It would be cool if the quest boards were public. Like a bulletin board. Anyone can post a request, maybe for a small fee paid to the board owner. So it’s a way for those who don’t want to run a shop to be able to place requests. And the board owner makes a bunch of money on footfall and maybe listing fees. And it also makes for a sort of ‘water cooler’ for players to meet and socialize.
Ive seen it suggested again that putting NPCs in prefab dwellings to buy stuff or offer quests is against the games core, which is why I suggest again to do it with the fella that just stands around at the sanctum all day. Hes already there, hes gotta be bored, hes easily accessible to everyone…
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Player made quests would be a good thing. A player “builds” a quest from a Mad Libs style menu - Bring (Number) of (ItemName) to (Location); Slay (Number) of (CreatureName) etc…
The harder a quest, the more it costs to “build” and the price of the quest may be 100 fiber leaves and 50 wood, etc. Or maybe 10 topaz for a high level quest.
Once built, you get a token to put in a quest machine, you add materials to the quest machine to use as fuel, and every time someone completes your quest you spend fuel and get… coins or exp? You’d start to finally see a use for useless items like Tallow (without randomly adding it to recipes) and also would start to see Quest Shops pop up. Sounds fun, can’t wait! Jk lol.
The Devs could tweak the material requirement probability for quests to ask for more of the most currently useless or most stockpiled items every week.
Also you could customize the quest reward - such as have it give rough gems - for players grinding at the Gem Wall. Or add exp as a quest reward.
I’m in a settlement but not where I get a lot of footfall, and I truthfully don’t care about it. I am thinking of the aspect of players being bored and quitting. Items we gather and get from various sources are not selling, and some shops are unfair in what they pay and sell for. I’ve had this conversation before, you can look up my remarks on it if you want. Same on footfall, there were changes needed, but I think it went a bit drastic in nerfing.
Footfall only helps those who are very close to cities/settlements that get a lot of traffic. What about the players who live away from places and don’t get footfall, can’t find anyone who will give more than one or two coins for items and charge 50 to 100 coin for it? New players can’t afford it. They get bored as no one is buying what they gathered. We need a way to keep them playing, quests, places that buy common loot, flint, tallow, foliage, leaves and other that we get a lot of and can’t sell.
I’ve tossed them away sometimes when I get too much.
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This is my first MMO but my son is disabled so his life has become video games. He plays all types and MMOs are his favorite. He goes if set up is done right a auction house would work. Many MMOs have them and they work, and don’t destroy the game.
With all the sellers in one area, even if one on each planet, the sellers will be competing with each other and can agree on a fair price. No going to a shop and seeing a price of 100c for glue and another and seeing it for 25c. The one asking 100c will give 2c for the sap and the other gives 6c. Which one would you buy from? But, if you don’t know that shop is there, or the seller is in a settlement, you will be stuck buying the high price, run out of money quick and be resentful, you can’t advance as you can’t get the needed tools.
Most players don’t visit communities/forums, most don’t watch lets play videos. They will quit and trash the game. Current players are losing because of no sells and no income. They quit, tired of nothing to do, items aren’t selling. This game Will Die if something isn’t done. Dev need to get their heads out of the sand and do something quick.
Create a character like the one in the sanctum, have it in random areas that when you approach him you click and a pop up appears that gives choices for quests, or even to buy certain items, the ones that are easy to get and give little coin, rock, tallow and other. The quests will give coins, a nice amount so players can buy items at the shop. Give the players something to do and coin. A win-win situation.
I can see why you would want to add NPC’s, however, like others have said, it did seem a bit out of place in this particular game.
The idea of quest boards that players can create their own quests is a good one, I think.
Craftable quest board, but only one per settlement, only the warden can craft and place. And everyone that is part of the settlement can post quest.
Let’s say it starts simple with fetch quests for rewards.
Everyone can craft a quest completion stand to place in their own beacon, this is where the quest is designed. Once the reward is added to the stand a token is generated, then the token is placed in the communal noticeboard.
Reward can be coin or items.
Eg:
Citizen creates ‘collect x inky leaves for fancy gem hammer’, place fancy gem hammer in completion stand. Token is generated.
Take token to communal quest board, stick it in, quest appears for public to view.
Adventurous citizen checks out board, thinks I can get those, or already have those. Takes token, quest is activated.
