Spiral Knights - Free Roam

Free Roam

28 replies [Last post]

Sat, 03/24/2012 - 18:43

Sterna

So, I'm not actually sure if this have been suggested before but...

I've been thinking about what to do when out of energy to do missions and dungeons. Maybe it's just me, but standing in Haven waiting is not that fun... So I figured maybe a little free roam mode could be nice. After all, I'm pretty sure the planet is not all clockwork, there is surely a surface! Here how it could be:
-A large field with enemies in it, maybe mini-bosses in some places.
-NO DROP OR REWARDS. This is a free roam mode and adding rewards in it would cause trouble. This is just to pass time.
-MAYBE a few crowns from bosses but that's it.

The main idea is simply to pratice fighting under real conditions unlike the training area we have now. Or simply to walk around and just look. Just a little thought I had. I remind again, there would be not rewards, it's just to pass time.

Sat, 03/24/2012 - 18:46

Severage

Already exists.

It's called ATH. lol.

Surfaces would require completely new maps, and if they re-used maps, they'd have to overhaul new Backgrounds. It'd be way too much programming for very little reward, since there'd be little point to it except to "not stand in Haven".

You could always play LD/BN.

~Sev

Sat, 03/24/2012 - 18:46

Softhead

+1....

How about, visiting the Soldier's Graveyard, being able to see graves which mark accounts/characters that have been deleted.

Sat, 03/24/2012 - 18:53

Schattentag

Well...

I think this has been brought up before, and for whatever reason these threads kinda die out...

I personally don't have much against the idea of just going around killing things, since there's no rewards involved.

Perhaps one reason to knock this down is that currently, people who want to go around killing things will use energy to do so, meaning that they're giving OOO profit. However, they're getting crowns and mats for their going around killing things, so I guess it's different?

EDIT:
@Sev
They could just make a huge, walled-in map similar to Low Gardens. Surface-like decor and if the floor extends beyond the walls, there's no need for a background. >_>

Sat, 03/24/2012 - 18:55

Sterna

Sev, following your point,

Sev, following your point, that would mean that 99% of the MMO that take the time to add hidden stuff in the games, like a house with a little something funny in it, should not do it because it's not rewarding for the dev.
Yet they do it still, because players likes it. Nothing stop the dev here from doing it.

Also, reread my post and you will see that I talked about the ATH, mentioning that my idea would be to train in real situation. ATH is mostly to explain things.

And the point for this is that some people simply cannot buy more energy and must wait. The game kind of force them to just stop playing when out of energy, so it can push potential future spenders away because they would think "I got nothing to do..."
It kind of encourage peoples to go play something else.

Sat, 03/24/2012 - 19:20

Severage

@Sterna:

Like I said, do some LD/BN.

It's not that it's not rewarding for the Devs, it's that it's not even rewarding for the players. It just kills time. If they wanted you to play all day (For Free), they'd give you unlimited mist. I can think of plenty of other things to do that swat at monsters for no reward, honestly (Like play LD).

I'm saying that most things in this game are re-textured/re-colored for future use, because it's far easier than re-designing things. The background of, say, Aurora Isles is a floating island. There are no CW areas that don't have floating pieces and a massive background. It's just a ton of pointless development.

@Schattentag: It wouldn't make sense to have walls in the 'wilds' of the surface imo...and most maps currently float in mid-air or are connected to gears and such.

~Sev

Sat, 03/24/2012 - 19:36

Sterna

Killing time is something we

Killing time is something we all do, no matter the way. Personally, standing and spaming to sell/buy or running around HAven's 3 area is not the best way to kill time.

Note too that not everyone want to do PvP, which is what you are suggesting. Plus these cost crowns. Sure it's a low amount, but for low players with low crowns? That can be a problem.

Like you said, it's mostly to kill time, but just having that could make time pass that much faster because you are doing something and it keeps players in the game instead of going to do something else because they lack energy. And that simple amount of time played is a reward in itself for the dev.

Sat, 03/24/2012 - 19:54

Severage

@Sterna:

If there are too many ways to play without buying an Elevator Pass...

I kinda feel that the incentive for buying one would be reduced (Which isn't good for OOO).

Anyway..walk outside, eat lunch, break-dance, listen to music. You don't really have to kill time by running around Haven 3.

