I’ll go ahead and answer all those questions to provide my opinion for the discussion.
Character Questions:
Q: Should Character names be unique? Or can many players create characters with the same name?
A: Having played Elder Scrolls Online, a game in which all character names are unique (and there are also many restrictions on character names, such as use of space, punctuation, explicit words, etc.), I would prefer that characters in Boundless can share names.
This would mean that any account can use a specific name for a character, and any other account could use that name as well.
This could obviously have problems with people mistaking someone for a different person, but I have a few solutions to this. The second solution is in the answer to the next question, but the first solution is that: the developers, and users belonging to a higher tier (wayfarer and up) should have exclusive rights to reserve appropriate character names, so that no other users can take that name.
Q: When you see a Character in the game, should we also display the user name?
A: Yes, this is my first solution to the unique names dilemma. Additionally, it would help differentiate users, display more essential information, and make it easier for users to identify friends and acquaintances.
Q: Should we show Character names in the forum?
A: Showing character names on the forum should be optional. If a user desires to display a specific character of theirs on the forum, they should be able to choose that character from their list of characters (much like the drop-down list for badges). This could be displayed either next to the user name/badge area, or somewhere on the user card when the username is clicked on.
Q: When a player deletes a Character what do you expect should happen to their beacons in the game?
A: (This is all assuming whomever the beacon is transferred to possesses enough plots) In the event that a character is deleted, the owner of that character should be given a few options as to where their beacons go.
First option, they should be able to transfer the beacons/plots to any of their other characters. Second option, they should be able to transfer the beacons/plots to anyone’s characters on their friends list. Third option, allowing the transfer of beacons/plots to anyone else who is a contributor/part of that beacon/plot. Last option, to abandon that beacon/plot entirely and let anyone claim it or let the world regenerate the area.
Chisel Questions:
Q: Should we add a basic Square Chisel (which removes 2 corns at a time - so easy to make steps, walls and slabs) and a precision Square Chisel (which removed 1 corner at a time)? Or should we add a single Square Chisel (which removes 2 corns at a time), and allow players to learn a “Precision Chiseling Skill”. Which would upgrade their basic chiseling skill to be equivalent to the precision Square Chisel. This would make Building more skill based.
A: My personal solution to the chisel problem might seem a bit complicated at first, but it simplifies the excess of options required (more chisels, more skills, etc.).
What I propose is that there is a single chisel tool that anybody can craft at the earliest stage of tool crafting (Higher tiers blocks would require higher materials/tiers of chisels obviously).
When in the left hand, a left click on a block would remove a single space from the block, and holding down the left click on that space would restore it (This would have to be refined, however, to allow for the limited block shapes). When in the right hand, a right click on a block would remove that space and create a slope on that block, and holding down the right click would restore that slope to its previous state.
I’m not sure how this system could accommodate for the possibility of beveled blocks (personally, I don’t think the system is needed, as the building system presently in the game is at the perfect level of complexity to allow for amazing builds). My idea for the chisel system could be flawed, then, but I would love to hear what others think.
Q: Does anyone have a better names than Slope Chisel, Square Chisel and Bevel Chisel?
A: I think that those names are simple and effective to quickly understand their purpose, so no changes are needed, IMO, though @Pseudonym84 had some good suggestions. If need be, one could always right click the item in their inventory to receive a detailed description as to how the chisels are used.
P.S.
I added the pictures of the natural props, the lustrous refined floor, the bag of bombs, and the chisel system diagrams to the archive.
Thanks for reading through all this if you did!
