I'm posting this in SOD Discussion because of its broad nature. If the staff feels like it belongs in suggestions/requests or wherever else, feel free to move it, and sorry for the trouble. I apologize in advance for the length of the post =P
Needless to say, the changes made in the last year and a half have been dramatic. I just thought I'd post a few thoughts about the changes from the perspective of a returning player formerly approaching the high end of the game.
Raid size
It seems like one of the biggest changes has been to raid size and dynamic. The goal of making raid content more accessible to smaller guilds and more casual players is a good one. If I understand the changes that have been made correctly, though, I don't think that's what has happened. Smaller raid size is a good thing, and it increases accessibility. The old 36-man raids or whatever could be prohibitive for small guilds trying to break into raiding, given the population of the server. By essentially requiring 15 different classes, however, the new rules seem to be doing more to exclude newer high level characters than to include them. Admittedly, my new DC mains are only in their 30s right now, so I'm speaking only from an outside perspective, based on my perceptions of the system and the conversations I've had with old friends having guild/raid woes. It seems like the higher end guilds are basically closed systems now.
The problem: The existing, established guilds have the classes they need. If they didn't, they wouldn't be where they are. A guild has no need for more than maybe one or two extras of any class. It sounds like rising players will only have access to raid content if A) a player of their class quits a current raiding guild, freeing up a spot, or B) they start a new raid guild. The former is just a shot in the dark, and not really a viable means of getting access to new content. The latter is a lot to ask of a player for simply wanting to raid a bit, and it's not necessarily doable; it depends entirely on the classes available and willing to start a new guild. It takes a well-established group of players with very regular play times to put together consistent raids in which you'll have even close to 15 different classes represented without many duplicates. If you're starting a new guild there's no way you're going to find one or two people of each class, of sufficient level, available at the same time each week on certain days, who will stick around when offered a spot on an established raid guild. Bear in mind that newer guilds also probably aren't going to be sharing around all their character infor the way more established ones do, meaning that when someone can't get on for a raid, they probably aren't going to be automatically botted by someone else. It really seems to me like there isn't much of a window for newer players to get into higher end content, and that seems to go against the entire point of the changes to raids.
The solution: I can't speak to the specific mechanics, but ideally it seems like the best solution would be to encourage the inclusion of all classes by balancing the classes' raid functions, rather than an enforced system. When I left, the code giving DoTs a big use in mitigating mob DPS had just been implemented for that exact purpose. That's the sort of innovation that, IMO, has made SOD such a great server. Aside from class balances, a couple of possible approaches: 1) Reduce the requirement for class diversity. Instead of needing all 15 different classes to gain the full benefit, make the number 10 or 12. This would make it far easier for guilds that are just entering the raiding arena to actually get the drops they need. There's still a strong incentive for them to have all the classes represented in their guild, since if you only have 12 classes represented and some can't show, you're getting screwed out of drops. Keep a cap of 2 or 3 of each class and the new numbers can't be abused, but it still gives rising guilds some more options. 2) [Edit: forgot to include option 2 lol] Keep the incentive to have all classes represented, but increase the raid size from 18 to 24. Again, this would just provide more leeway for guilds that aren't firmly established in the raiding world. Obviously it would require a lot more rebalancing than the previous option, and would mean more changes for established guilds, so the previous option is probably the preferable one.
The game economy
I've done a lot of reading on the forums here, and this appears to be a significant problem. I read the threads on both of the major changes that were considered back in April, and I've gotta say, I'm very glad the rare spawn likelihood change was the one implemented.
One of the things I've always enjoyed with MMOs is the trading aspect. Back on Live, I spent a lot of time in the EC tunnel and, later, in the Bazaar, simply because I enjoyed bartering with people. It was a far more enjoyable means of making plat for me than farming - buying low and selling high. Implementing the [Battered] change to droppable gear would essentially eliminate that aspect of the game, and IMO that would be quite a blow to the overall gameplay experience for myself and a great many others. Limiting DC farming is a far preferable approach as a means of limiting oversaturation of farmable items.
One other possibility for reducing the prevalence of certain items, if specific ones are a problem, would be creating either a permanent, temporary, or intermittent turnin system. There would be a wide variety of ways to do this. Items could be turned in for some sort of token, usable for something like faction, tradeins for no drop items, or a roll in some sort of NPC casino. For example, the Newport guards might decide that they need to update their armory, and say that they need a bunch of weapons X and Y and armors A, B, and C. You would turn it in to a quartermaster, who might give you any of the following: Newport Bounty Tokens of quality based on the difficulty of obtaining the item, a cash reward, experience (probably just for the first or the first few turnins), a useful item (for high-end turnins, maybe a potion of some sort that would be useful to raid guilds), or a lottery ticket for one of a number of prizes given out at the end of the day/week/whatever. Just an example, it could easily be tweaked.
