Endgame Discussion

[Dimetrius]

Hi all! Per request, I've started this thread up with the intent of gauging approval (or disapproval!) of an idea centered around the 'endgame' of Akanbar, which currently involves only the progression to level 100 and nothing further. I'm seeking to develop a system which, once a player has reached the level cap, allows them to expend knowledge crystals at a recurring rate in exchange for the upkeep of certain personal add-ons.

The details of the system itself (cost, maintenance, etc.) is something I'm leaving out at this time, as I hope to sit down and draw up a more thorough plan in the future. For now, I'd just like to collect some snippets of ideas and see what everyone else thinks of the concept.

By design I would like for most, if not all, of these add-ons or endowments to be more along the lines of flavour and roleplay, as opposed to boons that relate to combat, warfare and the like. This sentiment has been reflected by others up top, so while I'm sure your hopeful plans for being able to one-hit everything or instantly triple the size of an army at the cost of knowledge crystals is a very wanted one, please don't take offense if I hint otherwise.

I'll be maintaining this post specifically to showcase any suggestions dropped on the thread, while links will be embedded to direct the curious to the whole of the suggestion.

Ideas thus far:
[Custom look string] - suggested by Dimetrius
[Inclusion in a "Hall of Fame"] - suggested by Malic

[Dimetrius]

Custom look string

At present, the Pyromancers are (at least I believe!) the only ones among us who ever have a bit of flavor scattered when you LOOK with them in a room. For everyone else, it's extremely plain and sort of dry. We are simply there, sitting or lying down. Maybe in combat if the environment is right! This seeks to change that.

For a recurring cost of say, 50 knowledge crystals per year, allow a player to formulate a custom look string. This would carry the restrictions of a certain character limit, as well as being subject to divine (dis)approval.

Example:
DESCRIBE LOOKSTRING is nearby, suffused with an aura of blinding light.
DESCRIBE LOOKSTRING is here, exuding a faint chill reminiscent of death itself.
DESCRIBE LOOKSTRING is here, clinging closely to the nearby shadows.

These strings would be nullified if you were to - as above - sit, lie down, enter combat or otherwise change your stance of simply being 'there'. Overly silly requests, which there should hopefully not be many of given the prerequisite of playing through a hundred levels of growth, would be overruled or altered to fit appropriately by Someone.

[Jaethor]

Just as a note, we are not extending the maximum level beyond level 100. It has not been suggested yet, but consider this nipping meeting budding.

[Dimetrius]

Just as a note, we are not extending the maximum level beyond level 100. It has not been suggested yet, but consider this nipping meeting budding.

I forgot about that, thanks!

[Pyrok]

How about an option to retain current skills, and then embark on a quest that sets your level back to 1, resetting you to 'noobie' status, and then you get to regain 100 levels again. No sitting around waiting for those pesky crystals to grow to finish out your last couple skills. Can even change guilds if you want! Akanbar: New Game + Mode!
Feat name: 'Everything old is new again.'

[Malic]

How about a one-off payment of crystals to have your portrait displayed in the Hall of Heroes, or League of Legends. Which would be a small room added to maybe the great library. Obviously your name would appear as part of a list, rather than an actual painting, otherwise the room could get quite messy.

[Dimetrius]

How about a one-off payment of crystals to have your portrait displayed in the Hall of Heroes, or League of Legends. Which would be a small room added to maybe the great library. Obviously your name would appear as part of a list, rather than an actual painting, otherwise the room could get quite messy.

That would be oddly cute, I like it!

[Silas]

I want to be in a completely different League of Legends D:

[Malic]

You already are, chap. Trust me.

[Ilessa]

I've closed this poll, as I did not think it evoked a spirit of objectivity to the issue. Feel free to continue discussing your views on the issue at hand, however, disregarding the poll itself.

[Zinerva]

How about a one-off payment of crystals to have your portrait displayed in the Hall of Heroes, or League of Legends. Which would be a small room added to maybe the great library. Obviously your name would appear as part of a list, rather than an actual painting, otherwise the room could get quite messy.

Pretty sure both of those names are copyrighted >_>

[Malic]

So you've stumbled onto my cunning plan. I am the copyright holder of both names, and I was hoping for a quickfire lawsuit for copyright infringement to fill my bank account.

Incidently I'm also the copyright holder for the word "cheese". So think of me when you say it, if you don't already.

[Ashrabia]

Here is my perspective on this. Yes, I agree that there needs to be something done for those of us who have reached level 100. Or, those of us who have reached Unsurpassable in terms of skills. I stand here and can say that after I hit level 100, I found my time in these lands significantly decrease. The psychological effect of not having something to strive for is a very present issue in this land. I should clarify, that this 'item' to strive for must actually seem attainable. For many, becoming Unsurpassable is not attainable due to many various issues.

In terms of ... Experience... something that might motivate the select few who have already hit Level 100, I'd suggest that Experience and Corpses be allowed to serve to their own Mortal presence in the world, but in a "Divine" like aura. Let me explain. Lets say the highest of the Divine abilities costs 1 Billion Experience. A Mortal could choose any other mortal to kill at their whim. No breaking Divine Law, or Player jumping. But, 200,000 Experience might only give you a Holy Aura. A light that stays with you for a year. Never have to light another torch. Various 'abilities' ranging from non impacting to impacting would spread the line between 200,000 and 1Billion. I'd also like to see the idea of mortals, worshipping... or creating their own Gods?

