Hey there! o/
Recently I've heard news floating around about a new gems system that is going to revamp the way lore scrolls and stat tracks are bought and used. Unfortunately, being on vacation has restricted me from participating in and listening to the aftermath of The State of the Server, so this is mostly information I've picked up on throughout the past few days. I was hoping to make a list of my own suggestions, a few do's and don'ts, and maybe encourage our community to have some insight on what they'd like to see for this system! Even if every idea isn't used, any idea that Mag and Crypt deem worthy...well, who doesn't want to have some personal input on something that will affect us as a whole in the future?
First off, I heard gems, like lore scrolls and stat tracks now, are purchasable through the store! Terrific! But, that's not why I'm here. I heard players would have a chance to earn gems via other methods in-game, but all of those methods are "to be determined"...now that is why I'm here. So, where should we begin?
A personal DON'T that I have in mind is the name of the currency. Gems seems kind of bland for something this important and reminds me...of a another server :,^) I suggest we change up that name. Look no further than your lore community for this one! I mean, after all, with a server so strongly based around the Artifact, it'd be nice to make a nod to the lore community, literally infusing your weapon with Artifact Fragments or Artifact Dust. That doesn't fit your fancy? What about Hacksilver or Pennies: common currencies used among the Vikings? And since our lore is based around Norse mythology anyways, here's another good connection to it!
Last night I was trying to think of creative ways for players to receive gems, and one thought was to have it become part of the Mining Industry cycle. I immediately threw out this idea, however, for several reasons. One, mining industries are usually locked to high ranking members in a town. That means, being a low ranking member, you won't have access to gems like your superiors do...and that's just not really fair. And what about new towns that don't have access to the mining industry yet? Sure, it'd be something for them to work for, but something like that shouldn't be used as encouragement to level, in my opinion. And that's not even taking into consideration Nomads: people who choose not to live in a town, and also don't have access to industries. If this was the only way to obtain the gems, then Nomads would never lore any items...Final verdict? Don't put gems in Industries.
That does bring up another question, however. If gems are going to based on achievement and player merit, should they be a tangible item or linked to your account (much like an Opyc)? Personally, I don't think they should be tangible, only for the fact that it sparks town betrayal amongst greedy players. To me, it just seems like a recipe for disaster. On the other hand, should lore scrolls and stat tracks be tangible? Yeah, I think they should be! For one, it makes loring items for other players so much easier. For example, under the current system, I can't change the Lore on my Arcanus Oblivio because it was lored by _DesertDweller_. If at any point in time I wanted the lore changed, I'd have to drag him back onto the server, and change it by hand. Which is fine, under the current system, but I think it'd be much cooler to give someone a tangible lore scroll as a present, that they can use as they wish, than make lore for them that they might not like. Plus, leaving lore scrolls out in the open encourages raiding (something we could always use more of...sorry Guardians) or even Black Market Trading.
How about making gems a custom drop on the Resource Isles, like Basic Shards and Strange Motes? Originally, this sounded like a really good idea to me, but I know the Resource Islands may or may not get revamped soon...regardless, it's still an idea in the air, but is it a good idea? Only time can tell.
I know someone recently mentioned making them appear in ruined cities, but in the nearly 8 months I've been here, I've only seen one city become and official ruin (Solitude), despite many other cities having fallen. That being said, I'm not even sure how you would have the gems spawn...if they'd just fall on the ground and you picked them up, or what?
Another thought I had was to have players collect gems on a daily basis! It encourages players to log in every day, after all, but there are a few ways (good and bad) to go about doing this. First up, flat out daily rewards. You log on the server, talk to a specific NPC, maybe do a small task for them, then get 5 gems. Seems simple enough, but it also sounds kind of boring to me. But again, just an idea. [Author's Note: Although I don't truly know what the prices of the stat track and lore scrolls will actually be, and I'm throwing random numbers out there for gems, realize that I'm not the one to balance the system here. I'm going to assume stat tracks will be 50 gems and lore scrolls 100, just for the hell of it, but in no way am I right on this one.] I was also thinking, what about giving a gem to players for every hour they're on? It definitely encourages players to stay on for large amounts of time, and they get randomly awarded with something! I think it would be so funny to hear peoples reactions of getting a random gem in the middle of a conquest fight However, this is also extremely abusable too. For instance, players could just log on in the morning, then afk, and get gems for free. Kind of defeats the purpose of getting gems through hard work and merit. "Well then, Cody/Tee," I hear you ask. "Why not just have the AFK mode not give players gems?" Well, good point, but there are several problems with this too. Currently, to be "afk" is a manual thing from the players (/afk). There is no, current, official timeout for when a player is considered AFK. And maybe that's a good thing. When I used to fish a lot, I'd probably be afk all the time, simply from sitting too still (it drove me crazy sitting still, btw. I ended up jumping to the beat of the music I was listening to, just to keep myself entertained >.>). And that also stirs up another issue: AFK pools. AFK pools are pretty simple in design, but they keep the player moving, as to not be counted by any system as "AFK". That being said, people might use them all the time to get their crops to grow whenever they walk away from their computer, or whatever the case is. Personally, I just think they're a ton of fun to build and screw around with (despite the fact I've never actually built one on Loka...huh, I should change that...). What I'm saying is, AFK pools are fun, but they break the hourly system I proposed...I'd much rather keep AFK pools
The Prowess System. Oh yes, the fabled prowess system. So, this was something that was before my time, but I had heard a little bit about it when I joined the server. Essentially, you'd queue up for a ranked, pvp duel, and whoever won would get prowess. You could then spend this prowess on in-game rewards, like diamond armor, I believe (I could be wrong. Again, this was before my time). I know pvp seasons were mentioned during the SOTS, but don't use prowess for gems. Otherwise, you'll either see really good PvP'ers getting a ton of lore scrolls, while bad pvp'ers (like myself) get nothing...or you'll start to see win trading. Overall, tying gems to PvP arenas seems like a VERY BAD idea.
