Random Ideas

[hugo.4705]

Like the title said, yup maybe the ressources would be better spent somewhere else and yes it would require work from the devs.

Here is just a bunch of things I thought about those last days after leveling my ninth character around Tyria and doing map completions with it.

 

But it needs a little intro: I really think that GW2 has several pros, like the OST, the graphics, artworks of cutscenes, concept arts, loading screens; and even If I don't like that much the story post-Zhaithan, the maps are cool. I hesitated to make a giga-post detailing each existing map and its pros / cons but I'm not gonna do it, because I think I can say everything in that post.

What this game lacks, and it is my honest opinion, is more interaction between the player and that living world/maps: In no way, you really feel like your chosen race or character creations options matters, beyond that, you don't really feel like you are influencing your surrounding either. At a point, that to me, what would be the difference if a Skritt, a quaggan or an ooze became the pact commander instead of you? And you staying in your race city enjoying your life? So to start:

 

**1- Reputation system? Affinity system?**

For this I kinda have a clear idea: Quests and AntiQuests - The quests would stay where they are and implying/using what they are using, but for each action, a positive one and a negative one; as example in queensdale, killing wurm and stretching the plants, extinguish hay fire versus disturbing wurm, stomping on the plants, burning hay. If the quest is completed in a negative way, allies become foes, foes become allies. It would be reversible. On each map you would have in corner of your screen a bar with a cursor at center by default, going to left if you do bad actions, and right if good ones; it would influence the main "police" faction of the map: Seraph, lion's guard, peacemakers, charrs soldiers, ebon and so on seeing you as a threat or not. To be clear here, no pvp. "good" and "evil" commanders can't pvp between them, that reputation only affect npcs.

 

A player considered as "evil" would earn money and xp from failing events as much as succeeding it for "good" players. You can set youself back to neutral/good, by interacting with the objects implied in the quest and selecting the good action (eg: Repair golem, killing threats of local, saving slaves). Being from a side or another would triggers hidden events for yourself on the map and others with the same affiliation: You can cause mayhem, sabotage or mischief around whereas for the opposite; you can be an even better samaritan and having to do task like save local town and important towns/outposts from big assaults.

 

But, it is a matter of 331 quests and the associated objects and so, nearly impossible maybe/surely, but what can be done is re enabling the personnality system and dialogues option around the maps influencing that reputation bar. That bar then, can be linked to variables called "Allied npcs of this map" and "foes of this map" and change their affiliation. And make so the event appear to yourself or not. It wouldn't even matter regarding pact commander. Good? You are charistmatic and have something with your words and convinced those soldiers to folllow you. Evil? You are a tyran, punk or baddies but however you proven by helping killing zhaithan and risen lieutenant that peoples can follow you.

 


 

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**2- Scribing but for solo players**

Scribing is a crafting profession, but instead of others it is non-accessible to solo players, and outside of guild halls. The lounges all serves a purpose: Having access to fractals, having access to PvP, having access to WvW, Being in HoT, being in PoF, in core tyria over vigil HQ, not far from LS3 maps, not far from LS4 maps. Only three purposes are still unused by them: Fast access to dungeons, fast access to raids and fast access to guild features.

 

One of the main "con" of housing, each time someone speak about it is that it will attract only a minority of players: And that's where lounge pass enter in account, it is made to gain 1000 gems over players liking a particular sub content/specific mode or features and which want to access it rapidly. That lounge instead of other would have a scribing station. You would say, why so if no guild? Here come the idea to couple housing with that lounge pass: You have a main area with all the classic lounge services, and an asura gate teleporting you on a plot on which you can selecting between several empty houses assets and place your crafted decos in it. That plot can be instanced just like your home instance. This would require just to dissociate scribing from guild tab and making it a separate tab, usable in guild but also in that lounge. And if it is really the case, that not a lot of players are doing it, the good news, it means not a lot of instances. But still, 1000 gems per player. You can go further and add more decos with an npc in home instance, and coupling that personnal plot to it...

 

It would be near lion's arch, that island under claw island, in the style of the old lion's arch, with an asura gate leading to dungeons, one to raids and one to personnal housing.

 


 

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**3- The impacts of character creation choices**

Selecting poor human, synergetics asura, fade out because drunk norn, my father was a shaman charr... after lvl 40 it doesn't matter anymore and it is pretty sad. Even our mentor doesn't matter anymore. What about changing racial skills? Warband summon elite of charr already depend on the legion chosen, currently; only charr has an elite using your 1st biography option.

