Global Scene buffs for NPC towns

It seems the original intent was to make plots of land valuable in the game. This is one idea that might improve the value of housing Lots in the NPC towns.

POT owners may not care for this idea, but player towns did come after the NPC towns in the game's design if I recall correctly.

Giving global scene buffs may encourage players to play more often in the NPC towns and I think this was the way it was intended - for NPC towns to be populated with players.

I'm thinking multiple layers of buffs.

Global Scene Buff Type 1: Regional. This buff will reflect the region in which the NPC Town is located.

Global Scene Buff Type 2: Locale. This buff will reflect...What is the Scene about? What type of Town is it? Is there something that makes this Town more unique than others? All of that would get reflected into this Town-specific type of buff

Global Scene Buff Type 3: Quadrant (or whatever) - some towns might be significant enough to have a 3rd buff, perhaps in the case of Central Brittany, or other unique areas etc. Not sure if there could be multiple quadrant buffs so that one part of a scene could have a separate quadrant buff than another. (Living near the Castle in Central Brittany vs living near the Docks)

Just an idea.

 

I agree that NPC towns have certainly lost their appeal in light of the significant additional convenience/functionality you get with a POT.
Although I'm not sure what sort of "town buff" you are proposing here. Would this only apply if you LIVE in the town, or if you are just visiting/using town facilities?

There's not really a great deal you'd "do" in town, other than skill learning and crafting.
Any sort of crafting or skill learning type buff will be frustrated for the same reason that Castle Atos scene specific buff is frustrating, because hauling all your crap to and from the bank, inability to use local storage near the tables, etc. is really inconvenient. For adventuring skill learning, having this buff in all NPC towns would be a nice perk, although it spreads people out (Castle Atos being the unique place for this gets folks together for mentoring etc).

I'm struggling to think of any sort of "town buff" that would encourage me to live in an NPC town, considering that:

• Layout is inconvenient (distance to key NPCs, oracle, etc.)
• No devotionals in town
• No attunement shrines in town
• Vendors are scattered all over the place, can make living/working in an NPC town inconvenient
• Performance is often poor
• It requires a more expensive type of deed
• Most of the good spots are being held by dormant accounts who log in once a year to keep a foothold and otherwise do not play - limits sense of community in these towns as well as limiting lot selection

All in all, the only reason I can see to live in an NPC town other than RP reasons would be for local access to a tag match vendor without having to sit through another load screen. And maybe trainers, but that stops being relevant once you've learned all they offer which is pretty early.