Expansion Spotlight - Siege Mechanics

[Deja]

No doubt you guys are becoming more and more anxious about the expansion’s release. While we cannot do something to make the time go by faster, we can somewhat fill it with providing hopefully interesting things to read. Today, after some hard-core interrogation time we were able to wrestle some much anticipated details about the siege changes from our developers.

The first thing to talk about, is an addition to the system that will both address some concerns that players have had for a while now, but will also make the whole ordeal a lot more interesting. Siege Stones are a new mechanic that is being added to the siege system. Clans without a city will be required to use them in order to keep a siege going, while clans with a city may use them optionally. They will be sold from certain NPCs, much like Clan Shards and they will come in three different sizes which relate to the number of people that can bind to them.

To better explain the way that sieges work, we’ll describe the whole process in steps, starting with Clans that do not own a city or hamlet:

- A member of the attacking clan holding the rank of General or higher needs to use a clan shard within the limits of the city he wishes to siege, just like before.

- As soon as he declares the siege, a 24 hour countdown begins. During this countdown no Clan Stone or Siege Stone is vulnerable. It is just a time that can be used for preparations.

- Since the attackers don’t have a city, they need to pay the wager but also place one, or optionally more, Siege Stones. This special Stone needs to be placed within a short time from when the siege is declared. They can be placed by players holding the rank of General or higher, anywhere within a certain distance from the sieged city but it has to be on clear terrain. Again, Siege Stones as well as Clan Stones are invulnerable during the 24 hour preparation period. Keep in mind that they can be used as bind spots too.

-After the 24 hours pass, the actual siege begins. Sieges will last about half the time they do now.

- First the Siege Stone of the attacker becomes vulnerable. This will give the defenders a small window for a counter attack. If the Siege Stone still stands after this time expires, the siege will move to the next step.

- To capture the city under siege, the attackers must first destroy a certain percentage of the cities’ walls for the Clan Stone to become vulnerable. Walls cannot be damaged by siege hammers anymore so you will be required to bring some heavier equipment along. In the case of a hamlet, the clan stone becomes vulnerable straight away. Walls can be destroyed during the 24 hour preparation period (or at any other time during the siege) but they can also be repaired. Building is completely disabled for the duration of the siege but not during the 24 hour preparation period.

- The siege ends if the defenders’ Clan Stone is destroyed, if the attacker’s siege stone or asset is destroyed, or if the 3 hours pass without any of those two things happening. If the defenders’ Clan Stone is destroyed, the attackers win and capture the city. If the attacker’s siege stone or asset is destroyed, or if the siege time runs out, the defenders win and they get the wager money or the attacker’s city.

The only differences for Clans that actually own a City or Hamlet is that the use of Siege Stones is optional, the attacker’s assets become vulnerable as well as their siege stone and there is no wager.

This mechanic will obviously eliminate all the issues that players had with their shard holders facing connection problems and it will also make sieges a lot more involving and exciting.

http://forums.darkfallonline.com/sho...d.php?t=222772

I really like the new 24 hour timer, interested to see how it all plays out in-game. I also really like the additions of Siege Stones, similar to Shadowbane, no more shard-holder disconnects. I hope they bring in more good features from UO/SB in future updates.




Previous Expansion Updates:
Expansion Spotlight - Ship Changes and Additions
Expansion Spotlight - Slot Machines
Expansion Spotlight - New Skills and Abilities
Expansion Spotlight - AI Changes and Additions
Expansion Spotlight - Player Vendors and a New House Type
Expansion Spotlight - Local Banking
Expansion Spotlight - Racial Abilities, Combat and Crafting Changes

[Jackal]

Re: Expansion Spotlight - Siege Mechanics

I like that it's more like SB.

I think the DF devs have a lot to learn from SB.

[Donkish]

Re: Expansion Spotlight - Siege Mechanics

Yar, way more like SB
-Donk