Locked Chests in Capital Cities

[Kazgrim]

Adding locked chests for rogues (or people with opening keys) in capital cities would be a neat easter egg for players to find as they stumble upon shops and homes.

[Balake]

If there's anything valuable inside, people will remember their spawn points and constantly open them for gold.

[Kazgrim]

Just like regular chests! :D

[Roxanneflowers]

Vote: no.

[Axoc]

Yes if balanced. Chests on a short spawn timer always in the same spot and giving out level 60 loot would be a hard no, for example.

[Kazgrim]

Never suggested level 60 loot! It could be a few silvers, some grey vendor trash, etc.

[Mac]

I think it's quite easy to quickly dismiss this idea (or really, any idea). After all, in general, you can't open chests in areas that are friendly to you. Example: Alliance characters can't open chests that are in Ambermill because they're friendly with the Dalaran NPCs in that area. This is to curb it being abused by players to just farm the chests with no risk. Even footlockers in game generally have some hostile NPCs around them to give them some risk.

That said, cities already have crates of food and drink all over them. You can already no risk farm them if that's your prerogative. Hell, they aren't even locked. When you consider you're proposing to just put grey vendor trash in them and not epics, it's actually an idea that could work. I'd make them footlockers instead of treasure chests just so you don't disappoint people opening them.

[Sinrek]

Rogue trainers should give level appropriate hints on where players can improve their skill with lockpicking. Please do not try to invent a bicycle again.

Rogues, get your lazy assets into the wilds and humanoid occupied areas.

[Dodge]

Well, personally I like this idea but only if this wouldn't be a way to get rich but only some small flavor, so for example:

- only low value items/junk (poision ingredients for example), very low % to something really valuable (like a book that allows to learn better cooking or FA, because why not?)
- random spawns, like every capital has 10 spots but only 1-2 chests at the same momeny, if you loot one, another one spawns after some time but in different spot
- some % to spawn non-locket chest, that can be looted by any class

Again: nothing that will allow farming etc!

[Kazgrim]

Well, personally I like this idea but only if this wouldn't be a way to get rich but only some small flavor, so for example:

- only low value items/junk (poision ingredients for example), very low % to something really valuable (like a book that allows to learn better cooking or FA, because why not?)
- random spawns, like every capital has 10 spots but only 1-2 chests at the same momeny, if you loot one, another one spawns after some time but in different spot
- some % to spawn non-locket chest, that can be looted by any class

Again: nothing that will allow farming etc!

This is perfect!

[Balake]

The problem is, after the first week of this existing it will no longer become an easter egg that some explorer will find, just some chest that people get when they are in the capital city and they have time. People waiting around for mail or pvp queue will just go around all the possible spawn points for a chance at something. It's no risk and no engagement. Maybe if there were special puzzle lockboxes around the world with special rewards that required full use of the rogue kit like distract, vanish, perfect stealthing through mobs and accounting for their patrol paths and timings. It could be a quest started by the lockbox to prevent repetitive farming. Just something neat for every class, and this could be the rogue thing. It could be tied to Ravenholdt manor, piecing together pieces of a lost document or something, maybe even the epic weapon quest for rogues, similar to what hunters and priests have. Just like hunters have to kill 4 demons with kiting, rogues have to get 4 pieces of a document through for example dueling an extremely tough mob, pick pocketing key leaders of a hostile faction (like the Scarlet Crusade or the Twilight's Hammer cultists), and as earlier, very hard to reach puzzle-like lockboxes...

I wrote all of this and realized I started rambling way to out of topic... sorry

[Kazgrim]

It’s something for new players to discover. The loot may not even be worth farming.

[Roxanneflowers]

It’s something for new players to discover. The loot may not even be worth farming.

Actually it's NOT something (new) for Players to discover. It's a farm begging to be exploited ... all reward and no risk.

[Balake]

Also, it would be much more interesting as a new player to discover something while *exploring* the world, not in the capital city.

[Steyr]

In favor of this idea: The respawn timer on such chests could be as long as 24h, with only a couple chests in each city at random spawnpoints at the same time - same mechanic rare mobs use.

As for items contained, it might be some RP stuff, that's not particularly valuable otherwise, with bind on pickup effect. I also liked the WOTLK idea of grey trash items like [New Age Painting] and [Dolphin Statue] that would sell to vendors for ridiculous amount of gold. For vanilla, it could be one of those rarely-found rings, like [Mood Ring] and [Cubic Zircona Ring]

Skill required to lockpick them might be dependant on the loot inside, or just fixed at an average-high, so that low levels couldn't farm them for headstart cash.

P.S.: Another idea to balance out lack of fighting: put the chests on a hard-reach location that would require jumping between objects or something.

[Roxanneflowers]

P.S.: Another idea to balance out lack of fighting: put the chests on a hard-reach location that would require jumping between objects or something.

Requires jumping to get to and does not have Line of Sight UNTIL you get up the location you need to jump to. That way you can't just look, see there's nothing there, and not go up there.