What if for asura it is summoning a characteristic invention ? For human, a friend burglar/seraph/shining blade depending on nobility? For norn, special skill based on boosting strength/boosting armor/boosting precision? Having temporaly white stag/green knight/shield of moon defending you?

 

Maybe another way would be to have hidden dialogues options associated to your story choices chosen parties, there are already hidden dialogues regarding your chosen order (vigil/whisper/priory) not sure if there is some related to your story choices apart maybe, chosen charr legion. https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Category:NPCs_with_unique_hidden_dialogue yup essentially races or orders, some few with story choices. Dunno maybe a cultural tier 4 npc selling weapon set and armor related to that first story choice? Would require quite a lot of work too, 3 possibilities of first option on character creation x 3 armors types x 5 races, 45 choices. Or 15 if the three armor types are copy pasta like as exemple raven ceremonial armor.

 

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**4- The living world**

I regret there isn't more unexpected, strange, funy, interesting, varied "community" tab achievs. Can be related to your character: Visiting taverns? Speaking to citizens? For walking certain amount of units (distance unit in this game)? Bestiaries and documenting any faction met? Why not? We already have an achiev that is sitting on chairs around the world...

I would personally enjoy as exemple, be able to escort a dolyak from rata sum to hoelbrak, being hired in black citadel in a tavern to serve drinks or helping the garden in the grove.

 

That is, events in cities. No more waiting, nina shooting available as event, polymock opened and replaced by golem arena with each player in a giant suit fighting another one or giant version of RC Chest, giant remotely controlled golems. Fights in the gladiator arena of the black citadel as a horde like event defending yourselves against waves of soldiers and veterans. A tennis like event on the frozen lake of hoelbrak, moas races happening in LA like the good old time. And to end, turning into fern hound and racing around the grove.

 

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**5- The masteries**

What we have currently? Pact supplies and speed boost in city that's it. I speak only of applying in core tyria or cities. So fractals / legendary crafting (which are in fact more related to HoT or outside core Tyria) don't count. None are related to races, none are related to lores, none are related to any of the cities or allowing you to do something related you didn't have access to before. Maybe 3 Lines of one mastery each one for an order? Decyphing glyphs tablets and signs around, knowing more informations and ability to spy, option to rally some allies around pact camp to do events with you? Again, racial ones unlocking instances, goodies or access to hidden places?

 

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TLDR, Honestly, this is still the best MMORPG for me currently, but it lacks the RPG side. From common citations of this game as "Breath-taking adventure, living world - an amazing universe" to only cite a few, the interactive aspect between us, our choices and the environment isn't here. I can get that we have to follow that main Commander/dragons story, but nothing prevent us to have side stories and fun in core/cities with events or sub-quests. There as so many taverns screaming come be a bartender here, arena crying please have an epic fight against those grumpy charr soldiers here or enjoy your time at this meatober fest and norn beer fest. Those events in cities can bring some peps to a game, that start aging slowly but surely. The living world alone will not suffice. And it's a good thing EoD is coming, but there are surely players, maybe like me, who want a better Core-Experience, improved with the newly mechanics and events that game designed along the years.

[DeanBB.4268]

I think for the majority of that stuff you are 8 years too late. Can you honestly see Anet reworking/adding so many systems to the core game at this point?

 

We'll probably see Housing in EoD, but hopefully not bound to scribing as we know it now. And definitely not bound to a convenience lounge.

[Seera.5916]

They won't put in anything that will drive players to fear other players comingg up to them. This means an alliance system like you posted wouldn't work. Players trying to succeed or fail am event would fear the other player coming up would be from the other side.

 

Not to mention there's already enough complaints about tying achievements to failing events. Add this to it and the complaints will be worse.

 

Imagine someone on the food side needing to fail an event for an item they want. Not only do they have to participate in something that goes against their alliance but it's a lot harder to get players to fail an event because not many are hard to succeed at.

[hugo.4705]

Points 1 - 2 yes, it is surely too late, but point 3 and 4 can still be done. But not exactely like how it described here.

 

For point 4, it is totally possible today, to add event in cities, and make the areas that were forgotten like polymock arena or nina stand in DR or the bane in black citadel living again by adding something. A map, take 3 month, but it has events, stories, quests, npcs ton of events and maybe mastery with it. How long will it take to add 6 events, one for each main city? I answer you: 1 week or 2.

