Daytime (and Weather) should affect gameplay!

Daytime (and Weather) should affect gameplay!

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Posted by: xXxOrcaxXx.9328

xXxOrcaxXx.9328

Related to VOLKON’s idea of weather and daytimes affecting the gameplay:

  • Changes to darkness are universal.
  • Changes to darkness scale with the phase of the moon. Full moon same as now, new moon considerably darker (but not excessively so).
  • Darker nights can then be used to allow for new mobs to spawn with unique drops and for unique night time events to kick off.
  • Darker nights (universally) in WvW could alter strategies, encouraging activities under cover of darkness. This could be enhanced by reducing the range you can see nameplates in the dark.
Ranger - Guardian - Warrior - Elementalist - Necromancer - Mesmer
EU Elona Reach – Void Sentinels

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Posted by: VOLKON.1290

VOLKON.1290

You make me blush. Hadn’t considered adding weather to it, although in WvW the snow definitely impairs your vision to a degree… hmm…

#TeamJadeQuarry

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Posted by: zenleto.6179

zenleto.6179

Related to VOLKON’s idea of weather and daytimes affecting the gameplay:

  • Changes to darkness are universal.
  • Changes to darkness scale with the phase of the moon. Full moon same as now, new moon considerably darker (but not excessively so).
  • Darker nights can then be used to allow for new mobs to spawn with unique drops and for unique night time events to kick off.
  • Darker nights (universally) in WvW could alter strategies, encouraging activities under cover of darkness. This could be enhanced by reducing the range you can see nameplates in the dark.

I was really surprised when I first started with the game that there wasn’t already something like this. Some good ideas around the place for this.

Things should be able to go bump in a dark night while many mobs are asleep. It would really fire up Ashford and maybe the Maguuma zones. And I’d love to slog through the pouring rain. Don’t know what it would do to my graphics though!

Fire up the Hyperbowl ma, we’re going to town!

Would you like some hard cheeze with your sad whine?

(edited by zenleto.6179)

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Posted by: Rouven.7409

Rouven.7409

(…)

  • Darker nights can then be used to allow for new mobs to spawn with unique drops and for unique night time events to kick off.(…)

I played another game that had something like that. All this particular point would do is add yet another timer to the game. Personally I would go without this part.

Other than that I like the idea for darker nights etc in general.

I seem to remember though reading an answer to this a long time back, along the lines that it was darker in beta but people did not like it, got changed etc. But take this with a grain of salt, it’s been a while.

“Whose Kitten is this?” – “It’s a Charr baby.”
“Whose Charr is this?”- “Ted’s.”
“Who’s Ted?”- “Ted’s dead, baby. Ted’s dead.”

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Posted by: darkace.8925

darkace.8925

I don’t think they should affect actual gameplay, but I do think night should be darker and weather should be dynamic.

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Posted by: Atlas.9704

Atlas.9704

Well considering how Sigil of the Night works it looks like a possibility that night time could have benefits somehow in the game.

Elona, Land of the Golden Sun….and undead…and poison. The travel brochure lied okay?!

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Posted by: Wasbunny.6531

Wasbunny.6531

Related to VOLKON’s idea of weather and daytimes affecting the gameplay:

  • Changes to darkness are universal.
  • Changes to darkness scale with the phase of the moon. Full moon same as now, new moon considerably darker (but not excessively so).
  • Darker nights can then be used to allow for new mobs to spawn with unique drops and for unique night time events to kick off.
  • Darker nights (universally) in WvW could alter strategies, encouraging activities under cover of darkness. This could be enhanced by reducing the range you can see nameplates in the dark.

These are exactly the kind of ideas that get me excited thinking of all the possibilities a true dynamic and impactful day/night cycle would create. Completely in line with ArenaNet’s living changing world philosophy too. Love it…can’t wait for sundown.

~An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.~

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Posted by: Morrigan.2809

Morrigan.2809

this would be awesome and would have my support-
make nights scary
have critters that look at you through slit eyes, have lone torches on a hill and wolves that howl in the night
have mecacing shadows and eyes that look from everywhere
with the odd thunderstorm thrown in

make it a game mechanic and make it matter!

heehaaa
I would have such a ball ;D

Gunnar’s Hold

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Posted by: Wasbunny.6531

Wasbunny.6531

It would also be interesting if existing creatures that favor the dark (such as the Nightmare Court & the Dredge) have an increased frequency of appearing and triggering more dynamic events at night.

A lot of the Nightmare Court’s dynamic events involve taking poor hapless Sylvari prisoners which you need to free, but you never see this actually happening. What if during the day the Sylvari are going about their normal business with mainly ‘helper’, ‘gather’, or ‘escort’ type quests but as soon as night falls the Nightmare Court come out of the shadows to enslave and torture the Sylvari locals. These would be dynamic events that would only be triggered at night and could be won or lost, allowing you to keep the Nightmare Court at bay or if neglected the Sylvari are overrun and enslaved, leading to the ‘liberation’ type dynamic events.

And the Dredge…oh the dreaded Dredge. They would mainly be seen crawling out of their holes only at night, running for the shelter of their underground tunnels as the sun rises. Dynamic events on the surface world would be greatly increased in frequency and number during the night. This making one think twice about wandering alone at night in places like Lorner’s Pass or Dredgehaunt Cliffs.

