Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Comments
I also like the Idea to replace some events regularly and to bring them back a few month later with some updates. Also having some very rare events with unique loot would be cool.
Like other already mentioned, there should be some Risk/Reward mechanic with an opportunity also to lose and suffer negative consequences for your node.
An event system cannot be for the sake of entertaining players if it is meant to be part of immersion. The player, in my opinion, must never feel 'like it's been too long since an event happened' and ALSO feel justified in expecting one.
I'll go all the way down to the most basic so that I don't end up talking about other games from my perspective. I'll put just a basic paste from Besieged pre-event mechanics at the end. But for stuff related to my opinions on events, let's use just MINECRAFT.
Let's say you're the sort of player who lives in 'villages' in Minecraft. Every so often, a 'Pillager patrol' type enemy spawns and wanders toward or into your village. They start attacking villagers, who you are possibly invested in if you were playing that way. If you're prepared, it's interesting. If you're unprepared, it's terrifying, because if you kill the leader while they are in the village, a full assault begins. That full assault is the event.
This doesn't happen often enough for the prepared player to 'expect it as a challenge to break up monotony'. It doesn't happen often enough for the unprepared player to 'be fearing the countdown, scrambling to get prepared again above all else'.
What that player type normally does with their time:
Build up their levels maybe, build houses, earn village currency to enhance their gear, mine to get iron for anvils to do the enhancing.
What that player type needs to do in the event:
Fight off 4-6 waves of relatively powerful attacking forces from multiple sides, more complicated if they didn't build up walls or defenses in all directions.
What that player needs to do to prepare for this:
Assuming they don't want to just always avoid it (there's ways to drastically increase your ability to avoid this entirely) they need to - build up their gear, optimize the village layout for defense, possibly put armor on the villagers in some versions, make sure they always have enough food and weaponry stashed.
But if these raids were so common that they were 'part of main gameplay', not only would the loop change, they would just add things like 'preparing heavily for raids' to the player's 'what they normally do with their time'. At that point, it's not an event, to me. This has to be a choice, the emotional payoff of 'being prepared for X event' diminishes when you're just 'expected to be prepared because it happens often enough'.
And unfortunately, since you did 'poke the bear'.
"We will have a dynamic event system." - For an MMO? this has no meaning to me. It's a 'no brainer', because games without them aren't fun and the good ones have been doing it for years, even some of the lackluster MMOs manage, and the implementation is the issue.
The fact that 'weather will change the world' is such a 'yeah... and...?' to me, that I basically don't care. I absolutely don't fault Steven for mentioning it and hyping it for all those people who have somehow never played a game with serious weather-event-spawn dynamics. Throne and Liberty is currently doing the same, talking about 'weather will change the power of your spells' because apparently people think this is new and dynamic or something.
I'm just blessed to have played things that make this all 'basic' to me, and I continue to play them. The only thing this 'event system' is offering me is 'a slightly more living version of a game I already play' without any of the guaranteed quality or any of the things that would improve it, so far, so what's the point until they show us more?
Here's the paste, this just explains the buildup to the Besieged event:
The Besieged map displays the state of the enemy armies. Each of them has a strength level, "Enemy Forces".
When this number is below 100, the enemy is "Training".
During Training the force level rises slowly.
The speed of Training depends on the number of Archaic Mirrors they have when their invasion window opens.
The force level can be lowered by defeating monsters in the appropriate stronghold. However, once it is reduced to a certain point, the rate of the increase of that force will accelerate.
Defeating a Notorious Monster inside that base will automatically reduce their force by 1.
Their force level is increased by 1 when a player inside that stronghold is KO'ed.
I'm still watching the video, but i think one of the most emersive event notifications would be town cryers, like an npc is speaking / yelling loudly:
HEAR ME HEAR ME, A NEW GOBLIN THREAT HAS BEEN FOUND TO THE SOUTH.
Like in frostpunk, whenever you make a new law. Something like that, but on repeat every few minutes.
Glory to Arioch
Glory to Winsted
For my mana addicted brothers:
For the Glory of Quel'Thalas
It boils down to interesting/engaging content. It doesn't matter to me how the notification system functions, so long as it'd not intrusive; If there's an expectation of us to know how to use event-tools/learn about events, I'm fine with it. Large-group activities can be some fun, but if it's more grindy than fun/interesting, I'll probably sit out a lot of certain event-types.