 

For point 3, they are currently adding racial armors, see bear/raven ceremonial armor, vision of khan ur, runic armor.... they can simply continue and add some for sylvari, asura and norn.

 

For point 5, it is possible to add a mastery line, or an achiev like chair of the world, but that instead of chairs, ask you to document the main races around. It takes time, but see, why dis they add that chair achiev? A lot of coding, but it proves it can be done. Imagine you have a scanner you carry with you, and have to target an npc to register it inside, at the end you gain a lore book with fluff about all race? Would be a nice little thing. GW2 isn't just about farm but also the little things around an funny ambient dialogues.

 

To answer Seera above, the reputation system would only happens in quests, each player have its own quest bar, it isn't because your friend near you is sabotaging everything that you lose quest progress. But for both of you it affects differently the reputation bar of the map. But I do agree, it is too late maybe to add such a system, but it cost nothing to at least bring back the personnality system that is already here, just hidden.

 

DeanBB, this is just an opinion, no where I said they have to do it. Surely, sharing this post before at launch would have been better, but even so, it shouldn't be an issue about when you post something. A healthy game can realease big releases even later after launch, do you think they don't have the force, strength, manpower to do it anymore? I still believe in them. But, see it more as a list, you aren't forced to pick everything on the list, you can pick only some. But point 3 is already here, but not in the same form. Point 4? they already proven it with grothmar and bar and shooting stand events. Point 5? We have norn masteries with icebrood saga, why not a core one implying your race? It doesn't take that much to devellop a mastery. Really. Not everything take 3 months to develop.

[Zephire.8049]

1 - Adding AI such as that would be extremely complicated given the age of the engine and aggro mechanics are generally hostile/neutral, toughness, and range + level (with some exceptions, most of which are in raids). There's no tracking method in-game so one would have to be written from scratch and somehow integrated into the game _and_ UI added for players.

 

Also it adds an easy way for players to troll each other via intentionally failing events, which is not going to happen period. It's an MMO so you should not dread seeing another player. Also the Great Hall meta in Istan was changed because players were farming champions instead of doing the event and one of the reasons Anet stated for the change was because players should try to beat events, not tell others to not do them and harassing those who continue to do the events anyway.

 

2 - Personal housing and personal scribing is an oft requested feature so I don't know why you'd lock it behind gems. But personal scribing needs to happen as it's the only crafting profession that doesn't serve much of a personal use and guild content has kinda been abandoned so it makes sense to repurpose it. (Updating jewelcrafting would also be nice)

 

3 - Racials probably won't be touched, ever. They're flavour and intentionally tied to the race, not character choices. Asura get golems, sylvari plants, humans gods, norn transformations, and charr legion support. Giving other races legion support would make racial elites unbalanced and charr would have to get something from another race and at that point you may as well give similar racials to everyone. Which I'm not against but that's a lot of work for skills that are intentionally underpowered to prevent one race from being better than the others.

 

There's also some dialogue in IBS regarding your profession. But it's extra work writing and recording lines the minority of players will hear so that's why they're just nice easter eggs instead of detailed.

 

More cultural armour would be interesting (though they need to deal with the clipping issues charr have with what is already there) but tying appearance to character creation options means a lot of work for the artists and means people with few characters would need to go through the list of every option/combination to unlock the skins. There's also already skins locked behind professions so it's getting up there with what would generally be tolerated if race options were also thrown in. Making an elementalist 4 times is annoying. Making 15-45 characters to unlock skins would be extremely frustrating, especially if you had to buy the armour on that character instead the skin automatically unlocking on character creation.

 

4 - More general achievements and minigames would definitely be fun, but it probably won't happen to old content given resource and management issues.

 

5 - There's also the mentor tag, auto-loot, and faster reviving, among other things. Which are nice QoL things and you can't make Central Tyria masteries more than that as core Tyria is the place where people who cannot access masteries play. As soon as you make Central Tyria masteries required for lore or loot or whatever, F2P and heroic players are being directly punished for not having an expansion. (And you could already argue that locking auto-loot behind a mastery instead of achievement or gold is punishing enough given the massive QoL that mastery brings).

