New Zone

It's always so fun when new zones come out yet so rare. Anyway, If you could design a zone what would it be like? Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and the devs will like your idea.

Food for thought:
Where would it be? (Paragon City, Rogue Isles, Preatoria, Co-Op, other)
What would the zone's history be?
What significantce to the city would it have?
What unique features would you incoorperate?
Who are the enemy groups?
What are the main issues for inhabitants?
What level characters are best suited for a trip there?
What qualities does the Giant Monster(s) have? (If there is one)
What other things should we know?

Moon Base! ! ! !

Book-Daddy demands the Cube Factory.

I'm not sure I like the idea of completely brand new zones, as Paragon is pretty big already, but...

Past versions of zones could be neat. Especially 1963 or maybe a year later, so that Recluse's version of Arachnos has been established. And then we could see more of the retro-Arachnos uniforms, too! And the signature heroes in retro outfits!

Ostensibly they could be co-op, but there could be villain- or hero-specific contacts, too. So heroes could go to St. Martial and try preventing 1963 Arachnos from doing something that would alter the timestream negatively (or maybe even some enthusiastic Longbow willing to try crippling Arachnos in the past and hope there's no Butterfly of Doom), and villains could try to forge a future more favorable to Recluse (but not one that, y'know, prevents us from being born or anything). The Menders might have co-op missions where heroes and villains team up to prevent truly disastrous events.

There could also be a 1936 Paragon zone. There's a lot in the history, plaques, badges, and bios to build from but nothing interactive, so a chance to see (and become a part of!) history would be cool. The year in particular is when the Citizen Crime Fighting Act was passed. Or proposed. It depends on which badge your're reading... blame the inconsistencies on meddlesome time-travelers?

And of course, access to the zones could have something to do with the Menders and the Coming Storm. Even though "now" is the time when (where?) the most changes need to be made, what about the people of "now" making a difference "then" to... I don't know where (when?) I was going with this. But that's what time travel's about, right?

So in summary...

Where would it be? (Paragon City, Rogue Isles, Preatoria, Co-Op, other)
Not where - when! (1936 Paragon and 1963 Isles. Huh. Look at those dates...)

What would the zone's history be?
It would BE history!

What unique features would you incorporate?
Not "unique" per se, but being time-travel related there'd probably be some time(level)-shifting going on.

Who are the enemy groups?
Must have 1963 Arachnos. For the 30s, gangsters of course. Also, Nemesis' "Brass Monday" attack was in 1932, so Nemesis soldiers could be on the streets. And Midnight Squad founder Dream Doctor worked on uncovering the sinister nature of the Circle of Thorns during the 30s.

What are the main issues for inhabitants?
1936: The Great Depression; the emergence of super heroes. 1963: Arachnos overthrowing (or just overthrew) President Marchand.

What level characters are best suited for a trip there?
Probably level 25 to 35 for the 30s, and levels 30 to 40 for the 60s.

What about Giant Monster(s) or zone events?
1936 could have bank robberies (anyone remember the old City of Heroes trailer, opening with 30s Statesman and the gangsters?) 1963 could have Arachnos crackdowns, where soldiers of Arachnos roam the streets in force.

I made mention of this (or the apparent lack of one) in "Guardians of the Dawn Spotlight" #24...

Paragon City International Airport

Time travel doesn't sound bad. I wouldn't mind fighting Arachnos back when The Weaver was in charge and Lord Recluse was still in the ranks.

No new heroside zones - instances, maybe, but new... not so much.
Filling in Dark Astoria and Crey's Folly, yeah - which I've proposed before in detail.

Villainside... there we could use some new zones, though, instead of the painfully same-same linear walkthrough.

Most of what I could think of right this second, though, would work better as instances.

See my Guides and Tutorials

New level 50+ zone with fresh Incarnate content. The alternate reality/prison that the Banished Pantheon were banished to, accessed via the Midnight Club. Looking a cross between the Shadow Shard, Dark Astoria and the Tiki Bar it would be a vast zone full of magic enemies and.. Something more.

A tear has formed from the Pantheon's attempted escapes and minions of Ruluruu have bled through. Heroes are sent in to investigate closing the tear to make sure the Banished Pantheon do not escape, Villains are sent to find ancient items of power used by the Pantheon for their own gain (think like Zeus' lightning bolts, Villains are sent to find Lughebu's actual idol, or Tomdala's Dagger).

Enemies in the zone would be invasion-level coded EBs and AVs and glyths of levitation (Magicy Jet Pack temps) would be purchasable. GM+1 incarnates of the various gods would spawn which drop 3 Astral Merits on defeat and grant 5% Physical and Psychic XP.

There would be two storyarcs and repeatable missions available. The first Hero arc would be about investigating what happened at the zone, the second would be on how it could be fixed. The first Villain arc would be on what the area is and what forces could be at play, the second would be on underhand tactics to find information from the Hero contacts/NPCs to use for personal gain. Completion of an arc would award 25% of a bar of Psychic of Physical XP or an Empyrean merit.

Repeatable missions would be a choice of a Defeat All or Defeat AV and split between BP and Ruluruu, with enemy groups being level 50 Boss and Elite Boss Ruluruu or Banished Pantheon (suped up BP to be on level with Ruluruu), all of which can drop threads. The defeat AV would not be able to scale down to an EB, but completion of the mission would award 1 Astral merit +5% of their respective XP. BP give Physical XP, Ruluruu give Psychic XP.

Hero Taskforce would send the team to finding a myriad of items used by the Pantheon to enact a spell to close the tear. Villain Taskforce would be to gain the same items to bring back to the Isles for use or profit, believing the Heroes will fix whatever the problem is. Completing a Taskforce gives the option of an Empyrean Merit, 50% of a bar of Physical or Psychic XP or an alignment mert (if you've got your alignment set for such).

