Artisan Dungeons

Nullhypo

In most MMOs, gatherers and crafters have very simple game loops: click, wait, collect/craft, repeat. It is so braindead in some games you can plan out very specific routes and have nearly zero downtime while barely having to pay attention. I would like to see Artisan Dungeons added into the game or something similar. These dungeons would be timed events where you need to traverse traps, jump puzzles, and use your artisan skills in order to follow paths within this dungeon that lead to valuable/high end materials. A player that joins in right when it starts would not have enough time to gather everything of value in the dungeon. You would have a general idea of which materials are in each path and must prioritize the path you take for the resources you want/need the most. Once you've gathered as much as you think you can, you must traverse the path in reverse order and escape before time runs out. If you fail to escape, you will die and lose all resources gathered while inside of the dungeon.
This would break the monotony of the standard game loop and allow players to have a more varied game experience, especially for those that exclusively play as artisans and do not wish to partake in standard dungeons. Thoughts?

Noaani

I'm a fan of adding in content specifically for crafters, but this doesn't seem quite right for Ashes to me.

Taleof2Cities

Noaani is right on this one, @perryuppal.

This sounds like too many unnecessary hoops *on top of * the natural dangers that crafters (gatherers) will already be facing in an open world PvX environment.

That said, you should take some comfort in the fact that crafting is a big focus in Ashes ... with varied roles, jobs, and unique player choices.

Much of the legendary equipment will be made from you and your fellow node/guild compatriots (rather than farmed in a PvE instance for example).

And, each character is only allowed one max level crafting specialization ... while still being able to dabble in the other trades if they want to at a lower tier. This allows for socialization, teamwork, and increased reputation for you on a job well done.

Ludullu

Instead of having specific artisan dungeons, just have these kinds of mechanics in some of the normal dungeons. Players will already have to walk back from deep inside of a dungeon with their loot because there's no TPs. So just add mechanics where if they did some unique artisan-based action in the dungeon, there's more agro from mobs onto them or maybe some hazards get triggered on their way back or anything like that.

In other words, don't separate the playerbase and try to keep the content as all-encompassing as possible. This will make people rely on each other and will make that content feel more alive.

Nullhypo

NiKr wrote: »

Instead of having specific artisan dungeons, just have these kinds of mechanics in some of the normal dungeons. Players will already have to walk back from deep inside of a dungeon with their loot because there's no TPs. So just add mechanics where if they did some unique artisan-based action in the dungeon, there's more agro from mobs onto them or maybe some hazards get triggered on their way back or anything like that.

In other words, don't separate the playerbase and try to keep the content as all-encompassing as possible. This will make people rely on each other and will make that content feel more alive.

The primary purpose of this would be to appeal to players that do not want to engage in standard dungeons. These would not be a replacement for dungeons and instead serve as a weaker alternative. The best resources would still come from end-game dungeons as is typically expected

Ludullu

perryuppal wrote: »

The primary purpose of this would be to appeal to players that do not want to engage in standard dungeons.

And that's why I disagree with the suggestion. I want those standard dungeons to provide smth for everyone, so as to not splinter the playerbase. The non-mob pve content will already be separate from all the other pvx stuff, so why add even more separate content into the game.

Sapiverenus

Make crafting deeper and more grounded. Simple. Timing. . . Aiming. . . spam some buttons. . . bit of a workout ya know.
Sort of physics based, gamified physics based. . . gamified stuff. . . game. . . add more game to the process itself.

Happymeal2415

I agree with nikr. Don't separate the playerbase. They've talked about dungeons having hidden traps and alternative routes etc. I don't see why they can't add artisan based stuff as well. Would add to the group decision making process. Maybe have to cut a dps or 2 to bring your master miner or tamer or something. Make the run harder but reward greater. Which fits with risk vs reward.

Ace1234

@Sapiverenus

Make crafting deeper and more grounded. Simple. Timing. . . Aiming. . . spam some buttons. . . bit of a workout ya know.
Sort of physics based, gamified physics based. . . gamified stuff. . . game. . . add more game to the process itself.

This.

It seems like every time this gets mentioned people complain that it gets repetitive. So the solution is
1. make it deep enough so that you can have a dynamic experience even after a long time

2. Or another idea that I thought was interesting, was to make it to where the higher your mastery, the less of that "game" you have to participate in, to spare you that boring wasted time. This could be useful for when it starts to become stale and repetitive due to complete mastery of that artisan mini-game.

Obviously it would be ideal for it to be fun enough that this isn't neccessary, but the more sub-systems you add the less there will be to them, so at a certain point it becomes difficult to make everything sub-system in the game to have indefinite replay value. So something like this could be interesting.

Ace1234

I actually really like the idea of having to use the mechanics that you mastered in order to solve certain puzzles, such as your artisan skills. so that could be an interesting thing to integrate into puzzles, regardless of where that takes place or what kind if dungeon its in.

NoMadder

I am a big fan on innovative ideas, you get a thumbs up from me

Czeris

I don't really like the idea of trade skill only dungeons, but I do really like the idea of incorporating trade skills and trade skill based mini-games into regular dungeons. Think a Pizza Tycoon style timed mini-game to bypass traps or access special areas.

Abarat

Perhaps there could be special crafting stations in the bowels of the dungeons (when a node reaches a certain point) that can be used with greater result... or perhaps using it creates a byproduct that is rare/valuable. This would give groups/guilds a reason to bring a crafter and potentially generate risk vs. reward because said crafter would need the materials to perform the crafting on their person (or spread out amongst the group)

Ace1234

@Abarat

Yeah that sounds really cool to incoporate trade skills into your team comp, and the risk/reward of having to bring trade materials to have a special trade related reward at the end of a dungeon sounds like a really fun idea.

Abarat

To piggy back on another post, what if the dungeon bowel crafting stations required more than one specific kind of master crafter in order to gain the benefits of using it... interesting.

Murdach

Sapiverenus wrote: »

Make crafting deeper and more grounded. Simple. Timing. . . Aiming. . . spam some buttons. . . bit of a workout ya know.
Sort of physics based, gamified physics based. . . gamified stuff. . . game. . . add more game to the process itself.

This was a cool system in EQ2. I remember you could kill yourself if you tried to afk craft.

Murdach

Abarat wrote: »

To piggy back on another post, what if the dungeon bowel crafting stations required more than one specific kind of master crafter in order to gain the benefits of using it... interesting.

That would be bad. Cats might be shut out of dungeon groups, not because they didnt have the right gear or were a redundant Class but because they needed to be a certain type of Master Artisan. You could maybe add that in an Expansion if the number of active players is extremely high.