Buying PoxNora...The (NOT SO) Final Post->Read!

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Bondman007, Jul 22, 2018.

  1. Gnomes

    Gnomes Forum Royalty

    I mean this is all nice and good to theory craft, but I don't think any of us has the attention span to get this pulled through.

    I would imagine it would take at least half a year untill the final aquisition, then half a year to get things sorted with legalities and orginazation. And then another year of programming and testing and blah blah untill we see improvments. Or am I off?

    But I like the idea also of buying the ip and rune arts ect. And starting new with the longsword dude, or with cap.

    Also ide be in for 1000$~
     
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2018
  2. chris0024

    chris0024 I need me some PIE!

    Pretty much said this about a year ago. Good to see ppl are actually seeing the reality now.

    With all the garbled code Pox has in it, it'd be a much better idea to start from scratch and actually market the game properly for a change
     
  3. Bondman007

    Bondman007 I need me some PIE!

    Yep, seems to be the general mindset of the majority of the players.
     
  4. Bondman007

    Bondman007 I need me some PIE!

    This could potentially take SEVERAL years depending upon the existing contract that DOG has with Sony. Who knows. Until DOG responds to us anyways its all a moot point. If they don't respond to my last e-mail which asks some fairly serious business related questions and acquisition questions, then its all for nothing. Right now its just a waiting game to see what happens first. Honestly, DOG has zero bargaining chips at the table so if they do sell Pox and it's IP, then it will be cheap.
    Very little market for dead games. Then, hopefully, we can rebuild the game to the way it needs to be and recreate say Pox 2 with a more functional game.
     
  5. SPiEkY

    SPiEkY King of Jesters

    I'm down to help fund Pox 2, probably not a whole ton, but I can probably throw a grand or so at it.
     
  6. badgerale

    badgerale Warchief of Wrath

    If you are building from scratch you could start now, and at some point acquire the Pox name - or release it under a different name.

    I could probably contribute something in the way of digital art.

    As I said, the main issue is the programming.
     
  7. MentalMoles

    MentalMoles I need me some PIE!

    Thats most definitely the biggest issue in fixing pox - finding a programmer with the expertise to resolve the client issues won't come cheap at all and as players we do not know the full picture with regards to the legal agreements in place with Sony and the PS4/Vita stuff and how that will impact on what can be done.

    I am confident when it comes to creating new abilities/fixing in game bugs/patches/adjusting maps etc I can cover that programming work almost exclusively if needed having done so for 13 months while it was myself and wraith working on that stuff under Soks design. I am more than happy to work for free until the game is bringing in money again too.
     
  8. Bondman007

    Bondman007 I need me some PIE!

    Correct, and I think a few guys like @Capitulator and @LoganMkv have already mentioned and/or began work on a clone of Pox. However, without the IP, it will be just that, a clone, and not Pox Nora any longer. Whether that is good or bad, that will be the reality.
     
  9. MEATMAN

    MEATMAN Forum Royalty

    throw a grand

    throw a grand

    throw a grand

    throw a grand



    or so at it.
     
    SPiEkY likes this.
  10. Isendel

    Isendel The King of Potatoes

    @Capitulator - @LoganMkv I'm a software engineer expert in Java ( and related frameworks ) and MongoDB. If interested feel free to contact me. I'd be pleased to work on Pox 2
     
  11. Cinder405

    Cinder405 I need me some PIE!

    Can we start a go fund me? Or is that nkt a good idea?
     
  12. devilsrath

    devilsrath I need me some PIE!

    I played a couple of games yesterday and honestly, the client isn't as bad as it was on launch day (the last time I logged in). If they fixed the difficulties with clicking on runes and the movement of runes, as well as the jittery way things move- It wouldn't be all that bad. I misclicked my champions several times due to the client and these issues aforementioned.

    There was even a few features I thought were quite cool such as the after game screen which shows you your gold reward.

    I feel like the best thing to do at this point would be to fix the client we have. It's very close to being playable but not quite a cigar yet.

    Obviously this depends on how hard the previous team f***ed up the client and code.

    My two cents: fix the client (if possible), cycle in expansions like the hearthstone model- why start from scratch with all this content? The content is good, there is just FAR too much of it. Cycling expansions would also allow for easier balancing decisions as well as more frequent expansions/patches.
     
    defypain and Varthas like this.
  13. JaceDragon

    JaceDragon I need me some PIE!

    As stated by Soko few times already, the development of pox wasn't in the direction of cycling expansion. A lot of core runes of themes are in more expansions that could end in different format
     
  14. chris0024

    chris0024 I need me some PIE!

    I don't see how this is anything but good. Who cares if it doesn't have the pox name, what matters are the mechanics, clean code, great art and lore. I'm simplifying ofc, but clones of great games get made all the time and more often than the not the clone can be better as it can address the issues of the original..

    On top of that, since Pox is already a niche game, everyone would know the clone is from Pox and would support it the biggest difference being that new players will see a polished game with none of the bad stuff off the original. That is where it'll be key for the "new" pox to grow.
     
    Bondman007 likes this.
  15. davre

    davre The Benevolent Technofascist

    I think the term "clone" already shoehorns a theoretical project into being a specific thing. There are several great core mechanics that haven't been replicated together in any other game, but there are also a lot of aspects that could be explored to create a slightly different experience.

