Curse

targetdrone · Dec 30, 2006, 10:41 AM // 10:41

How about an _optional_ _difficult_ challenge mission where high level human players can escort a bunch of squishy low level human players and take them to a place with AL max armor? Though the "ferry to Consulate Docks for tips" has become a small part of NF it's not quite as interesting as a Droks Run

. So maybe there could be something more interesting in a future GW edition.

EXAMPLE implementation:

Mission giver message: "Hi <name> I hear you have a bunch of enthusiastic greenhorns that want to rush to the battle front. Hmmm, they don't look like much, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Oh well, get them to XYZ where they can equip themselves".

Only Lev 20s can take the quest/mission and only if there are < lvl 10s in the party, and the NPC at the end only gives the reward to the Lev 20s if the entire party is around (Bonus reward if _none_ of the low levs died during the mission?). Could make the reward based on the number of < lvl 10s humans in the party?

The reward should then send the whole party to the town that is otherwise inaccessible to the low levels at their point in the story line.

There should also be a record keeper in the starting area (separate from beginner town so can have larger party sizes?) who will keep track of the top X teams that have completed the mission successfully.

There should be separate records for "mission team farmers" and "genuine escorters", there are various possible ways of distinguishing them. Example: 1st record: Number of low levs that made it, the number of low levs that made it without dying, and the time it was done in. 2nd record: Number of _unique_player_accounts_ ferried per day/week/month, unique player accounts so one can't just map the low levs back or keep deleting and creating low levs then rushing to that place for this record. There are many ways to distinguish them but this is relatively simple.

There'll be a few pissed off survivor wannabes if the mission fails. But if it's accessible early enough in the game (maybe not too early just to keep it nailbiting enough

) they can delete and start over. There'll also be a lot of upset lev 20s if the low levs do stupid things, but hey that's part of the challenge.

Kai Nui · Dec 30, 2006, 11:07 AM // 11:07

Lol, which is why prophecies rocked socks. You know how the game was actually enjoyed, and I appreciate that some people, namely anet, believe the game should be played differently. Oh well.

/signed

Aegeroth · Dec 30, 2006, 02:33 PM // 14:33

Heh, i thought you were talking about Amatz Basin, but I think you mean real players as the escorted right?

Kendar Muert · Dec 30, 2006, 05:07 PM // 17:07

YAY!
Love the idea- it would be something simialr to my favorite activity- running, except edorsed by Anet..

/signed..How come i never think of this stuff??

CyberMesh0 · Dec 30, 2006, 08:57 PM // 20:57

I can hear it now...

"ANET ADDED A RUNNING MISSION OMGZ!!!!11! BUT THEY DON'T ALLOW RUNNING OTHERWISE OMGZ!!!!!111!! THEY SUCK"

<_<

decent idea, but it has too much potential for flaming imo.

Not A Fifty Five · Dec 31, 2006, 12:53 AM // 00:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberMesh0

I can hear it now...

"ANET ADDED A RUNNING MISSION OMGZ!!!!11! BUT THEY DON'T ALLOW RUNNING OTHERWISE OMGZ!!!!!111!! THEY SUCK"

<_<

decent idea, but it has too much potential for flaming imo.

Gamewise I'd love it. Anet seems to avoid confrontational issues like whether or not they like running or solo farming and stuff tho, I don't think we can get this outta them

Xenex Xclame · Dec 31, 2006, 04:13 AM // 04:13

The reason they don t approve or dissaprove of running is very easy if you think of it.

Think of the bad sides of running.

-Very easy to get scammed
There is no sure way when you reach the destination,the runner can get scammed by the low lvl bailing and not paying or the runner can just decide to quit the game after half of the money has been payed or just leave before to doors without getting payed just to annoy you.

-It takes away the fun of the storyline, yes you might know it already because of the first time you played it,but still each time playing the game is a different experience, especially if you play with a diff character.

-It also just takes away the simple fact of doing something yourself, if you pay someone to do a mission or run or stuff like that,you are basicly cheating, yes your cheating yourself out of doing the run/mission etc.
It feels much better when you do something yourself.

kKagari · Dec 31, 2006, 06:15 AM // 06:15

i like this idea, perhaps the mission could be split up into 2 starting areas.

the lowbie area where they need to fight their way to open gates for the runner, who starts in a completely seperate area

the runner will require the cooperation of the lowbies to clear obstacles in his path in order to get through.

i remember something like this in c&c red alert

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xenex Xclame

The reason they don t approve or dissaprove of running is very easy if you think of it.

Think of the bad sides of running.

-Very easy to get scammed
There is no sure way when you reach the destination,the runner can get scammed by the low lvl bailing and not paying or the runner can just decide to quit the game after half of the money has been payed or just leave before to doors without getting payed just to annoy you.

-It takes away the fun of the storyline, yes you might know it already because of the first time you played it,but still each time playing the game is a different experience, especially if you play with a diff character.

-It also just takes away the simple fact of doing something yourself, if you pay someone to do a mission or run or stuff like that,you are basicly cheating, yes your cheating yourself out of doing the run/mission etc.
It feels much better when you do something yourself.

well since i think a way to pass this problem is:
something like vizunah square, where lowbies and runners enter at different points, and for different storyline reasons. in fact, now that i think about it....it feels a bit like vizunah square revamped (since the local quarter is the last mission before max AL armor, if you completed the primary quests before going to kaineng)

targetdrone · Dec 31, 2006, 11:29 AM // 11:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xenex Xclame

Think of the bad sides of running.
-Very easy to get scammed
-It takes away the fun of the storyline,
-It also just takes away the simple fact of doing something yourself, if you pay someone to do a mission or run or stuff like that,you are basicly cheating, yes your cheating yourself out of doing the run/mission etc.
It feels much better when you do something yourself.

1) For this the runners already get a reward from the NPC if they succeed, and it's a challenge mission - if they are very good they also get the satisfaction of being/staying ranked. The low levs can tip the runner if they think it was a great effort. But I'll leave it up to the humans to decide what they want to do.

The low levs can talk to the Record Keeper to see if the runner is ranked or not. If they don't mind mission failures no prob with an unranked runner, if they need to get it right (going for survivor) they can wait for a ranked runner.

2) Fun of the storyline?
I don't know about you but I find going on a Droks run pretty fun, more fun than many of those "long walks" in Prophecies! Watching a good runner is fun. I've seen some runners intentionally make it more entertaining for the audience too- they go "Guys "Watch this", and do something amazing/crazy. But I'm not rich enough to spend 2-3K just to watch Drok runs. Maybe they should make the top missions observable too.

If you want to continue the storyline, map back then. Doh.

Having the run starting area separate from the main town allows the NPC giving 1st access to the area warn the low levs that they could be skipping "important for beginner bits" of the game.

While I personally don't mind replaying Presear/Starter Island, I am able to understand how some people would want to skip Presear/Starter Island after the "Xth" time. Not everyone wants to play the same way.

3) Cheating?
I don't get why it should be considered cheating. After all I've heard people say the real game starts at the Lev 20 areas - when you no longer have a char at Critical Strikes/Strength/Soul Reaping/etc 6 or something boring/silly like that. So even if such a mission could be used for power levelling, I don't see it as a problem.

Naturally I can understand how people don't mind playing with half-baked characters and enjoy the 10th time rereading every word of the NPCs (spelling/grammar mistakes and all), but I don't see why it's cheating if people can choose to skip that.

4) I don't see how this would make Anet less money.