Gap between Top Players and everyone else.

[mmaachilles211]

I've been playing AL for 2 yrs now and I had my struggles growing up to the player that I am today. But I always kept one thought in mind: If I work hard, farm with a purpose and put the time in I can achieve anything the game has to offer. I sit now as a full myth mage with Sam and am closing in on imbued/myth pendent. All you have to to is simply have to will to press forward. Sure some top geared players can accelerate there progression through the use of plat but most faced the same trials that I and many older players have gone through. The difference between individuals with pretty decent gear, such as myself, compared to one with mid-tier gear, such as OP (no offense meant) is work ethic. Stop worrying about what others have, simply focus on you and you will see yourself rise.

[bedmaster]

I think its also bcuz sts sticked on lv41 so long and introduced better and better equips for lv41 so lvl 41 gear so many and theres a huge gap differences. If only sts released lv46 before halloween everything will be fine i think. No lv41 imbued with more insane stats than mythics, no planar pendant.

Sent by a nub using Tapatalk

[Dragoonclaws]

Even with seasonal LB, I will never reach the top 25.... said 80% of the players

[Ovve]

+1 for seasonal lb.. sound great

[GoodSyntax]

I agree that there is a tremendous gap in game, and it has continued to widen. I also agree that there seems to be some flaws in the Leader Boards. So, with that said, here are my thoughts:

ON GEAR DISPARITY:
The gear disparity is large, and even though many of the event items are nice, and more than serviceable, the problem remains that there isn't enough Legendary gear that is suitable at end-game. For example, a pure tank would ideally prefer one of the Bulwarks (Frost or Elondorian); however, the next best tanking weapon would probably be, what? Planar Club of Will? Magmatic Claymore of Will? Conqueror's Wall? DMG/DPS tanks would ideally want a Bonesaw or Maul, but the Legendary counterpart is possibly the Planar Club of Assault or Magmatic Claymore of Assault. The point here is that the comparison between the Mythic versus Legendary is ENORMOUS! Same goes for Rogues and the Elondorian/Frost bows versus the next best, which is a junk Expedition Recurve of Potency. In this case, you're looking at an 80+ DMG differential!

Initially, I thought the Tooth shop a good idea, where, for instance, you could buy Dragonbone Daggers and even though you were giving up a little bit on the stats, the PROCs were very desirable. This model, in my opinion, is a very good one. It is a case where, if you work hard, you eventually can earn something that can be competitive. Unfortunately, this was only the case when Magmatic Daggers were the best weapon available for Rogues, but now that we have two mythic bows and a set of mythic daggers, so this concept no longer applies.

Then, I had hopes for the event amulets (specifically, the Wilds and Eerie ammy's), thinking, OK, if you worked hard, you could earn one of these and remain competitive. Unfortunately the Planar Pendants were released and the differential between the two is jarring.

Finally, when Planar Tombs came out, and we all saw the Imbued gear sets, again, I thought great, something we can earn! Again, I was a bit let down to realize that drop rates of the Planar Chests were really, really low, and even then, you needed to loot a Dark Crystal item out of the Planar Chest in order to craft. Even if you master these tombs, farm aggressively, and work hard, the likelyhood of you actually looting the correct items to craft a set are astronomically low. I even know some extremely wealthy people that have lost tens of millions trying to buy (and farm) Planar Chests looking for the appropriate Dark Crystal items without any luck.

Which, ultimately, brings me to two points on gear disparity. First, I am concerned that Legendary gear simply isn't competitive with their Mythic counterparts. I understand, and expect, Mythics to be better, but individually, the differential is large. In totality, a Fully Legendary player versus a Fully Mythic player might as well be 10 levels (or more) apart, which I think is unreasonable and unfair. Second, I simply have an issue with so much of this game being based purely on luck. The rewards for grinding and working hard are extremely limited and to be honest, mainstream players don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. Currently, the only way to grind and actually make income is to farm Teeth or farm Planar Fragments. For most Legendary players, farming Planar is not an option, so a large majority of players do nothing but farm for Locked Crates in Brackenridge/Kraken Mines 3, Essences in Watchers Tombs 4, or Teeth in normal Wilds, all boring, all low income, all low prospects of moving up in wealth.

