The FFXI "Gyms of Vana'diel" Self Improvement Reborn!

[kingfury]

I'd like to say a big "Thank You" to everyone that took the time to post feedback both good and bad to help further flesh out this concept! Even though the message board traffic has slowed tremendously lol I still have wonderful ideas pouring out've my head in regards to this concept each day ^^/ A big thanks to Community Rep Camate for being awesome and forwarding the idea to the Devs /salute. I'll update the "Enemy Hordes" section as my final piece to this idea, and leave it in the all to capable hands of the Dev Team from there. Again many thanks for everyone that followed, and read this thread. Take care! Happy FFXI playing! /later

[Siros]

I must say this is an awesome concept,i like it,and i back it completely.

!.) This is a great idea for making skill ups fun,adding something new and enjoyable ta the game.
2.)This also gives players who dont have a lot of time during the week something rewarding ta do instead of boring old crafting...

U sir are a bright one,i applaud u /cheer

[kingfury]

I must say this is an awesome concept,i like it,and i back it completely.
!.) This is a great idea for making skill ups fun,adding something new and enjoyable ta the game.
2.)This also gives players who dont have a lot of time during the week something rewarding ta do instead of boring old crafting...
U sir are a bright one,i applaud u /cheer

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/kneel Thank you much friend for the feedback/support and compliment ^^/

[kingfury]

**EDIT TO ORIGINAL**
ENEMY HORDES
Description: Enemy Hordes is a gymnasium game that pits players against wave after wave of ever increasing beastmen combatants trying to prevent them from reaching their commanding beastmen officers. Akin to the heated fast pace action of Campaign battles, Enemy Hordes combines intense combat with entertaining game strategies and co-op play with both players and npcs to achieve victory.

System Mechanics:
Combat and Magic skill ups will be possible to acquire during these battles. In the middle of each game room would be a "Gym Manual" that would offer Horde options that once set would begin the regimen. The selected difficulty can range from Easy Prey to Incredibly Tough, and even Impossible to Gauge in special elite regimens. Participants ranging from one to six can participate in this Gym game. Like all Gym games, players will be able to choose a version option of play (similar to the PvP version options) including Standard, Official, and Enhanced. Players will have a K.O. limit of 3 before no longer being able to reraise and participate in the game. If all participants have reached their K.O. limit, the game will be lost and eject the players from the game room.

Playing the Game:
Waves:
Upon starting the regimen, a random number of beastmen will spawn around all participants and begin to attack any near by players. These groups of enemies are considered "waves". The ultimate goal of Enemy Hordes is to successfully decimate all enemy waves in an effort to reach the corresponding beastman NM Boss and defeat it.
Wave Mechanics:
Regardless of the random number of spawned beastmen per enemy wave, once the beastmen combatant numbers have suffered a 50% loss, special npc helpers called "Demolition Specialist"(aka DS) will appear to aid both players and beastmen alike. The npc Demolition Specialists for players will appear as one of the Vana'diel races, while the beastmen npc Demolition Specialists will be imps. The number of player Demolition Specialist npcs that appear will depend on the remaining number of beastmen. Alternatively, the number of imps will depend on the number of players. While these npcs will have moderate HP, they are not fighters, thus are not very durable and will perish quickly if not supported. Players will want to focus on disposing of the enemy helpers quickly to ensure a successful wave as these helpers hold the potential to do massive damage if successful in their mission.
Demolition Specialist:
The sole mission of these npc specialist is to quickly decimate any remaining combatants in the current wave by successfully attaching and rigging powerful explosives to one of the opposing combatants. They are incredibly proficient in the art of quickly rigging explosives, but have never lifted a weapon in their lives and thus must be protected in order fulfill their critical role during waves. Each npc will be stunned for 5 seconds after taking 1-2 melee hits(1 critical hit will stun) or 1-2 damaging magic spells(1 magical critical hit will stun). They have, however, been trained in the art of complete and unflinching focus while performing their task, so are immune to all forms of stun, petrification, paralyze, slow, and sleep(JA or spell forms).
These specialist need exactly 10 seconds to successfully rig an explosive to an enemy. Any combatant targeted by these specialist will become temporarily bound until the they are interrupted and stunned. Once rigged, the explosive will instantly K.O. the rigged combatant and severely damage any surrounding team combatants with a far reaching and potent AoE blast radius. This can completely turn the tide of any wave battle, which is why these helpers are crucial(yet not mandatory) in successfully making quick work of an enemy wave.
Upon successfully rigging an explosive, the DS npcs will disappear and all players will flash a level up animation that restores to full HP/MP and signals a slight increase in skill ups. Each successfully planted explosive will yield a time bonus reduction to the necessary rigging time by 1 second the next time the npcs appear, up to a maximum reduction of -5 seconds. This bonus will wear off, and the rigging time will be reset completely should any of the npcs be K.O.'d. Should these npcs fail to complete their mission due to being K.O.'d, there appearance in the very next wave will be delayed until the following wave.
Boss Beastmen NM:
After successfully decimating wave after wave of beastmen, players will face a final wave of beastmen that includes a Boss Beastman NM. These NMs are the very same legendary Beastmen NMs from the bloodstained battlefields of the Wings of the Goddess Campaign zones. They appear in this game commanding multiple DS imps amongst other beastmen. A delicate balance of both focus and speed will have to be displayed by players when facing these bosses as they will occasionally summon random numbers of DS imps to cripple the advancing player combatants. Players will also have the chance to successfully rig explosives on the surrounding enemy combatants in an effort to score high damage against the enemy beastmen, DS imps, and the Boss NM. If players were successful in maintaining the time bonus reduction to the DS rigging time throughout the preceding waves, there should be wonderfully fast-paced, crippling explosions going on all around the battle. Player DS's, unfortunately, will not be able to rig their explosives directly on the Boss NMs. Once the Boss NM has fallen, the game will be won.

Rewards:
EXP, "Tokens", and "Medals" are the rewards for completing a Enemy Hordes game. The use of "Medals" could drastically improve game session results since they will be designed to enhance certain aspects of a players performance, like the rate of which skill ups occur, enhanced attack speeds, rapid refresh, and more, while undertaking game sessions. Such Medals will require moderate amounts of tokens to acquire, but the end results would be well worth the effort.

[kingfury]

Enemy Hordes equates to my cure for Campaign's lack of skill ups, and other drawbacks. It would be a scaled down, and personal version, but the intensity of the battles should feel the same, if not escalated. I personally enjoy Campaign, and feel that it should allow skill ups, but what I'm proposing would just be plain fun lol. On demand battles with no waiting, no showing up to the end of a campaign battle feeling shafted, and the possibility of improved skill ups all wrapped together with the fun of a six-man party run. Sounds like cake + ice cream to me ^^

[Rambus]

Gonna add my like on op PAGE/ Post

[kingfury]

Gonna add my like on op PAGE/ Post

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Thanks Rambus ^^/ I'll be adding some more illustrations to the mix of Gym Games and I'll need to use your Taru once again as a model

[Harpalina]

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Thanks Rambus ^^/ I'll be adding some more illustrations to the mix of Gym Games and I'll need to use your Taru once again as a model

Mine tooooooo

[Rambus]

board? how are you with video editing?

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/th...i-knew-how-lol)

<3

[Duelle]

I'll add my support to this thread. Very nice idea in making an official activity for skill ups. Hope the devs utilize it.

With all the pokemon comparisons, I for some reason foresee gimmick-based gym leaders in the major cities. >.>