letsdance said:i don't like it. no instances. no random dungeons.
Wouldn't be an instance. Please read page 2.
i was referring to your initial post that explicitely asks for an instance for the final boss and also says "Every floor would be completely random every time you enter the dungeon." which can also be achieved only by instancing.
the idea on page 2 (without instancing, that let you choose where you enter the dungeon) is not different from having different dungeons... i don't see how it really relates to your original idea. we'll have dungeons with progressing difficulty, i'm sure about that. if you call them one megadungeon, and let me enter on whatever level i want, or make them different dugeons, and let me choose which one to enter, makes no difference to me. acclimatisation, keys whatever can be equally applied to both.
it reminds me a bit of guk and sol in EQ, both were 2-zone dungeons, with a higher and lower lvl part. in guk you had to run through uguk to get to lguk, in sol you could also zone from A to B, but they had different entrances that were usually used instead. that's fine, but it's just different ways of how to enter the dungeon.
letsdance said:i was referring to your initial post that explicitely asks for an instance for the final boss and also says "Every floor would be completely random every time you enter the dungeon." which can also be achieved only by instancing.
the idea on page 2 (without instancing, that let you choose where you enter the dungeon) is not different from having different dungeons... i don't see how it really relates to your original idea. we'll have dungeons with progressing difficulty, i'm sure about that. if you call them one megadungeon, and let me enter on whatever level i want, or make them different dugeons, and let me choose which one to enter, makes no difference to me. acclimatisation, keys whatever can be equally applied to both.
it reminds me a bit of guk and sol in EQ, both were 2-zone dungeons, with a higher and lower lvl part. in guk you had to run through uguk to get to lguk, in sol you could also zone from A to B, but they had different entrances that were usually used instead. that's fine, but it's just different ways of how to enter the dungeon.
Evoras specifically spelled out how it related to my original idea. The idea evolved ... I mentioned that. The original idea is toast. I would have edited the idea but I wanted to preserve it so that folks who took the time to read the entire thread could appreciate the context and "story" behind how it evolved. Sorry you didn't like the original version, thanks for letting me know.
well, i specified why: no instances, no random dungeons. if you want to develop or discuss the new approach on page 2, might be better to edit your OP or start a new thread, cause IMO it's a completely different concept. as i said above, one that i expect to be in the game anyways. just not labeled as megadungeon.
letsdance said:well, i specified why: no instances, no random dungeons. if you want to develop or discuss the new approach on page 2, might be better to edit your OP or start a new thread, cause IMO it's a completely different concept. as i said above, one that i expect to be in the game anyways. just not labeled as megadungeon.
I just mentioned why I didn't edit the OP. I'm sorry you can't see the correlation, we tried to spell it out pretty clearly. All is well here, you can never please everybody! If it takes multiple $10k pledges to get a dungeon like this created, I'm not really worried about how others perceive it anymore. If the folks with those pledge tiers believe in it, that's good enough for me!
As mentioned previously:
vjek said:Procedural dungeons have been around since Rogue. No reason an "eternal labyrinth" couldn't be a dungeon in Pantheon, with every version different, per group or even one floor unique, per group. Doesn't mean all the content has to be like this, but it can be done. The scripts are in the Unity store. Heck, you can make your own entire roguelike in Python if you really want to see how it's done. :)
Environments in Terminus? There is no reason they couldn't provide access/doorways to pocket realms, artificial/temporary dimensions and a variety of other very interesting/clever mechanics. Really, each zone in the game world, lore-wise, could be a result of combining x number of Environments, and using powerful spells or relics could let a group enter any of those adjacent Environments. Talk about the planes of earth/air/water? Maybe they're around us all the time in Terminus, and we can sidestep into them.
oneADseven said: The biggest reason I want to see a dungeon like this is for the replay factor. I am sure there will be plenty of content for me to enjoy but the idea of a legendary dungeon crawl with its own unique sense of progression would be very appealing. Evoras put a couple really cool spins on the original idea so that it could make sense for a game like Pantheon. There are plenty of other really cool ideas out there. Just search posts with Evoras' name on it and you will find some awesome stuff to browse through.
