Response to Pristine Items, New idea

AoiMasamune

AoiMasamune

Dalayan Beginner
Warning: SMALL BOOK TO FOLLOW!

Ok, I brought this up in-game tonight and the results of our very unprofessional analysis yielded some interesting results. That said, I'm gonna post an amendment/mutilation of your original idea, Wiz.

One more thing, a lot of this will only make sense if you look at the game as if every 6-10 levels is all there is. So for newbies, level 10 is High end, if your level 21 level 30 gear is high end. Also, this is a very strict system that eliminates a lot of twinking and that is kind of harsh. You're most definately not going to use this idea as-is, but maybe it'll spark some creative ideas in the admin-mod team.



First: (System Changes step)

All equipables EXCEPT Tradeskilled items get labeled as "no-drop".

All gear INCLUDING Tradeskilled gear gets a recommended level, and required level is eliminated entirely.

Vendors can now buy "no-drop" items.

All Quest items are labeled as "no-drop" and "no-sell" meaning vendors will not buy them.

Eliminate the use of placeholders for named mobs. Eliminate multi-day spawns. 2 Hour spawn time max and only for end-game named spawns with the highest tier equipment.

Make all rare drops, common. NOT guaranteed, just common.



Second: (Big Zone Revamp step)

Divide player levels into Tiers of every 8 levels.

Build a set of rules that tells how powerful a single piece of gear should be for any given Tier.
(eg. Stats = 1 point for 1 stat point. Hp/Mana = 1 point for every 10 hps/mps. Item Tier = total points divided by 10 and truncated.)

Assign each zone a specific Tier which is in direct relation to the levels of the players intended to be grouping or soloing there. This could be decided based on how far each zone is from an area containing an MoP portal for fluid increasing of difficulty.

Rework the items on the drop tables of each mob to reflect the new Tier assigned to the area. At this point, recommended levels on all items should be the equal to the lowest level in the Tier level range decided earlier.

Expand drop tables for all named mobs to include more equipment and add more named spawns to every zone. Effectively doubling the number of items in the game right now without adding zones.

Finally, strategically place aggresive mobs near the nameds to require a group and eliminate soloing of nameds (not in all cases, for instance, soloable nameds could have items with stats at a lower tier than the rest of the zone, but with a zone-tier equivalent recommended level. This way both solo play, and group play are doable, but group play is more rewarding, which has always been a tenet of EQ.)

Raid mobs can be added that require two groups working in conjunction. Raid level dropped gear is set at a higher Tier but with a Zone-Tier equivalent recommended level.

Test to make sure that every named is killable by a single group equipped with appropriate Tier gear.



Third: (Economy Balancing step)

Expand the tradeskillable equipment list and increase the drop rate of all tradeskill reagents across the board. Tradeskilled gear will become the only way to effectively equip 'Twinks' and as such will be overwhelmingly popular.

Review all Tradeskilled gear to make sure that they fall firmly into into one of the before decided Tiers. Adjust Tradeskilled gear so that each recommended level is set to the the Item Tier - 1. This assuring that Tradeskilled gear will always have a slight edge over dropped gear unless that dropped gear is Raid Level.

Ensure that all dropped reagents drop in areas where the Zone Tier = Item Tier - 2. This encourages reagent farming and ensures a steady supply of available reagents to Tradeskillers.

Double the difficulty to raise most Tradeskills, while eliminating most of the vendor-bought regeants and allocating them to appropriate Tiered zones.

Set the sell-to-vendor price for dropped equipment like so: (Plat Gained = Tier-of-zone-where-item-dropped * 1 to 20 PP) Use 1 PP for easily solo-able nameds, and 20 for raid equivalent nameds. This will encourage people to farm the highest level area the are capable of farming, and grouping is still the best way to go because income increases exponentially with the Tier of the area you are hunting in.



Final Thoughts:

Tradeskilled gear will balance it's own cost according to how much it costs to get players to farm their reagents vs how much they can get people to pay for items they make. As the Tradeskillers try their hardest to make a profit or at least hit the break-even line, they will be undercut by characters selling older gear, which will cause Tradeskillers to drop out of the running and decrease supply until demand reestablishes itself via characters selling old Tradeskilled items to vendors because they can't find buyers.

Market flooding should only occur at End-game Tier levels as that is where the most money is going to be made, and the recommended levels prevent End-game Characters from buying end-game gear for low levels.

