It is Valentine's Day and if I were a dev working on a live game, I would want to mark the occasion with an event. What would that look like? That's what I want to hear from you. What kind of in game events do you hope to see in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen? Share your ideas!
I personally don't really like the idea for multiple reasons.
First I think it's weird to have real world holidays in fantasy games, cos that just doesn't make sense.
Secondly I don't like timed events (once in a lifetime, or even once a year), it gives a minor feeling of time-gating and/or might invalidating other content.
Especially if they give any powerful ingame items, because that makes many people either feel like it is madatory - no matter if they actually care, and/or some might feel like they are missing out if they can't take part for various reasons.
Also it might just create a problem for people who actually celebrate that thing in real life and can't find the time to spend ingame as well.
On the flipside people who are not celebrating it in real life might not care, or even dislike to have it thrown into their faces - like the cliché of disliking Valentines Day when you're single or what ever the reason may be.
That being said, ingame-lore-holidays or events with mostly cosmetic or flavor rewards might be okay, I guess. Because it might feel more like a choice than a chore. And not so much of a problem if one would miss it.
Somehow this feels like it was not the kind of answer you were looking for, but that's just what came to mind, sorry.
Its easier for me to tell you want I dont want to see:
1. Events that are tied to real world holidays. Terminus isn't earth. Don't try and give a clearly real world holiday a Terminus spin, its just stupid. Every race should have their own holidays befitting their racial history, not whole-world generic holidays.
2. Events where the outcome is predetermined. Players should be able to affect the outcome, even not letting something happen on one server while it it does happen on another.
3. Events where only a few people get rewarded even though dozens or hundreds are participating.
4. One-time-only events. Why should someone who doesn't join the game at a particular point in time be left out of participating in some event?
What kind of in game events do you hope to see in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen? Share your ideas!
I'd like to see events that are centered around the cultures of the races on Terminus. What is special about those races? What would make sense for them to celebrate? How would each of those races celebrate? Would there ever be any reason for multiple races to share in a specific celebration? If I was up on the lore I'd probably answer a few of these questions myself :)
i would definatly like to see some sort of event contained to less = more meaning not one a week or month per se but just a cool little event that may or not give a lil coin and some cosmetic that you can show off for a while now the biggest question for you to answer is what dates its gonna be cause some might not like it tied to real life hollidays and some probably dont give a care
Whatever it may be, preparing for an upcoming event could be a quarterly affair (gathering this, that, and the other things over those three preceding months) while having it tied into the world lore of a clever real-world substitute has the most bang for the nostalgic buck.
Dislike it being real world event themed - I've always found it incredibly immersion breaking. Would love it if each seperate race had different holidays or perhaps some of the bigger ones being shared amongst races with similar moral views etc.
I've no problem with the humans having a holiday celebrating the birth of one of their gods/kings/prophets etc around Christmas but please don't make it full of Christmas trees, presents, stockings and snowmen.
I don't agree with any of these naysayers. I definitely wouldn't call it a Valentine's event BUT I would definitely do something. Picture this:
An NPC on a bridge near a starting town is new. He tells you about some rock near a lake with strange writings he can't read. This begins a quest about two star-crossed lovers from different races who both perished. This quest ends with an update to your character's perception being able to read the inscription on the rock made by the lovers professing their devotions to each other. Each time you pass the rock, the perception ping pops up, but for those who didn't do the quest, they get nothing.
Story, a special reward that does not affect in-game balance or special advantages, an event that ties indirectly to real world holidays, and it's easy to create, pop in, and tear down afterwards. It could be a different love story each year.
Surely none of yall would have heartburn over that.
Most important to me - tie the events to Terminus and its cultures not to the real world. Even where the timing obviously matches real world timing change the names and themes and designs to be based on Terminus not Earth.
The more events the better - within reason. Even if they are small events with small rewards. Events are a nice diversion and where they do not give excessive xp rewards can contribute to slowing the race (for some people) to maximum level.
"4. One-time-only events. Why should someone who doesn't join the game at a particular point in time be left out of participating in some event?"
When I see the word "event" I think of regularly scheduled things like a winter festival (just so happening to be arouund the time of Christmas) or a Celebration of Romance (just so happening to be around Valentine's Day). By definition these are not one time things. But if Vandraad is saying that VR should never have someone pop into the game and do something interesting such as have a tribe of goblins suddenly attack a city because no one that does not happen to be on then can participate - I cannot agree. I would welcome VR run one-off activities even though some I will be on for and some I will totally miss.
