Deeper Mystery

Amathe

I enjoy a game more if there are mysteries in it that give all of the players something in common, and something to talk about.

As an example, when SWG released, players were keenly interested in what was needed to become a Jedi. People talked about it often. There were entire web sites devoted to it. When the mystery was finally solved it was a big deal.

It would be nice if Pantheon had something like that. I don't mean a class unlock necessarily, but something interesting enough that most people would at least be curious. 

I see already that Pantheon is investing time in creating quality story and lore. This I think would be a good fit. 

delete5230

Because of the internet, nothing stays a mystery for very long.  Infact the more the mystery, the faster people solve it.

However.....Hard to attain content is more like what can be done.  Something unique every several levels such as that extra long dungeon ( like 4 or more hours ) if a group decides to do it.  Now if the dungeons are normally 3 hours make special ones 6.

You talked about a Jedi........How about achieving a NEW SPECIAL ABALITY, instead of a sward, or new shoes !

Now, I hate candy down mmos, but here is a few things that should never be in an mmo:

- Chain quest pre-requites for group content. This limits building a group together ( if you don't have it, you can't go ) 

- In extremely hard content, everyone should get a prize.  Before you get mad, understand EXTREMELY hard.....Better yet, extremely long.

Sinist

delete5230 said:

Because of the internet, nothing stays a mystery for very long.  Infact the more the mystery, the faster people solve it.

However.....Hard to attain content is more like what can be done.  Something unique every several levels such as that extra long dungeon ( like 4 or more hours ) if a group decides to do it.  Now if the dungeons are normally 3 hours make special ones 6.

You talked about a Jedi........How about achieving a NEW SPECIAL ABALITY, instead of a sward, or new shoes !

Now, I hate candy down mmos, but here is a few things that should never be in an mmo:

- Chain quest pre-requites for group content. This limits building a group together ( if you don't have it, you can't go ) 

- In extremely hard content, everyone should get a prize.  Before you get mad, understand EXTREMELY hard.....Better yet, extremely long.

Well, I think The Secret World showed you that people can enjoy content that is based on such and not invalidate the efforts of the developers. Sure, there are lots of people out there who will cheat and ruin their game play, but I don't think those people should be a concern.

Secret entrances, puzzles, etc... should exist regardless of those who would harm their game play, not everyone will.

Also, you don't have to make static solution puzzles. Rift had some puzzles that players couldn't look up an easy solution online. Sure, they could look up a general strategy, but they still had to apply it to solve the puzzle. TSW had some of these as well, so the worry about cheaters isn't an issue as you can create dynamic solution puzzles that change with every approach.

As for secrets, I think dynamic solutions also can work here. EQ2 had interesting features with zone entrances and quest items that changed locations based on various time cycles and conditions. So, I think they could also apply similar dynamic conditions to quests, zones, etc... and do so via solutions that are not static and continue to change there by making internet cheat sites less effective and providing replay to content.

Hawkaya399

Sinist said:

(snip)

Also, you don't have to make static solution puzzles. Rift had some puzzles that players couldn't look up an easy solution online. Sure, they could look up a general strategy, but they still had to apply it to solve the puzzle. TSW had some of these as well, so the worry about cheaters isn't an issue as you can create dynamic solution puzzles that change with every approach.

As for secrets, I think dynamic solutions also can work here. EQ2 had interesting features with zone entrances and quest items that changed locations based on various time cycles and conditions. So, I think they could also apply similar dynamic conditions to quests, zones, etc... and do so via solutions that are not static and continue to change there by making internet cheat sites less effective and providing replay to content.

Good ideas!

I personally like information in-game to be minimal. HOWEVER, the information I need to be productive shouldn't be something I have to go to websites or wikis for on a routine basis. It should be in-game and intuitive. For example, quest information in the original Everquest was terrible. You really could get lost trying to find things or to solve a quest. I hope Pantheon doesn't make the same mistake and also doesn't give too much information. In many MMO's I've played, quests are just A->B type affairs. So much information is given I feel like I'm on a train on a railroad reading a book I don't want to read. TSW had the right idea with its quests: to make us think and not just jump.

I think the more we're absorbed into the world and not staring at windows or websites, the more mystery there will be. It comes alive.

Amathe

DMKano said:

Currently there is a rarest  mount in game that nobody has been able to figure out how to obtain yet, it's been in game for weeks with pretty much everyone trying to solve the mystery - zero successes so far.

Good example. I love stuff like this. Not because I enjoy puzzles and mysteries per se, but because - as you point out - people come together to work on solving them.