You guys are moving in the right direction. We're not going to have raids in the style of the classic MMO- there won't be any static PvE encounters that you can memorize. Instead, be thinking of the kinds of situations you find yourself in with Left 4 Dead or Diablo II - or Path of Exile! Every time you run an Underworld, it will be very different: different passageways, different monsters, different boss creatures with different abilities. We're very excited about it! We're aiming to create a PvE experience that's infinitely replayable- you should be surprised and delighted every time you play these.
Remembers me in Hellgate: London.... Great times, great times.... Hope loot-wise it will be very similar to Hellgate London!
Ah, loot's an interesting question! We don't want you to kill a Carnifex and have it pop out a boltgun. The direction we're currently thinking is: As you kill enemies, you gain points. At certain thresholds of points, you unlock rewards, to receive at the end of your run. Our current thought on the rewards is that these are randomized boxes of loot that can contain anything from ammunition, to medical supplies, to weapons or legendary crafting components. Now, along the way, you may occasionally find rare and powerful loot in the dungeon that's actually an item and not a loot box. This will be available for anyone in the party to take, and you'll have to decide who actually gets it. Currently we're thinking that you'll make these decisions when you zone down to the next floor lower; you're at a pause in the action, so you'll have the opportunity to look at the items you've acquired and decide who gets what. We want to keep the focus on the action, and spin the loot not as monsters dropping tons of stuff, but rather as your faction rewarding you for your efforts.
I really love that idea of loot, thanks for the in-sight! I hope you also make *Class-Stickers* E.G. that I CANNOT take an item that has NO use for my class. E.G. I play Devastator and we find a legendary Chainsword. What do I want with that? So I should not even be able to choose it. When it comes though to craft material etc. I really hate i EVERYONE wants it, and with random people most likely that will happen. So I hope there will be drops that everyone gets... Especially Key Items (since there might be some kind of story progression consider those key items) or event items. E.G. it's easter and you implement funny special painted tyranid eggs which can give you bonus items if you collect X amount till end of event. Those kind of drops should be for everyone, same for "low-tier" material. Just more rare and legendary stuff and what not should be a one-time thing. Also I hope you guys thought already on an "anti-steal" mechanism, I hate when ppl just run over every drop and steal everything, therefore I hope you will have a good party loot system. I really liked how Global Agenda operated or the Approach "Destiny" takes. Every item that is dropped is YOURS alone. There are no details yet how it works EXACTLY in destiny but in basic you have to kinda imagine like this (I think): Enemy is killed, for you it drops an item, you pick it up you do not see any item anymore. Your party members see each also an item, but it's theirs so you cannot see or grab it. OR you kill an enemy, it drops x things and then it has a name tag on each. I think Destiny even goes that far if a boss is killed and it drops a weapon mod or a whole new weapon it is for you AND your class only, that way you do not get anything you cannot use. Summary: - I hope on an anti-theft system - I hope on fair contribution if it's an automated system - I hope for items that are out of your class cannot be taken, except NOBODY has the class in your party (e.g. full tactical marine squad and you find a Heavy Bolter, then it is random assigning or something) - I hope on low-level drops to be for everyone, but rare items to be only for 1 person of the party.
im a bit torn between liking and not liking the procedural dungeon thing. on one hand, sure it does get some variety out of it but on the other hand it gets pretty boring quickly when you figure that all that changes is the loot, the dungeon path arangement and monster "type". the path of exile system wasnt that great tbh, its like having an open world sandbox: i dont really want to explore every single rock on the map, i want to get to the points of most interest and be done with it, like in the GTA games. i dont really need to explore every room to know whats in, same goes to the dungeon, i dont really want to replay the basically same dungeon just to see every possible outcome the variable has set. i could be wrong though, and were talking about a much huger spectrum than done in path of exile for example. so about how much randomisation are we actually talking ? how much is every dungeon different from another one ? hope youre allowed to be more specific, i could be totally wrong with my post here.
Ah! More clarification: ALMOST ALL the loot you get is yours and yours only. All the loot boxes you earn from your points are yours; if one of your party members picks up a loot box, everyone gets a copy. If someone else grabs the Relic Boltgun from the pedestal, don't worry- it's not HIS, it's now in the group's pool for the group to distribute later. The only loot you'll ever have to worry about distributing is those rare items that you actually find in the dungeon- and yes, we want to be sure to minimize the potential for griefing-by-stealing-an-item-you-can't-use. We actually really like the social engagement that comes from occasionally seeing good loot and having to talk with your friends and decide who gets it- so we'll do everything we can to keep that behaviour without making it irritating.
Bear in mind, the monster's "type" will also change their behaviour. So all that changes is: The environmental visuals The path The monsters The way you fight the monsters The loot you get To me that sounds like a completely different experience every time! Care to elaborate? The Underworld won't be open-world, so there will probably not be nearly as much searching to find your way forward. A common complaint about this kind of game (Left 4 Dead, Diablo 2, Torchlight, Path of Exile, Spelunky) is that it starts feeling "samey" over time. We think we've identified the core features that will give us the maximum amount of variety. The core experience should always be: At least once on every Underworld run, I see something new that I've never seen before, and it surprises me either to my delight or to my great misfortune.
Sure you are working on EC and did not work or played Hellgate London? That remembers me a lot on it, they tried the same! But it was too diablo clone to hold users long-term. Anyway I hope you guys can make a good thing out of it. Randomization is hard, but I have my faith into you! As far as Iam concerned I look forwards to the system!
that samey feeling is exactly what i meant. in skyrim for example, you had like, 3 dungeon types which were random when you discovered new ones, but after the time it started to feel "samey". how much are visuals going to be randomized ? you also mentioned that clearing out that ore mine will have impact on economy and give your faction bonuses besides loot. how does that work exactly ? when i clear that infested mine, is it going to be infested again 10 minutes later with a randomized dungeon and my faction losing bonus resources ? are dungeons going to be like missions like where you penetrate deep into a cave to blow up the brood nest with a nuclear demolition charge , or take that specific ore mine to gain a vehicle requisition boost ? thanks for clarifying earlier.
I'm confused on loot. On one hand, there is talk of how weapons and gear are all horizontal/"side-grades", i.e. the loot you receive are not linear upgrades but rather fulfill a different role, so a new player can jump in and be just as deadly as a veteran player, just with less options. But these bolded terms very much give a sense of linear upgrades and a more traditional MMO loot system. Will there be both?
