Curse

Tactical-Dillusions · Nov 06, 2005, 02:00 AM // 02:00

OK, so most people dislike the linear nature of chapter one, i think this is a well-known fact.

So how could chapter two be different?

1) The terrain type needs to roll out and change gradually from wherever you are. It should be gradual, so that you hardly notice that the terrain is changing...but it is.
After walking for 5 minutes, you might see a new type of tree, a new animal or different rock types which will become more and more common the further you go.
This would get rid of the fake transition "Oh i'm in a snowy area...go through this magic door and i will be in a barren and scorched wasteland".
There should be almost no restrictions on adventures. If we want to walk through the lake...let us. It's only a game at the end of the day.
You could always pretend we have a magical air bubble around us, lol.
Let us scale that big steep cliff and take a screenshot at the summit.

2) The creatures need to be arranged differently.
It's great to have a mixture of creatures of all levels and types spread over the continent. This arrangement should be sparse but varied to the extreme.
It also needs to keep the current arrangement of having large pockets of same type and same level creatures (like a huge bunch of Charr or other tribal types).
Why? What are the advantages to this arrangement?

Basically, when you are exploring the massive open areas, you will want to pick off the easy enemies and avoid that big old nasty Tyrannosaurus who would eat your whole PUG and ask for seconds.

"John, whatever you do, don't aggro any of the big ones!"
"Oops!"

It adds tremendous amounts of emotion to the gameplay from the first time you step outside. As it stands now, upon completion of the game, alot of areas are basically out-of-bounds because they are so easy and boring.

Lets have level 3's, level 10's, level 20's etc scattered all over with large pockets of certain levels also dotted around.
Throw in a few "near-impossible" level 50 hydra's wandering solo through the wilderness.
Areas of X mob of X level become almost synonymous to a particular area.
Also have "alleyways" of no enemies, just enough to squeeze through without aggro. This eliminates the "perceived need for runners" (as you said you wanted to do in one of the FF interviews).

Pete: Where's the area of level 8 grawl?
Mike: Head north for ten minutes, take a right turn after the bandit outpost, dodge past the scaly mammoths because they are too hard for you and they should be just before the icy mountain...can't miss it!"
Pete: Thanks!

So what i'm basically saying is, open up the map. Get rid of the trails, blocked paths etc. Make the world bigger.
Get the vegetation and terrain arranged into a gradual progression arrangement. I don't want my adventures to feel like i have just stepped outside my house on a rainy day. Dry and warm > Wet and cold. Gradual please Anet

Mix up the enemies. Add a few solo godlike bosses... "OMFG RUUUUN!!!!1one."
Make groups of enemies for all players in every corner of the map.
(Level 5 hydra's, level 15 centaurs, level 30 undead, mixed levels of X)

Here is a quick Picasso impression of what a typical zone (if we will still have zone...if not "portion" instead) will look like.

One coloured bunch might be level 20 grawl and the next might be level 5 trolls. Everyone has access to many monster types and levels in the same zone and the zones also have solo monsters of varied levels for EVERYONE who wants to go solo.
Anybody can go from point A to point B without any assistance and on the way they would be able to pick their fights at their choosing.
The possibility of bumping into a big bad boss is also there for the people who are thrill-seekers...or just clumsy.

3) Mission zones/towns.

They can be arranged on the map in order of first being first...move onto the next one, etc.
The difference is, you can bypass every single mission, if you choose to do so. If i wanted to go to Glasgow, i don't have to go through Hull on my way there...i can go around it.

The only problem with this scenario is that some people would deliberately go to the last mission and not have the skills and experience needed for that mission, therefor ruining a good PUG for the rest of the team.
Easy solution is to implement a reward system that makes the attaining of skills through quests more worthwhile. A snowballing reward system would be good. The cash and item rewards build up so greatly that it simply isn't a rational choice to avoid them.

If Mr X skipped to the last mission, he would only get 100 XP and 10 gold for completion....not worth running all day for and he still would be left without his skills.