[Kazgrim]

It’s something for new players to discover. The loot may not even be worth farming.

Actually it's NOT something (new) for Players to discover. It's a farm begging to be exploited ... all reward and no risk.

You can “farm” the fountain in stormwind city for a coin that sells for 50 silver. This suggestion is no different from a feature that is already implemented.

Either way, the “loot” you receive from these chests could be anything. It could be literally worthless bop items. The purpose isn’t to make gold, but to stumble across something that didn’t exist in the base game, and for players to be inspired to explore all parts of Azeroth. :)

@Balake

That sounds like a great idea but there is no reason that idea and this one can’t both exist :)

[Mac]

Maybe instead of junk or items that vendor for anything, you could put fun little novelty items or cosmetic items that have no sell value in them. Things like consumables with a limited number of uses, or armor without stats, types, and required levels that look neat.

Here, I put together a couple:
Old Bridle
Running Shoes

Both those items are unique, and the bridle has a single charge on it, but they don't seem to display in the editor.

You could also put in some of the holiday consumables. Things like Elune Stones, Snowballs, and Hallowed Wands.

I think these kind of novelty items go well with the idea that it's meant to be an Easter egg, and would quell concerns that these would be farmed for money. As for the concern that they'll be farmed for skill ups, just make the skill required to open it low, and also the fact that they're on a long respawn timer (24 hours is a bit extreme, but not bad), I'd say that's not a major concern, either.

[Deadcrow]

I kinda like the hard to reach/hidden locations that rotate idea, honestly. I don't think it'll lead to farming like some fear. If anything it'll give those in the cities something else to do besides talk to vendors, bank, dungeon run and quest. I think it'll bring more explorers to the cities.

[Kalocsa]

Vote:yes

Why i vote yes? The idea is cool, i love the spirit

Why i would say it's more a good thing than a bad feature? Well, i see on this thread some people are talking about the fact "they will non-stop run this to max their money"

I have to say, just in Stormwind, there is 3 chests in the stockades i can do in less than 5 min so in 20 minutes i'm able to do 5 chest-runs per hour and get lot of gear, consumables, compo and junk.

So in two or three days of non-stop runs i'm able to get something like 100+ green items lvl 18-26. valuable bunch of gold. reagents, Consumables etc. AND THE FACT IS: I just mention one example on Stormwind. Don't say it will be something useful to grind these hypothetics custom chests in major cities when in the original 1.12 there is enough "big stoopid exploits" and things to do for a goldmaker.

[Axoc]

Kaz, didn't mean to imply that you DID ask for level 60 loot. I was trying to say what some have said already - it could be an issue if there is an abundance of gold/gear brought into the game this way. My bad.
I personally think that the best outcome would be three of the ideas suggested already:
1) Put them in areas that are out of LoS and require jumping to reach. This fits the feel of the Rogue class and also explains why guards don't just notice and investigate random treasure chests laying around.
2) Give them city-specific RP gear. It doesn't have to be BoP but it should have extremely low vendor value IMO. It could be city-specific clothing like NPC rogue outfits and gear like the Old Bridle that Mac designed (but with each city's chests giving "Old Bridles" for their race's mount). For Trolls and Gnomes, these could be found in the chests that spawn in specific sections of Orgrimmar and Ironforge respectively.
3) Add a Rogue epic quest comparable to Benediction / Rhok. I think this should be separate from the city chest idea though.

A further balancing idea COULD be that these chests exist, but they can only be picked in enemy cities. So Alliance Rogues can only loot Horde city chests. If this were implemented, maybe they could contain Horde documents, intel, war bonds, etc which are exchanged with Alliance spymasters for Alliance city-specific RP gear? And vice versa for Horde Rogues, of course.

[Pumpkinbot]

Nah, I don't like the idea of having something so easily farmable.

For something that's -hard- to farm though, how about you can only open the chests in the OPPOSITE FACTION'S cities? So, you, as a thief, need to successfully sneak into enemy territory, without getting seen, for potentially huge riches.

[Deadcrow]

Now there is an idea! Axoc and Pumpkinbot are on the same wavelength. Why not a mixture of both?

[Pumpkinbot]

Having the items in the chest as RP gear would be something I could get behind, though.

And maybe the rogue epic questline could involve sneaking through the other faction's capital city? The Horde could get some human noble's heirloom dagger, while the Alliance could get some ceremonial orcish blade.

The only issue I see would be that the guards in cities aren't really placed in a way that facilitates sneaking through. It's not like a Metal Gear Solid game where the guards have patterns you need to suss out and act accordingly. Some might see it as an upside, where you need to Vanish and sneak away, but...mreh, idk.

[Kazgrim]

Yea the suggestion is for roleplaying rather than anything else. I wouldn't agree with having them as a means to farm for gold, etc.

The idea about city-specific RP gear is great! Imagine rummaging through someone's warddrobe to wear their pants haha.