HOWEVER, if they want to spend the platinum and buy a whole new set of Tier-Appropriate gear as their twinks advance, then they can do so, and they will still have an edge over other characters, but only buy a single Tier or so.

Besides, the rate at which items are coming into the game goes haywire in this system, camping is all but extinct, and time played is well and truly rewarded regardless of level of play.

The original EQ economy was based around the idea of rewarded characters at specific time intervals to keep them playing as long as possible. Because this game is free, that system can and arguably should be eliminated, so I support any change to bring the economy and flow of game into a more natural balance. This system would supply a series of rewards at regular intervals that would allow the player to consistently live that giddy, "Wow this item is cool" feeling.

For players with existing items, you can either bring them into balance for the tier where they will drop and hope the players meet the minimum level, or you can just copy the existing database into a new section, where the original items with their ItemID are now changed to no drop, but stats and recommended levels are untouched, then adjust the new copy with fresh ItemIDs to be the only thing to drop from patch time forward.

Alternatively, you could just not make all the equipables no-drop, but implement everything else and the economy would self balance. However flooding and inflation would still be a problem.



Well, there it is folks, don't flame me too hard. They're just ideas.

However, for anyone that doesn't want to kill me now, I'd like to know what you think.

WHEW...
 
This is a lot of work to accomplish a small amount other than making tradeskilling the only way to make a viable source of income.
 
im not sure i understood that right.. but did u just say to change ALL spawn times to 2 hours?
to be honest this "idea" seems like itd flood the server with items like mad.. a guild could go chill in torment or air for a day and kill the same nameds 4-6 times a day... i am really not sure what level ranges ur thinking of here but i got the hint of EVERYTHING.
not to mention, that is a tremendous amount of work to revamp every zone... also, im rather happy we have a bit of diversity in our zones...
also, im not sure what kinda gear u "raid" for but if i was pawning raid loot for 20p id just quit the game=(
and your all items no drop but tradeskills? kill the economy in the whole?
im sorry but i cant really see a positive side to... any of this.. except maybe the zones being kinda filtered. but seeing as im a fan of diversity... i dont really agree with it.

the main thing id like to see is vendor prices for items looked at severly... just going through and setting prices for every item... and creating a base price the staff wants it to have.. and if it starts hitting below that point people will find it easier to vendor them, removing the "flood" of them at a low low price. this creates a bit more platinum... but thats why we have charms as a plat sink i believe.

as far as tradeskill items go.. maybe make a bind on equipt kinda option... where it gets like 10% bonus or something if u bind it but it becomes no drop.... not sure if thatd really be worth making it no drop but /shrug...
im not a fan of pristine but it wasnt a terrible idea i suppose to eliminate item flooding. i like to be able to swap my gear around or pawn old gear=/
 
Zone balance, smooth gear progression, good grouping/raiding opportunities, good soloable gear, server economic conservation, and a viable non combat way to make money. This idea undeniably achieves all these goals.

Iaeolan, this IS a lot of work, but you make it sound like it's unimportant. I believe that these concepts are the single most important considerations of MMORPG developers.

Yes, it's a lot of work, however: this plan has the benefit of not having to write a single line of code. Everything mentioned is either already in the game, or just mental math on the developer side. Most of the system will be completely transparent to players. Just manipulate the database and your done. Sure it's a lot of leg work, but if it's worth it... then it just is.

I did not intend for tradeskills to be the only way to make money. If you take the formula and application above:

- Set the sell-to-vendor price for dropped equipment like so: (Plat Gained = Tier-of-zone-where-item-dropped * 1 to 20 PP) Use 1 PP for easily solo-able nameds, and 20 for raid equivalent nameds. This will encourage people to farm the highest level area the are capable of farming, and grouping is still the best way to go because income increases exponentially with the Tier of the area you are hunting in. -

And modify it too:

- Plat Gained = Minimum-level-in-this-tier * 1 to 20 PP based on encounter type (Solo, Single group, Raid)

Assume that a level 50 character falls into Tier 6. (8 levels per Tier)

Then a normal, single group killable mob in a Tier 6 zone (minimum level of 48) would drop items that sold to vendors for 240 to 720 pp EACH! It would be rather easy with the commonness of named mobs post patch to make sure that everyone in your group got one on any given night. Raid level items would sell for up to 960 pp a piece (not like they'll be sold anyways, at least right away). At level 65 that would be much higher as they are in Tier 8. I'll let someone else do the math.

