21 replies to this topic

[Versatile]

Greetings, community! 

 

After some time, the malls are pretty much done. Before I start, I would like to explain the ideas behind the malls.

 

I know that you all hyped and wanted the old Southshore and Hammerfall malls, but this was not really a good idea, let me explain why:

 

It is a mixed PvP/PvE hybrid server and the PvP malls could not interfere with the "normal" world. That is why the malls now are placed at a separate, non accessible for PvE players area. However, there will be plenty of room for raiding malls and so on, since they are not counted as a sanctuary. 

 

The malls were designed to be as user friendly as possible. This is why you will never have to train your weapon skills, move across the mall multiple times to find what you seek for, or get lost in a crowd of NPC's again. Because in the end, you want to get your gear on as quickly as possible and start to PvP.

 

 

 

Enjoy the show!

 

 

Horde Mall

 

 

 

Horde queueing place

 

 

Horde duel zone /w additional queueing place

 

 

Alliance Mall

 

 

Alliance queueing place

 

 

Alliance duel zone /w additional queue place

 

[Kitteh]

This zone is accessible by swimming.

[Dragon]

I've always felt south seas was a boring place to put malls but I suppose in this instance you have no choice. Although I think these are still accessible for regular players. I think it would have been better to place them in the Azshara Crater.

[Fakeyou]

This zone is accessible by swimming.

Not sure about swimming, but anyone with water walking can definitely get there

[Krozan]

PvE players can actually go to that area. But won't be able to interact with the NPC's. So there is no point in going to the malls as a pve player unless you just want to hang out with other players.

[Allersin]

Amazing!

[badbonez]

boring zones/duel zone in malls, I like it. Will spark chance for people going to world pvp zones and battlegrounds, instead of dueling all day 

 

and this is going to be two malls in which will be at war 24/7?  Or will you guys block out the opposite factions from entering?

[Raven2809]

not sure how to feel about this tbh ... hmmm

[Rashid]

Sorry but this one doesnt look as cool as the old cg ones

[Ink]

I've always felt south seas was a boring place to put malls but I suppose in this instance you have no choice. Although I think these are still accessible for regular players. I think it would have been better to place them in the Azshara Crater.

Azshara Crater will be used in the future for something much greater, trust me.

*cough* guild houses *cough*

[Boltman]

omg I can't wait 

[Hash]

We may or not may not make the zones inaccessible to normal track players, though I do not see a problem either way. If the community wants to bring their normal track characters/alts to come hang out in the malls, they should be able to. It will just take a little extra effort on our part to limit the use of the NPCs to PvP track players.

 

IIRC, the old CG malls included rows of NPCs with similar skins serving the same functions. I think we're past that by now. Perhaps you guys can be a little more specific about what you don't like about these malls. Constructive criticism helps...

 

Malls are not sanctuaries. PvP will be enabled.

 

As for Azhara Crater, we're toying with a few ideas (for the distant future): guild houses, or a MOBA-style world pvp zone.

[Gerandean]

Great malls, people are just bitching as usual. I'm happy about this.

[Kitteh]

We may or not may not make the zones inaccessible to normal track players, though I do not see a problem either way. If the community wants to bring their normal track characters/alts to come hang out in the malls, they should be able to. It will just take a little extra effort on our part to limit the use of the NPCs to PvP track players.

 

IIRC, the old CG malls included rows of NPCs with similar skins serving the same functions. I think we're past that by now. Perhaps you guys can be a little more specific about what you don't like about these malls. Constructive criticism helps...

 

Malls are not sanctuaries. PvP will be enabled.

 

As for Azhara Crater, we're toying with a few ideas (for the distant future): guild houses, or a MOBA-style world pvp zone.

So horde and alliance will have their malls right next to eachother and PvP will be enabled? Thats a stupid idea since one faction will always be outnumbered and the other will ragequit from being camped.

Also the Tanaris isle is plain boring as a mall, there are so many other zones and places to choose from. Hyjal is something that immediately comes to mind. Anyway I don't see how world malls would interfere with PvE track players since you can just make normal NPCs unavailable to PvP players and vice versa. Whats wrong with having an alliance mall in Southshore while someone is questing there? You could also do major towns as malls and bring the community together - example spots are battlemaster rooms in cities. There will also be a need for a universal world PvP zone like STV used to be and I can see a lot of players including myself demanding it.