I was also thinking about trading in game currency for gems, such as a stack of diamond blocks being traded in for 10 gems or so, but I'm not sure if this breaks EULA or not...
But there's one system that I haven't seen a flaw yet too...but it requires a bit of planning. A three-wave Mob Arena. Whether through mythic mobs, or normal minecraft mechanics, mob arenas are one of the few things that players can't automate nor be super skilled at, so here's what I propose: have a mob arena with three waves, each wave getting increasingly harder. You could give players either the barebone kit or the potpvp kit, it really doesn't matter...mobs hurt regardless (especially mythic mobs. Holy crap, I've seen some scary mythic mobs in my life time ;-. Players can choose to queue in one of three ways: Solo, Triple, or 5-Man. If a player chooses to solo queue, they go in as a singular player and fight hoards of mobs on their own. If they beat it, 5 gems are awarded to them. If they choose triple, they and two other players enter the arena and come out with 3 gems each. If they choose 5-Man, they, and 4 other players step in and walk out with 1 gem each. Sure, with such a small reward, 5-Man doesn't seem worth it, but remember that having 5 people means they can soar through the mob arena pretty fast (and safely)...maybe, if they lose, they might have to wait 24 hours before they can queue again, discouraging players from choosing to solo it. And with mythic mobs, this mob arena could get pretty fierce...
Anyways, thank you for getting this far in this huge wall of text! Hopefully you enjoyed and have a bit of insight of your own! This forum thread is open to any criticisms of my own points, or suggestions of your own. So good luck, and Go Forth!
-Tee
Recently I've heard news floating around about a new gems system that is going to revamp the way lore scrolls and stat tracks are bought and used. Unfortunately, being on vacation has restricted me from participating in and listening to the aftermath of The State of the Server, so this is mostly information I've picked up on throughout the past few days. I was hoping to make a list of my own suggestions, a few do's and don'ts, and maybe encourage our community to have some insight on what they'd like to see for this system! Even if every idea isn't used, any idea that Mag and Crypt deem worthy...well, who doesn't want to have some personal input on something that will affect us as a whole in the future?
First off, I heard gems, like lore scrolls and stat tracks now, are purchasable through the store! Terrific! But, that's not why I'm here. I heard players would have a chance to earn gems via other methods in-game, but all of those methods are "to be determined"...now that is why I'm here. So, where should we begin?
A personal DON'T that I have in mind is the name of the currency. Gems seems kind of bland for something this important and reminds me...of a another server :,^) I suggest we change up that name. Look no further than your lore community for this one! I mean, after all, with a server so strongly based around the Artifact, it'd be nice to make a nod to the lore community, literally infusing your weapon with Artifact Fragments or Artifact Dust. That doesn't fit your fancy? What about Hacksilver or Pennies: common currencies used among the Vikings? And since our lore is based around Norse mythology anyways, here's another good connection to it!
Last night I was trying to think of creative ways for players to receive gems, and one thought was to have it become part of the Mining Industry cycle. I immediately threw out this idea, however, for several reasons. One, mining industries are usually locked to high ranking members in a town. That means, being a low ranking member, you won't have access to gems like your superiors do...and that's just not really fair. And what about new towns that don't have access to the mining industry yet? Sure, it'd be something for them to work for, but something like that shouldn't be used as encouragement to level, in my opinion. And that's not even taking into consideration Nomads: people who choose not to live in a town, and also don't have access to industries. If this was the only way to obtain the gems, then Nomads would never lore any items...Final verdict? Don't put gems in Industries.
