#jaderambles

Quest Rundown

The player is introduced to the expedition by Elizabeth who gives them a brief run down and at this point the player is relatively familiar with the group. Because of this, they’re deemed to be a valuable potential team member and someone quite reliable. The team is composed of people from both AAE and the druids and was put in motion due to the melting ice and the opened entrance to the valley. Elizabeth joins with Calanthe and once the player initiates it, the team makes their way up the path before everything fades to black. The player meets them on the other side of the melted wall of ice which has just barely opened enough to allow pack animals and maybe some wagons through.

The valley would require a rehaul for my idea to work but it definitely deserves one. The initial area the player finds everyone in is just on a cliff overlooking the main valley. It’s large enough to fit everyone but not where they want to set up camp. A mining expedition occurred many years ago and left very old machinery including a huge elevator for quicker travel and transport up and down from the valley’s entrance. Beyond that is a series of ramshackle, mostly broken stairs used before the elevator was put in place. When the player next speaks to the NPCs, they’re told everyone will need to work together to repair the elevator and stairs.

Some NPCs can be positioned nearby different parts of the area, maybe animated to look like they’re repairing items. The player is given a handful of tasks to do themself but everything requires them to remain in the upper level where the machinery’s main contents is housed or to work their way down the stairs repairing them as they go. This should all be relatively brief as to not detract from the actual expedition. I’d prefer to see NPCs actually doing most of the work instead of having something like the bridges where we do everything. The player instead acts as a connection between everyone, using their horse to haul repair materials and maybe making a quick trip back down to Valedale if needed since it’d be easiest for them.

With the stairs and elevator finally repaired everyone safely reaches the bottom and a camp is set up near the center. There could be some small work here too where the player helps unpack tents but again, don’t make them do everything. (Possibly similar to setting up the Redwoods area?) The camp consists of a set of sleeping tents including one for skipping the night if need be. There’s a mess tent where the player can buy food, an apparel and tack stall maybe by a storage/supply tent. Important NPCs relevant to the area are also located at the camp such as Professor Jura and Harley who will take any bones or special finds the player uncovers from the local archeology. If Elsa and Franke are still part of the group they too would have their own tents. I don’t think Berzelius or her dog are necessary, you could just have a generic AAE or druid running the local races. A vet probably isn’t necessary unless a champ is put up there since there should be one in Valedale. We don’t need a cafe and I don’t think Igor is needed in this area. Lastly, of course a small ramshackle stable should be made with local lumber to house the animals. I’d personally love to see mules used if they’re ever added to the game since they’re so good for pack work like this. Lastly, there should be no dig spots left within the camp’s vicinity and the mailbox can be removed, instead the player can make trips to Valedale to do mail as a daily quest.

The first act of the questline (and therefore the main quest portion) can wrap up with the player assisting Elizabeth in collecting materials. I think it would be wonderful to have a moment of actually doing this with her and interacting with her. We could have a lot more chances to get to know her and build up a relationship and understanding of her throughout this quest which is badly needed to make her part in the story later pay off better. Once any additional bits of the quest are completed, Elizabeth will announce her departure and thank the player. She leaves the expedition in the capable hands of Nic and the other druids. This is where the quest can then shift to having the next main quest available and allow the player to move on with the now side quests unique to Dino Valley.

Either throughout the first act or beginning in the second act, the player gets clued into someone watching them. This turns out later to be the Kalters who have been very removed from any other societies on Jorvik. The reasons are unknown but perhaps the druids believe it’s connected to an old prophecy about snow encasing Jorvik in eternal winter. The Kalters are extremely wary of outsiders however so they cannot be interacted with at first. The druid leader of the expedition tasks the player with inspecting the Icengate to see its state and to look for any recent activity of the Kalters exiting it.

Through this, the player finally comes in contact with someone from the Kalters. They speak to them and end up forming a small connection through their equal love of horses. Through the conversation the player manages to convince this person they’re trustworthy enough to stay in contact with. The Kalter requests the player do a favor for them by fetching them some very difficult and rare materials from the valley in order to better earn their trust. These could be some of the items the player got with Elizabeth or new items. Meanwhile, the player gets other quests at the same time from the expedition team, things such as introductions to archeology, perhaps cartography, surveying, collecting and so on. All of these can result in daily quests for the player too or to progress their rep with the camp, learn about the different people of it and the history of the valley as told by AAE and the druids. However due to the limited resources this could also be used to provide an interesting source of conflict between the druids and Kalters as well as push the player to choose one or the other or treat them equally and try to smooth relations out between the two.

One of the major themes of this quest is understanding how history is told from different perspectives. AAE members focus heavily on the scientific and non-mythical history, druids are more interested in the more magical aspects or how it ties to Garnok and Nic gives a sort of in between view. But when the player begins interacting with the Kalters, they too have their own perspective that is completely different from the others. The valley is their home and it is a place to be respected and possibly even feared due to the dangerous temperatures, terrain and creatures within it. They too have their own myths and legends as well which differ greatly from the druids but there are similar aspects that tie the two together. This is also where my old ideas for the Kalters really could come into play, allowing the player to build up reputation with them, earn favors, learn their lore and about people from their culture and possibly even be allowed one of their unique horses.

