Would love developer and elite player thoughts...

[Reggin]

I'm a huge fan of STS and support them with hundreds of dollars (soon to be thousands), but there is one thing I would love to see in the future.

STS has touched on making truly difficult bosses that require team coordination and multiple phases, but at the end of the day there has never been a fight that is actually difficult.

I'm not sure if it is the relatively simplistic nature of the games, but I would love to see a real challenge with an appropriate reward.

Granted, there isn't a way for real time communication, but there really should be a way for you guys to make a real challenge.

As it stands, with all new content people are farming the final boss with ease the day it comes out. In hardcore mmos, it can take weeks for top guilds to down the newest raid bosses. Unskilled players sometimes can't ever down them.

The issue is that in the long run, people are going to get bored with the same repetitive grinding endless times for rare chances at the best loot.

It would be great to see a campaign with really elite bosses that provide an automatic drop of some sort of token. The token should be allowed to be turned in for truly powerful gear that cannot be traded or sold.

Make the bosses very difficult and disallow the use of enhancers for the campaign. Since all SL zones have been free, make this a premium zone that costs plat, as hardcore players would gladly spend it on a challenging and fun campaign that rewards skill instead of endless grind time.

Maybe the first boss gets killed in a day or two, but I think the ultimate boss should not be downed for at least a week, and even then only by top players. He should last a month before most people figure out how to kill him.

Thoughts?

[Shaocalur]

I agree that STS needs to make the bosses a bit (as you said) "hardcore". It would make the game fun to have a challenege. But I disagree with the part involving plat. That would mean less people can't play and some people in this economy can't aford to spend money on a game they play in their free time.

[Elyseon]

Thats a good idea :D
It is kinda boring, definatley needs more quests too id say

[Ellyidol]

I'll repost what I replied to your other thread:

You don't need to be an elite player or a dev to really have a say in this, it'll affect everyone :p

I completely agree with you, but throughout my PL life of a year and so, I have grown to accept that STS really aims for their games to cater to a niche gaming segment, mainly the casual players. There is definitely a hardcore aspect to PL though, but in order to fully cater to the casual/pick-up play market, they can only stretch the hardcore play enough that the casual players can still attain it overtime.

Personally, as a gamer, I would prefer too much to achieve, that way, I'll always have something to do. That's just me though, and I understand if other players are turned off by "too hardcore/elite".

Fingers crossed that DL becomes a true hardcore game for STS.

[Deathpunch]

I r noob, but I must say that the last two main bosses, especially Mysterious Figure, have required a bit of attention to detail to defeat easily. Granted, you could just blast director and not worry about the emotes, but it was a fun addition to a fight that will save you money in the form of stims.

[Samhayne]

Hey Reggin,

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts. I agree with Ellyidol, in that you don't really need elite player input for this, anyone who's a regular player I'm sure would have thoughts about boss difficulty.

I think the thrust of your argument is,
...players would gladly spend it on a challenging and fun campaign that rewards skill instead of endless grind time.

and...


The issue is that in the long run, people are going to get bored with the same repetitive grinding endless times for rare chances at the best loot.

But in the long run, people get bored with the PC MMOs with expansive, very difficult raid encounters that can take weeks or months for their "hardcore" to figure out that you reference. At the end of the day, people will get bored with anything. We'd like to keep offering up new content at regular intervals to give people new stuff to do and experience. If you're an avid, avid player, you'll probably always eat through the available content faster than any Dev Team can crank it out. In all the MMOs that I've worked on or played, that's pretty much always been the case.

Our MMOs are definitely slanted more toward the casual player and focus on a "pick up and play" format; sorry. Hopefully you can enjoy them for what they are.

[krazii]

But in the long run, people get bored with the PC MMOs with expansive, very difficult raid encounters that can take weeks or months for their "hardcore" to figure out that you reference. At the end of the day, people will get bored with anything. We'd like to keep offering up new content at regular intervals to give people new stuff to do and experience. If you're an avid, avid player, you'll probably always eat through the available content faster than any Dev Team can crank it out. In all the MMOs that I've worked on or played, that's pretty much always been the case.

Our MMOs are definitely slanted more toward the casual player and focus on a "pick up and play" format; sorry. Hopefully you can enjoy them for what they are.

I think STS and the players would benefit from more quests (and achievements) that give higher exp. I'd much rather level through doing a quest or working on an achievements then endlessly grinding the same level over and over, even if it took the same amount of time. I'm actually quite surprised that as smart as you STS guys are, you haven't already implemented achievements as a way to retain players or maintain player participation. On the surface it seems like a no brainer. Even better if you provide a bonus for achievements, either credits or a special vanity item, or something.

[Reggin]

Sam,

First off, thank you for taking the time to chime in on this.

I personally am a casual player, as I only have an hour or so to play each day. The casual nature is what drew me to PL & SL. I simply didn't have the time for WoW anymore.

Allow me to just play Devil's Advocate for a moment... The current loot structure and content progression is actually more difficult for casual players. In order to get the best gear, skill is irrelevant as the only way to obtain it is endless grinding and dedicating large amounts of time to farming.

Shouldn't the best items be awarded to the best players? Even if you don't make content that only 10% of the players can ever master, it would be nice to see content that allows casual players that can't farm endlessly to gear up.

Content that takes at least a week master would at least be an improvement. I would love an opportunity to get end game gear as a casual player without having to manipulate the market or get in trouble with the wife for staying up all night grinding.

Perhaps keep the existing grind happy format, with an option for elite modes with guaranteed drops but extremely challenging bosses that drop legendary loot that can't be sold?

Thoughts?

[Elyseon]

Seriously, the economy is way too broken, when i started i looked at the top quality gear (at the time lvl50) above that all there was the vyxnaar helm at the extravagant price of 400k, i was amazed anyone could have that much.
Now people get a pink and list it near 1 mil minimum, it easy to find stuff going for near 3 mil. This is a huge jump thats killing the fun in PL especially for casual player. I was told i had no life yesterday for being lvl65, and i can not afford these ridiculous prices. Casual players will be stuck using the green item with maybe a purple helm. Add some more difficult thing with higher drop rates, it will make it easier on everyone.


Oh and forgot maybe add in some quested set that would strengthen the economy and give the poor stuff to use

[Reggin]

Sam,

Sorry for separate threads, but one was addressed to the PL forum and one to the SL forum. Since the topic was relevant to both games and there isn't a global forum, didn't know how else I could handle it.

Is there any way to make this thread visible to both forums? I would love the feedback of both communities, but I know a lot of PL players don't read SL forums and vice versa.