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Hello everyone!!! The idea I try to sketch here ( nothing is fully ripe yet ) - is just a concept stolen from the Roleplaying world, more specifically DnD. In Dungeons and Dragons (and I mean the roleplaying settings, not the computer game), after a certain level, you often get the choice to obtain a special place often called a 'stronghold': a special base of operations, whence you can organise your adventures. It is usually deeply associated with your character class, alignment or cause. For example, Rogues can get a thieves' guild, Paladins or Priests may obtain the leadership of a church, the druids might found a druidic circle of their own, and warriors might earn an entire castle! It does not go without major questing - sometimes of epic heights...
Now, how could we realize this feature in WOW, and what benefits would it offer?? Basically, these Strongholds could be disminutive instanced areas. A nice choice would be, to implement most of these (if not all) as an alternative, simplified type of the original instances, filled with friendly NPCs. They could be either owned by individuals (case 1), or by guilds(case 2). In the latter situation, they could even mean a guild housing!
THis would work the following way: say that you are a human priest, After a cartain level, say lvl55, you are eligible for a long questline, involving the 'cleansing of Scarlet Monastery' (requires all quests done there previously). If you complete the long, epic questline, you will get access to a 'bonus' part of the instance. When you bypass the blue portal, it simply asks, whether you want to enter your stronghold, or the original instance. The stronghold would closely resemple some parts of the original sinatnce, with the difference, that it now contains friendly NPCs, who offer you various services.
The following benefits would be given by Strongholds to players:
Offers an 'own place', thus realizes player or guild housing.
The instanced area contains NPCs, who offer diffenent services to their lord(s), like cheap materials
The same NPCs can also offer repatable quests to earn you easy money!
you can set your heartstone here (or get an alternative anchor). In turn, the NPCs will offer you teleporting to certain points (cities)
Offers you a more dynamic world (you can permanantly clear out instances now)
Gives an attitude more appropriate towards revered heroes, than just the few % price reduction
Can contain a stash, where you can place you items (however, much smaller than the bank). In the guild case, this could also mean guild banking and free item sharing...
Implementation of this feature would require the following from Blizzard's part:
Re-design a whole lot of instances, creating miniature copies of existing large ones.
Would need to implement different stronghold / caracter class / race. Would not it be nice to get your stronghold at the peak of Blackrock Mountaion as an Orc Warrior?, while a troll would be able to fight for Zul'Gurub!!
Would need to add alot of triggered quests and questlines... Even if the Strongholds would be guild-specific (only 1 people per guild can complete his/her questline).
What is your opinion on this matter?? I await your ideas!!
I don't think that would be a good idea. It takes up A LOT of space. Especially the 1 person in a stronghold thing. I think if it did happen, it should take an entire 40-man raid to take over a stronghold (Depending on the level of all the people taking it over) and they all have to be in the same guild to do it. That way it's more of a challenge.
It can be like your guild needs at least 150 members and it will cost a big amount of gold for a keep or w/e, and guild members who have a guild castle have access to slightly cheaper stuff, quests for money like you said, etc.
This imo would be a good idea, where to put it though... :P
I like your idea, especially in the case for a guild.
They could add a portal to each cap. city and place an NPC in front of it.
(After completion of stronghold acquisition, you could then enter from any of these portals)
The NPC could offer several different quest lines depending on what instance design you want your "stronghold" to be based off of. The different lines ranging from easy to hard in degree of difficulty, would correspond to simpler to bigger stronghold designs.
The quest lines them selves could be comprised of various styles. Even something like the "gathering of war Supplies" event for the gate opennings or a series of dungeon clearing quests as you mentioned.
I think the questing idea for earning the stronghold is much better than just flat out paying gold for it. This would make it more available to all the different guild types as well as put a sense of accomplishment to it.
They could even have additional quest lines you could complete in order to obtain the various NPCs for inside your stronghold.
Yeah, having it not cost a lot of gold would be good. I think it should take over 100 people in a guild to create it. I also think it should draw 5 gold (Pretty low amount.) every day from the "Strongholds Bank". A Stronghold's bank should require a minimum of 25g at all times, just in case someone forgets to give a tiny bit of gold every day. The reason it takes 5g is because it's required to keep your mercenary's outside (and inside) to remain loyal. I also think that people should be able to storm it in a way. I think it should require only one 40-man raid against the Stronghold, they have to pull a lever on the outside of the gate to give a 30 minute warning to the guild so they can defend it if they want, and all of the people coming to fight the place will have 25s taken out of their backpack each time they die. They won't lose durability, but they'll have the 25s taken out, and put straight into the Stronghold's Bank.
I also think that if the guild master chooses to, he can take gold only from his own pocket (He can ask for gold from other guildy's of course.) and upgrade the defenders armor, also you can upgrade the attack, also can upgrade to add 6 mages to the outside, also can upgrade 1 "General" to the place. Of course you have to have a bit of gold to do the upgrades, and to get a general you have to have over 200 guild members.