I would have the taskforces randomised to be leading up to fighting a different god from the Banished Pantheon so they're fresh enough to be able to get Judgement, Lore, Interface and Destiny without it feeling like grinding. By doing both arcs and one Taskforce, you would be able to unlock one new Incarnate slot with a head start on the next, with a choice of repeatables to try and solo or a randomised Taskforce to complete for the rest.

You know...

If the Shadow Shard was Co-Op, the Villains could have their own TFs or have their own versions of the TFs in there. For instance: Why help Sara Moore stop the summoning of Ruladak? Why not take a share of Ruladak's power for your own?

And Lanaru, letting him loose could cause some major havok throughout Rularuu's mind, allowing you to take even more power from the blinded beast.

Add in some villain and hero specific content...expanded on it some...

Where would it be? (Paragon City, Rogue Isles, Preatoria, Co-Op, other)
Co-Op, though ostensibly in Paragon... sorta. Unlike other co-op zones, it would be less of a "lets join up to fight the evil" as just a place that is accessible to both sides and would serve as a hub between different places with intriguing appearance and unique zone events.

What would the zone's history be?
This zone would be a version of Boomtown that Cole attempted to overlay with Praetoria. However, the process of merging Primal and Praetorian Earth failed, at least in part, and has caused damage to the barrier between dimensions. As a result, "dimensional bubbles" have opened up across all of Boomtown that make portions of it appear to be from other dimensions such as: Praetoria, Primal, the Rikti Homeworld, the Shadow Shard, Council Earth, etc.

What significantce to the city would it have?
It would serve as a way to access various dimensions. (Possibly a way for villains to get into the Shadow-Shard as well.) The zone would have zone events in which the "bubbles" expand and forces from that dimension become dominant in the zone. There would also be portals to various other locales like to the Rogue Isles (giving another way to get from the RI to Paragon).

What unique features would you incorperate?
See above.

Who are the enemy groups?
Rikti, Praetorians, Council, 5th Column, Soldiers of Rularuu, possibly Freaks (which would be from limited "bubbles" from the Freakshow dimension in some Portal Corp. missions)

What are the main issues for inhabitants?
The changing landscape of the zone expressed by the various Zone Events the resultant instability.

What level characters are best suited for a trip there?
Hmmmm, 30+?

What qualities does the Giant Monster(s) have? (If there is one)
Not sure what, if anything, would be appropriate. Possibly an aspect of Rularuu when the Shard's Zone Event is going on. Possibly a random AV version of a Praetor now and again.

What other things should we know?
Unsure.

I had an idea to have a Devouring Earth cave system linking the RWZ's huge DE door with one similarly placed in the Abyss and the Hive respectively, so that you not only have more connections into the Warzone (which could have Vanguard checkpoints underground) but a deeper insight into the Devouring Earth.

There could be plenty of those spawning pods down there, with central rooms much like the Eden trial whereby a Giant Devoured could spawn as a GM, and there could be a gathering event much like that of Bloody Bay, where temporary powers or other rewards could be earned.

No.

Revamp > New 'shiny'

There are so many zones in game right now that NEED a layout overhaul (Look at the buildings in Paragon, for pity sakes. Have you EVER seen a building that looks like that? Have you ever seen a building with NO windows besides a prison block? Because thats what is apparently the norm in Paragon. And it looks HORRIBLE)

And don't even get me started on the content gaps. All the hazard zones Hero side are in dire need of content, and I can guarentee that the majority of people could be dumped in various neighbourhoods redside and have NO idea where they are, because they never get used.

'New shinies' has gotten really old now. Some spit and polish and revamping would go down really well about not.

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.

A level 50 extension zone of Croatoa. The contact in Croatoa posed the question "I wonder what happened to the male Cabal". This zone could provide the answer, and who is REALLY behind the never ending war.



Oh yeah, and I'd like the moonbase zone as well.

I want to fight Dinosaurs. (Disclaimer: I know that would require a new 4legged skeleton)

I'd love to have some mysterious portal to prehistory open up and threaten the entire universe for various reasons.
I'm seeing jungles, sorta like Eden but more tropical. With various Dinosaurs around.

I just think that would be more stimulating than a Moon Base zone. When I think of the moon I think of 2 colors total. Grey and lighter grey. Other than SJ being applied to everyone (for reduced gravity) and perhaps a vanguard type base I just have never seen the appeal of a Moon Zone. Just me though, I know its bar none the #1 requested zone so...

...I won't be shocked at all when the new zone in Issue 21 is yet another cityscape.

wastelands outside praetoria perhaps? with new-more evolved Devouring Earth, mutated animals and a tribe or two of degenerate humans, maybe with a "sanctuary" style location, seperate from Cole and his minions where they are trying to rebuild but without the aid of supers so far.

you could have dinosaurs there (hows that for bribery)

and ponies. with fluffy tails that poop gumdrops.

there was a suggestion before for an airport zone outside of paragon city and the Rogue isles that could be a co-op zone for missions around the globe. IIRC that was met with quite a bit of approval from the forum users (was it EU_DAMZ that posted it? I'll give my search-fu a run out later and post back if I find it).

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...hlight=airport

there ye go. airport zone suggestion from Lord mayhem.

Honestly, I don't like the idea of a new zone. The problem is that they have a ton of zones right now and quite a few of them rarely get used. Boomtown, Crey's Folly, Dark Astoria, Perez Park. Granted they're hazard zones, but they're still zones that could have things going for them. Look at the Hollows, that's a hazard zone but has a lot of missions and arcs, Striga Isle is the same way.
I don't understand why the developers don't move some content from other zones and put it into these unused zones for people to explore and enjoy.