Rather than just forcing people to play Cold Plains over and over for an hour, a new terror zone should be generated in-game after sufficiently clearing each one.
So if the first terror zone is Cold Plains, after clearing a good chunk of the monsters (perhaps 75%), another map activates in your game as a new terror zone. After clearing that, the next map unlocks and so on. You could also tie it to killing the unique boss that spawns on that map (if there is one). So 75% + boss kill. A progress bar or counter would be helpful in this regard.
This allows the player to play a variety of maps in a single game. If there is a map they are not particularly good at, they can power through it, knowing that there will be a new, perhaps better map afterward.
Otherwise, I worry we’ll get into situations where people are just logging in, checking which map is the TZ, and then logging out when it’s not the “right one”. This could create a lot of frustration.
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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 likes to play off meta builds and thus 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 and likes to play with a party gets to play end game acting like a 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.
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Yes, sorry if I wasn’t clear enough, but that is exactly what I was suggesting.
I would like to point out that the game already has the ability to update new Terror Zones in real time. I was in a game near the top of the hour and it switched from one zone to another without needing to restart the game.
A real time transition from one terror zone to the next without needing to constantly spam new games every 2 minutes would:
- Be a more polished mechanic
- Provide significantly more variety in a given hour, with the added choice of restarting if you do really like the starting TZ.
- Reduce frustration/log-outs if the starting TZ is not one you like.
- Reduce overall server load if players aren’t constantly spamming new games every 2 minutes.
We’re so close to a really great mechanic here!
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That actually seems like its own problem to me. Terror Zones shouldn’t change inside a game until they are cleared. That way if you are playing an off meta build and it takes you 80 minutes to clear a Terror Zone you can still enjoy the mechanic.
This honestly sounds like a great solution to a commonly talked about problem.
Blizzard, implement this.
In my opinion, this is the way it should have been implemented. I hope when they do it for single player/offline games, this is the way it works. I want to experience all the zones, not replay the same zone over and over again until it changes on the hour. I don’t even care if the zone has to be a 100% clear.
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