Summoning Part II: Wisdom
The second instalment of the Summoning Series
From within a knowledge great,
Concealed for years but now, by fate,
A reckoning comes for those who wait;
Learn’d Champs reveal their traits…
“A Champion, you see, is but an instrument,” remarked the wizened Battlemaster, thick puffs of smoke pouring from the end of his heavy wooden pipe, “they come to me, hateful and brutal. They fight, they die, they win me favour in the eyes of the Queen. I’ve dealt with many of them, in my years. But I’ve never really known one… they are vessels, empty, shallow, vapid. They know nought but suffering and death.”
He paused and surveyed the dimly lit room through the haze. It was quiet; deathly quiet. Not so much as a floorboard creaked, as if the group of shadowy figures surrounding him were holding their collective breath, pinned to his every word. Rarely does this Grand Battlemaster speak; but when he does, villagers listen. None know how old he truly is; his weathered frame and gravely voice suggested a life lived beyond its natural term, but his bright green eyes belied his years. A gold ring set with a blood-red ruby adorned his left hand, catching and dispersing the light of the flames that flickered in the corner of the room.
It was rumoured that he had lived through the War of a Hundred Years, he was in the village for the great Bloodings — whispers were that he had even once sat in the Court of the Blood Queen herself. All conjecture, but in every good story lies an element of truth. What was known for certain was the size and grandeur of his Barracks; few had ownership of such an immense and powerful collection of Champions, and fewer still were able to control them so precisely, so effectively, so brilliantly in the Tournaments.
And now he had the floor.
“I’ve felt a change, lately. Something different. Something inexplicable. For many, many moons I have studied my Barracks, but my success is as much art as it is science, and I’ve yet to really understand it. But now…now, I sense something. A change.” His voice lowered, as his lustrous eyes darted across the shuttered windows, searching for unwelcome shadows, prying ears.
“I can’t quite put my finger on it. But of late, the more I fight my Champions, the more they bleed, the more they hurt and kill, the more I feel a connection with them…the more I understand them. It’s as if I am coming to know them, and they themselves. Their strengths, their weaknesses. They are becoming wise.”
“I’ve but one theory on the matter. But I didn’t think I’d live to see the day.” A tremble struck his steady voice. “I believe He has returned…Gaa’gore, that is. I believe we are soon to Summon.”
And then on the wind, the beating drums of war and strings.
Summoning Part II
Summoning (known elsewhere as Breeding) is soon to hit The Red Village. Before getting started, we recommend you brush up on the first instalment of Summoning here, to get an understanding for what it is and why it is such an integral and important part of The Red Village game.
We will be releasing progressively more alpha around Summoning over the coming weeks; how it works, what to look out for, and how to get involved.
Wisdom
One of the biggest and most instrumental changes to hit The Red Village is the introduction of Wisdom to the game. Wisdom is the process of Champions becoming self-aware, and of their Battlemasters understanding their true strengths, weaknesses, and capabilities. As they say; knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.
Since Tournaments began, there has been little certainty around a Champion’s traits; the game has been based around trial and error, analysing Champions to get a feel for their skills and abilities. That is about to change, and in a significant way.
Champions will soon collect points, known as Wisdom, for competing in Tournaments. Wisdom will allow Battlemasters to choose (more on this later) to reveal information about some of a Champion’s key traits — Strength, Defence, Attack, and Omega. This isn’t precise information, but will be within a range.
How do I gain Wisdom Points?
Wisdom points are awarded for competing in both free and paid Tournaments (both Classic and Double Up), as well as all future 8 Player Tournament types (many of which have yet to be released). Free Tournaments will provide Champions with 1 Wisdom per entry; paid Tournaments will provide Champions with 4 Wisdom points per entry. The Blood Queen will also occasionally run Tournaments and Championships that will boost the number of Wisdom points given out.
Oh, and the best part? Wisdom will be retroactively awarded to Champions, right back to the first ever Tournament.
What do Wisdom Points reveal?
At this stage, Wisdom Points will reveal four particular traits of a Champion; Strength, Attack, Defense, and Omega. Omega is an amalgamation of a number of other fighting traits, which have not been revealed to Battlemasters, but which each Champion was assigned at mint and which have not changed.
- Strength is the possible damage inflicted by any given strike. Stronger Champions will be able to hit more devastating blows.
- Attack is the variation in a Champion’s strike. A higher score means more variation and a lower score means less variation.
- Defense is how hard a strike a Champion can absorb before taking damage in a fight. More defensive Champions are likely to incur less damage.
- Omega is an amalgamation of other fighting traits which have not been revealed to Battlemasters.
What do the Traits look like?
Using Wisdom is not a precise science; Battlemasters will not be given an exact figure that represents their Champion’s actual ability. In other words, using Wisdom points to reveal Strength will not give a fixed value of, say, 75. Instead, Wisdom points will reveal a range in which that Champion’s Strength trait sits — and the more Wisdom points are amassed by the Champion, the smaller that range will get.
Trait scores are indicative for each Champion, and are currently shown on a scale of 1–100. The scales are linked and relative to each Character Class — so, for example, 70 Strength for a Barbarian is not the same as 70 Strength for a Ranger on an absolute scale.
An example of a Champion that has an actual Strength trait value of 70 is below. Bear in mind the Battlemaster will never know the exact number — 70 — but they will instead reveal a consistently smaller range around it, based on the Wisdom collected. The higher the Wisdom, the smaller the range.
In the example below, if the Champion had 20 Wisdom Points, the possible range provided to the Battlemaster would be between 10 and 93 — so quite large. However, if the Champion amassed 2500 Wisdom Points, the range would decrease substantially; between 46 and 79.
How do I use Wisdom Points
Barracks do not collect Wisdom points; they are assigned to the individual Champions within the Barracks (but we do have some great Barracks-level things coming up very shortly…). As a Champion collects Wisdom points, they remain attached to its own profile. A Battlemaster can then choose whether or not to reveal the traits of a Champion.
They can either do this for an individual trait, but not the rest; for example, they could choose to reveal a Champion’s Strength, but not its Attack, Defense, or Omega; or they can be used to reveal all at once. Once a Champion has had its traits revealed, these are now public to all Battlemasters; they cannot be hidden, and cannot be retracted.
What’s the point of knowing my Champion’s Traits?
A priority focus for the next several months for the team is gamifying many aspects of The Red Village game as it stands. We are looking to introduce progression and ways to improve and add new, fun, and exciting elements into the game, with the goal of building an ecosystem that will attract — and support and sustain — millions of gamers in the long run.
Summoning is considered by many to be the ‘beginning’ of The Red Village game; it allows Battlemasters to create new Champions that may, eventually and over time, come to be as good as the most legendary of Purebloods currently in the game…or even greater.
By experimenting with different combinations of Champions, Battlemasters are able to curate their Barracks, making formidable opponents, and bettering their chances of winning the fabled Tournaments and Championships in The Red Village.
Knowing these Traits will give Battlemasters insight into not only who their best Champions are, but also reveal key information about all Champions to give Battlemasters the best chance to better their Bloodlines, and their Barracks. Further gamification tools will allow Battlemasters to expedite the process if done correctly (like Runes…but more on that later).
Up next
There is plenty more to come over the coming weeks and months in regards to Summoning (and Runes) — a huge amount of work has gone into the process, learning from the mistakes and successes of other games with similar mechanisms.
The way that inflation is controlled and traits are passed down over generations are both likely to be hot topics (among many others), and rest assured we have put lots of thought into all of these aspects which will be revealed in the not so distant future.
Stay tuned for more; in the meantime — very shortly, go and get some Wisdom!
