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ZOI Musings
ArchivedUser
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Many agree that nodes will be a driving force behind the content we'll all play in the Ashes world. As such, ZOIs are going to be vital to everyone. Here are a few thoughts on ZOIs based on a few things we (think we) know so far. Reminder, it's nearly all theorycraft, so please read as such:
1) ZOIs will not extend over starting zones. Per the Nodes 1 video, we see ZOIs stopping short of the area around the gate. Having a ZOI buffer zone will help maintain fairness of node leveling (starting zone doesn't contribute to any node development) and also prevents nodes from attracting all new players of a certain entering through a gate for the first time.
2) ZOIs will extend over water. This makes sense for fishing and underwater exploration, but also gives hope to the possibility of island nodes in the world.
3) ZOIs can overlap. This is really the first interesting point. When ZOIs overlap, they will either count toward the development of 2 nodes OR (and in my opinion, the cooler option) be deactivated across the overlapping portion such that no activity there counts toward node development. This might further incentivize node conflicts. This also means that Scientific node fast travel might actually (in the first case) allow fast travel between a node and *almost* another node (since there's no evidence the node itself can be overlapped by a ZOI that is not its own).
4) ZOIs will expand and contract. An obvious point, but it brings some interesting questions along with it. Can a node be completely enveloped by another node such that an entire ZOI is absorbed by another ZOI (the smaller node being completely deactivated)? Will there be a case, for example, in which a node that is not kept up de-levels, leaving some space on the map in which, say, advancing your adventuring level contributes to node nodes since there is no ZOI there at all (like the starting zone)? As a follow up to the issue of overlapping, should there be no deactivation of node contribution in overlapping ZOIs, will there be a meta game across cooperating node leaders to create overlapping ZOIs and encourage citizens of all nodes involved to be active in the overlapping areas? Heck, will we even know where one ZOI ends and another begins (e.g. will the leveling bar for a ZOI/node be actively displayed and change as a character moves, allowing players to chart ZOI borders)?
In the interest of avoiding a complete wall, I'll stop there for now. What do you all think?
1) ZOIs will not extend over starting zones. Per the Nodes 1 video, we see ZOIs stopping short of the area around the gate. Having a ZOI buffer zone will help maintain fairness of node leveling (starting zone doesn't contribute to any node development) and also prevents nodes from attracting all new players of a certain entering through a gate for the first time.
2) ZOIs will extend over water. This makes sense for fishing and underwater exploration, but also gives hope to the possibility of island nodes in the world.
3) ZOIs can overlap. This is really the first interesting point. When ZOIs overlap, they will either count toward the development of 2 nodes OR (and in my opinion, the cooler option) be deactivated across the overlapping portion such that no activity there counts toward node development. This might further incentivize node conflicts. This also means that Scientific node fast travel might actually (in the first case) allow fast travel between a node and *almost* another node (since there's no evidence the node itself can be overlapped by a ZOI that is not its own).
4) ZOIs will expand and contract. An obvious point, but it brings some interesting questions along with it. Can a node be completely enveloped by another node such that an entire ZOI is absorbed by another ZOI (the smaller node being completely deactivated)? Will there be a case, for example, in which a node that is not kept up de-levels, leaving some space on the map in which, say, advancing your adventuring level contributes to node nodes since there is no ZOI there at all (like the starting zone)? As a follow up to the issue of overlapping, should there be no deactivation of node contribution in overlapping ZOIs, will there be a meta game across cooperating node leaders to create overlapping ZOIs and encourage citizens of all nodes involved to be active in the overlapping areas? Heck, will we even know where one ZOI ends and another begins (e.g. will the leveling bar for a ZOI/node be actively displayed and change as a character moves, allowing players to chart ZOI borders)?
In the interest of avoiding a complete wall, I'll stop there for now. What do you all think?
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