New Game Mode Ideas:
ENDURANCE MODE: "The Gauntlet"
Danger rooms! Basically, a constant arena, but without the option to res with energy. Party members can still res one another, and hearts, vials, and vitapods drop normally.
Theme is announced (or selected) on entry and it gets progressively harder (basically +1 depth per wave). Clearing each wave gives you a reward (maybe 100cr*depth or root(100*depth*2))
Unlike other rooms, because The Gauntlet is essentially endless, you will not lose materials gained or heat when the party eventually wipes.
SPEED MODE: "Beat the Clock"
Timed speed runs! Each floor is now timed. Race to the end of the level and get a great time! Best time when a gate closes receives a unique item/trinket/trophy or some other prize. (Optional: Add "Solo," "Duo," "Trio," and "Full Party" categories.)
CHALLENGE MODE: "Double or Nothing"
Set on a personal basis in party options, unlocked for a tier after completing that gate+tier once.
Added difficulty: cuts damage dealt, damage resistance, and status resistances in half (doubles status weaknesses).
Doubles heat, crowns, AND energy consumption to travel between floors.
Warning! Once turned on you cannot turn it off for that dungeon instance!
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The "Clock Market": How to Introduce the Auction House... in a way that will keep the market from crashing.
a) finished craftable goods 0* to 2* only
a) introduce shards and 0-2* mats and recipes
b) introduce 3* and 4* goods
c) introduce 3-4* mats and recipes
d) introduce 5* goods
e) introduce 5* mats and recipes
The reason for the staggered implementation is to avoid a massive shock from a sudden offloading of materials, which would wildly screw with prices.
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Smattering of other Suggestions!
Money sinks (Either to help prevent massive crown inflation or to keep crown demand up, depending on which currency they are based)
Ordered from easy to implement to resource-intensive to implement...
- Character Color Customization: Change the color of your character (seriously...why isn't this available yet?)
- Armor dye kits
- Bespoke Armor Kit (Guaranteed random UV of random quality (same distribution as current craft system?), binds the armor to the user)
- Armor Unbind Kits (High CE cost to unbind an item from the owner, should cost more than making it, only useful for armor with special UVs)
- Player storage (between players on the same account)
- Guild storage (between players in the same guild)
- Guild Halls furniture/improvements (e.g. same as player housing furniture but applies to entire guild)
- Player Housing...with Rent. (puzzle pirates has something like this already.)
- Furniture with non-combat bonuses (e.g. increased mist tank size, increase mist tank regen rate, regen/heal hearts between floors)
"The reason for the staggered implementation is to avoid a massive shock from a sudden offloading of materials, which would wildly screw with prices."
I disagree with the idea of staggering implementation.
Not because implementation won't mess with prices - it will.
But because no matter how thinly you slice it, you get market shocks. Better to just have one big one, and then we can all adjust once, rather than having people 'holding out' for the market, and blah blah blah.
It'll cause chaos for a couple days, then depressed prices for a few weeks as hoarders unload slowly, and then things will start ticking along fine (though still at notably reduced values for low-end materials, compared to present seller prices, I believe).