Gavry
07-06-2010, 07:33 PM
Let me proceed this by saying this is not another thread saying we need to increase the drop rate of Pinks.
Sorry for the vent. After a little over a week of AO2 I'm unfortunately getting a little disenchanted with the current state of the game.
After AO1 there was an outcry over the drop rate of Pinks. Furthermore, the level, "The Great Pyramid", was such an easy level to farm. Three bosses in under 5 minutes. Come AO2, the drop rate was lowered a LOT. Add to that, the only real farm level is "Plasma Pyramid!" the longest map to complete so far. We are now in a position where players need to grind through hours of mindless playing with no skill or attention needed to generally get 3 or 4 Greens and possibly a Pink. Persist with that mindless grind long enough and you eventually get some pretty good items.
Now to my real issue. As Pinks are very rare now, and the good ones VERY VERY rare, the chances of getting the Pink you actually need is VERY low. So far I have obtained 1 item I want to use on my character. I have however acquired maybe 6 to 8 that I would use if I had a Bird or Chantress. So what do I do with these pink I don't need? I know I'll trade them for stuff I need. How do I do this? Go to Towne, or as I like to call it Salesman Conference Centre. It is the most painful place in the whole game. After spending a little over a minute in a Towne I quickly retreat back to the menu to avoid the incessant, selling some items message or, the continual begging. As a result of this I usually end up giving said items away to friends that need them or just hanging onto them. Current inventory is 93 items, all Pink.
So what's the solution. Well the first and most obvious is an Auction House. And before you start with the, check the Roadmap, I have and know its coming, I'm whinging remember. I understand we are all early adopters, and have to put up with playing a game that is still being developed. Again, I'm happy to do that, and enjoy giving feedback and seeing a great product grow and mature. So we don't have auction houses, and not for a while. So what's next? Well the obvious is either increase drop rates or add a new Boss Brawl type level. Not really a fan of this either. I like the fact that equipment needs to be worked for and everything isn't instantly available. So to my only real practical solution I can see is as follows.
Add a new multi level map group when adding a new group of maps. This is purely for maxed out players. Make it that you have to play through the maps, maybe 2 or 3 maps in total. Have the maps HARD. Note to developers, hard is not, lets add 230 mobs and then a boss or two at the end. HARD is groups of bosses who work together. Two Casters that heal and buff their team, a couple of DPS mobs and a Tank or two. Make it so the players actually need to think and work together to win. To this add XP loss for deaths in this map type. That way we will also have to worry about deaths and do XP, I'll come back to this soon. At the end of the sets of maps have Rare Pinks that always drop. If I spend an hour and work my *** off to get through 3 maps with a highly skilled group I WANT rewards.
So my one solution needs more work for our dedicated, 6 man, development team. And the work isn't on the roadmap. So to my disenchantment. The way the game is currently going I can't see the current state of play changing much. Currently its pretty much like this:
1. HIGH EXCITEMENT - New map is released. Time to go level and check out the new challenges. See what great new items have been added and what cool new enemies we have to fight.
2. STILL EXCITED - Ok reached max level again and played through all the maps. Seen a few cool new items and want to play more to get my hands on some.
3. NEUTRAL - Slogging through the same farm level now and slowly acquiring a few new items. Boredom is starting to set in.
4. BORED & FRUSTRATED - Write a long forum post outlining my disappointments.
After all that I must say I really like the game, and the concept, and am still playing around 3 to 4 hours a day. I can see a rosy future, I just want it now. For those that read the whole way through, thanks. Any opinion, feedback is more than welcome.
Sub Note - XP Loss
The XP loss concept would go like this. At max level in advanced maps, as outlined above, you would loose something like 5% of your current level of XP from a death. Drop below 0 and you loose a level and get booted from the map. You can't play in that map again until you have got the Max level back. Add to this the ability to get XP buffers, being double the XP needed to get Max level plus one. When the next map comes out and players can get a higher level clear all buffers so everyone starts on the same footing.