"Do you feel anything is missing from the event system we’ve shared so far?"
We've yet to get definitive answers on things like events-calendars - be they for world/all-player events, or guild events. In addition, the functionality of the to-be phone app in terms of events-notifications has yet to be expounded upon.
"Are there types of events in other games that you feel are done well? If so, what makes events in those games good?"
Sadly.... Not really. Certainly not many. Dev-hosted events in games like SWG were often just zerg-fests with one or multiple super-strong enemies that got old, really fast. However, it was still better than SWTOR's events, since these were fully-automated with prizes from vendors - and were very, VERY grindy. In SWG, I really liked the late-game addition of the GCW (Galatic Civil War) City Invasions: Rotating between 3 different NPC cities, there was a 30-minute build-phase utilizing Crafter-made tools, then 30 minutes of factionally-divided fighting to either bring down the NPC general in charge of the city's defense, OR to protect him. While this was a welcome addition to the late-game, Galaxies had them going off WAY too often.
'Is there anything, in particular, you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown for the event system?"
It's more the un-revealed details that catch my curiosity; Some things I'd rather learn for the first time, in-game. Nothing in-particular made me concerned, though it would be nice to know if things will only occur between certain times, or if events that might damage Node city structures could also be occurring in the middle of the night; It's never pleasant to login and find something either gone or damaged, and to learn that it happened at a time we shouldn't be expected to be online to address said events.
From Asmond`s review, sounds such as horns blowing or trees falling indicate a pending raid..
Taking one step further perhaps certain player classes such a scouting classes or bounty hunters could have equipable horns that they could play to announce to the server from things they find.. taking away the element of AI generated announcments and putting some control to the players.. their "horn" or equivalent only can be carried by certain classes, and only usable if in proximity to the actual event in action (to take away false calls).
For more dramatic / substantial events, perhaps cues in the sky with weather?
Just a weekend musing!
1. That they feel immersive and organic. Frequency is pretty critical here; if every 3 days goblins are attacking (and not because players have failed to kill some super-breeding queen, but rather because the event just keeps 're-triggering'), it's going to be an annoyance and feel like an arcade game rather than a living breathing world.
2. That they are not exploitable. A small example: Darkfall Online had once promised a similar idea but they never got as far in their development sadly. They did get to the point where they had mobs that 'leveled up' the longer they were alive. After leveling up they had an improved loot table. What ended up happening was that players would avoid the mobs until they were leveled up in order to exploit the loot table. Very immersion breaking. The last thing I want is to feel like I'm gaming a system for a power gain (I'm sure Stephen as a fellow DM can appreciate that). The world-building prospects are exciting, but the meta-gaming concerns are worrisome.
1. Automated systems are intriguing and all, but it'd be prudent to consider having a lead 'DM' on each server that can trigger these sorts of events based on their judgement. Trying to have foresight and write reliable code for these events to trigger correctly might not work as effectively just letting a human be in charge of DM'ing the server and triggering them manually.
1. You discussed calendar events. Consider letting node rulers set the local holidays. Allowing players the agency to create their own holidays in addition to some pre-fab holidays helps create a more sandbox feel.
Regardless of what the dev's would think the appropriate choices would be, allowing the mayor (and through him or her the town citizens) some occasional input might be interesting.
And I think they can't really know because some of that is dependant upon what is happening in Nodes they don't control, way across the map.
Preparing for Events should be part of the loop in some ways - we should be prepping for sieges and monster hordes, regardless of how often they come. Any major city should have disaster prep and protocols in place.
Events should not be restricted to peak hours, but...we'll have to see how well the devs are able to manage that.
The Dark Elves from Serpentspine Mountains are farming Dryads in Kithicor Forest, stealing their Life magic and transmuting it into Shadow magic to power their spells and enchant gear and abilities, like Stealth.
Players who rely on Shadow magic will go into Kithicor to farm NPC Dryads, but the players in Kithicor will want to prevent that because as Life is drained from the region, Blight spreads across th Zone and, eventually, the bonds which hold the Shadow Demons at bay will break.
