Reducing area clutter + Tweaks to current maps.

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Theodore01
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Re: Reducing area clutter + Tweaks to current maps.

Unread post by Theodore01 »

Removing the encounters from these roads would make these areas even more boring most of the time.
If that should happen, i suggest adding caravan travel options to all settlements -as there is no point in walking/running (alone) through multiple empty areas (for the thousandth of times).

Areas that barely get used are: the crystal cave, the road to darkhold, darkhold, corm orp, high hedge, the huge and mostly empty gullykin map,

Remove the fugue outdoor area !


Waylaid triggers that spawn different groups on the same map would be interesting. Or even occasionally some that spawn a purple group.

Some more skill checks while traveling would be nice overall. But it would be difficult to balance that, as many chars are skill starved. How does a skill check work in a party -who does the roll ?
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Re: Reducing area clutter + Tweaks to current maps.

Unread post by Bobthehero »

Darkhold had more activity lately, I've seen to that, there also isn't any ''road to Darkhold'' just Corm Orp -> Darkhold courtyard.
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Rask
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Re: Reducing area clutter + Tweaks to current maps.

Unread post by Rask »

Theodore the point of no spawn/going through those areas is to increase RP on an RP server. Running through those areas with low level spawns constantly harassing you is already tedious and boring as a higher level character. I am totally for your idea of the caravan travels as well for people who may not want to RP travelling roads if thats what others want.

Though Id prefer no caravans personally, as it encourages organic RP on the road ways as people travel, and a caravan system that "teleports" people would remove that ability to organically encounter other people.

That being said, I like the idea of the 10-20% chance of waylaid and the chance of them being purple. This would be a neat way to encounter bandits and things on the roads that have a potential to be dangerous occasionally. I think thats a pretty neat balance between the two rather than just 50 beetles and wolves constantly harassing you which is totally unrealistic as it is now.
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Re: Reducing area clutter + Tweaks to current maps.

Unread post by krighaur »

The attacks on the road from Baldur to Beregost help the low level PC who are alone and are good place to grind for these characters : you can use ranged attacks, avoid groups and manoeuver, which is not always possible in dungeons.

Another thing to consider is that some quests need a travel from Baldur to FAI or Beregost, and the actual danger of the road are a great way for a new character to meet older one : some high level PC offer their help to escort, and some low level PC search help at the common gathering places.
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Max Hatchet
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Re: Reducing area clutter + Tweaks to current maps.

Unread post by Max Hatchet »

Rask wrote: Sat Dec 28, 2019 4:42 pm That being said, I like the idea of the 10-20% chance of waylaid and the chance of them being purple. This would be a neat way to encounter bandits and things on the roads that have a potential to be dangerous occasionally. I think thats a pretty neat balance between the two rather than just 50 beetles and wolves constantly harassing you which is totally unrealistic as it is now.
Yup this is exactly what i think - and what i mentioned in my first post:
Max Hatchet wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2019 5:20 am I also think all the beetles and ogres swamping the Lions Way is s bit silly. Move spawns away from the road. Have occasional dangerous random spawn attackers. Do the same for the bridge and area just outside Soubar. Have a few more areas with minimal or no spawns. Some stretches of road and forest that are normally safe.
Random encounters like you always had in D&D PnP. Ideally matched to the party and size - so we dont get single goblins charging a six strong band of armoured humans :mrgreen:

And yes, to make BG less like an MMO
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Re: Reducing area clutter + Tweaks to current maps.

