The Mana World Forums

I enjoy the way the maps are currently laid out because to get from Tulimshar to the Woodland area you have to cross a desert which is (for lower level players) dangerous. I found this fun because when you first cross the desert you feel like you've achieved something by reaching the Woodland area and having that area to explore is a good reward. It also makes it exciting to travel between the Woodland and the Desert area.
I think it would be good if there is something like this when the maps have been finished in their new layouts (as in here).

I don't like it at all, noobs are scared to go there again because the monsters are too strong for them. It wouldn't really be a problem if there was a alternative (longer?) route.

I have to agree with EJlol. I only crossed that desert after reading the wiki. (It took me ages to venture out of the confines of Tulinshar, since I thought the sandstorm was going to be dangerous )

I too agree with EJol and Scraggy, I remember when I was a noob, that I hated having to cross the beach area. So I would just not go back to Tulimshar since I didn't want to risk being killed.
I think part of this problem is, is the lack of monsters ATM. Because really, I don't think snakes and scorpions should be the hardest monster in the game.

So as we get more monsters, this should even itself out, so we can make scorps and snakes easier, and use more tough monsters for the hard things.

I guess this also comes from having such a small world so far, so we have to pack monsters into smaller spaces.

When the world develops more, and Tulimshar is over in the desert actually, things should balance themselves out better.

I didn't venture there at first not because I was scared, but with the following thought: "the further I'll go, the harder th monsters will get, so there won't be anything worth there for me to discover at this point"

This is the convention most gamers are used to.

Although it is an interesting challenge to get past the scorpion beach it was in my opinion not a good decision from the world-design point of view to put all the high end monsters there.

The concept of giving the player the choice between a save but long route and a short but dangerous route, on the other hand, is much more interesting.

I could, for example, imagine a dangerous cave map shortcut between map 18 and the (not yet released) map 31.

We could for example have 5000gp a pop public transportation to the woodlands.

Rotonen wrote:We could for example have 5000gp a pop public transportation to the woodlands.

That's not a good idea IMO, noobs don't have much money so you shouldn't let them pay for a save route. A better option IMO would be a NPC that transport level 15 or lower character for example.

EJlol wrote:

Rotonen wrote:We could for example have 5000gp a pop public transportation to the woodlands.

That's not a good idea IMO, noobs don't have much money so you shouldn't let them pay for a save route. A better option IMO would be a NPC that transport level 15 or lower character for example.

Or both. Below a certain level, its free. After that, it becomes increasingly costly.

How about a levelled progression?

The more money your character has, the more snob it is and hence the higher class of a ticket you have to buy.
You would fall into the higher category when 5% of your money equals the price of the category. (With less than 1000gp you would get it for free because of being poor. Public transportation after all.)

I see... so you can just give your money to a mule, and take a free trip again

Shaggy wrote:I see... so you can just give your money to a mule, and take a free trip again

Which is why I like basing cost on character level. You can't give some of your levels to someone else. The higher your level is, the easier it should be for you to get across on your own, and the more expensive the NPC should be.

In most RPG based games, the difficulty of the monsters is in a blast pattern. So the area right near the starting village has things that are only worth while for someone without any weapons, armor, or money. Then each radius from that point on the monsters, quests, challenges, riddles, and so on get harder and harder.

This design is tried and true, and in my own opinion is the most favorable. Sure, paths and wind and weave, making one level area seem larger than another, or more out of the way than another, but for the most part, the higher the level, the greater the need for exploration to find better equipment, experience and challenges.

On a side note, this also brings to mind the way that a lot of games make the experienced earned drop based on how many levels above your opponent you are. Making what used to be a good kill, near pointless when you are a ton of levels above it. This is currently not the case in the game, as it is almost beneficial to be able to do one hit kills in an overly mob filled area, cause the total net experience is higher than taking the time to kill something your own level.

Again, a game balance issue.

- Miana