 

HoT-IBS can get away with masteries that affect your character on the map/in-game because they have access to the mastery system by having HoT and/or PoF. That's not the case with core Tyria so another system would have to be made that non-expansion players could use if there were direct upgrades available.

 

Your ideas aren't bad, but they definitely treat GW2 as if it were a single-player game. Morality stuff and more in-depth NPC interaction is pretty simple in a single-player RPG, but an MMO is another beast and things like how it would affect other players, how would it affect balance, is it worth it to put resources into X content instead of Y content, and whether or not not only can the game engine handle it but if adding things would affect the performance of players on lower-end rigs.

 

There could be more racial differences in the game, but skins/animations for existing abilities would be the easiest and safest route to go.

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

> @"hugo.4705" said:

> Like the title said, yup maybe the ressources would be better spent somewhere else and yes it would require work from the devs.

> Here is just a bunch of things I thought about those last days after leveling my ninth character around Tyria and doing map completions with it.

>

> But it needs a little intro: I really think that GW2 has several pros, like the OST, the graphics, artworks of cutscenes, concept arts, loading screens; and even If I don't like that much the story post-Zhaithan, the maps are cool. I hesitated to make a giga-post detailing each existing map and its pros / cons but I'm not gonna do it, because I think I can say everything in that post.

 

I would definitely read that. Had this planned as well in another thread a while ago. Scrapped it due to time-issues and in fear of getting moderated for getting too far Offtopic xD.

 

 

> What this game lacks, and it is my honest opinion, is more interaction between the player and that living world/maps: In no way, you really feel like your chosen race or character creations options matters, beyond that, you don't really feel like you are influencing your surrounding either. At a point, that to me, what would be the difference if a Skritt, a quaggan or an ooze became the pact commander instead of you? And you staying in your race city enjoying your life?

 

/agree, BUT (there is always a but) With the expansions, we have a lot of players who never touched PS after the character-creation and intro-stage. It would be very difficult if not impossible to find a good solution for those players. I think this is the main-reason why they stopped with this :S.

 

> **1- Reputation system? Affinity system?**

> Quests and AntiQuests

 

Possible. Probably not in core-tyria, but it is not that difficult to set this system up. It could be used in a new LW map for testing and if it works and people like it, maybe implement it as a feature in the next Expansion. Sadly they do not want to touch the old maps, except for bug-fixing. I played and loved ToR and its awesome light-side dark-side system. I remember that one optional mission in the Sith Inquisitor story-line, where you had the chance to aid an ally. If you decided to let them die, you faced a couple of ugly consequences later in the story. ... Good memories. What I liked about our early personality system, if you had a too high ferocity-score, certain dialogue options were locked.

 

> **2- Scribing but for solo players**

 

We have tons of suggestions about this topic already. ANet is however not much talkative about it. So every suggestion may help to spark some inspiration. The lounge passes would give them a guaranteed payment for the work and it would motivate even players who normally just buy the convenience-zones to give housing a try. I like it.

 

> **3- The impacts of character creation choices**

We do have a couple of character creation choices which have literally 0 impact at all. It would already be a start to give them a purpose. As far as I remember some of the decisions cause certain field NPC dialogue options. I remember a forum thread years ago, where someone mentioned he was threatened by a random bandit for freeing Demmi Beetlestone (Whispers Campaign). I also think that some Svanir address Romke's descendant when they meet them.

 

While it would be nice, I think those decisions should have been made during the creation of the game. In the LW sandbox, they could use it. Making a temple of the Human Gods, with priests and giving the one speaking for your story-decision special dialogue/quest.

 

Side Note: I recently found an absolutely hilarious bug in the human commoner personal story-line. Yes, THAT BL KEY GRIND. During the Arson at the Orphanage, you can technically activate the [Tour Guide] near the fountain, which was probably just left in the instance by accident. It works, you can enjoy the tour during the instance. That Tour Guide takes his job seriously ... until they blow up the hospital. I reported it a while ago, but I doubt they will ever fix it. With code this old, you are just happy if it still runs without causing real problems.

 

> **4- The living world**

 

I hope they do something like that in the current LW season, in Champions. But it may be instanced :S.

 

> That is, events in cities. No more waiting, nina shooting available as event, polymock opened and replaced by golem arena with each player in a giant suit fighting another one or giant version of RC Chest, giant remotely controlled golems. Fights in the gladiator arena of the black citadel as a horde like event defending yourselves against waves of soldiers and veterans. A tennis like event on the frozen lake of hoelbrak, moas races happening in LA like the good old time. And to end, turning into fern hound and racing around the grove.