Yeah, having it not cost a lot of gold would be good. I think it should take over 100 people in a guild to create it. I also think it should draw 5 gold (Pretty low amount.) every day from the "Strongholds Bank". A Stronghold's bank should require a minimum of 25g at all times, just in case someone forgets to give a tiny bit of gold every day. The reason it takes 5g is because it's required to keep your mercenary's outside (and inside) to remain loyal. I also think that people should be able to storm it in a way. I think it should require only one 40-man raid against the Stronghold, they have to pull a lever on the outside of the gate to give a 30 minute warning to the guild so they can defend it if they want, and all of the people coming to fight the place will have 25s taken out of their backpack each time they die. They won't lose durability, but they'll have the 25s taken out, and put straight into the Stronghold's Bank.
I also think that if the guild master chooses to, he can take gold only from his own pocket (He can ask for gold from other guildy's of course.) and upgrade the defenders armor, also you can upgrade the attack, also can upgrade to add 6 mages to the outside, also can upgrade 1 "General" to the place. Of course you have to have a bit of gold to do the upgrades, and to get a general you have to have over 200 guild members.
Why would you upgrade your mercenarys? if you spent loads on upgrading them but so much you can't afford the payments the nthey turn on you.. you just payed for harder mobs
Great general idea though! Blizzard could make new instances where you need
a key to get into but to get the key you have to hand in stuff like you did for AQ gates and only people in the guild can use the key to get in.. hows that?
Would be awsome, to have keeps. Where each guild can attack it. Like "War of Emperium" on Ragnarok, every thursday, the keeps would open and any guild could attack it, if it was your Castle, then you had to defend it or else, you lose it, and your guild no longer has a castle :(, and someother guild gets a new one! Lol. Having a set day for "Stronghold Storms" would keep a guild from storming, while the entire guild is "away"..thus making it almost a guaranteed capture. If there was a set date, people would know "Oh! I need to be on at this day and this time!". That is my opinion. As for making instances have an extra. This I would not even suggest. The time it would take to add that in...But adding a keep here and there, wouldn't be to much to add, One or two per zone, put it in the woods, or maybe a sunken keep? Where ever there is space. Oh and in Ragnarok, only guild members could enter the Castle, untill WoE, started, which opened the gates, and anyone could storm the castle. (Only problem with this was, donators to Ragnarok, had bad ass equips, and could take a whole castle by themselves :P )
So IMO try to get it inserted.
Would be awsome, to have keeps. Where each guild can attack it. Like "War of Emperium" on Ragnarok, every thursday, the keeps would open and any guild could attack it, if it was your Castle, then you had to defend it or else, you lose it, and your guild no longer has a castle :(, and someother guild gets a new one! Lol. Having a set day for "Stronghold Storms" would keep a guild from storming, while the entire guild is "away"..thus making it almost a guaranteed capture. If there was a set date, people would know "Oh! I need to be on at this day and this time!". That is my opinion. As for making instances have an extra. This I would not even suggest. The time it would take to add that in...But adding a keep here and there, wouldn't be to much to add, One or two per zone, put it in the woods, or maybe a sunken keep? Where ever there is space. Oh and in Ragnarok, only guild members could enter the Castle, untill WoE, started, which opened the gates, and anyone could storm the castle. (Only problem with this was, donators to Ragnarok, had bad ass equips, and could take a whole castle by themselves :P )
So IMO try to get it inserted.
What I have thought, originally, is somewhat different: Guild strongholds would be permanent places. So once your guild leader is done with the rigorous and hard quests, you can keep your instanced 'fortress' for yourself and your friends. Having a place that no one can take away from you (well, as long as your guild exists...) will add much to social life and guild events
I do not think, that strongholds should be able to be conquered by others due to the following reasons:
This will make the game even more unfriendly to casual players that form the majority of every server's population and the base of customers.
The game will become even more PvP fcused, which would displease a lot of gamers. Of course, it does not refer to PvP realms, but those on PvE or RP reals would be displeased enough.
Doing this will even more enforce you and others to spend more tiime before your monitor on certain days (or 24/7). There have already been deaths associated with this behaviour. Imagine the reaction of the Chinese and other authorities to such news!!
An innumerable lot of options exist with the same base concept, yet I still found this single one somewhat underhanded. It's ok that it exists in some other MMO, but it still does not mean it is optimal. Al least in my opinion. What I think about is some concept revisited from good-old offline RPG games, like the Baldur's gate series. In such RPG setting, the strognhold is tied to your character class(es), and requires a LOT of questing to obtain and maintain...
Oh, and in such settings it is not always some fortress, just a place that YOU have saved from the evil, therefore the inhabitants rejoyce, and elect you their new protector... (could be any instance, theoretically...)
Strongholds - an alternative to player housing
Linear Mode
