Variety is the spice of life. I had an epiphany today that the only thing you really do in this game is kill and get better at killing. I was just thinking, "What kind of world is like that?"

What if there were more aspects to the game? And then I realized it was hard to come up with them.


What if there were other motivations that you could have. For example, you could be part of a business or club or what-have-you, and your group works to supply a town with supplies they need. You are basically a merchant and they have needs and you have to give them and in return you get money. You also can get a monopoly on goods. It would be kind of like a scavenger hunt. This would be a fun alternative to the pentagram quest or Abandoned Town (or spider heads is more like it for me.) You would be racing against other players and perhaps npcs or "NPCs" (some RNG statistics that have names associated with them).

You go to the mayor (to save time in building it, the rest of the town could be inaccessible for now) and he says "My people need 10 greenling eye essence potions, 20 sacks of wheat, etc. etc. Then you have to round those out and deliver them. There would be categories such as:
1. Food
2. Potions or Drugs
3. Equipment


Some of these would be easy to get by running to a normal location. Others, you would have to approach NPCs and see if they could get it. There would be some chance they do based on your skill ( a new skill or bartering or possibly just another existing skill.) If you buy a lot of a product from an NPC the chance would go up that he would be able to get it for you (or possibly that any NPC could get it for you.) A lot of variation could be added here, but it could start off real simple.

Then for each category of product you have to get, you would earn some kind of points and there would be a leaderboard you could check with the mayor (by saying leaderboard, perhaps?) Whoever is the leader every Astonian month would get a bonus: 1st, 2nd, 3rd. They could choose what they want for their bonus. It would be great for me if this could work across ranks, where what you are required to get is based on rank and therefore, a lower rank can compete with a higher rank for the leaderboard position.

Also, once in a while, NPCs could throw in a free item or sample or offer some kind of mystery box to their best customers.

I want to float this out there because I think it has the potential to be very different from the whole rest of the game where killing is the only thing you do. I think it could introduce some strategy that is somewhat missing from the rest of the game. Because you are competing against other people, it would be constantly changing.

I like this idea.
There is already some part of this in the game, with PQ's (personal quests). Get to the end of prison and get a free token and exp and luck. Or go get baron, count, duke and prince eyes, eat 2 of each and get 2 potions, with some exp and luck.
That system is also used on some special occasions (like Halloween, Xmas) where you had to do different things for different rewards.

There is also professions. That is a bit like you describe.
Alchemy, to make potions. Do it more often, then you get better. When you get better, you can make better potions. Examples are Greater spell potion, that give, for 45min, +24 on bless, enh, and prot (or something like it, didn't check). And infravision potion, to see in the dark. Great for lab 6!
And the other 3 professions are grouped. Harvest, Craft and Blacksmith.
You gather items from areas with lizards, trees, spiders, cotton, wolves. Or the harvest mine or the witch tower.
Those items can be converted by the harvester (using a special scroll).
Then the crafter is up, he can use another scroll and convert that item into something else.
The blacksmith is last, using the crafted item to make something like a cloth legging, simular to an ss-ed cloth legging.
These all need to have enough experience on 'easier' materials to make more special stuff. Cloth would be easy, titanium armor would be more difficult.
In this way you can get special shields, wands and staffs.

Professions are found at Prospect Peak. Prospect Peak needs to be unlocked. At northwest corner of strange forest there is the starting point for that quest.
More info on the scrolls and what you can make and such: http://www.aranockonline.com/HTML/Liveinfo.html and pick Profession Guides.

From what you're saying, it does seem like pretty much all of the components are there. I think the only two things that would remain are:
1. Having to compete against other people
This game seems a little grindy at times. I see that reading the old posts on the forum and sometimes talking to people in Aranock. You pretty much know what you're going to do, you just have to do it over and over. Having to compete against other people opens up the possibility that it will never be the same. Obviously, this will require a few things. It will require motivation for multiple people to participate, it will require some open-endedness for creativity and eventually some balancing, but I think that could be developed over time.
2. An end goal other than killing efficiency.
Right now, everything boils down to having potions that help you kill better, having skills that help you kill better and having items that increase your skills so you can kill better. There is a post on this very forum talking about how lockpicking is not a useful skill. Certainly, I have only used it once. Perhaps clans are different, but I don't really see a lot of clan activity or know what that is about. It would be nice if there was something else to aspire to besides 1) rank, 2) killing power. This could add a second dimension to the game. In the end, it would help you with rank, but it could push you to have to do your best just to be the preferred provider or whatever. It would help you have more fun in the moment instead of always looking for a future reward.
3. A chance to get rewarded for expertise
Sometimes I feel like I want to find out how to solve the fastest of anyone. What is the point though? I get a little more experience, but there is not some big reward. I was thinking it might be cool to give experience based on how fast you solved it or whatever as a motivation. While that might not be what makes everyone tick, I think everyone loves to develop/showcase/be rewarded for their expertise and creativity. I think this would be a way to do that instead of just rewarding time in AT.

Now I'm not going to say grinding is all bad. For sure, real life has grinding. In fact, I have started thinking differently about my life because of playing this game so it is definitely applicable. However, there is more to life than just grinding.

I have a notepad++ document where I'm brainstorming exactly how this would work but it might take some time. What I'm most interested in is if people agree with the motivations or if I'm missing the mark.


Also, thanks for the information about professions. I will look into that quest cautiously in a bit (or perhaps with saving luck.)

Almost everything you are describing already exist in the game in one form or another...

1. Having to compete against other people

The Champion Quests that happen every 9 months or so offer great competition if you are willing to go against those that have deep knowledge of the game.
Becoming a "Purple" character you can actually kill and be killed by others. Not many do that today, but it is being developed to give more incentives to play PvP.
And of course, we are always competing in small ways to see who is highest or gets the Gpot chests first, etc...

2. An end goal other than killing efficiency.
3. A chance to get rewarded for expertise

I think these are 1 in the same. Rewards such as Winged Boots, Memory Lane amulet, Lich Robes, and too many others to name are all the rewards and goals for all the ranking and killing. Naturally these items also make you better at ranking and killing, but this game does not lack for cool rewards. More are being added all the time. The current developers actually read and work on many of our suggestions.

My own personal goals are to accomplish ALL these things completely solo without dying. I have made 2 fully maxed RB2 Warlords without dying before they completed every area. And with the exception of a couple specific bosses soloed everything in the game.
Your personal goals may be very different once you see all the aspects of the game unfold.


With all due respect, I see all the things you are requesting in your Variety post as already existing in the game. You just have not gotten to see them yet at your experience level.
Keep pounding and when you see those end goals (such as Ring of Madness or all the Dragon armors) maybe you will find what you are looking for...


Z