Kickstarter Update 12: Company Creation Tools
8/11 - 2015
Hello and welcome to our twelth Kickstarter update!
Company Creation Tools
Hi! My name is Benjamin, but most of you know me as Hinkel,
and I am Campfire Game's Community Manager. I spent several years developing several free Civil War mods,
and one of my most successful is "North and South" for Mount and Blade. In this modification,
the community worked out a huge commanding system, based on player formed armies and regiments.
Each regiment consists of dozens of players, and some of those armies have several hundreds of players.
Looking at the huge amount of work those officers and generals have to organize those groups,
we figured that for War of Rights we wanted to help groups and offer them as many options and tools as possible!
The Basics
Before we kick these off, we’d like you all to please keep in mind that the designs are still very much a work in progress.
Things will get added, removed or completely overhauled as the development continues and we begin deeper testing. With that out of the way,
let me explain the unique Company Creation Tools for War of Rights!
Like in many other games, playing with a group of people is way more fun compared to being a lone wolf.
Since War of Rights is a highly team-based game, and we want to encourage the formation of groups for players to engage in battle!
While in other games those groups are called "Clans" or "Regiments,
"we are going with a more realistic approach. The smallest of those player-created groups is the "Company".
Companies were attached to a regiment, but acted as an independent unit.
The System in detail
Every player needs to enlist in one of the Armies as a Volunteer (you can create more characters of course).
For that, you have to sign in on our web page via the ENLISTMENT button. The authentic Enlistment papers come up on your screen,
and you have to type in various facts like your name, age and occupation, your biography and more.
This is quite cool since those are the real historic facts every soldier had to use back in the day!
We want to encourage role-play, and each player can create an authentic Civil War character.
Also, you can choose your avatar out of a set of pre-selected portraits. Later, your designed in-game character will be used for that.
Example: Avatars for each player
Once your character has been created, you can join or form a company. You have access to a huge list of regiments,
sorted by the States that were active during the Maryland Campaign. Each regiment can host ten different Companies, ranging from A to J Company.
As an officer, you can form your own company, and you have the option to invite, promote,
manage and kick players. You can also have a look at their enlistment papers and mark some important notes for later use.
On top of that, officers can write their own company history as well as upload their own company colors.
If an officer needs some support to manage his company, he can assign Non-Commission-Officers or Aides as moderators.
Some of you might have noticed those authentic regiment and company posters on our web page.
You'll be happy to hear that companies can upload their own posters onto the main website for advertisement for their company to get new volunteers!
Example: Enlistment Papers
Example: Regiment List & Company Creation
Example: Company Roster & Promotion Letter
When playing company battles against other companies or practicing on your own company server, your rank and the abilities that follow will be reflected in-game.
The future
While company creation is the first step for a player-based organization,
we want to extend that system in the future. For example, companies will be able to vote a regiment leader,
while regiments will be able to group up in brigades with a commander. The goal is to create an authentic player-organized command system,
from corps, divisions, brigades and regiments down to the company itself.
In the beginning we will use the Order of Battle of the Maryland Campaign. Later you'll be able to form non-linear companies, which did not take part in the Maryland Campaign.
Example: Chain of Command
Why Companies?
Q: Why are you going for companies? Isn't it more realistic to form regiments?
A: Not at all. Let me explain that with a small example!
Are you a fan of the 20th Maine and would like to fight in their name? You are welcome to form the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry - Company A - [20thME(Co.A)]
In most games, that regiment would be "locked" and unavailable for others now. In War of Rights you have the option to form another company, for instance, the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry - Company B - [20thME(Co.B)]
There are some good advantages to using the smaller company scale:
1) No more hatred and problems because the most famous regiments are locked and reserved.
2) You can form a group and friendship with the other companies, within your mother regiment.
3) The player size fits better to the company level.
Join the Company Boards!
Feel free to join the forum and discuss that system in the newly created Company boards! Since it is a huge and important part of the community, we would like to hear your feedback:
https://www.warofrightsforum.com/forumdisplay.php?22-Companies