just as a preface- i'm not here to bash your thread or make you feel bad about your ideas, i really like seeing other people's stance on what the game should/could add onto. these are just my observations.
there's been a recent thread floating around about how bigger maps don't necessarily mean better- from a server-running standpoint and a "game-already-feels-pretty-empty" standpoint. that's not to say there wouldn't be advantages to having larger maps either, there certainly are, but at this point in time i believe the next map(s) we get are going to be the standard size we've been getting, which in my opinion are quite large in and of themselves.
another thing about big maps- i joined a rp that had to be shut down because the map and details were just. too extensive and the creator could no longer get in. from a hardware standpoint not many people are gonna be able to get into big maps that are as detailed as the ones we currently have ingame.
fh thrives on its simplicity and the ability to change that if you want.
quests, trading and currency are all possible things but first of all, we don't currently have an active codemaster to deal with all the nitty-gritty of creating such things. trading and items really don't work at this point because we already have downloadable items and i believe it should stay that way, at least for fh. dragon's den, last moon and plenty of other IT servers offer much more in terms of RPG elements in their games and they have the same character creation veins as fh, i'd suggest checking those out if you really need a fix of RPG+animal characters.
tacking onto that, a lot of people want fh as a chill game, to sit around and rp with buddies. hunting for items to get the perfect look or having a squad of rambunctious hunters run through your roleplay space ranges from annoying to downright infuriating. as someone who's been playing games with collectems and "farm for the perfect items or you'll never get past this area/get your perfect look," fh is exactly the solace i need from all that, and i really don't think i'm alone in that regard.
not to mention getting rights to items is always a pain, or so i've heard, and it limits the pool of things you actually can have in fear of the ⓒopyright gods™coming after your free-to-play furry game.
i do agree on the character creation bit though. having scars as a marking kinda limits things tbh.
Very nice ideas! However, I do disagree with implementing most of them into FeralHeart.
Excuse my mini monster post
The maps. While bigger maps would look more neat and give players even more room to roleplay and explore, there are different factors that go into something like that. The first of them being strain on the server. Having bigger maps would cause a lot of strain on the server, thus adding to the crash rate, and slow functionality. One of the reasons why the old maps were removed from the game was due to this strain. Maps like Atlantis, South Pole, and especially Fluorite Plains aided in those specific maps crashing, and needing a reset by our server master. Not to mention at times Fluorite would reach it's peak of having 300 players within it, thus causing it to crash with players constantly flooding in and out of it.
Another issue with that is strain that it would put on the player's computers. Say you don't have that good of a computer, but you can somewhat decently load into The Grounds? Now imagine loading into a giant map with tones of meshes due to filling it so it doesn't look barren and empty, a decent amount of players, the chat trying to load while players are still talking and updating it(provided players are around), and so on and so forth. All on that same computer. You'd probably be sitting there for at least 5/10 minutes before you get past the loading screen, and moving locations would be a pain due to the choppiness and lag cranked up to 1000. You'd be lucky enough to get at least a couple steps into the map before you crashed, if you didn't crash before you even got past the loading screen. Players wouldn't want to stick around due to how hard it is to play and enjoy the game in it's entirety.
Adding the old maps back. This is something that us staff and SO many players want. However our server master will not allow for it. Bottom line, unfortunately. Doesn't mean we still don't push for it. We are his headaches lmfao
Quests. If we added quests, we would need a reliable coder with time on their hands in order for us to implement the quest system and crank out quests to keep the questers interested and returning for more (have I said quest enough?). The staff, with the help of the community, would constantly have to come up with ideas, and when those ideas run out or players alike get tired of those quests, then what? We wouldn't remove the system due to new players getting into the quests, but we can't just keep making quests if players want something new and better than quests.
Trading and exclusive items, currency, and mobs. Lopping these all together due to the general need for a dedicated coder. We would need that coder in order to implement these things, as well as have general upkeep on any glitches that would arise, as well as any fixes and improvements that those systems will need from their initial launch. Not to mention a modeler for the items.
Markings. We had something going with markings, however it's at a standstill due to reasons we cannot control.
All in all, when it comes to games and implementing ideas, you need to look at the game's strengths and what people generally are here for. When it comes to FeralHeart, it gives players the ability to create just about whatever they want due to it's simple nature. It's a giant sandbox. From the beginning you have just about every tool you need to create anything your heart desires for FeralHeart. I personally believe that the general focus for FeralHeart should be the customization aspect of the game. So this would mean more character creation options and the like. However, once again, we do not have a reliable coder in order to do that.
Also one last thing to note. Every staff member here do not get paid for all their time and efforts put into this game. That would go for the coder, if we were to have one, as well. Everything we do is of our volunteered time, while we also juggle our personal lives, jobs, school, ext. as well.