Eventually act two ends and the beginning of act 3 would kick off. I’ve always loved the idea of a snowy apocalypse in Jorvik and with the new snow and blizzard features we’ve gotten with the winter updates I think having a visual for it would be far more possible now to integrate it. The cause of this massive snow storm might be due to the local ice witch, I personally had wanted Katja connected to her but that’s up to the team. Her introduction could be foreshadowed but for sure the actual expedition should be mostly fully set up before the quest begins, possibly locked off thanks to rep or other associated quests. The player may also be required to have completed making amends between the druids and Kalters before this point as well.

When this quest begins, the player is outside the Valley and meets with a druid from Valedale. They inform the player that the pass is sealed and all connection with the team has been lost. I’d recommend this occur after Garnok and act as a new main questline involving the soul riders facing off against a new foe before any other new areas of Jorvik are unlocked. During this time, a massive blizzard has consumed Dino Valley and with the pass sealed there’s no way in or out of the valley anymore. Fast travel inside is disabled until the blizzard is cleared. As the player and possibly the other soul riders leave, Avalon leaves them with an ominous vision of Valedale covered in eternal snow and it will only stretch further out to all of Jorvik if it’s not stopped.

Using magic, they break through the ice barrier and find they can barely see anything through the whirling snow within the valley. Slowly they make their way in, the blizzard growing worse the further they go. They reach the camp and find it abandoned and half torn up by the winds, not even the horses are left there. However there are a series of scratches on the trees leading towards the Icengate. The player works out a puzzle that allows them inside and finally they manage to find protection from the storm. One of the Kalters from before greets them but warns them there is no going back now that the witch has awoken. But the good news is the entire expedition team and their equines had made it to the Icengate. Everyone is safe within the Kalter’s homeland.

The player (and likely the other soul riders) can’t accept this is the end of the world. The player being trusted by the Kalter convince them to allow them to speak to their leader(s). Doing so, they convince them that they are capable of defeating this ice witch. I don’t have a lot more details from here on out yet but I do think going through Ashland and visiting Garnok’s Fury is a must. The player should also really need to work with the Kalters, either through learning from them or literally working alongside them or being guided through the area by them. Another cool idea I had was possibly having the ice witch bring the old hidden dinosaur back to life to fight the soul riders. I had also considered perhaps the reason the ice witch attempts to take over Jorvik is because she’s sick of people “invading her valley” and so wants to turn the rest of Jorvik to ice both in retaliation as well to allow herself to go out beyond the valley. Could be other reasons though.

First and foremost, the retired pandorian crowns!

(Image thanks to Evy @evangeline-kingborn​​)

So this was one of the few things I deeply regret missing out on and I had almost made it to Pandoria back in 2018 when these babies came out but just barely missed it. They haven’t been released since which means they exist only for players and not our horses. Now with the addition of horse crowns, the ability to go to Pandoria on any horse and the adding of horses with connections to Pandoria like Dorcha and Solas I feel a return for these crowns is appropriate.

We’ve had new crowns introduced pretty much every year as far as I know and I think while this won’t be necessarily a new crown I think bringing it back could be something that saves the team some effort in what I’m sure will be a very busy year catching up after 2020. I’m not sure how the team goes about adding flower crowns to each breed but hopefully it wouldn’t be too much effort to add this crown in as well since it functions similarly to the other ones.

Another thing to note is that if there’s any concern about making crowns more available to lower level or non-star riders then these flowers could be found at Ydris’ circus instead of in Pandoria. Otherwise I personally adore that it’s a kind of status symbol for current late game players and gives us yet another connection to the beautiful world of Pandoria.

Flower Crown Crafting

As for my other suggestions I wanted to go into how the flower crown crafting could be improved. I don’t expect this to be implemented this year as I have a feeling the team’s probably pretty swamped catching up but I hope maybe these ideas can go into possible updates in future years to improve this wonderful event.

With the addition of Farah’s crafting mechanics to the game I think this would be an excellent way to update the crowns and make it so they’re not tied to certain days of the week. I know that was something that frustrated me. Also if there’s a trading system one day it would be so cool to be able to give hand-crafted crowns to my friends, maybe even with a little note saying who crafted them!

So I would suggest having it where perhaps for the cost of some flax and the collected flowers (limited time gathering item/spots around the areas you found them in before) you can craft as many crowns of that type as you want and choose between the two stations depending on if it’s a player crown or a horse crown.

Flower Gathering Locations:

Dandelion - Moorland

Tulips - Everwind Fields/Silverglade Manor

Aideen’s Flowers - Valedale

White Flax - Starshine Ranch

Lupin - South Hoof

Bluebells - Southern Mistfall

Sweet Cherry - Forgotten Fields

Goldenleaf - Goldenhills Forest

Seashell - Cape West (or Fort Pinta?)

