Idea for new [re-playable] game activity

I would like to suggest something for content that I think would be fun, [potentially] challenging, and re-playable. I'll call it "Treasure Hunt". It's similar to the tiered collections, but a bit different, and re-playable. This is pretty much a solo activity the way I've described it, but there could be tweaks on it to make it a group activity, as well.

It would work like this: There are a bunch of NPC's thoughout the map that will exchange an item from your inventory with a new item. Each time you get an item, it comes with a task to take it to someone else to exchange. You start by buying the first item from a merchant (for very cheap). The exchange process continues for the duration of the Treasure Hunt. Every time you exchange an item, you also get some kind of reward. The rewards get progressively better, until at the end of the Treasure Hunt, you get the best reward. It might take some fighting to get to the NPC's, or some jumping, etc. You can abandon the treasure hunt at any time and sell the last item you received as part of an exchange to a merchant. There is no time limit for you to complete the Treasure Hunt

Here's why it would be re-playable:

1. The number of steps in the Treasure Hunt is governed by the item you initially buy, so you can go for some short hunts (maybe 3 or 4 items) or some marathons (maybe 20 or 30 items). The length of the TH is decided by the player, depending on what they want to do.
2. The rewards get progressively better each time you do an exchange, so the longer you stick with it, the better your reward; it's not an all-or-nothing. The "motivating" reward is at the final exchange, however, so if you quit early you're not going to end up with very much.
3. The "next" NPC you need to exchange with is random. This would mean you can't have "trains" doing the treasure hunts because they'll be different for everyone. It also means that you can do a TH many, many times and it will be different every time you play it. There is no way to know which NPC's are in the chain of exchanges ahead of time.
4. It is not tied to a map state. As long as you have one of the items in the sequence in your inventory, you can continue with the TH any time you like.
5. The NPC's you are doing exchanges with are not locked behind anything (like map state, hearts, events, etc.). They're out in the map, and they're always there. You can interact with them as long as they are able to talk to you.
6. You don't need anything that depends on good rng luck to continue with the TH (i.e., no random drops from creatures, etc.).
7. You can only work on one TH at a time, so you can't do multiple exchanges for several TH at a single NPC at the same time.
8. If you get tired/bored/stuck on a step in the TH, you can destroy the current exchange item in your inventory, or sell it to a merchant. You can then start a new Treasure Hunt.

To make it more than just a "tour" around the map, being able to talk to the NPC's could involve a variety of things you'd have to do:

1. They might be guarded by some creatures that you need to kill before you can interact with them. What is guarding the NPC can change, so the difficulty of being able to interact with that NPC could also change.
2. They might be at the end of a jumping puzzle (a "reasonable" jumping puzzle, not a sadist one).
3. They might require a map-specific mastery to reach (like ley line gliding, a particular mount, etc.).

I think something like this leverages randomness to improve re-playability (the TH is different every time you run it), but doesn't include the frustrating aspects of randomness (rng-based drops, etc.)

Anyway.....just thought I'd throw it out there to get the creative juices flowing.

Truly amazing idea, Archranis. I would love to see something like this in the game.

I really don't like fetch quests. No matter how they're named.

This is already in the game in a slightly different form - the collections

It is a nice idea.

To brainstorm some ideas, as I was reading the post, I thought of what could make the idea a bit more lore palpable.

My first thought was, what if this involved collecting information to be recorded in a book or perhaps collecting pages from these individuals scattered around the map that you combine to create a book and the more full and comprehensive the text, the better the reward. Would even be awesome if said book itself could be collectable that you can then read in your home instance or something.

Then I thought deeper about the idea as I was considering this post. What if you make it profession flavored? Like for Firebrand(Guardian), you're filling tombs with knowledge; with Spellbreaker(Warrior), you're learning fighting techniques from valiant Sunspear; with Deadeye(Thief), you're assessing the value and posting marks/boundies, etc.

Could they be considered fetch quests or collections? Perhaps the generic concept, but the actual purpose could be very unique (especially if the challenges are a bit more flavored to the profession).

