ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

So I've been busy trying to think up new areas player characters could go. Brainstorming was weighted to the Far East Continent since it is slightly barren and it is in need of a bit more nooks and crannies to explore.

The following poll is meant to narrow down the zone suggestions I touched on so I can begin fleshing out a bit more ideas, lore, or concepts for those areas. I'm skipping the inclusion of the Temporal Zone ideas at this time since I don't feel I've suggested enough to draw anything from for them.

The main goal of the poll will be to determine where I should direct my attention for brainstorming ideas in regards to Lore or why the player should visit them or whatnot.

Users get Three Options to vote for; feel free to comment if you liked more then Three, but primarily I am just looking for the top three to focus on. There is also an option at the bottom to vote for if you feel none of the ideas really catch your interest and you think some more brainstorming needs to be done.

The Poll will run for 12 days.

Still looking for feedback on what to focus on here. Looks like the Celestial Temple is liked a lot but it is hard to say what else I should focus on from the limited results.

I'd be most worried about why you would visit the Celestial Temple. Unless it's a Celestial-only quest, or perhaps a Zigot-trademark mage-kill-athon.

A Mercenary Camp'd give you a lot of room to play around in. Perhaps too much, actually.

As for Neverwake Swamp... Hazardous environments, anyone? Imagine if the Noxious Caldera was actually dangerous! And didn't have an insane Thalore pulling the strings! Plus, a chance to make a swamp-creature/boss.

I had some initial ideas that the player might be going to the Celestial Temple because:

A1) They pulled a Diablo II Act II Quest III idea and nerfed the sun - perhaps accidentally.
A2) Maybe in reverse, perhaps they made the sun blaze brighter, for the purpose of causing droughts of just causing general chaos
B) Maybe instead they jumped to Diablo II Act III Quest III and they have some powerful Celestial Trinket in their possession that can greatly help the Sunwall in some way
C) We don't need a reason, the player is just going their to loot the Celestial Temple for gear to potentially use - regardless of whether they are a Celestial Class or not.

The idea of the Celestial only quest though does sound potentially appealing however - a very late Tranquil Meadows type of deal. Maybe the idea could be similar to the Abashed Expanse sort of concept where you are going there because someone needs to go - could work well if the Orcs are dabbling with Celestial Forces that could doom everyone (like nerfing the sun).

Orcs desecrating a holy place of the Sunwall would be enough reason for a Celestial to go in kicking butt.

Yea, but is it really a priority? I suppose if it is a Celestial only quest it isn't an issue though; the player can just casually do it because he feels like it.

The Revanchist wrote:As for Neverwake Swamp... Hazardous environments, anyone? Imagine if the Noxious Caldera was actually dangerous! And didn't have an insane Thalore pulling the strings! Plus, a chance to make a swamp-creature/boss.

Before I forget to mention it again, as a note, you 'can' run with any of my ideas. If you can think up some interesting ideas for a Swampish instance then feel free to start a thread for it.

Prisoner of War camp catches my attention--it seems like an opportunity to revisit the "brutality of war" commentary that was removed from the game with the Orc Breeding Grounds. I suspect that after a few experiences with spies, the Sunwall would be likely to execute many of the prisoners you saved. I like when the "good" characters in a story have a frightening sense of justice, it adds unpredictability and intrigue, and it would be consistent with existing lore.

I've sort of already got 4 ideas from this to pursue, but I figured I would note that the poll ends in the next couple of days. If people are still looking to vote then they can still do so.

Interesting how votes are coming in.

There is still about 14 hours to submit votes for those who have been hanging on doing so.

So, poll seems to have ended. Almost 50% of the votes went respectively to the Celestial Temple and Alchemist Laboratory ideas I had with another 25% going to the Prisoner of War Camp and Mercenary Outfit ideas. Bellowing Caves get an honorable mention by picking up 10% of the remaining vote.

I'll note that the Bellowing Caves and Neverwake Swamp ideas might be something I'll revisit. Technically since the Bellowing Caves are really primarily about the enemy - adding them into the Neverwake Swamp and making the dungeon sort of like the Sandworm Tunnels or Noxious Caldera might be an idea. However, if I revisit it, it will be in the future.