Sunflower - New Hillcrest

Pandorian Flower - Portal Entrance in Pandoria

2021+ Future Flower Crown Suggestions

Marigolds - Gallop Plains/Starshine Ranch/Firgrove

Starflower - Tadpole Fens (Based on the flowers sold in the Mystics’ shop)

Nature Lover’s Crown - Whinny Valley (Foresters Player Flower Crown)

Amaranthus - Tailtop Village/Redwood Point (The pink/magenta flowers)

Blue Mushrooms - Tadpole Fens/Aideen’s Whisper (Call them Mysterious Mushrooms?)

Pink Mushrooms - Sentinel Tree

Golden Mushrooms - Tailtop Village/Whinney Valley

Roses - Valedale

Golden Lilies - Hartwood Shore/Wise Withers Lake

Midsummer 2021 Guests

Lastly, regarding any updates made for the 2021 Midsummer, I hope the team can still keep the existing gameplay of setting up the area and allowing us to talk to guests. Given the changes and updates made since last year I would be so happy to see some dialogue between the Redwood Point rangers the most. (Maybe some comments on they’re off duty from the Redwood Station?) If Gary won’t be selling horses during the event I’d also love to see him make it there and maybe even interact with the rangers or druids. Even if he is selling horses I’d still love a bit of dialogue from him!

Others I’d like to see some interaction with would be Bonnie as she’s one of my favorite side characters. I wouldn’t mind seeing some new side characters like Skip and Yelena show up (especially if they’re talking about equitation together.) Also I’m a total sucker for seeing Ydris show up to these events so if he and Zee made an appearance with the Pandorian flower crowns that would make me so happy!

If the team has plans for the next year I’d also love some hints on those but just seeing folks like the soul riders and their steeds return would be nice too. I love it when I can talk to them but even when unavailable it’s still nice to see them present. (Please let me feed Meteor more apples!) Lastly, if the crafting style of Farah’s workshop were ever implemented I wouldn’t mind having her nearby being either responsible or related and commenting on it.

Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed my rambles regarding the Midsummer Festival and are as excited as I am to see what the team does with it next! I hope we won’t be skipping it this year but even if we do I expect it’ll be coming back another year maybe with even more features. I also deeply hope that my ideas might make it back to the team and can help inspire them when adding and improving this beloved event for SSO.

Regardless of System Adjustments (From Previous Ramble)

Remove designated care areas (stable interior, outside of stables, ranch rp areas, ect) and let the player do basic care actions such as brushing, hoof picking, watering and feeding anywhere.

Remove the loading bar and just play the animations as well as remove the blinking/fading black screens. If necessary clip the player into place like when mounting and simply let them move from where they are after the animation. (Unless it could cause issues with players clipping through walls.)

Keep a simplistic means of doing horse care for roleplay and accessibility. (I don’t think the mini games are a bad idea but I think something simple that is a single click or click and drag with animations should be kept in.)

Bonding System Overview

Horses do not need daily care to maintain happiness which is removed along with the debuffs for not caring. Any care performed instead builds up the horse’s “bond” with the player. Bond does not give buffs to speed or anything that actively affects racing or PVP gameplay. Bonding is also earned by actively interacting with the horse. Your current ridden horse does not lose bonding even when dismounted.

The bond level is only decreased while the player is in game and not actively riding the horse. I would argue that technically horses in the pasture should be allowed to maintain their bond level and only horses kept active in the stable should be affected. (Pasture horses are resting and this would allow players to build up bond with their sometimes 100+ horses without feeling punished for having so many.)

Having high bonding with a horse primarily affects the player when they are actively riding the horse. This could result in bonuses such as earning more horse experience, getting a boost to endurance/horse HP and maybe your horse even can randomly find items for you. I also like to think if potions were added to the game that those (and visual effects like powders) could have extended use on high bonded horses.

Benefits

Treats/Feed Boosts

Increased Bond (Points)

Speed Boost

Agility Boost

Jump Boost

Endurance/HP Boost

High Bonding Benefits

Boost to Horse Exp

Higher Endurance/Horse HP

Horse Randomly Finds Objects

Potions and Powder Effects Last Longer

In general I think switching to a “bonding” system is far more friendly to all players but especially children. It avoids this idea of abusing your horses if you don’t care for them and that your actions could cause unhappiness for your animals. It also removes the guilt of not paying for stable care and as I mentioned in my other care ramble allows players to spend more money on buying more horses without feeling guilt of getting additional horses.

This system would also make it easier to manage large amounts of horses and make it more enjoyable to switch between all of them. For me I generally feel trapped into only riding a few at a time because I cannot afford stable care. That means I either plan out who I ride or suffer through a heavily debuffed horse since both stable care and vets are too expensive and I personally don’t have the time to care for more than 5 horses.

The suggestions I will bring up could give players better means to interact with their horses and control their play style, adding more to how players think about interacting with the game while still giving them reasons to log in often. At the same time though players aren’t being punished (or technically rewarded) for not playing the game either.

Loss of Bond and Freezing Bond Level

Loss of bonding over in game time only occurs on horses who are stabled and not pastured or not your currently ridden horse.

