Welcome to Project: Gorgon!


Project: Gorgon is a 3D fantasy MMORPG (massively-multiplayer online role-playing game) that features an immersive experience that allows the player to forge their own path through exploration and discovery. We won't be guiding you through a world on rails, and as a result there are many hidden secrets awaiting discovery. Project: Gorgon also features an ambitious skill based leveling system that bucks the current trend of pre-determined classes, thus allowing the player to combine skills in order to create a truly unique playing experience.

The Project: Gorgon development team is led by industry veteran Eric Heimburg. Eric has over a decade of experience working as a Senior and Lead Engineer, Developer, Designer and Producer on successful games such as Asheron’s Call 1 and 2, Star Trek Online and other successful Massively Multiplayer Online Games.



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  1. #1
    Junior Member Varnoc's Avatar
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    Updating Calligraphy and Meditation

    With the removal of combos on gear some time back, Calligraphy and Meditation combos have become increasingly out of place. I've not had a good solution for their rigid combo structure until now, so I've not said anything.

    I'd like to see the combos provided by these skills changed to follow this sort of structure, do keep in mind these are just examples:

    1. (BasicAttack) + (AnySkill) + (NiceAttack) + (SpecificSwordSkill)
    2. (SignatureDebuff) + (AnySkill) + (SpecificSwordSkill)
    3. (EpicAttack) + (BasicAttack) + (CoreAttack) + (SpecificSwordSkill)
    4. (AnySkill) + (CoreAttack) + (BasicAttack) + (SpecificSwordSkill)
    5. (CoreAttack) + (SignatureDebuff) + (SpecificSwordSkill)


    This sort of structure would allow the player to mix in abilities from different skills with freedom, while retaining the bonuses to the Sword or Unarmed skills.

    This also makes abilities currently unused in Calligraphy/Meditation combos usable, allowing players to use the abilities they want to, rather than the ones they feel obligated to due to higher numbers.

    An additional Note: I'd like to see players gain Calligraphy/Meditation experience for performing combos in combat, that would make it much less of a grind-fest to level, making it feel a bit more natural.
    Last edited by Varnoc; 01-10-2017 at 12:20 PM. Reason: Clarity

  2. #2
    Senior Member Niph's Avatar
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    It seems to me Meditation is supposed to be the ancillary skill of Unarmed, and Calligraphy the ancillary skill of Sword. So, even though your suggestion has merit, I think they are really intended to remain specific to these combat skills.

    Perhaps we could have some new skill for "generic" combos.

  3. #3
    Junior Member Varnoc's Avatar
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    That was my thought too, but it runs contrary to Citan's stated desire to have two skill builds work more effectively than single skill builds.

    Added on top of the fact that those combos are highly rigid, and often include abilities you simply don't care for, you end up being put in a position where it feels beeter to simply ignore Calligraphy's combos altogether.

    I doubt the latter ramblings will ever make it into the game under Calligraphy/Meditation, but the former, I feel, runs quite well with what Citan's stated he wants to push combat towards.
    Last edited by Varnoc; 01-10-2017 at 12:50 PM. Reason: Editing out stupid ideas

  4. #4
    Senior Member Greyfyn's Avatar
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    I enjoy the work of figuring out the timing of using my combos. I have picked specific combos to use for both sword/calligraphy and unarmed/meditation and built for using them. The timing with the other skill sometimes means I put myself at risk because I can't use a psych heal when I need to, but that's part of the exercise. Just because there are more combos out there, doesn't mean I'm gonna use them. Find ones that work and build for them.

    Sword NEEDS calligraphy do to adequate damage. If you're doing sword and you are not at least using the % damage buff calligraphy gives you, you are likely just not gonna do the damage of other skill lines. I don't see that OTHER skill lines really need to use what is intended to enhance sword and unarmed. The fact that archers can up their piercing % by using a calligraphy is a side effect. If there were some additional calligraphy for everyone to use, than the calligraphy for sword only would need to be buffed, because sword is not the powerhouse damage producer it really could be.

    There's little wonder that people just starting out get frustrated with sword. Really. But that's another discussion.

    As for unarmed, the meditations might not be clear. You get the combo from the specific meditation you chose, the combo from the pillar you use, and the daily combo. Playing with being able to use those combos at any specific time is part of the fun. I do use my second skill, psychology, quite a lot. I just do it in the interim times between combos. Timing! Sometimes it spectacularly fails.

    Both calligraphy and meditation got a somewhat temporary fix by having a generic skill inserted into the combo, which allows flexibility we didn't previously have. There are lots of combos no one will use, but I don't find that surprising. There are lots of cooking recipes no one will use once they have leveled past them.

    From my perspective, being able to insert actions from other skill-lines into combos just weakens sword and unarmed. If you're gonna do that, you might as well add a wet noodle skill to sword so I can stand there while the druid archers take care of everything for me.

  5. #5
    Junior Member Varnoc's Avatar
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    I don't see that OTHER skill lines really need to use what is intended to enhance sword and unarmed.
    I think there's a misunderstanding here.

