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Vaelir

Tracking Rework Suggestion - "Hunting Parties" (PvE Content)

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This is a copy paste from a suggestion I made in another thread which gained some traction, to discuss the topic solely.

Essentially aimed at increasing the level and difficultly of PvE by making the tracking skill more fun & interactive and useful for hunting mobs, either individually or in groups. 

 

The Initial Idea:

The idea is that we could make monster "spawns" a trigger event specifically a result of tracking.

For example, if you track for something eventually you trigger a spawn (creature spawns) a number of tiles away. So you get a fight on your hands. With a bigger rework this could lead to a progression based track, similar to archaeology caches, such as a hunter getting more and more spawns the longer you keep it going (in a single session). So you stumble upon a troll, track a camp with 2 more trolls, eventually find a cave entrance with a miniature stronghold of 20+ trolls. But only if you keep on their trail in a set amount of time.

 

The player has the choice of when "enough is enough" and its getting too hard to continue on the trail, or can invite a hunting party. 

To prevent players tracking and "spawning" larger camps on new players we could add that the monsters spawned as a result of tracking are only aggressive to the tracker or anyone who attacks first - to prevent a stronghold spawning on a newbie in the area?

 

My own opinion on this is:

+1 to anything that makes PvE Interesting, I've found it mundane trying to find trolls etc to fight and skill my FS. 

-1 to anything that would impact newbies negatively.

 

Implementation Suggestions:

Make sure spawns are tied in with fight skill and tracking, and make spawns away from start towns and highways. A further option would be to limit how far these spawned monsters can walk from their camp, keeping them close knit to return with a friend when things get tough, but also ensuring a swarm don't wander toward new players. 

In my opinion tracked creatures should also be related to the terrain where possible for added Lore and immersion, trolls when rock tiles are within X distance, wolves/bear requiring forest (tree tiles), crocodiles, anaconda in desert etc... 

 

Graphics for Stronghold or small mob camps would be a nice addition too ^-^  

 

In terms of rewards, I don't think we should add anything new other than what is butchered, but there is the opportunity to then take this further and have 95+ tracking, who clear lots of difficult mobs eventually spawn some kind of boss. (eg. Kill a Troll Stronghold, find evidence of another potential tribe to the north, where there's a Champion Troll and more of his friends). Possibly up to a Troll King for example, or Forest Giant protecting his wolf friends (which were coming in huge packs later in the content), obviously a rare spawn and requiring insane 95+ tracking skill.   Removed Uniques from the scope of this suggestion following community feedback, however new "tougher than champion" monsters would be welcomed, as would "clues" as to a related Unique's location on the server.

 

What do you guys think? I'll try to keep track of other ideas that the community like in this post too.

 

Additional Suggestions/Responses:

TBD - Add your views in the thread and I will collate here if they gain traction with the community!

Edited by Vaelir
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Quotes from my initial suggestion in another thread:

 

On 1/14/2019 at 3:03 AM, Roccandil said:

 

I like that especially: sounds kinda like the archaeology caches. :) And whether or not you pursue the lair is up to you; it's not something randomly spawned on top of you.

On 1/14/2019 at 5:11 AM, Brash_Endeavors said:

 

 

I agree, this is maybe one of the more imaginative and interesting ideas I have seen.

 

 

On 1/14/2019 at 7:07 PM, Flubb said:

 

This paragraph deserves its own thread.

On 1/14/2019 at 8:13 PM, Thalius said:

This could be quite interesting indeed, and leave it up to the player how far he/she wanted to push the danger level of their hunt.

 

Make dens or strongholds dangerous enough to require hunting parties in order to take them, perhaps, with dens/strongholds of certain mobs requiring a higher and higher tracking skill lvl to find.

 

Def. should be a separate suggestion thread..

 

 

 

 

Edited by Vaelir

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Note: I added the above quotes into the OP of this thread, and expanded a little, great additions and nice feedback!