So many possibilities with day/night cycle linked dynamic events, not to mention…vampires!

~An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.~

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Posted by: Temariah.9372

Temariah.9372

OP and Wasbunny, I love your ideas, and I don’t think it would end up being another timer that people had to watch, because I would hope Anet would make it so that the day/night cycles were different, but not different levels of rewards. So it wouldn’t reward you more/less to play at night/day, but you would get different types of events to do, and maybe a few different (not stronger) rewards.

Temariah Dawnsong – “A new dawn is coming; sieze the day.”
Leader of The Harbingers of Serendipity [LIFE] : Fort Aspenwood

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Posted by: Randulf.7614

Randulf.7614

Weather affecting gameplay has been done before and it can add wonders to the atmosphere to a zone.

eg The Misty Mountains in LOTRO had a small area where a blizzard would reduce visibility and you could easily get lost.

I’d love to see something like this in Tyria – a true Living World needs a living environment as a well as progressive story.

I also like the above idea of unique enemies and loot at night. That has interesting potential to it

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Posted by: thefantasticg.3984

thefantasticg.3984

I never can tell when it is day or night. Seems like it’s always day time since it is so easy to see everything all the time.

RNG is a bell curve. Better hope you’re on the right side.

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Posted by: Galtrix.7369

Galtrix.7369

I really like this idea.

[~Galtrix~] [~Level 80 Elementalist~] [~GoM~]

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Posted by: Wasbunny.6531

Wasbunny.6531

I feel like I should post this link to a similar thread made awhile ago, a lot of really interesting ideas and opinions about having a more dynamic and dramatic night.

No Dark Enviornments in GW2

Would love to see a CDI on this overall concept.

~An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.~

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Posted by: VOLKON.1290

VOLKON.1290

I feel like I should post this link to a similar thread made awhile ago, a lot of really interesting ideas and opinions about having a more dynamic and dramatic night.

No Dark Enviornments in GW2

Would love to see a CDI on this overall concept.

Well, treat this like a CDI and we’ll see if anyone notices!

#TeamJadeQuarry

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Posted by: Wasbunny.6531

Wasbunny.6531

I feel like I should post this link to a similar thread made awhile ago, a lot of really interesting ideas and opinions about having a more dynamic and dramatic night.

No Dark Enviornments in GW2

Would love to see a CDI on this overall concept.

Well, treat this like a CDI and we’ll see if anyone notices!

You mean by things that go BUMP in the night? haha

~An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.~

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Posted by: Nick.6972

Nick.6972

I’d love to see rain in LA.

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Posted by: Tobias Trueflight.8350

Tobias Trueflight.8350

(…)

  • Darker nights can then be used to allow for new mobs to spawn with unique drops and for unique night time events to kick off.(…)

I played another game that had something like that. All this particular point would do is add yet another timer to the game. Personally I would go without this part.

I read that and what came to mind was: “Oh blessed Tunare, Kithicor Woods again?” For those who don’t know the tale . . .

There was a game called EverQuest which had a day/night cycle. During which in certain areas you were . . . in professional terms “completely boned” if you didn’t have some form of night vision in forest areas. Many human newbie characters died to secure this as one of the fundamental pieces of every character’s “Survival Kit” of abilities. “Must get night vision” was on there, along with “some method of water breathing”. But I digress slightly.

Now, in this game there was a massive GM event which ended with what was called “Bloody Kithicor”. The evil faction and the good faction on a continent met in combat in one of the more underutilized zones which happened to be a forest right outside one race’s starting city. There were GM-spawned NPC soldiers for both sides, there was a big battle and it ended when the evil side dropped what was a magical equivalent of a neutron bomb and killed everything alive in the woods except those fortunate enough to be protected. This was “Bloody Kithicor”, and it is well known to veterans of that game who lived through it. (I was out of town and unable to participate.)

As a result, in the aftermath . . . by day the forest was dark as usual (i.e., bring your light sources)and populated by the usual forest denizens. When the sun went down? Out come the really high level undead who have faster movement speed than unbuffed characters, will follow you the entire length of the zone, and some of them have a one-shot instant damage spike which can wreck anyone lower level than them.

In short? You stayed out of Kithicor Woods after sundown. You made that journey only with speed buffs and only if you were confident in your ability to identify and duck those spike-tossing undead.

This was not, as could be said, a popular change. But it definitely left a mark!

I seem to remember though reading an answer to this a long time back, along the lines that it was darker in beta but people did not like it, got changed etc. But take this with a grain of salt, it’s been a while.

It’s generally said if you have to choose between immersion and playability, you should decide which exactly is more important for your game before chucking one or the other. This is also noted in games where realistic need for food and water was considered but left on the floor after betas.

Seeking assistants for the Asuran Catapult Project. Applicants will be tested for aerodynamics.

