The train station at Mooncraft Manor gave me an idea, what if there was a train station/terminal station that allowed people to switch to a different clockworks pathway from the Mooncraft Manor and Emberlight towns? Perhaps make the Inn a working Inn where you can pay to start there next time you log in. Or even make the towns secondary Havens with Auction Houses (would be very useful, I can't tell you how many times people have won auctions by outbidding me when I was in the clockworks) and the whole player server thing so you can pick up new teammates if you lose some on the way there (random players jumping in can sometimes be... to put it politely, burdensome).
Trains and Terminal Switching
Thu, 06/16/2011 - 15:18
Fri, 06/17/2011 - 14:42
#2
I have one thing to say about
I have one thing to say about this, EPIC BOSS RUSH POTENTIAL!!!!
Fri, 06/17/2011 - 19:25
#3
I approve trains and boss
I approve trains and boss rush's.
And train stages, where you can talk with your friends while wait to reach the next station, and maybe even fight against random invaders (kinda like the Airship System in Ragnarok).
Sat, 06/18/2011 - 06:08
#4
Not super enthused about
Not super enthused about train stages - the beauty of this idea is its simplicity and practicality. Fighting enemies every time you wanted to switch strata would rapidly become a chore; what I want is to pay some Crowns, get loading screen, and go about my dungeonin'.
It wouldn't really allow for pure boss rushes, because you'd be switching at Terminals; you'd still have to do the intervening levels. Implementing a system that allowed for all-bosses-all-the-time play would be rife with abuse; boss tokens would cease to be hard-earned marks of achievement and would essentially become common currency, which I think would be a terrible shame. But being able to put an extra measure of thought into your elevator route is an intriguing idea.
These are some really good ideas.
- Being able to switch between strata would add a route-plotting tactical element to the game, and wouldn't require a lot of finagling to do, although it might be an idea to charge for the train, too; it's more believable, it's a potential Crown-sink (something the player base is clearly crying out for), and it means there's a slight penalty attached to switching strata, again making it a tactical decision rather than just cherry-picking the choicest levels.
- Paying to stay at a particular Terminal means that there's a tradeoff for the privilege and convenience of skipping Haven when you next log in, although I suspect it'd need to be very carefully implemented (for example, you'd have to automatically prevent people doing this if the current elevator was about to be bumped, or otherwise transport players back to Haven if they're offline when the shift happens). My only concern is how the Terminals are instanced; they've clearly not been designed to support more than four players at a time. I'm not at all au fait with how this stuff works so maybe this isn't a problem in actuality, but it struck me as a potential stumbler.
- I'm not convinced that fully-functional Auction Houses at different depths fits with established lore; the Terminals are outposts, not functional settlements. How about a bank of computer terminals (like the ones we see NPCs working on by the Haven fountain) that allow you to check on the status of your bids, but lacked the fully functionality of the AH proper? What if it allowed you to check on and modify extant bids, but not to make new ones, or start new sales? That way, you'd still have to return to Haven now and again - preventing players spending ALL their time in the Works, which fits the game's setting - but the odds of being done out of a bargain because you were off adventuring are mitigated.