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Maybe when tracking rarely something could be found (a bloodstained cloth, a battered shield, the hilt of a shattered sword, etc). By activating these items and tracking with them a player would be led on a trail to an eventual location where the player would be 'ambushed' by a group of creatures(could vary depending on what was used to search)

 

The object used in the search could determine the difficulty of the encounter as well as the QL of the object and the rarity. aka a very high ql supreme shattered sword could be multiple champion trolls with several normal trolls and a low quality bloodstained cloth may be a handful of cavebugs or goblins.

 

Additionally, maybe like how forage/botanize was given multiple subcategories to search for, as your tracking skill gets higher, you could track for different things that could cause something to spawn.

.

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3 hours ago, Tryfaen said:

Additionally, maybe like how forage/botanize was given multiple subcategories to search for, as your tracking skill gets higher, you could track for different things that could cause something to spawn..

 

 

This would also be great. I love the idea of tying tracking skill more closely into hunting. The best hunters SHOULD also be the best trackers.

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+1 Fully support this idea.  

 

There are strong arguments against foisting certain gameplay on to others, and I believe this reaches a solid middle ground in expanding options.   Hunting and tracking were disappointments when I started playing, and continue to be so.   

 

Archaeology seems to have ironed out to be a useful, and for many, enjoyable aspect.  These same mechanics could be implemented in these areas as well. 

 

I would be hyped for some changes such as this.  

Edited by Arishok
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I see literally no downside except the implementation effort, which is up to the devs to decide. I think this would be a great use of tracking on Freedom and add the additional challenge some people yearn for; it'll also enable hunters to force some spawns without relying on or messing with natural spawning too much. (Tracked mobs could despawn if left alone for too long?)

 

I think spawning Uniques is a bit OP though, no matter which skill; perhaps certain champion mobs in "final strongholds" were direct subordinates of existing uniques on the server, leaving some hint to its location? Something like Archaeology would tell you about deeds, e.g. "This hint suggests the creatures leader is located somewhere <NSWE far/nearby>".

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13 hours ago, Brash_Endeavors said:

 

 

This would also be great. I love the idea of tying tracking skill more closely into hunting. The best hunters SHOULD also be the best trackers.

 

I was about to quote this exact sentence and say the same, fully support this categorization idea!

This could also be a means to allow trackers to start a new trail if the one they are on becomes to hard for them to pursue further. 

Edited by Vaelir
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1 hour ago, Flubb said:

I see literally no downside except the implementation effort, which is up to the devs to decide. I think this would be a great use of tracking on Freedom and add the additional challenge some people yearn for; it'll also enable hunters to force some spawns without relying on or messing with natural spawning too much. (Tracked mobs could despawn if left alone for too long?)

 

I think spawning Uniques is a bit OP though, no matter which skill; perhaps certain champion mobs in "final strongholds" were direct subordinates of existing uniques on the server, leaving some hint to its location? Something like Archaeology would tell you about deeds, e.g. "This hint suggests the creatures leader is located somewhere <NSWE far/nearby>".

 

Uniques should remain extremely rare indeed, this is a good suggestion to address that, providing hints towards the creatures location but not spawning it directly.

I can see how making them spawn at high levels would just invalidate the challenge and rarity that they pose. 

 

The other option of course being to not include uniques in the scope of any tracking update at all.

 

But there is also the option to maybe add a few new "elites" in as a mid-ground, such as an "Brood Queen" for anaconda or "Alpha Wolf", as long as they make sense and fit in the lore! Such elites could be more difficult than a Champion and pose a real challenge to most players, or even groups, thinking along the lines of "Champion+Greenish+Raging" + CR increase from the usual mob.

 

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7 hours ago, Flubb said:

I see literally no downside except the implementation effort, which is up to the devs to decide. I think this would be a great use of tracking on Freedom and add the additional challenge some people yearn for; it'll also enable hunters to force some spawns without relying on or messing with natural spawning too much. (Tracked mobs could despawn if left alone for too long?)

 

I think spawning Uniques is a bit OP though, no matter which skill; perhaps certain champion mobs in "final strongholds" were direct subordinates of existing uniques on the server, leaving some hint to its location? Something like Archaeology would tell you about deeds, e.g. "This hint suggests the creatures leader is located somewhere <NSWE far/nearby>".

