As long as there is no marker on the map indicating there location for most of them...
I don't want to be hand guided to specific places (except obvious ones like dunjeons maybe), I want to find them out of exploration, to have the surprise ! :)
Never know what is just behind a tree, if there is something interesting I might find (quest, npc, lore, view, etc...), that is 'Exploration' is for me, and I would love to see in Pantheon.
I'm all for it, provided the rewards are more cosmetic rather than something that makes a significant difference in development. A big exp reward will simply having grinders speed-levelers stomping all over it. But no reward at all? What you gonna do, take a screenshot? Its a delicate balance, but I believe one worth putting effort into.
By the way, I am also in favor of the occasional little "fun" feature thrown in that has no effect on gameplay whatsoever, but something we might look back and smile on in 10 years. That random cheeky reference to some unrelated world made by in a brief bit of dialogue with a random NPC out at some random location in the wild that pokes fun at a previous MMO experience, etc.
i get side tracked into exploring when im doing a quest then leveling at the same just smashing through until i get to what i wanted to see just to fill my curiosity
EDIT: Please dont put something out in the open world...only to find out later after 30 min of running there only to be block by an invisbale wall, i.e a slop i can run up to but blocked by invisble wall
"...an immediate oasis discovered in a desert locale was a welcoming find for the wandering adventurer, as he placed his faith prior on the enchantment cast upon him by a friendly bard who happened upon his plight. The enchantment allowed the journeyman to temporarily traverse the difficult landscape of the desert terrain around him while remaining unharmed."
Back in Everquest 1, there was a campfire in in one zone around which a small group of high-level questers were gathered where as a low-level newbie I found welcoming as a safe haven. The zone I was in at the time housed werewolves and vampires, both unseemly frights. So, you could imagine how glad I was when I found a safe spot and supportive player enclave/encampment, to rest my head and laurels upon as I gathered my wits to continue onto the next leg of my journey.
Make it mandatory or at least critical, that players have to step in to allow for certain rewards/interactions or even places to be accessed. There can be prerequisites that can be accessed via an alternative method. But, those have to be harder and less easily accessible (RNG drop anyone?) for the initial interaction to matter.
Social interactions are what separates an MMoRPG from a Single-player RPG.
I'm sure the devs are already aware of these possible social interactions as they've mentioned explicitly in one of their podcasts things like asking a fellow barbarian to shoulder ram a blockade of various stones or whatnot to gain access to a new passageway along with two other examples I don't remember.
#DifficultyMatters
#SocialEngineeringMatters
#Risk-TakingMatters
Kilsin said:Community Debate - Do Points Of Interest (POI) and other secret locations around the map make you want to travel over to them and see what's there? Or do you just power through and clear a zone of what you need then move on? #MMORPG #CommunityMatters
I say they do interest me. You know the anticipation of not knowing what you find if you peeked inside :).
If I'm understanding this correctly, the intention of these "PoI's" would be to put a name to certain landmarks. Presumably, in the absence of a map, this could serve as a way to tell someone where to meet or just a way to communicate where something happened.
In this fashion, imo, PoI's would be great.
Other than that, I'm not sure how a PoI would differ from an interesting landmark with some potential adventure to it.
To me, however, it would be disappointing if PoI pings and perception pings became so easy to obtain that I could get the ping while I failed to see the landmark or visual cues or audial clues that would draw me into exploration-mode. In this case, I would much rather go exploring blindly and have the devs get creative on how to show me the way to something hard to find (like following a truly subtle cue)
For me, PoI pings are a shout and exploration is listening to whispers. So when the exploration is concluded, I can see where they might fit as a reward for a bit of exploring
Nanoushka said: I enjoy them very much if it’s not too ‘intentional’, more as a way to express appreciation to those who love to wander and explore simply for the fun of wandering and exploring. It’s fine if some of them lead to storylines, quests, rewards, things like that. But let the majority be just for the thrill of discovery, and no more. It’s no fun if exploration becomes ‘mandatory’, both to those who are not interested in it, and to those who are funnily enough. It shouldn’t feel as if exploration is on rails in a way. I’m not sure if I can put this into words properly but I’ll try. It’s like putting a message in a bottle and throwing it into the sea. When someone eandom finds it, they connect with the person who wrote the message. Complete strangers most likely, and yet a moment of interaction and connection. The beauty is in the randomness and unexpectedness of it happening. It’s lovely to find a something in a game while exploring and find something that someone created purposefully simply to be found, no more, no less. Make it too goal oriented or too obvious and it loses its magic imho :).
ooh! for some reason Im thinking, as Pokemon go was game to real-world, so could a form of Geo-cacheing be as real world to Pantheon game? geo-cacheing = message in a bottle, generally speaking except in pantheon you dont know where they are. Maybe there are some places that are known, like bulletin boards? where text notes are left to be permanent for a fixed period of time for a fee, or to be taken by a player character. Maybe segregated sections for permanent and take-able. let guilds have their coveted ad space.(economist take note, demand sink?) and take-able with a limited post life of- say- 3 RL days. Players could leave notes for their own quests, or wild goose chases or simply "Tell him Angela and I don't want our two silvers back, Just him *sigh*"
But the problem with elsewhere is object permanence and lag. Coppers in a fountain as an example. it would be great to leave a note in a bottle and cast it into the sea or place a small box with a nice loot ring in it - not too well hidden- in a dungeon for someone to find. But if everyone does it, the place woud be littered with... litter.
So, since there will be global events, is it plausible to have such an ability tied to a global event in order to manage the population of such potential litter? once a month 100 are chosen (RNG is good here, select from player base on server) to drop one item in a special box/bottle, 2 slot medium container that is given when selected, the other slot must contain a note. Only when both slots are filled can the container be closed and then dropped- anywhere and will remain there. Items will remain in the world for 1 year RL time. If not found/opened by any player by a years time, the box and the item in it will be destroyed. At any given time the database will have to reload 1200 or less objects in the world, but after having first recorded its position in the act of dropping it or perhaps a user linked button to place that will trigger the program that lists the object as a new permanent object in the environment, hmm, thats like re-writing the entire base zone to include one small object if I am correct. Maybe not so great.
Kilsin said:Community Debate - Do Points Of Interest (POI) and other secret locations around the map make you want to travel over to them and see what's there? Or do you just power through and clear a zone of what you need then move on? #MMORPG #CommunityMatters
A hard No Thank You to points of interest as little dots on a map telling you where the secrets are. That kills the wonder of exploration for me rather than adding to it.
However, I certainly do want there to be lots of cool places to discover in the game world -- a hidden cave, a lone tree on a hill, an intriguing rock formation, etc. Places like this might harbor a hidden perception ping, a rare npc, a special crafting node, or sometimes nothing at all. But even when there is no tangible reward tied to such "points of interest," simply exploring them can still be reward enough. But again, no little dots on maps telling you where to explore. It's not really exploration when you're told where to go.