Valg on Alenysi's goodbye thread: My only complaint about Loch Grynmear is that it should be located out all four gates of Galadon so newbies would always run into it.

Then you could make some easy-to find quest(in Academy?) to give something to someone in Loch Grynmear so that newbies would actually go there.

In general, you could make an adventurers guild in Galadon an other large cities that would give quests that take place in random lowbie areas(such as 1 random(many kobold quests, but only one is picked for that character. It would give the adventurer's guild some replay value) kobold quest in that area, random quests in other areas) and would help newbies explore and have fun in advancing ranks as a part of a story instead of repetitive ranking.

Quests could be something like killing the troll that sends the goblin raiders to plaque Silverwood and nearby areas, thus causing Galadon some consern. Quests being in nearby areas would make sense, so different adventurer's guilds in different towns could have different quests to offer, thus giving the towns some additional regional flair.

Also, the adventurer's guild could have a bulletin board where other people(quest mobs) looking for adventurer's could leave notes that they are looking for an adventurer for this and this reason, as adventurer's guild would be a sort of a job office for adventurers.

>Valg on Alenysi's goodbye thread: My only complaint about
>Loch Grynmear is that it should be located out all four gates
>of Galadon so newbies would always run into it.
>
>Then you could make some easy-to find quest(in Academy?) to
>give something to someone in Loch Grynmear so that newbies
>would actually go there.
>
>In general, you could make an adventurers guild in Galadon an
>other large cities that would give quests that take place in
>random lowbie areas(such as 1 random(many kobold quests, but
>only one is picked for that character. It would give the
>adventurer's guild some replay value) kobold quest in that
>area, random quests in other areas) and would help newbies
>explore and have fun in advancing ranks as a part of a story
>instead of repetitive ranking.
>
>Quests could be something like killing the troll that sends
>the goblin raiders to plaque Silverwood and nearby areas, thus
>causing Galadon some consern. Quests being in nearby areas
>would make sense, so different adventurer's guilds in
>different towns could have different quests to offer, thus
>giving the towns some additional regional flair.
>
>Also, the adventurer's guild could have a bulletin board where
>other people(quest mobs) looking for adventurer's could leave
>notes that they are looking for an adventurer for this and
>this reason, as adventurer's guild would be a sort of a job
>office for adventurers.

Wow, you're exactly describing the LPMUD bulletin board from 1991!

In the case of CF, maybe we could flesh out the explorer
notebook from the Academy to try and tangle newbies up in
quests by visiting near mentioned landmarks or NPCs.

In order for it to work though, you'd have to make the explorer's notebook a lot more noticeable than it is now.

Maybe put it on a new, adventurer-type NPC by the fountain inbetween the shops. He could stop you and tell you his story and then hand you his notebook for safekeeping. Or he could simply have it for sale, alongside all the other maps that usually reside in the equipment room. Add some more actual equipment to buy in the equipment room to flesh out his inventory after all the maps are removed. Lights, lockpicks, and maybe some weapons that are somehow better than your average practice dagger.

Maybe have those weapons could be a learning tool, too. A mage's dagger would give you more mana, and when wielded, you'll get an echo explaining that you didn't lose mana when you wielded it, your maximum mana just increased, and that many items in Thera can be used to affect your character's attributes like this.

Another idea for quests in the academy is you could expand the lower caverns and have Simon sell keys, and you have to find the chest that belongs to each key. Kind of like an easter-egg hunt, only you have to get past a bunch of baddies to get there.

All this talk about explorer's notebook and other items for sale in Academy. What people are overlooking here is that newbies come to world with only 50 coppers in their pockets, so they are not going to afford to buy explorer's notebook if they choose to buy that loaf of bread instead. I think it wouldn't destroy the game to ease the start a bit by adding one zero to that figure.

I agree with you. That would be a great change.

But it should be noted that even the fleshies are carrying silver on a regular basis now. So if a newbie spent his entire first 4-5 ranks in the academy, he should be able to afford an explorer's notebook or other items. Maybe not have enough to buy the farm, but at least enough to sample.