[Spoiler] [CPT] Fetch/Kill Boss Quest using Flags & Timers

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Wombat
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[Spoiler] [CPT] Fetch/Kill Boss Quest using Flags & Timers

Post by Wombat »

This is a brainstorm for something to work on and complete after tmwserv is operational (Spring or Summer 2010). Sorry if this seems overly involved or complex:

Here goes a tmwserv map concept for a monster filled battle to fetch an NPC, a flag. Reward would be gold and experience, nothing more, but it would be repeatable. Certain quests would have to already be defeated to go on it (Something like Setzer, "Better" Bow and/or Lvl 3 War magic) and for the equivalent of level 70 and up.

Talk to an NPC and receive flag#1, which would allow them to flip the switches to open the barrier on map 1. The switches are also flags. The switches would have to be flipped in proper order to open the barrier. Every character participating would have to of talk to the NPC and flip these switches individually to get through the barrier. However, once one character flips the 5th switch on map 1, a timer starts. All participating characters have to go through the barrier within 2 minutes of the first person flipping the 5th switch on map#1. After 2 minutes, flag#1 is removed as are all switch related flags, preventing slower characters from crossing the barrier (they have to return to the NPC to restart the quest). It locks all map#1 related switches for 1/2 hour and starts a 1/2 timer for finishing map#4 switches.

The map#4 also needs switches flipped in proper order to open the barrier.

After getting through the barrier, characters begin fighting the boss and his minions. Defeating the boss would unlock a timed treasure chest (2 minutes) which the character could get the final flag for the NPC. The timer would teleport all characters outside the boss room and erase all map#4 flags but the one for the NPC. This would block them from being able to flip the switches to open the barrier again (exit, but not enter). The characters now have 1/2 hour to give the final flag to the NPC. Failing to do so within the time limit would erase the flag from the character. Once the final flag is returned to the NPC, the XP and gold reward is given and the quest is open again to being repeated.

tl;dr?
1. Talk to NPC and start quest
2. Flip Map 1 switches to get through barrier#1
3. Flip Map 4 switches to get through barrier#2
4. Kill the Boss, receive the treasure.
5. Return treasure to NPC for Reward

Reason for the timers is to increase active game play strategies and decrease camping.
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Last edited by Wombat on 18 Oct 2009, 20:34, edited 1 time in total.
Current character is "Abolish".
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Re: [CPT] Fetch/Kill the Boss Quest using Flags & Timers

Post by Wombat »

Code: Select all

(4:10:07 AM) wombatism1: http://forums.themanaworld.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8616 anyone alive want to bullshit with me about my idea?
(4:17:14 AM) Toksyuryel: Write a good story for it and I'll support the idea.
(4:17:56 AM) wombatism1: ;)
(4:18:38 AM) wombatism1: it will get fleshed out after a while, right now I'm hoping that tmwserv would be able to fit the concept of the flags and timers as suggested.
(4:19:03 AM) Toksyuryel: The timers will really need a damn good story reason for their existence
(4:19:45 AM) wombatism1: maybe, maybe not.  They could be implicit to active gameplay
(4:20:21 AM) Ceros-: wombatism1: hit me up tomorrow and I will help come up with a good reason for timers
(4:20:27 AM) wombatism1: kk
(4:20:36 AM) Ceros-: Night gents
(4:20:41 AM) Toksyuryel: From a strictly gameplay standpoint, if there is no real reason for the timers other than just to have them, they don't seem to make for good gameplay except for the timer on the final chest and the timer on the return to the npc
(4:21:12 AM) Toksyuryel: none of these timers impact camping
(4:21:27 AM) wombatism1: why not?
(4:21:57 AM) Toksyuryel: according to your idea players are not thrown out of the cave when the timer runs down
(4:22:07 AM) Toksyuryel: it says they have to return to the npc and restart the quest
(4:22:31 AM) wombatism1: well they could be thrown out of the cave after an amount of time as well
(4:22:40 AM) Toksyuryel: so there is nothing stopping them from getting to the point they want and just staying there farming
(4:22:59 AM) Toksyuryel: that's what you'd have to do to prevent camping
(4:23:07 AM) Toksyuryel: however
(4:23:21 AM) Toksyuryel: that still doesn't really work
(4:23:40 AM) Toksyuryel: presumably, stronger monsters exist deeper in, correct?
(4:23:53 AM) wombatism1: maybe
(4:24:19 AM) Toksyuryel: nvm I read this wrong
(4:24:40 AM) Toksyuryel: didn't see the timer for getting past map 4
(4:28:54 AM) wombatism1: there are a few spots I didn't cover, but probably should've.  You caught one spot...the forced exit before the next quest is launched
(4:29:06 AM) wombatism1: the other I can think of is if you die, you lose all flags
(4:30:41 AM) wombatism1: also not mentioned is how spawning is impacted by the timers
(4:30:53 AM) wombatism1: map 1 might carry normal spawning
(4:31:13 AM) wombatism1: but the rest wouldn't respawn until after the final timer ends.
(4:31:29 AM) wombatism1: that way camping would not happen
(4:31:56 AM) wombatism1: not sure if tmwserv could support this, but I wanted to discover if it was possible
Current character is "Abolish".
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Re: [CPT] Fetch/Kill the Boss Quest using Flags & Timers

Post by GARRETTtheGREAT »

What if instead of switches, a short lived status effect were put on the character?