For what my opinion is worth, certainly a down vote from me to the idea of spawning uniques as a result of any tracking/hunting event.

The idea of having a system by which hints are given to the location of currently existing uniques though by conquering strongholds/dens and overcoming champion mobs and such- Big +1 as a part of this feature.  Chance of finding a champion mob that would drop a hint should be very rare though.

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I do like the idea of something nastier than champs, but weaker than uniques.

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The thread addressing a hunting server suggestion caught a lot of traction and has strong opinions both in favor of and against it.  I am one who would be in favor of the idea.

 

Bringing an overhaul to hunting in the game along the lines of what is contained in this thread though would have my vote over the hunting server idea.

 

It is clear from the response to posts like these that there is a desire for something balanced but more challenging to be added to the game for those seeking a greater adventure.

 

It is my opinion, for what it is worth, that this hunting/tracking upgrade suggestion would fit nicely with what a lot of players seem to be hungering for.

 

Humbly submitted,

~TH~

Edited by Thalius
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11 hours ago, Mclavin said:

Best idea ever

 

Reading this made me feel all warm and happy inside :D 

 

I will have to get myself up to speed on the Hunting Server Suggestion, I saw the thread but from what I saw it was only "accessible" to very skilled fighters, as it would be incredibly dangerous, but this seems more friendly for all as you stop any time it gets hard, or can scale up the difficulty with Tracking Skill :) 

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Tracking could definitely use some help in being relevant. And it just makes sense for the tracking skill to be paired up with hunting.

 

+1 from me.

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On 1/15/2019 at 7:01 AM, Vaelir said:

...make monster "spawns" a trigger event specifically a result of tracking...

 

-1 on mob spawn triggered by tracking. Tracking skill should be just allow one to detect past passage and activities on a tile. If a player wants to track down a lost horse, a mob or another player, they utilise this skill and interpret the prompts given to achieve the objective (eg. "Recent tracks of horse Tichdance detected heading west", "Detected tracks of champ hellhound heading north east").

 

+1 on adding content related to tracking, utilising the skill without limiting it. For example:

Player sets out to hunt a troll camp rumoured to be somewhere in the wild forests of north west Cele. Said player rides there and starts tracking around, following the tracking hints about troll tracks and eventually locating the camp.

 

The player makes the decision on what happens. They can choose to follow the tracks of trolls that will hopefully lead them to a camp, or track down a sheep has passed through the area, or ignore all the tracks and keep on going with whatever they are doing.

Edited by Mataleao
Tldr

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On 1/24/2019 at 1:59 AM, Mataleao said:

 

The player makes the decision on what happens. They can choose to follow the tracks of trolls that will hopefully lead them to a camp, or track down a sheep has passed through the area, or ignore all the tracks and keep on going with whatever they are doing.

 

Completely agree with this point, would also need a way to "clear" the track they are on so they can move to another (if they aren't interested in a troll but want to look for a bear). 

 

However, if the hunt/skill was not progressively getting harder it would not feel immersive/challenging. Finding the lone troll which wondered through the area recently isn't going to be the new PvE content that the game needs, so having the mobs spawn from tracking is kind of necessary / the whole point of the thread.

 

Either that or we need a significant increase in monster spawns, with grouped areas/camps which don't negatively impact highways/new starters. (ie 5 trolls wandering to a newbies deed = bad). Proximity based spawns (mobs stay within X distance of a spawn/camp), with these not spawning within X distance of a deed / highway would be one alternative way, but that could be a whole separate patch alongside this suggestion. 

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Just now, Vaelir said:

However, if the hunt/skill was not progressively getting harder it would not feel immersive/challenging. Finding the lone troll which wondered through the area recently isn't going to be the new PvE content that the game needs, so having the mobs spawn from tracking is kind of necessary / the whole point of the thread.

 

 

Note, this point also add to the "sandbox rule" that many seem to consider as law.

If you want mobs to fight, you get mobs, if you don't then you don't.

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If Troll Camps get bumped then so does this. :lol:

 

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