Making the game/event loop more interesting

Discussion in 'Creative Corner' started by Akageshi, Jan 3, 2019.

Dear forum reader,

if you’d like to actively participate on the forum by joining discussions or starting your own threads or topics, please log into the game first. If you do not have a game account, you will need to register for one. We look forward to your next visit! CLICK HERE
  1. Akageshi

    Akageshi Forum Duke

    I think there's a problem with the game loop, mainly in events. It's essentially like this:

    Collect a number of items (usually in one specific location), then go kill the boss, then start again. (Repeat the process dozens of times within a few days time.)
    I'm always looking forward to events, but when they come, I get bored very fast.


    Random quests

    Perhaps a certain randomness might help? Some open world games have these filler quests mainly for players who have finished the main story line. These quests are sort of procedural and start popping up here and there. Random people have random requests for random rewards...


    Random events

    Also, random "mini events" might occur unpredictably. Do you remember the sand storms from Dunes of Desolation event? I didn't like the event as a whole, but the sand storms were changing the rules for a while. Playing the game at time of a mini event like that wold be different than it normally is.

    Imagine you're playing Dragan event, and all of a sudden a message pops up that something strange is happening in the Castle Ravencaw. You go there and you find that some mobs are totally different, maybe mini bosses, that drop unusual items.

    Or another such random event could spawn something similar to materi portals we know from the PW, only this time in the Castle, and you would have to destroy them all in a time limit.
    Just a few examples.


    More optional stuff to get from events

    Or there might be multiple items that could be crafted from individual parts. The player would then have to play the event for progress, but also to complete different quests in order to obtain these crafting components. The crafted items would then be useful event specific items, or they might act as boosters for the event progress, and so on.


    Prerequisites to create more complexity

    Some quests might require very specific items to be obtained prior to taking these quests. We'd have to get them by playing the event, defeating its boss, or even by having to fight in non-event maps, purchasing them from certain merchants (not necessarily for gold), ...


    Repeating quests that are a bit different each time

    The repeating quests that we can do now after finishing each town's From Disaster to Master quest, are fine, but its always the same guy giving the quest, and the quest is exact same each time, only the reward is random.

    This particular bit could be more interesting and could motivate us to play it more, if the repeating quest were taking place in different maps where we would be doing different things.
    For example, not just killing a number of the same mobs. Perhaps we would have to collect a number of specific herbs, maybe in combination with collecting something from different mobs, and so on.



    All this is not really super inspired, but at least it might bring a little bit more complexity to the game loop.
     
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2019
    ΣMiwel, Javah and silverseas like this.
  2. silverseas

    silverseas Count Count

    I like this idea. It would make repeating the same old maps over and over less tedious.
     
  3. Akageshi

    Akageshi Forum Duke

    I'd simply like them to break the routine a bit.

    Events should be something like: Collect 50 of this on map 1, kill 100 of these on map 2, exchange all that for crafting ingredient A. Then go to map 1, talk to this guy. Collect an item on map 2, give it to the guy. He'll give you crafting ingredient B. Then open crafting table, combine the two to make a "key" item. Go to map 2 and use this to open a door, that has been locked all this time. You're on map 3. On map 3, you fill your progress bar twice as fast. Another similar quest can be started here to open map 4 or something, and so on up to the boss.
    Full Moon works somewhat similar to this. It takes some time and several quests to finally unlock Blood Moon...

    I'm aware there might be a problem with this. Let's say you make a quick party and just want to "farm" the event. But then you find out each party member has a different progress in the complex event quest line, so some people have limited access to maps.
    People might want to help one another, though, like they do so when helping players who are new to the PW with unlocking map 2.


    From those sort of random ideas I listed in the first post, I like the random quests & mini-events the most. The entire world of Dracania would become more dynamic.
    What if every week random quest givers popped up in cities? What if maps had different conditions, like weather, day & night, elemental imbalance, etc?
    Day and night shouldn't be a problem. There's for example Mystra in daytime and Mystra at night (Dragan challenege) already.
    And of course, different conditions would mean different monsters, or would require a different play style...
    Maybe in case of the elemental imbalance, you'd had to use specific resistance elixirs, to further utilize the new crafting system.


    Idk, these are just ideas bouncing around. It's all about breaking the "let's do 100 identical runs" mentality, and bringing in some diversity. But at the same time, I'm afraid it's too much for DSO :/
     
  4. Javah

    Javah Forum Veteran

    Don't worry, they are suppressing all the events. No events, no new contents: problem solved. Devs are smart, not like us that keep playing a such bunch of.

    That aparts, your proposals are interesting and i'd support them. *Everything* different than status quo is interesting, came at this point.
     
    Last edited: Jan 6, 2019
    Akageshi likes this.
  5. silverseas

    silverseas Count Count

    Making too many sequential maps that lock out players based on progress will only create the same situation as Fjalnir's Cradle of Frost: confusion and fragmentation of groups. Having random events tied to that map itself is interesting and can be played out in many ways depending on how it is implemented. I mean, I remember one old game I used to play where NPCs could appear and kidnap you to complete a test/maze/whatever before they send you back to where you were at. xD
     
    trakilaki and Akageshi like this.
  6. Akageshi

    Akageshi Forum Duke

    That would be a problem, agreed.
    Fjalnir's Cradle of Frost is such a simple anomaly, yet literally everyone was confused with it :/