Shards Online

FAQ

admin — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 13:15:27 +0000

Players will not only travel from world to world in Shards, they’ll create their own. A shard can be added to its own private server and ruled as its creator sees fit, or connected to the public and shared with all.

[/toggle][toggle title="How will player housing be different in Shards?" open="no"]

Most games that claim to have housing are very restrictive. In Shards, you build your house in the actual game world. Also every item that exists can be placed in the world and also used as decoration in your house. To top it all off, we are working on giving you control of the surrounding land as well. Build a farm, or a garden, or a hedge maze right in your backyard!

[/toggle][toggle title="Open ended character development you say?" open="no"]Yes! No more levels and classes and quest grinds! As you explore the world you learn new skills and perfect them. There is a limit to how much skill one mortal can possess which forces you to specialize. Upon reaching your skill cap, you will need to deactivate certain skills in order to gain in others. Skill points in inactive skills are never lost, and players will be able to adjust their character’s specializations periodically.[/toggle][toggle title="OK, what about crafting? I want to make stuff!" open="no"]Crafting is a huge focus in Shards. Resources will spawn in the world dynamically and the crafting skills you can learn depend on the shards you travel to. Imagine learning to craft ancient alien technology in our terminus shard and bringing those items with you to the fantasy world! It’s going to be awesome![/toggle][toggle title="What sort of group and guild systems will you have?" open="no"]Grouping and guilds is an important part of any online game. At release we will have fully fleshed out systems for both of these. Groups will be tracked across ‘shards’ and guilds will have ranks and the ability to build a guild hall right on their home ‘shard’![/toggle][toggle title="Is Shards an Action RPG like Diablo?" open="no"]The controls in Shards Online will feel familiar to players of games like Diablo, but that’s about where the similarities end. Shards Online’s combat is much more tactical and skill-based. Character development and the world itself are much more open ended. And there is much much more to the game than just combat.[/toggle][toggle title="Will this game be supported on Mac and Linux?" open="no"]

We’re targeting a standalone client running Shards on PC/Windows at launch. We are also currently investigating officially supporting the Mac and Linux platforms.

[/toggle][toggle title="What is the maximum number of players per ‘shard’?" open="no"]

We want to be sure that ‘shards’ are easy enough for anyone to run and small enough for them to be run on almost any computer. The 64 player limit mentioned in previous interviews is only the number we are sure we will be able to support at this early stage in development and will likely increase between now and alpha. Clusters, on the other hand, will support much larger numbers by connecting ‘shards’ together. This is what separates Shards Online from other player-run games by allowing thousands of players to play in the same player-run universe simultaneously.

[/toggle][toggle title="How does communicating work? how do emotes work? Can you interact with objects like chairs?" open="no"]We really want to embrace the roleplaying community. In the final game, we are planning for both in-character and out of character channels of communication. In-character examples: – Speaking to nearby people (overhead chat) – Whispering (smaller range) – Shouting (larger range) – Magical means of communication (skill based telepathy) Out of character examples: – Shard (zone) wide chat – Admin broadcasts – Direct player to player messages Emotes will work similar to other games, an in-game window will allow you to select from a list of emotes. Some skills may provide access to additional emotes. Yes of course in the final product we expect to allow you to interact with as many objects in the world as possible including chairs and beds.[/toggle][toggle title="Do you have any sort of timeframe for alpha/beta testing?" open="no"]

Our plan is to have something ready for full scale alpha testing before the end of the year.

[/toggle][toggle title="Do I need a subscription to play Shards Online?" open="no"]

Nope! Buy it once and it’s free to play on free official servers and any community servers, AND you can run one of your own.