The Shadow Demons destroy anything living...even the Dark Elves, should the Shadow Demons encounter them (unbeknownst to the Dark Elves). So, player characters in Kithicor are very likely to attack anyone killing NPC Dryads in Kithicor Forest.
Shadow Demons breaking their bonds and ravaging a Zone is the Event caused by player activity - though the players are unware of what their actions may engender.
One of the aspects I like about this event is how it has great potential to push me into PvP.
With Corruption as a mechanic, most likely, if I'm killing Dryads to acquire resources I need for Stealth Enchantments, I would remain as a non-Combatant and give my assailants Corruption.
But, if I'm a Forest Protector and I have some inkling that we need to minimize the number of Dryad kills in order to prevent the Shadow Demons from being released, I'd probably be willing to risk Corruption in order to save the region from the wrath of the Shadow Demons.
Public executions by game masters of cheaters and then the final ban hammer - often with recorded and posted videos.
I hope they include holidays from around the world, like Dia De Los Muertos or Hanami or Prince Kuhio Day or Diwali.
Could be interesting if some local holidays depend on the dominant Race of the Node.
I think Diwali is around the same time as Halloween, so maybe the expression of the real world calendar holiday depends on the dominant culture of the Node.
For Verran holidays, it could be that a Niküa Node celebrates a Dünzenkell holiday differently than a Dünir Node.
Also, makes me wonder how Sanctus holidays factor in.
Events need to be memorable, bring players together and have meaningful risks and rewards.
1. I love the idea that player activity can trigger events. I'd prefer these types of events to be rare but impactful (positively or negatively) so that players can look back on these events and share stories of their experience. It could be a cool talking point if something occurs on another server and your own server is in shock/surprised and questioning what happened.
2. Solo/pop-up quests - I enjoy these when they are also uncommon. I like that chat of "Did you get this?! Did this happen to you?! When I did this, this thing happened?!" - whatever I did to trigger a pop-up/solo quest should feel like my own little story that I want to tell friends about.
3. I'm looking forward to seasonal events! Particularly in-game ones~ Think an example was given for a winter dragon causing an eternal winter until destroyed. For something like this- I want that dragon to be challenging to kill. Many people will want to participate and you don't want to have poor players missing out because the dragon was killed in 5 minutes by 10 people. Make sure there are layers to the seasonal event to allow as many participants as possible. Perhaps the dragon had set off a chain of events and has gone into hiding. We need to find it, craft items to reveal it, fight off underlings...maybe help NPC's caravans/refugee NPC to another node? I'm not creative but I know you guys are ha.
I could go on about seige events, corruption, POI's, monster coins etc but I'm aware I'm writing a wall of text >.<
Do you feel anything is missing from the event system we’ve shared so far?
Not that I can think of. I think once we are in alpha 2 it will become more apparent if anything is missing from the event system.
Are there types of events in other games that you feel are done well? If so, what makes events in those games good?
I've not really experienced great events if I'm honest. If I did they are not memorable.
Other posts have provided good examples!
I enjoyed GW2 on release with their dynamic events but as many have said, they became repetitive very quickly. Same with fates in FFXIV.
I liked BDO were always adding events with wee rewards. I'd always look forward to patch day to see what events were on. These events were often a single player experience though.
Is there anything, in particular, you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown for the event system?
It all sounds so eventful - I'm incredibly hyped! I just don't know how it can all be pulled off >.<
Many others have raised good points so far so I'm grateful Intrepid are asking these questions early on ^^
The event system as in GW2 adds variety to the gameplay, but it is annoying when the same event appears several times in a row.
In this regard, it seems to me an interesting idea to divide the events into several groups:
1) Solo events
The simplest, found all over the world. They take 10-15 minutes and give a small reward. They occur on average once every 1-2 hours. They are needed to diversify the exploration of the world. They have no consequences, since it is impossible to prepare for them.
2) Group events
Rarer and more complex events, but also randomly occurring on the map. They require 15-20 minutes and the presence of a group. They are needed to entertain a group gathered, for example, to go to a dungeon. They also have no consequences.
