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POTs are going to be ignored, unless we get an indicator

Discussion in 'Release 29 Feedback Forum' started by Isaiah, May 15, 2016.

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  1. Isaiah

    Isaiah Avatar

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    It would be nice to be able to know what each POT has to offer by having a street sign next to the town with an indication for each type of vendor, crafting tables, and stocked player vendors. For example I might want to sell a bunch of loot to a vendor or whatever. It would be nice to know what is at a town before stopping there (heck even the freeways here in california have signs that say gas, food, and lodging if there is anything of interest in an offramp). The NPC towns probably should have some kind of signs too. Most places have street signs so it shouldn't look weird in game.

    I've come across too many towns that are empty and feel like they go on forever and ever and ever. If they have nothing I want at that time I wish there would be some indicator that there is something there (like a street sign that says this town has X, Y, and Z). If the town is just for role play and housing, let there be no sign so we can know that there is nothing to interact with in this place except exploration.

    Even if there are player vendors they should be stocked with goods before there is an indicator or sign that says there are player vendors. Possibly the sign could have a short intro or welcome or beware notification written by the POT owner as well for fun.

    **************************************************************

    Problem is that I could go exploring hoping that there is something there. Imagine if a metropolis is totally filled with filled lots and trees etc, and I go wandering around looking for stuff and there is nothing available to interact with and all the players are sleeping or they never log in ... I could spend an hour or more before giving up and still not see all the lots but definitely be bored and never want to explore another one of those POTs again. In fact there might only be one house that has something in the outskirts. Even with a notification that there is a player vendor if there is only one guy we need an indicator on the map of people who are stocked up.

    This doesn't hurt players as much as I think it hurts the owners of POTs that actually have stuff to sell and interesting stuff for real players, perhaps there could even be an entertainment symbol too for towns who do not craft but have live music (as a side note why not be able to have NPC musicians *with a fee or rent* that can play sheet music during certain hours per day even when players are not around). I most certainly don't want to wander into any more Player Owned Towns because I've found most of them to be empty. until I know there is something useful in ANY of those towns, I don't want to visit ANY of those towns. In fact I would rather waste my time spending 30 minutes or more writing a long post like this, than see another POT with nothing to offer.


    So for the sake of the POT owners who actually have a reason for players to visit, we need some kind of indicator or updating street sign we can click to show us what to expect if we should visit, such as music, vendors, etc. Thanks.
     
  2. Weins201

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    Sorry asking for to much. If a POT has vendors and gets a good reputation that is more than enough to keep people coming back.

    There is no need for anything to be on the map but an indicator. Plus there are many towns not even on the map.

    Reputation and word of mouth will be what POTs which want to become notable vendor spots are what is and will work.

    Signs are not worth development time, sorry.
     
  3. Sir Frank

    Sir Frank Master of the Mint

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    I plan to have a notebook by the computer, so I can make notes about such places.
     
  4. Noric

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    This appears to be already happening pretty effectively. Signs only mean as much as the accuracy of their content...
     
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  5. Isaiah

    Isaiah Avatar

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    I suppose, but then again am I going to want to remember a bunch of town names? Port Phoenix is really cool, because it seems to connect to so many places. However this cool factor needs a bit more work.

    I'm not saying these POTs suck. What I am saying is they can be very large and basically I have to exit to menu to escape from these places because I have no clue where the exits are.

    Is it too much to ask for a sign in front of the town... Not only that how about street signs in the towns, at least at every major intersection that has an arrow to an exit and the other way is toward some other point of interest.

    There are a lot of POTs and all of these locations are fantastic, and a lot of time went into this "content". Now if just a few street signs were added both outside and inside on the roads, that would help people a great deal. Nobody wants to run around aimlessly in an empty town for an hour. Make this places much easier to travel. Let the POT owners add signs, but at least let there be some default signs to lead us to the shortest distance out of one of those massive metropolis sites. Also let us know before we enter what to exepct like transports, food, weapons, armor etc.

    This isn't an anti-POT post. It is actually a post to help the POTs be even more inviting.
     
  6. Abydos

    Abydos Avatar

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    Taxes kill all my inspiration for getting house in POT's friends.
     
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  7. Weins201

    Weins201 Avatar

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    Theses already are on your compass at the top of the screen once you discover them, Broken in some places of course but already done.
     
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  8. Isaiah

    Isaiah Avatar

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    yeah. However entering a metropolis that has no benifit to me at all is a problem. The place is too darn big, and it takes forever to locate any of those things. Mostly I'm just looking for the exit once I realize there isn't anything to buy nor any vendors to sell to. So by the time I make it to the center of that giant landmass I am forced to find an exit or just log out.

    I would rather not have to log out. If I (who pledged high enough for a rent free town lot) get tired of looking around these giant empty metroplitan cities (Which sounds like a contradiction in terms), then I'm guessing that players who pay 45 bucks for the game might get a little cranky getting stuck inside a massive city devoid of anything useful or interesting, taking forever to find the way out once they made the mistake of venturing in a little ways.

