Extreme Makeover: Dark Astoria edition

Ok, so I was discussing potential sprucing up of areas like Boomtown, and hit upon a potentially easy way to make Dark Astoria more interesting and a place worth playing in aside from the odd time a mission takes you there. Here goes:

A) Scale back the darkness just a bit. Sure the oppressive fog and gloom give it that Silent Hill look, without other ambiance (like sudden, unexplained sounds and "What was that?!" moments) it just becomes a navigation hazard as heroes fly/jump/run/port smack into a skyscraper they couldn't see until it was right in front of them. Thus, an improved vision range could improve the area's popularity.

B) Villain diversification: Right now Astoria is a one-note town, and that note is Banished Pantheon. Worse, the Argo Building in Talos is a much better spot to hunt for spirit masks for the Banisher badge, so players don't even have that reason to wander into the fog (they may have changed this, I wouldn't know). In order to spice it up, here's my proposal:

The Circle of Thorns have made a power play into the area, possibly because an Oranbegan tunnel under the area has just been excavated. The Circle and the Pantheon start tearing into each other, with fighting spilling out all over the zone. In response the Legacy Chain has gotten involved, performing front-line recon of the situation and skirmishing with both sides. The Midnight Squad is assisting the Chain but taking a less confrontational stance, waiting for the Thorns and Pantheon to try something really drastic before getting involved. Finally the Tsoo and Warriors, knowing they're out of their depth here in matters arcane, are content to skulk around, looking to swipe anything potentially useful they can find. It's even whispered that some of the witches from up north are quietly scouting the zone, looking to examine magic other than their own.

Already we've livened up the zone, but players will likely want to get more involved than just picking off CoT or BP spawns. Perhaps a Task Force assigned by, say, Star Rose (remember her?) or someone is in order. Teach the Tsoo to behave, keep the Legacy Chain from sparking a full 3-way war, stop Circle or Pantheon attempts to exploit other magical groups (Fir bolg and Igneous come to mind), then culminate in a showdown with Leguheubu (gesuntiet) and the other Banished Gods. If the powers that dev are feeling especially frisky, they could turn it into a series of story arcs like the Faultline arc.

So, yeah, that's my idea: Make it easier to see in there and give it more activity than just having the Pantheon standing around. Any thoughts?

/signed

Seriously, it's time to make some changes. We have *lots* of choices and that's a great thing. But as a 5 year vet (c'monnnnn GR!), I'd like to see some of the other hazard zones become more populated and have different groups vying for power elsewhere.

Yo Devs! Check that idea out! Also, how 'bout a TF in DA, hmmm? With a means to not only clear the 'Fog of War' but the actual fog, hmmm?

Um, might want to check your facts out on the groups in there. DA is not a "one note town." Explore the area a bit. Yes, the Banished Pantheon are there in force, trying to wake the Sleeper. However, the COT are also there in significant numbers, working *against* them on that same being, by their own dialog. And the Tsoo are around, sent in by Tub Ci to find "something."

And as far as the banisher badge? Are you kidding? Talos deals with the day/night cycle. Meanwhile, I just had to run around the park a bit in DA to have them spawn - sometimes with multiples to a group. That's been true since issue... think it was four that I first did that. And I've done it repeatedly since.

(Edit: Yes, I'm nitpicky. DA is one of my favourite zones.)

I won't argue with getting actual story elements in there - contacts, task forces and the like. I've seen them suggested, even suggested a few myself. It HAS lots of story potential (both current-day and via Ouro.) It needs to be used.

See my Guides and Tutorials

What DA needs is a few linked Story Arcs. Put in some contacts that like to do something about the Banished Spirit problem or want to find out what is going on. Put in a nice TF to round it up. With a little effort DA could be as nice as say Croatoa. Same thing can be done with Boomtown, Perez Park, Creys Folly and Eden. Turn them into a more hazardous normal zone.

As far as the fog is concerned, very, very /signed.

Ever after trying to navigate the zone with teleportation as my travel power, I avoided the zone. After the nth time teleporting in front of a building 30 yards in front of me and getting completely disoriented, I just didn't feel like EVER going back there.

Dark Astoria makeover? Emphatic yes. Expanded role for the Legacy Chain? Yes, yes, yes.

I say, give the Circle and Tsoo their own neighborhoods to dominate instead of hiding on rooftops and down alleys. Establish a Legacy Chain-backed PPD beachhead around the entrance and hospital like in the Hollows, with the occasional mob of zombies charging over the barricades. Maybe also have a small forward base near the main cemetary. Put at least some of the BP street spawns on overlapping and intersecting patrol routes. It should make for a feeling of danger without being too overwhelming. I'm not sure the Warriors really belong there, but they could use some more content that doesn't involve them being mugged by Freakshow in Talos.

A multi-arc zone-wide story with Midnighter and LC contacts would be fantastic. There's so much story behind Dark Astoria, and it's just begging to be told. Boomtown can wait, revamp DA next.

