I want to conceptualize what sort of expansion would be best for the game.
So our goal with this thread, is to think of "What can I expand on in the game" given the system established as is.
I think continent expansions are ok in other games but because of the node system, we aren't going to gain much by throwing out the work of the players to establish their nodes, only then to add a new place to explore and affect the existing nodes. That is unless we're absolutely bored of the current node hierarchy and players have optimized the nodes and the servers start looking humongous, then adding a new land mass and a new node section to affect that math would make sense.
That would be akin to having a set in a card game cycle in and affect the existing set.
We've kinda dealt that WoW style card out, now so what's next?
I think, adding monsters, creatures, influences from the gate way, that the gods are pushing for, or adding elements to that, could be good.
We're not wanting to push established players, and newbs away from eachother socially, so this content would need to trickle down to low level stuff and change that experience up, so its almost a cataclysm like even where everything is getting a new lick of paint, whether its just by adding a few new quests to hunt a new monster, or its the land mass has changed as a event has happened.
That means previous content is going to go away, so a pre-release type event might be good so that people who need to get content done, and don't know what's happening, can prioritize the things they really really want to get to, before the year is through, and that can be a motivating factor for keeping engagement up.
There's also the effect of the nodes and the progressing story of the server, a one size fits all expansion might not be a good idea.
So you could have it be, that this expansion is only for nodes that have existed for a certain time, at a certain level, and leave the player in fighting, to be the pre release content. "I want this node to be the one, that reaches the expansion per-requesits" "no this one!" etc. and in that way not only are players influencing what content they want to further in the expansion, but when they get to experience it.
You could have a server so filled with conflict and changing nodes, that, reaching this expansion represents a clear victory of one node over another, and acts as a resolution for that server's node war conflict.
What are yals thoughts? How do you conceptualize what an expansion would mean for the game?