Q: faith is a sci-fi MMO, whats this about pirates, ninjas and flint locks?

Q: with no levels or skill levels, what am I expected to do to advance my character in faith?

Q: what is the difference between a Faithfull and a Faithless?

Q: what happens to my stuff if I die?

Q: can I become the God-Emperor of New London(or, insert fitting city name here)?

Q: if I am so inclined, can I shoot people in the face, just because I feel like it?

Q: the faith universe seems to be a big place, how will travel time, both on ground and in space be handled?

Q: do you plan on running a volunteer customer service program (like anarchy online) or have paid staff handle that?

Q: can we expect repeatable missions/quests, or will only the lucky player who finds the NPC get it?

Q: will I be able to claim a newly discovered region/planet in the name of my nation (or myself)?

Q: I suck at hitting things, and building things... what can I do in faith, to keep me entertained?

Q: in other games, crafting was handled by a skill value. since that does not exist in Faith, how will I learn new stuff?

Q: how will loot compare to player crafted equipment?

Q: will Faith support UI mods (like WoW/AO) or will use of 3rd party programs be banned all together? if so, please clarify if use of VoIP programs are banned as well.

Q: how many servers do you plan on having (at release) and how many avatars will be available per account?

Q: since it is an open PvP enviroment, how will you handle friendly fire in groups etc?

Q: when can we expect more background information about the faith universe?

Q: I hate camping MOB's for high end items, can I expect to avoid that in Faith?

Q: many games claim to have 'a strict naming policy', yet do not enforce it. Can I expect names like xXxlegolasxXx or bloodninja to be allowed in Faith?

Q: will I be able to hire NPC minions, to do with as I please? (insert mad scientist laughter here)

Q: I come from a pure PvE orientated game, how will game mechanics protect me from the roaming hordes of PK's?

Q: I come from a faction versus faction/realm vs. realm game, what similar activities can I expect in faith?

Q: if I achieve a rank or reputation level, will I be able to control my underling NPC's? (EG. john is promoted to inspector of the New London police, will he have at least some degree of control over his underlings)

Q: since Faith is a non static gameworld, will there be battlegrounds like world of warcraft, or other 'hotspots' for the warring factions?

Q: can you give a few examples of the factions we can expect to see in Faith?

more to come

Thanks for reposting these, Zeke.

I'll answer one question and wait for the rest of the team to chime in on the rest, assuming they're still playing.

Q: faith is a sci-fi MMO, whats this about pirates, ninjas and flint locks?

if i may take a crack at answering the second question...

Zeke wrote:

Q: with no levels or skill levels, what am I expected to do to advance my character in faith?

you advance your character in Faith in a similar way you might advance yourself in real life.
meet, greet, network. get your name out there, to the right people, the people with power and influence.
you scratch their backs, they'll scratch yours.
develop relationships with other beings who you feel will be beneficial to your desires and goals.
earn the loyalty of some, and the respect of others. make some love you, make some fear you.

most activities in Faith will require learning, but more on your part, than on your character's part.
learn to do these activities to the best of your ability, and apply them to what i said above.
you are what you do, or what you're able to do. your life in Faith is what you make it.

Zeke wrote:

Q: what is the difference between a Faithfull and a Faithless?

There are 2 main playstyles in Faith.  One for a more conservative, yet adventurous gamer, and another for the "hardcore" gamer.  This is represented in Faith by the Faithful and the Faithless.

The Faithful are followers of any religion found in-game.  While there is as much religous signifigance to your character as you wish, there is one main thing that sets the Faithful apart from the Faithless.  Cloning.  The Faithful can restore their conciousness into cloned bodies by meditating in front of a device called a shrine.  The Faithful are unique in that only they can achieve the extreme clam and state of mind required by the alter to essentially store their consiousness up until that point in time.  If a Faithful falls in battle, or perhaps by accident, their conciousness can be restored to a cloned body and they can resume life where they left off.

The Faithless, on the other hand, cannot.  Because the Faithless cannot achieve the state of mind necessary for the shrine to store their conciousness, they are mortal.  Once one of the Faithless falls in battle, or again by "accident", their conciousness is lost forever. Especially in a "PvP always on" environment this can be quite dangerous.  A player's style of play will change dramatically from Faithful to Faithless.

