And so, I've ascended with my characters, beaten the final mission, got all the bonuses, yadda yadda yadda, and now, what kinds of challenges are left out there for me? Surely, I'd like to go exploring in the Ascalon area again, but there's not much excitement in that because of the low level enemies. There's really no challenge.
Yeah, we've all heard this story multiple times from many people who finished the game. Not only that, there are many people who felt there was no reward in beating that last mission. Well, what happens when you normally beat that last mission? You get 1000 EXP, a skill point, and then you get teleported to Droknar's Forge... Woo...
And so, all that's left is getting that Fissue Armor and maybe the occassional Underworld run. But sadly enough, that's not exactly replay. Once people get Fissure Armor, they don't have much to do. Underworld runs can only be fun for so long. So, to enhance replay, I suggest the addition of what I call... The Legendary Districts.
.: The Overview - What is it? :.
Upon completion of the final mission, the player will unlock for that character the option to enter the Legendary District in each town and outpost. In the legendary districts, all the henchmen are available and there will be a party size of eight. Upon leaving these districts for those instanced areas or missions, the level of the enemies will be upped 20 additional levels to the max level of 40.
Now, why should we have this? In a sense, the unlocking of the Legendary Districts gives the players a feeling of accomplishment, a reward for having beaten the game. Two, it gives the players more challenge. While to some players, those extra levels on the enemies mean nothing, but having an area filled with level 4's somewhat diminishes the player's want to explore that "newbie" area. And three, it gives the player and his guildmates more places to explore and have fun in.
So... other than having enemies 20 levels higher than what they should be, that's it? Of course not. The Legendary Districts will open up lots of potential for things other than EXP gain and better item drops. The drops might not be as good as the ones seen in the Underworld and the Fissure of Woe, but that's to give a reason to continue going there.
.: Possible Additions to The Legendary Districts :.
In order to keep The Legendary Districts not as boring, many things can be done about them to keep the replay value going on further.
- New Quests Available in Legendary Districts - This allows for better continual EXP gain after completion of the game. Also, it's a way to get more skills that weren't found in the quests from the normal districts. This can be the perfect way to add more to the storyline, too.
- Bosses Will Have Elite Skills - Gives a purpose for there to even be bosses in lower level areas other than doubled EXP gain and a coat of glowiness. If the bosses have Elite skills equipped, it calls for more areas with Elite capture groups, and thus, promoting more replay value in earlier areas.
- Areas only accessible via The Legendary Districts - This allows for more areas to be added for those who beat the game. Another pro to this may be making Lornar's Pass accessible from Beacon's Perch only if the players are in The Legendary Districts. This will stop Droknar runners and prevent more people appearing in those newbie PvP arenas with Droknar armor and elite skills. I personally use Lornar's to run my secondary and third characters, but seeing how many people are annoyed at this area, this can be a potential option.
- Newer "Evolved" Pets Limited to The Legendary Districts - These pets won't be any bit more powerful than the pets found in the normal districts. However, a bonus would be to have them start at level 10 rather than level 3 or 5. It will cut down the amount of time needed to train these pets up to their max levels in order for them to accompany us on our adventures. And if Arena.Net feels even more generous, make the pets start at level 20, just like those spiders in the Underworld.
- Slightly Newer Mission Objectives - Though the missions won't be too different, it will be neat to be able to finish the missions with different objectives. An example would be to fight off the Charr in The Great Northern Wall mission rather than just run back to the fort.
- Different Monsters Limited to The Legendary Districts - I know Arena.Net has a ton of creative people with a ton of strong monsters they wish to throw out into the world of Tyria. Those monsters might as well be released to The Legendary Districts to give us players a run for our money!
- Return of the Catacombs - Seems like lots of people loved the Catacombs and wish for it to be back. Well, considering the Catacombs hasn't been entered since the Searing, lots of powerful monsters may have made themselves home there and it gives way to potential new areas.
- Different and Dynamicly Diverse Mobs - The "lesser" species of Tyria have been weeded out (most of the Skales, Devourers, Scarabs, etc.) for more diverse teams. In these teams consist of a combination of warrior-types, ranger-types, elementalist-types, monk-types, mesmer-types, and necromancer-types. The builds of these mobs can mimick recent teams that have won the Hall of Heroes to provide extra challenge.
.: Finishing Statement :.
Whether or not any of the additions under Possible Additions will be added is entirely up to Arena.Net to decide as will be the max level of the monsters to be faced. However, it would be really nice to see an area with nothing but high level players wanting for challenges to overcome. I would personally love to do The Great Northern Wall mission over again with high level Charr to fight off.
Many PvE players often complain that there's not much to do upon completion of the game and there's an empty feeling left. While adding more areas to PvE may temporarily solve the replay problem, allowing more replay in pre-existing areas would also be a rather wise-decision. This will not only save time by not having to create more areas, but it allows the dev team to reuse the area in a more creative way.
Unfortunately, many may see this as a quick fix and while it may be a quick fix (depending on how much Arena.Net decides to actually put into this), a quick fix can go a long way. Quick fixes aren't a sign that the dev team is lazy or anything. In fact, a quick fix is simply a sign that the dev team is actually active and willing to do anything to better their progress.
So, how about it Arena.Net?