I generally really love well done Halloween events but otherwise dislike real world holidays in game. The holiday season needs to be 1 to 2 months. Thematically, it needs to fit Terminus and not look the same for each race. Being race-specific is even better, but requires much larger resources. I don't want it to be obnoxious nor be putting Santa hats on everything. The events should add to the world but not take it over nor completely steal focus from normal game activities.
I want seasonal loot, harvestable resources, and consumables. They should be a holiday reskin of something else and only offer a minor, aestetic difference. Holiday consumables should have a visual or acoustic element that's noticeable but not attention-seeking. Some example ideas:
Keep the holiday interesting but not overpowering and please avoid making it a FOMO event where we feel compelled to log in or participate.
Some holiday suggestions:
I like seeing the holiday events in game, even though I don't really participate in them. WoW's holiday events suit the game aesthetic. Guid Wars 2 is a beautiful game and the holiday events highlight that beauty even more. I am very much aware that the game is for a diversity of folks who have different interests, so giving them something extra to do is always a positive. It's not just about what I want.
With that being said, I can also empathize with those who think real world holidays breaks the immersion.
My compromise is breaking it down into something that many can see value in. Holidays events have a consistent theme and appeal in that they change the look and feel of the world and offer unique prizes for participation. A lore based event that temporary changes the look and feel of the world can capture the change of scenery and festive nature that holiday events do. Most real world cultures have events that highlight the seasonal changes and that can easily be replicated in Terminus based on it's cultural diversity. It can be festive or foreboding. The halflings can present even more exciting ways to push their zest for life. Feats of agility and courage can be done with hanglider/catapult(etc.) races that is both fun and dangerous with prizes like festive alterations to custom gliders, boots that give extra endurance for a short period of time, acclimation bonuses that only apply to the Wellpond(mermaid pants), consumables that give a bonus when fighting in the Mad Moor or against wraiths and a host of things.
The Skar can have and event where they dress in red and go hunting for sentient beings to feast on for their cannibalistic 'holiday.' Only the hearts of their bounty are prized and give them bonuses to strength. It can also be used to give an illusion that they are the being they ate, or give damage bonuses as consumables because their attackers are horrified. This could be the one time they make an effort to change the look of thier environ to match the energy and aesthetic of the holiday. One of the few times they appear 'joyful'.
The Elves can have a festival where they conduct a huge ritual to invite their ancestors and nature spirits to be more visable in Faerthale. Their presence is similar to lights from the tiniest globes to full auoras being on display for a month. Costumes and decorations are made in their honor; magic is more avaialble during this time and temporary enhancments to many items can be given as presents.
These are just some of my ideas, but can be used as a starting point for future events.
Savanja said:It is Valentine's Day and if I were a dev working on a live game, I would want to mark the occasion with an event. What would that look like? That's what I want to hear from you. What kind of in game events do you hope to see in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen? Share your ideas!
I would be ok with events coinciding with real world events, as long as they were loosel, VERY loosely representing the real world event. Using Valentine's Day as example..
I wouldn't want hearts. I wouldn't want cupids. Anything directly related to Valentines day.
instead how about a Pantheon Royal wedding celebration? I suppose you couldn't have the same Royals marrying each year so maybe an anniversary celebration would be better suite, something like that, vaguely related to the real world celebration.
For other events, not triggered by real world events, I would like to see GM driven events related to Pantheon's Lore. I remember in EQ prior to the launch of Kunark, Princess FeronaVi showed up on the docks in ButcherBlock and walked all the way to Felwith telling tales of this new world and the creatures and her adventures there. There must have been several hundred players walking with her by the time she got to Felwith. I would like to see this expanded on, not just for expansions but for more details on existing lore, townsfolk talking about a traveler that came through telling storys and he was heading to the silent planes to give players time to gather. Something like this monthly would be great.
I am down for holidays related to Terminus that coincide with earthly holidays but called something different. I agree that the in-game holiday should last at least a few days to allow people to participate that may be celebrating in real life during the actual day.
