Summary
The introduction of trait mappings for the Gotchiverse in Game Bible Chapter 2 (GB2) led to quite possibly the most extensive DAO thread yet in terms of pure character count! A new Sigprop will be uploaded on snapshot and this post gathers the results of all these discussions in one place.
Hardcore gamers, statisticians, qualitative researchers, engineers and even surgeons came out of the woodwork to help better understand and critically analyse the balance of the GB2 trait map from gameplay, economic and community building perspectives.
Pixelcraft (PC) have more than welcomed the community’s feedback on these traits and through a series of forum posts, dedicated discussion channels and community calls with PC, a consensus has been reached for an alternative trait mapping for NRG, AGG, SPK and BRN to be presented to the entire Aavegotchi community to vote on.
The Original Trait Map from GB2
As a refresher, below is the trait mapping originally proposed in Gotchiverse Game Bible Chapter 2.
Some of the potential issues identified with this mapping included:
- Slow movement speed gotchis having poor quality of life for general Gotchiverse gameplay outside of battles,
- High carrying capacity still meaning slow movement speed even if no alchemica was being carried which didn’t make great physical sense,
- Overpowered “Movement Speed + Armor + Health Regen Speed + Ranged Damage” gotchis are possible which can kite units all day every day,
- HP regen vs. Ethereality seen as a non-consequential trade-off,
- Carrying Capacity is the only farming ability amongst what are primarily combat traits making it difficult to balance combat vs. farming roles.
The Proposed Trait Map “Version 2”
And now for the alternative trait map as developed by the community in conjunction with Pixelcraft!
HP Capacity: A gotchi’s base level of hit points (HP). A powerful trait to specialize in, as moar HP also means moar stamina for sprinting through the battlefield.
AP Capacity: A gotchi’s base level of action points (AP). Every physical attack, spell and ability (including teleportation) in the Gotchiverse will require the consumption of AP. The moar AP a gotchi has, the moar consecutive abilities they can unleash. Uber abilities will also require moar AP to execute so if you don’t know any high NRG gotchis yet, we suggest you start networking!
Defense Power: Determines a gotchi’s base level of “toughness” and also dictates the effectiveness of the armor they have equipped. E.g. If you were to equip magic type armor on your gotchi, high Defense Power would increase the base magical resistance of that armor.
Action Speed: Different physical attacks, spells and abilities will all have different base cool down durations in the Gotchiverse. The higher a gotchi’s action speed, the shorter these cooldown durations become.
- Example 1 - Physical attacks for a melee dagger would likely have a shorter cooldown than a melee spirit sword (as it’s more powerful than the dagger) when used by the same gotchi.
- Example 2 - Two different gotchis with different action speeds both equipped with melee daggers would have different dagger cooldown durations.
Regen (HP & AP): Gotchis at the low end of the SPK spectrum are more cuddly and introverted than their high SPK siblings. As a result, they tend to concentrate their energy on themselves and can quickly regenerate HP & AP. A truly useful personal aid!
Ethereality: “Ethereality” aka “Ghastly Charm” is a gotchis natural ability to tap into the unseen spectral forces within the Gotchiverse. A gotchi with high ethereality exerts influence on its surroundings to improve its chances of evading attacks, landing critical strikes, slipping through walls and producing favorable outcomes in nearly all chance based actions throughout the Gotchiverse. Some call them “Lucky”… most call them “Degens”…
Melee Power: Determines the strength of melee abilities (hand wearables only at present) when equipped by a gotchi. Influences not only the strength of melee hand wearables with damage abilities but also the strength of melee hand wearables with restorative, buff or debuff abilities.
Ranged Power: Determines the strength of ranged abilities (ranged hand wearables only at present) when equipped by a gotchi. Influences not only the strength of ranged hand wearables with damage abilities but also the strength of ranged hand wearables with restorative, buff or debuff abilities.
Trait Scaling Systems
It is crucial to note that the way traits scale and change with increases/decreases to NRG, AGG, SPK and BRN shown in this version 2 trait map are still under discussion and not yet finalized. Two current proposed scaling models are:
- Yin/Yang e.g. 0 NRG gotchi has less AP and more HP than a 50 NRG gotchi
- Buff Only e.g. 0 NRG gotchi has the same AP and more HP than a 50 NRG gotchi
In addition, there are many ways these relationships can be modeled including linear, exponential, diminishing return curves and caps. Stay tuned for more discussions and voice calls with PC on these models and look forward to another juicy SigProp in the near future!
Benefits of Version 2
One of the core considerations for developing a new trait map (alongside combat balance) was ensuring that a new user could quickly identify the strengths and weaknesses of their gotchi. When utilizing the version 2 map a player can easily determine this by asking themselves the following core user experience (UX) questions:
This mapping has also helped rectify the issues identified with the original:
- All gotchis start with the same speed. New players will not feel “gimped” if they have mistakenly picked a slow gotchi,
- New interesting implementations of carrying capacity can be added by removing it from the core traits (See FAQ below),
- No movement speed on traits prevents the fast ranged tank unit previously identified as OP,
- Ethereality now has greater meaning than just “Evasion” so the trade-off on SPK is much clearer,
- Focus is predominantly on combat traits and farming traits can be added where applicable at a future date.
FAQ
What happened to carrying capacity? Level 1 gotchis will start with a base carrying capacity which can be increased with certain wearables, level up points and higher Base Rarity Score (BRS). A new mechanic called “Encumbrance” will be implemented so once a gotchi goes over their carrying capacity their movement speed will be greatly reduced.
What happened to movement speed? Level 1 gotchis will start with a base movement speed in the Gotchiverse which can be increased with certain wearables and level up points. Note: Movement speed will not increase with higher BRS.
How do Melee and Ranged Power work with Wearables? Equipping a hand wearable will unlock either a Melee OR Ranged action. This action will either be a physical attack, spell or special ability. The strength of the action will be determined by a gotchis’ corresponding melee or ranged power. E.g. a Portal Mage Axe may be classified as a Melee weapon with the ability Cleave. A low BRN gotchi would have maximum impact when using a Portal Mage Axe due to its high Melee Power.
Help! I just equipped my low AP gotchi with the highest AP consuming wearable in the game! Can I still use it?? Yes! Every gotchi will have the ability to use every spell, ability and attack in the game. Low AP will just mean you won’t be able to perform that action very often OR you may need to level your gotchi up a couple times and put some points towards AP.
Important Considerations
- EYS and EYC are still being reviewed and further trait calls and discussions will be happening to go over these in the short term,
- The version 2 trait map shown in this proposal focuses solely on combat,
- Farming abilities, affinities and traits are still being worked on and will likely be added to the traits where it makes sense at a future date. (Currently investigating using EYS and EYC to influence farming),
- Example Archetype names for each trait combination still to be determined.
Potential Consequences
- Some players may have already purchased items and gotchis based on the original proposed trait maps. It is important to note that the traits were always open to change due to the non-immutable nature of the game bible chapters. However, we strongly feel that the proposed version 2 trait map will still provide excellent class types and hope these cases will be minimal.
Conclusion
The overarching goal of this proposal was to see if the Aavegotchi community could come together and build an alternative trait map that provides balance, depth and longevity. Interestingly, the alternative version is still fairly similar to the original but has hopefully added some interesting optimizations!
We hope proposals like this can help demonstrate just how truly powerful a DAO and community can be when building a game. The more influence we can have building this game together, the greater our sense of ownership and the more fun we will have exploring the Gotchiverse together for years to come.