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Posted by: Chrispy.5641

Chrispy.5641

It’d be neat if expanding the Weather Effects in the game also had an effect on Conditions and other effects in open world PvE. These could be universal effects that affect you and enemies. For Example,

  • There’s a Blizzard in Frostgorge Sound? Chill Effects last 5% Longer.
  • There’s a Rainstorm in the Jungle? Healing Effects are 5% Stronger.
  • Running Through a Poisonous Cloud in Orr? Healing is 5% less effective when inflicted with Poison.
  • Running Through a Heat Wave in the Crystal Desert? Burning is 5% Stronger.
  • There’s a Chaos Storm in the Blazeridge Steppes? Critical Hits have a 5% Chance to Inflict Confusion.
  • Swim really Deep in the water in the Ocean? Movement is 5% slower because of the water pressure.
  • Maybe these effects could have differing Intensities, and make those effects even stronger in harder areas of the game. The intensity of the storm would also show graphically on screen (more rain effect, blinding snow, etc.)

I’m not sure how that would affect balance, but it would help with the Immersion a little.

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Posted by: Wasbunny.6531

Wasbunny.6531

~snip~
There was a game called EverQuest which had a day/night cycle. During which in certain areas you were . . . in professional terms “completely boned” if you didn’t have some form of night vision in forest areas. Many human newbie characters died to secure this as one of the fundamental pieces of every character’s “Survival Kit” of abilities. “Must get night vision” was on there, along with “some method of water breathing”. ~snip~

Would love this in GW2. I want to be at least a little nervous about venturing alone at night around Tyria, or have the uncertainty and anticipation that the inevitable gloom would bring.

And night vision abilities or goggles!? Yes and yes! I’m surprised it never crossed my mind but that would be amazing. Really in line with the slightly ‘steam-punk’ aesthetic of GW2 too. Maybe as a type of helm upgrade or as an ‘always on’ elite ability that you could swap to out of combat.

So many exciting ideas come out of this…

~An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.~

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Posted by: Tobias Trueflight.8350

Tobias Trueflight.8350

~snip~
There was a game called EverQuest which had a day/night cycle. During which in certain areas you were . . . in professional terms “completely boned” if you didn’t have some form of night vision in forest areas. Many human newbie characters died to secure this as one of the fundamental pieces of every character’s “Survival Kit” of abilities. “Must get night vision” was on there, along with “some method of water breathing”. ~snip~

Would love this in GW2. I want to be at least a little nervous about venturing alone at night around Tyria, or have the uncertainty and anticipation that the inevitable gloom would bring.

And night vision abilities or goggles!? Yes and yes! I’m surprised it never crossed my mind but that would be amazing. Really in line with the slightly ‘steam-punk’ aesthetic of GW2 too. Maybe as a type of helm upgrade or as an ‘always on’ elite ability that you could swap to out of combat.

So many exciting ideas come out of this…

If, and this is a big if, we go to Far Shiverpeaks or Crystal Desert, said goggles being an integral part of navigating in sandstorms or snowstorms which sometimes crop up like rain in other parts of Tyria.

Again though, you have to balance “this would be neat and immersive” versus “how much will it just annoy players or force them to sit out until they feel they can play again”. Neat mechanics which annoy your players aren’t something you should consider unless your game is entirely based on immersion. (See: Slender: The Arrival)

Seeking assistants for the Asuran Catapult Project. Applicants will be tested for aerodynamics.

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Posted by: Wasbunny.6531

Wasbunny.6531

It’d be neat if expanding the Weather Effects in the game also had an effect on Conditions and other effects in open world PvE. These could be universal effects that affect you and enemies. For Example,

  • There’s a Blizzard in Frostgorge Sound? Chill Effects last 5% Longer.
  • There’s a Rainstorm in the Jungle? Healing Effects are 5% Stronger.
  • Running Through a Poisonous Cloud in Orr? Healing is 5% less effective when inflicted with Poison.
  • Running Through a Heat Wave in the Crystal Desert? Burning is 5% Stronger.
  • There’s a Chaos Storm in the Blazeridge Steppes? Critical Hits have a 5% Chance to Inflict Confusion.
  • Swim really Deep in the water in the Ocean? Movement is 5% slower because of the water pressure.
  • Maybe these effects could have differing Intensities, and make those effects even stronger in harder areas of the game. The intensity of the storm would also show graphically on screen (more rain effect, blinding snow, etc.)

I’m not sure how that would affect balance, but it would help with the Immersion a little.

Random and varying storms would roll through different zones creating almost mini-events. Love it. I think ArenaNet is planning on doing something like this with the new Edge of the Mists update, where there are specific debuffs asociated with weather and location. Again, love it.

It brings to mind one of the few things that were exciting to me about another game (I’m still unclear if it’s ok to compare specific games by name to GW2 so I’ll keep it generic. Hint: it begins with an ‘R’.) Anyway without warning you would notice the sky growing dark and ominous, the ambient music changes to something more dramatic, alarm horns and drums are heard in the distance. You look on your map and huge sections are covered in dark roiling vortexes and clouds. It is now dark, and everyone around you starts running…

~An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.~

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Posted by: Avascar.9237

Avascar.9237

That would really make things awesome

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Posted by: MithranArkanere.8957

MithranArkanere.8957

Yeah! And weather too!

Blizzard? Random chilled when standing still for too long!

Rainstorm? 10% less movement speed and random knockdowns while moving with a total speed of over 20%!

And so on!

Not too often so it isn’t that annoying, but still happening!

SUGGEST-A-TRON says:
PAY—ONCE—UNLOCKS—ARE—ALWAYS—BETTER.
No exceptions!

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Posted by: Ashen.2907

Ashen.2907

Interesting idea. I like it !