I'm afraid I have to disagree with most people here in that I believe there should be some items that are rare or unique that are associated with specific events (GM, Holiday, Time sensitive achievements). I think most devs/games have moved towards fairness/sameness and removed the opportunity for anyone to have a truly special event occur in games. I am not a hardcore player, as I am a father of two small kiddos, but I am still okay with people who play a lot more than me running into some special titles or unique items based on their increased play time or dedication.
One of the best things about EQ was that they were okay with some classes being more powerful than others, some events giving out unique rewards, and more time spent playing equaled greater chances at scoring better loot. If Pantheon has enough content being added to the game via expansions, there should be more than enough content for newcomers while also allowing veterans to cherish some items no longer available to new players.
Prindan said:I am down for holidays related to Terminus that coincide with earthly holidays but called something different. I agree that the in-game holiday should last at least a few days to allow people to participate that may be celebrating in real life during the actual day.
I'm afraid I have to disagree with most people here in that I believe there should be some items that are rare or unique that are associated with specific events (GM, Holiday, Time sensitive achievements). I think most devs/games have moved towards fairness/sameness and removed the opportunity for anyone to have a truly special event occur in games. I am not a hardcore player, as I am a father of two small kiddos, but I am still okay with people who play a lot more than me running into some special titles or unique items based on their increased play time or dedication.
I agree with both the holidays and 'Exclusivity'.
Exclusivity is widely cherished by most people everywhere. Whether a t-shirt from the FIRST tour of your favorite band, to a poster from a World Series game you attended, to a selfie you took with someone famous when they dropped into your local restaurant. I see no reason not to have a few similar things show up on Terminus.
I like the in game holidays that correspond with RL holidays but are twisted versions of it. Maybe some evil races like ogres, instead of giving candy hearts on valentines day(or whatever we want to call it on terminus) ...give candied real hearts of whatever variety...or race. Instead of cordial cherries, cordial eyeballs while sticking to the same evil race theme. Make it a cooking skill and get some sort of cosmetic that is active for the holiday. Doesn't have to be over the top, just something fun and temporary. Make sure Terminus has its own explanation of the occasion so that it is not just a straight copy paste.
I don't mind exclusive items, as long as it is kinda reasonably attainable. For example, if the holiday lasts 2 weeks, don't make it exactly 2 weeks worth of work to get the item or if it is a drop, make it drop off most of the nameds at a low rate so that people won't get blocked by 1 highly contested camp. I don't know what the sweet spot would be, but allow for a few days of not playing because hey, there is a holiday attached to it! For example, a sharpened candy cane dagger that is good at backstabbing could be highly sought after by rogues.
I want the races to have their own identity. When devs carpet bomb the races with clones of our holidays it just makes the world bland.
Build lore with the holidays.
Celebrate holidays like the old victory day where the races all came together and drove off the evil god and his minions. This lets you have rifts in factions become more obvious as well.
Each of the races have their own tall tales, heroes, and ways of celebrating them. The elves may celebrate a great battle wizard, but the gnomes could celebrate the guy who invented saving their souls to their new bodies.
The Skar holidays will clearly be insane. Do they celebrate when their priestess became cursed to be the horrifying queenmother of the Skar? Are their slaves forced to wear santa hats and throw snowballs at eachother if xmas is copy pasted across the world?
In terms of actual events I want to see:
Factions actually in conflict. Do druids run off the poachers? Do players ultimately side with the poachers for a convenient vendor? Do the orcs and the elves compete for the same land?
Build, defend, or seige outposts, watch towers, bridges, settlements, etc.
Grow the old cities over time as well. Build a new quarter.
Add in quests to feed and care for the refugees from the settlement that was abandoned by the players. Make us feel bad for not saving them. Lil Timmy won't stop asking when he can see his dad again.
Something the devs are interested in and are eager to do and be creative- yearly- "LY" ?!? TO me that, implies the same devs sticking around for a long time and providing the needed and necessary continuity of vision for 10s of thousands of years so with that in mind, why yes of course Savanja, I think its a great idea!
However
Through a glass darkly- or lightly as the case may be or creative juices will allow- and 1. askew of what is going on IRL but 2. dont forget opportunities for IRL cultural tuetelage which could be more directly inferred but still askew. as far as event rewards, they would need to be able to go beyond the event, somewhat transferrable but not breaking while at the same time encouraging new players or existing players to come back or stay for the event. Expendable clickies are always good. Fun - tension breaking- unlimited but useless clickies are also good.
