Different node categories interactive cohesions & life forms terraforming nodes

ArchivedUser

So what the FAQ tells us thus far is that a node could inch toward civlization,scoring player participation in helping towards development of a settlement.

What if a pure creature like a Pegasus could turn a node into a worldwonder node?
If it claims a node as its dwelling (I wouldnt like this creature to be killable,opponents can just chase it away from its dwelling)
When Pegasus terraforms a node to its dwelling it will give a soil enricher bonus to all the bordering nodes,which translates in a resource bonus for a bordering settlement and magical water for everybody.

Some other nodes might act as sources of corruption and the spawns of the node with the corrupt property can infect other nodes with a fungi/virus if not dealt with promptly.
It might incetivize tactics to take bordering nodes into account, and move out to some bordering nodes to fix or protect these
What kind of nodes would you like to see?

For those who haven't found the info about nodes yet,ill coppy/paste it here from the FAQS too;

[quote quote=638]
<strong>
Q: What is the Node System?</strong>
<em>A: The Node System is one of the core systems that sets our game apart from every other game on the market,
it’s a large topic that we can’t wait to explore further in our developer blogs but we’ll go into a little bit of detail here.
Nodes are the mechanic by which npc settlements are developed, and how our world grows essentially. Our map is sectioned off into zones,
playable areas with an environmental theme. These zones are then subsectioned off into smaller, invisibly defined areas we call “Nodes.”</em>
<em>
These Nodes are listening all the time. Every player action within a Node, and every action associated with that Node (like quests that might require players to leave the Node)
is tracked and scored. This includes any player action, like crafting, harvesting, killing a monster,
or finding a point of interest. This ‘score’ abstracts and represents player participation within that Node.
The more that players participate within a Node, the higher that score gets, and the closer that Node inches toward civilization.
Upon reaching a certain participation score, the Node will develop into its first of six stages. </em>
[/quote]

ArchivedUser

I like most of those ideas, they sound quite interesting. Two concerns though.

First is: After a set amount of time all nodes will be basically "claimed" by people. There will be no true node sizes for wilderness unless they put somewhat of a limiter on it. Now I could understand if maybe these special creatures spawn WITHIN a node if it is at least X large, but it would not take over a node per say. Maybe after reaching city size all nodes city+ have the option to harbor one of these creatures, and then it would have effects on the region. Example: If it's a large pegasus like creature that gives bonuses to resources in the area then people of that area will try and defend the creature while people from rivaling factions/villages would try to kill / scare it away so their enemies do not get the bonus. This would work vice versa with "corrupted" creatures entering a node.

Second concern: While this is interesting and the node system itself lends well to great expansions that even further diversify the system itself: I don't know to what extent this will be in the base game. Though I'm sure there will be world bosses and such, I just question how they will work into the node system itself.

ArchivedUser

On the other hand there would be nodes that listen to monster action and their properties (pure,corrupt,..)
Depending on those properties,they affect nodes in different ways.
the creation of special sights like the pegasus dwelling example,with pegasus granting furtile ground terraformation
(rivals would indeed have reason to act and leavy the comfort zone of their civilization node,could both be good/bad idea depending on the situation/time/location)
A medusa might turn a few hunters/merchants to stone and the node that listens turns it into a statue garden over time,if the medusa is allowed to have her way,being ignored by players..
She might even become a worldboss medusa matriarch,if she is allowed to conquer territory and reign supreme.
That way,world bosses appear in a very organic fashion,very naturally.

It would be cool if any creature had the ability to become a worldboss.
ALmost like a game of chess you'd have the node pawns,the weakest elements with little power,yet they have the most properties to 'infect' other nodes.
Then the higher tier elements (like horse,tower,queen,king in chess) can gain enough power to turn into an event or the forementiond unattended monsters,possibility of becoming a worldboss.(like if the pawn is allowed to reach the other side of the chess board)
In some cases there would be higher tier mobs that create a dwelling that grows with their power,like the pegasus or medusa example.

Is a node claimed by players a guarantee that node is claimed forever?
They mentioned towns will rise and fall ,a wilderness node element could easily infect player nodes
Like a demon could murder a group of camping travellers and make it inviting with a cloak spell to lure other potential victim(players)
After 3 victim ncps,the demon grows in power,a single player could not handle the demon alone any longer and can attempt to flee and seek help..

ArchivedUser

This is true, nodes will rise and fall, but I'm unsure on the rate it would take to rebuild a destroyed node if it got completely 100% destroyed. Guess it would depend on how fast people could quest/level/craft in that area.