From what I understand PvE track players will have no PvP whatsoever? I believe this will discourage a lot of players but I don't see a better alternative considering the way you want to run only one realm.

 

[Dash]

PvE track players will be able to PvP, they will just have a different (Blizzlike) gearing path. They won't be restricted in what (Blizzlike) content they can access.

 

I somewhat like the idea of having malls in major cities. However, that would probably be something to discuss after launch. In fact, I'm bringing it up right now, but no promises

[Ink]

So horde and alliance will have their malls right next to eachother and PvP will be enabled? Thats a stupid idea since one faction will always be outnumbered and the other will ragequit from being camped.

Also the Tanaris isle is plain boring as a mall, there are so many other zones and places to choose from. Hyjal is something that immediately comes to mind. Anyway I don't see how world malls would interfere with PvE track players since you can just make normal NPCs unavailable to PvP players and vice versa. Whats wrong with having an alliance mall in Southshore while someone is questing there? You could also do major towns as malls and bring the community together - example spots are battlemaster rooms in cities. There will also be a need for a universal world PvP zone like STV used to be and I can see a lot of players including myself demanding it.

From what I understand PvE track players will have no PvP whatsoever? I believe this will discourage a lot of players but I don't see a better alternative considering the way you want to run only one realm.

 

It isn't wise from a game design standpoint to place a mall in an area that does not have a map. New players would have difficulty recognizing where they are, and due to the sheer size of the zone, world PvP would be difficult.

The problem with having malls in a place like Southshore is partly due to the fact of its irregularities. Keep in mind that the normal NPCs would there, too. How would it look to have custom NPCs next to normal ones? Southshore is a damp, dark, and depressing place. Hammerfall is boring and its buildings are dinky. 

Secondly, if you're truly advocating having the malls in Hammerfall in Southshore, the problem you stated relating to one faction completely overpowering the other arises with these malls, too. At launch, this probably will not happen. If it does, we can look into solutions (perhaps having guards?). 

That being said, a world PvP area would definitely be awesome, and we are investing into the idea. I like your input. 

[badbonez]

I have no idea if this will work or not. I never seen a pvp/pve or a start of something like this before, so I'll just say.I hope you guys are planning on bringing the legacy/cg experience back with the server, and not just the players; thus is the only reason why I'll be joining. if the the "new" cg has no heritage and it can't stand up to it's name, then it's just not crusade gaming anymore honestly.. in other words, keep up the good work. c:

[Holyone]

Is the server down? Can't connect

[Ink]

Is the server down? Can't connect

It's down for "maintenance" ;P. Should be up around mid-january. 

[Aidiakapi]

Perhaps you guys can be a little more specific about what you don't like about these malls.

 

I personally don't like the location. It's a plain location that almost everybody that visited a private server has seen, because it's overused.

In addition, I feel like it's too small, especially with designated zones within such a tiny area.

 

It isn't wise from a game design standpoint to place a mall in an area that does not have a map. New players would have difficulty recognizing where they are, and due to the sheer size of the zone, world PvP would be difficult.

 

Yes, it's more challenging to design the zone when it doesn't have a mini-map. On the other hand, it also gives you much more freedom. There's a lot of techniques you can use to make players aware of what leads where, and how to get to places. A simple example is, your eyes are attracted to light, that's why in most video games where they want you to follow some path, that path is generally just a bit more lit than others.

 

With the sheer list of objects you can spawn in WoW, there's not a big limit on how easy you can make a zone to navigate. You can make small glowing objects that hint paths, static-ish fog to cover up parts that are not important or off-limits.

In addition, you can do the same as what guards do in WoW's cities, talk to them, they give you directions, you get a point on your minimap directing where to go.

 

The same goes for the area in Tanaris though, yes you have a map, but you're basically off the map.

Maybe just put it on the backburner, the only way you're going to be reasonably certain about anything is by playtesting it.