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| There are no character levels in Roma Victor. None. Instead there's the huge, diverse skill tree that we've already mentioned. There are no level-based restrictions by design or consequence like you'll find in most MMORPG's. You won't be forced to find people of a similar level in order to play in a group and you won't be restricted to certain types of encounter. Of course this also means that you won't be trying to catch up with friends that have played more than you (and therefore 'levelled' faster), or indeed trying to slow your own development and/or 'level up' your friends so that they can come and hunt with you again. Character development in Roma Victor is much more like real life. |
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| In Roma Victor, as in real life, your skills and personal statistics decay. This means that without practise your character's ability in a given skill will worsen. If, for example, as a newbie you spent a lot of time developing your archery skills but then moved on to focus on your farming you'd find that your archery decreased over time. You can easily counter this by simply practising with your bow every so often but it makes the prospect of juggling several careers quite daunting. Anyone trying to be a gladiator/cook/farmer/smith/potter/priest/carpenter/whatever-type character will find it near impossible to become highly adept at all of the involved skills. |
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| Whether it be Roman military salutes, laughing, crying, yawning, taunting, cheering, clapping etc. there are around 200 unique character animations to choose from to help maintain the atmosphere and bring your character to life. |
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| Characters in Roma Victor are not all created equal. During character creation, players can decide the balance of six physical attributes, which can be considered similar to summaries of that character's genetic composition. Balancing Muscle, Vision, Agility, Dexterity, Intuition and Stamina will give you a well-balanced character but you can alter the balance to suit your wishes. It's worth bearing in mind however that characters with low Muscle attributes will find it harder, but never impossible, to become very strong. As in real life, you can come across people with a low genetic tendency for muscle development that have nevertheless hefted weights out most of their lives and are therefore very strong. Similarly you can find people that have an extremely good genetic tendency for muscle development that have hardly ever stretched their muscles and are therefore pretty weak by comparison. |
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| Every object in Roma Victor has a weight. Weight has the consequences you might expect. Characters can only carry so much weight, pack animals can be overloaded and every time your character lifts or carries something heavy, it'll be stretching its muscles and therefore has a chance of improving its strength. |
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| Liquids such as water and olive oil and liquid containers such as jugs and amphorae are essential aspects of ancient life - particularly where crafting activities are concerned. The liquid support in Roma Victor is more involved than simply providing pretty rivers, lakes, beaches and waterways. Drinking or tending your crops with saltwater is pretty futile, for example. |
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| Almost every object in Roma Victor has a combustibility factor, which means fires can be started pretty well anywhere and can even get out of control if not attended quickly enough. This also means of course that people can gather around campfires and bonfires for warmth and flames can be passed on and just as in real life, you can light a torch from pretty well any substantial flame and then use that torch to light anything dry and combustible enough. |
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| Every player has their own Household - it's a bit like a 'personal' guild. Household is the collective term applied to all the buildings and NPC's owned, employed and/or run by the player. There can be many buildings and NPC's within a household and using the built-in household management interface a player can set entry fees on their property, assign NPC's to act as merchants or guards, summon NPC's as an escort, hire and dismiss staff etc. |
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| * Quests The quest system in Roma Victor is dynamic and personalised. Quests are intricately linked with the NPC's and players that set them and can themselves often lead to further and more challenging quests. NPC's set quests based upon a number of criteria including the levels of resources and goods in the area, any hostilities, emergencies etc. * Reputations In its simplest form the reputation system allows players to 'rate' other players as to their helpfulness, aggressiveness, generosity etc. This combines with a ratings system used by networks of NPC's to gauge a player character's abilities and social standing. Players can therefore have some idea of how (in)famous, (un)popular and/or accomplished another player character may be. * Friends and Foes Players can also define their overall opinion of another player as a friend, a foe or ambivalent. Such systems of 'social moderation' are already used to great effect elsewhere on the 'Net and have demonstrated their ability to both help form social networks and identify trouble-makers. * Badges Badges are simply invisible tags assigned to players as they achieve various different goals. Using these badges along with the Reputations and Friends/Foes system as a guide, NPC's can accurately assess your character's social standing and achievements and interact accordingly. If suitably impressed they may even relate tales of your achievements to passers-by in your absence. * Encounters Using Reputations, Friends and Foes, Badges etc. NPC's can get a pretty good idea of who you are and what your character is about. So long as they have no reason to dislike you, your interaction with most NPC's should be fairly pleasant. They'll converse with you and may even trade depending on whether they actually have any money, goods or services to trade. Alternatively they may be more inclined to come running at you with axe swinging. Throughout your travels in Roma Victor - particularly off the beaten track - you are likely to encounter NPC's that have an irrational desire for your belongings. Alternatively you may simply come across a bear or a pack of wolves, equally keen to attack yet less interested in your goods. In either scenario fight or flight becomes a decision that should be taken pretty quickly. |