First off, thank you for the additional stretch zones. This is really good to know how extra money would impact CoT.
Also, thank you for making it clear, at least to me for the first time, that the goal is lvl 30 at release. That certainly seems like a reasonable goal for release, so glad to know.
However, I am concerned about the number of zones. Let's say that you do hit the $2M goal and release with 40 levels. Do we really need 20 zones? One of my big concerns is that we end up a lot of empty zones, just like CoX had. I'd hate to see all of that hard work not get used. Is that a concern? Would that art time be better spend on mission art?
Whether or how empty zones will be will depend on a lot of factors. How large are these zones? I doubt they'll be as large as the CoH zones if they intend to launch with 15 or 20 of them. How much level overlap is there with the zones? If it's the old school setup of Zone A for level 1-5, Zone B for level 6-10, Zone C for level 11-15, then obviously those zones are going to be increasingly quiet. They've indicated that they want to have some variety to the leveling paths, so it's likely that they will have overlapping level ranges. What else is in that zone? If there is no reason to return to a zone once the content is completed then it is much more likely that there will be few people in that zone. Spreading points of interest (such as market(s)) throughout the city or providing some reason for higher level characters to return to lower level zones will make them livelier.
I think the lack of those war walls will do a lot to make the city look and feel more alive, however many people may be in a particular zone.
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Support [url=http://cityoftitans.com/comment/52149#comment-52149]trap clowns[/url] for CoT!
Very good point, Dark Lord of the Headware.
As an Rp'er ... bring on the zones!
As a pvp'er... bring on the zones! (yay ambushes =P)
As a pve'er... bring on the zones.... my alts can do different mission paths so i dont have to do the same 3 stories over and over!
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I'm more concerned with zone diversity and to a certain extent, zone specificity.
Atlas--for the longest time--was where you grew up, learned, and found your heroic "center".
But besides places to launch TFs and buy some enhs, what were Steel and Sky really for?
Each zone should be meaningful to the player's development...not just a place to find new mobs, mobs in your level range, or a store/auction house.
Nor should each zone be different just to be different. Unless the zone architectures are significantly impacted/altered by in-game events, any visual diversity will fade after 750-1000 hours of play.
Overall, and just looking at blue side--thematically and artistically, there should be more Faultlines and Dark Astorias and less Steel Canyons and Skyway Cities.
If CoX started out with something like AP, Hollows, Fault, DA, Warburg, RWZ, Shark and all of Prae then THAT would have been awesome. I could zip through those zones forever. CoT should look upon those zones as part of its blueprint for its own zone design.
IMO the formula for an awesome zone = Lore + Theme + Cinematics + "Something Unique" (where something unique =/= just a giant monster event)
[img]https://i.imgur.com/26pBVBG.png[/img]
([i]Currently developing the Sapphire 7 Initiative[/i])
What about...
Depending on the way leveling paths are implemented, an option could be breaking the city into quadrants (or some other "here's a chunk of contiguous zones" setup) and have some paths focus on a specific quadrant while others are more free-ranging. The quadrant-focused paths could have mission arc storylines that really dig into the lore of their specific zones (a la the revamped Faultline arcs), while the free-range ones would only get a taste (teaser info to stimulate lore junkies and altoholics to roll up a toon to run a quadrant-focused path).
And perhaps, depending on how the path feature is implemented (i.e. if you choose a path at character creation) there could be different starting zones for each group of similarly-themed paths? Something like that would definitely reduce the dreaded "Atlas Park lag/spam" effect that we all knew and loved so much...
And yes, to echo the general sentiment, each zone really should give players a reason to be there, and more importantly to return there, other than "it's where both train lines have stations".
Although I definitely agree with the fact there needs to be a reason to go to a zone beyond "that's where the TF launches", or "the most convenient auction house is here". But just visual diversity means just as little.
Lets take a look at Faultline. In it's first incarnation it was just a hazard zone. The only reasons to go there were badge hunting or a mission happened to spawn in there. Steel Canyon had stores to by/sell at, contacts to give missions, Icon to alter your costume, the arrson zone event, the infamous Positron TF, and the only cross-over between the yellow and green lines. Now, those may not be compelling reasons to go to a zone, but its more than Faultline had. And even though the sky scrappers would be cloned over into other zones, the number and the placement did give the zone some theme. It was a "steel canyon".
Now when you took Faultline's visuals, add in the services we like, and wrap an great multi-contact arc that explains a cool lore mystery and sets up several great NPCs we meet again later in the game you get your reason to be there. For all of the legitimate complaints about the Hallows, this was something it did get right at launch. Its a shame how many players continued to avoid the Hallows after the redux, but that also goes to show how important getting it right the first time can be.
Now I know missions and story arcs are going to work differently in CoT, so the idea of a Zone Arc is out the window most likely, but perhaps whatever missions you do end up doing by leveling path or helping a frien on theirs can help clue you into the lore of the zone.
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I just hope that at some point there will just be so many zones to go to that you'll never actually see some of it because you never ended up that way.
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I thought it was a shame that CoX didn't add more story arcs to the 'themed' zones. There was the Faultline arc, the Striga arc, the Cimerora arc, etc. Even though I did enjoy them, it made the zone feel more like a film set than a real place. It would've been nice to have two or three different levelling paths through the zone.
What I think it's important to avoid is zone duplication, as with Galaxy v. Atlas, or Skyway v. Steel. Because they were the same level ranges, and similar types of stories, people tended to gravitate to the one with the better facilities, and leave the other one empty.
Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for? - Robert Browning
Gah, it's just hit me (again) that I'll never see a Faultline-style revamp of the Shadow Shard.
That could have been awesome. I loved the Shadow Shard.
MrCaptainMan, Scoop Malloy, The Accelerated Man, Soundman, The Robot From Uranus, Tommy Atkins, The Dirty Promise, The Psystem, VEI8, Atomicide, Tumbleweed Jackson, Robin Copperfield, Ragtime Smith, Jacque Le Black, Tarquin Wilde...and many more.
The revamp I really wanted, which would never have happened because the zone was basically okay the way it was, would have been to rework Croatoa using the new map tech from First Ward and Night Ward. It would've been so cool to have a 'normal' Croatoa, and then the spooky, evil mirror version, with places where they overlapped. I loved Croatoa anyway, but that would've made it even better.
I hope there's something like that in CoT. (And it would speed up the design of one zone, you guys! You should really think about it!)
Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for? - Robert Browning