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Treasure maps as a game mechanic to compliment caravans and exploration.

ApokApok Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
in General Discussion
so two games come to mind from my experience, Atlas and FFXIV. In Atlas you pick up bottles out of the water, the better the map the further the treasure is from where you find a map. in FFXIV there's treasure maps that do a similar thing. You do some work for a map, and go find the treasure. There's actually a chance to get a portal to an instanced area where you get a chance to find extremely rare items (I wish they did this more but it was only part of one of the expansions from what I remember)

I think a similar system would be nice for Ashes to get groups of people out moving in the world, maps however they come into the player inventory can lead to cashes out in areas that are far off from any developed nodes/cities also possibly making greater use of the caravan system. for example a guild or group of friends can stockpile certain maps all centered around the same area. They take the caravan and pop their cashes and load up the loot and come back

thoughts/ideas?

Comments

  • LudulluLudullu Member, Alpha Two
    In the past we had this
    https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Scribing#Libraries
    Previously the Library was used to access information about the world, such as the history of significant narrative events, locations of gatherable resources, dungeons, and POIs.[17]
    In the past we talked about having a library that was capable of facilitating players exchanging information for map data like that, but we've moved a little bit more in a direction of just presenting that information up front to the player, because travel is such a meaningful portion of the game and we don't have fast travel. So, I think that for Alpha-2 what's planned is that we're going to be showcasing the intricate details of services offered at these node locations from just a UI presentation standpoint within the map.[19] – Steven Sharif

    I wish the didn't move away from that idea and we had the random treasures you mentioned and other POIs on maps that are either accessible through libraries or, ideally, made by players. Would be cool :)
  • ApokApok Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    NiKr wrote: »
    In the past we had this
    https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Scribing#Libraries
    Previously the Library was used to access information about the world, such as the history of significant narrative events, locations of gatherable resources, dungeons, and POIs.[17]
    In the past we talked about having a library that was capable of facilitating players exchanging information for map data like that, but we've moved a little bit more in a direction of just presenting that information up front to the player, because travel is such a meaningful portion of the game and we don't have fast travel. So, I think that for Alpha-2 what's planned is that we're going to be showcasing the intricate details of services offered at these node locations from just a UI presentation standpoint within the map.[19] – Steven Sharif

    I wish the didn't move away from that idea and we had the random treasures you mentioned and other POIs on maps that are either accessible through libraries or, ideally, made by players. Would be cool :)

    yeah I didn't know they we're toying around with something like that, maybe they shifted ideas when they came up with the caravan system
  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    Apok wrote: »
    NiKr wrote: »
    In the past we had this
    https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Scribing#Libraries
    Previously the Library was used to access information about the world, such as the history of significant narrative events, locations of gatherable resources, dungeons, and POIs.[17]
    In the past we talked about having a library that was capable of facilitating players exchanging information for map data like that, but we've moved a little bit more in a direction of just presenting that information up front to the player, because travel is such a meaningful portion of the game and we don't have fast travel. So, I think that for Alpha-2 what's planned is that we're going to be showcasing the intricate details of services offered at these node locations from just a UI presentation standpoint within the map.[19] – Steven Sharif

    I wish the didn't move away from that idea and we had the random treasures you mentioned and other POIs on maps that are either accessible through libraries or, ideally, made by players. Would be cool :)

    yeah I didn't know they we're toying around with something like that, maybe they shifted ideas when they came up with the caravan system

    It wasn't caravans that replaced the library, it was a mini-map.

    The idea was that you wouldn't know where to find, for example, a fuel merchant. In order to find it, you would go to the library and look up the information on it.

    That was shifted to making it so the map just showed you were that merchant was. Keep in mind, way back when this was a plan, there was no intention of giving players a mini-map at all - it seems they realized there is a reason every other game just does this, it isn't about making this easier, it is about making the game playable.

    The same also applied to things like harvestable resources. You would be able to tell where to find wood - as it tends to be in forests. If you were after a specific type of wood though, you would probably need to research where to find it.

    As an idea, this was atrocious for anything that players needed to play the game - NPC's resources etc.

    A similar system could be used for treasure hunting though - as long as it is only done for wealth. It would need to be altered a little though, as the original system employed player scribes to track all the information and if a player that is a scribe is told of a location of a hidden treasure, they would probably just go and get it themselves.
  • DiamahtDiamaht Member, Braver of Worlds, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Apok wrote: »
    so two games come to mind from my experience, Atlas and FFXIV. In Atlas you pick up bottles out of the water, the better the map the further the treasure is from where you find a map. in FFXIV there's treasure maps that do a similar thing. You do some work for a map, and go find the treasure. There's actually a chance to get a portal to an instanced area where you get a chance to find extremely rare items (I wish they did this more but it was only part of one of the expansions from what I remember)

    I think a similar system would be nice for Ashes to get groups of people out moving in the world, maps however they come into the player inventory can lead to cashes out in areas that are far off from any developed nodes/cities also possibly making greater use of the caravan system. for example a guild or group of friends can stockpile certain maps all centered around the same area. They take the caravan and pop their cashes and load up the loot and come back

    thoughts/ideas?

    Its a great idea. The more rare maps spawn somewhere deep in dungeons or deep in the ocean. The less rare spawn in safer areas. You have to have the map on you to dig up the treasure.

    It also gives some pvp potential. If people suspect you might be digging up something valuable, they can wait and then jump.
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