chalion
03-30-2017, 07:33 PM
One of the things that I’ve found interesting is how almost every single character joins a society to benefit from the powers. Once a character has mastered their chosen society there are only a limited amount of mechanical things to be done past that. Some require upkeep to continue using their powers, others provide access to special hunting grounds but aside from some player run RP there isn’t much else going on (maybe I’m wrong, set me straight if I am!) Either way, what if there was an area where societies could participate in a competitive manner to earn long term rewards and foster RP and non-combat inspired friction?
The Triad of societies don’t have direct RP lore (to my knowledge) that would pit them against each other, but it’s easy to see how two of them are almost direct opposites of each other. While direct PVP based on society would not fit in the theme of Gemstone or the way the game is going, I think a dedicated area that acted like a living, continually changing area based on player actions might be interesting.
The premise: A McGuffin (ur-deam artifact, ancient mystical secret to cleaning robes, the last pony!) has been found in a remote area that might be of interest being under control of each of the societies. One might want to contain it, one might want to control it, and the other might just want it for glory. There is only one of these things so of course it’s a race to see who can take it for theirs! But the others will do what they can to prevent that from happening!
The mechanics: Level range instances (similar to Reim) will keep people in a general level range together and working towards the end goal. Instead of the exact same areas just reworked to meet level ranges, you would have deeper and deeper rings of difficulty that you could only enter if you are high enough level. The deeper levels are closer and closer to the item in question. Securing areas for your society grant you an instant reward and long term control by a society grants you a slow trickle of rewards over time.
The outer circle would include things like base camps for each society, a Launchpad of sorts for your adventure into the area. Here you can spellup, check on the status of each area, see what places need help or even where others are currently focusing their efforts to try and block them. This would be for lower levels. Groups can craft/find/buy an item that stores energy/spirit/PLOT DEVICE inside it from killing things or performing tasks assigned by a base camp leader(similar to the recent idea about giving evil tasks- go kidnap a competing societies NPC and bring them here!) As you and your society members earn PLOT DEVICE you can use that to increase influence or power in an area. You only gain PLOT DEVICE if you are doing level based activates, so you can’t just stomp around the newbie area. (Well, long term you might have to so maybe PLOT DEVICE earned in higher areas can be used at a reduced rate in lower areas). As you venture in further the amount of stuff being killed or the activities needed might increase in complexity (think the changing types of tests in some of the pay quests/adventures) with the inner zone being the most complex.
NPCs/critters would be representatives from each society that are aggressive and attackable by only the direct opposite society member (this might be the hardest to do in the code? If at all?) So undead/demons might attack a member of voln, along with maybe grimswarm in general infesting the area that attack everyone? And there would be no shortage of knights and guards who are trying to secure the area, to the chagrin of some members of the world. The team that can infuse/spend/power the most PLOT DEVICE in a given area for a set time “control” that area and reap…
The Rewards: Performing tasks and killing things gets you PLOT DEVICE power, but controlling or doing tasks rewards you with SOCIETY THEMED CURRANCY similar to ghost bucks, tickets and blood scrip (Don’t kill me for suggesting another TICKET currency). This can be spent in the base camp areas on society specific items. Rare rewards like voln armor unlocks, skinning knives, society specific enhancives, and maybe another special society armor script idea I will post soon (Retser’s new symbiotic weapon is kind of similar to what I was thinking of an armor that needs to be constantly fed to keep from attacking it wearer). At set intervals during the day, all society members who have participated in the past 24 hours get a reward for each area under control of that society. Either a much smaller reward or a special different reward? Either way, this would encourage constant interaction, I think it might also open up more competitive but not outright combat based RP groups and interaction of the societies, and allow for more mechanical benefits/options/rewards for the societies.
Thoughts?
I think this link works:
http://forums.play.net/forums/GemStone%20IV/Game%20Design%20Discussions/General%20Discussion%20about%20Gemstone%20IV/thread/1835268
The Triad of societies don’t have direct RP lore (to my knowledge) that would pit them against each other, but it’s easy to see how two of them are almost direct opposites of each other. While direct PVP based on society would not fit in the theme of Gemstone or the way the game is going, I think a dedicated area that acted like a living, continually changing area based on player actions might be interesting.
The premise: A McGuffin (ur-deam artifact, ancient mystical secret to cleaning robes, the last pony!) has been found in a remote area that might be of interest being under control of each of the societies. One might want to contain it, one might want to control it, and the other might just want it for glory. There is only one of these things so of course it’s a race to see who can take it for theirs! But the others will do what they can to prevent that from happening!
The mechanics: Level range instances (similar to Reim) will keep people in a general level range together and working towards the end goal. Instead of the exact same areas just reworked to meet level ranges, you would have deeper and deeper rings of difficulty that you could only enter if you are high enough level. The deeper levels are closer and closer to the item in question. Securing areas for your society grant you an instant reward and long term control by a society grants you a slow trickle of rewards over time.
The outer circle would include things like base camps for each society, a Launchpad of sorts for your adventure into the area. Here you can spellup, check on the status of each area, see what places need help or even where others are currently focusing their efforts to try and block them. This would be for lower levels. Groups can craft/find/buy an item that stores energy/spirit/PLOT DEVICE inside it from killing things or performing tasks assigned by a base camp leader(similar to the recent idea about giving evil tasks- go kidnap a competing societies NPC and bring them here!) As you and your society members earn PLOT DEVICE you can use that to increase influence or power in an area. You only gain PLOT DEVICE if you are doing level based activates, so you can’t just stomp around the newbie area. (Well, long term you might have to so maybe PLOT DEVICE earned in higher areas can be used at a reduced rate in lower areas). As you venture in further the amount of stuff being killed or the activities needed might increase in complexity (think the changing types of tests in some of the pay quests/adventures) with the inner zone being the most complex.
NPCs/critters would be representatives from each society that are aggressive and attackable by only the direct opposite society member (this might be the hardest to do in the code? If at all?) So undead/demons might attack a member of voln, along with maybe grimswarm in general infesting the area that attack everyone? And there would be no shortage of knights and guards who are trying to secure the area, to the chagrin of some members of the world. The team that can infuse/spend/power the most PLOT DEVICE in a given area for a set time “control” that area and reap…
The Rewards: Performing tasks and killing things gets you PLOT DEVICE power, but controlling or doing tasks rewards you with SOCIETY THEMED CURRANCY similar to ghost bucks, tickets and blood scrip (Don’t kill me for suggesting another TICKET currency). This can be spent in the base camp areas on society specific items. Rare rewards like voln armor unlocks, skinning knives, society specific enhancives, and maybe another special society armor script idea I will post soon (Retser’s new symbiotic weapon is kind of similar to what I was thinking of an armor that needs to be constantly fed to keep from attacking it wearer). At set intervals during the day, all society members who have participated in the past 24 hours get a reward for each area under control of that society. Either a much smaller reward or a special different reward? Either way, this would encourage constant interaction, I think it might also open up more competitive but not outright combat based RP groups and interaction of the societies, and allow for more mechanical benefits/options/rewards for the societies.
Thoughts?
I think this link works:
http://forums.play.net/forums/GemStone%20IV/Game%20Design%20Discussions/General%20Discussion%20about%20Gemstone%20IV/thread/1835268