Here's a thought that would possibly be just as effective as progeny at keeping lower zones populated with mentoring etc.. What if weapons all leveled to relevance with you. It makes sense and a lot could be done with it.
For example a rusty sword could be 2 damage at level 1, 5+1(bleed) at 10 and so on and at level 50 certain more unique / rare items could have some really cool effects. So you would never know what that "bloodied shortsword" you found at level 10 could turn into at level 50. Now I'm not suggesting that they be just as good as rare gear found at 50, but with certain special effects some could be just as appealing and plenty of players would be interested in mentoring to see what these items turn into.
Anyway, just a thought that I had that seems like it could add a lot to the game and make loot meaningful always. After all I think we all agree a level 50 should be dangerous regardless of what they have in their hand just based off of battle experience, and that rusty sword that you hand them they should be able to do unique things with it.
Not a bad idea. Personally I'd prefer to see salvage and sacrifice used in such a way that all the items you get could be used to add spell & skill customization effects on pieces of gear, accomplishing the same goal.
That way, the horizontal progression is collecting enough of "anything" (or crafting it from salvage) to create various pieces of gear that customize all your spells & skills dynamically, so you can truly adapt per encounter or focus your play style, per zone or encounter.
Every number on any skill/spell should be customizable, within hard caps.
It's an interesting concept. I think if the game were going to do something like this, it would want to integrate this with a depth in terms of character skills (so that you have to go work up skills to unlock the full potential of a piece), and crafting would have to operate differently from what many people are used to. But it is definitely an interesting idea :)
Unless I am misunderstanding the concept, I would think people would hold on to items way too long then.
Easiest way to deal with that, Fulton, would be to have item level determine hard cap of effect. That way, even for a base piece before augmentation/customization/enchantment/whatever , you would still need to get a higher level item to improve the effect(s) beyond a certain point.
Well it's also just an idea, but imagining the possibilities, could be really neat. Especially if the later effects / statistics aren't shown until the relevant levels. Finding a rare sword at 10, and having a level 50 link you the weapon as it would be at 50 and finding out the effect is really awesome, and situationally could be relevant even at 50, it would just be a great feeling. You're either going to sell it, or keep it. With limited bank space you're certainly not going to hold on to every weapon you find, but also would encourage socialization by having people communicating what the sword is like at 15, 30, 50th level. The 50th level may then decide to mentor to that level and go find that sword if the person decides not to sell.
I see the advantages but having played games where a major focus is leveling up some or all of your gear I also see disadvantages. Big ones.
A large part of the fun of the game - a large part of the incentive to keep playing and to do and redo and reredo content - is the hope of getting better gear.
Granted that there may still be ways of getting *better* gear than the OP suggests be available in the lower level zones, I find the thought of getting a staff at level 5 that I can reasonably keep using to level 50 ..... horrifying.
This is an idea you could run with and make very interesting. But not sure about just common drops like rusty swords. Maybe a cap at mid level. Like rusty - sharp - fine steel.. around lvl 20 it can not get any better. Then semi rare drops could go a little higher with some +stats. They could make some harsh dead ends in items and some maybe semi common items that have astounding potential, where most player would not even know until months and months into the game. Hey..you know that crappy sword that drops in that one castle..better hold on to that one.
Could even take to some peices of armor and make them class specific. Where maybe a paladin can get more useful stats out of these bracers then a ranger could at later levels, where at mid level the ranger gets better stats. That way we could see the items value change from one player to another through its life span.
Nice idea to imagine.
I mean I would be good with stuff like really basic armors and weapons being able to be polished or refined by crafters to an improved level, but that is about it. Stuff like a rusty iron sword or dented plate mail being turned into an iron sword or even a sharpened iron sword, or polished plate mail for minor bonuses would be fine. Turning basic trash gear into something more useful and requiring a skilled crafter to do it would be good. I do not want a system where item X stays with you forever and continually gets improved and improved as you level, etc. Gear should stay stagnant and get replaced for the most part in my opinion.
actually this is not a good idea it is used in LOTRO and was used and scrapped in WOW legion.
such system removes the "hunt" for the next weapon, because when you have the weapon that can level up, it stays, and you only feed other weapons to it ( or XP)
meaning you dont really have the drive to get a better weapon for you , nor the excitement when a better weapon drops, because you already have this weapon and it will level up with time.
making all other weapons in game to be redundant.
Ugh sorry can't seem to edit post on my phone... Icebreaker 1(5fire) damage min level 20 on par with other weapon around 6 magical damage, but against frost elementals etc., can be much more effective. Said weapon could be leveled up to 50 for say 5(15fire) damage which is no where near as good as other 50th weapons' 30 damage, but again situationally can still shine against frost elementals etc. due to that double fire damage. Which would make that mace sought after by many of us collectors at least until it is replaced with a 50th level weapon that has decent or any fire damage. I'm suggesting potentially relevant weapons with neat effects. Not suggesting the system you seem to be describing where you can easily just level all weapons to be equal.
TLogan said:For example a rusty sword could be 2 damage at level 1, 5+1(bleed) at 10 and so on and at level 50 certain more unique / rare items could have some really cool effects. So you would never know what that "bloodied shortsword" you found at level 10 could turn into at level 50.
The loottable would have to look at such that there is no other sword of level 2 up to 49 that has the same procs/base stats. If it were the case, there could be a high chance that the level 1 sword would still be replaced. The main reasons to hold on to that level 1 sword would be for nostalgic reasons and cosmetics. (On the last bit, I believe there is already some info coming from the dev's.)
That said, the loottable itself would have to be very diverse seeing that no two swords, two maces, two staffs should have the same stats if they are meant to be leveled up instead of being replaced by a higher level one. This could turn towards a loottable where swords all have varient stats, but the differences are so subtle that it might not be worth or visible at all. This would make the entire design quite hollowed out and might even loose it's purpose of leveling as a whole.
Or the design could be that only certain swords can be leveled up and those all have different stats. That might feel more like epic weaponlines. Class restricted and what not. If that were not the case all weapons below those that can level up might become very low in value and those that can might reach impossible selling prices on the market. Quite a slippery design.
If I was to use that level 1 sword, and dismiss all other swords up till I reach 50 and find that replacement of level 50. This might (like others have said) have caused other weapons to become of no or little value. This could in turn have a negative impact on my player experience as I might not be as excited as I could be with certain loot drops.
This are just my considerations, so I wouldnt toss it in the bin just yet.