While the player is in game stabled horses’ bond levels will slowly decrease. This can be paused for the day by doing any action that increases bonding. (For example just running around and petting or feeding each stabled horse once is enough.) When the server ticks over to the next day the bond will begin decreasing again while the player is in game. It’s best to do this as soon as you jump on to play to freeze the horse’s current bonding level.

For players who do not wish to actively interact with each horse I believe having a feeding system (not unlike Amelia’s idea for a silo) would work well as an automated bonding action to freeze your background bonding loss. I will go into this more later in the rambles but it would activate with server rollover and not require the player to initiate it so they can have hands free care without requiring SC.

Bond loss due to time in the stable unridden should not be a rapid loss, it should take around 3-4 days worth of not caring for your horse at all while playing the game to completely lose bond level. Bonding should be able to be relatively quickly increased but require more effort to do so faster.

Whenever your actively ridden horse is injured to the point of having no HP left that will reduce bond level by quite a bit. You put your horse in harm’s way and did not protect them therefore they feel less of a bond with you. Whenever your horse is injured enough to remove HP that may also slightly decrease bond as well.

Increasing Bonding

Primarily bond would be improved via interacting with your horse with the main ways being feeding, watering, grooming, petting and racing/training. When racing/training bond is gained (and any bonus exp is earned) with the horse whom you turn it in with.

I think a new feeding system should be implemented along with this idea where instead of doing “stable care” and paying SC to activate it the player has the option to use their feed room to craft food for their horses and choose a feeding schedule for them. Scheduling feed would be similar to stable care where the player simply picks how many days they’d like it active and can cancel the current feed (while keeping in mind they won’t get anything in return for doing it.) The amount of feed needed increases along with how many days the player’s horses will be fed. This should not be affected by the stable size or number of horses in the stable however.

Horse feeding would only apply to horses currently stabled and not affect pastured horses. Doing a mass stable feed allows the player to either choose between doing a basic feed to maintain bond (increasing it by 1pt) or to apply bonuses such as improving how much bonding it provides or adding boosts to stats.

Feed can be obtained via either crafting it (free but more effort) or purchasing it from a food vendor with shillings or SC. Standard feed can be bought with JS or SC but specialized feeds might require SC. All food can be crafted but not everything can be purchased. Crafting requires more effort on the player’s part as they need to collect the ingredients in the world (or save some from events such as free food from the Winter Village. Or maybe we could have our own farms and gardens someday.)

Any stat boosts should be relatively small however and not able to stack. If there is stacking it should only be with different boosts. For example if a player has a horse on a feed that boosts speed then feeding them a treat that boosts speed should not add more speed. However the horse in speed boosting feed could have a treat that boosts jump. Potentially they could be fed multiple treats but only be buffed once per stat.

In addition to feed I think having craftable treats would be wonderful for expanding horse care and adding more a personalized experience. If trading is ever implemented players could sell or gift horse food they made to others. Even without trading this could be a small way for players to make money and convert materials they find in the world into shillings through the effort of crafting.

When feeding your horse however there should be a limit and using feed counts as one point of feeding for that day. The player can continue feeding their horse treats but after say 5 feedings they no longer boost your horse’s bonding. This may also be something to keep in mind with grooming where doing the main grooming actions only give bonding once per day but can be performed countless times. (Such as brushing, hoof picking and using the wash stall.)

I also think it might be cute if your horse has a preference for a specific kind of food each day which is randomized. If you can guess what type of food it is (like a treat with apples in it or just apples) then it could give an extra bonding bonus. I wouldn’t go with horses having perma favorite foods because I know I personally like to imagine my horses liking certain things then I feel disappointed if they don’t follow my idea in game. This also could encourage players to try feeding their horses a variety of treats as well, encouraging them to find and create each recipe.

Horse Food and Recipes

I think starting out the player should have access to some basic options such as being able to feed their horse a few standard food (+1, +3 or +5 bonding effect per day for feed or per treat) and maybe a basic speed boost recipe for feed and treats.

For advanced recipes the player will need to complete mini quests and befriend/increase reputation with the NPCs or groups around Jorvik. For example, after helping Ed Field fix up the inn and revive it he has enough rep with you that he decides to give you a nutter butters weird horse treat or feed recipe. Other options could be a questionable but safe smoothie from Tim or Jamie Olivetree giving you a horse biscuit recipe that with some tweaking the player is able to figure out how not to burn to a crisp. Marly’s family could give rewards unique to each of them including his sister offering a gourmet one.

These recipes would be unlocked following a mini quest given by the NPC and then become permanently available in the crafting part of the feed room. In general it’s a nice way to both give players more reasons to interact with the world and reward those who get invested in it. It also helps flesh out the NPCs and the world we are living in while adding some more holistic aspects. To me it would feel like I’m truly making friends and finding a home in the world of Jorvik through small things such as NPCs appreciating my help so much they gift or help me out in turn. This would also be something that requires the player to work for the more “powerful” items in the game AKA the ability to properly buff your horse outside of tack.