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Posted by: Angel.4581

Angel.4581

+1 for this idea.
I really like the idea of a darker nighttime, with a set of “special” encounters during the night in certain areas. Maybe some witches in Godlost Swamp, Bandits laying in wait in the woods. That sort of stuff.

And add dynamic lighting in Dungeons/caverns. Only lightsource should come from the torches that are placed, or flamepots or whatever natural lightsource can be found. This will most likely take it’s toll on the servers but it would be a soo much sweeter game experience.

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Posted by: Darthaemos.6370

Darthaemos.6370

A year ago, I was very surprised that not every open world zone had a day/night cycle or weather. Seems like they just didn’t have time to implement it everywhere. In a perfect world, I’d love weather and day/night cycles from “The Witcher” series. When it randomly rains, NPCs (all of them, including vendors, quest givers, and random wanderers) will run to find shelter, then return to their spots when the rain ends. This made the zones feel so much more alive and organic.

Birgitte / Graendhal / Aveandha
Death and Taxes [DnT] | http://www.dtguilds.com/

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Posted by: Zone.1275

Zone.1275

I’m not really sure why this wasn’t implemented but how about the light source moving with the time of day? At the moment all the shadows face the same direction all the time.

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Posted by: Donari.5237

Donari.5237

It would be pretty spiffy if there were seasons that made world wide sense. It’s always been a bit annoying in MMO’s that one could get the perpetual winter zone, the perpetual fall/spring/summer zone, but would have to just sort of RP what the local weather was doing by time of year. Dark and Light did seasons, though I don’t know how well that worked as the game failed very quickly and I only managed a day or two with it thanks to connectivity issues and an abysmal UI.

I know we have an accelerated and asymmetrical day/night cycle, and possibly we wouldn’t want game weather to match RL seasons anyway (those being reversed depending on hemisphere). However, wouldn’t it be just super keen if something dynamic could happen?

In a PnP game I played for a few years, the GM devised a simple weather table to roll up each day’s weather, with modifiers depending on what the previous day had been. Thus things shifted in a natural fashion as we played. Something like that might work here, with a pacing of “days” selected for interest factor without becoming glacial or dizzying. Have it affect a zone over time, preferably with some reference to contiguous zones so you don’t step through a short “passage” from snow to flowers. Unless it makes geographic sense, mountains doing odd things to climate on either side …. but I digress.

LotRO had semi-dynamic weather, but in one RP session sitting under some trees I realized it was just a very local, static cycle. And in 2 hours (a reasonable RP conversation time) it downpoured with bizarre regularity. Hopefully GW2 could be more random.

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Posted by: darkace.8925

darkace.8925

I’d love weather and day/night cycles from “The Witcher” series. When it randomly rains, NPCs (all of them, including vendors, quest givers, and random wanderers) will run to find shelter, then return to their spots when the rain ends. This made the zones feel so much more alive and organic.

That’s exactly the kind of ambiance I’d love to find in this game.

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Posted by: Tobias Trueflight.8350

Tobias Trueflight.8350

Relating this to something said in the CDI thread . . . what if weather could act as sort of a difficulty modifier randomly happening in some zones?

High Winds – Reducing range of projectiles, makes burning areas larger by fanning the flames.
Frostbite – Chill duration increased 10%, chilled targets take 10% extra damage. Standing in a fire combo field will nullify this effect.
Dust Storm – Every 15 seconds anyone not standing still is blinded. Dodge roll will remove the effect.
Heat Wave – Stamina recovers 25% slower, players cannot recover health. Standing in a water combo field will nullify this effect while there.
Lightning Storm – Every 30 seconds a random target will get struck by lightning. Gathering nodes may be targeted to prevent lone players from being hammered over and over again.
Swamp Miasma – Stacks “Nausea”, one per 10 seconds in the area. Becoming Poisoned will add 1 extra stack of condition per stack of Nausea.
Intense Heat – Every 10 seconds you will be given a stack of “Heat Stroke”; if you reach 20, you are automatically defeated. A healing effect will remove all stacks of “Heat Stroke”.
Jormag’s Wrath – An unusually fierce ice storm begins adding stacks of “Icy Grave” (one for every 5 seconds without protection) which continuously deals damage of increasing magnitude for the stacks on the player. A fire combo field will remove 1 stack for each 5 seconds of exposure to it.
Crystal Dust – Add one stack of “Crystal Dust” for each 10 seconds while moving. When hit with an attack which causes Bleeding, deal bonus damage (a % of maximum health; 25 stacks is instant downing on hit) for each stack of “Crystal Dust”; remove all stacks. Dodge rolling will clear all stacks.

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Posted by: Swagger.1459

Swagger.1459

Relating this to something said in the CDI thread . . . what if weather could act as sort of a difficulty modifier randomly happening in some zones?

