Gameplay Mentality

[jezer]

One post recently listed a bunch of area’s that are never run because they are bad coins, bad xp etc… So I got to thinking, what areas are actually well made… and why are they well made?
I kind of love to hate it… but I actually think from a building point of view Autumnal Forest is actually a perfect example of a great area… it has a lot of diversity combined with a lot of purpose…

• It’s best to employ strategies to kill mobs… Maimed Elf, Warty Goblin, Fortune Seeker .
• All Autumnal Mobs give a decent amount of coins for their size and type.
• There is the JJD forge, which is tedious, but great reward, it’s also never outside the reach of any class in its ability to be completed, even if it can’t be worn by all classes.
• The mage there helps you deal with the effects put on you by the other mobs.
• Some mobs blast, others flee, others phase, others do all sorts of procs, some steal some are hidden.
• It’s nearly always best to have followers and mount’s and peri’s, but they are not required.
• It’s hard tedious work, but you don’t exactly need an epic group to run there.
• The mobs and rooms are in tone with the theme. Dark Room inside aspen etc.
• The xp is good reward for the level of player that runs there.
• The amount of moves it costs to walk there can be a trap or danger in its self.

So why make this random post… well for one, I want to know what other area’s you think are good… but more importantly… I think game play and hence enjoyment comes from more than just… Killing huge killer mobs for plus stats. This might seem counter to some of my past sentiment… but it’s not, I’m actually more talking about the journey in which that reward is achieved.

Epic groups kind of seem to be linear… get tanks, get mage, get healo, line up, kill mob, get points… next…

[b:20b8r24d]When I think after reading posts from Akasha and Juggleblood, they are actually trying to create a journey/experience for players not mindless +1ism. I think this is why, when everyone dies at a tricky mob people get upset, because the mindset is for the reward, not so much for the experience of playing.[/b:20b8r24d]

I might not want to join epic groups in the near future… but I’m gonna look at doing the honor quests for sure… I like puzzles, not just physical challenges.

I was power leveling one of my characters for weeks, going hard core on plus levels, plus this and plus that, but after dusting off the valker, and getting away from all this mad “get the +1” mentality for a week… I guess I’m seeing things in new light here.

A big thanks to the immortals who think outside the LINEAR BOX when they create stuff.

Things don’t need to be big, huge, aggro and killer for a great reward, sometimes they just need to prompt introspection… a puzzle for the player to crack and I think that gives better gameplay.

I guess I could have said all this in a few words, and maybe Yasik is better off skipping to this bit…

“It’s about the journey, not the destination.”

[Roadrunr]

I'd have to say, your example, Autumnal, was far easier when I ran my first 2-3 vk'ers through but by the time I got to thump the things that were easy had been changed and made much more difficult.

as for the +1ism, yeah, that can be a way of life. I think I'm in a very slow mode of that atm but mostly because I play 1-2 runs at a time and rarely more than an hour total a day anymore. It's hard to do autoquests and such on 2 runs a day so I dont tend to worry about them too much (although I could have a little more decent eq if I took the time to do autos and forges, it just doesnt work for me right now) and while I probably should just stop playing, I've tried that and it never works so my current method minimizes impact while still allowing me to get my 'fix' and taking the slow road to the few stats I needed on roadrunr. once I get there, I may be done...who knows. (and by slow road, if I get 1bil xp in a month, it was a good month)

[13]

lol