Regarding Introduction of new stuff and Shelf life of Arcanes
So,
Here's my trivial story containing my pressing cause of concern:
Once upon a time....it so happened that I started playing Arcane Legends.(Which I still do !)
It was during the 2014 Winter Event.
Eyes were introduced and though i didn't know what they were at that time (and what impact they would have along with para), I fondly remember the "ELONDRIAN WARFARE RECURVE BOW OF POTENCY" and "FROST-TOUCHED BOW OF POTENCY". These were, if I may say so the "dream stuff" that I , or in-fact everyone desired (at that time):love-struck. And so it happened, that as I leveled up from level 1 to 41 in a span of -I don't exactly remember how much days..at least 4-5 months I guess..if memory serves me right, they were still pretty much in use, pretty beautiful and efficient and still demanded a premium price in the CS . And when the planar tombs were introduced, they were still the "go to" weapons. And of course you could make through with them in Arena as well. And the Tindirin maps as well. And I could add more to this list...
So what's the point of stating all this? Do I mean to appreciate that they were the best?(Which they were at that time !) Or was it the fact that they were pretty much versatile in all the maps throughout arlor? While my experience begins from here, I am certain more of my fellow arlorians will be generous enough to add to this, prior the level 41 cap.(and for other classes as well)...Which brings me to the point I am trying to bring on the table.
Its that "THEY WERE DURABLE". They withstood the test of time .. and they did that with a remarkable level of proficiency...and that is what made people to buy them...with an imbued spirit that "they will be good in times to come" and if I may say so - They did serve their purpose for their lifespan(8-10 months?).
Frankly speaking : Its not only about if "ITS THE BEST" but also about "FOR HOW LONG WILL IT BE THE BEST?"
And this exact sense of security is what in-fact guides the market in a broad sense and the game itself in a much broader, intangible sense.
Let's get the fact straight : When you buy a weapon, its an investment which you think should last for as much of time-span as possible. And I do understand, this in itself turns out to be as much of an headache for players, as it is for the developers.(My question refers to the devs though). While weapons do phase out, as they must...the million rupee question is AT WHAT SPEED? If you are still confused about the stuff I am referring to in this post,its simply asking about the rate of induction of new stuff and the shelf life of the new stuff, that, it remains to be be seen - for how long it'll be the best.
So, What's the goldilocks zone?
When can we(the community along with devs) say the game is moving forward at the right speed?
Of course I do understand that currently, most active development of any game by STS is currently on AL, and this in itself implies - new stuff will be churned out at an unprecedented rate and which will indisputably raise the earning for the company, my cause of concern is the fact that this is causing a detrimental effect on the shelf life of items. Often I see players cribbing that "What they bought 2 months back, not even selling for half the cost price". Was this the way we were to move forward ? Considering I have the money to buy the new arcanes, will I buy it? Should I buy it? Most importantly, how long will it be the best? Pop the question in your gchat, most will say "Yes of course buy if you can afford it ! ". But that is exactly what happened with the farmable glintstone mythic set right?
This is not a story of "once bitten - twice shy". No, I am not [Glintstoned], but anyone will be insecure/infuriated about spending millions only to see it last good a few months. Its a story left in a lurch. Did most of the community get enough time to farm the 420 fangs to complete the set? How many out there completed the set, whilst not buying even a single fang from CS ? This is the exact rate I am worried about. BELIEVE ME ! - I am trying to put this across in a most earnest manner possible, while being muted, to try to get the alarm bells ringing. (HOPE you get around a table STS with a printout of this circulated among each of your members with a pencil in each of your hands. Just rate the speed at which you think you are introducing new stuff around - and powerful stuff at that).
Remember what you said in a recent post?
With great power, comes great responsibility !
Yes, responsibility which I see you performing with great level of involving ness and commitment!
But sometimes, it takes someone else to bring up a topic, to discuss over your coffee chat. So, my endeavor is to make this chat exactly that.
How to go about it?
Introspecting : Do some of you, the folks at STS, sometime wonder how much the game has changed in such a short span of time?
Do the current crop of legendaries stand good, even to beat the current underhul maps? I see people around decked in mythics and
still struggle on normal underhul maps. I remember we could go around level 41 cap in Tindirin wearing legendaries, and though difficult, if done right, still best the bosses. Can one conjure the audacity to do that now with the current crop of legendaries on the "Forgotten citadel" map?
Why I say this? Its because "legendaries" as they refer to are no longer that, but are in a sense turned into common items.
And why I speak of this is cause, legendaries have since time immemorial served an ulterior purpose.
They stand here to serve, to lessen the blow - to counter the impact of introducing new stuff.
How, you enquire ?
When for instance a poor Arlorian, who could afford a legendary in past (and it served him good in battle), could buy the current mythic now,
courtesy of a new arcane being introduced, the power curve was well within limits.
Arlorians with new Arcanes could wipe out bosses easy, those with their newly acquired last cap mythics could now do decent as well.
And this exactly is what is gets broken as shelf life decreases!
As new stuff is introduces at a rapid rate, the number of people who have access to the current best level stuff falls every iteration.
Its like getting to the upper half of the pyramid if you can imagine it.
Lesser were the number who could complete the craftable mythic set, lesser still was the number who still had the cash to
afford to decently farm the underhuls. The result ? Underhuls could have become a death pit.
But the calamity was averted. With the "Free Mythics for all" strategy.:grumpy:
Same Question which gets asked around several times in forums: Is getting your hand at mythics, supposed to be this easy - as eating popcorn?
[And we even have a new quest out after the antignome one..this when less than 20 Arlorians I think own
the complete antignome set!]
So now to the good part , "While changes do happen, we try to minimize the impact of the changes." . Right. Exactly ! How we do that?
With my experience of economics, its all about a break-even point. A Break even point is a point of no loss or no gain.
A Arlorian won't (or rather shouldnt) cry when he gets the money he invested, over a span of time BACK - because of the new gear he purchased.
Its like what happens when you start out in arlor. Everyone says buy a LEPRE...why? Because it will pay itself back over time.
The keyword being "OVER TIME" and when this gets reduced, things turn ugly.
Instead of introducing new Arcanes, If the drop rates of mold had been increased..no one could have complained.
Maybe you could have bought out a plat based elixir giving you more % change to drop molds and stuff.
( I know STS you are super creative and could have come up with tons of better alternatives!)
STS still makes profit, but more importantly more people have access to the current base of stuff.
And more current base in itself should effectively determine when new arcanes get introduced.
Maybe you could decide on a % basis - if these many player base have the current mythic..time to roll out the new arcanes!
But this is not what transpired.
And I fear now, that lightning may strike twice !
Now as I see it, I am now skeptical and in a quandary over whether I should go get the new stuff.
Of course! Introduction of new stuff makes me happy !
But will it remain good for at-least lets say 6-8 months or maybe a season as it used to be before?
Time will tell...Fingers crossed.
And Are You my fellow Arlorians satisfied with this rate of change? Comment below and let STS know.
#HOPE_YOU_DISCUSS_THIS_OVER_STS
- Cheers,
Oneazeli