I expect these formula's to be modified as I didn't spend a lot of time bringing them into balance with each other, I was just trying to develop a unified concept. However, let me debunk several possible misconceptions.

1) There will still be twinking in this system, overall power gains will be limited however.

2) Tradeskills will not be the end-all of money making. Normal playing will earn plenty of money. You'll just need something besides food and drink to spend money on... Thus clicky items and potions and upgrades done via Tradeskills.

3) You can still get 'Uber' gear, you just have to join a group, and it will come to you when you are supposed to have it. If you score a spot in a group thats hunting in a Tier higher than yours, you can still loot gear and equip it, but it'll only be as good as stuff you would have gotten anyway had you been in a group closer to your level. You don't have to CAMP! Just play. =)

4) If you still want to camp, or perhaps are having a particularly difficult time finding something in your appropriate Tier for a specific inventory slot, you can either buy it, or go wipe out a zone that is a couple Tiers below you, You should be able to find something you can use, and make some money selling stuff you can't use, but you won't be ahead, because tradeskilled stuff you can use is still better than what you just farmed... and you did just make all that money...

5) Areas will still maintain diversity, just each area should be geared towards a particular level range. Thus more difficult mobs will drop more powerful gear, usable at the level the zone is dedicated towards. If higher levels want to kill it, it may still be an upgrade for them and there really is no reason not to. For added server wide diversity, make the 'Best' pieces of gear for a class/Tier combination drop in different zones spaced far apart. So a Tier 3 cleric in BB can get killer shoulders, gloves and armor, but her pants, shield, and helm are waiting in the Warrens. Just a thought. Alternatively, she can continue leveling into the next level Tier with lower Tier items, until they are naturally replaced by finding something nifty.

6) The server WILL be flooded with items, this is intentional. Since items can't be traded, only earned, it doesn't matter. Effectively items will be going out just as fast as they'll be coming in, unless someone can use it, in which case they equip it and vendor off their old stuff.

Everyone seems to want a balanced economy, awesome gear, and an end to camping and everything that comes with it (8 hour camps for rare mobs, camp/kill stealing, rude people). That will involve sacrifices that move the game a little further from the typical freewheeling capitalism of Live. Even Wiz's plan involves a great deal of freedom lost (not as much as this plan, and he put sugar on top to make it appealing, but it's still there).

How about this for sugar? Play naked and never buy any armor. Don't even Tradeskill. Just sell everything you get as you level. I can almost gaurantee you'll have 500,000 plat before you hit 200 AAs.

Of course that leads to the desperate need for a massive Tradeskilling system that can make everything but the kitchen sink to attract players to buy their stuff. And plat sinks to control the amount of money floating around. The charm idea that is already there is a great incentive for players to remove a TON of plat from the game.


I don't see this as killing the economy so much as persistently reseting it to what it was when the server first came up. I'd bet next to no items sold within the first 3 weeks, because someone in the group needed whatever dropped.

Point is, something IS going to be done. If you've got an idea that will provide a more agreeable or permanent solution than one of ours speak up. The more ideas flying around, the better the final solution will be.
 
I think the entire point of this game to begin with was a place for disgrunted Live players. I could be wrong though, but I do know the appeal for SoD was old school Game feel. The 2.0 changes alone cost the server a lot of headache. These ideas here would kill the game as we know it and I wouldn't expect many people to hang around. Your ideas sound like a good starting point for a new game altogether, however it's just that to make such drastic changes that are even beyond what the 2.0 changes could even imagine is begging for disaster. It's never a good idea to make a game, time passes, the regulars grow fond of the game as it is, then suddenly say, "you know what, we don't like how this game works anymore so we're going to turn it into a different game." Of course, it's the makers call. They can do whatever the hell they want. But, so can the players.
:toot:

So, to sum things up, if these changes went in, no one would need to worry anymore about fixing things. No one will even be around to care.
:hmph:
 