High Winds – Reducing range of projectiles, makes burning areas larger by fanning the flames.
Frostbite – Chill duration increased 10%, chilled targets take 10% extra damage. Standing in a fire combo field will nullify this effect.
Dust Storm – Every 15 seconds anyone not standing still is blinded. Dodge roll will remove the effect.
Heat Wave – Stamina recovers 25% slower, players cannot recover health. Standing in a water combo field will nullify this effect while there.
Lightning Storm – Every 30 seconds a random target will get struck by lightning. Gathering nodes may be targeted to prevent lone players from being hammered over and over again.
Swamp Miasma – Stacks “Nausea”, one per 10 seconds in the area. Becoming Poisoned will add 1 extra stack of condition per stack of Nausea.
Intense Heat – Every 10 seconds you will be given a stack of “Heat Stroke”; if you reach 20, you are automatically defeated. A healing effect will remove all stacks of “Heat Stroke”.
Jormag’s Wrath – An unusually fierce ice storm begins adding stacks of “Icy Grave” (one for every 5 seconds without protection) which continuously deals damage of increasing magnitude for the stacks on the player. A fire combo field will remove 1 stack for each 5 seconds of exposure to it.
Crystal Dust – Add one stack of “Crystal Dust” for each 10 seconds while moving. When hit with an attack which causes Bleeding, deal bonus damage (a % of maximum health; 25 stacks is instant downing on hit) for each stack of “Crystal Dust”; remove all stacks. Dodge rolling will clear all stacks.

the weather and darkness stuff are interesting ideas, but weather “conditions” (pun intended) and additional graphic effects will cause more server strain and lag. we don’t need more lag.

New Main- 80 Thief – P/P- Vault Spam Pro

221 hours over 1,581 days of bank space/hot pve/lion’s arch afk and some wvw.

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Posted by: Tobias Trueflight.8350

Tobias Trueflight.8350

Relating this to something said in the CDI thread . . . what if weather could act as sort of a difficulty modifier randomly happening in some zones?

High Winds – Reducing range of projectiles, makes burning areas larger by fanning the flames.
Frostbite – Chill duration increased 10%, chilled targets take 10% extra damage. Standing in a fire combo field will nullify this effect.
Dust Storm – Every 15 seconds anyone not standing still is blinded. Dodge roll will remove the effect.
Heat Wave – Stamina recovers 25% slower, players cannot recover health. Standing in a water combo field will nullify this effect while there.
Lightning Storm – Every 30 seconds a random target will get struck by lightning. Gathering nodes may be targeted to prevent lone players from being hammered over and over again.
Swamp Miasma – Stacks “Nausea”, one per 10 seconds in the area. Becoming Poisoned will add 1 extra stack of condition per stack of Nausea.
Intense Heat – Every 10 seconds you will be given a stack of “Heat Stroke”; if you reach 20, you are automatically defeated. A healing effect will remove all stacks of “Heat Stroke”.
Jormag’s Wrath – An unusually fierce ice storm begins adding stacks of “Icy Grave” (one for every 5 seconds without protection) which continuously deals damage of increasing magnitude for the stacks on the player. A fire combo field will remove 1 stack for each 5 seconds of exposure to it.
Crystal Dust – Add one stack of “Crystal Dust” for each 10 seconds while moving. When hit with an attack which causes Bleeding, deal bonus damage (a % of maximum health; 25 stacks is instant downing on hit) for each stack of “Crystal Dust”; remove all stacks. Dodge rolling will clear all stacks.

the weather and darkness stuff are interesting ideas, but weather “conditions” (pun intended) and additional graphic effects will cause more server strain and lag. we don’t need more lag.

Do we really require intense graphic effects for all of these? A ‘misty’ effect for many of these will do fine. But of course, I’m not a developer nor someone who knows just what the servers can handle.

But this shouldn’t put much more than, say, your average WvW Borderlands at peak time.

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Posted by: chemiclord.3978

chemiclord.3978

I seem to remember though reading an answer to this a long time back, along the lines that it was darker in beta but people did not like it, got changed etc. But take this with a grain of salt, it’s been a while.

That’s how I recall it. In the first beta, nights were definitely darker (though not pitch-black exactly), and there was considerable complaints about how it was too dark to play and that they had to turn their gamma ALL THE WAY UP for the game to be playable for them.

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Posted by: zenleto.6179

zenleto.6179

I seem to remember though reading an answer to this a long time back, along the lines that it was darker in beta but people did not like it, got changed etc. But take this with a grain of salt, it’s been a while.

That’s how I recall it. In the first beta, nights were definitely darker (though not pitch-black exactly), and there was considerable complaints about how it was too dark to play and that they had to turn their gamma ALL THE WAY UP for the game to be playable for them.

Where are all those people now? I haven’t seen too many opposed except for possible technical issues.

Fire up the Hyperbowl ma, we’re going to town!

Would you like some hard cheeze with your sad whine?

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Posted by: Blood Red Arachnid.2493

Blood Red Arachnid.2493

This topic. So much this. Now, for barely related story!

A long time ago I was playing with RPG Maker 3, and one of the ideas I came up with was a continent called “Nightless”. The gimmick with Nightless was that, while in the daytime it was a level appropriate area, at night it was filled with high level boss monsters of my own design. This made it so you would never want to head to that continent at night, and unless you were insane you had to sleep off the nights indoors. It was actually kind of hard to pull off in RPG maker 3, since I had to come up with multiple versions of the same continent, and share flags across them…

I’ve always loved the idea. Another time I saw it done was with Rogue Squadron 2 on the gamecube. It used the internal clock so one of the missions changed at night. The daytime mission was really dull, since it involved flying slowly and shooting radar dishes with an Ion cannon. The nigh version was epic, since you had to fly deep in the rivers and valleys in the middle of a thunderstorm, just avoiding the radar dishes to the best of your ability. Getting past that, flying through the empire base with the only thing to navigate by being the spotlights you are trying to avoid is awesome. You actually feel really cunning and stealthy while doing that.