3) Guild events
Serious tests aimed at guild castles. Something like a siege, but in pve. The owner guild participates in them. Notifications about the event arrive several days in advance. As a reward, there can be buffs/ helpers for PVP sieges. In case of defeat - debuffs. This could encourage players to keep an eye on the map and guild castles to use this in politics. Occur about once a month and last like a siege. You can think about a system that allows players to delay the start time of this event in order to launch it at a convenient time for the guild.
4) City events
The same as guild ones, but they happen in cities. They do not happen often, require preparation, have serious consequences, but also a good reward. The difficulty depends on the node level. Event notifications start long before it.
5) (Debatable) World events?
Extremely rare events that have a global scale and affect all nodes to varying degrees. Something like an ancient beast lifting from the mouth of a volcano or the coming of god. This can be an incredibly epic event that requires the efforts of the entire server. Something similar is missing in TESO. When you fight as a Daedra prince in a single story... It's boring and not memorable. And a truly epic event affecting the whole world would be something really new and memorable. Of course, such events should happen once.
To prevent that, I'd say the events threat escalation must be hard to predict. Sometime the situation must fester for a while before things get moving, sometime slow, sometime fast. At other times, an event should appear at Avengers-level threat right away, having important negatives if ignored. Sometimes the initial hit could be high and stay so until the situation is taken care of. At other time it could slowly fade away, player actions making it faster (environment threat seems to fit easily in that category).
Anything that makes the world feel dynamic and player actions matter.
Music
Would be nice to have some special funny, vibrant holiday music in the nodes when the event start. If this music is irritating for ppl we can toggle the music off or the music only starts when u are at the holiday event place. But dont make the music irritating to lisen to, it should give you a pleasent feeling and make you feel the holiday spirits.
Rewards for the holiday events can be:
Character cosmetics
Barding
Cosmetic pets
Housing items
Tattoo
Hair
Cosmetic Earings/rings
Emotes
Make sure that "winter" event rewards from year xxxx will not be the same the next year.
Mysterious/silly/funny event/holiday quest
A mini mysterious quest "one time only quest" for the season event like "missing raindeer" "blood in the water".
Example: "Big bunny footprints quest" = You have to track where this big footprints are coming from and on
ur way u see alot of damaged trees and a destroyed caravan and a crying npc near it. You talk to him and he tells you that a big rabbit jumped on his caraven and destroyed everything he owns and he want you to track it down and kill it. You continue to follow clues and tracks to find it. And when you do, there should be a "bunny monster boss" that you and others have to kill. I do not know if mini event bosses should make you have 50 ppl to kill it cuz that can be troubblesome at the end days of the event, since many ppl have already done it. Mabye make event bosses increase HP depending on how many attacking it? So even if you are only 6 ppl you can sill be able to kill it. Make this mini bosses fun like some silly/funny mecanics
Currency for Minigames/repetative event games that is multiplayer oriented 1st place to last place.
Entering this mini event games will give you event curency/points that will allow you to buy "winter holiday" rewards for this year from a vendor.
A win in a holiday event game is rewarded with 50 points and second place 40 points and so on. Even if you lose you get 10 points.
1st : 50 points
2st : 40 points
3st : 30 points
4st : 20 points
5- and beyond 10 points.
The cozy table lantern for you housing cost 30 points and the cosmetic pet cost 100 points from the event vendor.
Mini games with other players.
Some suggestion about some minigames i think might be fun in Verra ^^
There is some fun minigames in World of warcraft that sadly no one uses because the reward is the same every year kinda xD so ppl dont want to do it. I think it is healhty if holiday events have 1 or max 2 multiplayer minigames that you dont get to do next year because next year there might be 1 or 2 other minigames you havent done before. so its good if there is a stack of minigames in reserv that you can rotate between in different holidays.
I will give some examples of minigames that might be fun
1: Drunk racing.
Events starts in 10 min. ppl need to get the drunken debuff to enter this race. You get the debuff by buying drink from the tavern or "lemonade stand" near the event starting area and drink like 5 alcohol beverage. This debuff last 30 min. The only way to get the debuff off is to wait 30 min or click on the water bucket that is placed somewhere in the event area to "wash off" ur drunkness or something xD
This drunk effect makes it hard to go straight and u wiggle abit and its abit challenging to walk to the event you need to be at. When u finally arrive at the drunk racing track you sign up to enter by talking to an npc.
