Well, I had already come up with a few "types" of locations, and was considering making some "proof of concept" scenarios in the Ring, if I could ever tear myself away from goofing off in the normal part of the game and figure out how the Ring works. It's random, but random based on templates which can be easily expanded upon as time progresses.
One example was an area that could be considered a Kitin Farm. Above ground or under ground, this would be an area where Kitin gather animals from various parts of Atys together for whatever purposes, and where they perhaps transplant intelligent flora and control their growth. There may be only plants or animals present, or both may be present. The species of each would be random, and they would not be necessarily restricted to animals from any particular region; the Kitin are bringing them here, they are not developing naturally.
Because of the ordeal they've been put through, any animals present would be hostile. All animals would be caged up, blocked in by fences that need to be attacked and destroyed before the animals can be accessed.
There would be worker Kitin, er, working, and maybe some soldier Kitin patrolling. All "Kitin Farms" would look similar, maybe with minor variations (one animal cage, two animal cages, slightly different layout, etc); but in general, if it works and is efficient, why would the Kitin change it much, eh?
The worker-Kitin would be social/non-aggressive, but would instantly attack if anyone tried to access the animals. If the patrol was within range of the worker Kitin raising an alarm, they would also rush to help. Workers would not necessarily help the patrol unless the fighting happened close by, since their primary duty is tending to the plants and animals. Patrols would continue to respawn for as long as the workers and/or the plants/animals still remained.
The plants and animals would drop a mix of Basic, Fine, and Choice mats; the Kitin did choose these plants and animals specifically for a reason! In very, very rare cases, there could be a chance for an Excellent-grade specimen (at least 10 levels higher than the rest). To clear the site, you specifically need to kill the worker Kitin and kill any plants and animals present. The patrols would stop spawning and patrolling, and the location would become inactive.
The level range of everything would be random. One Kitin Farm could have creatures in the q50 range, but the next time you visit a Kitin Farm, it could be q250. Because higher-grade mats are more useful as the level rises, chances for a q50 Excellent are higher than for a q250 Excellent.
In this particular type of location, I didn't make a note for any forage resources. In areas that would have them, they are a limited quantity, similar to PR resources, and they could randomly contain mats from Basic to Supreme, q50 to q250. Once you deplete all the fields in the area, they're gone. It would be best not to node-kill dig in these kinds of areas =)
This is sort of what I was thinking, with a bunch of other kinds of discoverable locations. Some could be as simple as an old abandoned (Homin?) distribution site which might not have anything to find. There could be a destroyed town from the Old Lands that has since been overgrown; looking around might lead you to discover an Amber Cube that the Civs would dearly love to have and maybe (?) add information to the group's Encyclopedia once it was decrypted.
Others could be the rare Kitin Swarm Gathering where you could face multiple waves of groups of high-level soldier Kitin, led by one or more q270 Supreme bosses in close proximity. This could be a way to introduce un-implemented bosses, such as Kincherkoo, without upsetting the balance of existing areas. If you fail to clear this site before it despawns, it could trigger a short-term Kitin invasion =)
(Oh, and if.. well, when you wipe to the Kitin Swarm Gathering location, you aren't guaranteed to find your way back in because the tunnels could have collapsed permanently behind you)
One example was an area that could be considered a Kitin Farm. Above ground or under ground, this would be an area where Kitin gather animals from various parts of Atys together for whatever purposes, and where they perhaps transplant intelligent flora and control their growth. There may be only plants or animals present, or both may be present. The species of each would be random, and they would not be necessarily restricted to animals from any particular region; the Kitin are bringing them here, they are not developing naturally.
Because of the ordeal they've been put through, any animals present would be hostile. All animals would be caged up, blocked in by fences that need to be attacked and destroyed before the animals can be accessed.
There would be worker Kitin, er, working, and maybe some soldier Kitin patrolling. All "Kitin Farms" would look similar, maybe with minor variations (one animal cage, two animal cages, slightly different layout, etc); but in general, if it works and is efficient, why would the Kitin change it much, eh?
The worker-Kitin would be social/non-aggressive, but would instantly attack if anyone tried to access the animals. If the patrol was within range of the worker Kitin raising an alarm, they would also rush to help. Workers would not necessarily help the patrol unless the fighting happened close by, since their primary duty is tending to the plants and animals. Patrols would continue to respawn for as long as the workers and/or the plants/animals still remained.
The plants and animals would drop a mix of Basic, Fine, and Choice mats; the Kitin did choose these plants and animals specifically for a reason! In very, very rare cases, there could be a chance for an Excellent-grade specimen (at least 10 levels higher than the rest). To clear the site, you specifically need to kill the worker Kitin and kill any plants and animals present. The patrols would stop spawning and patrolling, and the location would become inactive.
The level range of everything would be random. One Kitin Farm could have creatures in the q50 range, but the next time you visit a Kitin Farm, it could be q250. Because higher-grade mats are more useful as the level rises, chances for a q50 Excellent are higher than for a q250 Excellent.
In this particular type of location, I didn't make a note for any forage resources. In areas that would have them, they are a limited quantity, similar to PR resources, and they could randomly contain mats from Basic to Supreme, q50 to q250. Once you deplete all the fields in the area, they're gone. It would be best not to node-kill dig in these kinds of areas =)
This is sort of what I was thinking, with a bunch of other kinds of discoverable locations. Some could be as simple as an old abandoned (Homin?) distribution site which might not have anything to find. There could be a destroyed town from the Old Lands that has since been overgrown; looking around might lead you to discover an Amber Cube that the Civs would dearly love to have and maybe (?) add information to the group's Encyclopedia once it was decrypted.
Others could be the rare Kitin Swarm Gathering where you could face multiple waves of groups of high-level soldier Kitin, led by one or more q270 Supreme bosses in close proximity. This could be a way to introduce un-implemented bosses, such as Kincherkoo, without upsetting the balance of existing areas. If you fail to clear this site before it despawns, it could trigger a short-term Kitin invasion =)
(Oh, and if.. well, when you wipe to the Kitin Swarm Gathering location, you aren't guaranteed to find your way back in because the tunnels could have collapsed permanently behind you)