I would love to see something like this in Guild Wars 2. Dynamic events that depend on the weather and the daytime, as well as non-event dynamic elements that just changed around depending on the time and weather.

Though the moon phases idea is pretty cool, I would like to see something a bit more weather based. A lighting system that followed this ranking from brightest to darkest:

Sunny day
Rainy Day
Night
Severe Thunderstorm at Day
Rainy Night
Severe Thunderstorm at Night

Where with the thunderstorm at night, it is so dark that the only time you can really see anything is from the lightning flashes in the sky.

Enemies would be under a similar effect. Wherein anything more than a rainy day should obstruct make things harder to see and decrease the perception distance, enemies would similarly lose aggro distance, to the point where in a nightly thunderstorm enemies can’t see you unless you are right in their face, or have some specially nocturnal thing going on (darn dredge!).

That way, while there would be danger in not being able to see as far or as well, and that different events can happen at night, there would also be advantages in that you can walk right past many day mobs without them being able to see you.

I don’t have opinions. I only have facts I can’t adequately prove.

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Posted by: Chrispy.5641

Chrispy.5641

I’m going to expand on the Weather ideas I had from earlier, because I think that Anet could use stuff like this to make MegaBoss events harder instead of completely making them nearly impossible to do like Tequatl.

For this to Work,
- We should Have Random Weather Effects. Those Weather Effects affect both you and Enemies.
- We should also tie Weather Effects into the Event System
- Whenever there is a Weather Effect, it will show an icon on your Buff/Debuff bar telling you exactly what it does, and whether the effect is beneficial or not.
(template I am going to use for all Effects are….

  • (name of effect) – (Description when you mouse over Icon)

(1) – Random Weather/Enviroment Effects
- These Are randomly generated Effects that have a very small effect on both you and enemies. They are Meant for Immersion, not to Break the game. So if they seem unbalanced, please say something. I want to post this in a CDI thread eventually!
- Examples Include ::::

  • RainStorm – “A soothing rain falls overhead. All Healing is increased by 5%
  • ThunderStorm – “Feel the energy in the air! Swiftness duration increases by 5%
  • Ice Storm – “Its starting to get Chilly! Chill duration is increased by 5%
  • Sunny – “The warm Sun hitting your face feels nice.” (no effect)
  • Swampgas – “The Stench is Dizzying! Confusion lasts 5% longer”
  • Dust Storm – “Take care of your Eyes in this weather! Blind lasts 100% longer”

- In Harder Areas of the Game, Anet could Introduce even more Powerful Weather Effects that make it harder for the player to play through that area. They could press on, and gain a cool bonus, or they could do some underwater/underground content until the storm passes over, or there could even be effects in those areas as well!
- Examples Include :::

  • Chaos Storm – "The Effect of the Dragon Brand can have some dire consequences. All Boons and All Conditions are Random when activated, but Magic Find, Gold Find, and Experience is Increased by 20%. Be Careful out there! (that last part is the same for all these effects)
  • Blizzard – “Its Cold and its nearly Impossible to see! Chill lasts 10% longer and all Conditions inflicted also inflict Blind for 1 second.”
  • Poison Cloud – "The undead lands of Orr are treacherous to travel through when this storm hits! Healing is 10% less effective when Inflicted with Poison, and all Conditions inflicted aldo inflict Poison for 1 second.
  • Explosive Gas – "The Dredge may have found a gas pocket…. Burning Now Explodes when its inflicted, dealing damage to all creatures within 1000 range, including yourself.
  • Strong Currents – "The Currents in the Water are too Strong to swim through effectively. All movement speed is decreased by 10% and you have a 5% chance of gaining Weakness whenever you take damage.

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Posted by: Chrispy.5641

Chrispy.5641

(2) – Weather Related Events for Harder Mega Bosses
- For This example, I will be using Jormag.
- The Fight with Jormag is exactly the same as it always is. No changes actually need to be made
- A New event Chain can be added though Where the Sons of Svanir are Building Icy Spires for their Lord Jormag so it can create a Corrupted Storm that will cover all of Frostgorge Sound.

  • This event starts immediately after the Claw of Jormag is defeated, and it ends when it appears again.
  • In This event, there are 4 locations across the map, where the Sons of Svanir are Constructing the Towers. Whenever a New Tower is Built, a new event pops up, telling everyone that they need to destroy the tower. They go there, fighting off lots of Dragon minions, and also attempting to destroy the tower using Pact Weaponry, Kodan magic, etc.
  • Completing each event awards 5-9 Dragonite Ore once a day, so there is incentive to do the event, but they are group events, and will require a 5 man team atleast to clear.
  • Destroying a Tower clears the area of Dragon minions until the next time the Claw of Jormag is defeated.
  • When the First Tower is Built, it applies a Map Wide effect called the:::
  • Storm of Corruption – "Jormag’s Minions are hard at work bringing their icy grip over Frostgorge Sound. Dragon Minions take 10% less Damage, and Deal 10% more Damage to you.
  • As more Towers are Built, the Storm gets worse, and the effect increases by 10% each time, until all 4 Towers are built and the Effect becomes:::
  • Blizzard of Corruption – "Jormag holds an icy grip over Frostgorge Sound. Dragon Minions take 33% less damage, and Deal 33% more damage to you. All Conditions inflicted on you last 33% longer. Jormag’s Champions in the Drakkar Spurs are Unshakeable and immune to crowd control until atleast 1 tower is destroyed. "
  • Fighting the Claw of Jormag will become significantly harder if you fail to destroy all the towers before he appears. But, if you allow him to appear. You can get bonus chests for defeating him equal to the number of towers still standing. They wont award extra Dragonite Ore, but they do have a Rare chance at unique skins and ascended equipment (like Tequatl)
  • This will also slow down the Champion Farming Train there, atleast while the Tower events are active, but if the zerg continues to ignore the towers, even basic champions will be much harder to defeat solo, or even in a large group.