 

Especially with Nina's Target Shoot and the Polymock Arenas I would not even be mad it they tie them to festivals. There is however a little progress with Nina though. The target shoot can be reached now, because the invisible walls are not too high. If you get inside, you can talk to one NPC which actually has dialogue fitting to the situation. So I have little hopes about this place.

 

> **5- The masteries**

> What we have currently? Pact supplies and speed boost in city that's it. I speak only of applying in core tyria or cities. So fractals / legendary crafting (which are in fact more related to HoT or outside core Tyria) don't count. None are related to races, none are related to lores, none are related to any of the cities or allowing you to do something related you didn't have access to before. Maybe 3 Lines of one mastery each one for an order? Decyphing glyphs tablets and signs around, knowing more informations and ability to spy, option to rally some allies around pact camp to do events with you? Again, racial ones unlocking instances, goodies or access to hidden places?

 

I agree to that point that the Tyrian Mastery system was ended too early. Giving cultural options like we had it with the Itzel, Exalted and Nuhoch could work. I really liked the Exalted marks in HoT, which granted you allies in difficult situations, activated mechanisms or granted passages. And then maybe a side-quest like Herta.

 

-

 

A larger thread, but a nice one. Great job! I hope the developers get a few inspirations from this for future content. A rework of Core Tyria would be amazing. But at the moment, they sell the Expansions. People purchase the game to play the Expansions. It is not impossible, other games did it before. Rework the Core game and sell it again/free for veterans. But for now, all we can do is making suggestions and wait.

[Seera.5916]

> @"hugo.4705" said:

> Points 1 - 2 yes, it is surely too late, but point 3 and 4 can still be done. But not exactely like how it described here.

>

> For point 4, it is totally possible today, to add event in cities, and make the areas that were forgotten like polymock arena or nina stand in DR or the bane in black citadel living again by adding something. A map, take 3 month, but it has events, stories, quests, npcs ton of events and maybe mastery with it. How long will it take to add 6 events, one for each main city? I answer you: 1 week or 2.

>

> For point 3, they are currently adding racial armors, see bear/raven ceremonial armor, vision of khan ur, runic armor.... they can simply continue and add some for sylvari, asura and norn.

>

> For point 5, it is possible to add a mastery line, or an achiev like chair of the world, but that instead of chairs, ask you to document the main races around. It takes time, but see, why dis they add that chair achiev? A lot of coding, but it proves it can be done. Imagine you have a scanner you carry with you, and have to target an npc to register it inside, at the end you gain a lore book with fluff about all race? Would be a nice little thing. GW2 isn't just about farm but also the little things around an funny ambient dialogues.

>

> To answer Seera above, the reputation system would only happens in quests, each player have its own quest bar, it isn't because your friend near you is sabotaging everything that you lose quest progress. But for both of you it affects differently the reputation bar of the map. But I do agree, it is too late maybe to add such a system, but it cost nothing to at least bring back the personnality system that is already here, just hidden.

>

> DeanBB, this is just an opinion, no where I said they have to do it. Surely, sharing this post before at launch would have been better, but even so, it shouldn't be an issue about when you post something. A healthy game can realease big releases even later after launch, do you think they don't have the force, strength, manpower to do it anymore? I still believe in them. But, see it more as a list, you aren't forced to pick everything on the list, you can pick only some. But point 3 is already here, but not in the same form. Point 4? they already proven it with grothmar and bar and shooting stand events. Point 5? We have norn masteries with icebrood saga, why not a core one implying your race? It doesn't take that much to devellop a mastery. Really. Not everything take 3 months to develop.

 

So if an event is active and I'm a good player trying to succeed the event, I will not be hampered by an evil player coming up and trying to fail the event? I'm sure ANet would love to know your idea for an event can both fail and succeed. Would solve all the issues with several achievements where failing an event seems to be how you get the achievement or an item for it.

[XenoSpyro.1780]

Here's a random idea. When I click on an alcoholic drink, I want my character to play the drinking animation that you get with only a few interactables, get the Drunk condition that only come from barrels, and then wobble around and occasionally get thrown into Daze during the duration of Drunk. All sources of alcohol should share this behavior, inventory consumables, guild barrels, etc. Drunk is currently not immersive enough if at all.