I'm not the biggest fan of a randomly generated zone for something like Pantheon but you can almost always put a spin on it and make it work. It's just like in a tv show when I hear people claim that so and so character's death had to happen because there just wan't any story left for that character. You can almost ALWAYS create more story for anything.
ie. For a randomly generated zone to exist in Pantheon and make sense it could have easily been done in the Tower of the Reckless Magician, and it could be done without instancing, AND it could give plenty of replay value. In the TotRM the Reckless Magician has an obsessive compulsive disorder and is truely careless with his magic. He is the type who cleans up his library with magic spells to move books around magically with a wave of the wand and upon finally cleaning up, he has to move the books to another book shelf and repeats this 7 times over to feel right. He is notorious for magically rearranging the entire floor plan for his tower, constantly moving walls and door ways and rooms and even decor around almost on an hourly basis.
The way the game engine could handle this (without instancing) is every 6th hour (game time) the Magician rearranges every floor so no matter whos in the tower or where you are at, the rooms could randomly change with a simple load of the game. It wouldn't change every single time you entered it but with the amount of time it actually takes you to work through the zone it would basically be changed the next time you came back to the zone.
This is a simple way of how you can make many things that don't seem to fit Pantheon, fit Pantheon. Simply by using lore to complement it.
edit. And just like Vjek said, with the fact that Terminus is a bunch of realms basically smashed together iirc I'm sure there is some way some story could be created for including different realms players could transport them self too.
I like the idea of the Reckless Magician having OCD, give some personality to some of these prominent npcs. It goes well with the reason why he is Reckless, everything has to be done several times over, no matter what..in order to be perfect. :) (I have a landlord like that lol)
Raidan said:@oneADseven
Again, I love the dungeon, I just don't think it translates appropriately to what Pantheon brings to the table. I would see this more in a Diablo-style single player MMORPG.
As far as the Lufia 2 rebuttal goes - I don't mind at all, I just think you're recalling some aspects incorrectly.
1. You'd have to include mercenaries in the equation because it wouldn't be realistic timewise in an MMO to be able to have a player group remain intact for the 100 floors. I remember in Lufia 2 (non-emulator) I had to leave my game on just because it took so long. In MMO terms I would imagine each floor would have several adjoining rooms at least and very few with just one room/staircase down. You'd also have to have it instanced or it would eliminate the difficulty of the dungeon if other groups were consistently clearing the floor you were on, not to mention, all the loot would be gone.
2. And, you're remembering incorrectly about the chests. One of the best things about the loot in that dungeon is that you "could" take the gear obtained from blue chests in the real game outside the dungeon. It was just that you couldn't bring any of your gear obtained otherwise in-game in the dungeon. And, the only gear allowed back into the dungeon on second, third, attempt etc. were through the blue chests.
Here's a link to the Ancient Cave Guide as reference: Lufia 2: Ancient Cave
Anyway, nice to see another appreciate the game as much as I did :)
I honestly don't remember being able to use the items from blue chests in the outside world. In any event, I would ask that you consider the layout that I proposed earlier in this thread. For the purpose of this exercise, let's assume that the blue chests (T2-T3) could not be taken with you outside of the Dungeon. The only potential reward that could be taken outside are the T4 chests which have no standalone value. There would be a collector who would be willing to trade you a highly prestigious item for a full set of 20. Beyond that, if players manage to successfully complete the dungeon, they would find a wise sage at the end that offers to teach them an ability or spell. I understand that I said that I would want the experience to be recreated as closely as possible but there are indeed a few changes that I want you to consider.