[/toggle][toggle title="How customizable are community run servers?" open="no"]Yes, customizing your server will happen on many levels. At the lowest level, you’ll be able to write custom scripts that add to or replace any piece of gameplay you want. You can completely change the way melee combat works, or create entirely new spells and abilities. You can even write completely new and exciting monster AI. Truly, we are putting all the power in the hands of those who dare. It’s important to make something clear — Shards is not Minecraft in the sense that you dig holes and build walls brick by brick while the game is running. Instead, behind the scenes, the gods (devs and server admins) will shape the world and the content surrounding it. The players will make their home in these worlds, explore them, fight enemies and each other for fame and glory. Lot’s of people haven’t played UO, so I try to explain it like this: Take an open ended moddable virtual world like Skyrim, make it fully multiplayer (don’t forget to add PvP), let players run their own servers like Minecraft, and THEN connect those servers together so you can travel between them. This paints a clearer picture of the beauty that is Shards Online.[/toggle][toggle title="What is the difference between a ‘shard’ and a cluster? Do we have to host our ‘shards’ through Citadel?" open="no"]The current plan is to have ‘shards’ hosted in the way other games like Minecraft host their servers. You get the binary when you purchase the game and can run the server out of your house or rent space from a game server hosting company. If you are tech-savvy enough, you can run them up in the cloud yourself! You can run a single ‘shard’ for people to directly connect to (just like Minecraft) without the use of our cluster technology. However, if you want to connect multiple ‘shards’ together, you will sign up with Citadel Studios for a hosted cluster. Among other things, this provides you with a web interface that allows you to specify which ‘shards’ can connect into the cluster, and what players have admin (god) access.[/toggle][toggle title="How much will it cost to run a cluster? Do I need a premium subscription?" open="no"]

To run your own cluster, you will sign up for a cluster and pay a monthly cluster hosting subscription. We have not yet decided on a specific fee for this, but it should be less than $10 a month. We don’t intend to use this as a way to make a profit, just to cover our costs.

[/toggle][toggle title="Will clusters or player-run servers be cloud-based? Or will private machinery be required/possible?" open="no"]

The cluster hosting does not include any connected ‘shards’. The current plan is to have ‘shards’ hosted in the way other games like Minecraft host their servers. You get the binary when you purchase the game and can run the server out of your house or rent space from a game server hosting company. If you are tech-savvy enough, you can run them up in the cloud yourself!

[/toggle][toggle title="When running a cluster, is it possible to have the same base ruleset, but different skill sets by Shard?" open="no"]

The Cluster ruleset is the sum of *all* agreed upon gameplay that is accessible in the connected Shards. The ruleset can have rules that are specific to certain maps or shards in the cluster.

[/toggle][toggle title="Will it be necessary for modders to have Unity? " open="no"]At release, all of the layers of customization shown in the diagram on the KS page will be modified either through the in-game UI or a text editor (I use sublime). During the early phases, we may ask some of “The Early Modders” if they are interested in working with us in Unity before the in-game Modding UI is complete.[/toggle][/accordian][/one_full]

Features

admin — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 13:21:13 +0000

Overview

Both official and community-run servers
Skill-based character development (no restrictive levels or classes!)
Own your land, build a house
Tame animals and creatures
Learn to craft unique items as you explore
Employ NPCs to do day to day tasks
Visit worlds that span many genres
Obtain unique armors, weapons and rare artifacts
Play by your own rules! Many different rule-sets to choose from
Create your own unique rule-sets, stories and live content on your community-run server

Living Virtual World

The multiverse of Shards Online is built on a philosophy of creating living, breathing worlds. Unlike other games where quests are eternal, or special events can be relived again and again, Shards Online is a game in which actions have real consequences. You can talk with the NPCs about the latest gossip, hints for adventures, or about the weather. Walk away, and you might find them already moving on to visit the pub or talking with another NPC. Everything is in motion. Coupling dynamic behavioral systems with real players and gods gives us incredibly rich opportunities for cause and effect. The egg you steal from a dragon today may be the reason she’s attacking a town you left behind tomorrow. In Shards Online, if a tree falls in the woods, we can prove it made a sound.

Open Ended Character Development

Most MMOs use a class based character development system. TWhat happens in most MMOs when you realize 20 levels in that you don’t like playing the class you chose? Well either you start over from scratch, or you quit the game. Shards Online removes these restrictions on character development by focusing on skills as the core aspect of character development. When you first create your character, you only have the basic knowledge of swinging a weapon. Learn new skills from a trainer in town, read a dusty tome found in the depths of a dark dungeon, or learn them from another player who has already mastered them. Once you have learned the basics of a skill, you can begin to earn experience towards it by engaging in activities related to that skill. As you advance, new abilities will unlock. There is a limit to how much skill one mortal can possess which forces you to specialize. Upon reaching your skill cap, you will need to deactivate certain skills in order to gain in others.

