Shops in hamlets.

[quantumsaint]

Another thing I just thought of would be if during hamlet defense the monsters started attacking the buildings, similar to campaign in FFXI. Then crafters would have something to do during hamlet defense as well (repairing buildings). If the building is at a certain level when the battle is over, then the doors will open and you can buy materials at prices depending on how well the building was defended.

[normalforce]

Another thing I just thought of would be if during hamlet defense the monsters started attacking the buildings, similar to campaign in FFXI. Then crafters would have something to do during hamlet defense as well (repairing buildings). If the building is at a certain level when the battle is over, then the doors will open and you can buy materials at prices depending on how well the building was defended.

The idea has merit but I think ultimately it depends on a number of factors.

How often does the Hamlet Defenses occur? Once or twice a day, no problem. Once or twice an hour (24 to 48 a day!), no way. An unpopular hamlet would always have its buildings in a perpetual state of disrepair which would drive people away from it and to the more popular hamlet.

Something else that would influence this is how much damage could a building sustain during an successful/unsuccessful Hamlet defense? Could it go from 100% to 1% in just one battle or over the course of a week's worth of battles? So, are you constantly and endlessly repairing buildings with little gain or is it something that needs a bit of player input every once and a while?


What could make it more successful is if the repairs were available through a bunch of leves (ones that are scaled to your current crafting leve so you're not crafting something 20 levels below your current level for a little to non-existent reward) where each crafting class has a list of items needed to help repair the hamlet. Even better would be if these leves could be picked up at the Adventure's Guild from each city the hamlet is a part of.

And to round out the leve experience, new leves get offered to deliver the goods to the Hamlets. These leves are part chocobo race, part dodging monsters. Every hit results in dropping or damaging some of the goods being delivered.

[AmyRae]

The idea has merit but I think ultimately it depends on a number of factors.

How often does the Hamlet Defenses occur? Once or twice a day, no problem. Once or twice an hour (24 to 48 a day!), no way. An unpopular hamlet would always have its buildings in a perpetual state of disrepair which would drive people away from it and to the more popular hamlet.

Something else that would influence this is how much damage could a building sustain during an successful/unsuccessful Hamlet defense? Could it go from 100% to 1% in just one battle or over the course of a week's worth of battles? So, are you constantly and endlessly repairing buildings with little gain or is it something that needs a bit of player input every once and a while?

One way around this is the "If you build it, they will come," model.

That is, an unpopular, ignored hamlet doesn't get attacked as much, if at all, so it doesn't end up a constant, lost cause.

But the more a hamlet that gets its defenses raised (in whatever activities players can better prepare it for battle), the more it gets seen as a threat, and it's attacked by greater and more dangerous forces. And of course, the rewards for victory are all the sweeter, too, so this escalation is encouraged.

But if two or three people want to be heroes in a neglected hamlet, they could still raise its defenses and thwart a small invasion they can handle.

[normalforce]

One way around this is the "If you build it, they will come," model.

That is, an unpopular, ignored hamlet doesn't get attacked as much, if at all, so it doesn't end up a constant, lost cause.

But the more a hamlet that gets its defenses raised (in whatever activities players can better prepare it for battle), the more it gets seen as a threat, and it's attacked by greater and more dangerous forces. And of course, the rewards for victory are all the sweeter, too, so this escalation is encouraged.

But if two or three people want to be heroes in a neglected hamlet, they could still raise its defenses and thwart a small invasion they can handle.

This is genius! It never occurred to me that the more built up a Hamlet becomes, the more enticing of a target it could be. The more furnished Hamlet's have more to lose and thus offer greater rewards when successfully defended.

Here's hoping that SE can take some of the wonderful ideas from this thread and turn this Hamlet Defense into a wonderful, in-depth mini game of its own.

[Endemerrin]

I will be very disappointed if SE drops the ball on this one. Campaign/Besieged was one of my favorite things to do in FFXI simply because it was a really fun way to kill time. The fighting itself was fun, and the rewards made it actually feel rewarding on top of that.

If they pulled off both of those factors, I think it would boost the longevity of patch 1.21 and proceeding patches by a massive amount all the way up to 2.0. The problem we have right now is after a patch drops, people are left with not much to do once it's all completed. Where as with the potential Hamlet Defense has, we would all have something to do to kill time and have fun, all while being rewarded for our actions.

