null1fy
Dalayan Elder
I'll add things as I think of them.
RESTRICTIONS
Let's dig in to my emboldened header:
I'm going to discuss the first three restrictions. I pulled this from Jumbers' post outlining Season 1, its rules and rewards intended for the reader (and prospective player) to prepare for with the advent of participating in the new Season.
Why was this imposed? From Jumbers' aforementioned post, I assumed two things: 1) Season 1 is a "Race". 2) Season 1 is an alternative mode to Shards of Dalaya "Base Game".
On point 1): Those who are first to get to an Adept (thus getting first chance at the monster before it begins its timer) are rewarded for being at the forefront of the race. Certainly, it potentially provides unfair advantage in some way in that it's a novel item (or item slot) that is otherwise difficult to obtain from any other source. But in the entirety of the game, how does Adept encounter equipment skew the power-level of characters in the duration of the Season, and how is it detrimental to the Season? It seems as though Adepts are as much player choice as picking where to gain experience and complete quests. Further, once Adepts are on-timer, if any given player choses to forego being on the leaderboard, they can chose to pause their exp gains to stay at that Adept, should they so wish. It would be the decision, as the player, to fall behind. With the content altogether disabled there is no choice whatsoever.
On point 2): Notably it's an alternative game mode. If having Adepts disabled is the game mode, then that's it and there is no dispute on this argument. Clearly the player can play Shards of Dalaya "Base Game" and have full reign on adepts should they want this.
*donfolstar3 specifically asked about this in the Season announcement thread and did not receive a response. Not publicly, at least, so I feel like this was possibly missed?
I don't have a counter-argument to this because I just flat-out don't understand what restricting Ikkisith does to promote the health of the Season.
I similarly don't have a counter-argument for this. I don't understand how disabling it promotes a healthy Season.
OPINION
The Season announcement procured my interest. I've been away from the game for several years, if not longer. There have been significant changes and tireless hours that continuing and new developers have put into the betterment of this game. I'd like to see that content. At the time of this writing I'm only level 6 on my characters and am so far from much of what I'm advocating for - I might not even see it. But what I do see is the new letterbox popups that say, "Congratulations to Level X! Adepts available at this level: Adepts are disabled". I can't help but think, as a returning player, "Well, that's lame". I can't help but wonder what a new player, one whom has never seen any Shards of Dalaya content before in their life, thinks when they see this message. You can argue, "Lheo, a new player can play "Base Game" Shards of Dalaya and experience Adepts." Sure - certainly. But I'm not playing "Base Game" Shards of Dalaya. I think most people are playing "Seasonal" Shards of Dalaya right now. Anyone who is new probably will be, too, if they know they're more-likely to get a group playing a Seasonal character.
Removing choice makes a less interesting game. Having time-gated encounters create choice: "Do I forego progress for a chance at this piece of gear?" If you really abhor the thought of allowing players this choice, then perhaps revisit the Adept system altogether. It might be something to consider more deterministically, I.E.: Have a hail NPC that spawns the mob (if you haven't killed it and received a piece of loot from it), or a *Adept version that can be killed infinity times with no experience but it only ever rewards you an item, once. How the gear is rewarded - deterministically, on a die roll, whatever - doesn't matter to me. Just don't flat-out remove it.
*edit* I thought more about this above point. I think the more I think about it, Adepts are probably in dire need of revisiting. If this game mode, focused entirely on new play, can't support Adepts - why should the base game? I think a fair option would be the *Adept version that's a "one and done" sort-of thing. You get one piece of loot from a table that you want and move on - sort of like a quest. Players leveling get a quick little boon with an interesting piece of gear and then get to go back to leveling.
Adepts are a fun thing to look toward through the tedium of leveling. And I've done quite a few of the encounters up to level 30 or so. They're REALLY COOL! Why on earth would you potentially deprive a new player that fun? I was even considering working toward getting to 65 during this Season. For me it's actually a very difficult goal - one I'm not sure I can achieve. But one thing that would have motivated me was if Requiem of Hate/Fear were accessible. They look REALLY COOL! I really wanted to see them, but alas - I will not. "But Lheo, you can still see the zone outside of Seasonal play". Certainly, you can! Maybe I will, should the opportunity arise! But why would you currently deny that opportunity in arguably the biggest resurgence of low-level play, possibly ever, in Shards of Dalaya?
This Season conception, implementation and deployment is really just very good, and awesome, and I am so supportive of you guys for making it happen. Jumbers, Cole and anyone else who put in the hard work to make it happen - excellent job. Truly. I have such a different perspective, now, later in life with the appreciation of time. The time it takes to continue supporting this game; what a labor of love this has to be. You guys work so hard and I'm not trying to shit on that. But I just see SO MUCH POTENTIAL in this! It feels so close to a fresh start. Just... one that has imposed limitations that don't make sense to me.
RESTRICTIONS
Let's dig in to my emboldened header:
What are the restrictions for season 1?
- Adepts are disabled.
- Ikisith content is not accessible.
