I was thinking about it today… why in gods name does anyone want to or be forced to start a new game over and over?
There are 2 types of players meta guys that only play farm viable pals/sorcs/javas or zen farm joyers that craft or hunt monsters at their own pace.
Type A player finishes 60 minute zone in 5 minutes, exists game, re-creates game, reruns to area… same baal pain. But in one hour. Hour isnt enough to force farm the area for hopeful drops anyways. So they either do THIS, or wait ingame for another 50 minutes in some other area for respawn? Both not optimal.
Type B player enjoys life and plays a melee necro or any shifter. They will finish a zone (if endgame geared) in 20-40 minutes. Now the same issue, they make a choice to wait out the next OR again re-create a new game? Then they probably wont finish the second zone run intime. Awwwkward…
Why not remove the timer and allow infinite farming in the same game? Meta players would hit their zen strides and dip into an otherworldly trance for hours of leveling in the same way the B player could. Both without rigid constraints or unnecessary re-menu-gaming.
Other than this my only gripe is the monster count. It would be cool if it was heavier/harder when a zone is active. I swear I noticed no difference in monsters pre & post terror… maybe slight?
Anyways, this could be the next best thing if devs wont add a 4th difficulty tier hell+ just for leveling. Continual terror zone spawn would absolutely suffice. Wonder if the coding behind that is a nightmare?
I don’t like core features of the game changing. Respawns in terror zone, or the zone constantly going to a new one after being cleared does not fit with how D2 currently works.
In D2 nothing repops. You make a new game after an area you want is cleaned out just how it works. Its really not a big deal its been like that for 20+ years and its fine
I think removing annoyances actually unintuitively, can make games a lot worse in a lot of subtle ways. You need those things to appreciate the end results
How is making it so a new zone pops up the minute you clear the old zone a new mechanic? The new mechanic IS the terror zones. Its alien. Not like d2r… so you like THAT new mechanic but dont want it to be flowant? Its not ‘respawn’ persee if a new area becomes terrorized. Its literally just you not having to wait for 50 more minutes…
have you ever played this game? literally everyone clears their farming zone(s) and then makes a new game. This now at least breaks it up and has new zones instead of the usual ones and EVERYONE is playing the same zones.
Your option would have 2 methods. Always random first zone which would just encourage farming new games to get the zones you want aka terrible or the same first and then random new one which still blah just not as terrible.
If anything the meta farmers are more likely to get into a groove for an hour in the same zone.
Further certain zones are going to yield to different builds/immune issues so you may have a character you want to play for that hour based on that zone but in your scenario zone 2 may be a huge waste of time with your current char which would be far more annoying.
as with most ideas on this forum, it comes from a place of complaining and not how things would work in practice.
the fact you think your idea could be the next best thing…just no
edit: no one casual or not will just be ‘waiting’ for the next hour like you seem to be suggesting
Waiting doesnt mean ‘sitting in town’ mr. Literal. It could mean hey ive got 10 more minutes to go… my zonr is done… well how about i go farm a sad normie non-exp area?
Lets keep the train rolling. Its more fun to get in the ‘zone’, immersive, zen. Rigidly swapping a game and having minutes or seconds left feels really bad. It always has. Just because its a standard (like baal runs) doesnt make it healthy.
Can you just try to imagine getting in the zone? Farm zone. Its just gogogo for hours. That would be magical.
The way players are forced to play the same characters, farm the same ol same ol, focus on the same armors/drops. Have you BEEN on a baal run? Nobody “wants” to be there. They have to be. Putting constraints like timers on the terror will just be another form of annoyance. Like having a job. Everyone wants to retire instantly on lottery money if they can, but it aint happening. Key is finding work you love. This isnt some WoW too much of a good thing change is a bad thing. They could lower exp and it would still be worth racing to stack as many zone completions in the same game. Hell they could add a bonus for reaching outrageous numbers of strung together terror defeations at once.
Talking to most people on this forum feels more like talking to a wall. Reddit is more open minded… jeeezus
whenever someone accuses you of not liking their idea because of not being open minded it means the idea cant stand on its own. 100% of the time.
as it is currently designed people will be gogogo for the hour in the zone ESPECIALLY if its a zone they like or favors their favorite char/build. i gave you plenty of reasons why your idea was bad and you addressed literally 0 of them. instead im just not open minded. maybe you just arent open to the idea your idea isnt that great.
i dont think they have suggested that at the end of hte hour the current game is now dead, but rather any NEW games would have the new hours zone. at least that is my understanding.
You cant get “in the zone” when very often zones that would pop in your scenario would not be conducive to your current characters build
there’s so many things wrong with terror zones. this is just another MASSIVE flaw that has been overlooked by the people who think terror zones were an ok idea in the first place. WE ARE DOOMED.
There are also the Type C players, the ones who like to get together in a group and play through the game in a party. They don’t get a lot of end game play since they tend to be focused on leveling a character through the story. They tend to like the challenge of playing through the game, and occasionally running into an area that their build struggles with but allows a different member of the party to shine.
So how about this dynamic.
1: When you create a new game, the Terror Zone on creation is the one that is on the server for that hour.
2: You finish “clearing” the Terror Zone, and then a new random Terror Zone in that game becomes active.
At this point you have two options. You can leave the game and create a new game, that has the current server Terror Zone for that hour, or you can go clear the new Terror Zone.
3: After clearing the new Terror Zone, another new random Terror Zone triggers in that game (limited to a list of Terror Zones that have not yet triggered in that game). Basically, the Terror Zone in that game becomes disconnected from whatever the server is doing, so the Terror Zone only changes when the old Terror Zone is cleared.
This allows the Terror Zone feature to be used the way different players want to. The Type A farmers and grinders who want to just play the same Terrror Zone over and over will leave and create new games.
The Type B who takes longer to clear a Terror Zone doesn’t have to worry, if it takes him 80 minutes to clear a specific zone, that’s fine. The Terror Zone in his game is unaffected by what time it is on the server.
The Type C who likes the story/roleplay aspect gets to play end game feeling more like rapid reaction force to wherever the hordes of Hell are invading this time. And sometimes the Terror Zone is one his character shines in, and other times the new Terror Zone is something a different character in the party can shine in.
It also gives a goal that people could try to attempt for bragging rights: Clear all the Terror Zones in a single game.
Of course, the question becomes how to measure “clearing” the Terror zone. It could be kill every monster inside, but I think maybe it should be killing Super Unique in that zone. I have a post with a more detailed list of all the Super Uniques in the zones, but every zone has one (except for Black Marsh, but you can just put Flamespike there). Maybe a few areas (like Tranvical) which has multiple super uniques you have to kill all of them.
If you buff the Super Unique in that area to “Terror” version of their basic self that would also give the Terror Zones a bit more challenge, and a bit more of the fantasy feel that Blizzard likes to have. And then it would make sense that when you kill the “boss” of the Terror Zone the terror zone moves somewhere else.