World Decline: Thoughts and Suggestions On Meta

[jorb]

Just want to reiterate that the first 2-3 months of this game is magic! Nothing like it, at least in my experience. I would love to see that feeling of uncertainty capitalized on. I think even though most players are striving for stability and safety, they have a yearning for chaos.

I agree. The world becomes boring precisely because there is nothing going on it. There is no stream of events for players to really take part in.

[stya]

Quick resets is more a bad patcher rather than a real fix. I really enjoy trading so far but it took me like a month to get the rocks for charterstones + the goods to sell and then another ten days to build the outpost completely. Quick reset would go against any long term project... I won't bother making a new trade post for every 2-3 months...

[jorb]

I agree that resets are not a solution to the actual problem. I think recurring resets would ultimately drive off more people, as the thrill of a world is lessened each time around.

[Archiplex]

I agree that resets are not a solution to the actual problem. I think recurring resets would ultimately drive off more people, as the thrill of a world is lessened each time around.

I agree with that, i don't like the idea aof intermittent world RESETs

However, timely world events (perhaps events that can be impacted by the players) that cause big changes would be interesting, such as new lands being discovered (and no i don't mean simply expanding the mapa region, what if the original spawn grid is an island, and after a few months new smaller islands are revealed? something along those lines) or big world-bosses, divine interference in the world, new rare, unique materials being discovered, etc etc.

Stuff like that would be very interesting- and to keep in line with haven's mysteriousness, they should come mostly unexpectantly and not generated in any way- for example, once in a world an event where a meteor falls and a very small amount of special ore lands somewhere, where a handful of unique weapons and armors could be crafted would be interesting, or perhaps a special monster that teaches a sacred attack technique in combat, etc etc

the idea is to have a slow steady stream of both minor and major events that impact the world, that players would have to fight for to discover- in a way that even they don't know what rewards they might reap

Of course, they could occur more than once, but the idea is to keep them mysterious to allure players, while also significaant and broad enough that anyone who wants a chance to get into the events may

Just a personal opinion on things i find cool in games with permanent-esque worlds- major, unique events that happen a handful of times in the world.

[Badich]

1. Game mechanic restrictions. When you get needed stats and skills you don't need to improve your character. For example I played first 2 weeks and couple weeks in april where I have capped my stats in 2 days with bugged bonfire. Even if we had no cap restrictions it is silly to move forward, because it gives almost nothing (too much efforts, 1k or 2k str no difference). Same with craft skills.

2. Every player can reach everything in short period, when he gets everything game getting bored. Obviously, two reasons: tiny content and high speed progress.

Every game is a competition. When you can't win the game (war, trade, diplomacy everything that player prefers), you thinking what should i do, you begin to understand you can't do nothing.
The first weeks of game like a race with unlimited speed and then speed restrictions - everyone moving slowly and side by side. Someone getting bored this race and he leaves, but you have other players who didn't reach them. Unfortunately, they will reach them. New players is less than old players it means reducing online.

I don't know why I type this every time. Perhaps I still hope you will listen someone else, besides your anal friends with flowers ideas and other stuff.

[dageir]

Maybe the introduction of kingdom/empires could bring something to the end game?
The same way a player can pledge for a village, a village can pledge to a kingdom and a kingdom to an empire.
How the mechanics would be I do not know, but a official world map with borders would be awesome.

[tyrtix]

An online game have is basic in players meeting each other and interact. I found in time, playing many of them, that some things works really well for that.
Trading, PvE and PvP, collaboration in greater projects are, i think, the main focuses.
Haven actually have a lack of trading, PvE and collaboration, i think. For trade players need to have differences in what they produce: salem is one of the best games in that point, because the choice of player's production have direct impact on availability of items: it's impossible to have a character that makes everything and in high ql, so players need to trade what they're good to make with what they cannot make. Localized resources sometimes works, but can give an unfair advantage to the ones possessing them: the best way is to add on the crafting options and make hard or impossible to make everything. I think that one-way choices between abilities can give an edge and make more specialized characters (or toons), especially for the best ql items, or giving a practical advantage based on the ability choices, sort of rpg "class" choice.

PvE may be collaborative: if a mammoth is too hard for a single player to beat, bring companions should be a big help and will make a great sense of community.
It's great to fell a bear, less to pick a boat, a sling and fell the bear while trapping it on a small beach or reef, and will be a lot better if a group of noobish players, like 4-6, can hunt the bear and kill it, sharing the profits. I've played UO shards in wich some monsters were impossible to kill single-handedly, but possible by a group of players.

Collaboration comes in games like wurm online, when ppl makes roads around, canals and big constructions. A village with big structures like a mill, a market, animal stalls where to buy livestock, maybe some form of active npc guards for village claims, with very demanding resources costs may bring in this kind of collaboration between players .

[Ysh]

An online game have is basic in players meeting each other and interact. I found in time, playing many of them, that some things works really well for that.
Trading, PvE and PvP, collaboration in greater projects are, i think, the main focuses.
Haven actually have a lack of trading, PvE and collaboration, i think. For trade players need to have differences in what they produce: salem is one of the best games in that point, because the choice of player's production have direct impact on availability of items: it's impossible to have a character that makes everything and in high ql, so players need to trade what they're good to make with what they cannot make. Localized resources sometimes works, but can give an unfair advantage to the ones possessing them: the best way is to add on the crafting options and make hard or impossible to make everything. I think that one-way choices between abilities can give an edge and make more specialized characters (or toons), especially for the best ql items, or giving a practical advantage based on the ability choices, sort of rpg "class" choice.

The idea is brought up many time. How to deal with problem of alts?

[CSPAN]

Going back on my word, agreeing consistent world resets is not the answer, but rather to put emphasis on the time frame in which the game is exciting and addicting. Perhaps something random and worldly interactive, to rekindle the unknown chaos. Where people aren't losing (to much) character and village development.

[tyrtix]

basically: having characters that specialize in many ways it's already a form of control. The problem starts when specialization is too thin (2-3 kind of toons) and resources are easy to get. In this world me too made an alt, because i had a surplus of curiosities and food, so the game advances faster because of that "surplus"...also, i could not trade for these items as they're worth basically nothing.
If you must choose for an advancement of your toon, you need less alts, and also raising his stats to an efficient level will take too much time, making one alt is easy, making 6 of them is too tedious and needs lots of resources.
Beware: players need to be able to trade easily for items that they don't have, for this strategy to be effective.