~Sev

Sat, 03/24/2012 - 20:31

Aquasword

To me, I approve of this

To me, I approve of this thought. I don't know about you guys, but let's do it!

Sat, 03/24/2012 - 21:56

Ecmanl

I agree!

I agree! Who doesn't? By the way, it's a great way to stop beggars!

Sat, 03/24/2012 - 23:08

#10

Severage

@Ecmanl:

..I fail to see how it could possibly stop beggars.

It doesn't produce any crowns, so it'd just keep beggars outside of Haven I guess.

You're really obsessed with beggars, aren't you?

~Sev

Sat, 03/24/2012 - 23:13

#11

Tsubasa-No-Me

Well....

Personally... some times, I don't wanna grind for crowns, drool at armors at the AH, or check my ping at the Blast network...

And I only really do LD on occasions now... because although I may be devastating with my Suda, Lets face it, my gear is sub-par. Why? Because I refuse to use something I don't like. I can hold my own against one skolver/ff/Auto aiming Noob, it just gets tiring facing hoards of them, all cheering each other on, when most don't have skill...

So I personally would love to be able to wander around, or, even better, travel to lets say... chromalisk dense areas just to smash some monsters there... or go on a Trojan killing spree. So for me... a relativity large area with numerous monsters in random areas would be nice...

Yeah, I can see that just letting us play for free with no time limits can be a bad thing for OOO. But the clockworks just aren't what they used to be, Perhaps making the clockworks more exploration based? I'm sure Nick and Ian are plotting this as we speak, but going to the obscure parts of the cradle would be kinda cool...

Kinda depressed,
~Tsu

Sun, 03/25/2012 - 03:42

#12

Jemographic

Its True we need it

@sev Why are you always so negtive to this? No offence

Sun, 03/25/2012 - 05:35

#13

Asukalan

Ecmanl please stop

Ecmanl please stop compromiting yourself even more, after your crown generator idea.

And Sterna, "MAYBE a few crowns from bosses but that's it." i see what you did there, another "i has no energy wants free crowns plax" topic.

There is advanced training hall, but as it was suggested many times, advanced training hall could become more advanced.

Sun, 03/25/2012 - 07:22

#14

Magnicth

I personally like the idea.it

I personally like the idea.it would give those with no energy after crafting something to test our new gear/weapons on besides scuttle/shufflebots (sorry,always get the two mixed up.)and eliminate boredom forever!!!maybe make it like a simulation field.like a field similar to jelly farms maybe?and add a control panel or control module where you (or a party) can choose a certain enemy to fight,or a boss to fight or a certain monster family in general.of course there wouldn't be any crowns or materials or any drops at all.and health regens in the corners of the field,and if you die,it automatically revives you.and as for the location,maybe make it accessible by that blocked off path on the east side of the town square.

Sun, 03/25/2012 - 07:27

#15

Nixk

@severage I know how you

@severage I know how you could see this requiring a lot of programming. But It wouldn't lol, and designing a map doesn't take much time, I've done this before for a personal project. And the ATH is pretty small, and not challenging. Plus, little reward? I doubt that. If i could run around killing mobs instead of chatting or playing ld i would. I know lots of people who loved it. It expands the game and gives people more to do. Plus it would raise how much people would play this game. Even if mobs dropped small amounts of game, there are gonna be people who will sit there for hours upon hours killing mobs to get the small amount of crowns. I had a friend in a game called FEZ that sat there killing monsters to receive 10 gold for hours and hours. I'd even sit there for hours exploring if friends came with if I was bored with LD or even runs. Also they want you to play as much as they want, thats not why there isn't unlimited mist. Its because they need to make money, by limiting mist this forces players to have a need to buy it if they really want, with the availability to still call this game a FREE TO PLAY

Sun, 03/25/2012 - 08:30

#16

Vanillateddy

i wanna face uncontrollable hords of monsters..

I wanna face something scary, like a big hord of slags like hundred just coming from the top of the map and being tier 3, something that would make a tier 1 cry and quit the game forever.. but I wanna do it for fun... the only reward I need, is the sight of that slag hord coming at me and the tier 1 newbie curled on the ground behind me rocking and crying... ahh that would be great..

Of course I like the idea of bashing something for no reward.. its giving me something to do.. and maby even something challengeing to make me better at shield or the use of my wepons.