@UnbentMars.9126 said:This is already in the game in a slightly different form - the collections

I would have to disagree. Collections can be done exactly once for a reward; there is nothing "replayable" about them. There is nothing random about items required for a collection. There isn't a fixed order to acquire the items in a collection. The player has no opportunity to select the number of items in the collection. You know all the items you need to complete the collection before you even start it. Some items in collections need to be purchased; others come from random drops. In my opinion, these differences are significant enough that there is an appropriate place for both Collections and Treasure Hunts to be in the game at the same time.

@"Leo G.4501" said:To brainstorm some ideas, as I was reading the post, I thought of what could make the idea a bit more lore palpable.

My first thought was, what if this involved collecting information to be recorded in a book or perhaps collecting pages from these individuals scattered around the map that you combine to create a book and the more full and comprehensive the text, the better the reward. Would even be awesome if said book itself could be collectable that you can then read in your home instance or something.

Then I thought deeper about the idea as I was considering this post. What if you make it profession flavored? Like for Firebrand(Guardian), you're filling tombs with knowledge; with Spellbreaker(Warrior), you're learning fighting techniques from valiant Sunspear; with Deadeye(Thief), you're assessing the value and posting marks/boundies, etc.

Could they be considered fetch quests or collections? Perhaps the generic concept, but the actual purpose could be very unique (especially if the challenges are a bit more flavored to the profession).

All cool ideas. The key thing I was striving for with this idea was the "replayable" aspect. We have so much in this game that once you've done it, it's over. I was trying to come up with something that you could keep doing over and over, and it would be a bit different every time (and give you a reason to go back to the map), apart from the recurring map events (including the metas).

@Archranis.2375 said:

@"Leo G.4501" said:To brainstorm some ideas, as I was reading the post, I thought of what could make the idea a bit more lore palpable.

My first thought was, what if this involved collecting information to be recorded in a book or perhaps collecting pages from these individuals scattered around the map that you combine to create a book and the more full and comprehensive the text, the better the reward. Would even be awesome if said book itself could be collectable that you can then read in your home instance or something.

Then I thought deeper about the idea as I was considering this post. What if you make it profession flavored? Like for Firebrand(Guardian), you're filling tombs with knowledge; with Spellbreaker(Warrior), you're learning fighting techniques from valiant Sunspear; with Deadeye(Thief), you're assessing the value and posting marks/boundies, etc.

Could they be considered fetch quests or collections? Perhaps the generic concept, but the actual purpose could be very unique (especially if the challenges are a bit more flavored to the profession).

Right, and I understood that. I was just thinking of injecting the notion that professions aren't just a theme to hurt mobs on a map, but also a means to a paycheck (rewards). Like Firebrands are supposed to be lorekeepers, so how do you do that? Or that Deadeyes are suppose to put out marks and collect bounties, so how do you do that?

@Leo G.4501 said:

@Archranis.2375 said:

@Leo G.4501 said:To brainstorm some ideas, as I was reading the post, I thought of what could make the idea a bit more lore palpable.

My first thought was, what if this involved collecting information to be recorded in a book or perhaps collecting pages from these individuals scattered around the map that you combine to create a book and the more full and comprehensive the text, the better the reward. Would even be awesome if said book itself could be collectable that you can then read in your home instance or something.

Then I thought deeper about the idea as I was considering this post. What if you make it profession flavored? Like for Firebrand(Guardian), you're filling tombs with knowledge; with Spellbreaker(Warrior), you're learning fighting techniques from valiant Sunspear; with Deadeye(Thief), you're assessing the value and posting marks/boundies, etc.

Could they be considered fetch quests or collections? Perhaps the generic concept, but the actual purpose could be very unique (especially if the challenges are a bit more flavored to the profession).

You're absolutely right. I think that's great stuff to think about.

Nice idea, but Treasure Hunting is already a term used in the new maps so it needs another name.

How about... Transporter? Since you transport items around (and ask no questions).

What you just described is literally treasure hunt from runescape.

@Cynn.1659 said:What you just described is literally treasure hunt from runescape.

I've never played that.....might have to check it out.