What I would like to see is much better gear available for Teeth, so players can gear up (if they work hard) and be prepared to farm the Planar Tombs. Then, I would also like to see Dark Crystal items be available for purchase via Fragments - even if it is a high cost like 250 fragments per Dark Crystal item, at least you are assured that hard work will pay off. Far too much in this game is luck based, and skill, experience, tactics, party, friends, and guild all mean nothing to a random number generator. This game SHOULD reward effort, it SHOULD reward good strategies, and it SHOULD reward good teamwork.


ON LEADER BOARDS:
Let's be honest, people actually like to see their names up on the board, even if it's only for a day or even a few hours. Given my rant on gear disparity, I think something fun, and exciting would be daily leader boards. No, these dailies won't award banners or anything, it's purely for vanity, which, is what this is all about. This way, if players ever get in the mood, they can go for one of the daily LB spots and see how they stack up against the competition.

As far as overall leader boards go, there should be both overall leaders and seasonal leaders. I mean, there are players that still occupy the leader board that haven't played this game in over a year! With the other Legends games going into, what amounts to, End Of Life, more and more players are coming into AL for the first time. How daunting and demotivating it must be to see 1 trillion PvE kills at the top spot. Same goes for Overall Players....many APs are unattainable now, so even if someone that starts today becomes the best player in the game, they will never make it onto the leader board because it is simply impossible to do so.

Third, it would be nice to see where you stand in the game versus the leaders. Many times, I have been curious whether my toon is in the top 5% or right smack in the middle of the bell curve. There should be something added where you can see if you are advancing or falling behind in game, whether it be your Overall Rank at the bottom of the leader board, or a lookup page on the Forums here where you can get metrics on yourself.

Finally, while gear is a deciding factor on the timed runs, strategy is equally important. I am modestly geared, and with the exception of a Mythic Bow, I don't think my gear is anything that could be considered unattainable (Mythic Helm/Armor, Blood Ruby/Archon of Potency, Wilds of Potency), yet I am competitive in timed runs and have managed to take (and eventually lose) LB spots. The point is that Timed is more sport than anything else. It is a reason to sharpen skills, to improve strategies, to push the envelope. I have never won a timed run banner, yet I feel more accomplished making the effort of being competitive. I have developed strategies that have dramatically improved my farming abilities, so while I ultimately will not get an LB banner, I think I am a better player for even trying. I am not so vain that I feel I deserve one, I just appreciate the strategies and unusual dynamics that make some of these LB times possible.


Sorry for the long post, I know most of you will just say TL;DR, but these are my opinions on the matter.

[Dragoonclaws]

I agree that there is a tremendous gap in game, and it has continued to widen. I also agree that there seems to be some flaws in the Leader Boards. So, with that said, here are my thoughts:

ON GEAR DISPARITY:
The gear disparity is large, and even though many of the event items are nice, and more than serviceable, the problem remains that there isn't enough Legendary gear that is suitable at end-game. For example, a pure tank would ideally prefer one of the Bulwarks (Frost or Elondorian); however, the next best tanking weapon would probably be, what? Planar Club of Will? Magmatic Claymore of Will? Conqueror's Wall? DMG/DPS tanks would ideally want a Bonesaw or Maul, but the Legendary counterpart is possibly the Planar Club of Assault or Magmatic Claymore of Assault. The point here is that the comparison between the Mythic versus Legendary is ENORMOUS! Same goes for Rogues and the Elondorian/Frost bows versus the next best, which is a junk Expedition Recurve of Potency. In this case, you're looking at an 80+ DMG differential!

Initially, I thought the Tooth shop a good idea, where, for instance, you could buy Dragonbone Daggers and even though you were giving up a little bit on the stats, the PROCs were very desirable. This model, in my opinion, is a very good one. It is a case where, if you work hard, you eventually can earn something that can be competitive. Unfortunately, this was only the case when Magmatic Daggers were the best weapon available for Rogues, but now that we have two mythic bows and a set of mythic daggers, so this concept no longer applies.

Then, I had hopes for the event amulets (specifically, the Wilds and Eerie ammy's), thinking, OK, if you worked hard, you could earn one of these and remain competitive. Unfortunately the Planar Pendants were released and the differential between the two is jarring.

