We need a reason to explore

[ROMANG.1903]

Right now there's nothing that pushes us to go back to area without events. There's nothing to do once you've completed their story component... It would be nice if we could have some kind of exploration mastery that would give us cosmetics related to the areas we explore, like perhaps a hidden jackal puzzle that would give us some sand runes backpeice or something (well actually that would have been the right place to put those Jackal Runes gloves and legs :p). Of course the rewards wouldn't just drop off a chest at the end, we would need to explore the area over several days and discover secrets to reconstitute the artifacts.

[Klipso.8653]

But the same issue would happen once you've completed the area. You'd just go back no not having a reason to explore it.

 

I've done world completion on a few characters and still haven't even seen half of the hidden dungeons yet.

[Knuckle Joe.7408]

They could implement something like Nicholas the Traveler from GW1. It was a NPC that spawned randomly in the world and offered unique rewards/skins.

[Ayrilana.1396]

> @"Knuckle Joe.7408" said:

> They could implement something like Nicholas the Traveler from GW1. It was a NPC that spawned randomly in the world and offered unique rewards/skins.

 

They did that for the PoF maps. Oh, they also did it for the other maps too. It didn’t add anything to the replay value.

[joneirikb.7506]

Hmm, I'd say that for people that enjoy exploring, the exploration itself is reward enough. If you put a reward on everything, it just becomes another "thing" in someones check box for daily. I've always enjoyed just rummaging around and finding stuff, so thats what I did the first year of the game (ignoring everything else, as usual). There are still spots I haven't found though.

[preacher.9370]

I have done map completion on 9 characters, and it seems like I'm still finding something new every time that I didn't come across previously.

[Tekoneiric.6817]

I always felt they missed a good opportunity with core maps. They could have added layers of content that require gliding and mount skills to access. A good example is in the cave with the Inquest there is a door that never opens. There isn't anything currently behind it but a long gap. Players with beetles could break the door so content or rewards added behind it could be accessed. They could place wooden stairs running back and forth up from it to the area above the green part with the water fall. The same goes for accessing the Sealed Cavern on the Silverwastes. Once open even core players could access it.

[Goettel.4389]

I love exploring virtual worlds, but I'd say the kind of exploration you (and I) would want in an MMO will have to wait for several big steps up in procedural generation tech. EverQuest Next promised something much along the line of what we'd want, but we all know how that adventure ended.

As it is, GW2 has many truly hidden locations. The few I've seen were amazing. I doubt there's another MMO which matches it for explorable content.

Have you found it all? I sure as hell haven't ;-)

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

The attention the developers have put into detail of each map is indescribable. I play the game mostly for the exploration, because open world in GW2 actually means open world and not just a maze of invisible walls. There are so many easter-eggs, hidden references or other secrets worth to discover. A lot of these things neither have loot nor achievements connected to. So you have to find them on your own. A good example is the cat-room replica in Amnoon. It is the same as in the JP in Alpine Borderlands, but without a vendor/achievement/chest. So the majority of players does not know it exists or where it is located. There are also the countless Indiana Jones references in the game, which make you smile upon discovery - if you are a fan of the old movies. A few months ago I was quite excited, when I found the holy grail from Last Crusade. Or a few weeks ago the ruins of the statue of Liberty from Planet of Apes. But on the other hand, no physical loot.

 

Over the years, I have met a lot of different players, which were not really interested in exploration if there was no achievement behind it. How many of you have ever fought the Ooze boss in COF1, or at least know that it exists? It is not tied to any achievement and the loot is average at best. People do not go there, even if it is just a few meters away from the route they walked a thousand times.

 

The tombs of the Flame Legion have been such a place for a long time. Few people knew who Rhendak was, where he spawned and how to enter this masterpiece of a minidungeon. Today Rhendak is spawn-farmed, because he drops a few quite rare items required for collections. When I visit the tombs with a group of explorers, I mostly end up in the boss-room, but Rhendak is always on cooldown. I have not fought him in ages, and last time the zerg was gigantic - thanks to the helpful mesmers. I do not want the other cool places in Tyria ruined the same way. The tombs have awesome mechanics, traps and riddles. All that is left is a wet cat, which leaves its box after some time and gets spawnkilled.

 

The tailpipe bandana is one rare example of a skin, locked behind a sidequest which is not listed anywhere and has no achievement. The content is old enough to be classified "secret." If they would add something similar nowadays, there would be several guides, videos and life-streams of people doing it. There would be nearly no way to unsee it. People would do that content, yes. But not for exploration issues.

 

Your idea is nice. I would like to have content like that. But we currently live in an age, where secrets are a bad thing. So it would probably only attract achievement-hunters and completionists :S.

[Aerronix.9752]

I could not imaging ever being able to totally find every little thing they put into this game, the nooks and the crannies.... lol they do so much and its very amazing work at that.

[cesmode.4257]

I've laid out my suggestion to this community 4-5 years ago, and then again recently, as well as to Arenanet themselves with regard to getting players into open world Tyria more. It may not align necessarily with motivation to explore, but it would get us into zones again.

 

To arenanet's credit, they have some of the pieces in place to do this, map wide meta events.

 

My suggestion:

Have a 'tracker' in the world map that shows the player contribution/control percentage or level. The more dynamic events we complete successfully as a playerbase, the more that this tracker % ticks up. On regular intervals, say 2 hours, 10 hours, or whatever, reward the players with something worthwhile dependent on their own individual contribution to the overall world meta event.

 

So your typical evening could look like this... You log in, look at see that we as the players control 38% of all areas in all ones world wide. I look around the different maps, I see that Queensdale is doing nicely, players control 92% of it. I see that silverwastes is controlled 100%. I see that Timberline Falls is hardly controlled by the players with a 12%. Im going to log into that map, and try to help that zone along. The more that this individual zone is controlled by us, the more impact it has on the overall world meta event. Going from 12% in Timberline Falls to 75%, for example, has a greater impact on the world meta event than going from 92% to 100! in Queensdale.

 

This encourages players to spread out and help out underperforming zones.

 

Its an ambitious system, definite areas for improvement and Im sure a lot of my idea is flawed, but the general concept is pretty sound I think.

 

 

[TsokGR.7106]

Briliant idea @cesmode

[DeanBB.4268]

I like exploring the open world. I just run another character through it, it is rewarding enough as it is. I suppose for people with only one character they play, things are different. But I can't imagine doing that.

[Turkeyspit.3965]

> @"ROMANG.1903" said:

> Right now there's nothing that pushes us to go back to area without events. There's nothing to do once you've completed their story component... It would be nice if we could have some kind of exploration mastery that would give us cosmetics related to the areas we explore, like perhaps a hidden jackal puzzle that would give us some sand runes backpeice or something (well actually that would have been the right place to put those Jackal Runes gloves and legs :p). Of course the rewards wouldn't just drop off a chest at the end, we would need to explore the area over several days and discover secrets to reconstitute the artifacts.

 

I'm not sure I understand. Once the story mode is done, you go back and do map completion. The reward? Well, World Completion gives a title (the first time) and a component for Legendary Crafting. In addition, completing the map gives you either a Transmutation charge (important to some, others are swimming in them) or a Black Lion Chest Key. If you're like me and would never, ever (ever) spend gems or real money on buying those keys, it's nice to earn a few of those each month to try out your luck.

 

Not sure how much more reward you need to explore??