The Repopulation Unlocks Three Stretch Goals, Interview and Preview
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Since the last time we checked on The Repopulation's recent Kickstarter campaign, the sci-fi sandbox MMO happened to reach its funding goal and unlock its first three stretch goal, which include a Rocharus mount, Adversarial Camps and Points of Intrigue.
I'm going to quote the Kickstarter updates to explain exactly what they entail:
The first stretch goal, at $60k is the addition of tameable Rocharus mounts. These will be the first mounts in The Repopulation. We had originally planned to only support vehicles, and then possibly explore tameable mounts post-launch. But this feature was requested so many times over the years that we had hoped to be able to squeeze it into launch. We designed the vehicle code to be able to support these in the future, and after we hit the $60K stretch goal these mounts will become a reality.
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Adversarial Camps are a new spawn system which is aimed to add even more randomization to our areas. Adversarial Camps work similar to our Den system, except with very different goals.
Dens were designed to scale spawn rates based on the number of players, to be able to randomly select the mob types in an area, and to provide a variety of different spawn rules to allow for scaling waves of content. They were also designed to shut down though if no players remain in the den's trigger grid for a period of time, and also to prevent an area from running out of mobs when there are larger concentrations of players. The combination of these features makes them very scaleable and in general we are happy with the system. But they also need to be laid out in a grid, which means that their locations are static, they just turn on and off based on need.
Adversarial Camps are similar to dens in many ways, but they are able to handle longer term spawn manipulation. That functionality is currently only available through engagements. When the world manager decides that it needs a new camp from a certain type and range of monsters it will randomly place one into the world. Once spawned this camp will grow in size and difficulty until it is stopped. The chosen location and the rate at which it expands is independent of players. If an Adversarial Camp is left unchecked it can grow to become very large, but will also generally provide greater rewards for the player who band together and clear it out. The longer they exist, the tougher they will become. Where Dens ensure that our world has a constant supply of mobs, Adversarial Camps mix up the counts to allow for more random infestations.
The goal of this system is to add variety to our existing spawning systems, to allow us to create new content more quickly, increase the randomness of our spawn systems, and to add an additional layer of variety from one trip into an area to the next. They should make a fine addition to the game.
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In the PvE world Points of Intrigue will pop up in random places infested by creatures or NPCs. Some will require a few players to clear out, others will require multiple groups. The more complicated the Point of Intrigue the better the rewards for capturing it. Rewards will include longer term buffs that will aid your player during your play session, as well as the usual assortment of engagement rewards. Once a Point of Intrigue has been captured, any player who visits that location will receive a receive a buff for a period of time. Some Points of Intrigue will also spawn special NPCs who are only available upon their completion. Once the timer expires, a new Point of Intrigue will appear somewhere else in the world, attracting players to the new challenge.
The PvP variety will work in a similar fashion with players needing to conquer the Point of Intrigue, but only 1 Nation can be considered the winner. The Nation then will be able to select if Allies of the Nation will receive any of the minor benefits. More Point of Intrigues will provide city and nation incentives, such as improving happiness in the Nation's cities.
The goal of this system are similar to most engagements: To provide an ever-changing list of opportunities, which encourage players to work together under a common goal.
Aside from the Kickstarter updates, there's also been some noteworthy coverage coming from the press, including a video interview with MMORPG.com, and a video preview from TheXPGamers, which offers 10 reasons to be excited about the title.
Finally, in case you're interested in the title's setting, the team has announced that they'll start publishing an online short story tomorrow:
We will also be unveiling a lengthy new short story centered around the landing on Rhyldan tomorrow. This is a massive story that will being unveiled one chapter at a time due to its size. We'll be posting a chapter on each day this week. Stay tuned for that.