A big new part of the economy is tradeskills. With a few exceptions, they weren't a realistic option for gear a year and a half ago. I'm thrilled that there's useful player-made equipment available now. There seems to be a bit of an issue with balance these days, though. Tradeskilled gear is better than nearly all (reasonably obtainable) mob-dropped or quested alternatives at the lower levels. Take 2h weapons, for instance. Through about level 30, a mithril 2-hander is going to be pretty close to the best DPS you can get. As I approached 30, I started looking around for my next upgrade. There used to be several different quality options - corrupted sword of valor and purebladed axe are the only two I can remember off the top of my head. The CSOV is decent DPS, while the purebladed axe has pretty worthwhile stats, and is excellent against corrupted enemies. For general purpose use, though, both pale in usefulness next to a warpmetal 2hs. Consider the Warpmetal Halberd, for instance: 45/54 +11 magic damage. As long as you're fighting blues, nothing can compare, and even when you're not, it still has a better ratio than the purebladed, and lacks the disadvantages of the CSoV.
Armor seems to be the same. Mithril armor blows away anything you can hope to quest before level 30, although the cost of a full suit might be prohibitive before at least the 20s... but the antique plate quests in the badlands yield armor that looks like crap next to mithril. Consider, for example, the Mithril Plate BP versus the Antique Plate BP. By the time you can do the antique plate quests (around level 20), you can probably afford a few pieces of mithril, rendering the quests all but worthless. I won't even touch on Deepmetal.
Basically, it seems like smithed armor and weapons trump nearly all droppable and questable gear throughout the earlier levels, and in most cases at the later levels as well. I'd love to see some balancing of the droppables, quest rewards, and tradeskilled items reasonably attainable by lower level characters.
Anyway, just my thoughts on a few different topics. I might add on some other issues as they come to me. I'd love to hear other thoughts on these issues, particularly if I'm incorrect in my understanding of the raid system. Feel free to tear my arguments apart =)
(Edited to include another option for tweaking raids)
Needless to say, the changes made in the last year and a half have been dramatic. I just thought I'd post a few thoughts about the changes from the perspective of a returning player formerly approaching the high end of the game.
Raid size
It seems like one of the biggest changes has been to raid size and dynamic. The goal of making raid content more accessible to smaller guilds and more casual players is a good one. If I understand the changes that have been made correctly, though, I don't think that's what has happened. Smaller raid size is a good thing, and it increases accessibility. The old 36-man raids or whatever could be prohibitive for small guilds trying to break into raiding, given the population of the server. By essentially requiring 15 different classes, however, the new rules seem to be doing more to exclude newer high level characters than to include them. Admittedly, my new DC mains are only in their 30s right now, so I'm speaking only from an outside perspective, based on my perceptions of the system and the conversations I've had with old friends having guild/raid woes. It seems like the higher end guilds are basically closed systems now.
The problem: The existing, established guilds have the classes they need. If they didn't, they wouldn't be where they are. A guild has no need for more than maybe one or two extras of any class. It sounds like rising players will only have access to raid content if A) a player of their class quits a current raiding guild, freeing up a spot, or B) they start a new raid guild. The former is just a shot in the dark, and not really a viable means of getting access to new content. The latter is a lot to ask of a player for simply wanting to raid a bit, and it's not necessarily doable; it depends entirely on the classes available and willing to start a new guild. It takes a well-established group of players with very regular play times to put together consistent raids in which you'll have even close to 15 different classes represented without many duplicates. If you're starting a new guild there's no way you're going to find one or two people of each class, of sufficient level, available at the same time each week on certain days, who will stick around when offered a spot on an established raid guild. Bear in mind that newer guilds also probably aren't going to be sharing around all their character infor the way more established ones do, meaning that when someone can't get on for a raid, they probably aren't going to be automatically botted by someone else. It really seems to me like there isn't much of a window for newer players to get into higher end content, and that seems to go against the entire point of the changes to raids.