I really, really like the idea of building up hamlets. That seems like the absolute perfect idea to make an involved experience for everyone. Disciples of the Land could get quests to supply material, and Disciples of the Hand could get "leves" to make material to fortify the hamlets out of the resources brought in by disciples of the land.

Gates could be fortified, buildings could be fortified, NPC garrisons could be outfitted in stronger gear and better weapons. Canons could be crafted as well to help in the defense.

And as noted in another post, the more fortified a Hamlet becomes, the stronger and more frequent the Imperial (I'm assuming this is going to be the Imperial V. Eorzean conflict) forces would become. It could just start with footsoldiers and their war hounds. Eventually you'd start seeing centurions mixed into the equation. Eventually the footsoldiers could be phased out in exchange for the empire's elite centurions. Perhaps even have Juggernauts appear at high enough fortification levels.

Perhaps if players reached a "maximum" fortification level (not something that should be easily accomplished), a Dreadnought could appear in subsequent raids and rain down fire from above using a targeting system similar to what the Juggernauts currently use in-game to add yet another level to the chaos.

[Palidine]

But if two or three people want to be heroes in a neglected hamlet, they could still raise its defenses and thwart a small invasion they can handle.

This! A couple of exploring adventurers happen upon this tiny hamlet in the wilderness , when suddenly a raiding party attcks the people looting and pilaging<sp?>. the adventurers look at thier comrades and take up arms to repel the Bandits.
And Thats how a new city was born.

[Veltaine]

This! A couple of exploring adventurers happen upon this tiny hamlet in the wilderness , when suddenly a raiding party attcks the people looting and pilaging<sp?>. the adventurers look at thier comrades and take up arms to repel the Bandits.
And Thats how a new city was born.

ok.. so what do a botanist, gladiator, and carpenter have in common?

they walk into a forest so the area can be cut down and expand this lil hamlet town. the botanist spots a wolf! beastmen are nearby. so the gladiator runs in and tackles the wolf down, giving it its final seconds on earth fearing his newly edged moogle blade, with the wild wings of a deity flying across the base of his helmet. The archer knocks his Trident arrow into the silky strings of his bow to bring down the nearby lizard who has yet to discover the death of its pet. The botanist, now comes out and cuts down the first oak where the new "opobrothel" can be set up, ~

the possibilities are endless

[Kio]

One way around this is the "If you build it, they will come," model.

That is, an unpopular, ignored hamlet doesn't get attacked as much, if at all, so it doesn't end up a constant, lost cause.

But the more a hamlet that gets its defenses raised (in whatever activities players can better prepare it for battle), the more it gets seen as a threat, and it's attacked by greater and more dangerous forces. And of course, the rewards for victory are all the sweeter, too, so this escalation is encouraged.

But if two or three people want to be heroes in a neglected hamlet, they could still raise its defenses and thwart a small invasion they can handle.

I really like this idea, but how would we not run into the same rut as we do with the current 3 nations? That is, everyone only focuses on populating and maintaining an economy in Uldah because it's easier that way.

[Veltaine]

I really like this idea, but how would we not run into the same rut as we do with the current 3 nations? That is, everyone only focuses on populating and maintaining an economy in Uldah because it's easier that way.

grand company followers could take the hamlets ala conquest mode, and stake it for their country for a period of time. giving them access to AH through an Anima delivery system, discounted for users in the same country as its being controlled by, tack on a tax for the others.

everyone signed up for their countries.. so everyones locked in.. if you want to get good stuff at convenient locations, you have to fight with your own country to get a hold of it. not everyone chose uldah, though after the patch that will yet to be seen with the new players..

[BlaiseLallaise]

Another thing I just thought of would be if during hamlet defense the monsters started attacking the buildings, similar to campaign in FFXI. Then crafters would have something to do during hamlet defense as well (repairing buildings). If the building is at a certain level when the battle is over, then the doors will open and you can buy materials at prices depending on how well the building was defended.

The general idea is good, but I think would be better if the repairs occurred between defenses, and broken down buildings would mean the shops within would remain closed and unavailable to the public until the building was repaired.

As long as the DoH got exp for repairing buildings, I doubt any building would remain in disrepair for long.

Imagine taking up your sword/axe/whatever in defense of a hamlet, then once the battle was over, pulling out your saw or hammer to help with the repair efforts. Or maybe get out the pickaxe and bring some particular ores to supply the repairs.

I would be surprised if hamlet defenses occurred more often than, say, one random hamlet every two or three hours.