What do you guys think of those ideas?

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Posted by: Beldin.5498

Beldin.5498

People wanted weather in EQ2, when they added it mostly it was just depressing rainy weather. Also i played in Lotro while it was raining for over 1 hour and had really headaches after that. And then there was that Snowstorm in Lotro where i couldn’t see my own feet .. of course mobs had mo problem to see and attack me.

All in all these things were always just plain annoying, so i say thanks but no.

EVERY MMO is awesome until it is released then its unfinished. A month after release it just sucks.
Best MMOs are the ones that never make it. Therefore Stargate Online wins.

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Posted by: Chrispy.5641

Chrispy.5641

People wanted weather in EQ2, when they added it mostly it was just depressing rainy weather. Also i played in Lotro while it was raining for over 1 hour and had really headaches after that. And then there was that Snowstorm in Lotro where i couldn’t see my own feet .. of course mobs had mo problem to see and attack me.

All in all these things were always just plain annoying, so i say thanks but no.

So, you get hit with a snow storm, and enemies, who live and grew up in that climate, have no problem seeing you? How is that any different from a Cat being able to see better than you at night?

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Posted by: Beldin.5498

Beldin.5498

People wanted weather in EQ2, when they added it mostly it was just depressing rainy weather. Also i played in Lotro while it was raining for over 1 hour and had really headaches after that. And then there was that Snowstorm in Lotro where i couldn’t see my own feet .. of course mobs had mo problem to see and attack me.

All in all these things were always just plain annoying, so i say thanks but no.

So, you get hit with a snow storm, and enemies, who live and grew up in that climate, have no problem seeing you? How is that any different from a Cat being able to see better than you at night?

Its a game .. a game for me should be fun .. and it was NO FUN to run around in a mess like this for me :

Attachments:

EVERY MMO is awesome until it is released then its unfinished. A month after release it just sucks.
Best MMOs are the ones that never make it. Therefore Stargate Online wins.

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Posted by: Cold Hearted Person.6154

Cold Hearted Person.6154

People wanted weather in EQ2, when they added it mostly it was just depressing rainy weather. Also i played in Lotro while it was raining for over 1 hour and had really headaches after that. And then there was that Snowstorm in Lotro where i couldn’t see my own feet .. of course mobs had mo problem to see and attack me.

All in all these things were always just plain annoying, so i say thanks but no.

So, you get hit with a snow storm, and enemies, who live and grew up in that climate, have no problem seeing you? How is that any different from a Cat being able to see better than you at night?

Its a game .. a game for me should be fun .. and it was NO FUN to run around in a mess like this for me :

For me the only thing that is a mess in that image is that extremly cluttered UI, but basicaly you just want a simple game devoided of any immersion, which is not really fun for me.
And i must say that is rather low quality snowstorm effect so no wonder its annoying, it looks more like fog, just because some game didnt do it too well that dosent mean that in gw2 it also will look like this.

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Posted by: VOLKON.1290

VOLKON.1290

People wanted weather in EQ2, when they added it mostly it was just depressing rainy weather. Also i played in Lotro while it was raining for over 1 hour and had really headaches after that. And then there was that Snowstorm in Lotro where i couldn’t see my own feet .. of course mobs had mo problem to see and attack me.

All in all these things were always just plain annoying, so i say thanks but no.

So, you get hit with a snow storm, and enemies, who live and grew up in that climate, have no problem seeing you? How is that any different from a Cat being able to see better than you at night?

Its a game .. a game for me should be fun .. and it was NO FUN to run around in a mess like this for me :

Well, things shouldn’t be so extreme as to actually hamper game play, that should be obvious. We actually do have reduced vision from snowstorms already (happens in the borderlands). But I think the “dark effects” would be much more exciting to work with. Imagine if only at midnight during a new moon a certain type of mobs or champion would spawn with unique skins that dropped (and should require teamwork)? Maybe certain events that happen in the black of night as the undead become emboldened and push into lands wreaking havoc? Maybe these creatures of the night apply a new condition, “darkened soul”, which reduced casting time, attack speed and movement by 25% and requires a unique mechanic to remove (possibly something to do with light fields?).

Incorporating a more meaningful night opens up the world to a whole new set of things that can enhance the living world significantly.

