Too much early game content

[Derajdefyre]

Keep in mind, this is coming from someone who has played the game for only about a week and a half. That said, I have two years of industry testing experience under my belt including one full year of being assigned to a team dedicated to gameplay feedback.

This topic is somewhat related to this post:
http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?13251-Incentive-for-completing-all-quests
Fixing one could very well fix both.

There is too much early game content. I did Forest Haven, Dark Woods, and Balefort in a row by doing the quests playing at a casual pace. I did not focus on any particular goal other than playing the game. Specifically, I did not grind areas until I felt strong enough to move on and I did not rush through areas just to finish the quest. I didn't rush, but I didn't hold back either. By the time I was on the 256 tomes quest at Balefort (the second to last quest there I had to finish) I was level 23 and thus considered too strong to be in Balefort. Not only did I need to finish this quest, but there was another quest approximately four times as long after it. Now the amount of quests available has drastically increased!

I would like to clarify that this is in no way a complaint about end game content. I am only level 25, I have no opinion on end game content. This is just an observation that at low levels there is too much to do and I can't possibly get to it all. This would not be a problem if there was another incentive other than leveling that was compelling enough to complete these quests. A possible solution would be to add additional incentive for people who are too high level.

On a related note, I finished the Graveyard dungeon pack right at level 25. That is a huge imbalance. With the new Balefort content expansion, a player will get about halfway through and be too strong for the area, then move to the next area and finish the whole thing with three possible levels to spare.

By the way, this post may be negative overall, but I really LOVE this game. If I lived in Austin I'd apply for a job because I would love to be a part of the team making this happen. You guys are doing a great job.

[Ellyidol]

It's true that early game has way more quests and such when the game progresses, but i think when PL started, it only had one town. Which they added depth to, then the second town, then depth to that and so on. Which eventually lead to players finishing them quick and STS just releasing campaigns. They are catching up with quests though, so I've read in a facebook or article post. Just my guess :)

[Lesrider]

Yep, I never bothered getting those 1000+ tomes on any of my characters. By the time I got to that quest, I already hit the level cap for experience there. And I, too, just played through the quests at that point, no xp farming really. And the only reason I did the new balefort quests last night was because I wanted to explore the new areas. But I did it on one character and I have no plans to do it on my others -- too tedious for no real rewards.

Like I said, I would have loved to see those rock monsters at a higher level -- they don't deserve to be gettingnuked by lvl 16s!

[Lesrider]

It's true that early game has way more quests and such when the game progresses, but i think when PL started, it only had one town. Which they added depth to, then the second town, then depth to that and so on. Which eventually lead to players finishing them quick and STS just releasing campaigns. They are catching up with quests though, so I've read in a facebook or article post. Just my guess :)

So why'd they go and release more quests in the same area, when people are already out-leveling the quests? I really don't understand this latest move.

[Ellyidol]

So why'd they go and release more quests in the same area, when people are already out-leveling the quests? I really don't understand this latest move.

Yeah idk either. The implemented quests I can wrap my head around, this one though not too sure why.

Guess is with a whole lot of new players coming in they decided to extend the free content before needing to purchase plat? Is BC free in the first place? Lol. If not, probably for the same reason, to extend the first purchasable content.

Other than that, i did the first map earlier and found it too long and weird to even bother.

[Lesrider]

Ugh tell me about it. I kept getting lost in Wyldwood. I thought I was heading deeper in but kept winding up back by the entrance. Hard to tell bc the goblins Respawn, so you don't realize you've been there already. I managed to finish all the quests with my Mage, but I was getting really sick of the place by then. Definitely not doing it another two times.

And it's a shame, bc the new areas/monsters are kinda cool.

(Btw were any other lvl 50s getting randomly killed in the fortress? I'd take no damage the whole time, and then suddenly find myself dead. Not from lag, not from those fire pits. Happened usually in the boss room when the boss was either dead or almost dead. Suddenly I'd just get a 1 hit KO out if nowhere. Made no sense!)

[Torrentula81]

Ugh tell me about it. I kept getting lost in Wyldwood. I thought I was heading deeper in but kept winding up back by the entrance. Hard to tell bc the goblins Respawn, so you don't realize you've been there already. I managed to finish all the quests with my Mage, but I was getting really sick of the place by then. Definitely not doing it another two times.

And it's a shame, bc the new areas/monsters are kinda cool.

(Btw were any other lvl 50s getting randomly killed in the fortress? I'd take no damage the whole time, and then suddenly find myself dead. Not from lag, not from those fire pits. Happened usually in the boss room when the boss was either dead or almost dead. Suddenly I'd just get a 1 hit KO out if nowhere. Made no sense!)

The 1 hit KO, go revisit that boss. At Bout 30% health left you'll notice 3 line backers armed with what looks like sparklers. Just one of them nearly kills me. So run in, back to the wall and you will see them coming. I didn't understand how I could have possibly died at first to.

[Ellyidol]

Ugh tell me about it. I kept getting lost in Wyldwood. I thought I was heading deeper in but kept winding up back by the entrance. Hard to tell bc the goblins Respawn, so you don't realize you've been there already. I managed to finish all the quests with my Mage, but I was getting really sick of the place by then. Definitely not doing it another two times.

And it's a shame, bc the new areas/monsters are kinda cool.

(Btw were any other lvl 50s getting randomly killed in the fortress? I'd take no damage the whole time, and then suddenly find myself dead. Not from lag, not from those fire pits. Happened usually in the boss room when the boss was either dead or almost dead. Suddenly I'd just get a 1 hit KO out if nowhere. Made no sense!)

Yes!! I was on my mage and left it in a hallway to read forums. I was able to catch a quick glimpse of a corpse next to me dead, so my guess is a mob like a suicide bomber. Lol. Weird though since i was in a fixed mob map and not a respawnable one.