Crafting and NPC Employment

Crafting skills will allow you to create new items, weapons and armor from raw materials. Since each ‘shard’ has their own stories and their own cultures, the crafting skills available to learn will also be different. Learn to craft platemail on a fantasy 'shard', or learn to craft bombs on a steampunk 'shard'. Just like real life, each craft employs different tools and methods. The creation of many items will require multiple steps and skills. Some items like armor and weapons will be initially very crude and need to be refined and enhanced in order to contain special properties. Another unique aspect of Shards Online is the ability to hire NPCs (non-player characters) to assist you in day to day tasks. Do you lack the mining skill to obtain some ore you need? Or maybe you just don’t enjoy mining? That would be a perfect opportunity to find someone else to perform the task for you… at a price. If you are rich enough, you can even run an entire trade empire without lifting a finger.[/fusion_text][fusion_text]

Player Housing

In Shards Online, players are able to build their homes in the actual game world. Many of the ‘shards’ in the game have large areas of undeveloped land for you to build houses on. There are many different house layouts to choose from and the size of your house will depend on the size of your build-able area and the resources you have to build with. Cultivate the land for a farm, or have a beautiful garden. We have big plans, currently post release, to allow for truly customizable housing. Build your house wall by wall to your exact specifications and desires!

Tactical Combat

While character attributes, spells, special abilities, and equipment define the combat tools available to the player, ultimately player skill unlocks their full potential. Equipment/Weapons have costs and benefits causing them to behave differently. Picking up a sword versus a spear, or leather versus plate, will impact how your character behaves in combat. Since you choose the skills, and the gear, there's no reason you couldn't be a spell wielding assassin. Two players can have characters with the same skills and equipment, but implement different strategies in combat as if they are completely different. Forget the rock-paper-scissors-shotgun approach to combat. In Shards Online fights can go back and forth and its not over till someone eats dirt.[/fusion_text][/one_full]

Game Overview

admin — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 14:09:30 +0000

[three_fifth last="no" spacing="yes" center_content="no" hide_on_mobile="no" background_color="" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" background_position="left top" border_size="0px" border_color="" border_style="" padding="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="" animation_speed="0.1" class="" id=""][fusion_text]

Overview

Both official and community-run servers
Skill-based character development (no restrictive levels or classes!)
Own your land, build a house
Tame animals and creatures
Learn to craft unique items as you explore
Employ NPCs to do day to day tasks
Visit worlds that span many genres
Obtain unique armors, weapons and rare artifacts
Play by your own rules! Many different rule-sets to choose from
Create your own unique rule-sets, stories and live content on your community-run server

Introduction

Shards Online is breaking away from the modern MMO conventions of levels, classes and quest grinds. We are returning to living virtual worlds where stories emerge naturally as players explore the worlds laid out before them. The game will launch with a complete game containing several official rule-sets. Our current plans include one with a well balanced set of gameplay, a hardcore PvP battle-royale, and even one featuring permanent character death: the ultimate game of risk versus reward. We are initially targeting the PC platform, and plans for a Mac and Linux launch are in the works. Shards Online will be distributed digitally and we are strongly considering using an established platform like Steam. When you purchase the game, you will be able to play on player run servers and run a single 'shard' with no additional cost or subscription fees. In addition to the official Citadel Clusters, players will be able to run their own servers by signing up for a cluster server that is hosted by Citadel Studios. We only intend to charge just enough to cover our costs. These servers, when marked public, will be listed in-game for all players to see and join. Shards Online is the first game that legitimately allows you to run and moderate your own game worlds with the potential to support thousands of users at one time. Customize every aspect of your servers' gameplay experience from character development, to combat, to items and equipment, to monsters and AI. You can even add completely custom game worlds! Ultimately, we aren't just creating game that fosters a player community, instead, we are giving our players the tools to create their own in-game communities. [/fusion_text][/three_fifth][two_fifth last="yes" spacing="yes" center_content="no" hide_on_mobile="no" background_color="" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" background_position="left top" border_size="0px" border_color="" border_style="" padding="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="" animation_direction="" animation_speed="0.1" class="" id=""][imageframe lightbox="no" lightbox_image="" style_type="none" bordercolor="" bordersize="0px" borderradius="0" stylecolor="" align="none" link="" linktarget="_self" animation_type="0" animation_direction="down" animation_speed="0.1" hide_on_mobile="no" class="" id=""] [/imageframe][/two_fifth]

