Small tangent from the rest state issue, to look at one of the problems itâs trying to fix, namely getting players into cities:
Thereâs lots of other things that Blizzard can do to make cities interactive and attractive, without forcing saves and log-off in the inns. (These are just random ideas of mine.)
One of the most effective would be the idea of âcrafting circlesâ â If youâre in a city, and in close proximity to other players who are doing the same general type of crafting (armor, weapons, etc.), then you all get a more effective item (due to input/assistance from the other characters or whatever). For example, say you get a 2% bonus to your item quality for each character near you who is also crafting, up to 50%. (If there were 10 other characters around you making weapons, then your resultant weapon that would normally do 10-100 damage would be improved 20%, to 12-120.) As a side effect, make circle crafting take longer than normal crafting, for the same amount of money. This would have the effect of encouraging people to sit and hang out with those of similar interests, chatting to pass the time. It would also allow crafted goods to be better than bought items, under specific conditions.
Another idea would be to have the very best crafted items be slightly better than nice items that can be found. So, if youâre level 20 and a master armor maker, then you can forge armor that is slightly better than what most level 20 characters would find on their own. Make crafted items sell for a pittance at NPC kiosks (what does the blacksmith need your sword for when he can make a better one?), so that crafters are encouraged to interact with other players to sell their wares. You could even implement a âprice controlâ system, limiting what crafters can charge for their wares; make it a fair price, interesting to buyers, but not so high that only the rich and desperate will seek you out when you get greedy. Crafters would thus be encouraged to keep crafting and selling new and improved items as time goes by.
Also, there could be âmentoring circles.â You can teach your skills and spells to other characters of lower level, for about 15% less than the price that an NPC vendor would charge. (Fixed rates controlled by the system, again to avoid deflation of prices and greedy rip-offs.) Each character can only teach 1-on-1, and it takes about 2 minutes. Another chat opportunity to make friends, give advice, offer gold for them to seek out raw materials, whatever. It could even be engineered so that you couldnât start a new trade skill (alchemy, mining, whatever) without seeking out a mentor for a small fee; small enough to be affordable and decent enough to make it appealing to a character to sit for an hour and mentor and meet new people.
There could be âsparring circlesâ where characters voluntarily duel with magic or weapons, made non-lethal by an NPC arbitrator. Wounds caused this way are âsubdual damage,â perhaps only 10% real once the fight is over. Whoever wins gets a small prize or experience bonus, but not nearly enough to make this more appealing than questing, since the goal is to get people together in a playfully competitive manner. Make it so this time doesnât increase fatigue, so itâs a fair way to while away some time. Defeated characters canât enter another match for 5 minutes (to prevent high-levels from helping their friends, by standing helplessly all day).
Inns could have some silly social measure, like âmerrimentâ or something, so that the more people there are in the inn, the faster everyone in there improves their rest state. This would put characters in a place where they would be encouraged to chat, although Iâm sure power-levelers would keep their conversations down to ârest state suxâ or just walk away from the keyboard. ;)
What Iâm getting at here is this: We should be trying to find fun, creative solutions to help the Blizzard team toward their design goals. They want to make a great game for us, but where they donât know how, we can help them with positive advice, instead of slams. Since MMORPGs are ongoing and evolving, theyâll be listening to us throughout the gameâs lifespan â because they want our money! I believe their customer service in this game will be unparalleled. Whenâs the last time you had a refreshing chat with a Blizzard employee over future positive changes to implement in, say, D2?
Thereâs lots of other things that Blizzard can do to make cities interactive and attractive, without forcing saves and log-off in the inns. (These are just random ideas of mine.)
One of the most effective would be the idea of âcrafting circlesâ â If youâre in a city, and in close proximity to other players who are doing the same general type of crafting (armor, weapons, etc.), then you all get a more effective item (due to input/assistance from the other characters or whatever). For example, say you get a 2% bonus to your item quality for each character near you who is also crafting, up to 50%. (If there were 10 other characters around you making weapons, then your resultant weapon that would normally do 10-100 damage would be improved 20%, to 12-120.) As a side effect, make circle crafting take longer than normal crafting, for the same amount of money. This would have the effect of encouraging people to sit and hang out with those of similar interests, chatting to pass the time. It would also allow crafted goods to be better than bought items, under specific conditions.
Another idea would be to have the very best crafted items be slightly better than nice items that can be found. So, if youâre level 20 and a master armor maker, then you can forge armor that is slightly better than what most level 20 characters would find on their own. Make crafted items sell for a pittance at NPC kiosks (what does the blacksmith need your sword for when he can make a better one?), so that crafters are encouraged to interact with other players to sell their wares. You could even implement a âprice controlâ system, limiting what crafters can charge for their wares; make it a fair price, interesting to buyers, but not so high that only the rich and desperate will seek you out when you get greedy. Crafters would thus be encouraged to keep crafting and selling new and improved items as time goes by.
Also, there could be âmentoring circles.â You can teach your skills and spells to other characters of lower level, for about 15% less than the price that an NPC vendor would charge. (Fixed rates controlled by the system, again to avoid deflation of prices and greedy rip-offs.) Each character can only teach 1-on-1, and it takes about 2 minutes. Another chat opportunity to make friends, give advice, offer gold for them to seek out raw materials, whatever. It could even be engineered so that you couldnât start a new trade skill (alchemy, mining, whatever) without seeking out a mentor for a small fee; small enough to be affordable and decent enough to make it appealing to a character to sit for an hour and mentor and meet new people.
There could be âsparring circlesâ where characters voluntarily duel with magic or weapons, made non-lethal by an NPC arbitrator. Wounds caused this way are âsubdual damage,â perhaps only 10% real once the fight is over. Whoever wins gets a small prize or experience bonus, but not nearly enough to make this more appealing than questing, since the goal is to get people together in a playfully competitive manner. Make it so this time doesnât increase fatigue, so itâs a fair way to while away some time. Defeated characters canât enter another match for 5 minutes (to prevent high-levels from helping their friends, by standing helplessly all day).
Inns could have some silly social measure, like âmerrimentâ or something, so that the more people there are in the inn, the faster everyone in there improves their rest state. This would put characters in a place where they would be encouraged to chat, although Iâm sure power-levelers would keep their conversations down to ârest state suxâ or just walk away from the keyboard. ;)
What Iâm getting at here is this: We should be trying to find fun, creative solutions to help the Blizzard team toward their design goals. They want to make a great game for us, but where they donât know how, we can help them with positive advice, instead of slams. Since MMORPGs are ongoing and evolving, theyâll be listening to us throughout the gameâs lifespan â because they want our money! I believe their customer service in this game will be unparalleled. Whenâs the last time you had a refreshing chat with a Blizzard employee over future positive changes to implement in, say, D2?