Broken Elysian Technology is a new dropped item that will be found on Next Island after November 29th. From a story perspective, these are pieces of Elysian technology left over from accidents in time travel and dimensional travel. From a gameplay perspective, my goal is to create an activity for new players that will encourage them to engage the crafting profession and the economy. I’ve noticed that many starting players search for fruit, stones and dung. I personally find the searching mechanic more rewarding and interesting than sweating, which is the other option for new players at present, because one can look for these items while exploring or pursuing missions. Also, one of the unique aspects of designing in Next Island is that we have such a vast, gorgeous environment just waiting to be filled with destinations and activities. Searching for dropped tech takes advantage of that. After collecting the Broken Elysian Technology, players can use them in any refiner to fix them, creating Elysian Tech Chips. This will lead new players to the refining game mechanic, without requiring them to learn, for example, the mining profession and to purchase all the associated tools and equipment. Then, when a new player does start engaging other profession tracks and acquiring more refinable loot, he’s already familiar with refining, decreasing the learning curve for new Islanders. These Elysian Tech Chips, in varying quantities, will be used in blueprints for Elysian tools (in progress). This will prompt new players to sell their stacks of Elysian Tech Chips to crafters, encouraging them to engage the Auction Hall or player-to-player trading, or it’ll prompt them to engage the crafting profession track. This also corresponds with our longer range plans for Next Island’s crafting economy. Continue reading...
