Grinding areas for new players

[Windemere]

One option is to take the areas you currently have and expand them.

Add some more rooms, another level, etc.. No need to really create new areas.

If a new area were created, sparkle is likely the best place. We have that orc area down on the way to greenoaks, but nothing neutral/good for people who want to be evil.

Could create a similar style area with Elves.

[Keltar]

I am talking mainly people fresh out of tutorial lands, and wanderer at most. Most will probably be greenhorne/beginner size.

Gont is way out of the question, krougs as well. Unless you mean water krougs? They're perhaps not as dangerous as the main kroug area? I am really no kroug expert..

Water krougs are pretty hard to find and they are agressive.
Beginner/apprentice is not able to attack them as I recall.
At Wanderer/adept they are doable but challenging.
You have to have a light though and on the lower level the mermaid ring.

[Cherek]

I am talking mainly people fresh out of tutorial lands, and wanderer at most. Most will probably be greenhorne/beginner size.

Gont is way out of the question, krougs as well. Unless you mean water krougs? They're perhaps not as dangerous as the main kroug area? I am really no kroug expert..

Water krougs are pretty hard to find and they are agressive.
Beginner/apprentice is not able to attack them as I recall.
At Wanderer/adept they are doable but challenging.
You have to have a light though and on the lower level the mermaid ring.

Ok, lets forget them then.

[Cherek]

One option is to take the areas you currently have and expand them.

Add some more rooms, another level, etc.. No need to really create new areas.

If a new area were created, sparkle is likely the best place. We have that orc area down on the way to greenoaks, but nothing neutral/good for people who want to be evil.

Could create a similar style area with Elves.

Yup, expanding an area could be an option, that's one reason I wanted to figure out which areas we have to chose from. Currently none fits my criteria though...

Which is: Easily accessible, contains loot, suitable for greenhornes and above and is on the magic map.

Another idea could be to simply convert another area to a newbie area. That is, downgrade the mobs in an already good, but rarely grinded, area.

[Amorana]

One option is to take the areas you currently have and expand them.

Add some more rooms, another level, etc.. No need to really create new areas.

If a new area were created, sparkle is likely the best place. We have that orc area down on the way to greenoaks, but nothing neutral/good for people who want to be evil.

Could create a similar style area with Elves.

Yup, expanding an area could be an option, that's one reason I wanted to figure out which areas we have to chose from. Currently none fits my criteria though...

Which is: Easily accessible, contains loot, suitable for greenhornes and above and is on the magic map.

Another idea could be to simply convert another area to a newbie area. That is, downgrade the mobs in an already good, but rarely grinded, area.

Optionally, instead of taking away areas in this way (which, as the player base grows will become important again), we could look at "instancing" the areas in some way.

Use the same code, but make it easier for a new to enter a "leveling" area solo or with another group of newbies, which will then be instanced and the mobs spawned will adapt to their size.

[Bromen]

How about this. As the newbie grows, the magic map "reveals" areas that are now challenging to their size.

It's not restrictive to where they can do, just advises them of where they can find a new challenge.

For example:

<newbie> hits beginner.
*Your magic map glows revealing a new area to explore*

Reveals can happen up to rising hero or so.

Just an idea.

-B

[Laurel]

the Shire orc camp orcs autoattack but are 70odd in total
hardly any myth grind area has so many kills in one place

[OgreToyBoy]

the Shire orc camp orcs autoattack but are 70odd in total
hardly any myth grind area has so many kills in one place

Don't reveal my lightningfast skull camp

[Snowrose]

Cadu was the place i grew up leveling in back in the day before the tutorial. baby orcs specifically. its not a huge area but it was relitivly easy. the problem is its hard to tell whats good and evil evil childeren will wrek a good alignment where everything else in castle is evilish. newbies dont have a detect alignment power so these things should be clear.
also cadu is so far off the track its most newbeies wont go there.

there SHOULD be a newbie grind zones near gelen maybe out through one of the closed off gates or near moors newbies go there for the schools then EXPECT to be able to kill stuff near by and die. I hear newbies complain a lot about not being able to kill krougs and having no idea what they are doing wrong.

also would be nice if there was some easy newbie grinds in gont due to people go there to join gardeners/travelers and stay there for questing. most people dont think of going to piligir for newbie content cause piligir is not in the movies shire bree and rivendel are infact i know a few newbies who stay at shire inns. when i was a newbie in genesis i had a delivery quest to bree i kept walking right into mirkwood and death. why because it seemed familure. so increasing newbie content in shire posdibly a good step.

major literary spots like solace, shire, faerun are awsome spots to place newbie content( ive heard a few newbies died to lizerdmen cause it was soo close to boat) maybe if the boat say dropped off closer to neverwinter with a few newbie grinds and a warning near tougher areas. noone thinks to go to "cadu" inless you tell them to.

maybe if you lowered difficulty of south orc camp in sparkle to be similar to shire camp and raise the dificulty of newbie areas that are harder to get to. not new newbie quest zones, or near dangerous auto attacking mob to the level of lower orcs. it might make progression more logical. as those harder to reach zones could be more desirable for midrange players wanting to explore or skull hunters wanting a good spot to grind alone.

[Cherek]

the Shire orc camp orcs autoattack but are 70odd in total
hardly any myth grind area has so many kills in one place

Yeah that's really the beast area we have together with the kobolds. We're gonna try to make them a little more accessible. For the kobolds magic mapping the north part of Terel would probably be helpful.

Snowrose: Yes, we should probably look into making parts of Calia more newbie friendly. It's possible Petros is already looking into that. I will have a chat with him, he's got plans for Calia as he wrote in another thread.

In many areas huge NPCs are mixed with tiny ones, which clearly causes a lot of confusion and danger for a new player. Even Sparkle have both small and big orcs very close to each other.