Artifacts, plot structures, and their uses.
I'm not sure what I'm about to propose is possible. We know that the game can recognise when we're within a certain radius of crafting machines, and it knows to add a bonus to specific skills dependant upon the crafting machine we're using. We also know that as part of the confectioner revamp, the game will somehow recognise when we are in a tavern, and improve the effectiveness of the food when we eat inside the tavern. Therefore I'm hoping that it isn't much of a step further to accommodate this suggestion [:)]
Artifacts, gazebos, fountains, to name just a few are nothing more than eye candy at present. They get built, then ignored except for a few roleplay sessions now and again.
Imagine approaching an artifact, and spending some time there meditating in its presence. Maybe you've gone to an artifact with some friends to see what it looks like because you weren't there when it was built. Either way you're close to the artifact and marvelling in its splendour. Some time passes, and you look up at the artifact - suddenly you feel a glow of magic surround you and you find a gift has been bestowed upon yourself. The artifact has imparted some magical energy upon you which improves your craft skills related to that particular artifact. You decide to go and pursue some crafting, your skills boosted by the power of the artifact.
The idea is pretty simple. A player stays near an artifact for a fixed period of time and is then the recipient of an effect that fills a gift slot and lasts for two hours. My own opinion is that the period of time stood near the artifact should be something between 30 minutes and an hour, thus allowing plenty of opportunity to increase socialising in player towns that might not normally be visited. The artifact effect would improve skills associated with that artifact. As an example, an artifact of stone would provide an effect that boosts stoneworking, quarrying, scalecraft, masonry, sculpting and spellcraft. It might be possible that different artifact effects overlap on the skill boosts, and it would be up to the player to decide if they would like to sacrifice another gift slot whilst also being willing to wait the fixed period of time by a second artifact in order to obtain the additional boost to their skills.
Expanding upon the idea, players could meditate in a gazebo for an hour, and receive an effect that fills a gift slot and lasts two hours, offering a boost to evasion. Meditating in a gazebo seems like a monk thing so a boost to evasion would appear to be an appropriate benefit.
I daresay the idea could be applied to a number of structures currently in the game that would benefit from functionality that has an added bonus of improving player immersion and socialisation. As for actual amounts for skill boosts, I'm not sure what to suggest. Any higher than the bonus offered by a journeyman craft shop seems excessive to me, but the bonus also needs to be balanced against a measure of how worthwhile the wait is to the player.
Good idea ? bad idea ? been suggested before idea ? not possible due to game capabilities idea ? about bloody time artifacts had a purpose idea ? [:P]