Botiemaster said:
I think the entire point of this game to begin with was a place for disgrunted Live players. I could be wrong though, but I do know the appeal for SoD was old school Game feel. The 2.0 changes alone cost the server a lot of headache. These ideas here would kill the game as we know it and I wouldn't expect many people to hang around. Your ideas sound like a good starting point for a new game altogether, however it's just that to make such drastic changes that are even beyond what the 2.0 changes could even imagine is begging for disaster. It's never a good idea to make a game, time passes, the regulars grow fond of the game as it is, then suddenly say, "you know what, we don't like how this game works anymore so we're going to turn it into a different game." Of course, it's the makers call. They can do whatever the hell they want. But, so can the players.
:toot:

So, to sum things up, if these changes went in, no one would need to worry anymore about fixing things. No one will even be around to care.
:hmph:
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Never assume that all agree with one view. I love SoD and have alot of loyalty for Wiz and the staff. I would try anything they think is needed for the simple fact that they have proven that they have 10X the talent of the people paid to create the live version of SoD.

As for this system, it would certainly need some tweaking imho. The nice thing is that it is pretty well thought out. Although, there would be a solid risk of tier 8 people coming and single grouping tier 4&5&6 raid mobs and making shitloads of cash. Other than that, there is alot of potential here. Even if nothing was put into SoD, maybe Wiz would take a glimmer of an idea for Dawntide economy from this.

Good effort!
 
to be honest id probably just quit.. thered be no point in playing... items would flow like water.. you would have guilds going through tiers of raids in a week or 2.. maybe 3 if they are just normal guilds and not hardcore raiders... i dont think the point of the game is to endlessly exp... and i really dont think people want raids going 12+ hours just because stuff respawns before they need to leave=/ i think overall the idea is not horrible. its just not proper for this game. nor do i think itd have a good long term effect... you would have people getting bored fast, in my opinion. not to mention, your not talking about fixing the economy(which is what pristine was suppose to do) but your talking about just about REMOVING it....

rewards come with time.. put in time.. you get the rewards... this system says, get some people and get mad loots. no need to twink.. just rush ur chars as fast as u can and u can probably squeeze them into a raid spot and get way better loots...

so yea.. all in all this seems like a i want items without putting in the time type of deal=/
 
I agree with a lot of what has been said.

It's a well thought out system, but I don't think it's viable for SoD. A lot of people enjoy the complex economy here, even if many of us find it to be a bit mudflated at times. The proposed changes would completely eliminate that aspect of the game, and that would drive a good number of people away. It would eliminate the raiding game, and that would drive people away. In fact, it would cut down the list of possible activities in SoD to pretty much 2: Tradeskilling and exping (always at a named spawn point, since they respawn so quickly).

When the Battered and Pristine changes were suggested, my response was that they were too drastic, and that I thought something more moderate needed to be tried first. This suggestion is more drastic still.

SoD is a like a China cabinet. It's full of fun, interesting, and pretty things. Some parts of it are too cluttered, while other parts haven't been dusted lately. I'd like to see a light-handed approach to solving these problems: selective adjustment of the cluttered parts and a feather duster to take care of the dustiness. Taking a baseball bat to the cabinet might resolve those particular problems, but you wouldn't have a China cabinet or any of the fun, interesting, pretty things anymore. You'd just have a pile of kindling.
 
I think changing the spawn times on mobs is a little drastic although I could see a portion of this idea instituted in the 1-50 game in upping the drop rates for decent equipment so that non twinks can compare with twinks. Right now its a huge gap between the abilities of a non twink and a twink, I see twinks that have 3 to 4 times the stats of a non twink and I think that they should at most be double the strength and that is pushing it.

I completely advocate leaving the high end game alone though as most people do not have many major complaints about it and all the high end equipment is no drop in the first place. This system would be a good help for players 1-50 who do not have a guild to gear them up so that they can make the transition from beginner to small and casual raiding guild without being a burden.
 
So basically you want everything to you on a silver platter. Why don't you try actually working for your gear.
 
"All equipables EXCEPT Tradeskilled items get labeled as "no-drop"."

"Eliminate the use of placeholders for named mobs. Eliminate multi-day spawns. 2 Hour spawn time max and only for end-game named spawns with the highest tier equipment."

"Make all rare drops, common. NOT guaranteed, just common."

"Play naked and never buy any armor. Don't even Tradeskill. Just sell everything you get as you level. I can almost gaurantee you'll have 500,000 plat before you hit 200 AAs."