- Requiem of Hate and Requiem of Fear are not accessible.
- "Special" AAs may not be purchased.
- Cheaters will be disqualified; ie. finding and abusing ways to interact with non-seasonal characters. (There should be none)
I'm going to discuss the first three restrictions. I pulled this from Jumbers' post outlining Season 1, its rules and rewards intended for the reader (and prospective player) to prepare for with the advent of participating in the new Season.
- Adepts are disabled.
Why was this imposed? From Jumbers' aforementioned post, I assumed two things: 1) Season 1 is a "Race". 2) Season 1 is an alternative mode to Shards of Dalaya "Base Game".
On point 1): Those who are first to get to an Adept (thus getting first chance at the monster before it begins its timer) are rewarded for being at the forefront of the race. Certainly, it potentially provides unfair advantage in some way in that it's a novel item (or item slot) that is otherwise difficult to obtain from any other source. But in the entirety of the game, how does Adept encounter equipment skew the power-level of characters in the duration of the Season, and how is it detrimental to the Season? It seems as though Adepts are as much player choice as picking where to gain experience and complete quests. Further, once Adepts are on-timer, if any given player choses to forego being on the leaderboard, they can chose to pause their exp gains to stay at that Adept, should they so wish. It would be the decision, as the player, to fall behind. With the content altogether disabled there is no choice whatsoever.
On point 2): Notably it's an alternative game mode. If having Adepts disabled is the game mode, then that's it and there is no dispute on this argument. Clearly the player can play Shards of Dalaya "Base Game" and have full reign on adepts should they want this.
*donfolstar3 specifically asked about this in the Season announcement thread and did not receive a response. Not publicly, at least, so I feel like this was possibly missed?
- Ikisith content is not accessible.
I don't have a counter-argument to this because I just flat-out don't understand what restricting Ikkisith does to promote the health of the Season.
- Requiem of Hate and Requiem of Fear are not accessible.
I similarly don't have a counter-argument for this. I don't understand how disabling it promotes a healthy Season.
OPINION
The Season announcement procured my interest. I've been away from the game for several years, if not longer. There have been significant changes and tireless hours that continuing and new developers have put into the betterment of this game. I'd like to see that content. At the time of this writing I'm only level 6 on my characters and am so far from much of what I'm advocating for - I might not even see it. But what I do see is the new letterbox popups that say, "Congratulations to Level X! Adepts available at this level: Adepts are disabled". I can't help but think, as a returning player, "Well, that's lame". I can't help but wonder what a new player, one whom has never seen any Shards of Dalaya content before in their life, thinks when they see this message. You can argue, "Lheo, a new player can play "Base Game" Shards of Dalaya and experience Adepts." Sure - certainly. But I'm not playing "Base Game" Shards of Dalaya. I think most people are playing "Seasonal" Shards of Dalaya right now. Anyone who is new probably will be, too, if they know they're more-likely to get a group playing a Seasonal character.
Removing choice makes a less interesting game. Having time-gated encounters create choice: "Do I forego progress for a chance at this piece of gear?" If you really abhor the thought of allowing players this choice, then perhaps revisit the Adept system altogether. It might be something to consider more deterministically, I.E.: Have a hail NPC that spawns the mob (if you haven't killed it and received a piece of loot from it), or a *Adept version that can be killed infinity times with no experience but it only ever rewards you an item, once. How the gear is rewarded - deterministically, on a die roll, whatever - doesn't matter to me. Just don't flat-out remove it.
*edit* I thought more about this above point. I think the more I think about it, Adepts are probably in dire need of revisiting. If this game mode, focused entirely on new play, can't support Adepts - why should the base game? I think a fair option would be the *Adept version that's a "one and done" sort-of thing. You get one piece of loot from a table that you want and move on - sort of like a quest. Players leveling get a quick little boon with an interesting piece of gear and then get to go back to leveling.
Adepts are a fun thing to look toward through the tedium of leveling. And I've done quite a few of the encounters up to level 30 or so. They're REALLY COOL! Why on earth would you potentially deprive a new player that fun? I was even considering working toward getting to 65 during this Season. For me it's actually a very difficult goal - one I'm not sure I can achieve. But one thing that would have motivated me was if Requiem of Hate/Fear were accessible. They look REALLY COOL! I really wanted to see them, but alas - I will not. "But Lheo, you can still see the zone outside of Seasonal play". Certainly, you can! Maybe I will, should the opportunity arise! But why would you currently deny that opportunity in arguably the biggest resurgence of low-level play, possibly ever, in Shards of Dalaya?
This Season conception, implementation and deployment is really just very good, and awesome, and I am so supportive of you guys for making it happen. Jumbers, Cole and anyone else who put in the hard work to make it happen - excellent job. Truly. I have such a different perspective, now, later in life with the appreciation of time. The time it takes to continue supporting this game; what a labor of love this has to be. You guys work so hard and I'm not trying to shit on that. But I just see SO MUCH POTENTIAL in this! It feels so close to a fresh start. Just... one that has imposed limitations that don't make sense to me.
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