This is simply a proposal and, while I expect it to meet mixed responses, I do hope that it leads somewhere beneficial for the lower level crowd. Currently SoD is extremely top heavy and breaking into the raid content whether it be guilds, pickup raids, or grinding AA's can be very daunting. Secondly, it is no secret that donations are low and I am willing to bet that a majority of donations are provided by the long-time playerbase. So how can you increase the longevity of the game for new players? Remove some of the early bottlenecks in the game that are placed on adepts.
I've been playing SoD (off-and-on) for 3 years now. I enjoy playing a wide variety of classes and have 11 total characters accrued over that time (only 3 of which are 65). The rest are sitting in the 55-57 range and were idled there specifically for the Traek/Pounder and later Nalia farming. As such I've interacted with a large number of new players and often times these players don't finish the grind to 65 or shortly after 65 lose interest. What I am proposing will not directly effect me, I have my 65+ toons that I enjoy playing, but I would like to see something to extend the life of the game for new players.
Current Trend: 90% of adepts are skipped from 1-55 and at 55 (or 57) players become discouraged after spending a few weeks trying to get into adept raids. Ultimately they unlock and start grinding to 65. However the 60+ content is much less forgiving and it is equally easy to become discouraged as a brand new player trying to reach 65 when you only know a handful of people and are extremely limited by your gear. Even at 65 you are now expected to have a good chunk of AA's and gear to get accepted into PuG's or groups.
Proposal: Reduce adept respawns to 24 or 36 hours (36 hours would help stagger the kill rate) from 72 hours AND allow the 57 adepts to drop Ancient spells. Yes, this is not a new idea, but I really feel that it needs to be revisted. Ultimately it will help streamline the game for new players and increase the likelihood that they continue playing past the adept phase. A few years ago the 72 hour respawn made a lot of sense. The gear dropped by Traek and Pounders was fairly competitive and offered a way of starting to gear up for raids. Currently the gear is vastly out performed by Ikisih droppables, under performs compared to tmap loot, and most raid guilds have progressed well into the T6-T9 range so adept loot will NOT help you there. Idling at 55 or 57 is also very detrimental to your characters progress as the areas to grind AA's are very limited. Ultimately the 72 hour bottleneck makes the game less enjoyable and poses an unnecessary limit to the progress of a new player.
[color=l66FFFF]Pros:[/color] New players will have more opportunities to enjoy the possibility of doing adepts starting as early as level 1. Adept gear is primarily useful for leveling and, as such, should be focused on that. EVERYONE enjoys getting new gear fun gear! A 72 hour respawn absolutely punishes anyone who wants to kill an adept a few times. It is very feasible to gain 5-10+ levels in one day, but locking your exp just to kill one adept twice sets you back immensely. At 55-57 more players will have access to Traek/Pounders and ultimately the increased gear rate will make the leveling process to 65+ much easier on them. Entry level 65 content will not feel quite so daunting which will extend the life of the game for new players. As I already stated I have seen a lot of people quit at or right before reaching 65. It is not fun to stagnant character progression for a month (or more) only to then get frustrated even further after you unlock. Allowing Ancient spells to drop will add some extra incentive and a new way of preparing characters for raid content.
Cons: None that will actually impact the game in a negative way. Adept raids are inherently fun for new players and until 55 most players don't even attempt one. This is mostly due to the long respawn discouraging players from even checking if the mob is up, much less killing it more than once. The gear isn't comparable at any stage as I've already stated and the only objections that I foresee are from the elitist playerbase that will state "since I had it hard then everyone should have it hard".
Secondary Impacts: This will have some potential positive side-effects: increased player base (however small) at level 65, a more enthusiastic leveling process with greater access to adepts, less time spent idling characters, and raid guilds will will eventually have more people to draw from. From the devs standpoint anything that can increase your playerbase has the potential to increase your donations. Increased donations could also mean some extra time spent on other issues or developing new and exciting content for the high end crowd. In the end, everyone has the chance to come out on top.
