<<Saying Vows>> Quest Feedback

[Teion 0]

Hey everyone! I wanted to reach out and get feedback from you all on the <<Saying Vows>> quest. Right now, the quest is very simple. Make a thread, hold a ceremony, and congrats! A marriage is formed.

Now, I did notice in the SAO wiki it states that getting married is basically the same as sending a friend request. This is where I'm torn: keep things strictly canon, or expand upon this to make it more involved for the players. Before I do anything, I want to hear your thoughts. Keep in mind that nothing is decided and this is all very rough brainstorming.

At the moment I only have one general idea of how the quest could be expanded. One or both players complete objectives to craft or receive a ring. This could include gathering materials and/or farming for monster drops. Players could visit a PC or NPC crafter to create their ring(s). One thing to note is that I would want to limit or remove additional stats/rewards from the quest. Married players would still receive any normal benefits like shared inventory.

Alternatively, with the idea of keeping things closer to canon, we could explore another option of removing the quest entirely. Of course players could still hold ceremony threads, but again, marriage would be offered and confirmed simply in RP through the menus. Marriages would most likely need to be confirmed by a PST to be considered official.

Or lastly, should nothing change?

Let me know your thoughts!

[Lee 0]

I personally think that there should be more to the overall quest and things to being married than shared inventory in my honest opinion.
I like the idea of actually getting things prior to the wedding in order to make it more quest like but I am not too fond of fighting a monster as this shouldn't be something where the threat of death should be at all present...like, at all.
A few ideas
 

Spoiler

1. In order to marry, both players must be at least base level 5. This to show that both individuals are willing to commit to not just each other, but hopefully the game/RP itself. So we don't get people rushing in just to leave.
2. Must have the following items: Diamond Ring(or ring of choice), A Tuxedo/Wedding Dress(For the appropriate gender), 2,200 COL each(4,400 Total because no wedding is free)
3. With all the items, head towards a specific location in a safe zone where the cathedral will be. Speak to the marriage NPC to initiate the ceremony. Either the groom or bride can do this. The bride/groom who first registered must then have his/her future spouse speak with the same NPC within one post. Once both parties have spoken with the marriage NPC, they can proceed to the front of the church where the priest will say a few words. He will ask both parties one final time if they wish to proceed; should both parties agree, the ceremony begins and the marriage is complete sometime after. The Rings then become titled 'Wedding Ring' in the players inventories. Afterwards, the groom/bride will both will be in their formal wear(Tuxedo/Wedding Dress), and won't be able to attack or use skills for a topic as this will be considered a honeymoon. After which the characters are given the ability to adopt younger characters if they so desire.
4. Once the bride and groom have equipped the rings, then marriage skills become available. The skills can be cast even if only one spouse is wearing a ring, but only the spouse who has the ring equipped can use the skills.

• Fidelity - Summons one's marital partner to caster's location. Both partners must equip their Wedding Rings to activate this skill. It might not be possible to use this skill in some places such as boss zones, pvp, special events/maps.
• Cherish - Restores EN of one's partner by consuming 10% of one's total EN amount. Partner must have at least 10% of his EN in order to cast this skill. If the caster's available EN is lower than 15%, the skills fails.
• Devotion - Restores HP of one's partner by consuming 10% of one's total HP amount. Partner must have at least 10% of his HP in order to cast this skill. If the caster's available HP is lower than 15%, the skill fails.

These are just a few ideas, mainly to make marriage being more than a passing thing and have an actual meaningful effect on both the characters, the game and the role player experience. I took a good chunk of the ideas from another game which I feel like a lot of the same mechanics can apply. Seeing as both are online games, I don't see why not.

[Nocturn 0]

@Lee

The transportation of a loved one is a bit iffy for me. Not rejecting it, just saying that I'm on the fence.

Love the other skills, however limits would have to be place. Like, unable to be used doing raids, pvp, or random encounters in which the other player is not in.

