Adding more dynamic moments to leveling

[Phoenixphire]

Hello everyone, thanks for all the great feedback on my last posts I know its been awhile but I love all the positive or constructive feedback yall give. Keep it up!

So this is from the perspective of a hardcore player mostly but I am sure it can apply slightly to regular levelers.

Here are some ideas I think would help make leveling more dynamic in what I would think would be a fairly easy way.

First, add more rares:

Rares are one of the most interesting parts of hardcore... and also normal core leveling. Seeing a rare while leveling hardcore can do a lot of things. One, should I attempt this? Two, if so how do I wanna go about it? Three, is there anyone around who I could team up with for it? Sometimes rare kills give you items that last you for awhile and really make leveling through the same zones as hardcore feel different each time, and it adds more risk and reward to leveling.

I DO WANT TO ADD. Rares to the game in places where you HAVE TO kill them to complete quests, this would be bad design and could cause people to abandon quests due to just getting unlucky.

TLDR, add more rare mobs to add more options for risk and reward while leveling.

Second, add roaming mobs around the zones:

I think it would really add a more dangerous feel and also make leveling more engaging if there were roaming bands of mobs in zones on a fairly long respawn probably between 1 hr-5hrs to avoid seeing them too much. These don't necessarily have to be elites or rare mobs. Why this is is a good add, is because it keeps you more on your toes, and makes leveling feel less like you could auto pilot some of the early stuff with your eyes closed, this doesn't mean you'll have to fight them, but something to keep your eyes out for, and avoid if needed, or engage them if you feel powerful enough. Adding a chance for some cool rewards like a quest drop or an increased chance for a unique green would be a good incentive to try to take them down if you feel able.

IMPORTANTLY, these should be roaming, dangerous, but AVOIDABLE if you are observant. These should not be something players are forced to fight just cause they are unlucky enough to run into them.

EXAMPLES ALREADY IN THE GAME: Centaurs near the barrens in Mulgore, Alliance Outrunners in the Barrens, Horde Outrunners in Loch Modan and many more.

Possible Example: A gang of Defias thugs that hangout around the bridge from Elwynn Forest to Westfall, they can be avoided by just going around through the river, but if you and some adventurers are tired of their crap you can clean then up and make the way over a little more clear.

Last, more special chests in the world that have rare keys tied to them (Kolkar Booty Chest)

I think this is fun and interesting add to a few zones that feel a little lack luster, adding a rare chance to get a key off certain mobs that can open a chest with some goodies, would be a great incentive to level in more dangerous areas and or often skipped over areas.


Overall, leveling is one of the key parts of vanilla, but I think there are more things to leveling than just new quests which Turtle WoW is already crushing it with all their new quests and questing areas. These ideas and others if people have them, could add another layer of cool to leveling on top of all the awesome new content Turtle WoW has added and continues to add. As always love all the great work from the Turtle WoW team, and all of this is simply my opinion, and I would love to hear yours.

Let me know what you guys think! And if you read all this way, have an awesome rest of your day.

[Seltsamuel]

This could be easily implemented by looking at the zones and what groups are famous there. So Tanaris could have a troll hunting party, that starts from Zul´Farrak and wanders around. Its slightly stronger than the zone mobs or on par with them and is hostile to everything. Maybe at the same time, an ogre group spawns from one of their places and these two clash. If one party is wiped out, it keeps on going and returns to their place, sits around either despawns or waits for the next clash and increases the danger of the place.

Same could go for wildhammer dwarves and trolls in the hinterlands. Or maybe a single elite dragon from that one place roams the zone. Same could happen to other places that host these end game dragons. Of course it doesnt need to be level 63 elites but still be dangerous.

All of them could drop a quest item to turn in for some bonus exp.

[Phoenixphire]

This could be easily implemented by looking at the zones and what groups are famous there. So Tanaris could have a troll hunting party, that starts from Zul´Farrak and wanders around. Its slightly stronger than the zone mobs or on par with them and is hostile to everything. Maybe at the same time, an ogre group spawns from one of their places and these two clash. If one party is wiped out, it keeps on going and returns to their place, sits around either despawns or waits for the next clash and increases the danger of the place.

