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Dev Discussion #55 - Dream Nodes
Glorious Ashes community - it's time for another Dev Discussion! Dev Discussion topics are kind of like a "reverse Q&A" - rather than you asking us questions about Ashes of Creation, we want to ask YOU what your thoughts are.
Our design team has compiled a list of burning questions we'd love to get your feedback on regarding gameplay, your past MMO experiences, and more. Join in on the Dev Discussion and share what makes gaming special to you!
Dev Discussion - Dream Nodes
What type of environment would you like to spend most of your time in? Whether it is in a certain biome or a strategic location, what makes a node desirable to you?
Keep an eye out for our next Dev Discussion
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Edit: Follow up questions!
- Do you care more about certain biomes or strategic locations?
- Do you plan on changing the way you play, based on your node?
- Do you want the node you choose to determine how you play the game, or based on the way you play the game will you choose whatever node is best for you at the moment?
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The ambiance of a snowy zone is usually the most relaxing too. That and grinding divine node reputation will be BIS for me
I really like this art ^^
Remember to share with us an image without the text
-Swamps and bogs
-Sulphur fields
-Salt plains
-Alkaline lakes that petrify living things, like Lake Natron in Tanzania
-Bamboo forest
-Poppy fields or mixed flower area
-Birch forest
-Red maple tree forest
-Gorges
-Fast rivers (for kayaking)
-Big waterfalls
-Sequoia, baobab or dragon blood tree forest
-A plain area with blustering winds and trees like the ones in Slope Point in New Zealand.
-Canyon area
-Basalt columns area like the ones at the shores of Iceland.
A node should have an Identity and one should not look like the other. They also do not have to be round all the time. The placement should feel organic.
Ideas:
- A Mountain node. A node that can be seen far and wide presiding on top of a hill or mountain.
- A Gate Node at a Cliff side with a wide open field in front of it. This node literally has a gate in it that bars enemies from not having to take loong route around the mountain range
- A canyon node. Similar to the Gate Node it lies within a valley surrounded by mountains or is tugged tight into a canyon.
- A Dynamic Node. Depending on the main occupying race it completely changes its design and the surrounding area. Elves may live within tree houses and the node is surrounded by forst. Humans may have large fields around it. Dwarfs may actually build underground here with the landscape above not even indicating a city underneath except for the occasional small guard post building made of stone that is also an entrance.
- A Floating Island Node. This Node is literally on a floating island with bridges going across to it which increase in size according to the node level. Extra Idea for it. It sits on top of a active volcano.
- An underground upside down Node. A node which entrances literally twist around and the city being upside down on a cave ceiling (and the gravity obviously working upwards not downwards.)
- A ship node. A scientific coastal metropolis can create this node if none exist in the world. It requires gigantic amount of resources (We're talking an Event of the Size of the Gates of Anqirai in WoW) likely taking months to do. This node would be a platform of the size of a metropolis that would be able to sail the seas of verra. Slowly. Very slowly. It would be visible at all times on the map and effectively be the biggest caravan and siege weapon (for coastal nodes) of the whole game. Destroying the node would require a rebuilt of the whole node. Any scientific coastal metropolis can start to build such a node but finishing it needs a component that only exist once per server and cannot be destroyed. This item is so valuable and so rare that factions will literally go to war with each other to gain it. One of the few items with the description "Server Unique".
- A spire node. A vertical node. A Tower that grows larger and larger with each stage. It has a wide food and the mayors office on top. In its metropolis stage it is the highest point in verra. Depending on race it can also be a tree or a biiig rock with holes in it.
- An underwater node under a dome of magic. The current design already considers underground nodes. Whether or not its water or rock surrounding doesn't really matter that much, or?
- A ruin Node. The node starts out with a metropolis of ruins. The progress rebuilds the node. If its destroyed it goes back to its original stage. Ashes to Ashes. Nothing is permanent in this wicked world, not even our troubles.
As these ideas above should illustrate: Nodes should have character and not be boring. Do not make them generic. These ideas are static. They don't interfere with the game design of nodes to much. Would elve buildings look potentially silly on a node above an active volcano when they are made of living flammable material? Sure. But that could probably be fixed with some texture recolouring or other design ideas that don't require to much work.
As there are 85 nodes, it shouldn't be impossible to make each of them somewhat unique. With some of the features never to be seen on some servers since nodes lock each other out.
Sieges should be different from node to node and require different strategy. It should be obvious that a siege to an underground node would not be done with trebuches and catapults. It would be done by starving the node because it requires food from the outside. It would be done by fire and smoke.
For a node I frequent such as a node my guild operates from, I would prefer either a dark, nightmarish type environment filled with dark energy and maybe ghouls/demons lurking around with black/red colors or a very pristine ice fortress type of environment.
Am hoping to hook up with a branchler-elf-centric or science node-centric group right before or right after launch, and settle deep in the forests. Time to establish a new elven capital....
I also love some of the really fantastical looking concept art you have for the Underrealm - except would love something like that above ground.
What's funny to me is the thought that end-game isn't getting max level and BiS gear, but complete purgation and mitigation of corruption to the point where the devs have to respond with new content to handle the condition we've created.
Where I actually settle is hard to tell without a lot more context: guild, node community, profession and resources available, local supply & demand, proximity to other nodes (trade hub), and node type.
Overall I'd like a central Scientific metropolis that is a hub for travel, or a difficult to access cut-off node with special resources that feels like our own little corner of the world. The science hub would make traveling to it easier circumventing some mountains/ravine/dangers or something
From an environment perspective, we were looking at locations that offer either extreme "flatness" or crazy verticality for defensive purposes since only mayors and maybe a few others will be able to fly. Aesthetically, it would be cool if the town in the node matched the local environment, not just necessarily the racial identity of the owners. As an example, if humans built wooden towns akin to medieval architecture, but the node was somewhere where the trees have purple wood, then that should be reflected in the buildings' color, even if the architecture itself remains "human".
My personal preference would be a node in a valley surrounded by mountains with crest snow-laden peaks above but a rich lush river-basin in the valley below. Or an island, gotta love islands.
There ya go, friend!
I haven't seen anything like it yet in AoC but man do I really hope we have some haunted forests, maybe at night the Elite Undead come out(think Kithicor forest in EQ1). Obviously something different but an event that changes the way the way players interact with the zone ( Don't go in at night vibe)
-plains that suddenly cut off and turn into steep cliffs (White Cliffs of Dover)
-Gorges with fast rivers and dwarven faces carved on cliffs (Rock sculpture of Decebalus)