    Now at least if we know what to expect in there, (sign says there are reagent vendors), then maybe a person can have fun trying to discover the location of the magic vendors and enjoy the scenery along the way. However if a person doesn't know if this town is worth the time and has been through several towns like this in the past with nothing useful, then I would be willing to bet that the average player is going to just stay away from these places.

    Discovery starts to loose its fun when the same result happens each time... wasting loads of time only to discover nothing of any value. A simple sign or two might be enough to give the player hope that there is actually something they are looking for which might lead them to the discovery of some cool scenery too. Just wandering amlessly in a massive zone doesn't feel like exploration it feels like getting stuck in a trap.

    It doesn't have to feel like a trap if there is a sign or at least somebody to greet us at the entrance with some info.
     
  9. Kara Brae

    Kara Brae Avatar

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    It would be much more convenient to have a town crier at the entrance to every town. :)

    I think it is important to remember that only very few POT owners bother to build their towns between game wipes, and very few prospective inhabitants bother to log on and claim lots. For this reason most POTs resemble ghost towns. I fully expect some to remain that way even after the final wipe either because some governors want to live in their POTs alone or only with family, or because they don't have enough time to spend on their POT making it an attractive place to live.

    The devs have spoken about creating some visual clue on the overland map to indicate which POTs are inhabited, but I think it is going too far to have signs detailing which vendors are available. Not even the NPC towns have those.

    I believe that the inhabitants of thriving POT communities (and PRTs by the way) will get together to make sure that all their basic needs are met, even if it means purchasing large quantities of certain goods (like repair kits) in an NPC town and selling them at private vendors without a markup.
     
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  10. sake888

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    I think POTs should list the number of trees they contain. I have no interest setting foot inside a POT with an odd number of trees, it's gotta be an even number or I'm just wasting my time.
     
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  11. Chatele

    Chatele Avatar

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    I think a bulletin board at the beginning of every town including POTS, PTR's ect. could hold info on what each player merchant has for sale, you click on the item and it will show you who is selling that item, and will mark their location on the map, much like where the town crier etc does when you ask about what lots are available. Thought I would throw this tidbit in :)
     
  12. Lazlo

    Lazlo Avatar

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    I like the idea of having some kind of simple indicator on the overworld map, because people get pretty discouraged from exploring after zoning in and out of empty lots over and over. It would be very good for people that actually put work into their towns for people to be able to see that it's not an empty lot without having to zone in.

    Edit: It wouldn't necessarily even have to be anything graphical either. It could just be some kind of text added after the town name that pops up when you're within zoning distance.
     
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  13. Rofo

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    Why can't you guys do this without developer intervention? Haven't the devs spent enough time on POTs?
    Do we really need a sign that says "Nudie Bar and Teleport Scrolls" cluttering up the Novia Overland, It's bad enough we have to pass that yard sale looking Lot on our way into Owl's head, now you want to add vendor sign spam to Overland Novia too?

    POT owners could get together, and setup a spread sheet where they can edit their own town entries.
    Similar to the Lot count spread sheet that @Ice Queen maintains.

    You could build a list of POT's.
    List it's significant location. (vendors, criers, exits)
    link to the SotaMap it's layout.
    List vendors.

    Once you got enough participation, you could setup a site similar to sotawiki for POT's.
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2016
  14. Chatele

    Chatele Avatar

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    I like my idea better, a bulletin board does not take away from immersion, and it surely doesn't clutter up the world.
     
  15. Maka

    Maka Avatar

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    How about the POT icon on the map changes with how many lots are taken in the town. So if a couple of lots at taken it just shows a little hut. As that number increases more buildings can be show and perhaps the crafting pavilion. Something to make it feel more interactive. Let's get this in for R60ish...
     
  16. Waxillium

    Waxillium Avatar

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    There is always an even number of trees in Rift's End. If you doubt you're welcome to walk around and count them!

    Unless of course you believe all beings are one. In that case alone will there be an odd number of trees. Omm.
     
  17. Arkah EMPstrike

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    Virtue oasis has a decent vendor mall, Serenite has a good craftign area with craftring vendor nearby as well as a vendor selling random crafted goods, Blockrock Cove has a vendor row with some vendors on it selling various things.

    Virtue oasis is SW hidden vale in the desert.
    Serenite is on the western shore of grunvald int he desert, right next to vengeance,
    Blackrock cove is on the road between etceter and brightbone pass.

    Thats 3 places i can think of off the top of my head

    Perfectus mori has a couple of material vendors as well, its just north of Arie near the road
     
  18. Noric

    Noric Avatar

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    I'm not sure that I think lot occupation is the best number to go off of (maybe something like unique visitors over the previous week?) but I agree that the icon change makes some sense.

    I also agree that it should not be a short term priority.
     
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  19. Ice Queen

    Ice Queen Avatar

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    +1

    There's already plans without having to junk up the overhead map.
    https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/player-owned-towns-update.23010/
     
    Last edited: May 17, 2016
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  20. redfish

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    There should later in development be public noticeboards, where people could put up any notes. Whether that be requesting jobs from other players, advertising guild events, or advertising a shop.

    A lot better than a sign, and player-driven.
     
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