Secondly, the issue you speak of about needing to leave the game on was a console limitation. This wasn't an issue at all for the emulator due to players being able to save their progress whenever they wanted. Again, for the sake of discussion, please consider the modified version that I proposed. It is mentioned that players would be able to "save" their progress which would allow groups to continue from where they left off in a prior session. More than anything, when it comes to this idea, I am confident that it could indeed translate over to an MMO. You have brought up few painpoints but I seriously don't think that they are a problem that a little ingenuity couldn't solve. I like to look at obstacles as an opportunity to overcome a challenge.
To be honest, I think the concept that inspired the idea is sound but there is definitely room for improvement. I will make an effort to try and recreate the idea and present a more fleshed out and modified-for-an-MMO version soon. This thread was one of the first ones I started after joining the community and to be honest I have learned a lot about Pantheon over the last year or so and think it would be a fun exercise to try and utilize some of that knowledge to further evolve this concept while adhering to the guidelines of this game as much as possible. As a caveat, I will say that the idea of this dungeon being instanced is something I will most likely stick with. I understand that Pantheon wants to stray away from instances as much as possible but I do think there will be exceptions to that rule and that a dungeon like this could be worthy of such an exception. If it's possible to create a dungeon like this without instancing I will definitely make an attempt to think of a way it could be done and there are some other ideas that have been contributed to this thread that I may reference for that endeavor.
Just a simple idea that wouldnt be to hard to get into the game. In my "friends" list I would like to have an text option where I can type small notes next to each friend on my list. I like to group up with different people, but I dont always remember their name, how they played and what we talked about during our session. It would be nice to add that player to my list and type a short text for the next time I group with that person. Something short like this: good cc, goes afk a lot. Has two kids.
Throwing my hat in with the Lufia-esque dungeon idea.
I don't know how it would work on the developer side, or even if it's possible - but CAN a randomly generated dungeon be done that's NOT instanced? Is that even possible?
Say, Warrior X fights their way down to floor 3, meanwhile the dungeon shifts - earthquakes, trap-mechanisms, etc - causing new doors and rooms to appear, with new mobs, new treasures, new floorplans, even as Warrior Y walks in through the entrance? Perhaps there would be a way to make it so that the rooms with PC's in wouldn't be changed, but doorways to other rooms (and those adjacent rooms) would be? And can this be done automatically without constant developer resources being devoted to it?
If so, that would keep it from needing to be instanced while also adding a whole new fun element to the idea.
As far the blue chests (Raidan is right, the blue chests could be used outside of the dungeon, as well as taken with you inside), perhaps the only "loot" found inside that can be taken out would be, say, cosmetic items? Maybe some rare crafting mats that can only be found in that dungeon? Food/drink? Perhaps just collectibles that can be turned in for faction? Nothing game-breaking, but almost used as a sort of mini-game for solo or duo play?
I admit, I can't decide if I like the idea more as a group-centric dungeon or a solo-centric dungeon. The draw of using it as a "I can't find a group, so why don't I see how far I can get in the Lufia Dungeon?" is strong for me.
Oubliette of Descension -- (OoD)
Design Goals:
Create a challenging dungeon crawl experience centered around high replay value and dynamic combat.
Utilize long-term, OoD exclusive vertical progression as an opportunity for players to unlock limited diagonal progression for characters that complete the dungeon.
Recycle existing game assets in order to achieve maximum content value with minimal design effort.
Create an effective gold-sink that can help with staving off inflation.
Allow hardcore players an avenue to invest high playtime without contributing toward any significant gap in power between them and the larger player base.
Create an epic dungeon experience that allows players an opportunity to affect permanent change into the world.
Create a leaderboard that allows competitive players to ascend a ranked ladder that doesn't contribute toward the idea of competition for resources in the game world.
Dungeon could be expanded upon with future expansions.
Dungeon Design:
The dungeon would consist of 100 floors, each containing an angstloch that allows players to descend to the next level.
Each floor would be completey random in regards to shape, doors, corridors, NPC placement, treasure chest placement, and angstloch location.
The dungeon would be separated into 7 tiers with increments of 15, 15, 15, 15, 15, 15, and 10.
Each tier would contain it's own audio/video elements that grow progressively more foreboding.
