Tips for season 2 from a D3 seasonal veteran

Berrinat0r

Dalayan Beginner
Disclaimer: So I am quite new to SoD, actually season 1 has been my first playthrough, so I don't know anything about the raiding, ikisith etc.

However I've played countless seasons in Diablo 3, and usually get to the top 50 leaderboards for my class of the season. I've read somewhere Diablo was inspiration for the seasons, so I might have some perspective on things.

-A season needs a gimmick, something to make you look at parts of the game that you haven't seen. In Diablo every season has such a gimmick. Translated to SoD, this could for example be a significant boost to say 1HB weapons or maybe +50% to magic nukes. Something that will shake up the meta (for season only) and get people exited. Maybe in the form of a charm that gets removed at the end of the season. Considering the limited time I don't think it will make people break top end raid tiers or anything. This will obviously make some classes OP for the season, but that's ok, that's part of the fun. Make sure to rotate classes (flavor of the month) though.
-Duration: I think this season lasted 1 month too long. People are burned out and last month I've actually felt disadvantaged in season, because of people going back to their non-S toon (I have none, I feel stuck)
-This season people did tradeskills, so it was OK, but I think toons need to get some T1ish armor upon reaching certain levels. Like Haedrigs gifts in Diablo. These could be tied to some seasonal challenge, like taking out a specific mob in an underused dungeon for example. I doubt people will do the whole tradeskill journey again next season.
-Which brings me to augments. These are almost impossible to get in *S* at the moment unless you pickup mining and farm the materials yourself. Next season really should take in account a lack of tradeskills I think. Maybe put augments on a seasonal vendor.
-Seasonal vendor could also offer other interesting items, like illusions and maybe gate necks. Stuff that makes it worth investing time in season if you're already invested in another character
-Catch up mechanics. SoD tries really hard to make powerleveling not a thing. I understand the decision, but for season I think powerleveling benefits the season because people can catch up. In Diablo one of my friends (and sometimes me ;)) bites the bullet and does the whole leveling thing, then afterwards they quickly level us up to where the game gets interesting (65) and we can group together.
-One thing I like about Diablo seasons is the exp (paragons) get merged into your normal account. I don't know how that would work out for SoD, since in diablo Paragons get increasinly hard the more you have and AA's don't (I think?). Maybe in SoD you should get the option to delete your character after the season and merge the exp you gained to another character? I understand this sort of conflicts with my previous point about exp. Then again, I think people at the high end of the game don't even need AA anymore, so why not make the journey towards that point more enjoyable for the rest. It also makes playing seasonal chars less of a 'wasted time' for those who already have toons they are invested in (and still need AA)
 
-A season needs a gimmick, something to make you look at parts of the game that you haven't seen. In Diablo every season has such a gimmick. Translated to SoD, this could for example be a significant boost to say 1HB weapons or maybe +50% to magic nukes. Something that will shake up the meta (for season only) and get people exited. Maybe in the form of a charm that gets removed at the end of the season. Considering the limited time I don't think it will make people break top end raid tiers or anything. This will obviously make some classes OP for the season, but that's ok, that's part of the fun. Make sure to rotate classes (flavor of the month) though.
This would be awesome.
-Duration: I think this season lasted 1 month too long. People are burned out and last month I've actually felt disadvantaged in season, because of people going back to their non-S toon (I have none, I feel stuck)
I mean it's not really required to keep playing it. The rewards are conditional as to how far (and how much) you want to go. Some people can game. Hard. For me, getting to even level 65 wasn't in the books because I just can't waste time in an MMO like that anymore.
-This season people did tradeskills, so it was OK, but I think toons need to get some T1ish armor upon reaching certain levels. Like Haedrigs gifts in Diablo. These could be tied to some seasonal challenge, like taking out a specific mob in an underused dungeon for example. I doubt people will do the whole tradeskill journey again next season.
I thought having adepts enabled would have negated this need, but there was a huge aversion to allowing adepts/hate enabled because, "It's too good" and removes the need to do lower tier content.
-Which brings me to augments. These are almost impossible to get in *S* at the moment unless you pickup mining and farm the materials yourself. Next season really should take in account a lack of tradeskills I think. Maybe put augments on a seasonal vendor.
I have no authority on this, I didn't even make it to 65 so I'll defer to your experience.
-Seasonal vendor could also offer other interesting items, like illusions and maybe gate necks. Stuff that makes it worth investing time in season if you're already invested in another character
I would rather SoD have pay to win illusions - permanent race illusions, armor graphics, etc etc that you can buy. It's how Path of Exile stays free to play. Seems to work for them!
-Catch up mechanics. SoD tries really hard to make powerleveling not a thing. I understand the decision, but for season I think powerleveling benefits the season because people can catch up. In Diablo one of my friends (and sometimes me ;)) bites the bullet and does the whole leveling thing, then afterwards they quickly level us up to where the game gets interesting (65) and we can group together.
Boy, if you could introduce mentoring to bring 65's down to the level of the lowest person (of choice) that would be awesome on multiple levels.
-One thing I like about Diablo seasons is the exp (paragons) get merged into your normal account. I don't know how that would work out for SoD, since in diablo Paragons get increasinly hard the more you have and AA's don't (I think?). Maybe in SoD you should get the option to delete your character after the season and merge the exp you gained to another character? I understand this sort of conflicts with my previous point about exp. Then again, I think people at the high end of the game don't even need AA anymore, so why not make the journey towards that point more enjoyable for the rest. It also makes playing seasonal chars less of a 'wasted time' for those who already have toons they are invested in (and still need AA)
I asked for this. I got told that this is not happening. I would've gamed much harder if I'd known I could delete a seasonal toon and appropriate the XP into a different character.
 
Seasonal themes would be amazing. I wonder how technically difficult that would be? Could seasonal flagged characters just start with 500 in 1hb? A soulbond buff with duration = however long season is still? That would have the benefit of a seasonal countdown for everyone.

De-deactivating Adepts for next seasonal should be considered as an experiment if nothing else.

Temporary deleveling/shrouding would be a huge boon to the server and already exists somewhere in the EQ code.

I've been a proponent of a NPC that sacrifices characters (reverting to level 1 since deleting would cause logistical problems) in exchange for xp, plat, or something else. This would be valuable post seasonal (and make seasonal more appealing for old players), help thin the herd of old boxes, make account whoring a little less appealing/riskier, and be particularly useful if you're a grumpy old man with many 65s most of which you no longer want to play.
 
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