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Post by almordre on May 25, 2009 23:36:11 GMT -6
yet another random idea - a way to get a limited number of virgin tali's out there, other than NPC drops. could be a PITA to code, but figured I'd throw it out and see... the simpler tali version - have one each Aes Sedai and Asha'man NPCs that Travel (appear randomly) around the world. When you find one of them in your location, you can buy any tali (that you can afford) from them. Max of ?two items sold, one to a player, before the NPC Travels to a new location (could appear in towns AND wilderness areas, with or without random time delay between appearances). The Aes Sedai could offer defense/healing/speed talis, the Asha'Man could offer damage/stun/accuracy talis - ooOOoo - and have a Forsaken NPC wandering around, too, that would sell taint/poison talis. This could put virgin talis out there, with a high level of choice for the player (as opposed to the random NPC drops), but with more controlled access than putting them in shops... more complicated version for premium items: what if there were NPC "craftsmen" wandering the world - a couple blacksmiths (knives), a master blacksmith (swords), an armorer, a few woodwrights (staffs, bows), etc (enough types to cover the basic equipment classes). Catching these craftsmen in a town, you could buy anything from them. A couple blacksmiths doing knives, one doing swords, woodwright making staffs, etc. Each craftsman would make a limited number of items in a town (two max?) before moving on to another location (straight-line - no Traveling - but random direction). But - if you happened to catch, say, a blacksmith and one of the channelers in the same town, they could work together to make you a REALLY nice tali'd piece (something a little better than what you could buy as a tali from just the channeler, maybe?) - if you could afford it... not sure I've covered all the angles, but it's late and I gotta work in the morning. it's the start of an idea, anyway... right?
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Post by Tintomara on May 26, 2009 2:12:05 GMT -6
I really like the travelling tali NPCs! Not only would it give a chance of getting your hands on the tali you want even if you are out of battles, it would also be an incentive for travelling around to different places, looking for these NPCs. And would offer something to do when out of battles And with the restrictions of max 2 items sold in one place, max one to each player (I think that it should be added here that if one of your alts buy something there, the other alts can't buy anything until that NPC Travels again), it shouldn't unbalance things too much. I think that the idea of a random time between appearances would help further to reduce the possibilities of abuse of this. They could appear somewhere else immediately after leaving a location, but they could also be outside the map for some time. The pricing of talis could be an issue, but if your chances of finding the NPC too often are low enough, then maybe it wouldn't be too bad? Hmm, I could actually imagine some sort of system where instead of the tali being the key to the price, the player's level would set the price. One gold per level, or maybe start off at 10 silver per level until lvl 10, and then add one gold per level after that? This means that at the higher levels, you'd probably end up losing gold (quite a lot of gold actually) when you add that tali to an item, despite the increased value of that combined item, but if it's a tali you really, really want, it would still be worth it! And give an added meaning to gold in the game. I'm less thrilled about the Craftsmen, since I prefer people to spend that gold in the shops
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Post by almordre on May 26, 2009 8:55:51 GMT -6
Yeah - how this could play nicely with the shops was one of the pieces that I couldn't stay up late enough last night to work out an idea for. The first thing that comes to mind would be to have the standard items available "for the masses" in the shops, then limit high-end items to the craftsmen - the #2 and #3 items in each class (TR Long Bow, Warrior Bow). Then, have the #1 item in each class, like Silver Bow and Heron-Mark blades, only be available from catching the craftsman and a channeler together - make them a little more rare as opposed to everyone with 4g having Birgitte's bow... For earlier levels, maybe the craftsmen would provide 'quality' prefixed items - like "Blacksmith's" and "Fine" items, for example... I like the idea of basing price off char lvl, but the problem I see with that would be that a low-lvl alt or clan member would buy the items, stick them in the vault, and then the high-lvl chars get easy access... Based on how the clan vault sorts high-power talis when sorting the list by points, I'd say there's an invisible point rating on the higher talis - that could be tied in for use as a limiting factor on what talis a char could purchase, similar to the 2/3 limit on equipping single items...
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Post by Tintomara on May 26, 2009 14:42:51 GMT -6
Ah, I didn't think about lower level people buying the items for you I kind of like the idea of having a rare chance to buy something really good, even if you yourself is low level, though... How about if the things bought this way could not be traded or put in the vault. The only way to get rid of it (or any combined item using it) would be the drop or sell buttons? (Oooh, I can see Tim's eyes rolling back as he thinks about implementing this! ;D)
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Hin
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Post by Hin on May 26, 2009 15:51:17 GMT -6
You could still get talis from NPC right? Becuse I dont think I could pay 30 gold for a tali.
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Post by Tim on May 26, 2009 16:26:45 GMT -6
Well, how about this? It's a modified version of an idea I've been kicking around, changed to include this idea. What if when you Explore in Wilderness Areas, you sometimes encounter non-enemy npcs or other non-battle events. One of these such events could be encountering a traveling merchant (or perhaps a band of Tinkers? ) with a small selections of talismen (2-3) available for purchase. Price would be based on the order in which talismen start appearing in drops (so talismen found only after level 30 would be worth more than those found after level 10). The talismen available would be random and based on the cash you have on hand (not in bank) at the time you encounter the merchant. So if you're a level 50 with only a few copper in your pockets, you aren't gonna get offered (or be able to afford) anything good. But if you're a level 10 who's been saving up (and brave enough to keep the gold out), you may get a chance to buy something you wouldn't normally be able to find at your level. The offer only lasts while you're on the screen, so there's no going back to the bank for cash or to your inventory to make room. I'd also probably limit it to one talismen purchase per encounter, so you'd have to choose the 1 that's best for you. Thoughts?
