Tedium - what to do about it?
Posted: 24 Feb 2009, 07:51
I am now at level 60; all I do is killing things, basically - and one needs to kill a terrible lot of monsters to ascend just one level. I have done my fair share of quests - I've collected 100+ fluffy furs to get the boots and gloves etc; at the moment I am collecting 200 cobalt herbs for another one, and it takes an incredible amount of time, most of which is basically just hanging around while killing mouboos or the like.
I find, as the game progresses, that it becomes less interesting; and I am thinking about what could be done about it. It would be nice if the gameplay allowed a more varied spectrum of activities (ie, not just killing) and perhaps even allowed the players to be creative. How about something like the following:
1. Construction - you go out and find materials and build new maps: buildings, ships, sports arenas, what have you. These maps can then be either exclusive to members of a group or public. Your exp grows by contructing things - completing each element in a map adds some points, completing a whole map adds a lot more. Several people can cooperate.
2. Cookery - you use materials to cook food that can up your stats either temporarily or permanently. These foods can of course be sold, but if you overeat without getting exercise, you become ill in some way. Each time you bake a cake, cook a dish etc, you gain exp. You can run an inn or a bakery, and gain exp and/or money from each customer.
3. Teaching - you take on students or apprentices, and gain from their progress. I'm not how to measure transfer of skills, but perhaps a system where a teacher shares some sort of secrets, and the student sign off in some way?
4. Breeding - you create new monsters in some way inside the game, perhaps by combining aspects of captured monsters. Each monster created gives exp.
5. Hunting - well, somebody has to go and catch monsters alive for the breeding programmes. Capturing monsters alive is more dangerous than killing them, so you gain 10 times exp.
6. Healing - cure diseases with medicines made from herbs etc. Each disease cured gives exp. You can move into a building and run a hospital together with other healers.
7. Repairing - gain exp by repairing damaged equipment
8. Diseases and damages - players can get diseases that will hamper them in some way and will have to be cured by a healer. Equipment can be damaged.
I know, a lot of these things are not new at all and maybe they have been discussed in the past. They are still good ideas IMO - and probably not too difficult to implement. I wouldn't worry too much about IP rights either, these ideas are easy to get simply from observing daily life, and there is no law against that.
I find, as the game progresses, that it becomes less interesting; and I am thinking about what could be done about it. It would be nice if the gameplay allowed a more varied spectrum of activities (ie, not just killing) and perhaps even allowed the players to be creative. How about something like the following:
1. Construction - you go out and find materials and build new maps: buildings, ships, sports arenas, what have you. These maps can then be either exclusive to members of a group or public. Your exp grows by contructing things - completing each element in a map adds some points, completing a whole map adds a lot more. Several people can cooperate.
2. Cookery - you use materials to cook food that can up your stats either temporarily or permanently. These foods can of course be sold, but if you overeat without getting exercise, you become ill in some way. Each time you bake a cake, cook a dish etc, you gain exp. You can run an inn or a bakery, and gain exp and/or money from each customer.
3. Teaching - you take on students or apprentices, and gain from their progress. I'm not how to measure transfer of skills, but perhaps a system where a teacher shares some sort of secrets, and the student sign off in some way?
4. Breeding - you create new monsters in some way inside the game, perhaps by combining aspects of captured monsters. Each monster created gives exp.
5. Hunting - well, somebody has to go and catch monsters alive for the breeding programmes. Capturing monsters alive is more dangerous than killing them, so you gain 10 times exp.
6. Healing - cure diseases with medicines made from herbs etc. Each disease cured gives exp. You can move into a building and run a hospital together with other healers.
7. Repairing - gain exp by repairing damaged equipment
8. Diseases and damages - players can get diseases that will hamper them in some way and will have to be cured by a healer. Equipment can be damaged.
I know, a lot of these things are not new at all and maybe they have been discussed in the past. They are still good ideas IMO - and probably not too difficult to implement. I wouldn't worry too much about IP rights either, these ideas are easy to get simply from observing daily life, and there is no law against that.