Gathering

I would like to make a suggestion.

The SOA world is gorgeous, I enjoy venturing off the path and admiring the art and exploring. What do folk think about sprinkling 'goodies' out in the bush? Odd minerals, abandon shacks with strange stuff, rare trees/plants/animals… that sort of thing?

As it is now, most resource nodes are on or next to the path. Other than sight seeing, there seems to be no reason to go exploring. Exploring is a big thing for some of us... or maybe just me.

thanks!

 

I worked for an MMO company for 3 years as a world builder. You *always* put little tid-bits around a zone/area/scene. Little interesting snippets or venues that make the player think "Hmm...what's this?" Sometimes, they think about it and gen up their own little story in their head as to what happened. There are a few of these little gems around in Sota. For example, an abandoned camp site with the skeletal remains of former campers, sitting around a long extinguished campfire in Serpent's Spine Foothills. However, it would be nice if there were more of these tid-bits. It only adds to the immersion and story.

 

I enjoy rock hopping. I'd love to find - anything - among the crags.

 

Playing Deus Ex OG right now as my internet is behaving poorly. It's got exploration XP. I love exploration XP. It's so simple. Boom, you got 150xp for finding this shack, or camp fire. Done. Everyone wins and feels fantastic.

 

So... at least 4 of us enjoy exploring and finding neat stuff.

 

Make it 5

I asked often for giving us the great possibility to explore the lands, not showing us the whole continent and each small thing in the towns for free... The current map system providing all from beginning takes so much fun away

How wonderful it would be to see what we have discovered!
Combined with XP would be so fine
XP town: 5.000/10.000.
XP the east and west swamp area: 20.000
XP the Perennial Coast: 50.000

 

I think with @Rinaldi we are at least 6

 

There may be a dark side to shandy chapman .-. The evidence of which can be found by exploring off path somehere near soltown and solace bridge

 

I would assume there are some more avatars interested and there are already some scenes that offer rewards for exploring (E.g. the beginner regions have some treasure chests off the road) but as far as I remember exploring will be more relevant in the next episode.
I personally do not need XP as reward but if I get them I will not refuse them but I would prefer…well…if we could get once in a while more unique, untradeable rewards as some kind of memory for the more unique PoI:
- Somewhere hidden deep in the wood is a small glade with some rocks and a sword in one of those rocks. Trying to pull out the sword you shatter it and all you can do is to can take the handle with you as some kind of deco item...maybe with a info text like that “Now the new king cannot be found…”.
- Or on the highest mountain you can find a broken kite you can take and just this way you can learn the emote “kite flying”.
- Or in a small hidden cave you can find a destroyed bee gum with an injured bee queen. After healing her you can tame the bee queen and her swarm will fight for you as some kind of combat pet.
- Or in a swamp you can find some ancient abandoned graves. There you have the possibility to dig and if you do you get a human ghost or a talking skull that is charging you in person from time to time to be a grave robber and body-stripper.
…

 

The possibilities are endless, as they say. It must have taken a great deal of effort to put together the scenes, exploration of those scenes should be a productive or at least entertaining part of the game. As it is now, enter a scene. Follow the path around, killing and harvesting 'till you're bored, wash rinse and repeat.