Quick Care Skill Notes

I think I will leave an in depth discussion on improving the care skill to another ramble but I wanted to cover a few ideas and how they might factor into this new bonding system

Players with higher care skill would have automatic bonuses applied to their bonding with all of their horses. For example let’s say every 5 levels of care the player gains an extra +1 with all bonding increases. A player at level 1-4 in care would receive no benefit, one at level 5-9 would get +1 and 10-14 would get +2 and so on. So if brushing only gave +1 bonding usually then a player at level 10 would get +3 bonding with their horse.

If more aspects were added to horse health and we were able to heal our horses with bought/crafted first aid kits then having high care could result in both gaining more bond back as well as improving how much your horse is healed.

Potentially a player with high care skill could have a chance of producing better quality feed and treats with a basic treat that normally only gives +2 could have a 25% chance of being boosted to a higher quality such as giving +5 bond instead.

Overall I’m incredibly happy with what I was able to come up with and even if none of this makes it into the game I do hope that my discussion can help inspire the team or anyone else who reads this when it comes to thinking critically about game systems. I do hope it helps with brainstorming and thinking about how to address interconnected systems within SSO itself though and can provide some benefit to the team. 

Silo idea mentioned can be found in Amelia and Leila’s interview! I also want to mention that the recipes idea was most likely pitched to me by my friends but I apologize for not recalling who as both @sso-ali-archdotter and @centeris2 have been integral to helping me flesh this idea out and I want to thank them profusely for listening to my endless jumbled rambles. 

Rescue Ranch Overview

Every week the player is given a chance to take on a new rescue horse to the ranch. The player can care for up to 5 horses at a time. Horses are randomized but I imagine that some rescue cases are locked off to higher levels of the ranch and require more “experience” working there to rescue.

After “rescuing” a horse (which could involve simply accepting someone’s horse or going out to find a wild horse) the horse is kept in the pen at the ranch. Each horse’s status is tracked on the board and the player can pick who to work with from there. Depending on the reason the horse came to the ranch the player will need to tend to their needs. This may involve administering medicine, making sure the animal is fed and watered, tending to a wound, ect.

Potentially instead of a new horse for the player to take in they could have a random mission available during that week such as helping a pregnant mare deliver her foal. This would require the player to visit the location of the mare (either wild or domestic) and make sure that the foal is safely born.

Other interactions the player could have may involve crafting medicine and going through an investigation series to understand what is wrong with the horse and how to cure them.

The care skill would factor heavily into all of this, making it so the player can complete tasks quicker and have higher chances of success.

Potential Horses or Quests Available for Rescue

Wild Full Grown Horse (Injury or Sickness)

Wild Foal (Injury or Sickness)

Domestic Horse for Special Care (Injury or Sickness)

Help a Pregnant Mare Deliver

This might overlap with using the wild foal idea for rangers

But could also focus more on house calls for domestic horse care in Silverglade

Jorvik Rangers Overview

The idea of this is more in line with druid missions and soul riding but instead you rise through the ranks from an initiate ranger to a full fledged member. The missions are more ranger focused with a variety of far more casual themed tasks. These can be picked up at both the Mistfall and Firgrove ranger stations across Jorvik.

The player may initially start off with basic training which could even take place in the sandpit in Firgrove before they are allowed on more advanced tasks and then full missions.

The rangers idea has a lot of crossover with the rescue ranch idea in terms of helping horses mixed with several other gameplay features such as the Spirit quests to help wild animals, taking samples from nature like in Epona, moving Violet’s photography work into ranger missions and using quests like picking up trash in Valedale and Goldenhills or the chainsawing done previously in Mistfall. The player could also have to follow tracks to find missing horse, rider or animals again like Nic Stoneground’s quest in Dino Valley.

Much like the rescue ranch I think care can factor into this as well with the player being able to perform tasks more efficiently or having a higher chance of success such as with interacting with wild animals.

Rangers missions could be introduced as part of the opening of Northern Mistfall as perhaps the rangers are recruiting in order to connect with or explore the northern half.

Unique Missions/Tasks

Newborn Foal

Observe foal birth

Help foal feed

Water mother

Condition foal?

Trail Accident

Rider First Aid/Injury Check

Horse First Aid/Injury Check

Calm a Panicked or Runaway Horse

Herd Lost Animals Home

Andy’s animals have escaped their enclosure and need to be led back

Assist Wild Animals (Thinking of old spirit missions)

Return Lost Baby to Its Parent

Perform First Aid on Injured Animal

Clean Up

Remove Trash

Put out Fires

Unblock Trails (Chainsawing Logs/Thorns?)

Violet’s Photography/Surveying

Photograph Animals

Survey Water?

Survey Plants?

Photograph the Land?

I definitely think that we should see more partnering between Hugh and the Rangers as well, I think lore wise they’d do a great service to Jorvik working together. The rangers could help bring in or direct people to the ranch when they need care and Hugh could help assist in medical needs or training.