Lets use this example. It takes 5 Billion Experience to Become a God. Every Mortal has the option to Donate experience to another mortal, keep it for themselves, and use it as they see fit. If Kinzie gets 5 Billion Experience donated to her, and saved up due to her own hunting, sacrificing... so forth, she could Ascend due to Mortal .... faith? However, such divinity could be lost. She would have to maintain a X amount of Experience donation in order to stay Divine. Or, the Divine could give her Full ascension.

I have presented two... very complex ideas. To something a bit less intensive. Crystals shouldn't be used for such things as Malic has suggested. I understand that the Gods want balance... don't want to give an unfair advantage.... However, those ideas are just good ideas on their own. Players should beable to change the way they are perceived by entering and leaving the room. It adds a new dynamic to Roleplay environment. Unfortunately, Roleplay in this land has become accustomed to... whatever kind of roleplay we have now. Few people know how to roleplay. When people do roleplay, or try... attacks come out as not being Classy. Roleplay is seen as breaking character because it is against the already defined norm.

I personally don't like the idea of using Knowledge crystals, or even power crystals for aspects of a game that expands upon the game itself. Like the clothing descriptions, I don't feel that I should be forced to buy this with knowledge crystals. Sure, Gold, but real life money? ... Same with the Entering and leaving appearance? Should I have to pay for something like that? It might just be me but I don't like the principle of it.

[Dimetrius]

I personally don't like the idea of using Knowledge crystals, or even power crystals for aspects of a game that expands upon the game itself. Like the clothing descriptions, I don't feel that I should be forced to buy this with knowledge crystals. Sure, Gold, but real life money? ... Same with the Entering and leaving appearance? Should I have to pay for something like that? It might just be me but I don't like the principle of it.

I'm of the belief that it should be -only- knowledge crystals, and not power crystals, that can be put down towards these endgame endowments. In addition to what you said above, with it just not being a great principle, I also believe you can do more than enough with power crystals already. Let's save these benefits for the people who have stuck around and continue to, as a reward for trudging through the levels and staying the course even further.

Hope that made sense, I'm sort of crazy rambling again before bed.

:drool:

[Jaethor]

Here is my perspective on this. Yes, I agree that there needs to be something done for those of us who have reached level 100. Or, those of us who have reached Unsurpassable in terms of skills. I stand here and can say that after I hit level 100, I found my time in these lands significantly decrease. The psychological effect of not having something to strive for is a very present issue in this land. I should clarify, that this 'item' to strive for must actually seem attainable. For many, becoming Unsurpassable is not attainable due to many various issues.

In terms of ... Experience... something that might motivate the select few who have already hit Level 100, I'd suggest that Experience and Corpses be allowed to serve to their own Mortal presence in the world, but in a "Divine" like aura. Let me explain. Lets say the highest of the Divine abilities costs 1 Billion Experience. A Mortal could choose any other mortal to kill at their whim. No breaking Divine Law, or Player jumping. But, 200,000 Experience might only give you a Holy Aura. A light that stays with you for a year. Never have to light another torch. Various 'abilities' ranging from non impacting to impacting would spread the line between 200,000 and 1Billion. I'd also like to see the idea of mortals, worshipping... or creating their own Gods?

Lets use this example. It takes 5 Billion Experience to Become a God. Every Mortal has the option to Donate experience to another mortal, keep it for themselves, and use it as they see fit. If Kinzie gets 5 Billion Experience donated to her, and saved up due to her own hunting, sacrificing... so forth, she could Ascend due to Mortal .... faith? However, such divinity could be lost. She would have to maintain a X amount of Experience donation in order to stay Divine. Or, the Divine could give her Full ascension.

I have presented two... very complex ideas. To something a bit less intensive. Crystals shouldn't be used for such things as Malic has suggested. I understand that the Gods want balance... don't want to give an unfair advantage.... However, those ideas are just good ideas on their own. Players should beable to change the way they are perceived by entering and leaving the room. It adds a new dynamic to Roleplay environment. Unfortunately, Roleplay in this land has become accustomed to... whatever kind of roleplay we have now. Few people know how to roleplay. When people do roleplay, or try... attacks come out as not being Classy. Roleplay is seen as breaking character because it is against the already defined norm.

No.

I personally don't like the idea of using Knowledge crystals, or even power crystals for aspects of a game that expands upon the game itself. Like the clothing descriptions, I don't feel that I should be forced to buy this with knowledge crystals. Sure, Gold, but real life money? ... Same with the Entering and leaving appearance? Should I have to pay for something like that? It might just be me but I don't like the principle of it.

You're not forced to use power crystals (I'm assuming you meant those) to buy these at all. You're not being forced to do anything concerning that. If you want to get clothes or something that's actually PC only, then yes, you'll need to use PC, but it's an optional facet of the game, one that doesn't give you any advantage whatsoever. Now, I dislike pay to play games as much as anyone else who actively seeks out non-pay-to-play games, but as I have explained more times than I am happy with, yes, we have features that are power crystal features. Logically, no, someone who does not purchase power crystals won't like it being "power crystal only". This is why we make it features that don't really matter for much other than perks. It's the same as giving one city a feature over another. We're not forcing you to be Elysian so you can play onatu nor are we forcing you to be Golgonian to play that newfangled game they have.

There are dozens upon dozens of things you can do in the game, features players haven't discovered or features players haven't done in decades. You shouldn't fixate on what you cannot do and maybe search out for things you can. I understand the whole "grass is always greener on the other side", but I promise all of you that power crystals having uses is going to continue to be a thing, just as much as Jaethor adding non-power-crystal features into the game is.