Sorry for the vent. After a little over a week of AO2 I'm unfortunately getting a little disenchanted with the current state of the game.
After AO1 there was an outcry over the drop rate of Pinks. Furthermore, the level, "The Great Pyramid", was such an easy level to farm. Three bosses in under 5 minutes. Come AO2, the drop rate was lowered a LOT. Add to that, the only real farm level is "Plasma Pyramid!" the longest map to complete so far. We are now in a position where players need to grind through hours of mindless playing with no skill or attention needed to generally get 3 or 4 Greens and possibly a Pink. Persist with that mindless grind long enough and you eventually get some pretty good items.
Now to my real issue. As Pinks are very rare now, and the good ones VERY VERY rare, the chances of getting the Pink you actually need is VERY low. So far I have obtained 1 item I want to use on my character. I have however acquired maybe 6 to 8 that I would use if I had a Bird or Chantress. So what do I do with these pink I don't need? I know I'll trade them for stuff I need. How do I do this? Go to Towne, or as I like to call it Salesman Conference Centre. It is the most painful place in the whole game. After spending a little over a minute in a Towne I quickly retreat back to the menu to avoid the incessant, selling some items message or, the continual begging. As a result of this I usually end up giving said items away to friends that need them or just hanging onto them. Current inventory is 93 items, all Pink.
So what's the solution. Well the first and most obvious is an Auction House. And before you start with the, check the Roadmap, I have and know its coming, I'm whinging remember. I understand we are all early adopters, and have to put up with playing a game that is still being developed. Again, I'm happy to do that, and enjoy giving feedback and seeing a great product grow and mature. So we don't have auction houses, and not for a while. So what's next? Well the obvious is either increase drop rates or add a new Boss Brawl type level. Not really a fan of this either. I like the fact that equipment needs to be worked for and everything isn't instantly available. So to my only real practical solution I can see is as follows.
Add a new multi level map group when adding a new group of maps. This is purely for maxed out players. Make it that you have to play through the maps, maybe 2 or 3 maps in total. Have the maps HARD. Note to developers, hard is not, lets add 230 mobs and then a boss or two at the end. HARD is groups of bosses who work together. Two Casters that heal and buff their team, a couple of DPS mobs and a Tank or two. Make it so the players actually need to think and work together to win. To this add XP loss for deaths in this map type. That way we will also have to worry about deaths and do XP, I'll come back to this soon. At the end of the sets of maps have Rare Pinks that always drop. If I spend an hour and work my *** off to get through 3 maps with a highly skilled group I WANT rewards.
So my one solution needs more work for our dedicated, 6 man, development team. And the work isn't on the roadmap. So to my disenchantment. The way the game is currently going I can't see the current state of play changing much. Currently its pretty much like this:
1. HIGH EXCITEMENT - New map is released. Time to go level and check out the new challenges. See what great new items have been added and what cool new enemies we have to fight.
2. STILL EXCITED - Ok reached max level again and played through all the maps. Seen a few cool new items and want to play more to get my hands on some.
3. NEUTRAL - Slogging through the same farm level now and slowly acquiring a few new items. Boredom is starting to set in.
4. BORED & FRUSTRATED - Write a long forum post outlining my disappointments.
After all that I must say I really like the game, and the concept, and am still playing around 3 to 4 hours a day. I can see a rosy future, I just want it now. For those that read the whole way through, thanks. Any opinion, feedback is more than welcome.
Sub Note - XP Loss
The XP loss concept would go like this. At max level in advanced maps, as outlined above, you would loose something like 5% of your current level of XP from a death. Drop below 0 and you loose a level and get booted from the map. You can't play in that map again until you have got the Max level back. Add to this the ability to get XP buffers, being double the XP needed to get Max level plus one. When the next map comes out and players can get a higher level clear all buffers so everyone starts on the same footing.