The solution: I can't speak to the specific mechanics, but ideally it seems like the best solution would be to encourage the inclusion of all classes by balancing the classes' raid functions, rather than an enforced system. When I left, the code giving DoTs a big use in mitigating mob DPS had just been implemented for that exact purpose. That's the sort of innovation that, IMO, has made SOD such a great server. Aside from class balances, a couple of possible approaches: 1) Reduce the requirement for class diversity. Instead of needing all 15 different classes to gain the full benefit, make the number 10 or 12. This would make it far easier for guilds that are just entering the raiding arena to actually get the drops they need. There's still a strong incentive for them to have all the classes represented in their guild, since if you only have 12 classes represented and some can't show, you're getting screwed out of drops. Keep a cap of 2 or 3 of each class and the new numbers can't be abused, but it still gives rising guilds some more options. 2) [Edit: forgot to include option 2 lol] Keep the incentive to have all classes represented, but increase the raid size from 18 to 24. Again, this would just provide more leeway for guilds that aren't firmly established in the raiding world. Obviously it would require a lot more rebalancing than the previous option, and would mean more changes for established guilds, so the previous option is probably the preferable one.
The game economy
I've done a lot of reading on the forums here, and this appears to be a significant problem. I read the threads on both of the major changes that were considered back in April, and I've gotta say, I'm very glad the rare spawn likelihood change was the one implemented.
One of the things I've always enjoyed with MMOs is the trading aspect. Back on Live, I spent a lot of time in the EC tunnel and, later, in the Bazaar, simply because I enjoyed bartering with people. It was a far more enjoyable means of making plat for me than farming - buying low and selling high. Implementing the [Battered] change to droppable gear would essentially eliminate that aspect of the game, and IMO that would be quite a blow to the overall gameplay experience for myself and a great many others. Limiting DC farming is a far preferable approach as a means of limiting oversaturation of farmable items.
One other possibility for reducing the prevalence of certain items, if specific ones are a problem, would be creating either a permanent, temporary, or intermittent turnin system. There would be a wide variety of ways to do this. Items could be turned in for some sort of token, usable for something like faction, tradeins for no drop items, or a roll in some sort of NPC casino. For example, the Newport guards might decide that they need to update their armory, and say that they need a bunch of weapons X and Y and armors A, B, and C. You would turn it in to a quartermaster, who might give you any of the following: Newport Bounty Tokens of quality based on the difficulty of obtaining the item, a cash reward, experience (probably just for the first or the first few turnins), a useful item (for high-end turnins, maybe a potion of some sort that would be useful to raid guilds), or a lottery ticket for one of a number of prizes given out at the end of the day/week/whatever. Just an example, it could easily be tweaked.
A big new part of the economy is tradeskills. With a few exceptions, they weren't a realistic option for gear a year and a half ago. I'm thrilled that there's useful player-made equipment available now. There seems to be a bit of an issue with balance these days, though. Tradeskilled gear is better than nearly all (reasonably obtainable) mob-dropped or quested alternatives at the lower levels. Take 2h weapons, for instance. Through about level 30, a mithril 2-hander is going to be pretty close to the best DPS you can get. As I approached 30, I started looking around for my next upgrade. There used to be several different quality options - corrupted sword of valor and purebladed axe are the only two I can remember off the top of my head. The CSOV is decent DPS, while the purebladed axe has pretty worthwhile stats, and is excellent against corrupted enemies. For general purpose use, though, both pale in usefulness next to a warpmetal 2hs. Consider the Warpmetal Halberd, for instance: 45/54 +11 magic damage. As long as you're fighting blues, nothing can compare, and even when you're not, it still has a better ratio than the purebladed, and lacks the disadvantages of the CSoV.
Armor seems to be the same. Mithril armor blows away anything you can hope to quest before level 30, although the cost of a full suit might be prohibitive before at least the 20s... but the antique plate quests in the badlands yield armor that looks like crap next to mithril. Consider, for example, the Mithril Plate BP versus the Antique Plate BP. By the time you can do the antique plate quests (around level 20), you can probably afford a few pieces of mithril, rendering the quests all but worthless. I won't even touch on Deepmetal.
Basically, it seems like smithed armor and weapons trump nearly all droppable and questable gear throughout the earlier levels, and in most cases at the later levels as well. I'd love to see some balancing of the droppables, quest rewards, and tradeskilled items reasonably attainable by lower level characters.
Anyway, just my thoughts on a few different topics. I might add on some other issues as they come to me. I'd love to hear other thoughts on these issues, particularly if I'm incorrect in my understanding of the raid system. Feel free to tear my arguments apart =)
(Edited to include another option for tweaking raids)