1. instead of Valentines , how about an annual event where vampiries are more plentiful, run amok, and vampirism is a Long term disease that can be caught by players that needs to be cured. Vampirism: Minor illusion, viral. 5 disease counters. Player can infect another player out of combat by hugging other player 10 times in succession with no more than 2 second intervals inbetween. (this way a player can keep the illusion gotten during the event and if someone did not participate, can get the illusion willingly form an infected- OR- allow the infected to annoy regular players during "off" season) As blindness causes screen to go black, as cold causes edges of screen to go frosty, so vampirism causes some glare on screen when in the light of day *wince* but enhanced vision at night. skin is pale, maybe some fangs or fangs grow the longer you have illusion/disease. Cure: new recipe, bleeding hearts. A jelly donut in the shape of a heart is the cure. Can be made any time but recipe page available only during event for collectors or codex. Shaman's can cure with lowest level cure disease, necro's can cure with some undead thing they have, clerics can cure with a crafted wooden stake and using the /poke command
- or a beating heart beat somewhere, deep underground? Expendable clickies are nice, too I think. if there is a clicky that throws something that turns a player into something else it should also work on a NPC or raid target.
2. Something Diwali-like in faerthale? players can buy color bombs/ colored pollen pods? for cheap to throw at one another and it sticks for a while. Instead of Longwu, players catch a glimpse of a long bodied dragon whisking around or away and can chase down for red envelopes that they turn into banker for a firework during lunar new-year time? red envelopes can be traded and turned in any time
Savanja said:It is Valentine's Day and if I were a dev working on a live game, I would want to mark the occasion with an event. What would that look like? That's what I want to hear from you. What kind of in game events do you hope to see in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen? Share your ideas!
Nothing outside the scope of the lore of Terminus. Including all real world events, such as any Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentines Day, etc.
That's a huge immersion breaker for me, and invites our hobby to be contaminated with less "inoffensive" themes such as politics, religion, social issues, etc.
There's a time and a place for all that. Just not in my hobby. Please.
There should be in game events that happen around real life holidays and the like; it will pull people into the game when it might otherwise be a quieter time. I dont feel it has to be a duplication of real life, however.
Real world celebrations such as the equinoxes should be included by those races that value such measurments. I would also expect each race and each deity to have a different sets of celebrations. There could be harvest festivals, or festivals that coincide with wildlife migrations (on land and sea); festivals that celebrate specific occurances of a deity, their rise and fall, their victories and defeats. There could be local remembances of game world events such as volcanic eruptions that wipe out an area, or game historic repelling of an invasion, or any number of things relevant to the lore.
With all this, there should be no need to duplicate the real world celeberation in game, just for the sake of it.
I think events should give nice loot, but not be over-powered and should never feel that you have to take part or miss a best in slot piece. They should be good though and events should give cosmetically different rewards too. Rewards need to be worth the effort, or players will be less likely to take part.
I would not be adverse to unique, one off events that affect the gaming world from that point forward. If you miss it, you miss it. There will be another different one at some point. Real life gigs and world cups dont get called off because one person cannot attend at a specific date & time. I see no difference between that and in game events. I can see an event prior to an expansion that sets up the scene and leads into a cataclysmic event that then leads into an expansion, perhaps changing parts of the world, physically and population-wise.
Above all, events should be heavily game lore based and be a mix of when they occur; to co-incide with real holidays and at periods where there are none.
Please...please no real world events in Terminus! No Valentine's Day. No 4th of July. Nothing that in anyway reminds me of earth. You have nine races! Celebrate that! You want a end year celebration? Or beginning of the year celebration? Ok. But let it be different for each race. It could coincide with the time that race joined Terminus. There is nothing more awful than some jerk running around Terminus wearing a Santa hat. Please No! Celebrate planting. Ratkin extermination week. Blacksmithing tournament. Celebrate Terminus!
Questaar said:
Please...please no real world events in Terminus! No Valentine's Day. No 4th of July. Nothing that in anyway reminds me of earth. You have nine races! Celebrate that! You want a end year celebration? Or beginning of the year celebration? Ok. But let it be different for each race. It could coincide with the time that race joined Terminus. There is nothing more awful than some jerk running around Terminus wearing a Santa hat. Please No! Celebrate planting. Ratkin extermination week. Blacksmithing tournament. Celebrate Terminus!
This!