Same could go for wildhammer dwarves and trolls in the hinterlands. Or maybe a single elite dragon from that one place roams the zone. Same could happen to other places that host these end game dragons. Of course it doesnt need to be level 63 elites but still be dangerous.

All of them could drop a quest item to turn in for some bonus exp.

Exactly! You get it. And the clashing with other mobs is a cool little touch but I would even settle without it. But good ideas.

[Jambiya]

Does the npc/item creator still work? You might be able to get the ball rolling and entice the devs response. It’s a great idea to enrich and create more danger for the world.

[Phoenixphire]

Does the npc/item creator still work? You might be able to get the ball rolling and entice the devs response. It’s a great idea to enrich and create more danger for the world.

Def a good idea I will take a look and see what I can do! :)

[Velmerk]

Great idea!! +1

[Markuis]

EXAMPLES ALREADY IN THE GAME: Centaurs near the barrens in Mulgore, Alliance Outrunners in the Barrens, Horde Outrunners in Loch Modan and many more.

+1 to the proposals. I have to say that there are a few problems with the patrols.
First of all, the example you mention, the outrunners at Loch Modan, are the worst implementation possible. They are overleveled for the area, they are elite iirc, there are 3 of them, they move fast (and run fast) and they move in a somewhat npc-crowded area.

The problems with this are:
-Overleveled, elite, 3 of them: huge difficulty. They pose a great threat and players on that area will never be strong enough to kill them. Players should be able to face them when they group up, and when reaching the last levels of the interval you are supposed to be there, so the difficulty should be lowered. Also, consider that they may be the ones engaging on the player. If their level is too high they will resist most spells and make escaping impossible.

-They move fast: they are more likely to engage the player. If they would move slower you could see them easier and have more time to react. Allowing counterplay is always fun, while not allowing it creates frustrating experiences. Same goes for their running speed in combat.

-They patrol a crowded area: you won't have a safe area to run into once they target you. Maybe you were already fighting some other npc or just oom drinking. So yeah, place them in less crowded areas.

Those problems may not look like much, but they do stack. It's harder to spot them, you have nowhere to run and they hit hard. That will result in a frustrating experience. The more lethal they are, the slower they should move.

Also consider: hardcore toons tend to be more prepared and overleveled than normal toons, which results in hc ones being more fit to fight those threats.

[Gladeshadow]

As was said, the elite Horde patrol in Loch Modan is awful. Frankly, they could be removed since they add nothing and don't even give a quest, unlike the Alliance Outrunners in Barrens. Which are still a pain.

Getting to wandering monsters required for quests, I'm thinking of Boss Tho'Grun in The Badlands for Broken Alliances/Tremors of the Earth and the Forsaken Courier in Arathi Highlands. We could do with more of these. I kind of like that the Forsaken Courier has an escort but none are elite, so it's doable solo if smart, unlike the Horde patrol in Loch Modan. Same goes for Boss Tho'Grun, who is really even easier to pick off since his escort isn't tied to him agro-wise. We could for sure do with some more of these mobs. However, note that some get annoying. Really, it's the elite ones. Fozruk, also in Arathi Highlands, is routinely a pain to kill. First to find, and then to have a group for.

I'd love to see what you come up with since it's a great idea if done well.

[Aeliren]

So, interestingly enough, there were two other groups of presumably rare elite roaming NPCs like the Alliance Outrunners and Horde Runners that were created in beta, but never made it to live.

The Ironforge Surveyors:

• Gelgann Direforge

• Serra Mountainhome

• Lizzle Sprysprocket

The Alliance Peacekeepers:

• Captain Armistice

• Grash Thunderbrew

• Thurmonde the Devout

[Shamma]

This suggestion goes hand in hand with Turtle's way of adding stuff to the world. I bet the staff will adopt it.

[Phoenixphire]

Thank you all so much for all your input and the awesome feedback, ive taken it all into account and I will see what I can do with the item/npc creator! :)