The Dragon's Neck Dev Update
Hey TDN Community!
This update is going to have some good news/info and some possibly bad news depending on your intended character class. We'll hit the possibly bad stuff up-front.
Topics:
- DN/Blighter Update.
- Past & Present of TDN
- Stealth Wiki Page Updated.
- Development Status Update.
- Class Wiki Page Updates
- Sceenies!
Dread Necromancer and Blighter Classes are being shelved for the time being.
Yes, you heard that right, we've made the tough decision to make these two classes inaccessible at launch. First, I'd like to apologize to all the would-be DNs and Blighters out there. This wasn't something we approached lightly as a team and was a difficult decision to make despite the massive amount of time-committment already invested in both implementations. Below are some reasons as to why we made this decision:
- Development Time - Ultimately, these two classes represent a high amount of development time to implement and continuously iterate upon. Both classes are quite strong in their current iteration (in order to give them a chance of survival), however keeping that at least somewhat balanced while allowing the classes their conflict abilities was challenging. At this time, I want us to get TDN launched and we can revisit the possibility of these classes returning in some form in the future.
- For context: Even pre-TDN11 these classes were extremely buggy. So the workload to get them functional is/was no small feat.
- DM Bandwidth at Launch and the nature of Conflict - For anyone who has been involved in an NWN Roleplay PW, you very likely realize the amount of times that a DM is requested or has to get involved for PvP scenarios. We expect there to already be a baseline of conflict when we launch which will require DM attention, DNs and Blighters only exacerbate that amount of conflict we are expecting. We simply are not going to have the bandwidth in the few months after launch to reasonably set an expectations we'll get to it all.
- Narrative and Setting Influence - It is no secret there is a high interest in the Dread Necromancer and Blighter classes (DN in particular). We do not want to enable a situation where, upon launch, Necromantic attacks on folks are the norm. DNs being freeform available from day 1 increases that likelihood. Should these classes return in the future, our objective is to give them an experience worthy of the setting. Right now, what we have in place is not fitting of a positive experience for players that would be taking those classes.
Alternatives to Dread Necromancer & Blighter:
- Necromantic Wizard.
- Abyssal Sorcerer.
- Neutral Evil Druid.
- Warlock.
- My character concept is now dead. What should I do?
- This is probably the worst part of making this decision is the hopes/dreams folks had for their character class. The best recommendation we can give is to consider the alternative class concepts mentioned above.
- You're also welcome to ask in the #gameworld-discussion portion of the Discord or here for ideas, there are plenty of folks who would be willing to offer some ideas.
- Were any other alternatives explored?
- We discussed making the classes Application-Only along with delaying the server further. Neither of those were appealing options (the former putting a greater strain on the already limited bandwidth we have, the latter being something nobody on the dev team wants.)
- We also considered nerfing the classes significantly to balance the scales, however that also felt like a poor approach and would still require add'l development time to redesign elements of the classes.
- Is there certainty that the classes will return?
- The most likely scenario is that the classes are reworked post-launch to function as PRCs as opposed to base classes. We believe the classes can work on TDN from a narrative sense, however we recognize there is a need to approach these classes in a more delicate manner.
- We do not have any ETA on when the classes will return or when we will have more information.
- We do not recommend banking on the return of these classes. In the event that we decide to move forward with them, we will aim to give folks advanced notice.
Interested in an OOC history of the server? Check out: https://www.dragonsneck.com/wiki/Past-Present-of-TDN
Stealth Wiki Page Updated.
If you've been curious about TDN's iteration of Stealth, feel free to look over: https://www.dragonsneck.com/wiki/Stealth-System
Credit to the Scars of Risenholm team for the initial concept which we have adjusted for our purposes.
Development Status Update.
No date yet, BUT, we want to give you some info:
- By August 31st 2023, all TDN classes will be fully updated on the Wiki. At this point, we feel comfortable encouraging people to make their builds as we don't expect much to change between that date and launch.
- All class changes that DO happen will be outlined in ongoing PatchNotes updates that will take place both on Discord and on the Forum.
- Please keep in mind that class changes will happen well after launch for balance purposes, so this is not any kind of claim that the classes will remain the way they are forever.
- September is shaping up to be a critical milestone month for TDN. We hope to give lots of updates at the end of that month. Stay tuned.
- We are expecting to do a server stress-test sometime between end of September and mid-October. This is still tentative depending on development progress leading up to this timeline.
- We are launching in 2023.
- Ranger has received some Design updates: WIKI
- Druid (Wildshape specifically) has received some Design updates: WIKI
- Fighter has received some Design updates: WIKI
- Feat Changes Page has been updated: WIKI
- Of note: Disarm has been removed as a feat.
- Reasoning: Disarm presents some design challenges that at the moment are better spent elsewhere. Although we had a modified approach to dealing with Disarm, there were some edge cases to be accounted for.
- Of note: Disarm has been removed as a feat.
Bulwark against Evil:
Penance:
Blessed Plea:
Moar Screenies.
