Since mission 'blitzing' is out...

[FunnyFace]

...could you introduce helpful nanos for some/all professions, like:

* Fast talk - Bureaucrats
* Interrogate - Agents
* Divine Objective - Metaphycisists
etc...

Those would, when executed on a mob in mission, give a possibility of a directional indication of the mission objective. This could be a once only chance or repeatable like lockpicking, either way. Would allow people to still make missions somewhat fast but not in the ridiculous 'blitzing' way. (I've wanted to suggest this for along time but the possibility of blitzing made it too powerful).

[Cosmik]

That made it onto my list of suggestions to send to the developers. Nice ones.

[________________Crin]

Great idea,

One of the things I hate (among many) about missions is the pointless searching that you have to do.

I’d say that it shouldn’t be a nano at all, but rely on the Breaking & Entering skill and Computer Lit skill to hack into the local security system to download the floor plan into your map. Hey I’m a Fixer and you can’t blame me for trying.

Another idea is to have the missions less densely populated. You can keep the same number of mobs if you wish and make the mission area larger, or just reduce the number. With this in place characters with high perception and the correct map upgrades can try to avoid combat by taking the route less populated by mobs. Instead of methodically going into room after room there could actually be some strategy in the way you go.

In addition it adds a nice use for lock picking skills without making them essential. The easy route to your objective might have a locked door in the way that has to be picked. If you can’t pick the lock, you can still get to the objective but will have a harder time.

Concealment too would get a boost and purpose. Suppose there are two routes to the mission objective and you can see that they both have a mobs in them. A player could sneak and take a peak to see if one of those routes had a lower level mob than the other. Their concealment might not be good enough to sneak them totally by, but would be sufficient to let them open the door and take a peak.

Man, I am shamelessly getting the goodies for Fixers now. But the whole concept fits nicely with the idea of Fixers being thieves.

[_______Spookymonster]

I like the idea of a high-perception-based tool for locating objectives in missions. Maybe make the objective finding formulas generally available, but with high reqs? Therefore, combat classes can still blast through missions blindly, stealth-based classes can find the mission easily and fight their way out, and nano-based classes can find it easier, but still have less obstacles than the fighter classes.

Or, just make missions less complicated at higher levels.... hey, works for me either way...

[________________Crin]

If you use the idea of a less densely populated dungeon, have some of the mobs do patrol routes in the empty areas.

Another of my pet peeves about dungeons is that they seem too static. All the mobs just stand there waiting for you to come in range. I’d like to add the notion of timing to the mission crawl. I’d love to wait for a guard to walk in the other room so I can sneak by, or lay an ambush on another so he won’t surprise me latter.

[Relay]

Splendid idea!

But can it be done with the meager AI of AO? Maybe next year or 2003 maybe??? But it is still a great idea.

I also want to outsmart the guards by waiting until they move to the next room etc. and the fear of not being able to finish a fight before the patroller comes back.
It will add another dimension to tactics in a mission for sure!!


---R

[_____________Lamonia]

Greetings

Anvil is most lucky for your efforts both for the A-O community and Anvil *sob*


/salute
Lamonia

[___________Satherial]

I kind of like the idea of keeping it as a nano to those 3 classes. I think it's dumb already that every one can just spam a lockpick on a chest and eventually open it. An enforcer and blast his way fighting oranges and such through a mission.. you can't tell me a crat can do the same.