Sunday, 15th June 2014, 23:34 by SchwaWarrior
A lot of people are saying the shop generation is useless, because you have to spend a ton of gold for the slight chance of something you want showing up in it.
So, how about this idea: each shop you open up is generated with better and better items, using an offshoot of the Acquirement algorithm. So like, early on when you spend 1,000 on an Armour shop, you'll get things you usually see in an Armour shop, various +0s and +1s of various, ordinary armour and shield types, maybe a couple randarts or exotic pieces such as Mottled or Trollhide. But later on, if you're spending 1,800 or 2,000 on an Armour shop after you've already opened a couple other shops, the entire lineup is high enchantments in the +3 to +6 range, and several more of them have Egos or are good randarts.
Perhaps this feature could be added too: every shop you pay for using Gozag is guaranteed to have, say, 1 to 3 Acquirement items, straight up. In addition to that, while it is only an aesthetic change, the name of any Gozag-bought shop is special and different, chosen from a different list of names than normal shops are. This would give Gozag more of a feel of exclusiveness.
I like people's idea of being able to purchase mercenaries too, instead of bribing the whole branch to be non-hostile. I think the Bribe Branch idea makes you miss out on a LOT of XP, which is not good. Somehow that ability does need to be changed into something else.
Really, for all his abilities, I like the idea of all of Gozag's powers gradually getting more and more powerful as you play. How do you like this idea: all Gozag's powers should become gradually stronger based on a combination of gold you pick up, as well as gold you spend on Gozag powers. Thing is the system needs to be such that it dissuades players from "spending potions on nothing" just to rev up his future potions, but it also has to be such that players can't just expect to not use hardly any potion powers and wait until the potion powers are automatically more powerful before purchasing any. Maybe, as Gozag is the god of greed, he would look most favorably on adventurers who not only amass lots of gold, but spend it on Gozag instead of hoard it for themselves. I'm just spitballing here though.
As it is now though, Gozag's potions and shops getting more and more expensive but staying the same in effectiveness as the game goes on, makes it so that there's zero reason why I WOULDN'T switch gods in the later game, once I felt the powers stopped being useful enough. And sure this isn't the first god to be like that-- Okawaru is a good example, as many players switch from him to TSO late-game for an advantage in the Hells and in Pan for a 15-rune win-- but Okawaru wasn't "designed to be abandoned", it just so happened that that's a legitimate strategy for some melee-specialist players. And right now I couldn't say the same for Gozag.
Maybe Gozag should get a piety system after all, that never decays, and instead just slowly rises as gold is amassed (and also spent on powers? maybe? kinda like how using up Nemelex decks generates piety?), and even though you have all your Gozag powers from the get-go, having higher piety results in more expensive, but more powerful, potions and shops and mercenaries. So a *..... potion effect might be "Heal Wounds and Agility" at best, whereas a *****. might be "Heal Wounds x 3, Magic, Might, Agility, Haste and Resistance" all at once. People's ideas of petitioning scrolls is a good idea too; Scrolls of Silence or Vulnerability or Summoning are somewhat uncommon for example, and also, it would be a sweet advantage to allow Scroll petitions to work while Silenced, as one of Gozag's special features that is unique to this god.
Those are all my ideas on this god for now! Gozag is too unique and special a god idea for me to want to admit that he's underpowered, so anything that can be done to put him up there on the "god tier list" for players would make me really happy.
--Schwa, your local muse forever and long-time High Elf fangirl ^_~
(also the master of Quadri-Birds)
TheProvocateur: I like how we're sprinting at a pile of greater mummies
- For this message the author SchwaWarrior has received thanks: 2
- Arrhythmia, n1000