"Loot Drops"

[Jesus_Smith_Nandez]

I'm unsure if this has been suggested before (seems like a long shot if it hasn't), but I looked up "loot drops", "loot", and "drops" and found nothing related to here goes nothing

I got this idea while watching DayZ a while back. In DayZ, on certain modded servers modded to be more like to HnH (open world, building structures..., etc.), every once and a while there will be a loot drop to keep things interesting. The idea behind this is that the location is broadcasted publicly, and tons of factions, groups, and individuals on the server will rush to grab it before the other guys get it, or steal it from the other guys if they're too late. I also got this idea (but never posted it) while watching a podcast a while back. The person on the podcast was describing his "perfect game". He mentioned a bunch of stuff about a persistent world, and a ton of things HnH has, but also mentioned that every once in a while, a "crate of gear or something would drop, and you would have spotters to find out were it was so that your group could run out and grab it before other factions"

This mechanic could easily be implemented in HnH to add some fun end-game spice and create some awesome fights and stories.

Obviously, HnH is a different game to DayZ, so certain changes would have to be made. First of all, the items would have to be changed. Having super HQ seeds and gear could break the game completely and screw up the economy, in addition to giving whoever gets the gear an edge when the next drop shows up. The loot would have to be something that end-game players want, but that isn't game breaking, like a dev item, a very HQ arrow, a very HQ cuiro(s), a uniquely skinned item... etc. The loot would be unknown until it's found, however.

The co-ords would be brodcasted similar to how a server reset is announced.
You would get a window popup saying something like "Loot drop at XXx XXy, good luck!". Every player would get this popup. The location would be random in order to promote having a cr and idol system around the world.

The drop could appear at a set time or randomly, either seems to work. A random time would be fun because I can just imagine large groups of people scrambling on Skype to get on and get going. A set time is also good because everyone would be ready to go. Timezones could end up being an issue either way, though.

Other changes would also have to be made to prevent stuff like a random hermit running up and grabbing it, a random newspawn running up and grabbing it, it spawning in someone base... etc.

I brainstormed a bit last night for some solutions and came up with some ideas:
The loot box (or whatever) would have a claim around it wherever is spawns, big enough to allow proper movement kamamberts without leaving. This claim cannot appear overlapping with any other claims, village or personal, to prevent it spawning is someones village or something like that. In addition, new chars can not spawn in this claim and you can not log in on this claim even if your hf is there in order to prevent alt spam. Edit: Scents would also be left here in order to promoter the tracking and capture of whoever got the item, adding some risk.

A way to promote capturing the point and having cool battles rather than ninja-ing the loot not having a hermit grab it would be to make the box have a dry time, something not too long that you would have to leave in the middle, and something not too short to let other people get there after you. Something like 3-4 hours. This is a good idea because it is very easy to implement, since there are already items with dry times, and it promotes capturing, defending and holding until it is dry, as well as attacking and trying to kill or push out defenders before the drying is up. The downsides are some random Dhelmer you don't have memo'd could just run into it as soon as it dries and take the loot while no one is there and fuck off, never to be seen again. It would also promote a bum-rush by everyone as soon as the timer finishes. I'm also 90% sure someone would find an exploit somewhere too.

Another way to promote capture would be to have some kind of capture-point system similar to the one in a game like Battlefront. The capture would be based off of a party, rather than a team. The party with the most members in the claim area (not dead or knocked out), would slowly capture it, promoting the other(s) party(ies) to try to push them out to lower the number of members in the area and gain superiority. This sounds fun, but I imagine would be a pain in the ass to implement, and someone would be bound to find an exploit.

So.... What do you think? Sorry if this is a repeat. If so, feel free to delete it. I just got in the mood to share one of my ideas with the forums

[saxx]

Fun idea but i don't think it fits the game.

[slipper]

I like it but posting in this forum is the best way to not have it implemented.

[borka]

I wonder why ppl want to have "outside evoken" happenings like such or "natural disasters" -instead of player created events.

There have been Grapies Games and the "loot drop" thing was done and announced at forums too (somewhere is a thread buried here).
Or XCom groups "treasure chambers" last world ...

What about brainstorming on how such an event like you describe can be planned and done by players? What about events for "non end gamers"? I guess a lot of Starters would be happy to have games where the could win better starter gear ....

While i still find the term "end game" very funny for a permanent world that just ends with a wipe

[Jesus_Smith_Nandez]

New and mid-game players have plenty to do in order to progress and move forward. They still have things to build, items to craft, so why bother with giving them more to do? It's the people who have been playing since he start of the world and have nothing to do anymore. I know tons of players who have reached the gear cap and quit playing because the game just turned into a chore. Think of all the villages raided and people killed just our of boredom! New players usually only quit at the early stage when/if they're killed, in which case they'd quit even if they had starting gears.

And while you say it should be done by the players, it would never work properly without the proper mechanics in place to stop things like alt spam and some random guy who happened to be nearby grabbing it, griefers ruining it...

[borka]

Well it's sandbox - players make it

I know tons of players who have reached the gear cap and quit playing because the game just turned into a chore.

Looks like there's a need for CoD with gear crafting

To me it seems more like players runnng out of ideas and got stuck in their "owning" brainfucks ...

I know a certain number that play since minute one and still play and enjoy - guess they're more into sandboxing

Code: Select all

Apple q180

rules

[Jesus_Smith_Nandez]

No matter how you put it, there is still the need for a push by the devs to keep players involved by the end of the world and a need to create more interesting situations for players. Trying to do this without the help of a dev would be pointless because of the availability of items and the ability for alt spam and randoms and people generally being dicks.

Just because it's a sandbox doesn't mean everything is the players' job.

[borka]

the end of the world

Misconception ?!? End of the World is when wiped - unless there is no wipe the world is permanent and no one but Devs could determine an end when they decide to wipe ...

[DDDsDD999]

The concept of "legendary" items is honestly pretty interesting. I'd find it interesting if H&H history would be more like lore if it had these type of items. e.g. a really high quality arrow that killed someone, a high quality sword that breaks upon use. (We kind of had this with that super bugged charcoal W2)

Would be interesting to have factions have a set of these items to distinguish them in this form. Like dis found a cape that randomly blocks attacks, glasses that can see inside containers, and a sledge hammer that can cause a structure to decay until it's repaired, while AD found a parchment that reveals the name of people nearby, a ferryman's ring that ports the owner to their hearth fire instead of the shore, and a shovel that increases the quality of the soil digged by 10, etc. Little hermits might be able to find one by luck, but it would be pretty tough.

In terms of balance though, this would all be pretty stupid without a lot of thought. Pretty much every item would have to be created by hand, and loftar seems to hate doing things that can't arbitrarily increase. Also, they should pretty much all have a limited use, which means no one would use them because they want to have their special items.

But it is a fun and interesting concept (might just be me playing too much dwarf fort).

[Jesus_Smith_Nandez]

@DDDsDD99
I was leaning more towards a uniquely skinned item that would not affect game balance, like the wolf cape during W6 (was it W6?). This way it would not break the game like the items you mention would, but would still give encentive to grab them. It would be neat for different players to have their own signature wardrobe, and a colourful character would be a sign of status.
@Borka
I feel like you're trolling me now, but the world has reset 6 times now, so it's safe to assume its an expected thing. Either way, if you feel like there will be no world reset, replace "players at the end of the world" with "players who have hit the gear cap" and the message of my rebuttal will stay the same.