I would like to suggest the new end-game content: expeditions.
Expeditions work similar to dungeons, but much more profitable.
The expeditions will teleport the character for a certain amount of time into a separate world. It's a special location (sub-world) of the considerably large size of 2x2 supergrids that is not accessible from the normal map. The locations will differ to our server by rules and special stuff. It is not permanent or stable. For instance, you may wipe and regen it every 1-2 months for the greater diversity. This mechanic should bring more interest and diversity into the gameplay + testing new and radical updates without harming the mother-world. For instance, you may introduce new biomes or season changes. One month you would have tropical forests, another one - ever showing iceland.
The main idea is not to change the current world, but make it more long lasting and avoid annual world-wipes. Noobs can play casually in their palisades. Adventurers and factions may try their luck in the new locations.
Main features:
- you may go on an expedition once in 1-2 weeks on 1 character/account;
- the time you can remain in the new location is limited: you will be teleported to your hearthfire automatically once the time limit would be reached;
- you may return back home at any time if you do not have an aggro on you;
- the full map of the newly generated world will be accessible on the forum;
- some statistics tied to this world could be sweet, like the quality of the top stuff or resources.
Special rules:
- you may build only containers, boats, chairs, tables and etc. The types of structures you may build is limited;
- the good old permadeath: animals may kill you after you have been KOd. No teleportation to the hearth after the KO;
- no personal claims, villages, kingdoms;
- no criminal debuffs like red hands or hp loss for the crime committed;
- you may not duplicate or keep producing the stuff you have acquired from the expedition: planting the exotic plants, for instance.
Rules of use:
The expedition shouldn't be easily accessible. Noobs aren't welcome due to the highly competitive structure. It shouldn't also lead into everyone grinding inside inbetween the cooldowns.
- you pay for the expeditions in exp. or numens for different amounts of time (2/4/6 hrs); this is to prevent people from spawning alts and abusing the visit numbers and the stuff that can be carried out;
- you cannot travel without a hearthfire; the HF is invinsible while the hearthling is on expeditions or tp him wherewver his hf was previously;
- you cannot travel if you have red hands or got an aggro, the nidbanes should wait next to the HF;
- you spawn in different locations of the expeditions world;
- you may travel in a party; the party leader receives a warning message if someone does not have enough numens/exp; the party teleportes into 1 location;
- you may take horses, wagons, knars (you may teleport back to the normal world on the knarr, using the dock).
Flora:
- the new plants should be worthy of travelling for;
- quality nodes for the trees;
- quality of the trees and herbs should be upgraded;
- implement super rare and PER*EXP demanding herbs and curios (you may even use fate for them)
Fauna:
- new rare species (pumas, pandas, white bears, wolfs, ...)
- maybe use some of the existing ones as well, like mammoths;
- higher animal quality.
Resources (ordinary):
- higher quality nodes;
- we should discuss whether we can use exp to up the wells in the new location;
- maybe it is worth adding new unique resources;
- the increased cooldown for the node restoration.
Resources (local):
- they should be accessible only during the expeditions and they should be all transferred to the new zone (requires a wipe);
- upgrade their quality;
- it might be worth adding the new resource types that could be useful for the kingdoms;
- remaster the kingdom buff statue that requires local resources.
Minerals and metals:
- only 1 cave level is available, you cannot make mine holes;
- the cave level should be harder than the normal world one;
- reduce the amount of gold and silver in the normal world and increase it in the expedition world;
- add new unique metals, both precious and for the mixes (better armour and weapons defined by the metal mix used, like steel+moonrock);
- add new rocks;
- increase the amount of the ore/coal/stones;
- possibly the slimes should be present in an expedition world too.
Other:
- rare exp events;
- rare quests;
- rare credos;
- spwan of the rarest mob or resourse warns everyone, so people will go to the spawn node and fight for it;
rare resourses for the siege and def.