"I don't see this as killing the economy"
 
Widan said:
So basically you want everything to you on a silver platter. Why don't you try actually working for your gear.
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IDK if you were talking to gtoo or the OP, but I agree completely, gtoo is a lazy bum and needs to get his arse to work. Which, incidentally, requires logging in =P
 
Thanks Widan for the constructive comments, however I do not see sitting around in a single place for 8+ hours to get a rare drop off of a rare spawn as work. It's just a waste of time, and it discourages me from even trying for those items. I'm also tired of being forced to pay people with level 65 characters more plat than I can conceivably raise so that I can compete with their twinks in normal groups of my level.

Leveling will not be any easier. Tradeskilling will be MUCH harder. You now have to WORK (meaning grouping, raiding, tradeskilling, farming, and otherwise enjoying your time online) for items you get. No activities get eliminated from the game except ones that were inherently pointless artifacts from Live to begin with. How is this a silver platter?

I'm not a developer for SoD (for which some of you are undoubtedly very happy atm) I'm just a guy that wants to make the game more enjoyable for myself. Of course that was my motivation for posting this idea, the same as it is for any idea. Please stop saying stupid things like:

This is killing the economy! The game will become too easy! I h8 U N3WB!
Speak with the purpose to improve, not just to voice how much you hate an idea. Tell me what areas you enjoy that this system no longer facilitates the enjoyment of, perhaps I can suggest a way to improve the idea to include what you enjoy, as well as maintaining the goals of controlling a downward spiraling economy. Should all else fail, if this idea proves disastrous to a certain play style, perhaps I can come up with a new one that will not. First I have to know exactly what the problem is, that way I can fix it. Thats what feedback is for, and thats why this is posted here.

The economy has cancer right now, it has since a certain company started a certain Live game. It is constantly in the act of dying. This removes the cancer, leaving the game. If you like what is killing the game (eg. Free trade of higher end items that are universally equipable by all levels), then there may in fact be no way to stop the game from dying.
 
AoiMasamune said:
Speak with the purpose to improve, not just to voice how much you hate an idea. Tell me what areas you enjoy that this system no longer facilitates the enjoyment of, perhaps I can suggest a way to improve the idea to include what you enjoy, as well as maintaining the goals of controlling a downward spiraling economy. Should all else fail, if this idea proves disastrous to a certain play style, perhaps I can come up with a new one that will not. First I have to know exactly what the problem is, that way I can fix it. Thats what feedback is for, and thats why this is posted here.
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A few such responses:
This is a lot of work to accomplish a small amount
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a guild could go chill in torment or air for a day and kill the same nameds 4-6 times a day...
not to mention, that is a tremendous amount of work to revamp every zone... also, im rather happy we have a bit of diversity in our zones...
Click to expand...
It's never a good idea to make a game, time passes, the regulars grow fond of the game as it is, then suddenly say, "you know what, we don't like how this game works anymore so we're going to turn it into a different game."
Click to expand...
items would flow like water.. you would have guilds going through tiers of raids in a week or 2.. maybe 3 if they are just normal guilds and not hardcore raiders...
not to mention, your not talking about fixing the economy(which is what pristine was suppose to do) but your talking about just about REMOVING it....
Click to expand...
A lot of people enjoy the complex economy here, even if many of us find it to be a bit mudflated at times. The proposed changes would completely eliminate that aspect of the game ... It would [also] eliminate the raiding game
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The long and short of it is that your proposition isn't a fix to a problem, it's a complete rebuild of what is essentially the core of the entire game. It would change every aspect of the way people group, raid, and get gear. That's the central draw of the game. It's the core upon which the guilds, the fun events, the ooc banter, the exploring, the quests, and everything else is based. Without it, the rest of it might as well just be a chat room. By extension, change it drastically, and you've fundamentally altered the game, whether turning it into a chat room or an entirely different RPG.

People play SoD because they like SoD. As I've already said, and as several others have said, your idea has some merit, just not for this game. It could well be the basis for a different server, emulator or MMO. But the changes are just so profound given the way this game is designed that they are no more feasible than they are appealing to those who play this game because they enjoy it.

You're apparently misunderstanding people's responses. Saying it's going to kill the economy isn't a knee-jerk reaction to change when it's accompanied by an explanation of why (no more droppables, 2 hour respawns of all named, etc. etc. etc.). It's simply an explanation of the perceived problem with your proposal.

