Look, I want to begin with the statement that I really enjoy the game despite the array of issues and glitches that everyone knows about and I do appreciate your continued work, but COME ON…
With the introduction of the much appreciated and needed Follower Mechanics among which was the CAP ON THRALLS (Default 50+5/person) there are several glaring failures especially with the CAP which limits the number of thralls that you can have AND random thrall deletion when Cap is Exceeded.
THE IDEAL THINGS:
(1) FOLLOWER LIST - The Ideal - What You Should Have Is Three Follower List (Tables) - Thralls / Pets / Horses which then list some details (e.g., Name, Race, Level, Grid Location) w/Interactive Drop Down Menu after each line w/menu that allows you to access, at a minimum, some wheel commands (minimally - Place Thrall & Delete). Reasons:
(a) Thralls Do Get Stuck Inside/Under Building Foundations & Terrain Objects and are unrecoverable and you should be able to place them to return them to a home base location. You might even limit the Tab Place to Land You Own so it has to be at your home base. And sometimes you might just want to delete them. Conan Exiles - great but glitchy so cover your butt.
(b) Sometimes You Are At One Location & You Just Want To Look At Your Roster And Issue Command To Dismiss A Weakter Thrall Somewhere On Your Base(s) Without Having To Run To Far Corners Of Base or Another Location.
(2) WARNING BEFORE PLACING THRALL THAT WILL EXCEED POPULATION LIMIT - This is a No Brainer and should have been implemented with the release. Works just like the other warnings you have (i.e., Are You Sure You Want To Delete?). The Game Tracks Your Total Thralls Anyway, because after the delay it auto deletes a random thrall… so the GAME KNOWS… it would be so easy to interrupt the placement with a warning (i.e., Population Limit Will Be Exceeded / Do You Want To Place Follower (or specifically Thrall or Pet)? Buttons YES NO
(a) It should be super easy to code this into the game as you already have calls for other warnings and the game knows the server limits… MAKE IT HAPPEN PLEASE. This is something that should have been in the originally release.
(b) It is great feature, but also and easy stop gap to help prevent accidental overpopulation and random deletion - potentially a favorite follower. It’s easy - just do it without delay.
(3) FOLLOW TOTAL NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS - again super easy to do because the game tracks it you just have to put it into a command and display it. It is simply a place your character can look to get three totals - Number Totals for Thralls / Pets / Horses / Grand Total. For example:
Thralls Number = 7
Pet Number = 31
Horses = 2
Grand Total = 40 of 55
(4) THRALL WHEEL OPTION ADDITION - GUARD vs STAY HERE which mods do now so it is certainly a doable thing… others have already, you certainly can…
(a) GUARD POSITION - This is a permanent default position to which the follower will return after player death… you could even limit that to a location that is on player’s property.
(b) STAY HERE - This is a temporary position that has follower staying in that location for a fixed amount of time BEFORE RETURNING TO GUARD POSITION. In order to allow players to have a follower stay at given location on a temporary basis (e.g., Default Server Setting: 10-minutes real time). So you can have your player range ahead, but in the event of death - by bracelet, server crash, self, or enemy - your thrall will return to Guard Position after time elapses - you can build in delay for return travel time as well… so it’s not instant teleport across the map but it takes time for follower to come back to Guard (Home) Position.
SUGGESTION FOR IMPLEMENTING:
Ideally, you would do it all in next week with next patch update, but some of this requires more work than others. Obviously, you know you schedule and demands better than I, but it seems reasonable based on current situation that something would be easier to implement and others harder. My best guess would be…
I: FIRST (PATCH UPDATE ASAP):
Given the GAME tracks SERVER SETTINGS, I believe it would be fairly easy to implement these…
(1) POPULATION COUNTER - the Player/Clan Total Number of Thralls / Pets / Horses / Grand Total is easy - you just need to decide where to display it (probably on a tab as you might as well get started on it). It is simply something like for default settings solo player…
Thralls Number = 7
Pet Number = 31
Horses = 2
Grand Total = 40 of 55
In this way, Grand Total displays first the CURRENT Population / Cap Max (for Clan or Player for Solo Players).
(2) POPULATION WILL BE EXCEEDED WARNING - When you are about to place a thrall that will exceed you or your clans CAP LIMIT with YES NO button option. Again, probably not quiet as easy as the above, but NOT HARD
II: SECOND UPDATE:
I imagine a little more work, but again the information is being tracked by the GAME so it’s just calling it up and displaying it.
FOLLOWER ROSTER TAB (DISPLAY ONLY NOT INTERACTIVE):
It simply lists all your followers with three tables: THRALLS / PETS / HORSES TABLES so each table is display of that subtype of follower with total number for the table at the bottom. WIth following information… (for example)
Name of Follower / Race or Species / Type (Archer/Warrior/Brute or Greater/White/Black, etc) / Lvl / Status (Guarding/Stay Here/Traveling) / Map Grid Location
TOTAL FOLLOWER POPULATION above all of the tables (or at the bottom) w/display
Total Population of Max Cap Allowed (i.e., Solo Player Default 47 of 55)
III: THIRD - FOLLOWER ROSTER (Interactive) & THRALL WHEEL OPTION FOR “STAY HERE” vs “GUARD” Positions
FOLLOWER ROSTER - Interactive where you add a minimal number of interactive options including at a minimum: Dismiss Thrall / Summon & Place Thrall
CONCLUSION:
I love the game, but some of this, especially Total Counters & Warning (and probably a non-interactive set of tables listing followers - like THRALL TABLE / PET TABLE / HORSE TABLE, should have come with the Follower & Mounts Update. While it no use crying over split milk, I think that these are things that should take some priority… especially with Caps and Auto-Deletion of Excess Population.
Why should we lose prized follower(s) to random deletion of excess population limit that we cannot track or find, because you failed to put on the finishing touches???
I do look forward to your other work and updates … especially the new map possibility but the derpy nature of Follower AI and need for a Warning - Population Exceeded & Follower Roster, etc., is kinda super important too…
Thanks, for your time and consideration, cheers…
Are you playing on a server with active cap?
Pippi mod has a heatmap showing the number of pets/thralls you have: