Ok here are some ideas that after a year and half of playing, IMHO would make AO an even better game.
1) How about a pet store. Some place I can go buy a little leet or wolf or something. I just think it would be great to be able to have a reet or wolf or leet to follow you around. Give them a duration (or until dead), base the pet you can buy of some ability score or skill (adventuring, or another use of psycology).
1B) a Kennel of some kind that you can drop a pet off at while you log. Like apartments but only holds 1 item (ie pet). Maybe have it cost cr to use.
2) Put the formulas for the other armor types into the game. So that we can make heated or chilled plasteel. I can see some types such as Opol armor not being availble but some of the other should be. This way we can make that peice of ql150steel ribbed that is not availible in the shops if we want to.
2B) make the PPPE for armor easier to find or make it availble in shops. I dont mind the parts (such as notum) being hard to find to make certain armor (or like mantis parts). That is how it should be, however the tools should be there to buy. [and yes I have a shape hard armor pppe and still want other people able to have access to them.]
3) How about towers actually mining notum. As it is the towers are good for skill advantages (and this is nice) however, if they are notum mining towers, you would think that a guild would be able to harvest some notum from them. How about have it spawn around the controller on the ground every so often and in the ql range of the tower. Or be able to refine notum chips/frags from carbon rich rock and have those spawn around the controllers. Each tower could only spawn a certain amount at any one time, and would spit out a new peice (if the total around it was not full) every hour or two. This would make towers even more valuable and sought after. Plus giving players access to a usuable resource from the towers.
4) The ability to modify weapons. Be honest, there are only a certain number of weapons that are used. Most just sit there and are never used. Take a look at the DB and the stats on the weapons and revamp some old ones so they are more viable. This doesnt mean make each weapon as good as the ones that are boss loot only and that are intended to be rare. But there are weapons such as , magical staff of the inferno, that are never going to be used for anything but looks. So please update the weapon stats to make more of the viable, I hate the fact that most character all carry the same gun (one of the reasons im a dual pistol soldier STILL).
4B) now that you updated the DB, add in some weapons that can only be made. A couple weapons that we have to find all the parts for to make from scratch would be kewl. Maybe add a quest or two for some even rare weapons. Also add the abil to modify most if not all weapons. Why not be able to change the dmg type of my Pistols from Proj, to fire, etc. OR be able to add burst or full auto to a weapon, maybe in place of fling or aimed shot. I know for one if I could change the aimed shot to fling on the Anti-Cyborg rifle, I would be one happy soldier. Now I know some of this is in the game (chem mauser, boosted hellspinner etc) THe chem mauser is prob the closest to what I would like to see. This is a great process. however please dont follow the same pattern as you did on the hellspinner, (this is a good thing for quests and quest weapons such as the hellspinner) but not for every weapon.
4C) add reverse engineering in. Ie I use a engi tool (dont forget traders in this please, ie dont make it engi only) on a weapon, and BAMB, in my invintory there is a blue print of the steps needed to make the weapon. even if it trashes the weapon in the process, at least I would now be able to reproduce the weapon. Aslo please organize the existing formulas, so that they are just the weapon name, not a book for different ql weapons. The formulas should be the same no matter the ql, the only thing that should change is the ql of the parts or the kit to make the weapon. (if this is the case, then please clean up the forumal machines so that it isnt a head ache to look for the ones that are there)
5) Remeber when putting in class specific items that buff certain skills that sometimes more the one class uses these skills. (ie, salesmans hat that is made from merchants hat. Would be Great if Traders could use this, but it is engi only. Not that engis shouldnt have it, they should, but put it in for traders too. Chemistry skill buff that agents get, but traders or engi (as far as I have seen) do not get. Hell, doc dont even get it, and if anyone should they should. AoE burst bullets for fixers, but soldiers dont get. So please either make these items open to other logical professions or add in equiv items for the other logical professions.
6) Skin some of the coats or add in new one that are open in the front and show the armor beneath. You do this with helms and the face under it, so it should not be hard to add a transparent area to the skin of the coats. (ok I know this one is completly superficial, but at least it would look cool) or better yet, put these skins in for all the existing coats, and maybe if you take it off and use the item, it would switch between the skins. Ie so you could wear the coat open or closed.
