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Before everyone gets out of their seat, I know Ashes is not a PvE game, (any PvX'ers here?) PvE is not Ashes primary focus. But what I am asking is a hypothetical situation where, Intrepid's launch of Ashes goes great and now they have extra resources and want to give end-game PvE content a trial run, to see how it goes.
So how would you like to see it implemented?
I think a given for end-game PvE content is for it to be instanced. (If you have a different opinion let me know!)
With that, I see two main options for the type of content:
1.) Raid/Boss fights
2.) Timed/Challenging dungeon content.
If we had to pick one, I think starting with Raid/Boss fights would be the best course to go with. I am of course biased since I raided in semi-hardcore WoW guilds (I didn't raid 7 days a week, but we pushed the difficult content). I would love to see maybe 4 - 6 bosses get added into a patch. They don't have to all be in the same instance either! I think a really cool idea would be to have bosses in different zones: A frost-themed Dunir boss in the mountains, a storm-themed Nikua boss near the ocean, a poison-themed Tulnar boss underground etc. Forcing players to travel the world to defeat these threats. But there are more specifics when it comes to boss design. so let's get into it:
Raid size: Raid size is a tricky one, sometimes having more players, makes a fight feel more epic. But also having more players requires difficulty in coordination. If you have a 25 raid size, one or two players missing could ruin a night for 23-24 other people. I think since AoC already has some large-scale world boss fights, smaller raid groups would be best. I think my ideal range is as low as 8 and as high as 15. I think it allows for some tight-knit groups of friends to form. Easier to relate to 10 or so people than 25-40.
Trash: I think raiding is most fun with little to no trash. For those who are not familiar with that term, trash is the mobs/monsters that a raid group needs to kill before they can fight the boss. Some trash is fine, but more often than not, people just end up trying to afk it and it is not very engaging. I think a bit of trash is not too bad, as it can add to the overall feel/immersion to a raid.
Reward structure: I think this is where some tension between players can come in. In a lot of games, some of the best gear rewards, if not the best, comes from raiding. Even I, an avid WoW raider, do not think the best gear should necessarily be from boss drops. I think there are two options: A blend of rewards or comparable rewards. With a blend design being, some of the best gear, crafting supplies, etc. coming from raid content, and the rest coming from other content. The upside being; it allows for a healthy mix of power coming from all forms of content. The downside; some players could feel forced to doing content they don't enjoy if, say, the best caster/cleric weapon drops from a boss and is 3x better than any other drop in the game. Comparable is nice in concept, with the drops being of equal power to all other content, meaning you can raid if you want to become powerful or if you hate raiding you can acquire the same amount of strength as a raider in the content you enjoy. However, you can definitely run into balancing issues once you implement gear with unique effects. Gear with just raw stats is easy to tune, but the gear is less interesting. Gear with unique effects or ability procs, is more exciting, but harder to balance. I am unsure of what is best for AoC right now. I could go either way.
Cosmetic rewards/mounts are any easy reward structure in my opinion to add to raids. Unique cosmetic and not power altering drops from raids is always a great incentive for people to complete the content. I know for some, cosmetics is the end-game, but hopefully, it is not too off-putting for them, and usually, these players are the type to do all forms of content anyways...usually.
Hardmode: I, of course, am a fan of difficult versions of bosses, with more unique rewards and new and challenging mechanics. However, I love the idea of starting the hard mode not just being a menu option. (For WoW players, even though I never played during this raid, think Ulduar). I want the trigger to be immersive and natural: Let's take the example of the frost-themed Dunir boss in the mountains: Maybe there are 4 destructible pillars in the cave of the boss room and if your raid destroys these before starting the boss fight, that triggers the hard mode. Adding the threat and mechanics of a crumbling cave to the fight. With the storm/water-themed Nikua boss, you need a group to go out on a ship and hunt a sea leviathan and present the head of that monster to trigger the sea spirit boss. Or an astrology Vek-themed boss, where if you can include religion and crafting to the hard mode; maybe you need an artisan to build an altar and a religion player to pray to it, to start the hard mode.