Each tier would contain a different pool of NPC's and itemization to randomly draw from, scaling in difficulty/quality.
The difficulty scaling for each tier would include more atmospheres and environmental effects.
As you progress through each tier, more dispositions would be added to the NPC pool.
Movement speed, aggro ranges, and detection methods would fluctuate depending on NPC type.
Each floor has a random chance to spawn traps, illusions, or recharge encampments.
Dungeon Rules:
An admission fee must be paid by each player prior to entering the dungeon.
Upon entering the dungeon, each player would start off at level 1 with starter gear.
If a group wipes, they are removed from the dungeon and have to restart from the first floor on their next run.
Players can save their progress, exit the dungeon, and pick up where they left off when they return.
The dungeon utilizes a unique progression model for itemization. (Explained in next section.)
Itemization Progression Model:
Loot would be divided into five colored tiers.
T1 (Red Chests) -- T1 loot would include gear and consumables ranging in quality from poor to average. T1 loot is considered temporary and will disappear from player inventories if they wipe and fail the dungeon.
T2 (Green Chests) -- T2 loot would include gear that is higher quality than what can be found in red chests, ranging from good to great. T2 loot is considered temporary and will disappear from player inventories if they wipe and fail the dungeon.
T3 (Blue Chests) -- T3 loot would include gear that ranges in quality from good to great. T3 loot is considered soulbound to OoD. T3 loot cannot be taken with you outside of the dungeon, but will return to your inventory when players re-enter the zone in the future.
T4 (Purple Chests) -- T4 loot would include gear with an excellent quality score. T4 loot is considered soulbound to OoD. T4 loot cannot be taken with you outside of the dungeon, but will return to your inventory when players re-enter the zone in the future.
T5 (Gold Chests) -- T5 loot would include tradeable collection items. T5 collectibles are the only items that can be taken out of OoD. There is a collection merchant outside of the dungeon that is willing to trade a prestigious item for a full set of these items. (It's possible to create multiple "sets" of these collection items with each set qualifying for a different prestigious item. These prestigious items would be cosmetic in nature and could include mounts, cloaks, illusions, pet illusions, and house items.)
Final Thoughts:
Itemization would ideally be balanced around a "situational gear" ideology. All the way up to T4, the ceiling for any individual piece of loot would be situational.
In order for the above to be true, a wide variety of combat situations would need to be present in the dungeon, ranging from atmosphere, environment, and resistance.
To further expand on the above, a variety of NPC dispositions and behaviors should contribute toward the value of long-term diagonal progression within the dungeon.
Mini-bosses could be added to the final floor of each tier that have a chance of dropping T3 gear or better.
Item quality would not necessitate "ilevel" or "gearscore" implementation. A human being would determine what loot belongs in each tier.
You could limit the availability of this dungeon by gating it behind faction or using it as a "dynamic event" that utilizes various world triggers that can open/close it.
Upon reaching level 100, players would be flagged for admission into an instance that contains the final boss and a wise sage that teaches a powerful spell or ability. (This could also be an overland area that doesn't require instancing.)
The final boss could be a raid boss, encouraging flagged players to assist non-flagged players to acquire their flag.
Upon beating the final boss, a more powerful boss could be unleashed onto the world of Terminus.
This unleashed boss would ideally be an extremely challenging raid boss that could potentially have an impact on the world outside of their presence alone.
I may end up further expanding this idea. For now, this version would indeed include instancing due to the random nature of the concept. I understand that some folks will feel that this idea is fake, artificial, contrived, arbitrary, unnecessary, convoluted, and an attempt to beg for feature creep that goes against the vision for this game. I respectfully disagree, but also understand that my opinion is nothing more than an opinion. I feel that this kind of content would resonate with certain players and would hope that the personal enjoyment of some won't be spun into resounding bells of doom that would break the game for everybody else. At the end of the day, my true hope when it comes to a dungeon like this is to give a very specific demographic of player something they can work towards, long-term, that would not disrupt the power gap between players. I feel there are plenty of benefits for doing this, including alleviation of competition for world resources, an effective gold-sink, and a "sticky" factor that could help retain hardcore and goal-oriented players alike.
