Sometimes I like to explore, and here are some ideas I would like to see in the game, above and beyond exploring the map and uncovering the different points of interest, which also can be fun in and of itself.
1. Achievements
I don't want this to be the dominant type of exploration reward, but I am a bit of an achievement ..erm.. sex worker... so I would like to see some achievements for the obvious stuff. Like visiting every single node in the game, or reaching the crater or caldera of a volcano. You know, amateur exploration stuff, where you know the goal from the start.
2. Vistas
I'd like to see some Guild Wars 2 style vistas, with an invisible interactive object which will cause the camera to pan across nearby scenery and show something cool that might otherwise be missed. Unlike GW2, I don't want pillars of light to show the place, nor any map completion mechanic. Just let them be there for the enjoyment and cool screenshots or video clips.
3. Inscriptions
Lore tidbits carved on the side of ruins, on runestones, on cave walls, etc. Messages in a bottle. A page from a diary in a prison cell. Perhaps fragments of a whole story the players can piece together. Just a piece of lore is fine. Don't need a fancy item out of it. Sure, eventually it'll all be pieced together on some website, but that's fine.
4. Artifacts
I'd like to see artifacts being randomly placed on the map. No two servers the same. The purpose of these artifacts are simply to place them in your home as decoration (and bragging rights over fellow explorers). These artifacts could tie into a small quest to get them identified, but it doesn't have to be a long fancy quest line or anything. Not all artifacts should be available all the time. Access should be dependent on node levels, adding longevity to the system. This could be expanded into a proper museum system.
5. Hidden recipes, cosmetics, pets, quests, etc.
Hard to find stuff. This ties into the treasure hunting system, with maps leading to hidden treasure. It doesn't all have to be through by a map you find, or an NPC. It can start from an item in a hidden cave that leads the character through a quest line that results in a special food recipe, a pet, a cosmetic item and other stuff like that. Or they can simply be randomly found and picked up and that's it. Some randomized spawning would be good I think.
Some exploration specific rewards would be nice here as well I think. Something that makes maps for hidden treasure more precise perhaps. Or wider view distance on the map, dissipating the fog of war further out as you pass through an undiscovered area. Specifically it could be ingame items like sextants, binoculars, a guide to cartography and such that provide the bonus.
6. Relics
By relics I mean the
relics that can be placed in the reliquary of a node. Or rather, relic fragments, with puzzles and obstacles to overcome to acquire them. Like the artifacts, I want the relic fragments randomly placed on each server, so no two servers are the same. And again, access to those relic fragments should depend on node level, which means in order to complete the relic, citizens of a node might have to either raze a specific other node if the fragment can only be found on a lvl 2 or lower node level. Or they might have to try and raze one or more nearby nodes in order to increase a certain node to a higher level, in order to open up a dungeon which houses the fragment piece.
Gathering a full set of fragments for a relic should require many people from that node. If a citizen acquires a fragment it automatically gets added to the node they are citizen of. If they aren't a citizen, nothing happens until they become one and try again.
Eventually all things can be googled I am sure, but, there is a real incentive to keep the locations and puzzle answers of these relic fragments hidden from other people on the server. Relics are very powerful objects that give benefits to all citizens of a node, and thus help the growth and prosperity of all. Most people will want their node to prosper and grow bigger than other nodes.
