Replayability

[Profssrfink]

I was discussing with a friend earlier (also a GD supporter) about replayability and I thought out loud this:


Assuming there are different acts or "stages" in the game, one being easier than the next;

What if as the game progressed, and we as characters progressed from one stage to the next, that ALL content in the game we have already completed reset and pegged its difficulty to our current level?


NO HEAR ME OUT!


So lets say Im lvl 50 and getting bad ass and Im in stage 5 or getting close to endgame (Im not assuming these are endgame for GD just using as example).

[Lets also assume that random towns/maps/quests/enchanted forests/whatever spawn randomly in every stage of the game.]

I can then go back to stage 1 or 2 or 3 and replay the whole damn thing again because I know there will be challenges that await!

NOW I can really enjoy these side quests because the loot drops and quest rewards are commensurate with the monster difficulty, meaning I can get bad ass loot in Stage 1 as well as Stage 5, but now I have an incentive to go back and replay the entire game.

In fact, I can at any point in time, choose whatever quest/stage I want and find hours of entertainment. I could get lost in each stage or zone or whatever this game will have and never get bored of the content (theoretically) because as I level, and as I explore the random town/quest spawns, the game continually progresses with me. AAAANNNNNDDD, these side quests, as I go back and explore them, some for the first time, can favor one item type over another. So going back to stage 1 I find great amulets, so as a level 50 I need a great amulet, I can go back and farm that area with satisfaction. The monsters aren't slow and boring, but instead pose a challenge just as the rest of the game does. The rewards being commensurate with the effort.


Does this sounds crazy?

[jiaco]

Originally Posted by Profssrfink

Does this sounds crazy?

Not crazy but it does sound a lot like Sacred2. Did you like that game?

[eisprinzessin]

This is partly covered through other means:

• The three difficulties Normal, Epic and Legendary - once you have unlocked the new difficulty you can replay former content with thougher enemies and better loot.
• The new spawning system (see also) - enemies will not scale with you globally, but the enemies will remain challenging for a long time, even if you stay in an area for longer.

See Pros and cons of enemy level scaling. for a related discussion. My impression is the majority of players don't enjoy if everything scales with them all the time, as this diminishes the effect of getting stronger.

[yerkyerk]

Also read Playthrough 3.5, even though it doesn't give any definite answer from the devs.

[Profssrfink]

I have not played Sacred 2 so I couldnt comment on that system.

I did read through a few of the previous posts the moderators posted and those definitely answered my question.

It will be super important IMO to keep the ENTIRE game relevant after the final fight, and having the game scale as the character scaled could keep the game really interesting for a long time. Im glad the idea has come up and I'd like to see how it gets incorporated into GD.

One way to make the game really interesting would be to limit monsters difficulty scaling early on, but if you were a max character then the spawn rate could skyrocket and you could then lay waste to tons of lower level dudes. But again, because you could smash through so many monsters, the drop rates wouldn't need to be changed, only the item levels.

[Executioneer]

Originally Posted by jiaco

Not crazy but it does sound a lot like Sacred2. Did you like that game?

I played it, but various flaws rejected me from it, one of them being the fact that although all the monsters gave a challenge, the godly map was very tiring. i'm not saying it would not work, you just have to be careful how to implement it.