One of the core design goals with the dungeon is the ability to expand it in the future without invalidating that which came before. The idea of it being randomized ensures that you don't have to spend a lot of time "building" the dungeon, but rather focusing on the randomization parameters for each tier. Another goal is to recycle existing assets. This could include loot, NPC's, audio/video elements, texture packages, etc. I suppose a part of the argument on why a dungeon like this might be worthy of consideration is that it would produce a lot of content with minimal design effort. The main obstacle is developing code that can randomly generate each floor plan, but as Vjek pointed out, there might be scripts in the Unity store that are designed for this exact purpose. All of the other random factors would be affixed to a set of tiered parameters that recycle existing assets.
I don't think it would make sense to implement a dungeon like this with only the first tier included. That would be like implementing a crafting system that only goes up to level 10. A major part of the appeal is giving players something they can work on long-term that doesn't disrupt the power progression of the rest of the game. There are a lot of incentives I can think of but at the end of the day not everybody is going to appreciate something like this. That's perfectly okay -- just like some players won't appreciate crafting, or perception, or raiding. It's an optional side-quest so to speak and not everybody out there would be able to justify the time commitment required to beating it. Some would be able to invest that time and the idea of these players having an outlet to use all that time without disrupting the natural flow of planned power progression is attractive.
I don't expect the idea to resonate with everybody. I have seen a lot of comments that certain power gamers only want to advance to the top and as soon as they run out of stuff to do, they move onto another game. I think a dungeon like this would help retain those kind of players. Due to the power progression being purposely limited, I don't think a lot of players would make this dungeon an absolute priority. Instead, I see it being used during periods of downtime. Rather than power gamers grinding their way to the top and then only logging in for contested events or consuming their weekly lockouts, they would have another side objective they could commit to. The best part is that they could do it with other like-minded players. It creates a sticky point that can retain interest when it might otherwise be fleeting. A lot of people say that developers can never create content as quickly as the players will consume it and I think a dungeon like this could alleviate that concern, to some degree.
Ideally, there will be plenty of other features, systems, and mechanics that also aim to retain player attention. This isn't meant to replace any of them. Instead, it's meant to reinforce the logic that "Content is King" and is designed to offer a lot of content with high replay value that requires minimal design effort. One of the "future features" listed on "The Pantheon Difference" page is "Player-Run Dungeons." Maybe something like this could come into fruition in a later expansion. There is still a lot to learn about Pantheon so I definitely don't mean to imply that something like this is needed. I do think that there would be a demand for something like this and if it could be implemented in a way that doesn't disrupt other aspects of the game then it could be successful. I have heard mixed stories about Palace of the Dead from FFXIV but I think that's a decent place to start looking if a concept like this were to be considered.
oneADseven said:Oubliette of Descension -- (OoD)
Design Goals:
Create a challenging dungeon crawl experience centered around high replay value and dynamic combat.
Utilize long-term, OoD exclusive vertical progression as an opportunity for players to unlock limited diagonal progression for characters that complete the dungeon.
Recycle existing game assets in order to achieve maximum content value with minimal design effort.
Create an effective gold-sink that can help with staving off inflation.
Allow hardcore players an avenue to invest high playtime without contributing toward any significant gap in power between them and the larger player base.
Create an epic dungeon experience that allows players an opportunity to affect permanent change into the world.
Create a leaderboard that allows competitive players to ascend a ranked ladder that doesn't contribute toward the idea of competition for resources in the game world.
Dungeon could be expanded upon with future expansions.
Dungeon Design:
The dungeon would consist of 100 floors, each containing an angstloch that allows players to descend to the next level.
Each floor would be completey random in regards to shape, doors, corridors, NPC placement, treasure chest placement, and angstloch location.
