- Why have corpse runs in the game?
We need to have a death penalty of some sort, otherwise death itself becomes meaningless. Usually, when you die, you will want to return to your death location anyway, just to continue playing the game. In most cases, this new method is not as harsh of a death penalty as the one we had before.
- How long are the corpse runs?
It really depends on how far you are from a graveyard when you die. It could be a 30 second run, or it could be much longer. During the beta, we will tune the maximum range, but the maximum will probably be in the 5-10 minute area.
- Why not just have the old death penalty where players were cursed with a debuff and appeared at their bind location?
Mainly because this method operated as a free teleport; once someone wanted to go back to town, they would find the nearest monster or lake and promptly die in it. Not only did this not work as a death penalty, but it created lots of bizarre behavior in regards to transportation in the world.
- Doesn't this new penalty allow for free scouting?
No, you cannot see monsters or players. We also plan to make the world look somewhat different when you are a ghost and that will further de-emphasize any scouting you can do as a ghost. Also, in some rare locations where we do not want players to "scout", some monsters will be able to see ghosts and attack them. Dying as a ghost will typically make you re-appear at the nearest graveyard.
- Can you scout as a ghost in dungeons?
You cannot explore dungeons as a ghost. You may only enter a dungeon in which you have a corpse, and you will turn corporeal as soon as you cross the instance line.
- What if I re-incorporate on or next to a monster?
Once you get near your corpse (30 yards or so), you will see nearby monsters "ghost in," so you will be able to pick a good spot to re-incorporate, and hopefully avoid being killed as soon as you re-incorporate.
- Can ghosts see other ghosts?
Yes. Living players may also find ways in the game to see ghosts. Lastly, we would like to eventually add ghostly NPCs that may have quests for ghosts or that are able to relate world lore.
- How does death work in player vs. player combat?
This is not determined yet, but we have discussed it with this penalty in mind.
- In Player vs. Player, wouldn't this death method lend to corpse camping?
No, since you can re-incorporate within a radius of 30-yards from your corpse.
- Will there be a quick method of going back to your graveyard without losing experience?
There will be many methods of fast travel around the world. Some classes can teleport, while anybody can use Gryphons to travel quickly to town.
- What happens if you are disconnected or logout while in ghost mode?
Nothing; when you log back in, you will still be a ghost.
- What happens when a player resurrects me? Will I lose experience?
No, but you will have resurrection sickness for a short time. All your stats and your overall combat ability will be reduced for a few minutes.
- How do player resurrection spells work? Do they summon the ghost closer or something?
No, resurrection spells may be cast on a player's active corpse. The receiving player may then choose to accept the resurrection, which will re-incorporate them on top of their corpse with full gear, but with resurrection sickness.
- Can a player be resurrected by another player at the spot they died, or do they automatically appear at a graveyard as a ghost?
When you die, you are prompted with a choice to wait for a resurrection or to release spirit so that you can appear at the nearest graveyard. However, your corpse still remains a valid target for resurrection spells.
- Can Ghosts swim? If so, do I have to worry about breathing?
Ghosts will simply levitate over the water. If your corpse is underwater, you will be able to swim down to it in order to re-incorporate. Ghosts do not need to hold their breath underwater.
- Can you just commit suicide and return to the entrance of a dungeon rather than journeying out?
That would be possible if we placed graveyards right next to dungeons, but we doubt we will do that.
- If you choose to be revived by a spirit healer for experience loss can you lose your level?
No, you cannot lose your level. However, your experience in a level can go below zero. So, if you have experience below zero, it will take you longer to gain your next level. This is also the case for the maximum level. Over time we will add more levels to the game, so even max level characters will need to be somewhat careful with losing too much experience.
- Can you still suicide and then have yourself revived by a spirit healer for an experience loss in order to get back to town quickly?
Yes, however, in the tuning process we will try to find an amount of experience that discourages this.
- If I die and then disconnect from the game will my corpse still be where I left it when I died?
Yes.
- Now, when it says the spirit healer will resurrect a player at the cost of an experience loss, does that mean at the graveyard, or at your corpse? If it's at the graveyard, do you get all the stuff on your corpse?
They will resurrect you at the graveyard with your gear intact.
- This death penalty isn't harsh enough
One of the fundamental philosophies we have had throughout the development of World of Warcraft is to avoid overly frustrating elements used in other MMORPGs and make the game FUN. Of course, we realize that one cannot take this philosophy too far, since we also want players to respect the world, which is why things like falling damage, death penalties, and other elements exist. If players do not feel like they are overcoming obstacles, then the game does not feel rewarding enough.
We felt that the challenges in the game should come from interesting, complex encounters and events, not from forcing players to lose one to eight hours of progress when their characters die and making them recoup any experience or equipment they had earned previously. Most members of the development team are hard-core gamers themselves, so we do plan to have plenty of challenges and rewards for players that choose to take them on.
- So, does the implementation of this new death system mean that bind stones are no longer in the game?
Correct, bindstones no longer exist in the way they did before. We have been using the term "graveyard", but we are still discussing exactly what we want the art to look like. It may even change based on the zone.
- If you end up adventuring close to a graveyard you do not normally use, would it be possible for you to come back as a ghost in a part of the world that you haven't explored yet?
Yes, that is possible, but we will strive to place graveyards in such a way to minimize this. However, since you have a pointer on your mini map, it should still be relatively easy to find your corpse even from an area that is new to you.
- Do you still have to walk up and tag a bindstone or will the game automatically determine where the closest graveyard (bindstone) is?
There is no longer a need to explicitly "bind" yourself at a bindstone/graveyard. By continuing to allow this, we would only make it more likely for people to death-teleport over a large amount of the world, and would punish people that forgot to bind nearby.
- What happens when your corpse decays?
Once your active corpse decays, we will resurrect you at the nearest graveyard. We have not determined if there will be an experience loss for this yet.
- What types of communication will be allowed in ethereal form?
No public chat will be available to ghosts, but private chat like /tell, /guild and /party chat will still be allowed.
|
