Keeping gameplay FUN - at all levels

I was thinking about this as I was writing my topic about item durability and how to maintain a balanced economy in a persistent world. I don't have too many specific ideas but this is an important concept for the LONGEVITY and ENJOYMENT of this server, which I have fallen in love with in a short period of time.

The idea is this - There will come a time in anyone's...."server tenure" at which they will be relatively high level. With this comes physical power, wealth, powerful items, etc etc. Often it also means they have seen and explored much of what a server has to offer. That is where the DM-involvement becomes a HUGE plus, as it allows for on-the-fly events and challenges to keep things new and interesting for veterans.

But beyond those specific DM-run variables, it is important that the server itself maintain a level of enjoyment for the player who happens to be the only one logged on, or perhaps just a much higher level than the other logged in, and therefore not interested in the same quests/goals as those players (in some cases). This is what some people refer to an an "end-game" situtation, a term I have come to loathe through my days of playing NWN, Diablo, WoW, etc etc. To me, it implies that the high-level content is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; that it should be the ultimate goal of a player. I hate this concept because I have always been one who has tried to enjoy games at every level. This is why I quit WoW, which I played on and off since its release. At a certain point in WoW's life, levelling up new characters became just a tedious means to an end, and it became just an arbitrary process in which you'd try to find the fastest way to max out your level, as if the "real" fun only began at 60 (or 70, or 80, as the expansions were released). Diablo II is notorious for this, especially with the advent of "rushing", "cow-runs", "baal-runs", etc. Over time the replay value would continue to wane until I couldn't remain interested in either of these games beyond a day or two.

This server has the great benefit of having the usual, dungeon-crawling, monster-slaying fun of any other persistent world MMO, in addition to the RP which adds an IMMENSE amount of creativity and enjoyment over the basic "fight --> collect treasure --> level up" song and dance.

Anyway, I have to cut this short, but what I am asking is this: What are your ideas for how to keep the server fun at the higher levels, RP and events excluded? It could be anything from dungeon ideas to systems put in place to prevent people from getting TOO comfortable with their power or wealth, or a way to use such acquired attributes to enjoy the game in a new way...For example, a way that players could PURCHASE property and they themselves be the landlords to lower-level players. I will return with some of my own ideas as well.

There's some sort of system for bying property I believe, cuz there's some light-thingies spread about the city and if you examine them it sorta suggests you can buy the property there. I think. I never looked into that particular thing.

eve_of_disaster wrote:There's some sort of system for bying property I believe, cuz there's some light-thingies spread about the city and if you examine them it sorta suggests you can buy the property there. I think. I never looked into that particular thing.

Ouch. That one stung me, and I wasn't even the target.

Ragdoll_Knight wrote:

Ouch. That one stung me, and I wasn't even the target.

...what are you talking about?


And @ Eve: I have seen those, and as far as I know it is only possible to lease property. I don't know if they plan to let us buy the property outright, but that is a system I have seen on other servers as well. The idea, for those players of high level who have a ton of money, wouldn't just allow the purchase of property, but allow them to be the landlords themselves, i.e. renting to other players, or selling others the property itself.

Honestly, that idea was just one I had on the fly to get the ball rolling. What I was looking for were original thoughts on the question of how to keep things fun and original even at a high level, with plenty of wealth.

Ragdoll_Knight wrote:

eve_of_disaster wrote:There's some sort of system for bying property I believe, cuz there's some light-thingies spread about the city and if you examine them it sorta suggests you can buy the property there. I think. I never looked into that particular thing.

Ouch. That one stung me, and I wasn't even the target.

What are you insinuating?

AdaonGP wrote:
Anyway, I have to cut this short, but what I am asking is this: What are your ideas for how to keep the server fun at the higher levels, RP and events excluded? It could be anything from dungeon ideas to systems put in place to prevent people from getting TOO comfortable with their power or wealth, or a way to use such acquired attributes to enjoy the game in a new way.

What needs further attention here with regards higher level PCs? Sound off now please, tell us what YOU would like YOUR high level PCs to be able to do here (that NWN does not presently support).

Would you like to see a PC retirement system where a PLAYER gives up playing (retires) a PC and is awarded some benefit for the next PC the PLAYER creates? e.g. retire a PC and get 1/8 the levels of that PC awarded as your new PC's start level, or some fraction of that retiring PC's levels as a stat bonus, etc..

NOTE : PLAYERS are always welcome to open the nwn toolkit and create their own castle, tower, hidden cottage, etc., we do very much encourage GUEST BUILDERS here, and have supported these as a long standing tradition of the Argentum Regio server.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON FEATURES NEEDED TO HELP MAKE ADVANCED LEVELS 'WORTHWHILE'?