ArchivedUser

Curious about the "destroy" process of nodes
Will they also go through the six stages mentioned in the Q&A ,looking at some kind of reversed process of that..
Would a node be destroyed 100 procent immediately ,or does the node have to go through the six stages backwards?in a way
Like when a town is lied to ruins,would it have to go down from stage six & is it able to transform in something else before it is 100 procent destroyed?
Say,the "pawns"(or lets call em influencers?) of the druid faction node could transform the church of a former city which has been destroyed from stage 6 to stage 4 into a green druid temple if the influencers of the druid faction node could take a hold of the half -destroyed city.Here an example picture of how that might look :
<img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Tni88oQhPWo/S9GWpcAE6dI/AAAAAAAAAjo/bwA3mM7ORVM/s1600/Ruins_of_Doriath_by_PeteAmachree.jpeg" alt="" />
The creatures that belong to the druid faction node would automatically start to spawn if the druid node influence grows strong.
Players can actually align themselves with factions, which would alter their status with the creatures that belong to the faction node.Like wolfs and eagles would become neutral/friendly if a player supports druid faction node growth..
Which would mean there could be factions,but factions that rise and fall with nodes and player activities.So you actively are what you stand for and that grants your character more purpose in this persistent world.
You coulld keep the reputation with a type of faction node and even unlock faction node outfits,crests,banners,... at a certain level of faction node reputation.So even when nodes rise and fall ,as you shape and progress your character identity ,you'll always find a place in that world to fight for.

ArchivedUser

The node isn't destroyed 100% immediately, slight speculation - slight reference from a large Q&A they did earlier amongst the forums it could be similar to having certain buildings be destructible. After a certain X point the entire node is destroyed, though likely what will happen is if two large forces clash to attack/defend a metro or city size population it would take at least 2-3 sieges to fully destroy the entire thing.

Let's say City A is a metropolis, the max tier node for a player driven city (at least it seems so far). It gets attacked by an absolutely enormous alliance of guilds that manage to destroy and complete some... (maybe objectives?) during the siege that reduces the metro down 2 tiers to a city or village. At this point the nearby surrounding areas that had been kept at small village tier due to the Metro taking up so much land now advance to the next tier, thus making the Metro City A unable to go back up unless it destroys / delevels the nodes of the surrounding areas.

From here there are three main options:

1.) Metro City A is now a village or city and must now deal with the consequences because the neighboring villages have grown, but they are on friendly terms with them. As such they accept fate and stay at their new tier.

2.) Metro City A is attacked again during the next siege period and loses completely with everything basically destroyed. The town is now wiped off the map and the nodes are reset to either be expanded into from nearby towns growing into city level, or another outpost is built here and the process starts all over to try and rebuild.

3.) Metro City A now goes volatile and delevels / razes nearby towns that had grown due to it being knocked down a peg in hopes of eventually rebuilding back UP to a Metro.

On the side of factions, the game is basically factionless in terms of player community, as the factions that are created are almost 100% player driven save for one. This would mean factionalized nodes would likely not work as intended. On top of while that would be phenomenal to have something like that take over a ruined node, I doubt any node will become desolate/ruined to the point that it can be taken over by an NPC-like setting. A huge driving point of this game is that the community driven playerbase shall be the ones in charge of all the interactions throughout towns. So even if a town gets razed down 2-3 tiers so long as it has buildings standing there will be at least one person there to fight for it / claim part of it. Humans are very protective over property, especially when that property is land.

ArchivedUser

In the Q&A they mention nodes are also the mechanic by "how their world grows essentially"
next to being the mechanic "by which npc settlements are developed"
Maybe its a bit confusing to call the node with the druid alignment properties factions(since people might confuse factions with what is known as guilds and alliances here,because of other games)
Although the node with druid alignment properties could be seen as some kind of "seeds of creation" that give a very faction-like feel when activated by player participation.
,it would allow players to chase a certain identity for their character.
So infact the node with properties of a certain alignment/theme(like the druid example),
could stimulate and motivate the community's desire to interact and be a part of the ongoing developments of the gameworld.
It adds more diversity to how a world could grow.
And,in this player driven environment,it even enriches the ways in which the player can affect how the world "grows"..
(a corrupt player might be able to be evil and align themselves with one of the more sinister themed nodes)

Maybe the environmental theme areas would be able to expand/shrink depending on player participation in said node.
I believe the idea is totally in line with the vision of an almost purely player driven approach.
Especially since they can unlock ,for example, the druid outfits and special items if they help the alignment node to progress.
Gaining enough reputation with that type of node to apply the outfits and themed things of the node properties to their own character,eventually..
Nodes just contain the information,like special themed furniture,environmental objects like druid circles/altars,alignment points with creatures that are linked to that node(like wolf,eagle for druid alignment)
the properties and visual stuff that is related to node transformation and terraforming,which all unfolds itself over time if it gets the room and support of players while they play.

Do you expect every node to be convertible to a city,metropolis? Or would certain nodes have other properties and purpose?
Are those nodes always neigbouring? I do like the idea of when two smaller cities not able to grow,that they have the choice to become allies or try to level each other's city to the ground in order to gain the space to grow themselves.
What lies between these nodes?Are there wilderness nodes and nodes with the properties to become a city,metropolis?Waiting for the community to be "activated"?( just like how alignment themed nodes would be waiting there to be activated)
Will all nodes have the properties to become a city?and will a wilderness node depending on player activity have the ability to become a civilazation node and vice versa
(a civilization node becoming a wilderness node, no longer able to carry a city if it lacks player participation for x amount of time?)