Unread post by Rask »

Max Hatchet wrote: Sat Dec 28, 2019 4:57 pm
Rask wrote: Sat Dec 28, 2019 4:42 pm That being said, I like the idea of the 10-20% chance of waylaid and the chance of them being purple. This would be a neat way to encounter bandits and things on the roads that have a potential to be dangerous occasionally. I think thats a pretty neat balance between the two rather than just 50 beetles and wolves constantly harassing you which is totally unrealistic as it is now.
Yup this is exactly what i think - and what i mentioned in my first post:
Max Hatchet wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2019 5:20 am I also think all the beetles and ogres swamping the Lions Way is s bit silly. Move spawns away from the road. Have occasional dangerous random spawn attackers. Do the same for the bridge and area just outside Soubar. Have a few more areas with minimal or no spawns. Some stretches of road and forest that are normally safe.
Random encounters like you always had in D&D PnP. Ideally matched to the party and size - so we dont get single goblins charging a six strong band of armoured humans :mrgreen:

And yes, to make BG less like an MMO
That would be especially cool. Kind of like some areas in dungeons how the spawns get nastier depending on how high level you are/how many people are with you. I mean with a cap of course, but still, that is a cool idea.
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Re: Reducing area clutter + Tweaks to current maps.

Unread post by Snarfy »

krighaur wrote: Sat Dec 28, 2019 4:54 pm The attacks on the road from Baldur to Beregost help the low level PC who are alone and are good place to grind for these characters : you can use ranged attacks, avoid groups and manoeuver, which is not always possible in dungeons.

Another thing to consider is that some quests need a travel from Baldur to FAI or Beregost, and the actual danger of the road are a great way for a new character to meet older one : some high level PC offer their help to escort, and some low level PC search help at the common gathering places.
As previously mentioned, almost no-one grinds these areas. And those that might? They probably only do so because they're not aware there are far better areas to grind... not that we should be catering to grinders any more than we already are. Whether or not newer characters meet older ones along the roads? Sure, that might happen. The problem is neither will have much of a chance to do any RP'ing, since they have to contend with this...

Image

This is me walking my older character along Lions Way... it took about 30 seconds to accumulate this mob.

Make it end.
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Re: Reducing area clutter + Tweaks to current maps.

Unread post by krighaur »

Snarfy wrote: Sun Jan 05, 2020 8:30 pm
krighaur wrote: Sat Dec 28, 2019 4:54 pm The attacks on the road from Baldur to Beregost help the low level PC who are alone and are good place to grind for these characters : you can use ranged attacks, avoid groups and manoeuver, which is not always possible in dungeons.

Another thing to consider is that some quests need a travel from Baldur to FAI or Beregost, and the actual danger of the road are a great way for a new character to meet older one : some high level PC offer their help to escort, and some low level PC search help at the common gathering places.
As previously mentioned, almost no-one grinds these areas. And those that might? They probably only do so because they're not aware there are far better areas to grind... not that we should be catering to grinders any more than we already are. Whether or not newer characters meet older ones along the roads? Sure, that might happen. The problem is neither will have much of a chance to do any RP'ing, since they have to contend with this...

Image

This is me walking my older character along Lions Way... it took about 30 seconds to accumulate this mob.

Make it end.
Even if it is almost no-one, there are people who level partly there : I did and I saw other PC here.

So please stop considering that your case is the case of everybody. Not everybody knows or wants to create a character able to survive in the zone of his/her level and some, must use lower area, indeed the leveling is slower but it's not a race and it's not an elite server !
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Re: Reducing area clutter + Tweaks to current maps.

Unread post by Snarfy »

krighaur wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2020 1:44 am Even if it is almost no-one, there are people who level partly there : I did and I saw other PC here.
Well, I personally never see groups level-party in these areas. The only characters I ever see in these areas are ones that are charging through on their way to the gnolls lair or the goblin mines. While on the character in the above screenshot, and spending 30 minutes walking around Lions and Tradeway N. of Beregost, I saw zero other characters. I'll make you a deal though, I have this week off, and I will personally visit these zones once a day during peak hours and let you know how many other characters and/or parties I see.
So please stop considering that your case is the case of everybody. Not everybody knows or wants to create a character able to survive in the zone of his/her level and some, must use lower area, indeed the leveling is slower but it's not a race and it's not an elite server !
Sorry, but there's nothing even remotely slow about leveling on this server at the lower levels. In the upper epics, for sure, but a player can get a character to level 15+ in less than a week, and never have to grind these areas, or even enter them. I have a half dozen characters under level 15, and do you want to know what my lower level characters do in these areas? Nothing. I ignore them/run through them/turn invis and run through them.

