You're totally right, it's accepted a lot more nowadays. No longer an "issue!"
Hey Josh, i hope all is well, it's certainly been awhile ;]
I still think the most balanced fix (whilst also taking the least amount of effort) would be to buff the base damage on dex items.
Sup dawg! Everything's going pretty well man. I don't play PL anymore but I'm on SL a lot and occasionally on fullmetal. pm me bro
back to the discussion: yeah the main problem with balancing pvp is the effort needed to undertake this massive beast of a dysfunction. A lot of numbers would have to be tweaked, tested, tweaked again, and so on. The quick fix would be yes to buff base damage on dex items. I do believe that the damage is still way too high though. I hopped on PL to check it out; Fully geared people are getting 2 shot left and right. And by 2 shot I'm not exaggerating. 2 globals. I think the perfect pace of the game is for you to be able to get a full rotation of skills off and kill the opponent. Maybe 1 rotation and a half. I do believe that base damage of skills should def be raised with gear being nerfed. If you look at the 56 cap, a player in some greens and oranges from sewers would do just fine against other players with slightly noticeable dropoff in dmg compared to say custom. This was the epitome of balance. Pocket Legends is about being able to play with ANYONE ANYWHERE AND ANYTIME. This is what made the game blow up. PvE wise this still applies, but in PvP it really is not the case. Anyone can play PvP yes, but the people that just want to jump in and play get absolutely dominated without a single chance.
In PvP only the most wealthy, and most geared succeed. Someone who just started the game, ran through dungeons, and wanted to get a taste of killing their fellow comrades in battle would get a s***storm of oneshots hurled at them with no remorse. Why would anyone want to stay when that happens? Back to the dungeons they go. I hate mentioning how the state of PL PvP was better in 2011 and 2012 but it is true. Players of all calibers (with the exception of extremely poor and unskilled) could thrive. The average player with average gear (throwback to plat pack bears and iceberg mages, drainers birds, etc) could do at least decent. They didn't have to have the best gear with the best enhancements and the best amulets and all that crap to just be able to COMPETE. They could jump in, play some games, have a good time, and get out just as fast. The threshold for being able to even compete has been significantly raised due to the addition of all these features. The money, time, and effort taken to just be an on par player has been raised exponentially. Quantity > quality. More features does not mean a better game. The problem at hand needs to be taken under serious and extended examination and testing; it's not something that can be quickly fixed.
I understand that the devs are hard at work trying to upkeep multiple projects at once. Cinco is definitely doing the best he can. I think there's just a fundamental problem with where the game is going and to be honest, a reset button would be nice. Fingers crossed for a PL2. It's really hard making decisions that affect so many people. Not much we can do as players except giving feedback.
there's my 2c. cheers