This ramble is one I think I will be returning to in the future as I would love to flesh out some deeper concepts on how the actual mission quests and gameplay aspects could work for both. I also would love to make some concept UI and such after my test for the Jorvik Divined Rune Bingo. 

Once again some of my ideas are inspired by Amelia and Leila’s interview so make sure to check that out if you haven’t already! I also must admit that Amelia’s discussion of how injuries could work in the game got me thinking about how I would approach horse injury in SSO. Also worth noting is her brief discussion of the rescue ranch which I took a glance at following my initial writing of this ramble. I’d also like to thank the folks on the Riders on Jorvik discord server as some discussion that came up earlier this year is what gave me the initial inspiration to write about the Jorvik Rangers idea!

Overview

Cartography is a daily activity players can participate in where they receive missions (mini quests) each day that incentivize them to go out and explore the whole map and interact with different aspects of the world. It would be a good addition for both new and end game players as the former will have more reasons to explore and learn the map while the latter will receive something else to do to stay invested and entertained within the game. I also think it’s something the team could easily build upon if they wished to integrate it into other gameplay aspects. (And is definitely something explorers like me would love to interact with.)

The cartography mechanic would be set up to be found and completed in the world without visiting an NPC. The player can still visit the NPC to get a hint on where to look for the activator (given that the areas can get quite large) but over time they should get an idea of the spawn points. Some of the cartography quests could even have semi-unique gameplay such as mini games or having different ways of interacting with the world. Lore wise I think the person in charge of the cartography may have markers set out for you or send you a message daily on where to perform the cartography work so as to avoid forcing the player to visit them first. Some characters could use this and some could require you visiting them first as well.

I imagine Chiron and Mario would ask you to place down markers whereas Nic and Evergrey ask you to photograph and survey the landscape in order to fill in a map. Druids (and Evergrey) may end up having you collect samples or the druids could potentially have you seal small budding rifts that don’t require the same amount of work as the larger ones that pop up in the storyline or soul riding.

Areas & NPCS

Silverglade & Mario

Mario is still not willing to leave the observatory so he needs the player to go out and set up equipment throughout Silverglade for him to adjust star maps. (Doesn’t need to be cameras, could be an updated version of calibration for the telescope.)

This can be a simple setup similar to Nic’s original map marking quest or it can require a mini game or some additional work on the player’s part.

I imagine this would be the first cartography quest the player gets and so should be the simplest for them to complete. This would also give them a higher paying and higher rep reward with the AAE Astronomical subset.

Dino Valley & Nic Stoneground

Nic requires the player to fill in blank spots on the map

Could use a similar setup to the existing mini quest just instead it’s a daily event that requires you to visit different parts of Dino Valley. Could also use updated gameplay mechanics and work more like a mini game.

I think while this is a once a day quest for Nic it would be the highest paying quest and reward a large amount of rep (and progress) to the expedition/camp itself. If possible, after maxing the rep with Nic’s group I think rep for this should spill over into increasing the general AAE reputation if possible.

Epona & Professor Chiron

Chiron is looking for additional areas across Epona that may be potential interesting dig sites or places to study.

This might involve a slightly modified version where the player must put out markers for Chiron that denote the edges of the area. (The team would need to be careful in how they set this up and especially with any updates to terrain too.)

Again it gives a once a day high paying quest that would provide a big boost to AAE rep.

Full Map (Minus Dino) & Avalon/The Druids

Avalon (or some other druid if he’s not available for whatever reason) would request the player to inspect pandoric activity across the currently unlocked part of Jorvik besides Dino Valley.

This could have some really interesting game mechanics or mini games and could even bring back the player needing to close rifts. Overall I think this would be a nice way of further making the player feel connected to the druids and as though they are truly a part of the faction. For an example of gameplay perhaps the player would need to record the flora (and fauna?) that is being affected or cropping up from pandoric activity before sealing the tiny rift that has sprouted up.

This would pay well and give a large boost to the Keepers of Aideen rep.

Pandoria & Evergrey

Evergrey is interested in mapping Pandoria and sending you to study it as he can no longer access it without endangering himself. He assures you that the momentary visits will not injure you as you won’t be staying for prolonged periods. It would be intended as end game cartography.

This is open to some interesting mechanics and could involve actually gathering samples of parts of Pandoria (flora, crystals, ect) for Everygrey to study.

Again, high pay and high rep. I personally love the idea of this being something only for Evergrey so it leaves him as kind of still a semi independent element. I think this could be a neat way of adding a rep system to him and if implemented then a reason to expand upon his character and give him more interactions with the player. (Such as teaching/training or sending them out on his own quests.)

System Ideas

The team could either have it where it’s always in the same place per day of the week but I think a “semi random” system similar to the druids and Mary’s missing animals could be far more interesting. There are a limited number of locations so players can eventually learn all potential spawn spots just like how the druids always have their events in the same spots but it’s somewhat random per day.

I also think having the system favor a certain area depending on the day of the week would be nice though. For example if all of the goldenhills quests are on Fridays then I think Avalon/the druids cartography quest should be available there.