If your proposal weren't so drastic people might be able to say "well, if you tweaked this one aspect of it..." Unfortunately, that's not the case. I have a major problem with each suggestion.

1) No-Dropping everything except tradeskill items
2) Leaving tradeskill items droppable when everything else is ND
3) Elimination of PHes
4) Making all drops common
5) Max 2 hour respawns
6) Unnecessarily complicated tiering system
7) All the damn tradeskill stuff.

The long and short of it is that I enjoy the economy, I enjoy bartering, and I hate tradeskilling. I like unpredictability in a dungeon crawl, and wondering if I'm going to find a named mob up. I like having to work to get a rare drop item, whether by saving up to buy it or by working my butt off to get it to drop.

I like things the way they are. My objections aren't a knee-jerk reaction, or some sign of fear of change. They're based on disagreeing with your proposal.
 
Thank you Hasrett, for elaborating on both yours and other peoples posts. I did assume that they were 'knee-jerk' reactions, but your arguments are valid, and I think I underestimated the amount of people that share your opinions.

I agree that changing the very nature of the game will be a disaster to the player base, whether the change is positive or not. Any game only exists for the players. I also agree that a main attraction of SoD is it's Old-World feel, which is fundamentally flawed. One comes with the other. If you lose the Old-World feel, you lose the Old-World players. Not necessarily good or bad, it just is. What made EQ terrible later was a result of attempts to correct or delay the economy problem that this server is currently facing.

I think that creating a new server based on this ruleset is interesting, and other people have posted something to that effect earlier, but as that requires hardware that I do not possess, I think it is a job best left up to the professionals, and then it's only worth it if there are people that want to play it. I myself would be thrilled to play in this world. (duh! /grin)



I'd be very interested in hearing what the Dev team has to say. As far as I know, and I could be wrong, you've been waiting in the wings to see how this thread will develop and what kind of response it will get from the community. If you don't want to make a public statement one way or the other, then please PM me. I won't argue with you or share what you say publicly, I'd just like to know what your thinking in regards to any of this.
 
AoiMasamune said:
Leveling will not be any easier. Tradeskilling will be MUCH harder. You now have to WORK (meaning grouping, raiding, tradeskilling, farming, and otherwise enjoying your time online) for items you get. No activities get eliminated from the game except ones that were inherently pointless artifacts from Live to begin with. How is this a silver platter?
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I don't get what you are trying to say here. How many people are getting effortless items?
How will lowering spawn times and making items more common make these more work to get?
How will limiting the economy to only being able to buy tradeskilled items and sell every other item to a merchant fix the economy?
 
Let me coin a few terms to develop a better understanding of the process that games go through.

How to kill a MMORPG:

When a MMORPG or server starts up, the economy is in a 'founding' stage. During this stage, leveling is the only thing rewarded. With levels comes better gear, with better gear comes more difficult challenges to increase the power level of your character.

With a high enough level leading group supplying decent gear for their low-level peers, farming begins. This moves the game into stage 2, 'free-market stage'.

In stage 2, moderately powered items are being sold to low level characters, which greatly increases their ability. Thus, spending a certain amount of plat on items increases the characters effective 'level'. Low to medium level characters are thus more motivated by both farming for money (which is then used to by new gear), and actually xping to gain levels as relative power gains are more or less in balance.

As players begin to reach the end-game content, and that content begins to work it's way through the economy, the potential power gain from buying gear far outweighs gaining levels. Thus begins Stage 3 'saturation'

In stage 3, players are more motivated to gain currency, thus increasing their power, than to level, but eventually they hit a 'cap' imposed by the system, where they can't conceivably gain more power from items. So almost as an afterthought, they go gain a few levels, unlocking new farming opportunities. After which they return to farming. All the while, the Elite class that was pushing upward through the content continues to discover new and better gear. Others, seeing that the Elite has better gear then what they could farm for, struggles to catch up to them, finding themselves underequipped and lacking the experience necessary to be a valuable asset. On to stage 4, 'deterioration'.