The dungeon would be separated into 7 tiers with increments of 15, 15, 15, 15, 15, 15, and 10.
Each tier would contain it's own audio/video elements that grow progressively more foreboding.
Each tier would contain a different pool of NPC's and itemization to randomly draw from, scaling in difficulty/quality.
The difficulty scaling for each tier would include more atmospheres and environmental effects.
As you progress through each tier, more dispositions would be added to the NPC pool.
Movement speed, aggro ranges, and detection methods would fluctuate depending on NPC type.
Each floor has a random chance to spawn traps, illusions, or recharge encampments.
Dungeon Rules:
An admission fee must be paid by each player prior to entering the dungeon.
Upon entering the dungeon, each player would start off at level 1 with starter gear.
If a group wipes, they are removed from the dungeon and have to restart from the first floor on their next run.
Players can save their progress, exit the dungeon, and pick up where they left off when they return.
The dungeon utilizes a unique progression model for itemization. (Explained in next section.)
Itemization Progression Model:
Loot would be divided into five colored tiers.
T1 (Red Chests) -- T1 loot would include gear and consumables ranging in quality from poor to average. T1 loot is considered temporary and will disappear from player inventories if they wipe and fail the dungeon.
T2 (Green Chests) -- T2 loot would include gear that is higher quality than what can be found in red chests, ranging from good to great. T2 loot is considered temporary and will disappear from player inventories if they wipe and fail the dungeon.
T3 (Blue Chests) -- T3 loot would include gear that ranges in quality from good to great. T3 loot is considered soulbound to OoD. T3 loot cannot be taken with you outside of the dungeon, but will return to your inventory when players re-enter the zone in the future.
T4 (Purple Chests) -- T4 loot would include gear with an excellent quality score. T4 loot is considered soulbound to OoD. T4 loot cannot be taken with you outside of the dungeon, but will return to your inventory when players re-enter the zone in the future.
T5 (Gold Chests) -- T5 loot would include tradeable collection items. T5 collectibles are the only items that can be taken out of OoD. There is a collection merchant outside of the dungeon that is willing to trade a prestigious item for a full set of these items. (It's possible to create multiple "sets" of these collection items with each set qualifying for a different prestigious item.) These prestigious items would be cosmetic in nature and could include mounts, cloaks, illusions, pet illusions, and house items.)
Final Thoughts:
Itemization would ideally be balanced around a "situational gear" ideology. All the way up to T4, the ceiling for any individual piece of loot would be situational.
In order for the above to be true, a wide variety of combat situations would need to be present in the dungeon, ranging from atmosphere, environment, and resistance.
To further expand on the above, a variety of NPC dispositions and behaviors should contribute toward the value of long-term diagonal progression within the dungeon.
Mini-bosses could be added to the final floor of each tier that have a chance of dropping T3 gear or better.
Item quality would not necessitate "ilevel" or "gearscore" implementation. A human being would determine what loot belongs in each tier.
You could limit the availability of this dungeon by gating it behind faction or using it as a "dynamic event" that utilizes various world triggers that can open/close it.
Upon reaching level 100, players would be flagged for admission into an instance that contains the final boss and a wise sage that teaches a powerful spell or ability. (This could also be an overland area that doesn't require instancing.)
The final boss could be a raid boss, encouraging flagged players to assist non-flagged players to acquire their flag.
Upon beating the final boss, a more powerful boss could be unleashed onto the world of Terminus.
This unleashed boss would ideally be an extremely challenging raid boss that could potentially have an impact on the world outside of their presence alone.
I may end up further expanding this idea. For now, this version would indeed include instancing due to the random nature of the concept. I understand that some folks will feel that this idea is fake, artificial, contrived, arbitrary, unnecessary, convoluted, and an attempt to beg for feature creep that goes against the vision for this game. I respectfully disagree, but also understand that my opinion is nothing more than an opinion. I feel that this kind of content would resonate with certain players and would hope that the personal enjoyment of some won't be spun into resounding bells of doom that would break the game for everybody else. At the end of the day, my true hope when it comes to a dungeon like this is to give a very specific demographic of player something they can work towards, long-term, that would not disrupt the power gap between players. I feel there are plenty of benefits for doing this, including alleviation of competition for world resources, an effective gold-sink, and a "sticky" factor that could help retain hardcore and goal-oriented players alike.
