I think there should be an area where everyone could and would come together when they're bored or have free time. A place where they could just hang out. Now before you say something like "ugh, we dont need some useless area", hear me out. This place is ideally the inn from puzzle pirates. I think the inn was a good idea by OOO and would also serve alot of needs of spiral knight players.
Ideal purposes of this new area:
- ~A more direct/instant form of trade system
~A place where people could recruit other people for guilds/runs/etc.
~Lets you have a more personal relationship with other people who you need to recruit, trade, or generally any needed(or not needed:P) social encounter among "strangers".
I know you can do this in the different areas in haven but what im asking for is a place where people can actually see people who would, might, or by chance see other peoples trade/recruit/etc chat. Also I think this area would really help people recruit other(good/experience) players for the boss runs cuz its hard to find other good people that want to go on a particular boss run. This is because people for the most part, dont read trade/recruit messages, I think the creation of this area should let people have a sense of that purpose. I think there is really a need for some place where you can recruit teammates because if you dont have any friends on, your only other option is to go with random teaming in which you have no idea who you would be going with. At least in this area you could see their equips and talk to them. You cant really do this in the current areas in haven. It's just that no area is created for this purpose or has an environment encourages such 'social' interactions. This area should also have points of interests that's pretty much for lesiure so people would actually stay there.
Things this place should be/have:
- ~Point of interest - As mentioned above
~Not too large space(ideally square) - So people can see one another and their messages.
~A large player capacity(Or just having one instance in the whole game) - So that more people can see the screen chat.
~Open - The area should have little obstructions so people can see each other, walk around easily, and etc.
I've been playing since April --- long before the Auction House and the Advanced Training Hall. Back then, people would hang out in two places: near the alchemy machines in the Arcade and the Bazaar. People would trade, recruit for guilds, etc. The Town Square was a ghost town. When the Auction House started, people immediately switched to the Town Square. Now the Bazaar is a ghost town. There is still a little traffic in the Arcade, just because the gates are there.
People will hang out wherever there is a big game feature that they want to use. I don't see much value in your proposal without a concretely useful feature --- more than a mere "point of interest". The Arcade already has the wide-open spaces you want. The large player capacity is almost certainly limited for technical reasons.
I do have one idea, for making there be more areas where people congregate, without adding a massive new feature to the game. The PvP Coliseum and the guild halls should be physical places. I mean, you should have to exit the Town Square (or Bazaar, or Arcade) through passageways marked "Coliseum" and "Guild Halls", just like the current passageways marked "Advanced Training Hall", "Bazaar", etc. Compared to the current system, in which you click a button and magically teleport to Coliseum or guild hall, this would improve the game's illusion of a virtual world. And players would naturally congregate in front of the Coliseum passage (less so the guild halls, until those are truly improved).