Jianghu (江湖), literally "rivers and lakes", refers to the community of martial arts practitioners, nobles, thieves, beggars, priests, healers, merchants and craftsmen in wuxia fiction. In Age of Wushu, this community is a social network of relationships between other players and NPCs. This social network can be accessed by clicking My Jianghu button in the lower left side of the game interface or by pressing its shortcut key G; this allows to see other players, NPCs and character's relationship with them. Relationship lists and their functions (plus some data on the players' guild) can also be accesed by opening the 'Social Menu' represented as a blue bubble with three dots and located in the middle-right part of the screen.
It adds a deeper and enriching element in the game, by building interactive personal relationships between players and also between players and NPCs. This system attaches great importance to relationships by placing values on actions performed in game. These actions create a unique dynamic in the world.
Relationship Features[]
The system itself is an extremely useful communication platform. Players can share and find the dynamic information of their connections at any time and also communicate easily. All the in-game information is easy to find using Jianghu system, such as friends' status, whether they've gained a rare item, or have been killed by others and need assistance. For this huge amount of information, there are two methods of interaction designed: one is the Jianghu system, the other being face-to-face communication.
Relationship Types[]
There are 7 Relationship types in Age of Wushu:
- Friends - adding a Friend allows both players to see when the other is online (brighter name color means friend is online). Friends can be viewed in Friends List and can share Jianghu news. Valuable friend behaviors will be recorded to the Jianghu News for a certain amount of time. Friends will be informed of fresh news via an offside pop-up. Friends gain Intimacy points (heart icon) when accumulating favorable feelings
- There are four ways to add other online players to Friends list:
- click their character, right click its avatar and select 'Add Friend'
- click 'My Jianghu' at the lower left corner of the screen, select 'Relationship' option at the bottom then click 'Search' button and input a name in the dialog box; click 'Search' again; finally, if the character exists and/or is online, click on 'Add Friend' on the pop up window
- in the chat window, right click on a character's name and select 'Add Friend'
- in the 'Social Menu', click the 'Search' button then follow the same steps as with 'My Jianghu' interface
- There are four ways to add other online players to Friends list:
- Close Friends - Having a Close Friend allows players to access more details in Jianghu news. To become Close Friends, players must send an application to another player. Once the application is accepted both people are added to this list. If players set a Close Friend to just Friend status on their list, they will be downgraded to Friend on the other player's list as well. Close Friends also gain Intimacy points like Friends
- Notes:
- When deleting a name in Friends or Close Friends list, players are deleted from the other player's list as well
- Intimacy of Friends and Close Friends can be mutually inherited
- Number of Close Friends allowed at one time is limited
- Notes:
- Enemies - making an enemy is a one-sided affair: after players is killed, they can add the killer to this list. While having Enemies , players can get information about them. A special marker will appear on players' mini map when an enemy is nearby. Once players are listed as enemies they have a set amount of Hatred that decreases over time; when Hatred reaches zero, they will be removed from the enemy list. The only way to voluntarily delete someone from Enemies list is by drinking Friendship Wine together
- Blood Enemies - a step above Enemy; drinking Friendship Wine can help resolve issues but on the contrary, any further killing only deepens the animosity between players until they become Blood Enemies and are automatically added to this list, without them needing to agree to this action. While having Blood Enemies, players gain extra information about them, and a special marker will appear on players' mini map when they are nearby. Like with Enemies, Blood Enemies relationship is calculated using Hatred, but does not decrease over time. To voluntarily remove someone from Blood Enemies list, players must drink Wine of Forgiveness together
- Notes:
- Players listed as someone's Enemy or Blood Enemy cannot join in the same team with / cannot receive gifts from the person that added them to the list
- Hatred between Enemy and Blood Enemy is mutually inherited
- Number of Blood Enemies allowed at one time is limited
- Notes:
- Followers - anyone can be added to/deleted from this: it's like players are 'fans' of the persons on this list. Only a minimal amount of Jianghu news can be seen from someone on this list.
- Acquaintances - after interacting with a stranger they will automatically be added to this list; players can delete these people from the list at any time. When moving the mouse over names in this list, players can see the three most recent events that added them there
- Blacklist - anyone can be added to/deleted from this; players on a Blacklist cannot private message each other.
In the future it seems there will be introduced a few more, among them:
- Husband/Wife
Influencing Relationships[]
There are many levels of interaction available in Age of Wushu beyond what players would usually expect from an MMOG. The most common forms of interaction are:
- From Jianghu system interface:
- sending congratulations
- praying
- sending a gift
- With face-to-face interaction:
- doing things to help friends
- teaming up
- challenging together Forbidden Areas
- playing tricks on enemies (for example, throwing a stone where an enemy is fishing so he/she won't catch any fish)
- killing other players
- kidnapping people
Sending gifts, teaming up for instances and other friendly actions increases Intimacy while reducing Hatred; kidnapping, player killing and other hostile actions reduces Intimacy while increasing Hatred.
If players wish to talk to, or make a truce with an enemy, they need to invite them for dinner. There is a Chinese tradition: if two sides want to make peace, they need to have a dinner together and announce it in Jianghu. While having dinner players cannot kill their enemy temporarily but they can still play tricks.
References[]
- Game News from Snail Games USA - March 6, 2013: Jianghu System
- Game Guide from Snail Games USA: First Time in Jianghu
- mmosite.com - January 24, 2013: Age of Wushu Marriage System Introduction
- cinderboy on mmoculture.com - January 6, 2013: A brief look at the new wedding system