It's been talked about before (I'm sure), but a fruitless search of the forum caused me to start a new thread.
I've noticed that our world has a fairly fluid history, but that the history of the world doesn't translate well into the areas around the map. This isn't a complaint about the work being done on each area, as I'm sure it's quite time-intensive - rather, I'm proposing that we update the storyline and the area fluff to more accurately reflect each other. As it stands, many areas seem like "pocket worlds" that don't acknowledge each other in any respect.
Originally I thought that each area could be re-written to fit it with the history of our world - but each area was written by someone who probably wouldn't like their work completely redone. I propose minor changes in the room descriptions for each area, so that they reference areas and mobs that we have in the game instead of places and people who don't appear anywhere else in the story. The word that comes to mind is continuity, and if the purpose of the game is to provide entertainment for players (regardless of experience), the addition of continuity is a must.
I propose we connect the world in three ways:
1.) Continuity of people
2.) Continuity of places
3.) Continuity of things
Continuity of people has been addressed rather well by Vogar with his idea of three "nations" of races. For those of you who don't quite remember, here is his idea:
Vogar Eol wrote:
My racial splits were this:
1. Pixies, Elves, Humans, Phasian ( 'clean' races)
2. Dwarves, Gerps, Gnomes, Halflings (not affraid of dirt or work)
3. Troll, Ogres, Orc, Lizardmen (must be house-trained)
The first set of races was too surround the basic area of Tarsonis. The second Midian. The third, the lava pits and desserts out by Caverns.
In addition to linking people, his idea helps with the other two points. Places and things (mobs, item drops, etc.) could be mildly edited to reflect the nation in which they reside. To an extent this is already the case, and only a few mobs/rooms would really need name/description changes.
"Continuity of places" refers to the idea that areas should be a part of the greater world, not just worlds in their own right. There was a great fallout of the Phasian race (back in the world history), but areas don't reference this. Adding to the problem, out storyline could very well be transplanted to any other game of this genre. An update and revision would allow areas that might not otherwise fit with the theme start to work. Along with this would come (surprise!) minor changes in mob names (hey - one type of goblin could live in many areas). Cities that were once Phasian should be more ornate and archaic than newer areas, and might be more illogical in their layout as cities outlived their original plans.
Finally, common (ie. low level) items/mobs should appear in more than one area. More than just making the story more clear (these mobs being part of a larger force instead of independent units), this idea would allow for some of the rare items to become harder to get as mobs get re-equipped to standardize their forces worldwide. Such actions would allow more people to level at once, eliminating common areas like the Zoo I hear so much about. While unique mobs would still exist, the more run-of-the-mill enemies would allow different parties to extend to several cities. Exploring would have more benefit as well, since it would give players more options when the time for levelling again comes around.
In conclusion, I'm not proposing a series of major changes - just a few here and there to bring the monster of a world we have to life.