Worlds of Shards

admin — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 14:14:59 +0000

[one_full last="yes" spacing="yes" center_content="no" hide_on_mobile="no" background_color="" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" background_position="left top" border_size="0px" border_color="" border_style="solid" padding="" margin_top="" margin_bottom="" animation_type="0" animation_direction="down" animation_speed="0.1" class="" id=""][title size="1" content_align="left" style_type="default" sep_color="" class="" id=""]Worlds of Shards[/title][fusion_text] Of all the remnants of Aria floating above the shrouded maelstrom of the ruined world below, Celador is at once it’s most pristine and most corrupt. Isolated from history by the dead gateway abandoned by its inhabitants, it fosters an ancient people who worship Tethys, the Goddess of Water. Her shrine lies in the great Temple of the city of Petra, but their way of life is besieged by a mad cult bent on slaughtering the townspeople, while the dead stir in the depths of the earth in which they were once interred. Why, in this land of green life and bountiful water are only a chosen few capable of wielding the might of their Goddess? Why do the undead rebel against their peaceful slumber? Celador’s beauty is belied by the secrets of generations past, and the veil is being pulled back as the gateway reawakens… [/fusion_text][separator style_type="none" top_margin="" bottom_margin="" sep_color="" border_size="" icon="" icon_circle="" icon_circle_color="" width="" alignment="" class="" id=""][fusion_text] Hail Demetrius! God of Gods and Glory of Glories! The shard of Colosseum is home to the Grecoro Republic and the delightsome people dedicated to worshipping the God of Earth. A world of splendor and unrivaled hedonistic pleasure, Colosseum is home to games, tournaments, and addictive pastimes that consume the interest of visitors from shards across the universe. Beyond the bloodlust and brutality of the colosseum itself lies a rich tapestry of gambling and pleasure-seeking. Graceful grecorian architecture rises from intricately planned roadworks across well-traveled shard. A triumvirate of rulers manages the affairs of their people and executes the will of an elected senate, a model of efficiency and stability unparalleled in time. Yet beneath the gleaming city lights the glamorous facade reveals a lifestyle built upon the backs of broken servants and enslaved magics. Enter the great games and choose your destiny - what will you fight for?[/fusion_text][separator style_type="none" top_margin="" bottom_margin="" sep_color="" border_size="" icon="" icon_circle="" icon_circle_color="" width="" alignment="" class="" id=""][fusion_text] Behold the Tower of Babel, a monument to the terrible powers of Zephyr, God of Air. Piercing the sky above and ringed in halos of lazily drifting clouds, one hundred floors of incredible challenges and legendary monsters await the bravest adventurers. No mortal has ever surpassed even a tenth of its height, the grand staircase littered with the abandoned remnants of the unprepared and foolhardy who dared to ascend. Cursed by its creator, all who venture within are subject to harsh punishments should they die within - their ghosts plagued with weakness that carries back to the mortal world should they ever find resurrection. Yet the tower thrives. Breathing in its victims of misadventure and worshipful supplicants alike, their struggles for treasure and gain a sweet sacrifice to Zephyr, who only grows in power as their blood is spilled. For still they come, from shards uncountable, believing the promise etched at the tower’s base… “Many shall look upon my tower and despair; one who ascends, shall receive his greatest wish.”[/fusion_text][separator style_type="none" top_margin="" bottom_margin="" sep_color="" border_size="" icon="" icon_circle="" icon_circle_color="" width="" alignment="" class="" id=""][fusion_text] A forsaken, alien world - Terminus is a shard of horrors that ensnare the fragile sanities of mortals who dare to tread in places the gods themselves have trembled. Once, in an age long dead, a race of geniuses shattered the womb of reality that birthed this evil place, ascending into a broken pantheon of mad gods. They have been called many names by their victims: the nameless ones, the elder gods, the dreamless - they are Xor. Xeno-terrors crawl the desolate wasteland, unleashing biological mutations and horrors on unwary travelers. In the far distance a great needle-like spire stabs the ground, surrounded by a physical darkness from which their is no return. In Terminus, death is no escape.[/fusion_text][/one_full]

