So now that everyone’s had a chance to see layering, whether its a Beta tester stream or the Stress Test, people have seen issues and exploits with the switching.
Primary negative cases for hopping
- To check fresh node spots.
- To escape PVP or corpse camping.
- To find lower population layers for easier questing.
Note before listing options: If you choose to group up with someone who is right in front of you to do a quest, you are already on the same layer, so no layer changing is required. None of these restrictions would apply.
Here are a few of my ideas:
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Layer changes only happen at an Inn or City - This would prevent people from being able to switch layers while sitting on a node point by jumping from group to group. It wouldn’t interfere friends grouping up, because while you’d have to go back to an Inn, you’re not grouping for a second, so the % of time travelling would be minimal, and if you’re not even with the friends when you group, you’d have to travel past an inn or flight point anyway.
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Default Layer binding - When you start the game, you are bound to a default layer ID. When you log out and log in, without being grouped, you return to that default layer every time. If a layer gets too full (e.g because it was assigned across the period of a day, then all the assigned people get logged in at once) then you may have your default layer changed next time you go into an Inn or City. That new default would remain your default. When you leave a group that caused a layer change, you would return to your default layer, when you enter an inn or city.
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You can only change layers once every 10 minutes - Even if you group up, you can only change layers once every 10 minutes, except for returning to your default layer. This prevents people from hopping from layer to layer constantly. The only reason to group up should be to have friends play together, and if you keep changing friends every 5 minutes, are they really your friends?
I think while Layering may have some consequences, these restrictions will help alleviate a lot of the dangers and exploits people are worried about.
What do people think? Are there other restrictions that people could suggest?
We are getting layering, but can we make sure its not exploited?