... while we're at it, maybe we can pin down the exact time in which the Pantheon took over the neighborhood. As I recall, one history plaque says it had been occupied for decades, yet one of the badges there marks the location of the communal tomb for heroes slain in the Rikti War. Call me kooky, but I doubt anyone would want to interr fallen heroes on property currently infested with necromancers and grave-robbers. So when did the Pantheon move in?

And I approve heartily the idea of patrolling zombies. It's much spookier to have badguys approaching out of the mist as opposed to spotting a shamble of zombies standing around, doing nothing, once you get close enough.

Hollows style revamp = /signed
The zone has a lot of potential. I really liked the idea of randomised sounds popping up at you.

The game needs more ambient sound/music!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

The good Captain raises a point on which I'm torn. There are some zones that are just trickier than others due to their terrain, and I subscribe to the idea that sometimes things *should* be more difficult at times. Problem is, difficulty in navigating is one of the big contributors to Abandoned Zone Syndrome, which is what we're trying to fight here.

The best middle ground I can find is to make the fog interesting instead of just annoying. Strange, unexplained ambient sounds (groans, scuttles, creaks, whooshes, squishes, anything really) would combo nicely with the ghostly civilians and above-mentioned wandering zombies to generate a sense of paranoia and dread. First rule of fear: It's not the darkness itself that's scary, it's what could be in the dark that's scary.

I also agree with Nightshade Legree on the TF: have it so that people can work through the story arcs at their own leisure and come to a satisfying climax, while devoted TF runners can come in and get started right away. It'd be different than the setup in Eastgate, Striga, and Croatoa, which helps prevent things from being cookie-cutter. It also makes sense: the Legacy/Midnighter/MAGI coalition would likely have long-term projects (the story arcs), as well as immediate problems that need dealing with ASAP (the TF).

Bill's theory that the area has turned "dark" on and off again over the last century or so is a logical one. A juicy target like the ley line nexus in Moth Cemetary would constantly attract villains, but the city's hero population would be there to fight them off. Sometimes the bad guys occupy the area for an extended period of time, sometimes the heroes do an especially good job of keeping them out. Given the fallout of the Rikti War and the major drop in Paragon's available heroes, it's no wonder the Pantheon was able to entrench itself so thoroughly this time. Hero 1, are you listening?

Again, I know about the Thorns and Tsoo, but I claim their numbers are so small they hardly count for anything more than minor flavoring. Things like the Thorns wanting to stop the Pantheon as much as everyone else are nuggets of potential that have never been followed up on, which is what I'm trying to push here.

And yes, the more I look at it the more I believe the visibility frustrations can be overcome by improving other things to make up for it. Though who knows, maybe when someone completes the proposed TF the sun comes up and the place looks normal for five minutes before sinking back into fog-encrusted gloom, just to give players a sense that they *are* improving things, bit by bit.

There is a pretty good spirit hunting spot at one far corner of area. Its somekind small park.

But yeah. Area needs some more content. There's CoT and pantheon yes, but there's those ghost citizens too. What happened to them? Maybe a new TF would help reveal mysteries of DA.

Maybe they should make a DA more dangerous. Perhaps big wandering zombie hordes as patrols and something flying baddies too. Its common way to avoid all mobs for fly over them. Flying patrol would be nasty surprise

/signed for a Dark Astoria revamp.
/signed for more contacts, a little bit of villain diversification
/signed for additional places to go beyond the Hospital.
/NO for making it into Happy Sunshineville.
/NO to taking away BP as a central villain group.
/NO to taking away my fog!

[gollum]My preshus! Hiss! [/gollum]

Revamping Dark Astoria would be awesome, but only if they make it even creepier. Do not take away the fog!!


I think it would be cool to just be sitting there and all of a sudden a random object (trash can, bottle or some other normal neighborhood object) would just kinda roll up to you from out of nowhere and stop at your feet followed by children giggling or something equally creepy.

Or maybe if you're in 3rd person view you could see a random shadow pass between you and your monitor every now and then.

Have some random spook spawns that just wait for someone to get into viewing range then run behind a building or down an alley and disappear.

Maybe be walking near a window and have a random chance of the glass shattering (both sound and particle effects) would be even cooler if the shattering had a random chance to spawn an enemy or two out of the window.


It would also be nice if they expanded the underground tombs section in the graveyard to go deeper into some catacombs and maybe at the very end of them would be the entrance to the banished pantheons home.


Another idea I just had and had to add in. Going back to the window idea rather than normal NPCs I think it would be cool if it was a random GM/AV (think nemesis from RE, or Pyramid head from silent hill) that would work like an ambush and chase you across the zone. Would be even better if he could chase you into any mission within DA as well. You could get two badges from him. If you are the one being chased the time from his spawn til his unspawn/defeat will count towards a suvival badge (stay alive a total of 10 mins with DA monster chasing you) and a badge for helping to defeat him.

IMO, the most important change/fix would be (as someone already mentioned) declaring exactly when Astoria went dark, and making everything else fit.

People of Paragon city must have big problems with funerals.