Customization

admin — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:04:28 +0000

Shards and Clusters

Each server (or ‘shard’) is a completely separate game world. These game worlds are connected together to form a much larger server (or ‘cluster’). The cluster ties all of its connected 'shards' to a single rule-set. This enforces fairness since player characters are also tied to the cluster. It would not make sense to be able to bring a character that is fully geared from a 'shard' with easy rules to a 'shard' running a hardcore rule-set. Cluster servers are provided by Citadel Studios and use a simple web interface for managing the cluster. Through this interface, you can select the rule-set, change settings, add 'shards' to the cluster, and manage god users. Clusters can have any number of 'shards' connected to it. This way you can decide which maps are available to explore. Want to run a steampunk only cluster? Want to run 10 versions of the fantasy home 'shard' Celador? (think of them as alternate realities) It’s completely up to the players that run the cluster. Our top priority with player run servers is simplicity. This is the first step to putting all the power and freedom of Shards Online squarely in the players hands

Immortals and Gods

Mortals are not the only living creatures in the many worlds of Shards Online. There are those who have escaped the icy grip of death; those who have unlocked ancient and divine powers. These immortals and gods oversee and shape the mortal realm. There are many classes of immortals in the Shards Online multiverse. Normal players who ascend to immortality interact with the world on a completely different level. Immortals trade the foolish desires of mortals for new powers. They can change their form or become completely invisible, and instant teleportation is trivial. Even still, there many entities more powerful than immortals. The first of such are shard gods. 'Shard' gods have complete control over the objects, life forms and events of their home 'shard(s)'. Here is just a small sample of the powers that gods will wield: Cluster gods are in control of the entire cluster. In addition to having god powers on every single 'shard' in the cluster, they can control the cluster from the web interface.

Make the cluster public (listed on server select) or private (players need address)
Control what 'shards' connect to the cluster
Give god access to player accounts
Grant or deny access to the cluster for specific accounts
Set the cluster rule-set and tweak rule-set settings

This system of moderation allows you to stay completely in character in game while still providing you with all the tools you need to create engaging game worlds.

Custom Rulesets

In addition to the official rule-sets provided with the game by the Citadel team, players with the desire to mod the game will create custom rule-sets. Just like mods for other games, these mods will be posted online for other players to use on their clusters. While truly adventurous modders may build an entire rule-set from scratch, most custom rule-sets will be variations of one of the official rule-sets. Our primary goal with the modding system is to allow for easy creation of simple mods while still providing ways to allow the modder to go as deep as they want. There are many layers to the customization of Shards Online. The most simple way to modify a rule-set is through the creation and manipulation of world objects. World objects are permanent objects that always exist in the world. A common object type is a spawner. These spawn other objects in the world such as NPCs, monsters and treasure chests. Every single object in the game world is created through the use of object templates. These templates define the properties and behaviors of those objects. There are so many things you can create just by manipulating these templates. Here are just a few examples:

NPCs and creatures - You can specify the equipment they are wearing and the loot they have in their pack. Give them custom dialogue and add special behaviors.
Equipment - Templates specify the name, color, attributes and special abilities of weapons and armor.
Spawners - Define the region, types of creatures and respawn frequency for NPC and creature spawners.

At the core, nearly every aspect of gameplay is defined by behaviors written in the Lua scripting language. Even the entire combat system including skills and abilities is defined with behaviors. Here are some examples of things you can change in script:

Create new skills, abilities, crafting recipes, rare resources
Write new AI for NPCs and creatures.
Create new story lines and events.
Create new game modes.

We at Citadel Studios are really excited to see what players will come up with using custom rule-sets.[/fusion_text][/one_full]

Media

admin — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:16:43 +0000

Video

admin — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:20:47 +0000

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Concept Art ORIG

admin — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:32:46 +0000

City of Petra (Celador) Celador Valley Colosseum Terminus Tower of Babel Celador Player House Wyvern

Screenshots ORIG

admin — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 16:01:17 +0000

Community

admin — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 17:04:52 +0000

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Fansites

admin — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 17:05:12 +0000

Coming Soon! Please send an email to contact@citadelstudios.net if you have a fansite for Shards Online that you would like listed here.

Digital Copy Checkout