Takes quest token to completion stand, inserts token and inky leaves, is able to remove fancy gem hammer.
Quests can be time limited, after 24 hours token returns to board for example.
Citizens can be limited to how many created quests they can have at any one time, and how many active quest tokens they can collect at any one time.
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Nobody needs coins because everyone can do everything themselves. I have an alt to go mining, to cook food, to hunt, to make tools, to build, to gather surface resources. They’re all level ~30 and masters in their respective fields. If I want brews and loafs I don’t buy them, I make them. If I’m out of resources to make food I switch to my hunter/gather alts and get them. Then I send out my miner all brewed and tooled up to fetch buckets of rock, which he gives to my alts so they can level up without ever leaving home. He also gets enough ore and gems to craft all our coils and tools.
The one thing I didn’t mention at all in this story is coins. I don’t need them. My alts trade items to each other safely, effortlessly, and at a fair price of zero coins. Maybe I will need 10 or 12 gleam to accent a build and I’m too lazy to head to code gleam. (Or that alt is busy watching rocks craft into XP while he sits in sanctum clutching a teaching food.) So I head to a store and buy some gleam totaling 100c of transactions. I won’t need to buy anything for another week. I certainly would never sell anything, because one of my alts can use it.
We are all doing this alt shuffle and then simultaneously complaining that there is no player economy and no way to make money. There’s no economy because we don’t need one. There’s no way to make money because no one needs money. It doesn’t do anything except solve the problem of borrowing a cup of flour from the neighbor in a pinch. We are all playing a single player game where we are constantly inconvenienced by the presence of other players’ plots getting in the way of our team of alts’ dreams.
I could imagine some sort of MMO sandbox game where players have to specialize and trade with other specializers to get everything they need. And the high level players, having been the most dedicated to the game, can specialize in a few things. This game would have players grouping up to get the alt effect. Society and friendships would form. They would have to trade with other humans where trust is an issue. And they would need a currency to do that. But that’s not Boundless. My advice is to level up a ton of alts. If you can’t beat em, join em.
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Rare randomly generated travelling merchant npcs that despawn after a few hours would be a great way to generate coin off of excess items, while providing an item sink for the excess materials people gather. Prices could be based off of a range of the various prices of each items historical value, divided by 10. Eg - gems could be worth 200-2000c so you would be able to sell them for 20-200c to the travelling merchant
Items like Flint that has been at 1-10 coin would be valued at 1c for 10 Flint to 1c per flint
These merchants would not sell, but if they did they could sell whathas been sold to them at the x10 value until they despawn and take the items out of the game. This could be a viable way to make mimic players that keep the economy in check
I truthfully am glad that you can. But everyone is not you and not as capable. I am a perfect example. I played only match three games. Son nagged for me to advance, get out of my safe box. Bought Sims 3, let me create, gain skills, do what would be quests, expansion packs gave me places to visit and gather items. I could do different careers and advance to highest level.
But, there was no real danger, no real challenge although I had a lot of fun. Son again nagging for me to get out of that box. I suffer from some health problems and am now basically disabled and for all intents homebound. I’m 63, barely able to walk, in pain a lot have problems with nerves in my hands that causes my fingers to twitch and arms to jerk all of a sudden.
I will never be able to do what you do in games. Medications, they have side effects, two have as main ones, mental confusion and memory problems.
All of this affects my ability to play. Not whining, just the facts, I’ve learned a long time ago to accept it.
I Can Not travel on my own to level 4 or higher planets and survive. And I will Not be a burden on others and join them. I can make my own food, do hunting to kill the animals I need for food and items. I have made most of the machinery, except the centerforge (or whatever it is called).
Without my son, I know, positively, that I may not have been able to play this game at the start with my health problems. I know what I am capable of doing and can’t. I will honestly admit that if my son had not been with me and I had known about footfall and because of other reasons, I would have built close to a settlement and learned of footfall. Then I may have been able to survive and learned, but not have advanced far. I can not, nor will I ever be able to go to a planet higher than a 3 level on my own, I know my limits.
There are many others who can not do what you did, children, although some could run circles around some adult players I am sure, but not all. Older people who are experiencing this game as they get out of their safe box.