Personaly its a good idea.

Sun, 03/25/2012 - 08:33

#17

Nixk

@ vanillateddy I agree haha.

@ vanillateddy I agree haha. Random encounter i what would make it a great place for training and just pure fun ^w^ Plus it would be awesome to see the map because the art is so cool in this game, it would give them an awesome opportunity to play with the environment and add new terrain and styled areas like a forest or something. If this idea got more organized and people supported me I could make a 3d mock up on my own for examples.

Sun, 03/25/2012 - 11:45

#18

Hexzyle

(Destroys a pile of

(Destroys a pile of enemies)

"AGAIN!"

(More enemies spawn)

Sun, 03/25/2012 - 11:47

#19

Nixk

Well even though I've seen

Well even though I've seen this a few times, this time i actually decided to help :D I started on a basic 3d model using tiles, like that of the actual game, to create a model of would this type of area would look like. I did this to show the amount of time it takes, since It would supposedly cause so much trouble for the devs. I started about half an hour ago, and so far have modeled the ground of an area about the size of twice the haven? I'm not too sure. This was just a basic mesh. When i Finish a small portion I will change the tiles textures to reflect environments like they have then post a screen shot to hopefully help describe what he meant :D

Sun, 03/25/2012 - 12:54

#20

Blue-Phaze

@Sterna It's just a matter of

@Sterna
It's just a matter of time before you can use your rewards to play again. After you reach T2, the depths start paying for themselves, that is, if each depth costs 10 Energy and 100CE costs ~7000 crowns, a depth should give ~700 crowns to do so. Some T2 depths give even more than that (especially arenas).
Although I support the idea of exploring the surface (if we could at least get close to the Skylark).

Sun, 03/25/2012 - 13:08

#21

Demonicsothe

I'm against this

The point of a game is to play it. If you introduce something that costs absolutely nothing to access/do, then that will be what most people play. If you give out rewards, even in the form on 1-2 cr per hour, it will be reward/no cost.

I'm not against it vehemently. I just think that anything free to do in this game is a wasted opportunity for a crown/ce sink.

Sun, 03/25/2012 - 17:58

#22

Magnicth

@Demonicsothe simple: make

@Demonicsothe

simple: make it so there are no rewards or drops at all.

and besides,it would be a good way to practice and figure out the best way to deal with certain monsters.

Sun, 03/25/2012 - 22:52

#23

Severage

...

Why am I so negative towards this? Because it's a waste of content.

Just flesh out the ATH more, since it's not advanced whatsoever, it's like Rescue Camp 2.0. Put some mob-spawning stage in there or something, problem solved.

No outdoor maps need to be created, no new environment needs to be textured, nothin'.

Anything that you can do without using anything and still get some crowns (Albeit small amounts) is, like Demonicsothe said, a wasted opportunity for a crown/ce sink.

If it's THAT fun to screw around with mobs for no reward, I'd say even charge some crowns to do it.

~Sev

Sun, 03/25/2012 - 22:56

#24

Schattentag

@Sev

I saw that, but nice save. :3

Sun, 03/25/2012 - 23:04

#25

Severage

@Schattentag:

LOL.

I'm quick on my toes, but not as quick as you it seems.

~Sev

Sun, 03/25/2012 - 23:23

#26

Schattentag

@Sev

Hardly. I just happened to click the topic before you got around to changing it. By the time I went back up to the list of threads, you had updated it and the mistake I noticed earlier was gone. If I was really quick, I'd have made a post to point it out before you got the chance to fix it.

/offtopic

Tue, 03/27/2012 - 21:29

#27

Jameshalo

rewards

they could add some rewards to it (e.g. hidden items or hidden energy/crowns) aside from those rewards it could open up alot of space to enrich the games story such as the skylark could not be fixed and they were forced to stay on cradle therefore went into wilderness's outside of haven they could add new towns and could add alot of new items. (just an idea on top of adding out of area places it is not necessary at all)

Tue, 03/27/2012 - 21:44

#28

Nixk

My project forum

I'm working on this as a project actually, I thought about it before reading this forum from reading a few other ideas, but after reading this i decided to start it as a project. http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/48830 Let me know if this would be good for what you meant too :p And help me with the project with ideas :D

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