Lions way is basically about a CR 7 area, except the ridiculous amount of spawns crank that up to a CR 9 or 10. How many other CR 7 through 10 areas do we have? I'll wager it's a lot. So, why do we need to have main roads so inundated with spawns? The amount of creatures on these roads is WAY over the top, and it's not fun. Putting monsters outside lairs would make much more sense than them coming at you from every direction non-stop. Up until a few years ago(at most) these roads had nowhere near the amount of monsters, and players could actually take their time, go for a stroll, and RP it up. Now, it just seems like the universal spawn-factory is set to overload(and this goes for every area). Believe it or not, some players do enjoy just taking their characters for a walk down the tradeway without having to fight off a horde of monsters ;)

My point is: there are a plethora of areas to grind in(which is something else that a lot of players do not enjoy) without having to turn main roadways, and potential RP spots, into grind-fests.

And please don't assume that I'm saying this because it's all about me. This is about how to make RP hubs more accessible, and making main roadways a little less of a slaughter-fest, and a little more RP friendly.
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Re: Reducing area clutter + Tweaks to current maps.

Unread post by Steve »

Make more existing Areas CR 20+! :dance:

You can send payment for good ideas to this address.... 8-)

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Re: Reducing area clutter + Tweaks to current maps.

Unread post by K'yon Oblodra »

Steve wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2020 3:31 pm Make more existing Areas CR 20+! :dance:


I second that.
You can send payment for good ideas to this address.... 8-)
This not so much XD
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Re: Reducing area clutter + Tweaks to current maps.

Unread post by Snarfy »

Steve wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2020 3:31 pm Make more existing Areas CR 20+! :dance:

You can send payment for good ideas to this address.... 8-)
Or... alternatively, make the roads less tedious to travel on your way to use the ones we already have!

In any case, not a terrible idea, here's your payment! :
Hidden: show
Image
... :mrgreen: You didn't specify the type of payment, and that's all I can afford, Steve old buddy!

(psst, I made a suggestion about tweaks)
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Re: Reducing area clutter + Tweaks to current maps.

Unread post by Max Hatchet »

Snarfy wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:57 pm
Steve wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2020 3:31 pm Make more existing Areas CR 20+! :dance:

You can send payment for good ideas to this address.... 8-)
Or... alternatively, make the roads less tedious to travel on your way to use the ones we already have!

In any case, not a terrible idea, here's your payment! :
Hidden: show
Image
... :mrgreen: You didn't specify the type of payment, and that's all I can afford, Steve old buddy!

(psst, I made a suggestion about tweaks)
Why are roads tedious to travel on?
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Re: Reducing area clutter + Tweaks to current maps.

Unread post by Snarfy »

Max Hatchet wrote: Tue Jan 07, 2020 3:21 pm Why are roads tedious to travel on?
..........
Snarfy wrote: Sun Jan 05, 2020 8:30 pm Image

This is me walking my older character along Lions Way... it took about 30 seconds to accumulate this mob.
Snarfy wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:57 pm (psst, I made a suggestion about tweaks)
*Late edit*
Hidden: show
I got bored... and decided to start a Bladestone(rip) Beetle Sanctuary as a workaround until a cure for the beetle-plague was found(shhhyeah, right)...
Image

Fun fact: there is a finite amount of creatures that will spawn on the map at any given time, and I'd cleared the roads of beetles for a whole 5 minutes... until the CK guards murdered them all. :x
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Re: Reducing area clutter + Tweaks to current maps.

Unread post by Max Hatchet »

If we want to continue this discussion i could simplify my thoughts as:

Too many towns. Not enough wilderness.

In the LONG RUN do we need Nashkell AND Beregost?
The server feels very thinly spread over a vast area.
Its lacks a sense of scale and size. Add in a bit more road to give it that sense of scale.


ALSO:
Make Baldur's Gate BIGGER. Make it maybe 5 or 6 areas on the surface with more adventure and content. Add a dungeon or two beneath the city? Maybe something really extensive?
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