I do not want footfall for me, I can survive. I don’t need to have someone take care of me, I’m doing okay and want to advance on my own. I accepted the gift of a emerald hammer that when my son comes back to playing will go with him to level four and five planets. He was going to level four when at levels in low 20 and taking on mobs and not dying, getting level 2 meteorites. When I am with him, I die at least two times and he will die once protecting me. But I am having fun and will do better over time.
Sorry to be so long, and this isn’t to be a poor thing post, I don’t need or want pity. Just for you to see that not everyone can play as you do and need some assistance on their own. Saying if I can do it and you should be able to is, to me, lack of empathy for those who want to try and can’t do as good as others for whatever reason.
I am now at level 34, making my own tools and weapons, I think I can make gold fists and gold slingbows. I’m making gold alloy and got some silver to make silver alloy. Make some of the stews, casseroles and other foods that are a help. Not the higher level ones, but will be there soon.
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All true, but I think coins are useful as purchases of convenience. If I’m all out of some item and it’s going to take hours to craft more of it, maybe I’d rather buy it instead. The problem is that coin is not easy to acquire right now for the average player. Unless you have a well-known shop or have a central plot in a well-traveled settlement, you’re not going to be rolling in coins. It’s hard to convince myself to open up my coinpurse for convenience purchases when I’m not sure when I’ll be able to earn that back.
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Which is why npc’s that would buy maybe just the basic materials for 1c a piece might be good. Everyone can mine rock even a new player. Location means nothing to your income unlike footfall, but instead it would be based on effort. Even if the npc only bought rock, foliage, trunks, dirt and other low level items. It still preserves the crafted items to be sold through shops, but would put coin into the economy.
Edit. Use the sanctum guy to do the exchange. They are already in place with as has been stated, nothing to do.
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That is why we need some quests or something for new and lower level players. They can’t afford or don’t have the needed items to make things or even the time and it is a help.
When my son and I started he had a base on Alder and I joined him. The next day he went to Tana VII to look for a new place for a base. He traveled back and forth to help me. I needed glue, but couldn’t kill the spitters, they killed me, LOL. So I had to buy glue. He can and we went on a hunting trip and I learned more about how to kill them. Now, I can go on hunting trips on my own. Kinda cheat and place blocks down in a area where there are goats and just shoot them and get meat and bones to make glue. That is just one way I have learned to survive.
But, I need the coins to buy silver ore and some other items, not a lot but some.
Kal-El replied as I was typing my response. I agree, even if we can’t get something set up for quests in game that can be done. I’d like to see quests that will help new players to get out. Learn things.
Heck I couldn’t even find my way home at the start. Now no problem, I go to level 1 and two and wander all over the place, some just to see bases. Some to find places to mine.
Good reply and a good example of the difficulties facing MMO design. If what I’m doing is limited to power gamers I am still ruining the game for more casual players by removing myself from the systems that make the game enjoyable for them (buying & selling.)
I no longer think a new coin source will convince people to start trading again. The source can be capped such that the amount benefits the average player more than the power gamer but it still will not give the power gamer a reason to sell their goods. If anything, they are being encouraged to horde further. I could have been convinced to part with my stacks of ancient tech a week ago, but after seeing LED blocks I’m glad I held onto them. This will reinforce my hording mentality going forward. The only thing that would make these players start selling is if they needed money to buy. But since they gather resources at 6x-9x the rate of other players, and they have tailored alts for every task, what would they ever need to buy!
Looking to your original question for “ideas to get the economy going and attract new players?” I think that limiting the abilities of the power gamers could work, but only if we agree that it is the source of the problem. Otherwise it will just be more nerf talk and gnashing of teeth and quitting. The community of players actively benefiting from alts has to decide if we want this game to be such that only the high skill players with the best tools live comfortably while the average player scraps to get by and is forced into exploitative positions which further benefit the power gamers. Or if we would accept starting a conversation about our alts with the intent of allowing more playstyles to flourish in the game.
Lastly I’m disappointed at the gymnastics which turns my optimistic assessment of another player’s capabilities into a supposed lack of empathy. Still, I will admit I was not thinking about players with physical limitations and now that I am, I have no shortage of empathy for the situation. And more important than empathy, compassion.
