"Hold it, hero. I need to see some credentials." You show the security guard your badge. He plucks it from your hand, and after a quick inspection, he hands it back to you. "Security level 41. Good enough. Watch yourself out there."
You are greeted by a noxious breeze as you take your first step past the security gate. The sound of churning earth and the faint echoes of conspiracy replace the familiar noises of the bustling city. Even the nature itself seems unnatural.
"Eden." Maybe long ago, but not anymore. You tread lightly on the shattered pavement, watching for any signs of trouble. You're on your own out here.
[hr]
I like engaging city zones as much as the next player, but I hope that we also have a number of hazard zones in CoT. For reference, hazard zones in CoX were zones that had a minimum level requirement to enter and were full of large groups of dangerous foes. You could also find giant monsters in many of these zones.
It was nice to have zones like this where you could venture just to explore and challenge yourself. Hazard zones were also much less crowded, so they were ideal if you wanted to get away for a while. They often had neat landmarks and a few badges scattered about.
Even those zones that were nothing but miles of textured polygons provided flavor to the game. I couldn't count how many hours I've spent jumping around the Shadow Shard just for a change of scenery and to imagine that I was helping the human expedition into an alien world.
So...yeah. I hope we get at least a couple of these zones.
While I agree in theory with the idea of hazard zones, I believe that the more open world that MWM wants to go with would preclude areas that are separated by barriers as hazard checkpoint zones.
That's not to say that there isn't a way to do this. In fact, there's a really easy way to implement AND justify hazard zone notifications: Smartphone Apps in-game. Call it TitanAlerts or something as in in-universe name and have it be, lorewise, a GPS and recent crime activity correlation device that warns titans if they're entering a zone with 'heavy activity.'
In practice, this would be a simple popup window displaying something that looks like a smartphone app alert that says something along the lines of "Recent heavy crime in this area has made it a hazardous place to venture. Proceed at your own risk."
Now...here's for the mind-blowing aspect of what this could do. Mobile Hazard Zones.
You want world impact from player actions? Mobile Hazard Zones. As players complete quests or even street sweep in an area they can increase or decrease presence from one faction or another. A bunch of heroic types clear a bunch of missions in an area, security increases and makes a hazard area for more villainous types. the inverse would occur if a bunch of villainous characters were to sweep through an area and clear a number of missions or take down security forces keeping a gang from moving in in greater numbers.
Should every hazard zone be mobile? No, you're going to have areas in a city that are inherently dangerous to go to simply by virtue of who lives there and what goes on there. There's real-life precedent for making a slums area a full-blown hazard zone where even law enforcement doesn't like going without body armor and lots of backup.
There's support for this type of thing in the Unreal Engine in the 'control point' multiplayer matches the base FPS engine has, so its entirely possible that MWM and Epic have already fleshed out the ability to do something along these lines, perhaps even months ago.
If not, then as per my agreement that I signed months ago myself, MWM is fully and legally able to use this suggestion should it prove to be feasible to accomplish without reimbursing me in any way.
The original Lady of Ysgard. -Virtue
[img]http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/203/c/5/Updated_Homage_by_Voldine.jpg[/img]
The idea of dynamic hazard zones is interesting. It would allow players to shape the landscape of NPC activity. I think this would give players more incentive to venture into areas they would otherwise have no reason to enter.
And perhaps I emphasized level restrictions too much. This was merely how those zones were implemented in CoX, and I think a seamless approach to traveling the world would be great. Zones with high-level enemies would still be a death wish for lowbies, but that's to be expected. A warning would be helpful.
The biggest aspect of hazard zones I wanted to highlight was the fact that they were great if you wanted a break from the usual content and just wanted to go off on your own adventure. It would be nice to have some areas that are built for open exploration and atmosphere. Places you could go to take a walk on the wild side and do your own thing.
I enjoyed the hazard zones, even if I did get killed regularly there. Personally, I don't think that it would be at all inappropriate for hazard zones to be "separate" from the rest of a particular zone - nor would it be any less immersive if they were to do that.. If you were to go to a military zone in the real world, there would be check points. For example, the border of North and South Korea - you would have to provide appropriate documentation in order to get past the security points there.
I'd like to see a zone or two that might have level recommendations - perhaps not requirements - if you were "suicidal," or you might still be able to go there, even though you were lower than the recommended level.
-- T
Just make it so when you are entering the HZ a warning appears on screen saying "WARNING: You are entering a Hazard Zone. Proceed at your own risk".
That's it. No level gating. No Click on NPC, wait for them to read/scan your SuperID, etc.
Then when my level 15 Gunner see's the purple level 29 enemies I turn around and get the hell out of there.
This could also be used as random Events. Hazard Zone Breakouts/Expansions/Attacks where the enemies in those zones gather enough resources to try and make a push into the 'civilized' areas spilling through the entry, through/over the walls, etc.
The Phoenix Rising Initiative Rules Lawyer
I remember first entering the hive to see Hamidon and getting swarmed by the bees and insta dead
That is actually how I could see it happening in an "Open World" zone.
However, I have seen former CoX players complain about this type of mixing mobs with their level *far* above the normal for the rest of the zone... Even with a warning, people would still complain about it.
However, I *personally* do enjoy this type of mix up. It makes the zone feel more organic and natural, especially if the hazard area is the "mob hideout" for the zone...
yes i remember going into a zone in COH where everything was purple and i would adventure in and stay in the middle of the street looking around hiding behind garbage bins scared out of my mind but was fun checking out stuff like that
It was the best way to see if your invisibility power was up to par.
Love is like a Rhino, short-sighted and hasty; If it cannot find it a way, it will make a way.
-Flavor text on Crash of Rhinos.
That's kind of what I said would be a good idea, though I went into a little more depth.
The original Lady of Ysgard. -Virtue
[img]http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/203/c/5/Updated_Homage_by_Voldine.jpg[/img]
Voldine - greats minds and all that jazz :)
The Phoenix Rising Initiative Rules Lawyer
These dynamic hazard zones look like a half step to the holy grail of games like this -- regular true invasion style events (not just temporary static spawn points like CoH did in cities from time to time.)
Hint: Still waiting for the game that "gets it", and has a "Danger" server where these invasions go into areas like under Atlas, screwing up people's standing around.
If you think that's a bad idea...you don't get it. That's what the "normal" server would be for. BTW, you will abandon the normal server for the danger server in short order due to the excitement.
__________________
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The very existence of the taunting tank irritates, for it requires idiotic AI that obeys the taunt.
People tie the idea of hazard zones to destroyed areas in many cases. If you'd ever been in one of numerous big city downtowns during the 1980's, you would know that "hazard zones" can exist while the buildings stand tall. Consider the Combat Zone in Boston during the late 60's and early 70's.
Technical Director
Read enough Facebook and you have to make Sanity Checks. I guess FB is the Great Old One of the interent these days... - Beamrider
Love the idea of this. Dynamic hazard zones that grow and retract depending on activity would really help make the world seem alive and much more interesting. I'm all for this.