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Zones

PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 2:02 pm
by alexisg91
Hi,

I don't know if this has been suggested, and I'm quite new to Salem at the moment but I just thought I'd put an idea out there. How about Zones? I think this could be a welcoming game play balance especially for newer players and attracting newer players and new player retention.

At the moment stepping out into the world is quite daunting and challenging for any new player and it could be a real turn off. Especially with perma death.

Maybe areas could be Zoned.

So lets say closer to Boston there are safe zones not just the new player safe area but areas where new players could settle. Of course the downside to these zones would be scarcer resources, not as high purity etc and also fierce competition from all the new settlers. These zones are also roamed by NPC patrols that stop crime from happening. People can still commit crime but expect to be dealt with swiftly and dearly.

Then you can have more dangerous zones as you venture further out with less and less security patrols until their are none at all. Of course the upside to these less secure zones is more resource rich areas and less competition. Areas that the veteran players would love to be in but maybe the new players aren't ready for yet until later. PvP and raiding could be a regular occurrence but the benefits of higher purity items and more resources would outweigh the risks and encourage players to band together and venture forth into the danger zones to set up settlements. Which will of course bring bandits and raiders.

This is just a thought of course and would love for other people's thoughts and ideas.

Regards,

Gouldie.

Re: Zones

PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 6:12 pm
by Dallane
Sounds just terrible and will never happen.

Re: Zones

PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 7:11 pm
by jwhitehorn
I agree that this idea is terrible and should be shunned immediately.

Chief PeePooKaKa
MM Tribe

Re: Zones

PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 7:59 pm
by DarkNacht
alexisg91 wrote:At the moment stepping out into the world is quite daunting and challenging... Especially with perma death.

Thats half the fun.

Re: Zones

PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 8:25 pm
by jcwilk
alexisg91 wrote:safe zones not just the new player safe area but areas where new players could settle.


alexisg91 wrote:These zones are also roamed by NPC patrols that stop crime from happening. People can still commit crime but expect to be dealt with swiftly and dearly.


This already exists but with players instead of NPCs in the form of semi-public towns. Eg, Cheena's Utopia ( viewtopic.php?f=18&t=8231 ) or the tribe and their reservation. With the freedom of sandbox and the power of being able to threaten permadeath, mechanics which require NPCs would just make the game stale and static.

Re: Zones

PostPosted: Fri Dec 20, 2013 12:04 pm
by DarkSeed
alexisg91 wrote:the whole low&hi-sec idea

Probably you should return to EVE.

I guess all these ruins and bones of those, who thought that it's nice and safe to live closer to civilization, all around Boston make new-commers a little upset, but almost invulnerable NPSs is the reason why i don't play EVE (besides boring gameplay).

Re: Zones

PostPosted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 5:56 pm
by iamah
You're new to the game, so here's a quick rundown:
- any beginner friendly idea will be shut down by old players who rule the server with their demigod characters, because human nature...
- devs have this kinda "hipster" approach to the game, the good side is the game is different from most games out there, the bad side is simple stuff like safe trade are out of question... which only makes those old players more powerful, because they hold on to the privilege of having stalls at cities, while newbies get scammed or spend a long time to do a simple transaction... devs probably play this game too and probably have demigods characters too, so they think a lot like the privileged old player...

Re: Zones

PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 8:07 pm
by Icon
I just saw this... Your implying that you can't get a stall? There's tons of them available on Roanoke. I own a few, cheaper ones can be bought for 3.5k which roughly calculated is less than a days worth of making and selling iron bars. Also you seem to forget that for the privilege of those "secure trades" I pay 750 a week plus 15% tax per transaction. Not even mentioning the amount of barrel trades that I still conduct. I have been scammed exactly 1 time so far (my own fault really for not going the correct route with that small transaction).

now, lets move on to the safe zone idea.. Lets say I raid you. Now what? I'm going to go stand in the "safe npc zone" until the crimes wear off. If you try to extract revenge, the npc's kill you.

but hey, don't take it from me, I'm obviously a demigod due to the fact that I "learned" how to properly conduct business.

Re: Zones

PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 10:37 pm
by Syndarn
Hello.

It sounds intresting. But i am agains't these zones.

The NPC patrols. Well. Not really a good idea either. However i had a thought about having somekind of henchman to do some basics tasks for you might be fun. Forage or fish or something.
But well.. idk even that is kind of against the sandbox environment aswell. Depends how powerfull he would be and how he would be seen to other players. Would he be interactable or not? Besides you would have to feed him and give him somekind of study items or silverupkeep. Ah well, i will dismiss my own idea, it's just bad.

-Kruger

Re: Zones

PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 11:52 pm
by jcwilk
Syndarn wrote:Hello.

It sounds intresting. But i am agains't these zones.

The NPC patrols. Well. Not really a good idea either. However i had a thought about having somekind of henchman to do some basics tasks for you might be fun. Forage or fish or something.
But well.. idk even that is kind of against the sandbox environment aswell. Depends how powerfull he would be and how he would be seen to other players. Would he be interactable or not? Besides you would have to feed him and give him somekind of study items or silverupkeep. Ah well, i will dismiss my own idea, it's just bad.

-Kruger


I like the idea of NPC henchmen actually, but there should be some sort of steep cost, like silver or people being able to murder them and steal all the things they've collected without leaving scents... But pretty big derail, and I think most would disagree :( Makes me think of Topia where henchmen/bots/scripting is a first class feature