How to incentivize non-meta builds: a new series of dynamic vendor quests

I challenged myself yesterday to come up with a method of incentivizing slower builds in a way that meets the following criteria:

1) Don't incentivize it so greatly that people stop playing fast builds altogether, and slow play becomes the new meta creating the reverse situation

2) Make it revolve around something slower players do already, that super speed builds can't just opt into doing, but with 10x more efficiently than the slow builds.

3) It must still fit thematically within the ARPG genre, and with what PoE is at its core.

4) It must not reward 45 second map clears - that playstyle has every advantage currently across any spectrum you want to measure (save, perhaps, for the ability to stop and appreciate the graphical beauty of some of the map art).

5) The process and reward should be something that the player archetype in question (lower damage, non meta skill gem based builds) will enjoy doing regularly.

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My answer is the WFC - the War Fortification Campaign, and it goes hand in hand with your hideout, and which Forsaken Masters you choose to invite.

War is on the horizon in Wraeclast. The Ebony Legion has found cruel allies in a far away land, and their assault on Wraeclast is imminent. We know that the Forsaken Masters stood against Dominus' tyranny. Now they have returned to their roots to raise small companies of brave souls to fight off this most foul invasion.

There is but one problem, exile. They have need of arms and armour to take up the fight. This is where we come in. The forsaken masters, once invited to your hideout, will have a perpetual state of quest offering apart from their dailies. These new Fortification Campaign quests are separate, and can be done as often as you can complete them - when you finish one, a new one is offered if you choose to accept it.

The quests will revolve around finding 6-12 pieces of loot, picking it up, and trading to the master in a separate window. You won't receive alteration shards for this loot as you normally would - you're trading it to them in exchange for a reward upon quest completion.

Masters will ask for loot appropriate to their flavor - Catarina might ask for 6 pair of boots, magic or better, that have energy shield. Haku may require 10 two-handed melee weapons. You don't need to turn them in all at once, or have them all be from the same map/area. The master will send the goods off to their War Company for use in the fight against the Ebony Legion. They will reward you with one of the following:

A random Divination Card appropriate to the master in question. (Weighted so that Abandoned Wealth and Bowyer's Dream aren't being handed out like candy)

A currency reward roughly equivalent to Emperor's Luck (the value of which is worth at least 5 Alteration Orbs, since you're not getting shards for what you turn in, with a slightly lower chance of getting the top tier stuff - basically a higher floor, lower ceiling Emperor's Luck).

An unidentified rare jewel.

In addition, upon quest completion, you will be rewarded a flat amount of experience equal to approximately 20% of a full cleared map of the lowest iLvl of gear you turned in for the quest. For a simple example, suppose Haku wants those 10 two-handed weapons, and you procure them all from the Tropical Island. Everything you turn in will be iLvl 68-70 (unless you're very picky/clever). If the average T1 map (zone level 68) yields 100,000 exp on a full clear, you will gain 20,000 exp for completing the quest.

This experience bonus will count all iLvls above 74 as being iLvl 74. Basically meaning that this bonus is of very small impact to anyone running T7+ maps.

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Does this system meet the criteria I set out?

I feel like one thing slower players do is pick up yellow items, while a widespread characteristic of speed builds is to leave everything on the ground. Will speed farm builds go out of their way to do this? Seems doubtful. To take 2 or 3 trips back to town would constitute at least 50% more time spent in exchange for 20% exp capped at T6 level exp.

As a result, players in the first camp are rewarded for something they probably already do, and players in the latter camp are still easily getting more exp per hour.

The mechanics involved utilize things that are in the game already, and still reward killing monsters with loot and exp, just in a slower paced way. Could this result in more players trying out and enjoying thorns builds, multi skill builds, combo / set-up builds, etc? I think and hope so.

We've seen quite a bit of discussion lately about meta build X, meta build Y, speed clearing maps, and the state of monster damage. This isn't about a build, it's about a playstyle that GGG has been pushing (willingly so or not) us to play. Its the hyper speed, hyper efficient, one-button-spam race car style. Don't stop to cast a curse - Blasphemy will do that for you. Did you know you can hard cast Immortal Call? I mean you don't, in today's meta, but you could!

Even if you don't agree that the gap between meta and off-meta builds is too large atm, I hope this was at least thought provoking.

Isn't this just incentivising Stash tabs?

I think this is a very good idea and I hope we'll see something like this in the future. I like how you tied it in with the lore. And since you don't have to turn them in all at once it isn't incentivizing stash tabs imo.

I like MOST of it. My issue is with the EXP. NO quest in POE gives XP. Ever. They've not done it before, and I'd prefer GGG sticks to this policy. The REST of it, I like it. Just drop the XP part.

I like the idee, shouldn't be hard to implement either. I'm usually avoiding overly powerful builds and tend to pick up most of the trash, something like this would provide slow goers with something to do and lift some of the pressure to play a fotm build.

Currently players have to invent quests of their own, something like:
- when you find a turd unique, pick up three more same base items and get 5 chance orbs
- identify magic jewelry and popular bases, craft further if the mod is good

game NEEEEDDSS more end game stuff other than maps, i thought lab would be but it really isnt,

this should go to tier 11 maps range

I like the idea, seems in line with some of the act quests but in maps.

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Nssheepster wrote:

I like MOST of it. My issue is with the EXP. NO quest in POE gives XP. Ever. They've not done it before, and I'd prefer GGG sticks to this policy. The REST of it, I like it. Just drop the XP part.

Well they hadn't done anything like the Labyrinth before either, but that's not a good enough reason to keep content out of the game. Gotta keep innovating.

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horstkaracho wrote:

since you don't have to turn them in all at once it isn't incentivizing stash tabs imo.

Correct, HOWEVER - incentivizing stash tabs is pretty par for the course at this point with new content, so if by some act of god they did something like this, I would expect them to make you save them up or something -_-

Not saying that in a begrudging way, they have bills to pay and mouths to feed.

Well, it seems like Prophecy lines up with the *intentions* of most what I wrote, if not the execution - right down to it taking up some of your stash space :P

Seems like some of the prophecies spoiled infer some epic boss fighting, dynamically going to non map areas, completing quest chains, and otherwise incentivizing play that isn't map > engage turbo boosters > ignore loot > open next map.

Now, now, you got what you asked for, more or less. The last time it happened to me we got currency tabs :)