What are everyone's thought on a high-end cost item (perhaps 500 or 1000 plat) that would allow you to bless backpacks or bags.. With a toon only allowed 1 "blessed" backpack or 1 "blessed" bag each. The mechanics would be that if you have a "blessed" backpack / bag, everything you have in that cannot be stolen (i.e. regs, runes, weapons, etc.) . Even if you are killed, it would not be lootable and stays with your body. There could also be a limit on what can be carried in them not only variety of items but quantity limits -- such as only regs, runes bandages and perhaps only 1 or 2 weapons/ For a total limit of 12 or 25 max items. Everyone would want one and it would be a very attractive plat / gold sink. I'm sure there are going to be a lot of voices totally against this, but i would absolutely buy one and i personally would pay tons for one. Thoughts!
Expanding the (already successful and working) lotto systems seems like a very simple and achievable way to persuade people to part with hoarded resources. People have stopped sinking plat into the housing lotto only because the good/large houses have dried up, but until then it worked well. So just change up the prizes. People are still sinking HC into the holiday lotto to some extent. But if it were coded so that the rare prizes changed to a new hue (or cycled through a set palette of hues) once a certain amount of each type has been won, that would keep it fresh and keep more people gambling. And I'm sure people would happily gamble away gold (or any other resource) too as long as the cost per roll, the odds and the prizes were well balanced.
Only problem with lotto style solutions is that if rewards can be sold or traded, then there is still massive incentive to simply hoard your gold/resources and buy the rewards from the peeps that play the lotto. Solve this easily by making the rewards non transferable. Then, peeps like me that will just buy it rather than roll my own resources have to take part. Agree that lotto works well.
Public donation leaderboard that runs for a few weeks/months, players donate boards/ingots/leather/cloth in small or large quantities and their names are listed publically or on the forums somewhere so everyone can see At the end of a run, top donating players are rewarded with house themed deco relating to what they donated most (A temporary title if possible?) Additional random lottery for all participants with greater chances for people who donate more but with diminishing returns so even players who donate a small amount have a chance at something cool Also possibly an upgrade bin, allowing you to donate massive quantities of basic materials to get upgraded versions (e.g. boards > oak, iron > dull copper, leather > spined) but with significantly unfavorable returns so that it's not really spammable, but it's an alternate to farming some of the more niche materials
**Realism and the Path Forward** As a realist, I gauge what's feasible in our current situation. While a larger resource sink is achievable, the most effective approach might be gradual, manageable changes. These can be seamlessly integrated given our server constraints. **Game Integrity and Player Engagement** I recently went through prior discussions and must emphasize my aversion to items that modify gameplay. They shift the game's era and dynamics. However, minor aesthetic items like colored key rings that don't affect gameplay mechanics can be considered for decor purposes. **Resource Management: Incentives and Mechanisms** The key is to provide enticing rewards for players to offload excess resources. The options I see fitting within our current server capabilities are: 1. **Resource Gambling:** An engaging way to utilize surplus resources, though it might cater to a niche group of players with a propensity for risk. Implementing this would require minimal code changes. 2. **In-game Items for Resources:** Introducing items like a "+10 tracking" ring or "+10 Detect Hidden" ring could balance newly introduced stealth elements. These could be priced at a hefty amount, ensuring they're valuable yet obtainable. 3. **Event-based Rewards:** For events like the Keza dungeon, we could replace traditional rewards with an "Option to Purchase" mechanism, requiring resources and gold in exchange for some sort of ticket purchase to have a GM event ran. Whatever the reward, it should be designed as a significant resource sink, comparable to the expensive yet achievable eathy polar bear. **Strategic Objectives** - **Efficiency over Expansion:** Aim to remove resources without inadvertently encouraging excessive resource farming. - **Maintain Game Balance:** Ensure that resource collection remains organic and not an automated bulk system. Expanding the AFK system, like implementing a 30-second delay on mining post-recall & gate, could curb the trend of players running multiple mining bots and bypassing AFK checks.