Curse

Omni15 · Oct 07, 2006, 02:05 AM // 02:05

When the massive update called Sorrow's Furnace was introduced to Guild Wars Prophecies I was glad there was new content to play with. The new items, areas, and monsters kept gamers like me interested and gameplay fresh. Now that Factions is out and Nightfall is being released I think its a good time for another massive update. This update would provide new content for all Guild Wars games and not just one. I have a long list of things that could be included in the update though they could be added in later ones. I would also like some feedback from the player community on these ideas. I would also like to apologize for its length and I hope readers do not die of boredom or their eyes fall out their sockets.

New Titles
Completion of all sidequests in a campaign (this does not include class specific ones or quests that become unavailable like in Pre-Searing Ascalon).

Crystals
Crystals and gems can be applied to slots in a player character's armor. This would increase the custom ability options of the avatar. Sometimes the character will find crystals with magical abilities or act as a light source.

Weather
Weather is introduced to explorable areas. The type of weather differs depending on the region and location the character is in. The characters and monsters can suffer from certain environmental effects produced by weather. Weather can also change its level of strength and the severity of the environmental effects everyone receives depends on the level. Upgrades can be applied to armor to reduce or eliminate these effects. Neutral characters are immune to the effects of weather. Possible types, levels, and effects of weather are:
1. Rain
Level 1: Rain Storm
Level 2: Thunder Storm
Level 3: Hurricane
Rain creates puddles and raises water level in rivers and lakes. Players receive movement penalties when wading through them. Players and monsters can also drown if the water level gets to high and hail can cause environmental damage to the character. Strength and duration of fire spells is also reduced.

2. Acid Rain
Level 1: Acid Rain
Acid rain can cause environmental damage to the character and monsters in the area of effect. There is also a slight chance of becoming poisoned.

3. Snow
Level 1: Snow
Level 2: Blizzard
Snow causes reduced visibility and cold damage.

4. Sand Storm
Level 1: Sand Storm
Severe reduction in visibility and evasion/hit rate is reduced.

5. Ash
Level 1: Ash
Visibility is decreased and it is difficult to breathe, forcing your character to stop once in a while. The ash can also burn everyone.

Cross-Campaign Additions
New areas, missions, or content that are only available if the player owns more than one campaign.
Example: A player owns both Nightfall and Prophecies. Owning Prophecies unlocks a few new bonus missions in Nightfall. Owning Nightfall unlocks the ability to customize the weapons and skills of henchman in Prophecies.

Reputation
Characters can earn reputation points by killing enemies, finding rare items, completing missions, and doing miscellaneous deeds. As the character gains more reputation they will get more positive responses from NPCs and better rewards from side quests. Reputation will also effect merchants and craftsman, giving your character a discount on purchased items.

Bonus Missions
Bonus missions do not tie directly into the campaign plotline. Instead the completion of the bonus mission causes changes in the region the bonus mission was a part of. Some of these changes could include:
1. The responses of NPCs to the player character.
2. The equipment, level, and skill sets of allies.
3. The equipment, level, and skill sets of enemies.
4. Additional NPCs in regions (example: more guardsman are seen on patrol outside of Old Ascalon because they survived instead of getting killed).
5. Geographical changes (example: A fire starts in Mamnoon Lagoon, killing off vegetation).

Beefing up the Title System
I was kind of bummed out by the title system. It is good that you can flaunt your achievements to other players but there is no reward for getting them. I have the idea of creating a reward system. As the player's character gains titles they earn something called title points. The amount of points that is given depends on the level of the title the character is on and how difficult it was to get. The title points also add on to title points that the player earned from other characters. Once a certain amount of points have been accumulated than the player can purchase upgrades and special abilities for their character. The cost to purchase the ability depends on the type of ability and the effect it has on the character. Players then pick between the ones they have purchased to add to their character. Player characters can only use one special ability at first, but can purchase additional slots for them. Once the ability has been purchased it becomes available for all the characters the player creates.
For those of you who think this is cheating or that it would unbalance PvP arenas let me alleviate your concerns. These special abilities will only be available for PvE explorable areas and missions, not PvP arenas. The player can also toggle the character's special abilities on or off at any time. Also most of the titles are earned at a very late stage in the game so it is not like the player has always played the campaigns with the special abilities. Any player would find a use for these special abilities. A player who likes PvP only would be able to get any new character that they have created to the PvP arenas faster and acquire the skills they need more easily. For the PvE player they would be more adventurous because they could practice using different builds and skill sets with a reduced risk of death. For the solo player life would be a lot easier for them. Here are some possible types, levels, and effects of special abilities
Health Regen. +1 (non-combat)
Health Regen. +2 (non-combat)
Health Regen. +3 (non-combat)
Energy Regen. +1 (non-combat)
Energy Regen. +2 (non-combat)
Energy Regen. +3 (non-combat)
Health Regen. +1 (always active)
Health Regen. +2 (always active)
Health Regen. +3 (always active)
Energy Regen. +1 (always active)
Energy Regen. +2 (always active)
Energy Regen. +3 (always active)
Faster Movement
Faster Casting
Faster Attack Rate
Reduced Energy Consumption
Combat Resistances
Spell Resistances
One Extra Skill Slot
Two Extra Skill Slots
Additional Special Ability Slots