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Post by alSeen on May 26, 2009 20:46:08 GMT -6
i like the idea of craftsmen too. tim could limit the shops a few levels off the top so that craftsmen at high levels could have silver bows and heron marked swords. that way not EVERYONE can get it, just those lucky few
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Post by almordre on May 26, 2009 22:05:55 GMT -6
What if when you Explore in Wilderness Areas, you sometimes encounter non-enemy npcs or other non-battle events. Effectively, this would function just like a regular NPC drop, except on a very rare occasion, instead of a battle you would get a limited choice of items to pick from, rather than ending up with whatever the NPC happens to drop. Makes sense... The potential downside I see here is that it wouldn't encourage folks to move around the world like finding the NPCs in random locations would - it'd be more of a "click-and-hope" situation in the nearest wilderness, just like current NPC drops. I'm betting this'd probably be hells easier to code, though. One of these such events could be encountering a traveling merchant (or perhaps a band of Tinkers? ) with a small selections of talismen (2-3) available for purchase. from a story standpoint (if that's a concern) - knives from tinkers, maybe, swords from merchants, sure. But, wouldn't talis make more sense coming from channelers? being able to mystically imbue your gear with special traits? maybe plug in the junk I threw out there for the types of NPCs - blacksmiths, bowyers, channelers, etc? Price would be based on the order in which talismen start appearing in drops (so talismen found only after level 30 would be worth more than those found after level 10). The talismen available would be random and based on the cash you have on hand (not in bank) at the time you encounter the merchant. So if you're a level 50 with only a few copper in your pockets, you aren't gonna get offered (or be able to afford) anything good. But if you're a level 10 who's been saving up (and brave enough to keep the gold out), you may get a chance to buy something you wouldn't normally be able to find at your level. Cool - the 'cash on hand' clause is BRUTAL, but good - makes us carry more around and maybe encourage more cash-grab duels, although it opens the door for some ugly high-lvl-beating-snot-out-of-low-lvl action... The offer only lasts while you're on the screen, so there's no going back to the bank for cash or to your inventory to make room. Makes sense for the NPC-appearance approach, but with the random-location approach, when you find an NPC/source - sure, you could go to the bank and/or clean up your inventory, BUT do you risk that knowing that someone else could pop into town with deep pockets and steal your chance at a purchase? Or, do you carry a fat wallet and jump on the NPCs with both feet when you find 'em? Could make for a little more of a gameplay dynamic, maybe... I'd also probably limit it to one talismen purchase per encounter, so you'd have to choose the 1 that's best for you. Definitely! just my two cents worth, Tim - it's your show! ;D
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Post by hossla on May 26, 2009 22:53:03 GMT -6
Tinkers could repair any broken or worn etc.. type of talismen, plus you could keep the lower points for use on the talismen, call it tinker's----- talismen.
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Post by Tintomara on May 27, 2009 0:22:58 GMT -6
I like that you could on rare occasions run into friendly NPCs when you hit Explore! And I like that it would encourage people to keep cash on hand! 2-3 talis to choose from is a bit too low, it's not all that much better than the random drop, then, I think... Maybe 4-5 instead? Make it more likely that something you want is being offered (and also increase the chance that you have to choose between two things where you really want both of them! *grin* Or, for these NPC encounters, you could get "next level drops" to choose from, so they'd effectively offer something better than you could get in a duel? I'm not saying it should go all the way up to the top level talis right away, just the next level, currently out of your reach.
I don't at all like the idea of craftsmen being the only ones offering the top swords, bows etc. I like that we can buy them! That also makes it possible to put decent talis on them while you're waiting to find that really great tali that you really wanted, because when you get that tali, you can get hold of another weapon to put that tali on.
Will have to think of things to still get the travel encouragement, I really liked that with the first idea!
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Post by Edvar al'Given on May 27, 2009 13:14:01 GMT -6
I have an idea for Craftsmen, but I'm not at liberty to discuss it here I have other ideas that I can and will state here though. First off, love the Traveling Asha'man and Aes Sedai idea. I like Tim's random encounter idea too though. Someone said it was brutal though. I have to agree, and I have thought of a way to balance it. What if you could do a trade? You can't go to the bank or anything, so if you don't have the money, your kinda screwed. But if you had a valuable item in your inventory, one of equal or greater value to the Talisman you want, you might be willing to sacrifice the item for the Talisman. Next, Tinkers....what if Tinkers had the ability to remove Talismans? Say you find an awesome item, it has horrible Talismans on it, like a Tarnished Talisman, or a Small one......sucks huh. Guess we'll have to sell it. Or maybe not! Take it to a Tinker, have them remove one Talisman from an item! Of course, this would need some balancing features, such as.....ummm, a 24 hour delay between such downgrades, or a very high expense......haven't really thought about that one.
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Hin
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Post by Hin on May 27, 2009 14:30:31 GMT -6
What if you could get better weapon's from the merchants. Because if your lvl 10 and you come a cross a merchant only selling top end goods there is no point. But if you could pick up a sword that is better than one in the shop, the lower lvl players could use it.
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Post by almordre on May 27, 2009 14:35:12 GMT -6
Hey - if there were an NPC Tinker band roaming around - since Tinkers are all about welcome and rest and food - maybe if you encountered a Tinker in a random NPC appearance, it could add one point to your char's max health?
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ruhe
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Post by ruhe on May 27, 2009 14:50:55 GMT -6
I don't think high expense for tali removal is the way to go unless it is reative to the charaters money. Ussually where there is money someone will try to abuse it. Good idea though.
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ruhe
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Post by ruhe on May 27, 2009 15:08:19 GMT -6
great idea almordre. you could even make it so that while you are with the Tinkers you cant be attacked.
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