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Gathering nodes?.. not so much.
comitron
Member UncommonPosts: 37
Earlier i sent an email to the GW2 support team with feedback regarding the crafting and gathering system. The below text is copied from that feedback I sent. I later received a response that basicaly said that they liked the idea but I needed to post it in the official forums and in fan sites to get the comunity to back it. The more interest the idea generates from you the fans, the more likely the devs will consider it. So here is my post to this comunity fansite asking for you to give your thoughts. if you like it bump it. Hopefully they will incorporate it into the game.
Thanks
...
I am the person in charge of all crafting for The Brotherhood guild in GW2. Our guild boats over 250 hardcore gamers. Over the last couple beta weekends and the stress test, I have had several people gathering and crafting. I mention this just to let you know that I know what I am talking about.
Let me start off by saying the crafitng system is truly awesome, and we love the new approach on discovering recipes. On the other hand, you have fell short on the gathering nodes. The only thing new here is that multiple people can mine the same node, its old, its boring, your not stretching the technology. I do have a suggestion henceforth...
Do away with the node system. put in a zone system.This is how this would work. Every player in the game has an x,y,z location. Use that to create hotspots where gathering is possible. For instance, your graphics team can create a garden. That garden would have an x,y,z location in the world. as long as your character is within those bounds they have a percent chance to sucessfully dig up something. Perhaps there is a pumpkin patch where you will have a 100% chance to pick a pumpkin, you also have a % chance to stir up a dredge that you need to fight off. In this same way you can create any numerous zones around whatever graphical resources your graphics team puts in and not have to wory about glitched nodes either. You could even create a hidden mineral vein where you would have to discover where the best place is to mine. Put the zones around rocks or a special outcropping of glittering dirt high on a mountain side. You could have a 50% chance to mine copper, 25% chance to pull up silver, 10% chance to pull out gold 5% chance to get a gem and 10% chance of getting nothing. Anything outside of a mapped zone would be a 0% chance to mine anything.
These are just a small sample of how you can realy get creative with a system like this and make gathering fun and exciting, and more natural.
Comments
You mean so people/bots can stand in one spot, afk for days and not only use up server space, but destroy the market value of craft mats by automatically gathering materials without effort?
I would be okay with something like this if you could trust people not to abuse the system. But if you give gamers something to abuse, they will do so readily. That's why systems like this can't exist.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
Interesting idea. The only worry I'd have is that this might encourage botting, if someone knwos they cna just spam coord x for y item. I suppose that's what your "random chance to spawn an enemy" is about.
I dunno though. While I can see the usefulness of an idea like this, I enjoy roaming the map, looking for gatherable stuff. Maybe a compromise...maybe you can cast "mine" let's say anywhere on the map. But in certain spots you have a much better chance of getting something useful. And these spots would wax and wane over time, encouraging players to get out and explore, and not just hand them "Here is a map of all the mining spots in this zone".
good point, however, i am sure there would be a way to deal with that. I dont propose to know the limitations or what is available for the devs to be able to do, but i am sure they could figure it out. They are smart guys.
I don't get why you tried to name drop your guild or numbers... or why play like you are run like a business. I'm pretty sure most people play Guild Wars 2 like a game.
Good luck with your idea. I personally like the system in place. Why waste my time trying to get resources if there is a chance I might get nothing? Not everyone has infinites amounts of time to play, and I like being able to gather resources as I adventure. Not to mention those locations would end up being overloaded with people.
Plus, I doubt they are going to revamp the system in place.
What's wrong with doing it like in Skyrim..?
You mine metal ore from special rocks.
Plant stuff from.. well plants.
etc.
yes exactly.. if you had a chance for a mob to spawn then the bot would die. I am sure to some extent just that alone would not deter too many bots, but it would slow them down. Also, I am sure if in real life once you spent a few attempts in one area you would have to move to another area as well. So if you had a sucessfull attempt that location would be dead for you, for a few minutes. The devs could also cycle zones around so one zone that was active today might not be active tomorrow, etc.
I actually want to craft in GW2 and I definitely do not want to sit in one area grinding out gathering materials to do so. The best part about GW2 is that the game allows you to do a little bit of this and a little bit of that without repeating any one activity so frequently that it begins to feel grindy. The current scattering of nodes all over the world allows me to fluidly gather materials for my craft during my PvE (and even PvP) quest experience. And I like it that way.
I think the problem is that nodes tend to be physical objects manifest in the world, as opposed to his system, which is just a "if you're standing in this vicinity, you can gather this".
