Thoughts on Lower Level Content

[Sile]

There’s a solid game plan for content 50 and up but not much in the works for lower. I'm curious about people's opinions on this in light of emulator population. Many places could stand to have more mobs, named, items, and quests for the feeling of smoother progression in a more complete game, although too many options could spread lower level players thin with the greater restrictions on travel while removing said places as potential content to be retuned for the 50s.

One example which I think would be helpful here is the mysterious crystal caves south of Tar Janashir (so mysterious that, despite the obvious work put into them, the place doesn't even seem to have an actual name). They've got really good atmosphere, many different rooms on separate levels, and a diverse range of mobs that fit a theme but no quests, named, or unique loot. This could easily be spruced up into something of an alternative to Graystone complete with unique siderooms where ring events and bosses can be triggered using items farmed from trash a la Graystone's purification writs. On the other hand, it could be repurposed as a high end dungeon complete with a convenient hub nearby where class trainers can offer item set quests, or maybe even just as a 50 "solo area" as the bored max level players accumulate.

Under the circumstances, would people prefer a more balanced and diverse leveling experience or more options for endgame?

[John Adams]

[quote="Sile"]There’s a solid game plan for content 50 and up but not much in the works for lower.[/quote]
Not to derail your topic, but I'm not sure where this notion comes from. There is zero plan for "50 and up", and all our plans are for 1-50, with 100's of posts about what we (the community) want to do about the dead zone - eg,. the mid-game. I'm always interested to hear what others think, though this topic has been beat to death in the last 18 mos, which is what became the basis of our official game plan.

Aside from that, what I am very interested in is never-before-seen custom quests/lines/content as you mention, with new adventures that fit into the world we know, without changing too much of what's there (at least, initially). I'm also lobbying to finish some quest lines that were broken or abruptly came to an end - which fits nicely into the custom content genre. Let's hear what you got.

[Sile]

I was actually referring to the official design plan as I was writing my post, though I suppose the better choice of phrase would have been general direction rather than game plan; I was simply referring to the fact that you list specific items to be explored later. Apologies for my miscommunication.

So far the only quest idea I've actually fleshed out lately is essentially a later expansion on the Shaman-specific totem questline to include the three class hostile spirits, as well as lore on the difference between shaman and necromancer invocation of spirits, and the spiritual significance of Passage to Kortella. Without a bird's eye view of the quests available for specific places, level flow, etc. I am hesitant to start planning out new questlines for whole areas, with the exception of places like said crystal caves which I know for a fact were pretty much just there without relation to anything. I'm thinking that the crystal growth, from which Tar Janashir's Starspark is refined, could be the manifestation of a latent Xennu power thought long lost as a part of one of many plots engineered by Kaerellun, the plot goddess herself, with the nightmares within being projected from the confused, slumbering Xennu in a vault hidden deep underground.

For the time being, however, I'm just trying to get a better sense of priorities. I do know from experience that max level content was a big reason Vanguard (at least initially) couldn't maintain a healthy playerbase, so I wasn't sure if this would take precedence, especially in light of concerns of population and travel which may, for all I know, make significant lower level changes largely moot.

[Amnath]

I'd say a big pile of leveling content is great, the feeling of "you won't see it all on one character" is part of the draw.

I know the crystal cave and agree, there was a set of quests for the easier entry area, but nothing for the big part. Actually, it has another entrance with no humans. Hold of Intangibility had no quests, I don't think Falderhol did, or Darkeye Drop. Some places had material that was maybe kinda sub-par, like Spire's Keep, River Palace, Poison Cove, Zossyr Hakrel and Vault of the Hidden, and they never got much attention. Never saw the redone Falgarholm.

There are open areas with tons of mobs that seem to be missing material, such as the walled area of Blighted Lands, Northern Highlands (voice of Vejh'tun), Frostshard Lake (treants, trolls), Karrus Hakrel (rhinos, cyclopes). It doesn't all have to have lore or a big chain quest; something like Hold of Intangibility, which had some decent drops and a spawnable boss, is good for a quick fun run if you don't always have to be working on something seriously. And some of that stuff could be good for 2-3 person difficulty rather than full group. If I was going to revamp something to 50, I'd look at Poison Cove/Fallen Cove--it's pretty much past swamp on the way to APW. Hoping we wouldn't need a whole lot of revamps to continue an endgame, but, all those places would benefit very well from something being added.

You will never really change the fact that, at high levels all characters will be mashed into the same handful of content, and I think Vanguard should really shine with hugeness before you reach that point.

[Sile]

A very valid point. And that's a good listing. With little data all spread out it's hard to get a good read on what has stuff in it, been so long since I played.

Need to brush up on my lore, too. Took a trip to Hold of Intangibility and had myself a good head-scratching over how mind-controlling storm clouds fit into all this.

With that said, I did find good sources on the Xennu while adding to the wiki, so I think I will actually switch gears here and map out quests and named for those caves. Even the level range works out as it would make a great lead-in to Xennumet alongside Stranglewater.

[Amnath]

Stormclouds sounds like a blow over from Trengal Keep.

A lot of places were converted to 20s areas. Lomshir is intended to drop back to a starter zone. I'd think Veskal's Exchange might be better off as a teens area as original. 20s seemed to work for Kaon's Rush, Temple of Dailuk, and Hathor Zhi as they changed them. I don't recall any other whole chunks being changed. HZ lower area was still low level I believe.

Not sure what Xenn caves you mean. Xennumet key was a relatively epic quest that started in Dragon's Backbone, and you just needed to be grouped with a key holder to get in.

[Sile]

Closest thing I've seen was Dazar Cave of Reflection (which only includes the portion with the Dazar Loyalists), so I'm thinking we'll just call it Cave of Reflection.

Nothing actually Xenn related there, but it certainly could be made to fit lorewise: sophisticated crystal technology, underground vaults, heavy presence of Mantodea like the guardians at the Isle of Madness, golems, close proximity to the ocean.

[Amnath]

I took the Cave of Reflection to be just the upper part where you walk in, and can reflect on the lake. It's not really the entrance to the next part, since you have to have lev to get across; swimming doesn't work if I remember rightly. So I think the crystal cave is something else, its entrance is the other door. Yes, that place would love some quests or events. Maybe a random Xenn drop from the coast that you can bring in and make a whatchamadigger. Or fill it with the crystals that make Xenn tech armor. I dunno, but it sounds like a good direction.

[Sile]

My thought on that was the reflection could be double meaning including not just the spring but the despair of the confused, dying Xennu reflected in the coalesced nightmares. On the other hand, Cave of [word] is pretty much the most borefest way to name a dungeon anyway, so I wouldn't oppose something fresher.

I wouldn't think the Xennu shards would particularly fit here given that any actual Xennu presence would be far beneath the caves, although I am thinking it should offer rewards not already included in Isle of Madness quests. I've read old complaints about there not being weapon schematics for casters. I don't think there was jewelry either.

[Amnath]

The impression I got was that some of the Xenn tech stuff was pretty easy to make, but the better pieces were not really worth the time to farm out the mats compared to other things you could be doing. No, it wasn't a Xenn place outside of TJ, however, it's beside salt flats. So yeah, a related background makes sense.