Expanding the Gnomiverse
It’s time to discuss…The Gnomiverse!
I have 2 ideas for this ‘end game’ portion of the game. In either version, you’ll have to unlock access to it much like the Gnome situation in GW2. By solving various puzzles and finding pieces of the access key, you can eventually assemble the full key and enter the Gnomiverse. Some of these needed things would be in the sewers and deep underground of your personal neighborhood; they can’t be above ground as we don’t want to interfere with your ability to customize it, and some would be in the starting free roam zones. You would likely have to play both sides to get the key completed, but I’m open to an option where you only need x pieces of a key that has more than x pieces, so you can get a key by only playing one side if you only want to play plants or only zombies. Regardless of that, once you have the key made, you can enter the Gnomiverse as either side from then on.
Also, in both versions of the Gnomiverse, it will appear much as the Gnomiverse and Infinity Time in GW2 as far as the geography and architecture. and have all the gnomes from GW2 and BfN, the singularities, and more besides. There will be matchmaking much like I outline for the free roam regions and like GW2’s Ops interface. I plan for this region to be very large and due its nature, will quite literally change before your eyes at times, with walls rising and lowering and other changes, although I’m not sure how much we want the ground to change as we don’t want players getting stranded!
I enjoyed the trials of Gnomus and Infinity Time in GW2, but you finish them up fairly quickly and then they are largely forgotten which is too bad as they’re nice additions to the game and I hate seeing all that work by the team not be used more, an issue similar to free roam regions in BfN, so I want to try to avoid that in a new game.
Idea one: PvE only version. Like Ops or the free roam regions, you will have your own version to play on, or you will join a group from the same side (up to 4 plants or zombies like usual). When you enter the zone, you will be in a small base where you can spend the time shards you earn, zone back to your personal neighborhood, and meet folks that join the instance if you are in an version of the zone where people can join it. In the base are the Gnomiverse vendors with things you can buy with time shards, AI guarding the base and wandering around, with more spawning over time to keep things active and immersive, and gnomes attacking the base as part of the setting, but the base itself will always remain available and safe if you stay inside.
Idea two: mixed version. This will be an open version where any number of players from any side can join; like BfN’s Giddy Park and my idea for the Public Battlefield, it will have caps per side, maybe 12 per side, maybe more, but you don’t want 100 plants and 10 zombies for example. This zone will have both sides fighting against each other and the gnomes that attack both sides. You don’t have to attack the other side, but their AI will attack you if you get to close and the gnomes will gleefully attack both sides with impunity. Because of the greater and competitive risk of having opposing players attack you, you will get greater time shard rewards and defeating other players will also net time shards for all allied players in the vicinity. Barring the PvP and greater reward aspects, it’s not different from the PvE only version. You can also attack opposing outposts to get extra time shards as well, and will have to protect yours from their attacks. Your main base would be safe inside and can never be destroyed, but once you leave it, it’s open season, and opposing players can attack your AI around it just like the gnomes do.
Idea three. Use both. It could have both versions in the same game, and just let people pick the version they like or using the matchmaker, select ‘either’ if they just want to jump in and play. It would have to be known to the players that the PvP version means they will see and can be attacked by opposing players. In such an environment of both as options, I’d say we call the PvE only one; ‘Normal’ and the PvP also version as ‘Vs.’.
Stuff to do. In any version of the Gnomiverse, you’ll not just fight the gnomes and opposing players and AI! You have many things you can do, but combat will be a big part of this. And you can unlock several boss fights and elite boss fights; including the Brothers Gnomus, Biff, Baff, Boff, Beff, Buff, and Byff, and the Gnome King himself! Other gnomes roam the strange landscape and AI of the opposite side may also be present, even in the PvE only version, and of course, beware opposing players in the PvP version!
A big focus of the Gnomiverse is exploration and finding puzzles, treasures, and unlocking doors to vaults which will reward you with coins, time shards, unique customizations/buildings/etc., and crafting materials if crafting is a thing. The vendors at the bases will sell stuff you can acquire via time shards, and you will likely be able to convert time shards into coins, and possible vise-versa, but some things are only found by going out and exploring!
One thing you can do is spend those time shards to unlock outposts and upgrades for those outposts. Something like this: https://www.hazetoonz.ca/gardenwarfare?lightbox=dataItem-kj8z90sr . This idea is very much something that could be in the Public Battlefield, and possibly your Personal Neighborhood too. Unlocking, and then placing these and upgrading them will cost time shards, but they will generate coins for all players on your side, and will generate AI to defend them; the bigger and more expensive the base, the more powerful AI it will generate and the more coins it will make for your side. These will attract the gnomes though, and they will send bigger and badder waves to take these out so be ready to help defend! Opposing players in that version of the Gnomiverse will always be alerted to opposing bases being present, and can get bonus time shards from helping attack your outposts too. You can also respawn at these outposts, and fast travel to them via a small cost in time shards or coins will also be a thing. You will also likely be able to place bots/pots to defend them, and maybe you’ll unlock more defenses at your main base to vary these up and give them greater offensive/defensive capabilities.
Events will also occur that you can take part in for bonus shards and achievements. These shouldn’t be holiday themed as we want those open to all players, and the Gnomiverse is more for those that have played a lot, and have solved the puzzles.
Rewards. In either version, the rewards will focus on time shards that you earn from battling, exploring, and solving puzzles in the Gnomiverse that you can spend at your base. These will essentially be the Gnomiverse’s regional currency. As this is a kind of end game, it will likely have special stuff to get but it can’t be too powerful for PvP modes, as I want to keep the playing field as level as possible. I’m thinking of special customizations and neighborhood items more than anything else. The catalog of stuff you can get will increase over time as the devs add stuff to it, and hopefully add new events and adversaries as well. Want to keep it fresh and interesting, regardless of which version is used!
Maybe some variants will be only available this way, although I’m not sure if we want to go that route. We certainly could have some interesting buildings for your neighborhood available here. Perhaps this is where we could get the Everlasting Crown and the Everlasting Tiara (basically a different style crown with with a woman’s voice and saying different things to spice things up and have a new option), as I really love the crown in GW2 and was sad we never got it in BfN, although I saw datamining that it was in the works. Definitely some odd customizations, like a gnome clock head piece with animations and other unusual and stunning ways to make our characters stand out would be great ideas for rewards from the Gnomiverse.