 

Another thing I'd like to add is that the potential married couple must be within the same tier. iE Noct cannot go out and marry Takao, as Tako is in a higher tier.

I also feel the base cost of the wedding should also be increased. (Coming from a married man himself) weddings are really expensive. Rings and suits are a good start, but can be provided by other players. But the venue, cost of the ceremony, food, and guest seating are all factors in a wedding.

[Hikoru 0]

I have to agree with Nocturn. Im on the fence with the teleportation. Maybe make it an emergency thing? Like only used when the person who has the ring is under 25% Health? But it couldn't be used in events/bosses. Just a thought but it would be a nice idea.

Also, Love the idea for the energy and the health giving. I feel like that's a nice and origional thing to give it, and I also agree that it should be more col. Me and Ariel had worked on getting a wedding set up, and it cost us a lot of money for food and everything to have a wedding for our characters. Trust me, I feel like raising the col just makes logical sense

[Piera 0]

Just wanted to throw my two cents in about one thing in particular about the possible tier restrictions. I'm not so sure that's a good idea to place such a rule as "oh you can't get married to that person because they're too low leveled for you." I don't think even a game would have that, personally. But also, even if you were to do it, what would happen should one of the couple suddenly rise in tier after the marriage? Is it annulled? Seems too restricting. Love has no boundaries~!

[Teion 0]

16 hours ago, Lee said:

1. In order to marry, both players must be at least base level 5.
2. Must have the following items: Diamond Ring(or ring of choice), A Tuxedo/Wedding Dress(For the appropriate gender), 2,200 COL each(4,400 Total because no wedding is free)
3. Afterwards, the groom/bride will both will be in their formal wear(Tuxedo/Wedding Dress), and won't be able to attack or use skills for a topic as this will be considered a honeymoon. After which the characters are given the ability to adopt younger characters if they so desire.
4. Fidelity - Summons one's marital partner to caster's location. Cherish - Restores EN of one's partner by consuming 10% of one's total EN amount. Devotion - Restores HP of one's partner by consuming 10% of one's total HP amount.

1. I certainly don't mind having a minimum level requirement. With the new beginner quests, level 5-10 is easy peasy to get to.
2. Yes! I think weddings should have a col cost (rather than giving them col like it does now), and I would agree for having it be on the expensive side. Orrrr, perhaps ranges can be set up that limits how many players can be invited or something along those lines. I also like the idea of the players being responsible for getting a set of required items (rings, formal wear).
3. You lost me a bit at the end there. I don't think anything past the ceremony/reception should be included in the "quest", although couples can of course have a thread where they go on a "honeymoon" or something. And adopting younger characters? I'm not so sure about that either.
   1. Regarding the quest structure: I kind of like the idea of the quest spanning more than one thread. For example, the quest objectives could state that one or both players must complete a thread where they make the preparations, and a separate thread must be complete where the actual ceremony takes place.
4. I fully support the concept of a teleportation ability. This reminds me of the marriage system in FFXIV (which I really like), and the function makes perfect sense for an MMO. My only problem is the mechanics and ruling behind it. I think it would be very likely that it won't be usable in boss raids/events/maybe even combat entirely. It shouldn't replace teleportation crystals as a "get out of jail free" card in those situations. The health and energy transfer abilities are interesting. Again, I'm hesitant about giving married players an edge in important fights, but I'm open to the abilities. I quickly thought about the potential drama if the abilities were able to reduce a caster's health to 0, like one player sacrificed their remaining HP to save their partner. :P

[Zandra 0]

As Piera said, I dont think that it should have a requirement to be at the same tier. Thou imo it should make sence thru rp. Like, these two characters have rp'd and fallen for one another. Not like just taking it with a random player to get the benefits from it.

I havent had an marrige personally so dont know the cost. But that would make sense. Maybe have a list for options. Like Church 5 guests, church 10 guests, beach 5 guests, beach 10 guests and so on. To have set prices.