Ideas to Promote Team Play
Mon, 10/25/2010 - 19:16
Mesona
Legacy Username
This goes along with my other post http://forums.spiralknights.com/node/198, but whereas that post is more of a rant and discussion about what the future of the game is, these are some suggestions to promote team play. These can all easily be expanded to be entire discussions of their own, but I'm just posting them now in their current form to gauge interest in the ideas before I expend the energy to elaborate on them.
* Enemies based on party size - The Trojan blocks pretty much all attacks from the front, but will leave himself wide open while he attacks, even to the person he's targeting. How about including an enemy for parties 2+ that always blocks from the front and doesn't give away his weak point as easily. How about a snake that incapacitates a player and deals damage over time until X damage is dealt to it in return that only appears against parties of 4 players? Other enemies that are designed to deal with multiple players would make for much more engaging battles, and should give greater loot to reward the players.
* Variable loot drops - Like the bosses, have loot drops be increased based on the number of players. Maybe this already exists, but I've only ever played with 1 other person at a time, and didn't notice any real changes.
* Dungeon improvements - I'm really surprised this game doesn't have some doors that can only be unlocked after 4 buttons are pressed at the same time by having all 4 players stand on one each. This is a fairly standard multiplayer "puzzle" for games like this, and it should be easy enough to implement. Having a room like this once every 3 or 4 floors that leads to 8 or 9 boxes would simply be a very nice incentive to party.
* Team "abilities" - I know I saw a post about shields and the possibility of new ones with different abilities, such as increased area of protection if used at the same time as another member of the team. These would be really cool, and would also allow for interesting enemy mechanics as well, to either counter or mimic these player abilities.
* Floor based "achievements" to give end of level item/heat/crown bonus - Pretty much this post: http://forums.spiralknights.com/node/144 I'm just posting it here because it could very easily give players an incentive to party with other players.
Mon, 10/25/2010 - 19:51
#2
Mesona
Legacy Username
Heh, notice how I called it
Heh, notice how I called it "achievements." That's because it's not my idea, and I would not have used that word if it was my idea, as I stated in the original thread. I'm personally against real achievements as well, because while I think that they CAN be used effectively to enhance a player's experience, achievements are used almost exclusively to artificially enhance game time, leaving a sense of pointlessness to the goals when they are completed. So yes, I will agree that adding real achievements this early will hamper the game's growth, and that they really should not be considered before pretty much anything else in the suggestions board.
While I didn't notice you made a post in my other thread, and yes, you are correct that a dropped player causes serious problems (that a simple reconnect ability would fix, similar to how Heroes of Newerth and League of Legends have), I'm focusing more on the gameplay elements here. I wanted to include these ideas in my original post, but it was turning into both a rant and a suggestion, and I decided to split it up for ease.
Mon, 10/25/2010 - 21:19
#3
Trowzers
Legacy Username
Team gates
I liked the old team gates that were around on the old levels, where everyone had to stand on a different button to open the door.
How about treasure box rooms where there are four doors. Everyone has to stand on a button to get the doors open. If there is only one person, you only get one door open, four you get all four etc. (Just trying to thing of ways to scale the rewards to the number of players). I guess people could use alts to try to get past that, but in the end it's probably just easier to play with other people!
It would also be cool if the amoutns of certain or all monsters scaled depending on how many people were playing (hence scaling the drops/heat/coins)
Mon, 10/25/2010 - 23:23
#4
Pupu
Legacy Username
Now that you mention 4 people
Now that you mention 4 people on switches and stuff like that.
Suggestion: COPY EVERYTHING FROM ZELDA 4 SWORDS ADVENTURES, BECOME THE BEST MMO EVER
I mean it.
Tue, 10/26/2010 - 01:29
#5
Mesona
Legacy Username
Do that and add a dash of
Do that and add a dash of Phantasy Star Online. None of the ideas I mentioned are unique, and I can name multiple MMOs that utilized each element, but they were in the games because they worked. 4 Swords definitely is the primary source of inspiration though, so good call.
Well like I said in the thread you made in the general discussion, party based mechanics are all dependent on all the players being there at the time.
If a level loads and somebody disconnects, or somebody has to leave for dinner. You're screwed, you wasted your energy and have to start all over again from the last town.
All party mechanics would have to be optional, side paths with treasure at the end or a special route with a higher chance of super tough rare monsters.
I do like the idea of the 'Phalanx' style shields, though. I think if the two shield bubbles overlap they should become a bigger bubble that lets you absorb more damage and deflect monsters from further away, as well as allow you to be protected by another players shield if yours ends up breaking.
I don't like achievements, every game has them and they're just there to make you replay old content so they developers don't have to make more.
I'd understand that in a single player game, but if they have to consider achievements to add longetivity to the game when it's in BETA, I will go start taking violin lessons now so I can play the world's saddest song at this game's funeral.