This npc then places you and the other ppl that wanna join at the starting place and after countdown you all starts to walk drunk to the finish line while you have a timer to get there. and there will be obstacles.
(ppl who dont compete can cheer outside of the track and they will not be able to enter the track) this because we dont want them to block ppl.
The drunked race feeling and difficutly should be something similar to this game in this video at 1:20 until 1:57
2: Eating contest
Something similar to this game would be fun
you get a small debuff so u cant enter again for a few minutes so other ppl get a chance to enter. Don't know how long events should last but if in the last days there is fewer ppl doing this event then ofc there will
only be 4 ppl out of 10 competing. The game start regarding if only 4 ppl sign up out of 10. As soon the first person sign up there will be a timer and ppl who wants to join have 1 min on them to enter.
Video at 0:32 until 1:36
3: Transmog Competition
Something similar to this mabye? how to make it non instance i don't know.
4: Mount racing
some sort of racing track around the outside of the "city" where there is jumping obstacles, "mud you have to avoid cuz they slow" Boosting speed places, kinda like the horse game
Alicia online. To make it fair for everybodey everyone gets the same mount only for this racing track. you "borrow a mount". Like in this video its fun that there is both jumping/slowing effects and gliding.
Kinda get a feel of mario cart vibe here haha. This would be fun as a event game or mabye a permanent racing like in Final fantasy xiv chocobo racing.
5: This is the right cup
A fun event that is kinda like this game in mario party starts at 2:39 until 4:06
This event can be about chosing the right cup that has something underneath it. the other cups are empty. If you chose an empty cup you are out. This event might have something similar to the eating contest. after you done it you have a debuff for some minutes so u cant enter right away so other ppl can enter and get a chance.
6: Jumping puzzle event
Get to the top to get "point rewards/event currency" by opening the Tresure chest
7: Find Stevens hidden sandals around the city
The questgiver "Steven" who is barefoot wants you to find his sandals around the city, he has lost them and need ur help, find hidden sandals around the city. I think the meme about Stevens sandals should be a ingame event xD
The problem here is that nodes changes and are different from eachothers so how can we for example put jumping puzzles or find Stevens sandals as a game event? I dont know, mabye the devs need to hide the sandals invidualy in every node? thats troublesome... Or the sandals are hidden in a place near the node that dont change even if the node lvls up? As i said this is just ideas ^^
I wonder if we can get burning gold sellers at the stake past pegi 16. I doubt it, but you know. Stephen mentioned putting them in the gallows a while back. I feel like being burnt at the stake might be more age appropriate AND Fit the world better. Or maybe cartoonishly electrocuting them into an ash pile via the gods smiting them on a public altar for such crimes? That feels a bit more possible to fit into pegi 16 as well.
As We can see in many modern MMO's in same cases big guilds or/and "elite" layer of players could claim control over entire server economy, belittling less active players, that process harmful to server and project in long term.
I advice to think about events that scaled base of gap between nodes progress in meaning of server and project statistics, in order to prevent from exist extremely over developed nodes and/or servers. Maybe one day we will talk about server vs server activity, so keep it possible to easy implement such ideas.
How I see that:
1) Special events de-buffs in over active nodes, same as buff for not enough active nodes.
2) Special unplayable race that always have ingame mechanical advantage over playable characters, with purpose to interrupt against over strong guilds/nodes.
3) Economy events base on caravans/ships, for example we have two nodes: first well progressed in military aspect, second with poor military but with good alchemy crafts potential. So delivery of nice amount of weapons from node 1 to 2 should promote in same way military progress of node 2 and vice versa.
4) Armageddon event?! over big patches, include same "small wipes" of nodes in order always be able to improve and rework nodes balance and economy,
Any one specific event should be rare. Certainly not a daily occurrence, and for most not even a weekly one. IMO, events should be a break from the daily routine, and never part of the daily routine. Larger events should happen very rarely (once a month at most perhaps) and be very consequential regardless of the outcome. However, with many possible events in the game and the large size of the world, there is likely going to be an event going on somewhere on Verra at any time.