New Areas
1. The Remnants of Orr
Although the majority of Orr was destroyed by the massive spell that was meant to destroy the Charr some of its citizens managed to survive. They rebuilt some of their ruined towns and tried to start a new life. The remains of the Charr army that attempted to invade Orr have reorganized and are ready to attack again. The Player must crush the Charr threat and help the citizens rebuild their shattered lives.

2. Charr Territory
After all the required missions are completed and the titans are vanquished from Tyria the player receives word that Kryta, the Shining Blade, and the Deldrimmor Dwarves have each sent armies to Ascalon to help push the Charr back. When the player receives this message a new area north of Old Ascalon becomes available. The player takes part in several new missions with his/her new allies and eventually crush the Charr armies. After the missions have been completed the enemies in Post-Searing Ascalon become less aggressive and citizens start to rebuild the kingdom. As game time passes the certain areas in the Ascalon region gradually become more green and new towns begin to develop. Old Ascalon, the outposts, areas near the strange crystals remain the same because the damage caused by the Charr invasion and the pollution caused by the magical properties of the falling crystals is too extensive to repair. The only difference in this area is the dialogue of the NPCs. After a certain amount of game time the player character receives another message that the city of New Ascalon has been built. When this message is received the town of Old Ascalon becomes an outpost and a town called New Ascalon becomes available for exploration. King Adelbern makes it the new capital and personally congradulates the player. Devona and her party return and with the player character usher in a new age of peace. The rebirth of Ascalon could be considered the final reward to the player for completing the Prophecies campaign.

Ok maybe that was not so long. Anyway, I want to hear some feedback from you.

Knightsaber Sith · Oct 07, 2006, 03:23 AM // 03:23

Gaile has already stated it is highly unlikely they will ever do another SF style update, let alone one even larger. I frankly don't see any reason for this, with another campaign going live in less than a month I don't see why anyone would be asking for even more content.

Also most of these have already been suggested.
/notsigned

SilentVex · Oct 07, 2006, 04:37 AM // 04:37

GW has a level cap of 20 because it is supposed to be player-skill based, not equipment or time based. Your title rewards reverses that philosophy.

Your weather effects, the way you intend them to work, are not possible in the gw engine.

In fact...all of your suggestions are either not possible in the engine, or make GW time based rather than skill based.

No thank you.
/notsigned

logan90 · Oct 07, 2006, 09:41 AM // 09:41

The reason they added SF was because of the 1 year wait between Prophecies and Factions. Now that the wait is only 6 months between chapters there is no reason to.

Bhaaltazar · Oct 07, 2006, 10:14 AM // 10:14

/signed

Since everybody keeps saying this game is only skill based I belive PvPers would find it rewarding but if they want to keep PvE players only than anet needs to implement whole PvE. So far All PvE became boring, same thing all over the place.. whole quantity thing and no reward makes the game stale after few days..

It wont be any different in NF so I will w8 this time to see what will it bring for PvE, quantity alone ( more missions, more quests ( i didnt even finish side quest in factions because of stupid xp rewards )). So untill i see some real twists and upgrades in PvE I just wont buy it. To me PvE right now is like PvP, same thing over and over again.

It may be just me, but I know its not. Big % of PvE comunity is complaining about the state PvE is now and Anet knows it and dont wanna do anything about it except making more PvE content ( more but same as before ).

bigwig · Oct 07, 2006, 10:53 AM // 10:53

This seems to be just another way you can sneak your "a few ideas" thread into the suggestions forum.