I think the Rangers could also request the player to survey Mistfall or map out Northern Mistfall but that may be something added to a more ranger based mission system.

Another potential future idea is once you go up past Northlink into Wild Warden territory you have to use your cartography skills to build your own map.

Horse Care Praise

I hate to criticize or suggest adjustments to anything without offering a positive outlook on what I believe is done well about the aspects I want changed. It’s also good to take note of these parts as they could potentially be something worth working into the overhauled system.

I appreciate that unlike 90% of horse games that have been around (at least since I was a kid and amongst those I’ve found in my own horse game research) that SSO and the other Star Stable PC games have always kept the actual horse care aspect simple. You take whatever you want to care for a horse with and use it on them without having to go through a mini-game. It’s a simple animation or one and done action. This is important to me when you have to do this on a regular basis or to a large amount of horses. (Only issue is that loading bar and some other small UI nit-picks.)

The functioning wash stall is a nice addition to the game, I appreciate how it actually acts as a grooming interaction on your horse too and temporarily removes the tack. The only thing I wish we had was a way to activate photo mode and have slightly more free camera movement and the hidden UI like our horse’s name and hiding all sparkles while activated. (I also adore the little easter egg where you dance in the suds.)

I appreciate all the different items we’re able to feed our horses. It’s also kind of neat that while normal items like apples, carrots and hay are available in all the standard feed shops there’s special harder to get items too. Such as the produce cart in Aideen’s Plaza or when we get holiday items. (Like from the little helpers or 2019’s birthday cakes!)

Horses App

I think in terms of mini-games that the way the foal app does it is actually pretty enjoyable. This is a little bit off topic since it delves into the app instead of SSO itself but an equally noteworthy topic especially if the team ends up pulling aspects of the mini-games into SSO. I like that it doesn’t take an extreme amount of work like some games do and that the hoof picking especially has noticeable spots to clean and you only do one hoof. (I also appreciate that it looks like actual objects falling off, sure it’s not realistic but it’s more appealing than other games I’ve seen.) The only thing I’ve ever had an issue with is the petting which seems to have problems with detection of the touch screen.

Overall the visual effects are pleasant and I love the fact you don’t have to cover every inch of the horse for it to count. You can just keep grooming the same spot for the brush and washing and it works instead of trying to hunt the tiny section you missed besides for when you wash soap off. (Which makes sense, you wash where you put it.)

I also like that the horses seem to have certain foods they like or prefer more. Though I personally would like to see it that they eat anything but have certain foods they like more than others.

In terms of the training I really love that we can run our horse through ground work with lunging, cavaletti, free jumping and the sorta tricks teaching and side pass work. These are aspects I would really love to see integrated into SSO as other options for training our horses outside of running the same races over and over. If the first person view isn’t kept though I do think the player movement both mechanically and visually will need an update. The only noticeable gameplay issue I could see is in terms of accessibility if mouse movement was used to replace the touch screen element.

Basic Care System Suggestions

These are aspects I think should be for the most part implemented regardless of how the team goes about updating the caring system unless it becomes redundant.

As I praised above, keep a simplistic means of doing horse care for accessibility and even if it doesn’t have any effects it’s still nice for roleplay. Either keep it down to a simple click and drag or you press an interact button.

Remove designated care areas and let players do basic care actions such as brushing, hoof picking, watering and feeding anywhere. (Care areas such as those in and around stables.)

Remove excess UI such as the loading bar and only have the animations playing. Also remove the blinking or fading black screens. If necessary simply have the player clip into place like when mounting and let them move from where they are after the animation. (Unless it could cause issues with players clipping through walls.) Also remove the bar across the top and make any updates to your horse less intrusive such as the using the notification box in the corner.

Reasons to Remove Current Happiness System

While I don’t have any promising ideas for replacing the current system I didn’t want to leave out my reasoning for removing the current  “mood/happiness” system and the buffs/debuffs associated with daily care of your horse.

Higher Player Accessibility 

Players are not required to perform the care in order to have non-debuffed/faster horses. (Especially those with disabilities.)

No guilt over having to either leave horses extremely unhappy or for having to use star coins to tend to all of them.

Players can ride any horse they own at any time, therefore increasing enjoyment of their current horses and allowing them to participate in unique events related to specific breeds.

Removes Feelings of Punishment/Positive Reward For Not Playing

If a player is unable to log in on a daily basis they are immediately punished by losing happiness with their uncared for horses. Even one day is a rather big nuisance and cannot be rectified immediately other than through paying a large sum of SC to the vet. Removing this aspect will garner player happiness and remove a reason for the player to not want to return to the game.

Removes the aspect that using the app to pay for horse care has induced that basically rewards players for not playing the game as they don’t even need to log into the game in order to have their horses cared for.

Provides Additional Reason to Buy More Horses

Players will be more willing to purchase additional horses because of the former reasons. There are little to no negative connotations with owning a massive hoard of horses if daily care requirement is removed.

Players will also be more willing to buy horses as they will no longer have to balance paying for stable care versus paying for a new horse.