There is no way to tell who is Faithful, and who is not.

In short, the Faithful are immortal, and the Faithless are not.

 

More information to follow at a later date.

---

Producer.

Oi, the laziness.  Or it's my turn again...

What happens to my stuff if i die?

Cael wrote:

Oi, the laziness.  Or it's my turn again...

What happens to my stuff if i die?

That depends on two things.

1. Are you insured?
2. Who's around your corpse?

See, what Rich neglected to mention is that the Faithful can neither issue a killing blow, nor can they steal.  The Faithless on the other hand, they can do whatever the hell they like.

Anything you insure will either be returned to you or a suitable sum in compensation will be paid.

You cannot insure cash, and there is no such thing as a credit card.

Ding ding! DAILY DOUBLE!

Q: can I become the God-Emperor of New London(or, insert fitting city name here)?

A: Potentially, yes, but it will take initiative, skill, and a clever mind in order to do so.

Q: if I am so inclined, can I shoot people in the face, just because I feel like it?

A: Tricky question. Yes, you can, but there are other circumstances. As a Faithful, you cannot purposefully kill another, so if you shoot them in the face, it'll have to be non-lethal.As a Faithless, you get to do whatever you want. However, keep in mind that all of your actions have consequences. Break the law, and the authorities will be looking for you.

that's the spirit guys.. I'll have more questions for you later.

can I claim the title of resident stupid gamer, since my job apparently is to ask the stupid questions?

"Resident Stupid Gamer" is bad title.  But you can certainly ask the right questions and therefore qualify for a place on the Test Team as and when we need one.

At this rate our FAQ will be a QAZ - Questions Asked by Zeke.

Looking forward to your next batch...

---

I have plundered the fen,
Through all secrets i spy
Old Madd ap Maddonwy
knew no more than I


In der Beschränkung zeigt sich erst der Meister - Goethe

R-R wrote:

  The Faithful are unique in that only they can achieve the extreme clam

 

/smirk

---

It's my goddamn job to make sure you do your goddamn job.

updated.

yes, I know the answer to many of these questions already, or have asked them before. But the point of ths thread is to compile a FAQ(/QAZ) and/or have 'those cursed devs' think about stuff.

we seemed to be tackling these in order, but i'm skipping a couple (because i was scared of the "travel" question)

Zeke wrote:

Q: can we expect repeatable missions/quests, or will only the lucky player who finds the NPC get it?

repeatable missions will be as scarce as possible.
if you do something special, that specialness will not be diluted by 20,000 other players doing the same feat.

Zeke wrote:

Q: will I be able to claim a newly discovered region/planet in the name of my nation (or myself)?

you can claim anything you want in the name of your nation, or self.
just make sure you've got the resources to back that claim up.

One thing I'd like to request, if we ever get people essentially asking "Can I be the uBaRZ?", can we just reply with "No."?

Yes.

---

Chris E-A. It's in the name.

Zeke wrote:

Q: in other games, crafting was handled by a skill value. since that does not exist in Faith, how will I learn new stuff?

there will be "crafting game systems" so you will actually learn how to craft something, not your character. these games should reflect the real life crafting of items as accurately as possible, without over complicating things. they will provide a real entertaining and challenging alternative to combat. most likely the games will consist of part number crunching, part hand eye coordination, part timing, and part craft knowledge.
the crafting games will not all be about hand crafting, and the level of involvement will differ depending on what you're crafting.
you can't hand craft a 10,000 meter long space ship for instance. but you can hand craft a pair of pants.

Zeke wrote:

Q: how will loot compare to player crafted equipment?

what is this "loot" you're referring to?
most loot will be player crafted equipment that passes into new ownership.

Zeke wrote:

Q: how many servers do you plan on having (at release) and how many avatars will be available per account?

one server/shard. as few as two characters (one Faithful, one Faithless).

Zeke wrote:

Q: since it is an open PvP enviroment, how will you handle friendly fire in groups etc?

when using a firearm, be careful where you aim. when around others using firearms, be careful where you stand.