Stage 4 is characterized by inexpensive mid to high level gear being present in the economy at very low prices. In this 'era' a level 10 character, equipped with items in their intended range, is effectively level 10. However, a level 10 character with access to enough currency, can effectively be level 20 or higher. This speeds leveling of characters. 'Twinks' start to become the norm and not the exception. Zones that don't have 'Uber loot' become abandoned. Developers in this stage start to feel pressure as the Elite class begin demanding more and more game content to explore, and items with which to continue their power growth. Some stragglers begin to assimilate into the Elite, those that don't get frustrated and either continue the struggle upwards, or start new characters, often blaming some facet of the system, such as race or class choice.

The next stage is 'equipment toxicity'. During this era high level items become so cheap due to market flooding that non twink characters are more or less handicapped during play. Power increase choices are almost one sided in favor of gear. Leveling becomes a chore, and quite quick due to level 10 players killing level 20 mobs as if they were level 10 mobs. The Elite begin to leave the game, because content developers can't keep up with their demands. And low level players are frustrated because of the 'lack of attention' their level range is receiving. Below endgame content is mostly ignored as players race to gain the currency to buy better gear or level to become Elite.

Then a game becomes 'stagnant'. More people are leaving the game then joining. Some stay, frustrated at the Dev team, but willing to put up with the perceived 'delays' in releasing of content due to the amount of time they have already put into their characters. New people joining the game are thrilled at being able to increase their power so quickly, but quickly get bored because the actual game mechanic for increasing their power, aka. levels, provides so little bonus to them. Limits begin to be felt acutely, like limits on exp group level differences. To players a level 10 with very good gear and a level 25 poorly equipped are much the same. About this time, a massive change is done, like increasing level the level cap, which temporarily resets the game back to stage 4 or 5 for the elite, but mostly ignores anyone else.

So back to Iaeolan's series of questions with that map in mind:

To stop the economy from reaching the deterioration stage I proposed not allowing item trading. A prime mechanic for allowing characters to gain gear they can use is trading however. Therefore, someone may never ever find a decent piece of gear for their class for a particular inventory slot. To counter this effect, items must come into the game MUCH more regularly to ensure that people can find what they need rather than trading for it. This means decreased spawn times, more possible drops per named. This does not lead to less time playing overall. And it has the pleasant side effect of eliminating 'forced' camping that appears in later stages of game aging, where you must camp a particular item to be considered effective.

Allowing tradeskilled items to still be traded allows for somewhere for the freemarket aspect to play out. This is a necessary aspect to a multiplayer game because it allows for an opportunity to socialize. Without this, a game might as well be single player, or a multiplayer combat game, along the lines of Counterstrike, with stats =). Also, tradeskilling was one of the valid play styles I considered when drafting this idea, and I wanted to preserve it. Tradeskills also have the benefit of increased complexity over the 'Drop' method of introducing items into the game. In economics it is well known that with complexity comes stability.

Drop method:
Price = Amount-dropped-over-time vs Demand
Amount-dropped-over-time = Dev set limit

Tradeskills
Price = Amount-being-created vs Demand
Amount-being-created = Number-of-suitable-tradeskillers vs Demand
Number-of-suitable-tradeskillers = Players-that-enjoy-tradeskilling vs Demand

So the demand is checked 3 times at least in the process of the economy 'deciding' whether or not to make an item. This prevents item flooding by forcing the whole 'market' to choose what items it should generate and much of them to make vs a set number coming into the game at a set pace.

The drop method inevitably leads to either price gouging for rare drops, or flooding for common ones.
 
To expand on the original idea a little further:

Have multiple places to hunt for each Tier. Place a nearly complete set of gear for most classes in any single zone, spread out over the drop tables of many different nameds. Each set focuses on one or two stats, while providing negligible bonuses in the others.

For an example:

Tier 3 cleric breastplate found in BB.

Royal Gnoll Breastplate
recommended level: 24
Ac 12
Str +4 Sta+1, Wis+4, Mana +5

Vs

Tier 3 cleric breastplate found in Warrens.

Kobold Seer's Breastplate
recommended level: 24
ac 14
Wis +2, Cha +1, Hp + 10, Mana + 25

Then let players try to collect a full set, or move around to other zones to mix and match the 'Best' pieces.

Makes sure that one zone is not the 'Uber' for gear for any given level.
 
Do you understand the concept of an MMO? The more time you put in the better your character will become. You are supposed to have to raid for hours on end to get the next upgrade. In your game everyone would all have the same high end gear and there would be shit to work towards.

You should not be able to achieve end game gear without hours of raiding.
 
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