Originally Posted by
GoodSyntax
I agree that there is a tremendous gap in game, and it has continued to widen. I also agree that there seems to be some flaws in the Leader Boards. So, with that said, here are my thoughts:
ON GEAR DISPARITY:
The gear disparity is large, and even though many of the event items are nice, and more than serviceable, the problem remains that there isn't enough Legendary gear that is suitable at end-game. For example, a pure tank would ideally prefer one of the Bulwarks (Frost or Elondorian); however, the next best tanking weapon would probably be, what? Planar Club of Will? Magmatic Claymore of Will? Conqueror's Wall? DMG/DPS tanks would ideally want a Bonesaw or Maul, but the Legendary counterpart is possibly the Planar Club of Assault or Magmatic Claymore of Assault. The point here is that the comparison between the Mythic versus Legendary is ENORMOUS! Same goes for Rogues and the Elondorian/Frost bows versus the next best, which is a junk Expedition Recurve of Potency. In this case, you're looking at an 80+ DMG differential!
Initially, I thought the Tooth shop a good idea, where, for instance, you could buy Dragonbone Daggers and even though you were giving up a little bit on the stats, the PROCs were very desirable. This model, in my opinion, is a very good one. It is a case where, if you work hard, you eventually can earn something that can be competitive. Unfortunately, this was only the case when Magmatic Daggers were the best weapon available for Rogues, but now that we have two mythic bows and a set of mythic daggers, so this concept no longer applies.
Then, I had hopes for the event amulets (specifically, the Wilds and Eerie ammy's), thinking, OK, if you worked hard, you could earn one of these and remain competitive. Unfortunately the Planar Pendants were released and the differential between the two is jarring.
Finally, when Planar Tombs came out, and we all saw the Imbued gear sets, again, I thought great, something we can earn! Again, I was a bit let down to realize that drop rates of the Planar Chests were really, really low, and even then, you needed to loot a Dark Crystal item out of the Planar Chest in order to craft. Even if you master these tombs, farm aggressively, and work hard, the likelyhood of you actually looting the correct items to craft a set are astronomically low. I even know some extremely wealthy people that have lost tens of millions trying to buy (and farm) Planar Chests looking for the appropriate Dark Crystal items without any luck.
Which, ultimately, brings me to two points on gear disparity. First, I am concerned that Legendary gear simply isn't competitive with their Mythic counterparts. I understand, and expect, Mythics to be better, but individually, the differential is large. In totality, a Fully Legendary player versus a Fully Mythic player might as well be 10 levels (or more) apart, which I think is unreasonable and unfair. Second, I simply have an issue with so much of this game being based purely on luck. The rewards for grinding and working hard are extremely limited and to be honest, mainstream players don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. Currently, the only way to grind and actually make income is to farm Teeth or farm Planar Fragments. For most Legendary players, farming Planar is not an option, so a large majority of players do nothing but farm for Locked Crates in Brackenridge/Kraken Mines 3, Essences in Watchers Tombs 4, or Teeth in normal Wilds, all boring, all low income, all low prospects of moving up in wealth.
What I would like to see is much better gear available for Teeth, so players can gear up (if they work hard) and be prepared to farm the Planar Tombs. Then, I would also like to see Dark Crystal items be available for purchase via Fragments - even if it is a high cost like 250 fragments per Dark Crystal item, at least you are assured that hard work will pay off. Far too much in this game is luck based, and skill, experience, tactics, party, friends, and guild all mean nothing to a random number generator. This game SHOULD reward effort, it SHOULD reward good strategies, and it SHOULD reward good teamwork.
ON LEADER BOARDS:
Let's be honest, people actually like to see their names up on the board, even if it's only for a day or even a few hours. Given my rant on gear disparity, I think something fun, and exciting would be daily leader boards. No, these dailies won't award banners or anything, it's purely for vanity, which, is what this is all about. This way, if players ever get in the mood, they can go for one of the daily LB spots and see how they stack up against the competition.
As far as overall leader boards go, there should be both overall leaders and seasonal leaders. I mean, there are players that still occupy the leader board that haven't played this game in over a year! With the other Legends games going into, what amounts to, End Of Life, more and more players are coming into AL for the first time. How daunting and demotivating it must be to see 1 trillion PvE kills at the top spot. Same goes for Overall Players....many APs are unattainable now, so even if someone that starts today becomes the best player in the game, they will never make it onto the leader board because it is simply impossible to do so.
Third, it would be nice to see where you stand in the game versus the leaders. Many times, I have been curious whether my toon is in the top 5% or right smack in the middle of the bell curve. There should be something added where you can see if you are advancing or falling behind in game, whether it be your Overall Rank at the bottom of the leader board, or a lookup page on the Forums here where you can get metrics on yourself.
Finally, while gear is a deciding factor on the timed runs, strategy is equally important. I am modestly geared, and with the exception of a Mythic Bow, I don't think my gear is anything that could be considered unattainable (Mythic Helm/Armor, Blood Ruby/Archon of Potency, Wilds of Potency), yet I am competitive in timed runs and have managed to take (and eventually lose) LB spots. The point is that Timed is more sport than anything else. It is a reason to sharpen skills, to improve strategies, to push the envelope. I have never won a timed run banner, yet I feel more accomplished making the effort of being competitive. I have developed strategies that have dramatically improved my farming abilities, so while I ultimately will not get an LB banner, I think I am a better player for even trying. I am not so vain that I feel I deserve one, I just appreciate the strategies and unusual dynamics that make some of these LB times possible.
Sorry for the long post, I know most of you will just say TL;DR, but these are my opinions on the matter.
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