    Other skills WOULD NOT benefit from Calligraphy or Meditation. I think we can all agree that would be busted.

    What I'm asking for is more flexible combos. The option to use abilities from other skill sets (Necro, Mentalism, Shield, Psych, Etc.) IN the combo. Other skills wouldn't get any more damage or utility from it. Period. The combos would always end in a specific Sword or Unarmed skill, and thus the effect is tied to those skill sets.

    All this does is further reinforce the idea of two-skill combat, and free people up to combo the way they want to. You still need to use Sword/Unarmed to get the benefit of your Calligraphy/Meditation.

    ---

    On the subject of passive bonuses, I honestly think they should go. Tie the damage into the combo itself, it's more interesting that way and prevents other skills from abusing it.

  6. #6
    Senior Member Crissa's Avatar
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    The combos from Meditation just don't work once you start getting gear. If I get a punch-hipcheck combo, I'm just not going to use it because I don't have punch+hipcheck gear. And when punch was prohibited from animals, well, there was only one combo that didn't need a punch.

    I liked the idea of more generic combos - if anything it lets you use combos that match your gear. Back when I started, they were cool, but...

    ...Now I get half my damage from 'bonus to knee kick' and 'bonus to barrage' so I never use them. I'll never take barrage or knee kick off my bar (and probably not mamba and front kick, either) since I solo alot.

    (something that might help with Meditation is if it didn't expire while I was near a meditation point or in the inn, so I could mess with my bars without burning the effect time.)

    PS: Also the combos don't mesh well with another skill. Animal skills have kicks, so some worked, but... Psych always breaks the combos. I'd really like if the combos and 'nice attack' etc had generic icons in the text or maybe in the lower corner of the ability icon? I need some training aids here.)
    Last edited by Crissa; 01-10-2017 at 01:15 PM.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Greyfyn's Avatar
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    @Varnoc

    My original post may not have directly addressed yours. I was thinking more of things I've read in game chat recently and attempted to address some of the confusion new players have experienced.

    Yes, it would be wonderful if calligraphy became more functional for sword. As you discussed elsewhere, calligraphy requires stupidly prohibitive items in a lot of cases where meditation just has one easy to get item. Just looking at the two side by side, the archaic organization of the calligraphy window is impenetrable in comparison to the neat and tidy meditation list. Alphabetical listing of calligraphy spell names makes me want to sneeze just looking at it. It would be great if it could be restructured for accessibility.

    Your suggestion of how to make calligraphy more fluid and useful is a good one. Being able to better integrate combos with other skill lines will help make sword and calligraphy work better together. My sense of IRK with sword/calligraphy is long standing and your idea could resolve some of that irritation.

    Removing the passive damage bonus and tying that damage directly to a successful combo would be great. Yes!
    Last edited by Greyfyn; 01-10-2017 at 01:46 PM.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Spiritfingers's Avatar
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    How about this for an idea. Have cross skill combos. Maybe have a condition that Meditation meets that allows calligraphy to work. That would be crazy balancing work. Maybe my idea is too much.

  9. #9
    Senior Member Tagamogi's Avatar
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    It would be lovely if calligraphy and medititation were reworked to be a bit more flexible. I really like the concept of these two skills, but in practice I just tend to not use them that much.

    Adding a possibly redundant mid-level perspective:
    I recently decided to play sword a bit more, and went through the list of calligraphy recipes available to me at level 31. After reviewing my recipes, I decided to only use the Secrets straight % buff, since none of the combos really looked worthwhile to me. A lot of the combos were sword slash + sword slash which I don't like since I like to smash buttons and don't want to wait on the cooldown, and the other combos just didn't seem that exciting compared to what damage I could get by focusing on the abilities buffed by my gear instead.

    Meditation is pretty much the reason I don't enjoy unarmed. I feel I need to keep track of which combo does what and where I can get it from, just in case there is an amazing combo somewhere that's better than my gear effects and this whole tracking thing just feels like way too much hassle. (And I'm saying that as the person who recently started a spreadsheet of possible workorders to keep track of what I turned in when, and who keeps a list of NPC hangouts.:P) I've been totally ignoring the daily combo buffs, too, because I like planning ahead, so having a combo that's only going to work for one day isn't too appealing to me.
    I also don't like having to go to a meditation pillar - I keep thinking I'll be right in the middle of something really fun when my buff runs out, and then I'll have to stop what I'm doing to find a meditation pillar. It's good that calligraphy and meditation have different ways of working, but meditation to me seems far more inconvenient, so it seems it should have stronger effects to compensate then. (Or maybe it already does, and I just haven't found the right pillar or reached the right level...)

  10. #10
    Senior Member Crissa's Avatar
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    There are meditation pillars near the entrance to most of the dungeons; you just need to remember to meditate right before doing your run. It's a nice long buff, but...
    ...The moment you have to run back to town or something you basically have the start again. Same for food buffs.

    I know we want big-wold feeling things, but we also sorta need a way to put a 'pause' on game effects so we can head RL or RP calls.



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