Players used to conduct small raids in cities, directing their attention towards the guild halls and quest NPCs, just on the hunch that they dropped exceptional loot, specifically the Temple of Marr in North Freeport. There are lengthy discussions on Allakhazam about which NPCs were rumored to drop what, speculation mostly fed with white lies. Though city raids were uncommon, the Tunare server saw a few guilds target the Monk guild house in West Freeport semi-regularly; at least killing those resulted in a black headband or two.
But the assumption back then seemed to be that guild masters were akin to General V or Eejag in the lava pit, daring players to attack them; if you could kill gods and receive godlike rewards, why not guild trainers? With additional targets, having to crawl through each section of the Neriak would have been good practice for intermediate players too low for Hate.
Visually at least, the devs kept that misconception alive with the Overthere outpost and Firiona Vie, both having a besieged look and both sending guards out into the xp areas. Overthere golems drew enough interest from duos/trios (or at least it does now) and the dragoons kept up a certain level of tension throughout the zone. If it weren't for the greedy merchants and faction, OT would have felt more active.
Whereas all of Firiona Vie, including the tunnels underwater and underground, could have made for a decent widespread raid event, similar to the ring war where the results of a failure would be seen later throughout the city, in this case not being able to board the Maiden's Voyage because the port is overrun with pirates. In place of a scripted event, there are random clashes that give the appearance of an ongoing conflict, with the fieldsurgeons running in a big loop and suiciding into Drolvargs the way, which is basically a higher level version of Guard Cheslin strutting around dying to gnolls.
Skyshrine, Kael, and Chardok 2.0 all have citylike features, but the bankers and merchants still seem slightly out of place. Players can group and raid in all three, but there doesn't seem to be much overlap between the city and dungeon parts. Highkeep is probably the best in terms of design. It blurs the line between city and dungeon perfectly. The zone just needs a larger basement area and maybe the inclusion of Highpass.
|