If you ever do get the urge to visit T4+ worlds I’m sure the community here can brainstorm some ways to make that possible. I have a hunter build which puts all his points into defenses and he can practically go AFK on high tier planets and come back to a 75% health bar. The only things he fears are charging wildstocks and elemental debuffs from elemental creatures. We may be able to devise an alt for you which has these high defenses and uses healing bombs. This would make a nice companion hunter for your son and greatly reduce the burden of death.
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Agreed, but playerdiven economies in sandbox games need… well… players. Maybe its time to rethink some of the initial strategies.
Has anybody suggested save quests. Like spawned noc citizens that need to be saved from mobs and give loot? Like an alternative to meteors?
About 2 months in, and I’m “close” to being able to do it all myself but still haven’t started cooking, brew crafting or forging/building the forge/making a forger. I basically have what I need for cooking minus earthyams, and probably do have what I need for brews. I consider myself casual, but anybody more casual than me simply can’t do it all.
i can see the need for NPC’s while yes the core concept is eveything is player made the current method for getting coins into the game is just not working and thats why the economy is dying you get coins form eather having a high traffic build or being lucky and haveing a shop with a loyal base selling goods to a shop seems to be a hit or miss thing right now with a lot of shops ether not keeping up with demand or just closing down
I suspect that BL has become like many cultures, the rich have the power, don’t want to give it up and so fight against anything that will take that power from them. This doesn’t mean that every person who was here from the start is a power hungry player who wants it all, riches, power and doesn’t care about the new players. I have met on here some who are fantastic people and want to see this game survive and help others.
it is the few who aren’t carrying, and I would go perhaps don’t come here often to read and see how bad things are getting. The increase of the spawns, of all players now getting a chance to get the desired items, gems and ores is helping, but is it too late?
More needs to be done to attact new players or get ones who left back. PR is one are they are also lacking in. When I typed in Boundless to get info, articles on the game I found links to site that were businesses. Not this game.
Maybe devs need to get online and look up this game, see how easy it is to find info on it.
More advertising of not what will come but of what has been changed to make it better for players so ones who quit will come back.
Promote the game as a great family game, one that parents can play with their kids. A lot of kids are better than some adults. My grandchildren, and it disgusts me, were at age 10 and 12 playing Black Ops, at age 14 and 16 are playing ARK, and loving it.
As to why they were allowed, military brats, they know what fighting and killing is so daughter saw no harm in it. I don’t agree, but that is me. There are age limits for reasons. It won’t turn them into killers or “bad people”. I’m old fashioned.
Okay, back on topic. increasing footfall won’t help much for new and low level players, there has to be a way for them to get coins so they can buy what they need. There needs to be something that will get them out going to other planets.
Edit: fixed typo attack to what it should have been attract. Big difference there, LOL
No need for NPCs to deal with this problem. I’ve been long wanting a solution to worthless inventory items as well, but instead of NPCs, we need a deconstruct method. Don’t wanna just throw away hundreds or thousands of blocks of refined stone in the wrong color for your build? Tired of chucking hundreds of worthless growth, now that you’ve harvested all the shimmer orbs you’ll ever get from them? Deconstruct it!
What this gives the player is up to the Devs and game design. It could be XP, coin, or another material used in crafting. The important thing is that the process of deconstructing takes LOTS of material, and therefore is very inefficient as a regular means of acquiring XP, gold or material. It’s really meant to be simply better than throwing it away. And yes this would affect prices and the economy, but only at first. After it stabilized, people would have more reason to buy previously worthless items (even if the value is poor, it’s something), and if the deconstructed outcome is coin, more money for the server.
EDIT: This could also be implemented as just new recipes, but the idea of getting raw XP or coin might justify a new mechanism, and keeping it separate from the already massive recipe machine lists, might be a cleaner approach when it comes to UI considerations.
EDIT AGAIN 
Last thought for now, the deconstruction should also be the same for each category of item. For instance, you don’t have separate functions or outputs for rock vs. stone vs. refined. It’s all just rock. So, deconstructing 1,000 rock will give you x. But deconstructing 1,000 refined rock will still just give you x. This way it’s still better to mass craft rock into stone into refined, for example, before you deconstruct. But it’s not required to do so, nor is it required that the devs make several different and potentially confusing outputs for the essentially the same raw material category. The process should be simple and clean. The last thing we need is in Boundless is another crafting mini-game or complex system.