Most events of a combat nature need to be quite challenging, requiring players to group up and seek help in the community. Smaller, solo-able events should definitely also exist, and they could just be about giving the players in the area a cool visual to gawp at. Perhaps something conducive to roleplaying.
I like some randomness in both triggering the events, and the paths they go down in the event tree, so players can't just google and replicate the exact same steps every time.
Calendar Events
From the stream it sounds like you guys took away the right message from the feedback thread on calendar events, so I am not really going to comment on that, other than to say you seem to be on the right track, IMO. Developing a culture for each race and applying that sounds like the right choice.
Node Attack Events
A major pitfall here is, if at any point in the game it is possible and advantageous to NOT interact with a node attack event, players will optimize the fun out of it and the community might turn toxic. For example, higher level players might yell at lower level players for killing a goblin raid group, that if left unchecked would otherwise trigger a monster coin event.
A proper event chain design here HAS to make sure that participating in the beginning stages of the event always leads to something desirable. That player actions in the early stages never stop the event chains, only alter them for the better. It could for example be that monster coin events only happen when players successfully handle the smaller goblin tribe in time before they invade, instead of ignoring it.
I would much prefer if node attack events are triggered and branched off based on the POI events surrounding the node, so that almost no matter what, a node attack WILL happen, but that the exact nature and timing of it can be directed by player actions.
Point Of Interest Events
These sound like the most interesting to me in terms of potential for interesting gameplay. I don't really have much to add here that Steven didn't already mention though. Maybe just one thing: At all times, please keep in mind the overall theme and story of the return. Why are we (the characters) back on Verra now? It's basically to repopulate the world and to kick the ancients and the power of The Others off the planet. To eradicate corruption. In the process, the character races are going to piss off a lot of the current native population of Verra.
Corruption plays a large part of the overall theme. Displaced races like goblins might turn towards Corruption as a tool to become stronger in order to kill the playable races that came back, for example.
As with the node attack events, players should always be rewarded more for participating in all stages of the event, rather than sit the first parts out in order to trigger the big event at the end. Branching event trees with multiple different outcomes are best, with more desirable outcomes the more the players are involved in every step.
PvP Events
The only thing I'll add here is, that I like how players must organize and send out groups to different locations, and perhaps time it. It adds strategic and tactical elements to the game.
I would also like to see similar requirements for handling PvE events, like node attack events or POI events, in order to handle them successfully. Players shouldn't just be able to zerg them down, but have to actively organize and split up into different task forces.
Event Notifications
I love the idea of subtle hints. However, I would like if all events had a visual hint as well as an audio hint (like the sound of the falling tree in the forest). This is simply to allow hearing impaired or deaf people a chance to notice the signs. And to a lesser extent all the people who like to turn off the ingame music and blast their own music. I doubt blind people will be playing the game.
To re-use the "goblin tribe turning to corruption" example above, perhaps the surrounding area of their camp have the insects turn from a normal color to a more glowy red corruption color. Perhaps an ever so small hint of corrupted moss on a tree. Something that tells knowledgeable players that Hans the Goblin Shaman is fed up again, and has turned to The Others for protection.
Other Thoughts
I like the suggestion in an earlier post about events not only being negative in nature, or about overcoming a threat. Events that lead to a bumper crop or higher chance of mining rare gems would be really cool. A meteor strike full of valuable minerals. Clearing monsters in a corrupted lake area could lead to massively improved fishing down river for a short time. Stuff like that, at random.
2) Dynamic: such as the triggering event was killing some mobs. How those mobs were killed determines the follow on event mobs stats. If killed by primarily melee, then some stong anti-melee mobs spawn with everything else. if it were magic kills, then strong anti-magic mobs, etc.
3) npc enemies that are smart... taken from my D&D playing: they arent dumb. if they are gettin their butt beat down, they dont just stay to fight, but might try to flee and live to fight another day (boss npc types especially). If so, should be some way to prevent them from fleeing.
The next two, Im using New World as a what not to do. sorry...
4) as others have said, make it engaging. I dont want to just kill evil bunnies over and over, (again) to get a rare item. that was it. bunnies didnt fight back, no threat to player other than frustration over killing thousands of bunnies before getting the item....
