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Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Node deleveling instead of destruction
Undead Canuck
Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
What do you think of instead of being totally destroyed (down to level 0), nodes just go to Expedition or Encampment showing that there are still a few people left, but the rest has been destroyed.
We don't want the zone to stay at level 3 or above as those levels still have lots of NPC services.
Or even have the zone drop to a special alternate Encampment which shows some ruins that indicate this was once a greater area. Instead of regular tents for the NPCs, have a small fortified area to protect what is left.
The quests that are given then are more geared towards rebuild than exploration. They could even turn some of the stone or wood that was destroyed into resources to harvest. Maybe metal deposits to indicate dropped weapons.
Any other good ideas on what could happen after a successful siege?
We don't want the zone to stay at level 3 or above as those levels still have lots of NPC services.
Or even have the zone drop to a special alternate Encampment which shows some ruins that indicate this was once a greater area. Instead of regular tents for the NPCs, have a small fortified area to protect what is left.
The quests that are given then are more geared towards rebuild than exploration. They could even turn some of the stone or wood that was destroyed into resources to harvest. Maybe metal deposits to indicate dropped weapons.
Any other good ideas on what could happen after a successful siege?
1
Comments
Being able to scavenge from the old node sounds alright though, at least whatever the sieging side didn’t already loot.
Maybe have it so that if a metropolis loses a siege, they go in to a state where they are one node tier lower, but with the provision that if they lose another siege within the next 6 weeks (they should be immune for about 4 of those weeks), the node is destroyed, left as a ruin and unable to gain experience (and thus unable to be leveled up again) for a further 6 weeks.
Lets think of a scenario here:
A strong military or religious node presses the advance and begins destroying nodes around them, forcing their way deeper and deeper into your own territory.
1. They would actually take atrition way easier through the destruction method, adding another layer of complexity.
Think about it, the respawned troops cant fast travel and even if they ride on mounts that could take some time, if they had to travel from their home node, while the defenders can instead spawn in their own metro or the nearest node.
2. People will band together way faster if they had to face destruction. Deleveling a node would not be really worrysome.... anoying? Yes. End of the world? No. But destruction? I can imagine different nodes band together to repell the invaders and retake the lost nodes.
Based on the fact that lower level nodes are vassals of level 3 and up, as soon as you delevel to 1, you would automatically become the vassal of another node (that was my point of not deleveling to 3 or higher). At which point you would not be able to outlevel the nodes nearest you.
The chances of there still being a level 0 node by the time a siege happens is very low. But maybe that is what IS is thinking of when they say destroy to level 0...
Losing a node level is a pretty big deal when a node is a city or metropolis. Recovering that loss would take several weeks, which would be more than enough time for competent rivals to beat them to metropolis level (and thereby blocking further progress for the sacked city).
Of course, the siege/sacking mechanics could always be made a bit more complex, and allow for the further reduction of the nodes level if the attacking force accomplishes 'x' tasks in 'y' amount of time. Even a defeated defense would need to rally hard to mitigate their losses after a successful assault.
But I won't say that to your face as I don't want it burned to the ground. The dancing on the ashes I wouldn't mind seeing though. I will wait and watch you dance on the node of someone else.
The latter will cause greater change in the world and story - which is probably why the devs are wanting total destruction, rather than just deleveling.
While it would be a feature added as the game matures it would be interesting to have the option to either overthrow the current government with mild/no destruction or to let loose the hound of war and have your army totally raze it to the ground. Or even some variable level in between based upon how well trained and disciplined the attacking troops are.
The first option would require some mechanic of spying and subterfuge that would sow discontent among the local population. This would be countered by a "Intelligence Service" mechanic that can be employed to root out spies and "tamp down" dissidents.
But for initial release will support node destruction until more options can be implemented.
Destroying the Node allows other Nodes to grow in prominence and cause significant changes to mob populations across the world, which will also trigger new quests.
I think it's a good in between
I can be a life devouring nightmare. - Grisu#1819
Otherwise you might end up with a constant, drawn-out series of conflicts where the node is repeatedly attacked until it goes down to 0. Forget that, just get it over with immediately.
As for total destruction, I think the alphas will help determine if it feels right. If they wanted to go back to a deleveling system, maybe they could have multiple objectives. If the siege completes 1 objective maybe it delevels to the node level that works within the system. If all objectives are met, the node is completely destroyed.
thats why I use fire to wipe out cities only the bones are left
Bones get brittle after they ciome into prolonged contact with fire. I dont fear an army of brittle bone skelletons.
bale fire is a wonderful thing ^^
That would also give the survivors something to rebuild before being able to level the zone again.
As for brittle bones, just plate them in steel and then you will fear them!
That sounds awesome actually!
That's a fantastic idea
Formerly T-Elf
the tithe must be met
Raze the city and raise it to the ground. Make Domri Rade proud. Oh wait hes dead. Well at least our resident necromancer can bring him back