Floating islands and underground tunnels

[mercury ranique.2170]

I would prefer them to resolve the scattering issue in a different way. The game needs to be upgraded and brought to a new level. It is now 10 years old and is getting outdated.
Assuming that they can do everything they want in the current game, I'd suggest to make a campaign. This equals an expansion, but with new starting area's and maps to level up in. New story's. Maybe new races. 

Make it a matter of choice, but make it the better option for experienced players (so quicker to level up. more rewards and more esthetic). Keep the old ones, but focus on it for the play for free players

[Linken.6345]

9 hours ago, mercury ranique.2170 said:

I would prefer them to resolve the scattering issue in a different way. The game needs to be upgraded and brought to a new level. It is now 10 years old and is getting outdated.
Assuming that they can do everything they want in the current game, I'd suggest to make a campaign. This equals an expansion, but with new starting area's and maps to level up in. New story's. Maybe new races. 

Make it a matter of choice, but make it the better option for experienced players (so quicker to level up. more rewards and more esthetic). Keep the old ones, but focus on it for the play for free players

How can you ask for more speed in leveling up have you tried the new character adventure guide on a low level character?

[Ashen.2907]

9 hours ago, mercury ranique.2170 said:

I would prefer them to resolve the scattering issue in a different way. The game needs to be upgraded and brought to a new level. It is now 10 years old and is getting outdated.
Assuming that they can do everything they want in the current game, I'd suggest to make a campaign. This equals an expansion, but with new starting area's and maps to level up in. New story's. Maybe new races. 

Make it a matter of choice, but make it the better option for experienced players (so quicker to level up. more rewards and more esthetic). Keep the old ones, but focus on it for the play for free players

I dont think that the level scaling works well enough for new starter and leveling zones to be engaging for veteran characters at level 80.

[kharmin.7683]

18 minutes ago, Ashen.2907 said:

I dont think that the level scaling works well enough for new starter and leveling zones to be engaging for veteran characters at level 80.

Which, I'd imagine, is by design?

[Ashen.2907]

5 minutes ago, kharmin.7683 said:

Which, I'd imagine, is by design?

I doubt it since the entire point of a level scaling system is to make sure that lower level zones remain relevant for higher level characters. If ANet didnt, by design, want this they could have saved dev resources by not coding for level scaling in the first place.

[kharmin.7683]

8 minutes ago, Ashen.2907 said:

I doubt it since the entire point of a level scaling system is to make sure that lower level zones remain relevant for higher level characters. If ANet didnt, by design, want this they could have saved dev resources by not coding for level scaling in the first place.

Relevant, perhaps, but engaging?  I'm not so sure about that.  I feel that Anet has a design push to get players through these starter zones and into later content if not end-game content because that generates sales of expansions.

The level scaling was there from the start, so I don't think that any resources were squandered. 

[itspomf.9523]

On 9/17/2022 at 9:36 AM, Aodlop.1907 said:

Are the way forward.

Too many maps will scatter the playerbase. However, having new levels of depth to existing map is the better options.

 

Adding expansion features to Vanilla maps would also be the perfect occasion to tease new players about what's to come, since you'd need gliding/updraft or mushroom masteries at the very least to access these places.

Hate to burst your bubble, but floating islands is unfortunately the ONLY way to go.

GW2 uses the popular "NURBS" style of terrain (it's basically a height-mapped plain -- that's why "caves" are actually trenches with clever bits of boulders and the like put on top of them, and why steep angles look so weird, texturally).  It's also why you can occasionally see seams in the ground or watch it "snap" to a more natural contour when you get nearer, by using a more refined set of values.

But technical aspects aside, no, this isn't actually going to improve things in the game -- in fact, it's just recreating the perceived problem in fewer places.  Truth is, there aren't as many "empty" maps as people think.  Everywhere I go I frequently see players doing events, hearts, achievements, or whatever.  Maps that cycle quickly are usually getting hammered by things like world bosses, dailies, Ley Line Anomaly runs, or similar, where you get a big influx and exodus of players in a very small timeframe.  Outside of that?  It's just dumb luck in a load-balanced system whether you get tossed into a highly-populated map or a runoff.

And despite all of that, there are still tons of players who spend all their time in only a handful of maps regardless of what there is to do elsewhere, because that's what they like:  chilling in towns, taking in scenery, even the adorable LARPers you occasionally come across tucked away in some patch of forest or a village.

I'd also go so far as to say that making masteries necessary outside of their expansion is just plain poor design -- no one wants to deal with a metroidvania in their quasi-platforming muhmorpeggur.

[Ashen.2907]

3 hours ago, kharmin.7683 said:

The level scaling was there from the start, so I don't think that any resources were squandered. 

My point was resource expenditure during initial development of the core game. If ANet didnt want level 80's in low level zones engaging with that content they could have saved the effort of coding the level scaling. 

[ugrakarma.9416]

On 9/18/2022 at 4:41 AM, yoni.7015 said:

I prefer new maps. 

same lol.

 

i wonder why ppl insist on ruin things that proved work.

Anet had til now the best map design politics.

[Ashen.2907]

If ANet created a, "Queensdale* Underdark," area it would be a new zone, not a part of the existing Queensdale map. You might enter it via a portal in the existing map but the new area would be its own zone. Likewise for, "The Sky Islands of Queensdale*." Both could be very cool areas, but I dont see them being added to existing maps. 

* I used Queensdale as an example but the concept applies to any such addition in any given area.

[kharmin.7683]

2 hours ago, Ashen.2907 said:

My point was resource expenditure during initial development of the core game. If ANet didnt want level 80's in low level zones engaging with that content they could have saved the effort of coding the level scaling. 

Agreed, however my point is that I believe that the intent was to enable level 80s to be relevant in the starter/lower zones via scaling but not continue to engage with that content.

[fatihso.7258]

If you play Gw1, you will see Tyria actually has  detailed underground hubs, cave systems and dungeons. Some are actually connecting maps and regions. There are stories, campaigns and missions regarding them. However, they are not touched in GW2.. yet.