

fluffy wrote: I would suggest making a tech tree.  I've been blindly building buildings hoping that I can make units/cast spells only to find out i needed to research something else/build another building first.

Hmm.

We have 2 schools of thought on this one, and we're not entirely convinced of either.

Thought 1:
Give the players all the information about (eg) unit strengths and weaknesses, or spells costs and casting requirements etc up front, and let them make informed decisions about the routes they wish to go.

Thought 2:
It's a brand new, sandbox-y game, and we should let players discover what works and what doesn't, what they need to build/fulfill/cast/whatever each new thing as they get towards it, and the feeling of satisfaction as they get there finally more than makes up for the incremental challenges along the way.

I'm really unconvinced as to either philosophy as it stands, although Thought 2 will become irrelevant as people start pooling and sharing information on these things.

i.e. someone has already gone through the pain you have over whatever you were researching or heading towards, fluffy, but they've just not chosen to share it anywhere public as yet (probably from self interest)... but this will change over time...

Why not make a post yourself based on what you've learnt, steering new players towards the knowledge you've gained about whatever it was you were heading towards?

If enough people did the same, it'd create a knowledge pool that might even teach me something about Illyriad!

Having said all that, we're still writing help files on various topics, and whilst these won't deal with every single requirement for every single thing, they will at least provide some information about the broad requirements for any early game objective.


Edited by GM Stormcrow - 07 Mar 2010 at 14:48