Extra Notes

I think adding the foal app mini-games especially for grooming (and maybe training in the future) would be a good idea. These could be accessible in the home stable wash stall or at the wash stalls in places such as the Rescue Ranch and Starshine Ranch.

The mini-games should remain as completely optional and more interactive, engaging and roleplaying based way for the player to interact with their horse. As mentioned in Amelia and Leila’s interview it would also provide additional repeatable gameplay especially for younger audiences.

If daily feeding is required I think going with an idea similar to Amelia’s suggestion for a silo from the interview with Leila would be a good idea. I personally think either setting this up via the bulletin board or having it in the feed room would work best. The player could then buy hay from the food stalls and fill up their feed storage to act as a shillings based auto-care system. (I also think if a means of crafting food that buffs your horses is added then you could add it to the auto feeding to apply it to all your horses.)

Also in regards to the vet currently, I feel the price is absurd to pay to get your horse to max happiness. It should not cost me a week’s worth allowance of free currency to max 1 horse. Either it should be 100 to max my entire stable or should be far cheaper to max a single horse. I would argue no more than 25 SC at most with 10-15 being preferable. I would also like to see an alternate option to pay in a large amount of shillings for the vet.

I’d like to see stable care changed from 7 SC a day to 5 SC if we don’t have any shillings alternative systems in place. Even then 5 SC a day is still better as it is easier (at least where I’m from, not sure elsewhere) to count by. Most of the horses are for sale in multiples of 5 (650, 825, 900, ect) and would make pricing easier on players. I would argue anything sold for SC should be done in multiples of 5 but stable care is the most commonly purchased thing beyond horses. (Since most apparel can be bought with shillings instead and not many items are SC only.)

Alternate System Suggestion

So while I haven’t been able to think of a better system overhaul I did come up with something that feels like a step in between our current system and a brand new one. I don’t think this is the best way to approach updating how horse care works but I wanted to mention it in case it can help inspire ideas from others on how to do a better update.

The basic idea is running on a “3 tier” happiness system where you horse is either happy, unhappy or miserable. (Instead of the 5 stage system we currently have.) This includes 3 tiers of caring as well.

Horses can be brought from miserable to happy in one day without paying SC and can be done to any number of horses but requires more effort than paying a vet.

Taking care of your horse daily results in the least amount of time and effort required to maintain the horse’s happiness. However stable care isn’t necessary and the player can mostly avoid the punishment issues even if they don’t because they can raise their horses’ happiness up without paying SC if they are willing to put time and effort in.

Overall this idea is very rough and I’m sure would require quite a bit of additional work especially as I unfortunately don’t know how the programming/coding side would work.

Alternate System Breakdown

Each action adds points to the horse’s overall happiness. Basic actions such as brushing, hoof picking, watering and feeding your horse hay will be the equivalent of +1 happiness. More advanced actions will give the player higher amounts of happiness such as using the wash stall or other special designated grooming areas. (Not care areas like around stables but more like the stations at the ranches.) Certain foods will reward higher happiness points so an apple, carrot or orange might be +2 instead of 1.

When a horse is miserable the only way to reach full happiness is by visiting a vet in order to use a care station with them. This wouldn’t require SC but instead would be similar to how the Rescue Ranch worked where you perform an action with the horse to give it the final boost required to reach full happiness in one day.

Doing tier 1 or 2 caring for your horse subsequent days in a row would be enough to raise them to max happiness again. It should only take about 3 days at most to reach it. I’m not certain if continually feeding your horse should theoretically be able to max happiness, I was considering having food max out in terms of how much it can do. (“Your horse is full and cannot eat anymore” or something like that.)

In terms of a point system doing basic care is enough to maintain horse happiness every day and is enough to go from an unhappy status to happy. Going from miserable to happy would require a certain number of food (which could be its own point system potentially?) combined with the full amount of care options available from the basic tier 1 and 2 grooming to the tier 3 vet assistance.

Lastly, I would prefer to have the requirement of daily feeding removed from the game entirely so I don’t feel this is the best way to replace our current system. As I discussed with a friend I think part of the problem keeping this in SSO is the fact the game’s time is tied with real life time. I don’t mind daily feeding of my animals in something such as Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley because time is different and unrelated to when I’m available to play. I can play through a week’s worth of time in game during a single day’s play session in real life. But I can also abandon the game for a month and come back to find everything as I left it unlike in SSO. If I leave that long then all my horses will be miserable unless I pay for stable care with premium currency and it will take a week or so bare minimum to get anyone up to max happiness again without paying 100 SC per horse. For a game that wants players to keep paying either via subscriptions and/or with the multitude of horses released it really doesn’t make sense to keep such a punishing system in game. I can see where starting out that makes sense as a game mechanic but it is incredibly outdated and long over due to be replaced either with a long term solution or a short term one.

Link to Amelia’s interview with GM Leila.

Again, thank you for taking the time to read through my thoughts! I hope I’ll be able to come back to this topic in the future with some additional ideas that would expand upon the game rather than simply analyzing our current gameplay.