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Some Ideas Regarding Constellation Exploration or Star-Gazing
Goalid
Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
I think the best part of the Livestream was the reveal about constellations. Constellations will tie in the importance of religious lore to min-max your character when it comes to whatever buffs the constellations end up giving players.
However, I am worried about one thing. Every time Intrepid resets the constellation locations, there will be a server discord that tells everyone the exact place they need to go to get a specific buff. That exploration gameplay won't exist. Instead of searching for constellations to provide your character with that edge over others, it will be a quick chore that everyone on the server does as a daily, weekly, or however often Intrepid resets that timer.
I would rather not have constellations just be a chore for me, but something that if I'm better at doing than others, I can excel at. How is that possible in this day and age of online game guides and community collaboration? Here's how.
As someone quickly noted to me about constellations, you can see a similar night sky as someone else over a large distance, which would make it odd that constellations are quickly disappearing just from moving over a couple of nodes. So rather than have it so that you need to find a clear sky in order to obtain constellation buffs, I propose that these constellations are viewable from any point on the map with a clear view of the sky. How then will players excel at stargazing?
Make it so that the stars are highlighted and connected only when you are in a specific area. That specific area is the precise location where the religious blessing, that divine starlight, is at its strongest. It would be the only place where you would receive a buff. But, that location isn't determined merely by server RNG each week. The location where your constellation buffs are acquired is different between each individual player. Now, there won't be a map on discord telling you how to run your constellation weeklies. We'd be forcing each individual player to follow a specific exploration gameplay loop that only works for their character.
And that would have a problem when it comes to group play. If every individual player has different locations they have to go to, then there's no benefit to grouping up to do this gameplay. So, it can't simply be a solo activity. Therefore, make constellations family specific.
How should Intrepid make Constellation Exploration fun then? Let's say your family member wants a specific constellation buff. You can then go exploring for that buff by staring at the stars. Intrepid could throw in a little mini-game here if they want, maybe a prayer or just having your cursor connect some stars together to make a constellation, but that's not necessary. Once you've completed your stargazing, the stars highlight and point you in the direction you need to go. You go in that direction for a bit, and then you stargaze again, and the server tells you where to go next. You do this process until you finally end up in the area with divine starlight that gives you buffs. You obtain that constellation buff and can let your family members know the location where they can collect that same buff. That Stargazing Spot lasts for a week, two weeks, maybe less, however long Intrepid wants, and then the spots reset and you have to explore all over again.
How does one get better at star-gazing? I can think of a couple of ways. First, a Vekian Stargazing social organization that you can be a member of and progress through. You wouldn't have to be a Vek to be a member of the social organization, just that its NPCs would primarily be Vek. Second, grouping up with family members while stargazing would give you more precise locations or shorter distances to travel in order to complete a specific constellation. Third, be Vek. That can be the Vek's utility, racial bonus. And then you can pair that with having better mounts to get to specific locations, being better at jumping puzzles to get to the tops of mountains and certain areas, etc. Now you can be a great stargazer compared to others, and provide your family with buffs that cement your place in that family.
I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on how stargazing could work!
However, I am worried about one thing. Every time Intrepid resets the constellation locations, there will be a server discord that tells everyone the exact place they need to go to get a specific buff. That exploration gameplay won't exist. Instead of searching for constellations to provide your character with that edge over others, it will be a quick chore that everyone on the server does as a daily, weekly, or however often Intrepid resets that timer.
I would rather not have constellations just be a chore for me, but something that if I'm better at doing than others, I can excel at. How is that possible in this day and age of online game guides and community collaboration? Here's how.
As someone quickly noted to me about constellations, you can see a similar night sky as someone else over a large distance, which would make it odd that constellations are quickly disappearing just from moving over a couple of nodes. So rather than have it so that you need to find a clear sky in order to obtain constellation buffs, I propose that these constellations are viewable from any point on the map with a clear view of the sky. How then will players excel at stargazing?
Make it so that the stars are highlighted and connected only when you are in a specific area. That specific area is the precise location where the religious blessing, that divine starlight, is at its strongest. It would be the only place where you would receive a buff. But, that location isn't determined merely by server RNG each week. The location where your constellation buffs are acquired is different between each individual player. Now, there won't be a map on discord telling you how to run your constellation weeklies. We'd be forcing each individual player to follow a specific exploration gameplay loop that only works for their character.
And that would have a problem when it comes to group play. If every individual player has different locations they have to go to, then there's no benefit to grouping up to do this gameplay. So, it can't simply be a solo activity. Therefore, make constellations family specific.
How should Intrepid make Constellation Exploration fun then? Let's say your family member wants a specific constellation buff. You can then go exploring for that buff by staring at the stars. Intrepid could throw in a little mini-game here if they want, maybe a prayer or just having your cursor connect some stars together to make a constellation, but that's not necessary. Once you've completed your stargazing, the stars highlight and point you in the direction you need to go. You go in that direction for a bit, and then you stargaze again, and the server tells you where to go next. You do this process until you finally end up in the area with divine starlight that gives you buffs. You obtain that constellation buff and can let your family members know the location where they can collect that same buff. That Stargazing Spot lasts for a week, two weeks, maybe less, however long Intrepid wants, and then the spots reset and you have to explore all over again.
How does one get better at star-gazing? I can think of a couple of ways. First, a Vekian Stargazing social organization that you can be a member of and progress through. You wouldn't have to be a Vek to be a member of the social organization, just that its NPCs would primarily be Vek. Second, grouping up with family members while stargazing would give you more precise locations or shorter distances to travel in order to complete a specific constellation. Third, be Vek. That can be the Vek's utility, racial bonus. And then you can pair that with having better mounts to get to specific locations, being better at jumping puzzles to get to the tops of mountains and certain areas, etc. Now you can be a great stargazer compared to others, and provide your family with buffs that cement your place in that family.
I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on how stargazing could work!
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Comments
Perhaps I missed it, or did you just assume/make up the discord announcement, that you need to go to a specific place for a buff, that IS will periodically 'reset' the stars in the sky and that this reset will be on a set timer?
Thanks! TT
yes, it's in the last stream
Nope just assuming it would be something like that! Could also be the case that they could just have static locations for each constellation. But I think that would be such a waste personally, and just a chore for people to visit exact spots.
Not only families play toghether.
Everybody plays together. Citizens or guildmember play together too. Even enemies who want to hunt eachother depend on eachother's presence.
Families should be removed from the game or make guilds have same benefits.
Not nice to bind finger dexterity to an activity which should be about observing and understanding what happens in the sky.
I disagree with this. The reason I thought families were a good option was because the max size is 8 iirc. The max guild size is 300. If you let guilds share locations, then not as many people have to engage with the gameplay.
Families are an interesting part of the game, taken from ArcheAge. If Intrepid does it right, your family will be a tight group of friends you play together with. It's basically a system that rewards you for having close friends, which I think is great in a MMO that probably will have a fair amount of zerging.
Yes, but exploring to get to a mountaintop or something similar can be bound to finger dexterity. And I don't think anyone is demanding an insanely difficult platformer, just something that adds a bit of fun and breaks up the monotony.
I'd love to hear more about your thoughts on how the constellation system should or could work in addition to what we know at this time
Let me give an example, make rain for a period of time:
Could be weather spells, defensive spells, CC, attack spells... could be fighting buffs, etc, anything at all
Something like that, you could run atunements on your character by meditation while stargazing certain constelation and get it's blessings?
Maybe you could have 10 slots to fill with many different blessings from the stars sent by their gods and use them whenever you want an they would be a one time cast... if you want to cast that again you would have to stargaze again while meditating