TL;DR Reduce adepts to a 24 or 36 respawn, give the 57 adepts a chance to drop Ancients, and as a result you will increase the enjoyment of the game for newer players which translates into better retention of players. Ultimately leading to a larger playerbase, more players for guilds to draw upon, and an increased likelihood of new donators (which are currently low).
I've been playing SoD (off-and-on) for 3 years now. I enjoy playing a wide variety of classes and have 11 total characters accrued over that time (only 3 of which are 65). The rest are sitting in the 55-57 range and were idled there specifically for the Traek/Pounder and later Nalia farming. As such I've interacted with a large number of new players and often times these players don't finish the grind to 65 or shortly after 65 lose interest. What I am proposing will not directly effect me, I have my 65+ toons that I enjoy playing, but I would like to see something to extend the life of the game for new players.
Current Trend: 90% of adepts are skipped from 1-55 and at 55 (or 57) players become discouraged after spending a few weeks trying to get into adept raids. Ultimately they unlock and start grinding to 65. However the 60+ content is much less forgiving and it is equally easy to become discouraged as a brand new player trying to reach 65 when you only know a handful of people and are extremely limited by your gear. Even at 65 you are now expected to have a good chunk of AA's and gear to get accepted into PuG's or groups.
Proposal: Reduce adept respawns to 24 or 36 hours (36 hours would help stagger the kill rate) from 72 hours AND allow the 57 adepts to drop Ancient spells. Yes, this is not a new idea, but I really feel that it needs to be revisted. Ultimately it will help streamline the game for new players and increase the likelihood that they continue playing past the adept phase. A few years ago the 72 hour respawn made a lot of sense. The gear dropped by Traek and Pounders was fairly competitive and offered a way of starting to gear up for raids. Currently the gear is vastly out performed by Ikisih droppables, under performs compared to tmap loot, and most raid guilds have progressed well into the T6-T9 range so adept loot will NOT help you there. Idling at 55 or 57 is also very detrimental to your characters progress as the areas to grind AA's are very limited. Ultimately the 72 hour bottleneck makes the game less enjoyable and poses an unnecessary limit to the progress of a new player.
[color=l66FFFF]Pros:[/color] New players will have more opportunities to enjoy the possibility of doing adepts starting as early as level 1. Adept gear is primarily useful for leveling and, as such, should be focused on that. EVERYONE enjoys getting new gear fun gear! A 72 hour respawn absolutely punishes anyone who wants to kill an adept a few times. It is very feasible to gain 5-10+ levels in one day, but locking your exp just to kill one adept twice sets you back immensely. At 55-57 more players will have access to Traek/Pounders and ultimately the increased gear rate will make the leveling process to 65+ much easier on them. Entry level 65 content will not feel quite so daunting which will extend the life of the game for new players. As I already stated I have seen a lot of people quit at or right before reaching 65. It is not fun to stagnant character progression for a month (or more) only to then get frustrated even further after you unlock. Allowing Ancient spells to drop will add some extra incentive and a new way of preparing characters for raid content.
Cons: None that will actually impact the game in a negative way. Adept raids are inherently fun for new players and until 55 most players don't even attempt one. This is mostly due to the long respawn discouraging players from even checking if the mob is up, much less killing it more than once. The gear isn't comparable at any stage as I've already stated and the only objections that I foresee are from the elitist playerbase that will state "since I had it hard then everyone should have it hard".
Secondary Impacts: This will have some potential positive side-effects: increased player base (however small) at level 65, a more enthusiastic leveling process with greater access to adepts, less time spent idling characters, and raid guilds will will eventually have more people to draw from. From the devs standpoint anything that can increase your playerbase has the potential to increase your donations. Increased donations could also mean some extra time spent on other issues or developing new and exciting content for the high end crowd. In the end, everyone has the chance to come out on top.
TL;DR Reduce adepts to a 24 or 36 respawn, give the 57 adepts a chance to drop Ancients, and as a result you will increase the enjoyment of the game for newer players which translates into better retention of players. Ultimately leading to a larger playerbase, more players for guilds to draw upon, and an increased likelihood of new donators (which are currently low).
