Make harvesting and hunting more dynamic

[Frodewin]

The problem: Currently, playing EL is a mostly static thing. Apart from PKing, leveling a particular skill often becomes a very predictable and monotonous thing.

 

Proposal: Increase dynamics by making harvest and spawn rates variable based on their exploitation. A frequently harvested spot, for example, will then yield only a few items per minute, while a more remote spot will provide a faster harvesting rate as long as it is not too exploited.

The rates could be updated daily as a function of the spot's capacity and its exploitation since the last update.

 

Similarly, spawn rates will decrease when the spawned creatures get frequently killed. As such, hunted animals could get sort of almost extinct, but will recover when less hunted.

 

Isla Prima could be an exception by providing moderate low, but stable rates.

 

Expected result: People do not go to same harvesting places over and over again like robots but rather invest time to wander around and find good spots. And it's dynamic, so that a good spot today might be not as good tomorrow. So keep on searching. Especially exploring the outposts on C2 will become more interesting then.

Edited December 30, 2007 by Frodewin

[Tempest]

Similarly, spawn rates will decrease when the spawned creatures get frequently killed. As such, hunted animals could get sort of almost extinct, but will recover when less hunted.

so basicly you wanna make peoples training impossible? lol

[evilmangopie]

Some people in this game are jerks, they would just take a sword and kill a spawn so others can't train as the monsters would be "instinct". It would be nice to have the game dynamic but sometimes its just impossible. It would make the game a lot harder, and consequently more boring, which I believe is the opposite from what you want to happen.

[Scratch]

The rates could be updated daily as a function of the spot's capacity and its exploitation since the last update.

 

 

Ah cool, daily updates to the server. That ought to keep Radu busy & stop parading around in his fancy pants & santa hat.

[peino]

I kind of like the idea of slightly limited resources, but I don't think it would work for EL.

 

Some games do have it that resources will temporarily run out in an over-used spot, but they also have other more dynamic systems. Some have universal PK, so a jerk who is just trying to ruin it for other people could be gotten rid of, which also facilitates faction war and seige war systems, as player guilds will have a reason to fight over territories. Others have complex, player-driven economies, which mean that scarcity of resources in a given part of the game world have an immediate effect on prices and availability of items in that or other parts of the game world, as traders then are motivated not just to hunt for resources but to trade them to NPCs in other places where they can command higher prices, etc. EL has none of that, so what would be the point of it except to take up time and move crowds around?

 

I don't really see people complaining much about these repetitive tasks, but if there is a benefit in varying up the availability of harvestables/mobs, maybe it should be something like changing the location of multi-harvest/multi-spawn sites (like it isn't always the same lupine bush that gives triple lupines), or making spawn sites drift a bit, so it would be a little harder to camp a spawn.

 

EDIT: But again, I don't see a need for this. People do complain about spawn campers/serpers, but I've heard no one complain about harvesting being too easy.

Edited December 30, 2007 by peino

[ville-v]

The rates could be updated daily as a function of the spot's capacity and its exploitation since the last update.

 

 

Ah cool, daily updates to the server. That ought to keep Radu busy & stop parading around in his fancy pants & santa hat.

Automatic updates of course. Exactly like "Top list" is updated. There aren't little Radus walking around and interviewing every player to know who has the highest level.

[vytukas]

If I would make my own MMORPG I would probably try it this way.

But changing EL this way would be too drastic I think, many would leave. It may be good idea as such but it would transform EL into a completely different game.

 

Maybe it would be fun though Imagine you harvest flowers lets say 100 items, then they deplete and regrow somewhere else on Draia, and happy searching

[Frodewin]

Interesting discussion.

 

Ok, having automatic updates would not be a problem, as discussed above.

 

Regarding the problem of "jerks" ruining a spawn, this could be compensated by having a rather constant overall number of spawns - if a jerk ruins one, you could find some other, probably more distant spawns that would perform better.

[LilBear]

I once made a similar suggestion regarding limiting resources available for a different version of green day. I basically suggested that every resource (on green day) could be harvested only a certain number of times. I was told that then the server would have to keep track of those numbers for every single harvestable resource in the game (every branch, every dandelion, every lilac bush, you get the point) and that that would be not just a very inefficient way of using server space, but as far as I recall I was even told that it would exceed our current server's capabilities. That explanation made a lot of sense to me.

 

lilcnoot

[TheComet]

A better way of saying this could be widening the spawn area slightly of certain animals as they are over hunted, this would give the illusion of the same effect without causing a disruption in training.

 

As for the harvesting thing, that should probably remain static, or maybe prolonged harvesting could slightly increase/decrease events (like how astrology does it's thing)

 

just my thoughts on it, it's a nice idea but difficult to work with in an MMORPG, if EL was single player then this would work beautifully