This has gone long enough so ill stop there. What do you think? What content would you like to see? Ideal raid size? Reward structure? Hate any form of PvE? Let me know!
So how would you like to see it implemented?
I think a given for end-game PvE content is for it to be instanced. (If you have a different opinion let me know!)
With that, I see two main options for the type of content:
1.) Raid/Boss fights
2.) Timed/Challenging dungeon content.
If we had to pick one, I think starting with Raid/Boss fights would be the best course to go with. I am of course biased since I raided in semi-hardcore WoW guilds (I didn't raid 7 days a week, but we pushed the difficult content). I would love to see maybe 4 - 6 bosses get added into a patch. They don't have to all be in the same instance either! I think a really cool idea would be to have bosses in different zones: A frost-themed Dunir boss in the mountains, a storm-themed Nikua boss near the ocean, a poison-themed Tulnar boss underground etc. Forcing players to travel the world to defeat these threats. But there are more specifics when it comes to boss design. so let's get into it:
Raid size: Raid size is a tricky one, sometimes having more players, makes a fight feel more epic. But also having more players requires difficulty in coordination. If you have a 25 raid size, one or two players missing could ruin a night for 23-24 other people. I think since AoC already has some large-scale world boss fights, smaller raid groups would be best. I think my ideal range is as low as 8 and as high as 15. I think it allows for some tight-knit groups of friends to form. Easier to relate to 10 or so people than 25-40.
Trash: I think raiding is most fun with little to no trash. For those who are not familiar with that term, trash is the mobs/monsters that a raid group needs to kill before they can fight the boss. Some trash is fine, but more often than not, people just end up trying to afk it and it is not very engaging. I think a bit of trash is not too bad, as it can add to the overall feel/immersion to a raid.
Reward structure: I think this is where some tension between players can come in. In a lot of games, some of the best gear rewards, if not the best, comes from raiding. Even I, an avid WoW raider, do not think the best gear should necessarily be from boss drops. I think there are two options: A blend of rewards or comparable rewards. With a blend design being, some of the best gear, crafting supplies, etc. coming from raid content, and the rest coming from other content. The upside being; it allows for a healthy mix of power coming from all forms of content. The downside; some players could feel forced to doing content they don't enjoy if, say, the best caster/cleric weapon drops from a boss and is 3x better than any other drop in the game. Comparable is nice in concept, with the drops being of equal power to all other content, meaning you can raid if you want to become powerful or if you hate raiding you can acquire the same amount of strength as a raider in the content you enjoy. However, you can definitely run into balancing issues once you implement gear with unique effects. Gear with just raw stats is easy to tune, but the gear is less interesting. Gear with unique effects or ability procs, is more exciting, but harder to balance. I am unsure of what is best for AoC right now. I could go either way.
Cosmetic rewards/mounts are any easy reward structure in my opinion to add to raids. Unique cosmetic and not power altering drops from raids is always a great incentive for people to complete the content. I know for some, cosmetics is the end-game, but hopefully, it is not too off-putting for them, and usually, these players are the type to do all forms of content anyways...usually.
Hardmode: I, of course, am a fan of difficult versions of bosses, with more unique rewards and new and challenging mechanics. However, I love the idea of starting the hard mode not just being a menu option. (For WoW players, even though I never played during this raid, think Ulduar). I want the trigger to be immersive and natural: Let's take the example of the frost-themed Dunir boss in the mountains: Maybe there are 4 destructible pillars in the cave of the boss room and if your raid destroys these before starting the boss fight, that triggers the hard mode. Adding the threat and mechanics of a crumbling cave to the fight. With the storm/water-themed Nikua boss, you need a group to go out on a ship and hunt a sea leviathan and present the head of that monster to trigger the sea spirit boss. Or an astrology Vek-themed boss, where if you can include religion and crafting to the hard mode; maybe you need an artisan to build an altar and a religion player to pray to it, to start the hard mode.
This has gone long enough so ill stop there. What do you think? What content would you like to see? Ideal raid size? Reward structure? Hate any form of PvE? Let me know!