Because nodes are physical objects they are bound to terrrain. You ever notice in Skyrim sometimes there was a flower or mining aroea that was sunken through the floor, and impossible or nearly impossible to interact with? It happens in MMOs quite a bit. Still haven't forgiven Blizz for the phasing mess.
Your right, they most likely will not revamp the system at this point. I just think they should. The game is stretching the technology in so many differnt ways, it would seem they would be receptive to the idea. I am sure there are mechanics underlying that would need to be dealt with and things to consider that we dont know about. I myself an a software engineer so I know all to well, that the little rock you upturn can cause a landslide.
Part of the immersive experience of MMOs is exploration. Take that away and you might as well be playing a web browser game on Facebook.
I've played games with systems like that. It's nothing new, sorry to burst your bubble. In one, most of the people online at any time were botting, fun times......
Also, there are gardens. Official forums are down or I'd link the post, but the Devs mentioned unique farms in each zone with special cooking ingredients.
The current system isn't perfect, having copper pop out of the ground in the same spot is a bit unrealistic from an RP point of view, but it does encourage everyone to explore more.
Exactly my point.
I dont realy think having a node sitting there is immersive at all. in my example you would have to go to a forest or outcroping of trees and try to cut them down. No glowing tree that screams "i am a node.. see my game mechanic" if you walk up to the trees in the area and try to cut one down, perhaps a log appears on the ground and you loot it. indicating that you just cut down some wood. Likewise stomping through farmer joes corn field might be a good place to try to harvest some corn.
This is an incredible idea. It would make it alot more realistic.
No thank you! Maybe an idea for another game, but not for GW2.
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
right these gardens have physical nodes though. Nodes have to be coded into the game client. The zone mechanic is a database mechanic and can me implemented on the fly whenever wherever. I dont see how this would limit the exploration aspect of the game. I think it would do exactly the opposite. Unless you are referring you like to wander the world looking for little icons to pop onto your mini-map?
The problem I'd have with your idea is that it seems it would put you in the position of needing to choose whether to adventure or gather.
Whereas the traditional MMO node system which GW2 has adopted (with, as you say, the change of having individual node harvesting) allows you to gather things that you see while you are out adventuring.
yeah, i guess each person has their own preference. I personaly see my idea as an advancement in the genre. I dont like traveling from point 'A' to point 'B' and see a node on the other side of the mountain that you cant get to so you have to go around the end of the mountain and come back to get... just because it is there(i coulld not have possible seen it or known of its existnce in the first place). If i want to mine some ore, ill go mine some ore, and if i need some wood, ill go find a copse of ashwood trees somewhere. I dont like the whole... "theres a node i better go get it" paradigm. i think thats lazy.
Its fine the way it is, the way you propose has exploit and abuse and boring written all over it.
Yes its unrealistic to have copper or whatever stick out of the ground yet there is nothing Realistic about Guild Wars 2. You explore and go questing or adventuring and you find a resource node, you ignore it or mine it and move on with your current task.
I like your idea better than what I'm understanding of the current system in GW2 (Note - I haven't played this aspect of it. I've only played the PvP portion), because I agree with your above quote.
Edit: Unless they really make it feel like a challenge and integrate with story elements (e.g., background story) it'd just get time-consuming and boring though...
Realism and convenienc only go so far. Games also require balance mechanisms to avoid trivializing/bottlenecking acces to systems and contents.
I think the current system, although 'traditional', offers a nice extra exploration layer. Some Rich nodes are in hard to find/reach places, and they serve as a token additional reward for getting there.
I think trying to reinvent the wheel is dangerous and usually leads to poor results. So, no thanks.
It's pretty similar, actually, with tiered nodes and mat deconstruction.
Nope,it pales compared to VG and the OP saying that shared gathering is new obviously hasn't played VG.Anyway,crafting was never meant to be one of GW2 strong points,it is what it is,nothing special but it works.All the name dropping and so called hardcore guild dropping sounds pathetic to be honest.
It's pretty similar, actually, with tiered nodes and mat deconstruction.
Thats about it but thats where it stops,it just okay but it works.The idea is interesting, reminds me of the crafting in Firefall somewhat. But I think what they have now is great.
I have found many "rich" nodes and what not are hiding behind veteran/elite mobs in many parts of the map. I killed a level 30 elite Etin to find an entire patch of spinach behind him (like 10 or so all clumped together). I have fought through caves of monsters to find rich iron/copper veins. I think they have done a pretty good job already with the exploratory stuff.
Plus, redoing it all is going to take time, and I don't really see how it would enhance the current experience. Interesting idea though.