I think it's worth pointing out that this entire concept could also be designed for raids instead of groups. As far as instancing is concerned, I am still trying to think of a way that it could be designed without instancing but haven't quite gotten there. Evoras shared another version of the idea a few pages back so that is definitely something to consider. I'll try to think of a secondary option as well but for the meantime I wanted to get this one out there. Also worth mentioning, this concept was inspired by the Ancient Cave in Lufia 2 and I attempted to recreate that experience as closely as possible but there are definitely some tweaks.
oneADseven said:I think it's worth pointing out that this entire concept could also be designed for raids instead of groups. As far as instancing is concerned, I am still trying to think of a way that it could be designed without instancing but haven't quite gotten there. Evoras shared another version of the idea a few pages back so that is definitely something to consider. I'll try to think of a secondary option as well but for the meantime I wanted to get this one out there. It's worth noting that this concept was inspired by the Ancient Cave in Lufia 2 and I attempted to recreate that experience as closely as possible but there are definitely some tweaks.
oneADseven said:I think I may have come up with something. It's going to take a little bit of time for me to piece everything together but I'll try to get it posted sometime soon. Big thank you to @Kaen and everyone else who contributed to this thread.
Some additional ideas I had.
Perhaps the entrance to this dungeon can be found only deep within another dungeon, inaccessible unless a difficult 100+ person raid boss is killed first. (This boss is maybe on a one week or two week timer?) Once the boss is killed, anyone has access to this dungeon until the boss spawns again, at which time a large raid will have to bring him down in order for people to access the dungeon.
As far as loot, I tried to keep everything pretty simple, avoiding vertical progression rewards as much as possible. However, it might be worth considering adding some vertical progression items. Anyway, below are just some ideas fleshed out a little.
Edit: Additionally, I tried to avoid things that really detract from the "reality" of the game and immersion. For example, no "mounts" where people just ride around on a giant pink mouse or a storm cloud... or emotes that summon little fireworks around a character... extraordinarily silly stuff that could become a prevalent nuissance over time.
Loot/Reward Ideas:
Mounts (If mounts are available) – Unicorns of several varieties (different color manes, different color horns, sparkling horns), Demon Steed (black with red glowing eyes, mane of shadow), Phantom Steed (ghost-like horse, several varieties)
Particle Effect Imbue Scrolls – Add particle effect to weapons (Flames, blue glow, red glow, sparkling offered in variety of colors, lightning, etc…) Weapons that already have an effect are not affected by these scrolls?
Bags – Weight reduction bags ranging from 25% to 100%, slots ranging from 4, 6, 8, 10, capacity ranging from small, medium, large.
Cosmetic Cloaks – Several varieties of patterns and colors, hood can be toggled on/off.
Cosmetic Quivers – Several styles, limited to warriors, rangers, rogues?
Illusion Clickies – (All extremely rare, of course) One for each race, and a variety of ultra-rare clickies that offer illusions like: gnoll, dragon-kin (humanoid), etc…
Stylizied Tabards/Surcoats – Waist-to-knee or shoulder-to-knee, assortment of colors and designs
Cosmetic Sashes – Assorted colors, assorted patterns (solid, checkered, striped), cloth-of-gold
Gate Stone – 15 second cast, allows player to gate. 3 charges, rechargeable via some player craft profession only, requires rare, expensive materials.
Rare Crafting materials and/or crafting materials that drop only in this dungeon.
Crystals – Can be used at vendors located at the entrance in order to purchase stuff. Maybe consumables, one time use Gate Stones, crafting materials, crafting supplies that can only be purchased with crystals, etc…
Any additional thoughts/ideas or criticisms are welcome.