Since this seemed to go over decently in its own post, and touches on many of the ideas put here:
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Part of why I don't make new villains is the early level content. I've seen it and done it to death.
I also see people asking for a "sewers" type zone for COV, for those who just want to skip the early content and get to travel powers. As well as a new zone.
I figured, why not work on alleviating all of these issues? So, here's a proposal:
New island. 1-10 (or 15) content. (Unnamed.)
Slightly less gritty than Mercy island. This is closer to the "tropical paradise" and would give something different to look at (sorry, I find Mercy, Oakes, Cap and Sharks to be rather dull and depressing.)
Nice beaches and (light, "tropical") trees, a few beach house type areas - and ever present cave openings. These will actually be slightly more important later. Rises to a cliff on one side of the island, and hotels and such on the other. Brighter and touristy, with apartments and housing in various states (from pristine to "eh") as you get away from the touristy areas.
In the middle of nowhere, an Arachnos flyer pad and (small) Arachnos "bunker." About what's in Cap near the entrance to Bloody Bay.
Mobs:
Snakes (of course,) Longbow (of course, but similarly sparse,) Infected (a few had to come with the snakes,) low end Family, a few patches of lower end Luddites and Legacy Chain.
Contacts:
Seven. Two introductory contacts, two they pass you off to, three 5-15 contacts. Yes, you'll probably outlevel some of them. Also, one broker you get introduced to at 5.
Ferry near the middle of the island (in a nice cove near the hotels) to take you to Mercy, Oakes, or Cap.
Early contacts (and this also gets mentioned by the Mercy contacts) mention offhand that there was a tunneling project to connect the two islands, but the last they knew it was abandoned.
The tunnels:
Yes, the tunneling project did, actually, finish - but was soon overrun by Snakes and Infected. It also broke through, in one area, to what appears to be a Circle outpost in ruins deeper down. (A few twisty tunnels.) Coralax and Circle can be found in this area, with some Arachnos around - which may help you or fight you - as well as Legacy Chain. You may even see the occasional Luddite. Other mobs also find their way in from time to time, so finding some representatives of other gangs, but they're more rare.
Accessible from both Mercy and this new island.
Of course, the tunnels weren't just meant to give easy access to the beach for the Fortunatas to tan.
The sub base:
You can exit the tunnels and come into an instance of a minisub base - one thing we haven't really seen, despite all the mini subs around. You come in, in fact, while Longbow is trying to shut it down with a sub of their own.
Why an instance? So it can scale. You can *also* reach this by swimming around the island and "happening" to find what looks like an elevator door hidden behind some trees. You'll have to fight your way in, either solo or with a team, and either way it'll scale to your team and difficulty. Possibly level, if these can use GM code like the Rikti invasions.
What to do in the instance? Well, it could (if the tech allows) be somewhat random. You may find a Longbow sub attacking the Arachnos subs.You could destroy it, or potentially capture it (temp power, Captured Longbow Sub - yes, another cross-zone zoning power, 10 uses, any zone in the Isles as well as Bloody Bay and Siren's, which have water access.) Capturing it, of course, is difficult. Alternately, you may find a hero attacking. Or you may find Coralax trying to drive these intruders away - with a chance for a three-use Coral Guardian temp power (renewable, LT strength perhaps.) Or a three way Arachnos-Longbow-Coralax fight. Every time would give a new chance at what you'd find.
Oh, if the Arachnos subs are blown up... the Arachnos guarding them become hostile to you. If they're going to be punished for failure, they're going to make you pay first.
Contacts and Story arcs:
The initial contacts get blown through fast, anyway. However, we'll see a more in-depth Snake introduction from one... who looks a little vipery as it is. The other will send you to gather some information from a warehouse for a client, which will lead to two missions against the Hellions for some artifacts. A quick breakin to an Arachnos base, and you're sent to the next contact. (The remainder is filled with a few throwaway missions.)
The snakey contact's next contact up is... odd. He looks like an odd colored Circle mage, but floats like the Mu. Caught in a battle between the two, he was... *infused* for lack of a better word. Now, he's looking for more power, and heard some rumors he'd like you to look into. Yes, this will be Snake heavy... and Legacy Chain and Circle as well, as you get more information on the background of the Snakes, Father Henry, and Incarnates.
Finishing this one unlocks a special arc in Ouroboros (via badge) when you get to those levels, where you'll go back and try to hinder the good Padre from completely destroying Sstheno's children, see the followers that would eventually degenerate into the Luddites, and make sure Bat'Zul is there to be tapped into by Aeon.
The other primary contact's followup contact brings you more into contact with the Circle and the Legacy Chain, where you learn more of the history behind those groups.
The contacts will give you choices between (new island) and Oakes contacts, as will newspaper missions. These contacts are good for 5-15.
Contact 1:
Mob boss. He's there to try to shake things up (or shake them down) in the touristy areas. Arcs against Longbow, of course, with a few mooks showing up, chasing off gangs who are trying to muscle their way in - and an eventual fight against Loyal Citizens (with more modern looks, for the most part) who try to protest. Yes, those of you who want to take down civilians now can. Get ready for a gang war rush on you at some point if your team's big enough or your difficulty's high enough.
Contact 2:
Followup to the Snakes, delving a little more into Incarnate lore as you make life a living hell for the Luddites (think I think they're underused?) and Legacy Chain - who are trying to get their info. Yes, you get more background on the two groups.
Contact 3:
Arachnos and Longbow, mostly, with teasers of the Bane/Widow info we get later in the 40s. VEATs can get an extra arc here, as well, with background info on the two groups they came from, since they get such piddly little arcs anyway. I wouldn't mind seeing this available at any level using Rikti invasion code, honestly.
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Thus we have:
- A new, not-dingy (different environment) zone to start off in for a change of pace.
- Multiple new contacts and arcs.
- Content that unlocks for later levels
- Extra VEAT content
- Tunnels
- A special "mini zone" (the sub base)
No wasted space, but a new villain only zone for a nice stretch - and you can still go back to Oakes if you want for some of the contacts there.