Another idea would be to have all skills available at the first city instead of the last. If the monsters are scattered, there is no need to have skill attainment still based on an old linear system.
A flaw in this idea would be that farmers could buy all their skills immediately.
Solution - when chapter 2 comes out, invent "advanced skill points".
You would gain XP still, but if you gain 100 experience, it would infact be 100 of the original experience and 100 experience for an advanced skill point.
You'd effectively have 2 experience bars in one. One for the old classes and one for the new. << needs work on this bit maybe

Just doing my bit to throw some ideas on the drawing board while taking into account other peoples ideas i have seen around.

DeepFyre · Nov 06, 2005, 02:08 AM // 02:08

i agree with the open pathing thing

when i first started the game i remember seeing this really tiny hill in post searing that would let me finish a mission if i could just cross it. i spent 5 minutes trying to figure out why i couldnt cross it, then spent about 15 minutes trying to find a way around it. stupid things with the paving like that kind of piss me off. It would be reeeaaallllyyy cool if they let you go wherever (with some limitations) you want

benmanhaha · Nov 06, 2005, 02:39 AM // 02:39

I agree fully. I hate those "little hills" that are physically impssible to walk over. I also like the idea of grouping monsters although i think they kind of do that already. except of course for beacons. one exit is level 6s and the other is level 24s.

Fr3sH · Nov 06, 2005, 02:48 AM // 02:48

/signed. If chapter 2 pve is like chapter1 i will not buy it.

wolver1ne · Nov 06, 2005, 04:14 AM // 04:14

I certainly love some mission. </sarcasm> You start at a certain point.. run around the zone, and in the end come back to a place basically 2 feet away from the start point. Go figure.

But for some reason I like that. I would rather run around a hill.. explore.. rather that run a straight line and be happy.. erm no thanks. And I believe the reason for unpassable hills and whatnot is there to prevent people running into an invisible wall that resembles the end of a zone... well that's usually for huge hills... but still.

I doubt Chapter 2 will be any different than what it is now and I don't believe it's that a big of a deal.

/not signed

Zhou Feng · Nov 06, 2005, 04:58 AM // 04:58

I have to say this a great set of... ideas... it adds more depth to exploration in pve. Might want to add non story line based missions with diffrent objectives non related to story (Fort attacked by monsters for example)

Thing is Im unsure if Anet would do this... keep in mind this isnt a real mmorpg as its pve is more like playing WC3 story missions online in person and with friends. Kind of like been able to play FF7 with a friend online ( except ff7 world is huge

)

Besides this is mostly all free. I did have great fun with pve... just that pvp is much better

but whatever works for pve sure

Hannibel · Nov 06, 2005, 05:57 AM // 05:57

/not signed

i could care less about the transition between areas, i don't even really pay attention, unless you pve all day then it might matter to you, but for most people there not gonna notice when you see rocks and animals being common you just pay attention on where your quest/mission takes you and you get the job done.

KelvinC · Nov 06, 2005, 07:42 AM // 07:42

Well, creating a non-linear storyline would require significantly more work than creating a linear storyline. Given the resouce from anet is fixed, having a non-linear story will shorten the length from start to finish using one of those paths.

Of course you can play all the possible paths. However for me I would rather not to do that. Therefore in otherword, the 'preceived' content will be lower.

Symeon · Nov 06, 2005, 07:52 AM // 07:52

/signed

I'm all for easy exploration, new areas and open land.
When I first got the game I thought the whole map would be exactly like that, completely explorable and passable. When I found out it wasn't, I was kinda disheartened.
I made a thread a few days ago called 'gaps in the map that would make good new areas' about new lands and being able to explore all these areas that are currently gaps.
But in any case I would love to see this open land, like WoW-style. Well it shouldn't be entirely open, it should have hills to walk over, forests to walk through, rivers to cross, paths to follow, lakes to swim across, mountains to scale etc.