New gem type: "Glyphs"

EDIT:
"Path of Exile: The Awakening" has just released. GGG added a new Jewel system where you can freely socket and unsocket special types of gems into your passive skill tree called Jewels, which will modify your character and can affect how you plan your skill tree with radial Jewels that modify surrounding nodes.

Over one year ago, I suggested a new Glyph system where you can freely socket and unsocket special types of gems into your passive skill tree called Glyphs, which will modify your character and can affect how you plan your skill tree with colored paths that are only unlocked with matching Jewel types.

Of those who responded back then, there were people who didn't like it because it "added too much customization" and others who didn't seem to get it, going so far as to say I wasn't even suggesting an idea at all! Rather disheartening when nearly every reply is like that. To all the naysayers below, booya! (Do you even game design?)

Vindication aside, Jewels come in colors and so could still open special color-coded paths as in my original idea, so I'll bump this thread for that sake.



ORIGINAL POST:
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Active Gems, Support Gems, and... "Glyphs"?

Okay, random idea time: PoE is all about itemizing everything, so why should the passive tree be any different?

Glyphs would be special gems that slot into unlocked "Glyph Nodes" on the passive tree. Some pathways connecting to these glyph nodes might be colored red, green, or blue. Only by slotting in the appropriate color will that path open. This would, in effect, create "one-way streets," as well as 'either-or' splits.

You can freely remove glyphs, like normal gems, but the slot it was placed in would stay the same color until the node itself is refunded.

What would glyphs do for players? Well, anything and everything! C'mon, I said this was a random idea, right? I can't do all the work here!

The inventory panel and passive tree window are mutually exclusive, so there would need to be a system created that would allow players to access and use their glyphs. Or just allow the inventory to draw on top of the passive tree.
Last edited by Hercanic on Jul 11, 2015, 2:44:35 AM
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Try actually coming up with the idea before you post it.

You basically said: "Hey GGG, I have a neat idea! Add stuff to the game! Make that stuff do things!"
Closed beta member since: March 19, 2012
I already got more than enough build customization for 30+ chars, i dont need more.
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f3rret wrote:
Try actually coming up with the idea before you post it.

You basically said: "Hey GGG, I have a neat idea! Add stuff to the game! Make that stuff do things!"

Uh, no, the prime idea is there: the system itself. What the gems do is secondary to that system.

Think about it. The glyph system allows GGG's designers to do things they can't do with the current passive tree. When spending passive points, if you arrive at an intersection, you can go in all directions unrestricted. This means the passive tree must be balanced around that freedom at all times, so powerful nodes and clusters must be designed and spaced out with this in mind. However, what if players could only choose one of several paths to take, because placing a glyph unlocked only one of those paths? Now each path could have something really good just on the other side, but there'd be no way to take all of them.

Now imagine a glyph node connected to a keystone by a colored path, which is connected to another glyph node+colored path. Like this (N1--N2--G1==K==G2--N3--N4). If you're coming from N1-N2, you can take G1 and K, but you cannot pass from there to G2 and onto N3-N4, because there is no gem in G2 to open that path. The chain acts like a dead-end that is reachable from either side, rather than a typical bridge.

The net result of these two designer controls mean the overall tree's bulk could be trimmed down while simultaneously offering more choices and decisions to players.

Finally, because the gems would be swappable (to keep consistent with how gems work, but still have a commitment cost due to the node color becoming permanent), players gain a form of passive character customization that can be freely adapted to their build.

The gems themselves could do any number of things, but what's the point if the root system is rejected? If you want some examples, then:

+X to Y stat: INT, STR, DEX, HP, ES, Armor, Evasion, Mana, Mana Regen, etc etc. Just look at your character's stat sheet for ideas. This would be the simplest implementation, allowing players to shore up weaknesses not covered by their gear or general build path. Ultimately, the power scale of these stackable glyphs would depend on how many glyph nodes are on the board.

Unique Effects: You can't stack the same support gem, after all. Because these are inherently non-stackable, they can be more potent and/or interesting. Look no further than support gems themselves to get ideas on how this implementation could work.

Conditional Effects: Does X on Y trigger; gain X for each Y; convert X% of Y to Z.

Mundane Skills: These would be abilities that GGG wants players to have as an option that don't have significance as an Active Gem, and wouldn't or shouldn't need support gems. Spells like Portal, Identify, Convocation, etc could be converted to Glyphs instead.
Last edited by Hercanic on Jun 2, 2014, 2:33:27 PM
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Hercanic wrote:
Active Gems, Support Gems, and... "Glyphs"?
What would glyphs do for players? Well, anything and everything! C'mon, I said this was a random idea, right? I can't do all the work here!


lol? When people make a suggestion, they make the suggestion and let other people critique it. Sorry OP, I have to agree with f3rret; this was not thought out very well.
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CabooseDog wrote:
"
Hercanic wrote:
Active Gems, Support Gems, and... "Glyphs"?
What would glyphs do for players? Well, anything and everything! C'mon, I said this was a random idea, right? I can't do all the work here!


lol? When people make a suggestion, they make the suggestion and let other people critique it. Sorry OP, I have to agree with f3rret; this was not thought out very well.


Actually suggestions section is not about discussion, we got that already, we put stuff here so GGG takes a look and sometimes we get stuff in a patch and wonder where it came from and i tell you, from suggestions.
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CabooseDog wrote:
lol? When people make a suggestion, they make the suggestion and let other people critique it. Sorry OP, I have to agree with f3rret; this was not thought out very well.

So if we were back in Alpha, and someone suggested a system wherein "Sockets in items, instead of stat boosts, should hold skills in the form of gems, and those gems can be active skills or passive modifiers to those skills!" you'd put down that idea because the author didn't list out, in full detail, all the skill and support gems we have today?

I wasn't interested in pigeonholing the potential of glyphs, but I provided some possibilities in my reply to f3rret.
I don't think you presented your idea very well at all and I don't the the smart guy who replied to you is very fun to be around.

What I think you want is for the passive tree to have a number of blank paths that you can't traverse until you place a "Glyph" into it. I assume that "Glyphs" would have various stats that essentially give you a new way to decide what a part of the tree does to suit you.
"If they actually showed gameplay with it zoomed out and then zoomed it in for the real one I think there would be actual riots in the street. I think that people would burn the building down."
Lets call them runes. And let runes be combined into Rune Words, for unique effects. My idea, just invented it. :$
While I think that the implementation of gems that go into the tree is a little oo much of a stretch, I think that having nodes that can only be connected too i a specific way could be cool.

say, for example, you can only connect to this node once. or you can opnly have one node of this type.

I don't actually think this would reduce the number of options players have, either, because these areas could simply be things that won't work together well. so, for example, you could have a avatar of fire, of cold, and of lightning. or just conversions to each element. so, in the wand area, one of these could be the "added as element" nodes, and we could make them stronger, meaning that players have to make MORE choices, rather than just ad 10% of each element :/

it may also help new players a bit too. a little bit of shoehorning really early on in the tree could help, especially if you can double back to get around it.

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