    Pox's core mechanics are:

    A grid/turn-based combat system.
    Customized decks that plug into the system.
    "Nora" and deployment from deck onto the field.
    The main actors (champions) produce AP each turn and fight with it.
    Support cards help the champions out.
    Fonts create areas of high intensity/conflict on the map.
    Shrines create a win condition.


    Any spiritual successor to Pox should include all seven of these things, but there is still a ton of room for interpretation when it comes to how these mechanics work.

    Off the top of my head, you could ask these questions about the systems:

    A grid/turn-based combat system.
    Square or hex-based grid?
    How does elevation affect combat? Are there chasms or fall damage?
    Is there line of sight?
    How do different terrain types work?
    How do we define melee vs range?
    Does a player use all their units at once or does each unit have an individual turn cooldown?
    How does the turn timer work?

    Customized decks that plug into the system.

    How do users acquire cards?
    Is there a set rotation?
    Do cards gain experience? Is there some other mechanism that gives rewards players who have played more or achieved higher rank? (skins, taunts, limited edition cards)?
    Do factions/faction bonuses still exist or could they be replaced with a class of "1-per-deck" card that creates a passive bonus or alternative win condition?
    Can you add cards to the deck in-game (cards that create other cards when used)?
    Do dead cards go on cooldown or into a graveyard?
    Can cards have bonuses when they are revealed or put on cooldown/in graveyard?
    Can you pay nora to reveal a card or conceal it for a bonus?
    Is there a sideboard?
    How many cards/copies of a card per deck?

    "Nora" and deployment from deck onto the field.
    Can we store nora indefinitely? Does it decay or reset every turn?
    Could/should there be another resource that "gates" deployment (eg. coloured mana in MtG)?
    Could costs be less granular?

    The main actors (champions) produce AP each turn and fight with it.

    How are "summons/illusions" balanced?
    Can/should damage types have innate qualities? (eg. "fire champs" are strong vs. "water champs" are strong vs. "electric champs" etc.)
    Should spell/magic resistance be its own stat?
    (How) are champions customized out of game?

    Support cards help the champions out.

    Do champions only have room for one piece of equipment? Could there be different types of equipment?
    Can spells be played as interrupts?
    How does "spell presence" work?
    Could champions cast spells?
    Are relics redundant? Should they be kept as they are, tweaked, or scrapped?

    Fonts create areas of high intensity/conflict on the map.

    Are fonts captured by proximity or do you spend AP/nora to capture?
    Could fonts have "levels?"
    Fonts with assymetrical benefits? (eg. a home font and an away font)
    Could fonts do things other than generate nora? (deal direct damage to enemy's shrine, reduce spell costs, place dead champions on cooldown, deploy a special "mercenary" champion after 4 rounds, etc.)
    Could there be weather effects that temporarily create strategic advantages elsewhere?

    Shrines create a win condition.

    Are there avatars? Should they transfigure automatically after a set time?
    Can/should shrines have activated abilities?
    How big is the shrine's deployment zone or influence? Can its influence be more than the deployment zone?
    Are there mechanisms that make combat more decisive over time? (eg. shrines or champions start to naturally lose HP after 10 rounds, deployment costs increase every 5 rounds, etc.)
    Can maps have secondary win conditions built in? (eg. capture all fonts for 3 turns, save 300n, destroy 10 enemy champions, destroy a "hero" champion, etc.?

    I hope that someone does start building a sequel but I don't have any interest in a game that just recycles all of Octopi/Sony/DOGs' design decisions in a different client. There are lots of ways to evolve the game.
     
    Tweek516, Etherielin, Sokolov and 2 others like this.
  16. Sokolov

    Sokolov The One True Cactuar Octopi

    It could be done theoretically.

    You'd just have to restructure the current content into X number of expansions and then stick to the concept. It might mean certain themes are unplayable at certain times depending on what "cycle" means.
     
    Last edited: Aug 1, 2018
  17. badgerale

    badgerale Warchief of Wrath

    One thing that has always bothered me about Pox is that you have three factions based around the 'resilience' concept - SL, IS, ST. As well as two based on Nora generation.

    That, and the feeling that there are too many factions generally means I think we could consider reducing back to six. This would allow more runes per faction and allow the game to grow quicker.

    If it was a direct Pox continuation you could easily merge ST with KF, and SP with SL.
     
    nepyonisdead likes this.
  18. Joker

    Joker I need me some PIE!

    I've been playing Pox since I was 12 years old and I really hold this game close to my heart.

    I don't think I can help with money, but in case the community goes with the "Buy the art/brand and re-create Pox from the ground" plan, I think I can be of great help with programming. If the plan would be to use Unity, I have a ton of experience with the engine. I'd love to get more experience by working it for free, whether that means working on a clone or a Pox 2.0.
     
  19. MentalMoles

    MentalMoles I need me some PIE!

    Thats awesome, the new pox client is Unity - so this could be gamechanging help.
     
    Bondman007 likes this.
  20. Bondman007

    Bondman007 I need me some PIE!

    And I want to stress that I am currently trying to get DOG to respond with some serious business questions. Please keep in mind it took Ms. Craten 16 days to simply respond with the generic e-mail that she did. No telling how long (if ever) it will take her to respond to a very serious inquiry about IP rights, domain, and sales history.
    #justwaiting
     

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