Trufax
06-27-2018, 06:35 AM
There are a lot of factors that go into balancing a game for a wide range of mechanics and skillsets. I understand the current mechanics are necessary to prevent solo over tuned builds from progressing where groups are intended.
However monsters appearing next to you in any situation breaks game immersion and ruins the flow of an otherwise amazing combat experience.
With the gameplay tweaks below I believe this current problem and future problems that arise with balance can be more easily scaled and addressed.
Respawn Hubs, Flow and Flavor
The overall goal of these suggestions is to provide a magical zone of protection around the players where monsters do not instantaneously appear.
To replace the current mechanic, multiple respawn hubs can be implemented at locations where monsters can reincarnate and patrol back to their intended posts. This would not only solve the problem of monsters counter intuitively appearing out of no where it would also make the dungeon feel less static and more like a lived in and dangerous area to progress through.
In tandem checkpoints can be implemented to toggle respawn hubs if the active players are inside a respawn hub or have reached a certain area of a dungeon. This not only prevents bosses and respawns hubs from being camped, it increases the difficulty of the dungeons progress going further by funneling respawns to patrol through non player inhabited areas of the dungeon. They can also be used as a gauge to aid in tracking the kill speed of a group.
Difficulty can be scaled in multiple different ways. By having respawn hubs placed in the progression path of a player the difficulty can be scaled to present a kill speed check just as deadly as the current cluster respawn mechanic. For slower more methodical groups they could be disrupted by the current cluster respawn mechanic, sending waves of monsters patrolling back. For faster AoE groups if the respawn hub detects that monsters have been killed in a short time frame of each other it can begin sending bigger more resource taxing monsters at quicker intervals to tax the longevity of those groups.
Emergent Gameplay and Magical Fairy Land
I believe setting up the fundamental mechanics for dungeons such as the suggestions above will lead to memorable and unique experiences and create a good framework for tailoring dungeons to the intended difficulty.
For these scenarios I will use Gazluk Keep as an example:
Scenario 1: The orc mages have been decimated sending the respawns toward the Death Trooper hub of the dungeon. Instead of respawning as mages, the death troopers increase in number of acolytes. This not only allows groups to craft their own experience in a dungeon it adds a layer of realism to the Orc culture and in fighting represented in the lore.
Scenario 2: A patrolling monster could shout for help if it encounters a corpse of one their own. This creates a much more dynamic experience where tactical compassion could be employed to throttle the groups experience.
Scenario 3: If there's a group going TOO fast, the respawn hub sends something a little extra down to meet the challenge. Encouraging both methodical/tactical gameplay as well as high risk / high reward.
Scenario 4: Beakhorse is forced into the respawn area of the tacticians who are more adept at controling the beast creating a more formidable corp of combatants.
Scenario 5: Two competing groups are racing towards progression on different sides of the keep. The faster group prevails, conquering their respawn hub funneling respawns to the other side of the keep effectively sealing the other groups fate. On top of this it creates a more difficult encounter if the prevailing group wishes to progress into that side of the keep.
However monsters appearing next to you in any situation breaks game immersion and ruins the flow of an otherwise amazing combat experience.
With the gameplay tweaks below I believe this current problem and future problems that arise with balance can be more easily scaled and addressed.
Respawn Hubs, Flow and Flavor
The overall goal of these suggestions is to provide a magical zone of protection around the players where monsters do not instantaneously appear.
To replace the current mechanic, multiple respawn hubs can be implemented at locations where monsters can reincarnate and patrol back to their intended posts. This would not only solve the problem of monsters counter intuitively appearing out of no where it would also make the dungeon feel less static and more like a lived in and dangerous area to progress through.
In tandem checkpoints can be implemented to toggle respawn hubs if the active players are inside a respawn hub or have reached a certain area of a dungeon. This not only prevents bosses and respawns hubs from being camped, it increases the difficulty of the dungeons progress going further by funneling respawns to patrol through non player inhabited areas of the dungeon. They can also be used as a gauge to aid in tracking the kill speed of a group.
Difficulty can be scaled in multiple different ways. By having respawn hubs placed in the progression path of a player the difficulty can be scaled to present a kill speed check just as deadly as the current cluster respawn mechanic. For slower more methodical groups they could be disrupted by the current cluster respawn mechanic, sending waves of monsters patrolling back. For faster AoE groups if the respawn hub detects that monsters have been killed in a short time frame of each other it can begin sending bigger more resource taxing monsters at quicker intervals to tax the longevity of those groups.
Emergent Gameplay and Magical Fairy Land
I believe setting up the fundamental mechanics for dungeons such as the suggestions above will lead to memorable and unique experiences and create a good framework for tailoring dungeons to the intended difficulty.
For these scenarios I will use Gazluk Keep as an example:
Scenario 1: The orc mages have been decimated sending the respawns toward the Death Trooper hub of the dungeon. Instead of respawning as mages, the death troopers increase in number of acolytes. This not only allows groups to craft their own experience in a dungeon it adds a layer of realism to the Orc culture and in fighting represented in the lore.
Scenario 2: A patrolling monster could shout for help if it encounters a corpse of one their own. This creates a much more dynamic experience where tactical compassion could be employed to throttle the groups experience.
Scenario 3: If there's a group going TOO fast, the respawn hub sends something a little extra down to meet the challenge. Encouraging both methodical/tactical gameplay as well as high risk / high reward.
Scenario 4: Beakhorse is forced into the respawn area of the tacticians who are more adept at controling the beast creating a more formidable corp of combatants.
Scenario 5: Two competing groups are racing towards progression on different sides of the keep. The faster group prevails, conquering their respawn hub funneling respawns to the other side of the keep effectively sealing the other groups fate. On top of this it creates a more difficult encounter if the prevailing group wishes to progress into that side of the keep.