In example, there are 4 mages (NPCs) that can each cast a spell on you to help you pass through the barrier (itself an evil spell from the boss) but each mage isn't strong enough to cast a spell to get you through on their own, so you must visit all 4. But, the spell wears off over time, so you must visit all 4 (in order?) within a certain amount of time or you won't be able to pass through. Another idea is if the spell wears off, the barrier either kills the player or teleports them to another area. If there are barriers at the end of map #2 and #3, a player camping will become trapped and will only be able to stay in that area or hit the barrier and leave.
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Re: [CPT] Fetch/Kill the Boss Quest using Flags & Timers

Post by Ceros »

I told Wombat I would help him with the storyline for this quest (and break it down into layman's terms) since there was some doubts spoken by people as to how this could be made to fit into a valid quest, and not just turn into player griefing. I pitched it to Wombat and he told em to post it, so here goes:

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT

FLAVOR TEXT LOL
Back in the time of the ancients, when the empires were grand and vast, and nations more powerful then today, one king arose above the other royalty and nations. King Darius commanded allegiances from many nations, and amassed great wealth and prestige in his lifetime. At the height of his power, he realized that Nu'rem, Keeper of the Dead allowed no man to take possessions with him. He would have no glory or riches in the afterlife. The idea began to obsess him, and kept him up many nights until he found a solution.

In the spring of his fortieth year, he began construction on a monumental subterranean tomb, that would house himself and his possessions in death - and most importantly, massive amounts of gold. King Darius made no secret of this fact, and as the work progress, the rumors grew of this massive tomb he would reside in..

Nearly twenty years later, his kingdom's treasuries nearly depleted, the work was finished on his tomb. The chief architects and many of the builders were imprisoned in the tomb, to keep the secrets of its workings from ever becoming known to the rest of the kingdom. In secret, he gather some of the darkest and vilest practitioners of magic to come to his tomb, and cast incantations and inscribe runes throughout his tomb that would forever cause the tomb to be infested with creatures of evil.

In a ceremony of grand proportion, the tomb was presented to the kingdom. The inscription above the entrance read

"Those that enter, beware the dry drowning of the desert,
the slippery sands of time
and the claws of evil that ensnare those within!"

The day after the tomb was unveiled and everything made perfect, King Darius was found dead in his royal bed. It is said that he was found with a smile upon his face, because he knew a secret that no other being knew - but rumors would shortly tell about in hushed conversations the kingdom over.

He was laid to rest in a grand ceremony, a large group of retainers and guards marching carrying him to his final resting place. As soon as the last one had entered, the door slammed shut and sand began to leak out from around the edges. In the air floated an hour glass with the time slowly draining. The gathered crowd waited patiently for the party to return, but as the last sands from the hour glass fluttered away, the door opened to reveal only one servant, who emerged, telling tales of horrible monsters and rising sands in the tomb - and of a giant demon that took twenty men to slay. The servant died shortly after, and the place was quickly abandoned, as the tomb's door opened and the sands sunk back beneath the floor.

Over the years, many thieves would attempt to remove all the gold they could carry - most would fail, but some would return with fabulous wealth and tall tails. Over time, nations rose and fell and the exact location of King Darius' Tomb was lost, as swirling sands buried it from view, and time erased it from memory. But the legend lived on, and tails are still told around brews and fireplaces of King Darius, who tried to take it all with him - and whoever was foolish enough to follow."
END FLAVOR TEXT

Gameplay: The adventurer must navigate the tomb, which is rapidly filling with sand. There are four doors who must be opened in the correct order, using secret switches. (The order could change every time or remain static). The adventurer only has so much time until the section of the tomb he is in fills with sand, and kills him. Once he reaches the next section, it begins to fill with sand and he must race from section to section, fighting monsters along the way. The last antechamber before the King's Tomb contains a Boss Mob that the player(s) must defeat in order to unlock the King's Tomb. Once he has been defeated, the door opens and the player receives the loot - he then has 2 minutes (or whatever time) to make his way past all the monsters while the sand drains from the tomb and reach the exit, or he will be forever entombed with the King.
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Re: [Spoiler] [CPT] Fetch/Kill Boss Quest using Flags & Timers

Post by Wombat »

That sounds like an awesome storyline. Here is a link to some art Axltrozz was working on that fits this concept nicely (see link). I don't recall seeing a completed tileset that would go with it other than maybe outside with the dry river tileset, but it could give some inspiration.

Do any of the developers know if Sonbral (Agraes Desert) has dedicated maps yet? Even though I was considering the snowland, this concept sounds good for placing in Sonbral or in the Tulimshar desert.
Current character is "Abolish".
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Re: [Spoiler] [CPT] Fetch/Kill Boss Quest using Flags & Timers

Post by CapitanAwesome »

/me likes. :)
CapitanAwesome - Game Master - server.themanaworld.org
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