Who knows… maybe a certain Living Story nemesis does something that affects the world as a whole in such a way that the nights are indeed darker than they are now and her minions of the dark rise forth as the light fades…

#TeamJadeQuarry

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Posted by: Wasbunny.6531

Wasbunny.6531

~snip~
Who knows… maybe a certain Living Story nemesis does something that affects the world as a whole in such a way that the nights are indeed darker than they are now and her minions of the dark rise forth as the light fades…

Holy smokes! Just had to jump in here really quick (was about to post a more methodical response to some of the amazing ideas that are piling up in this thread).

This is an incredibly interesting idea for when/if any of these ideas get implemented into the game. It would explain and give context to why the sudden dramatic change with the weather and/or night. Opens up so many interesting possible minor story arcs for the lore team & writers.

What shadowy force is rallying these night dwelling creatures and seems to wield the power to make night itself as dark as their intentions?

What force could destabilize the very weather for all of Tyria, and why?

If I was an ArenaNet writer I would be salivating over this idea.

~An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.~

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Posted by: Tobias Trueflight.8350

Tobias Trueflight.8350

~snip~
Who knows… maybe a certain Living Story nemesis does something that affects the world as a whole in such a way that the nights are indeed darker than they are now and her minions of the dark rise forth as the light fades…

Holy smokes! Just had to jump in here really quick (was about to post a more methodical response to some of the amazing ideas that are piling up in this thread).

This is an incredibly interesting idea for when/if any of these ideas get implemented into the game. It would explain and give context to why the sudden dramatic change with the weather and/or night. Opens up so many interesting possible minor story arcs for the lore team & writers.

What shadowy force is rallying these night dwelling creatures and seems to wield the power to make night itself as dark as their intentions?

What force could destabilize the very weather for all of Tyria, and why?

If I was an ArenaNet writer I would be salivating over this idea.

You know half the forum would be full of “Cantha confirmed”, or “inb4 Scarlet”.

Also, wasn’t that an option for asura starting bio, building a weather machine . . . ?

Seeking assistants for the Asuran Catapult Project. Applicants will be tested for aerodynamics.

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Posted by: Wasbunny.6531

Wasbunny.6531

You know half the forum would be full of “Cantha confirmed”, or “inb4 Scarlet”.

Also, wasn’t that an option for asura starting bio, building a weather machine . . . ?

Hehe yeah, Scarlet would undoubtedly be the prime suspect. How cool would it be if there was some minor comment she makes down the road like “Oh that? No, no…that wasn’t me * giggles *.”

And the Asura, good point…forgot about that. Or maybe the Thaumanova Reactor is somehow connected? So many theories would be flying around, especially if they made the changes gradual and unexplained at first. People start noticing the nights seem a little darker and more sinister, randomly some get caught in unexplained bizarre storms and weather systems. The forums would buzz, speculations would fly.

~An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.~

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Posted by: Tobias Trueflight.8350

Tobias Trueflight.8350

You know half the forum would be full of “Cantha confirmed”, or “inb4 Scarlet”.

Also, wasn’t that an option for asura starting bio, building a weather machine . . . ?

Hehe yeah, Scarlet would undoubtedly be the prime suspect. How cool would it be if there was some minor comment she makes down the road like “Oh that? No, no…that wasn’t me * giggles *.”

And the Asura, good point…forgot about that. Or maybe the Thaumanova Reactor is somehow connected? So many theories would be flying around, especially if they made the changes gradual and unexplained at first. People start noticing the nights seem a little darker and more sinister, randomly some get caught in unexplained bizarre storms and weather systems. The forums would buzz, speculations would fly.

I think, alas, we missed the age where it would be received as mysterious and something worth speculation.

Instead these days? Can you see the topics? I can. “ANet, please give me my visibility at night back.” “Cantha?” “Night darkness a ploy for gemstore night vision goggles?” “Scarlet did it again.” “Cantha?!” “New weather system unfair to casuals.” “Stop messing with my WvW please with this PvE crap.” “Cantha?!!”

Seeking assistants for the Asuran Catapult Project. Applicants will be tested for aerodynamics.

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Posted by: Wasbunny.6531

Wasbunny.6531

Yeah those threads would unfortunately be inevitable, but I have seen a lot of interesting speculation going on in the forums about those ‘Do Not Touch’ things as well as the recent little rhyme on the metronome by Scarlet.

I would also assume that one of the conditions of any increase in darkness or weather hazards would be that nothing would be ‘game-breaking’ or make things less fun or dramatically harder for anyone.

Anything new will be hated by some, no question. But for the rest of us I think it’d be amazing.

~An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.~

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Posted by: Tobias Trueflight.8350

Tobias Trueflight.8350

Yeah those threads would unfortunately be inevitable, but I have seen a lot of interesting speculation going on in the forums about those ‘Do Not Touch’ things as well as the recent little rhyme on the metronome by Scarlet.

I would also assume that one of the conditions of any increase in darkness or weather hazards would be that nothing would be ‘game-breaking’ or make things less fun or dramatically harder for anyone.

Anything new will be hated by some, no question. But for the rest of us I think it’d be amazing.

I would feel increasingly angry about it the more it made me impossible to tell what was going on during events or in places where running off a cliff might be bad.

Seeking assistants for the Asuran Catapult Project. Applicants will be tested for aerodynamics.

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Posted by: saalle.4623

saalle.4623

I wish they make dark really dark and weather whould be awesome