One topic that came up during the stream was item economy and how the team would work to remove items from in game. One key point was the ability to have crafters modify existing world-drop items that would otherwise be tradeable - but once modified to fit a specific player, become no-trade. As a trade off, the crafting process would have an impact on the statistical quality of the drop. Think of it as taking your Golden Efreeti Boots to a master crafter to tighten up that fit a bit... because, no way an Elf is fitting in those boots normally.
While they certainly didn't indicate that type of system had been fully fleshed out, it did propose an option to remove items players intend to use from the greater world economy. But what of items players don't intend to use? In most games we've played, it works in a pattern somewhat similar to this:
Two potential areas of concern with this pattern: How can players be motivated to move beyond those most popular areas? How can the value of high quality gear be protected so that it does not become super common? Maybe those are concerns you would argue aren't a signfiicant deal in an MMO -- but I'm going to throw some stuff out there under the premise that those are negative consequences of a similar design. So here goes....
While I'm assuming they likely had some of these tools on the back end of the original EverQuest and later Vanguard, EverQuest II and others, the practice of really dialing in on what is going on in the game world and the players and using some statistical analysis has to have improved over the last 15 years. In other games and genres, the players themselves even track at a fairly detailed level exactly what items players are using and what they are doing. As an example, every week in Destiny there are detailed reports generated through the Bungie API and player created web services that show exactly what players have been using to compete in the PvP end game.
In a game like this, players don't need access to that data, but if VR intends to monitor their kingdom in a manner that would make the overlords of Westworld look like amateurs (side note... feel free to start the rumor that Brad keeps an android version of Bill Trost locked in his basement), then it would seem likely that they could determine to a pretty specific degree exactly how many items are dropping in specific locations, which zones are being over camped, which zones are being under utilized, etc.
Equipped with that information, it would seem possible that VR could enter the in game economy in a way that would make some positive impact. What about a system where VR creates a guild of merchants who were located throughout the world and had a dynamic inventory system that fluctuated based on the data VR collects about the item drop economy? Players would then be presented with ~4 choices when looting gear:
In trading the item to the NPC Traders Guild, players could be rewarded with any number of options that would potentially be just as desirable as pursuing the secondary market:
And because VR has access to the information required to make a system like this dynamic, the value of trades could fluctuate based on what players are doing in the game world. If VR feels like a specific zones is being over camped, then the trade value of the items being harvested there could be reduced. Or, better yet, a bounty placed on items from an underperforming zone could increase and motivate players to adventure into different locations.
Surely there would be some drawbacks to a system similar to this as well - but it would allow for one more method to remove items from the economy rather than have them change hands and remain in game. Any similar thoughts or ideas?
All good ideas, Hannar.
Myself, I'm a big proponent of customization of equipment, so anything that lends itself to that, gets my thumbs up. LDON loot, for example, is the way that I think Pantheon should START their loot system, and expand and innovate from there. In particular, the use of Environment loot to create augments, as a simple example. This keeps all zones useful, as you need to go farm Environment loot to create the augments you want. You don't have 400 people all in lguk, because lguk only has one environment you can consume.
And there's no reason to stop there. Sinking everything into such a system allows for temporary (yet long term) or permanent (yet costly) overlays on gear sets that provide environment specific effects. What does that mean? Things like if you're going into a zone with purple negative effects, maybe you need orange environment augments and buffs and overlays that counter that. Similar for black/white, red/blue, yellow/green, and so on. You farm in one zone to get what you need to counter another. Put each opposing colored environment on a different continent for teleport class happiness. ;)
Or you farm in that zone to gather what you need to counter it. And then of course, for multi group content, you can have the requirement for multi-environment effects, concurrently, and/or multi-colored augments and counters.
Then you add in class/spell/specific enhancements, rather than just stats and resists, and you have a horizontal progression system. Even better? Have vendors that will take experience (you channel experience into rainbow vials) which can then be altered into whatever color you want or need. Same goes for money/currency and salvaged / tribute gear. Turn it all into no-trade rainbow vials which are then used to make augments, overlays, buffs, everything else.
Everything a player does or acquires should be channel-able into their own personal and guild goals. This is how you sink all the time & effort players put into the game and turn it into daily personal tangible player progress. Visionary Realms can do it. The lore supports it. It remains to be seen if they have the desire.
I'm not entirely sure of how all of this should be handled, I just want to comment, without making a new thread, that the item-adjustment concept that takes an item and makes it untradable in order to get a specific stat(s) increased is absolutely fantastic and will surely make this game even better than I imagined.
I was really intrigued by that, too, Dreake. It's one of the things I'm interested in hearing more about when they flesh out the system. It adds a unique value to being able to find rare in game loot and also to be connected in some way to a high end trade skiller.
Also, in the stream, Brad did mention (part 3) that there would be long term buffs that could be earned through sacrificing existing gear. That opens the door to the possibility of a system like the one I described above.