That does bring up another question, however. If gems are going to based on achievement and player merit, should they be a tangible item or linked to your account (much like an Opyc)? Personally, I don't think they should be tangible, only for the fact that it sparks town betrayal amongst greedy players. To me, it just seems like a recipe for disaster. On the other hand, should lore scrolls and stat tracks be tangible? Yeah, I think they should be! For one, it makes loring items for other players so much easier. For example, under the current system, I can't change the Lore on my Arcanus Oblivio because it was lored by _DesertDweller_. If at any point in time I wanted the lore changed, I'd have to drag him back onto the server, and change it by hand. Which is fine, under the current system, but I think it'd be much cooler to give someone a tangible lore scroll as a present, that they can use as they wish, than make lore for them that they might not like. Plus, leaving lore scrolls out in the open encourages raiding (something we could always use more of...sorry Guardians
) or even Black Market Trading.How about making gems a custom drop on the Resource Isles, like Basic Shards and Strange Motes? Originally, this sounded like a really good idea to me, but I know the Resource Islands may or may not get revamped soon...regardless, it's still an idea in the air, but is it a good idea? Only time can tell.
I know someone recently mentioned making them appear in ruined cities, but in the nearly 8 months I've been here, I've only seen one city become and official ruin (Solitude), despite many other cities having fallen. That being said, I'm not even sure how you would have the gems spawn...if they'd just fall on the ground and you picked them up, or what?
Another thought I had was to have players collect gems on a daily basis! It encourages players to log in every day, after all, but there are a few ways (good and bad) to go about doing this. First up, flat out daily rewards. You log on the server, talk to a specific NPC, maybe do a small task for them, then get 5 gems. Seems simple enough, but it also sounds kind of boring to me. But again, just an idea. [Author's Note: Although I don't truly know what the prices of the stat track and lore scrolls will actually be, and I'm throwing random numbers out there for gems, realize that I'm not the one to balance the system here. I'm going to assume stat tracks will be 50 gems and lore scrolls 100, just for the hell of it, but in no way am I right on this one.] I was also thinking, what about giving a gem to players for every hour they're on? It definitely encourages players to stay on for large amounts of time, and they get randomly awarded with something! I think it would be so funny to hear peoples reactions of getting a random gem in the middle of a conquest fight
However, this is also extremely abusable too. For instance, players could just log on in the morning, then afk, and get gems for free. Kind of defeats the purpose of getting gems through hard work and merit. "Well then, Cody/Tee," I hear you ask. "Why not just have the AFK mode not give players gems?" Well, good point, but there are several problems with this too. Currently, to be "afk" is a manual thing from the players (/afk). There is no, current, official timeout for when a player is considered AFK. And maybe that's a good thing. When I used to fish a lot, I'd probably be afk all the time, simply from sitting too still (it drove me crazy sitting still, btw. I ended up jumping to the beat of the music I was listening to, just to keep myself entertained >.>). And that also stirs up another issue: AFK pools. AFK pools are pretty simple in design, but they keep the player moving, as to not be counted by any system as "AFK". That being said, people might use them all the time to get their crops to grow whenever they walk away from their computer, or whatever the case is. Personally, I just think they're a ton of fun to build and screw around with (despite the fact I've never actually built one on Loka...huh, I should change that...). What I'm saying is, AFK pools are fun, but they break the hourly system I proposed...I'd much rather keep AFK pools The Prowess System. Oh yes, the fabled prowess system. So, this was something that was before my time, but I had heard a little bit about it when I joined the server. Essentially, you'd queue up for a ranked, pvp duel, and whoever won would get prowess. You could then spend this prowess on in-game rewards, like diamond armor, I believe (I could be wrong. Again, this was before my time). I know pvp seasons were mentioned during the SOTS, but don't use prowess for gems. Otherwise, you'll either see really good PvP'ers getting a ton of lore scrolls, while bad pvp'ers (like myself) get nothing...or you'll start to see win trading. Overall, tying gems to PvP arenas seems like a VERY BAD idea.
I was also thinking about trading in game currency for gems, such as a stack of diamond blocks being traded in for 10 gems or so, but I'm not sure if this breaks EULA or not...
But there's one system that I haven't seen a flaw yet too...but it requires a bit of planning. A three-wave Mob Arena. Whether through mythic mobs, or normal minecraft mechanics, mob arenas are one of the few things that players can't automate nor be super skilled at, so here's what I propose: have a mob arena with three waves, each wave getting increasingly harder. You could give players either the barebone kit or the potpvp kit, it really doesn't matter...mobs hurt regardless (especially mythic mobs. Holy crap, I've seen some scary mythic mobs in my life time ;-
. Players can choose to queue in one of three ways: Solo, Triple, or 5-Man. If a player chooses to solo queue, they go in as a singular player and fight hoards of mobs on their own. If they beat it, 5 gems are awarded to them. If they choose triple, they and two other players enter the arena and come out with 3 gems each. If they choose 5-Man, they, and 4 other players step in and walk out with 1 gem each. Sure, with such a small reward, 5-Man doesn't seem worth it, but remember that having 5 people means they can soar through the mob arena pretty fast (and safely)...maybe, if they lose, they might have to wait 24 hours before they can queue again, discouraging players from choosing to solo it. And with mythic mobs, this mob arena could get pretty fierce...Anyways, thank you for getting this far in this huge wall of text! Hopefully you enjoyed and have a bit of insight of your own! This forum thread is open to any criticisms of my own points, or suggestions of your own. So good luck, and Go Forth!
-Tee