7) A bank open to a particular guild. I know this is supposed to be in the works for guild housing, but why not add it in now. Use something similar to /org contract only maybe /org vault and anyone that is member or higher can open it and take out items or put items in. You can set the vault to hold as many items as the existing personal bank.
8) clean up the chat interface. change the shopping channels to just 1. Pretty much only one is used anyway, so why have it cluttering the channel control panel. Just eliminate the others, though they were a good idea, a year and half of the game has shown that only one is really needed.
9) add the elevator that changes between mission floors to the map as an icon, as well as the entrance door. So that when I use my mini map, I can tell where the lift is once I find it. Have it show and dissappear like doors do. this way at least I can see it whenI get within range as I am trying to trace my way back out of a mission.
10) Add labling to packs or even other items. It would be nice to be able to label my backpacks, even if that note is in the item description that I have to shift-right click to see. It would also be nice if armor and weapons that a character makes would be stamped with their names. Ie in the description, it should have a line saying made by : xxxx . that way when a peice of armor gets passed around the comunity the armorsmith's name gets know and can drum up more buisness.
11) Though I know many would say this isnt needed but it is. Not everyone can ebay for credits or have already exploited their way to instant billionnaires. Change some of the prices in the shops and such so that items are a little more affordable. I know that from playing since launch that we thought we would never afford some of the items and then later found that we could with some work, but if you are a brand new char, with no friends and no past characters to rely on, some things are just way out of reach. Though it seems that some of the high priced items were made that way to be credit sinks to clean up those exploited credits that were not "traced down", that avenue does work for that but in turn screws those that have played honestly. If you want to discourage Credit exploiting and ebaying then make items more affordable. Thus placing less value on those cr. It would be nice for a small guild to be able to maintain a decent level base without the need to exploit cr or ebay them to afford towers and the like.
12) Some more random small scale events. These dont have to be story related (though that is sorely needed) but just small things, like a roller rat outbreak in the sewers, with maybe a Roller Rat queen boss that has to be killed for the outbreak to stop. Mutant raids on cities, flood ent or tir with mutants (make them agro) so players have to participate in the quelling, if they think they cant handle the mobs then let them hide by guards. Maybe some mantese uprising. etc. Do these, alot, a few times a week. would add some life to the game. If you start running these more often and all over, maybe a couple at the same time, you would not get the flood of people at each one that causes some of the problems when one actaully happens now.
*I understand there is an event department of the arks, put them to work* =hell hire me, and ill do it 24/7= (shameless plug)
13) some more vehicles. again a purely superficial addition, but it would be kewl to have a motorcycle or some such.
13B) make some items like the Failed Ring of Flying, repairible, so that everyone can fly, similar to quantum wings for mps. This would be a great quest plot, to get the item needed for the ring to fix it. PLEASE again dont make it a drop from an uber mob. Though I like the idea of mobs that require a team of high levels to take out, one that requires multiple teams is just lame. It is a filler for lack of insight or thought on the dev teams part. (sorry but that is just true) it caters to the large uber guilds and leave the solo player out. Thus again making people play the way you want and not allowing them the abil to play they way they want.
14) guild message of the day. Something I can post as a guild leader and every member of my guild recieves it when they log on. This would be a very very nice addition.
15) A reason for boats (hydro vehicles). change these to make players being able to fight in them (ie ground assualt vehicles) but only in water. Say you have to go swiming before you can use the vehicle, and then add soem aquatic mobs back. Maybe only out in deep water. or in a zone that has only a couple small islands to rest and recharge on. Just that rubi-ka has some nice areas with large ammounts of water. Why not make use of it. Maybe make the boats a lot more affordable then a yalm, so that it would be a transportation alternative that actually makes sence. *since there are a number of players now that don't know you can walk from rome to ent without using a womp gate or grid*
16) I would like to see custom skins in the game, though I understand the problems this causes in this type of game. But it would be nice to beable to wear a guild Coat or some such, even if it was purely social wear. Maybe work it into the game by creating a stamping items that uses this custom skin and applies it to a blank item you have to buy.
Ok well thats it for now, the post is a little long but I hope you find some ideas in there. I may not post often but that is simply because I am of the opinnion that unless its worth saying, dont say it. If you like any of these, please bumb this so that it gets some notice.
all alone here?