5) NOT exclusive to a certain few players: New World invasions(50 players) and wars(50 vs 50). The controlling companies decided who got to participate, and wanting to WIN, only the top players would ever get picked.
Im sure some of it is repetitive as others have mentioned similar things. Dygz idea though is something Ive thought of a few times over the years while US holiday events are going on in games, and would be awesome to see.
This was an issue in Archeage. You would often log in, and by the time you had completed the current events tasks and some of the daily events and tasks that happen, it's time to log back out again - and you've not had a chance to actually play the game other than those events.
A game can either be one where players can do as they wish, or can be one where players have events that they need to participate in - or are best served if they do. It is very hard to create a game that is in between these two, I have yet to see such a game.
Events need to be rare enough that players can still play the rest of the game after fulfilling the needs of those events.
A: How fun it is, its rewards, Its consequences, and how often they will be happening, those 4 aspects are decisive for me to consider the events important or not.
Q: Do you feel anything is missing from the event system we’ve shared so far?
A: Lacking a lot of info to properly answer that.
Consequences, from what was told by Steven, seems like they are going to be meaningful,
As for how often they will happen, how fun and rewarding they are we will have to see.
Q: Are there types of events in other games that you feel are done well? If so, what makes events in those games good?
A: The main type of events i like are events that involves competition, conflict, big rewards, a sense of prestige for winning. Even tho Lineage 2 didn't had events especifically built for that other than Sieges and Territory war bi-weekly and Olympiads monthly Heroes, the often mere competition and conflict of clans and parties over Top grinding spots and World/Raid bosses made it up for most of its lack of "dynamic events" as players would make the events by themselves around the content in the game.
Even tho i like Archeage, it's daily horary restricted "dynamic events" felt more like chores than actual events that would bare minimum to no consequencies for not being cleared other than you being left behind in the daily chores rewards, were everybody was participating at minimum effort to get their destined participation reward. AA events could be far more enjoyable and meaningful by having less retrictive horaries and being all atleast weekly or bi-weeklyinstead of daily.
Q: Is there anything, in particular, you’re excited or concerned about regarding what was shown for the event system?
A: Both excited and concerned by all 4 aspects stated at the first answer.
Aren't we all sinners?
When it comes to events what I love about Tibia's events is the rarity of them. For example there is an Orc raid that happens very rarely (rough estimate once per month) it then spawns waves of monsters every 10mins for 30 minutes followed by a final wave which include boss spawns. These bosses have a rare chance of dropping unique items that can only be obtained from them, with a small chance.
Additionally, there is also a type of raid which I would love to see in Ashes Of Creation. it has the same type of design where monsters spawn every X amount of time but as a final wave instead of a boss it has a chance to spawn mount creatures that you can tame (Draptors). The game spawns X amount of Draptors and you have a X% chance to tame it, so its not guaranteed that you will manage to tame one however, when you finally do tame it I can't describe the feeling of satisfaction, especially when people acknowledge your mount.
Can I suggest another approach, without relying too heavily on RNG for spontaneity:
Example A - an event with mutually exclusive outcomes:
A population of beavers start building a dam. Players can help complete the dam by logging nearby trees, or they can eliminate the beavers and stop the dam from being built.
Example B - events with competitive outcomes:
A swarm of bees have settled on a flowery meadow, boosting all local gathering/farming activities. Killing the bees and their queen causes the bees to move to a new meadow somewhere else.
Example C - events that influence the same outcome:
Too much mining in the gold mine causes tunnels to collapse.
The beams supporting the mining tunnels can be destroyed, causing tunnels to collapse.
Example D - oscillating events:
Eliminating all Red Centaurs triggers a takeover by Black Centaurs.
Eliminating all Black Centaurs triggers a takeover by Red Centaurs.
This is excellent feedback that I wanted to highlight.
I love the idea of small, guerrilla-style guilds being able to attack a territory and collapse a mine or impact resources in some way that isn't reduced to just a 'who's got the biggest zerg' situation, and pairing it with a multi-solution prospect to the way events are handled. Many paths are definitely the way to go to enhance player agency. Goblin attacks on a city are cool; even cooler if I run a small guild that is angry at a zerg, and I want to aid the goblins in their attack.