Finally, when Planar Tombs came out, and we all saw the Imbued gear sets, again, I thought great, something we can earn! Again, I was a bit let down to realize that drop rates of the Planar Chests were really, really low, and even then, you needed to loot a Dark Crystal item out of the Planar Chest in order to craft. Even if you master these tombs, farm aggressively, and work hard, the likelyhood of you actually looting the correct items to craft a set are astronomically low. I even know some extremely wealthy people that have lost tens of millions trying to buy (and farm) Planar Chests looking for the appropriate Dark Crystal items without any luck.

Which, ultimately, brings me to two points on gear disparity. First, I am concerned that Legendary gear simply isn't competitive with their Mythic counterparts. I understand, and expect, Mythics to be better, but individually, the differential is large. In totality, a Fully Legendary player versus a Fully Mythic player might as well be 10 levels (or more) apart, which I think is unreasonable and unfair. Second, I simply have an issue with so much of this game being based purely on luck. The rewards for grinding and working hard are extremely limited and to be honest, mainstream players don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. Currently, the only way to grind and actually make income is to farm Teeth or farm Planar Fragments. For most Legendary players, farming Planar is not an option, so a large majority of players do nothing but farm for Locked Crates in Brackenridge/Kraken Mines 3, Essences in Watchers Tombs 4, or Teeth in normal Wilds, all boring, all low income, all low prospects of moving up in wealth.

What I would like to see is much better gear available for Teeth, so players can gear up (if they work hard) and be prepared to farm the Planar Tombs. Then, I would also like to see Dark Crystal items be available for purchase via Fragments - even if it is a high cost like 250 fragments per Dark Crystal item, at least you are assured that hard work will pay off. Far too much in this game is luck based, and skill, experience, tactics, party, friends, and guild all mean nothing to a random number generator. This game SHOULD reward effort, it SHOULD reward good strategies, and it SHOULD reward good teamwork.


ON LEADER BOARDS:
Let's be honest, people actually like to see their names up on the board, even if it's only for a day or even a few hours. Given my rant on gear disparity, I think something fun, and exciting would be daily leader boards. No, these dailies won't award banners or anything, it's purely for vanity, which, is what this is all about. This way, if players ever get in the mood, they can go for one of the daily LB spots and see how they stack up against the competition.

As far as overall leader boards go, there should be both overall leaders and seasonal leaders. I mean, there are players that still occupy the leader board that haven't played this game in over a year! With the other Legends games going into, what amounts to, End Of Life, more and more players are coming into AL for the first time. How daunting and demotivating it must be to see 1 trillion PvE kills at the top spot. Same goes for Overall Players....many APs are unattainable now, so even if someone that starts today becomes the best player in the game, they will never make it onto the leader board because it is simply impossible to do so.

Third, it would be nice to see where you stand in the game versus the leaders. Many times, I have been curious whether my toon is in the top 5% or right smack in the middle of the bell curve. There should be something added where you can see if you are advancing or falling behind in game, whether it be your Overall Rank at the bottom of the leader board, or a lookup page on the Forums here where you can get metrics on yourself.

Finally, while gear is a deciding factor on the timed runs, strategy is equally important. I am modestly geared, and with the exception of a Mythic Bow, I don't think my gear is anything that could be considered unattainable (Mythic Helm/Armor, Blood Ruby/Archon of Potency, Wilds of Potency), yet I am competitive in timed runs and have managed to take (and eventually lose) LB spots. The point is that Timed is more sport than anything else. It is a reason to sharpen skills, to improve strategies, to push the envelope. I have never won a timed run banner, yet I feel more accomplished making the effort of being competitive. I have developed strategies that have dramatically improved my farming abilities, so while I ultimately will not get an LB banner, I think I am a better player for even trying. I am not so vain that I feel I deserve one, I just appreciate the strategies and unusual dynamics that make some of these LB times possible.


Sorry for the long post, I know most of you will just say TL;DR, but these are my opinions on the matter.

I need your help to write an essay, can you help me (you seem to have a lot to say on any subject 0.o )

[Raregem]

I agree that there is a tremendous gap in game, and it has continued to widen. I also agree that there seems to be some flaws in the Leader Boards. So, with that said, here are my thoughts:

ON GEAR DISPARITY:
The gear disparity is large, and even though many of the event items are nice, and more than serviceable, the problem remains that there isn't enough Legendary gear that is suitable at end-game. For example, a pure tank would ideally prefer one of the Bulwarks (Frost or Elondorian); however, the next best tanking weapon would probably be, what? Planar Club of Will? Magmatic Claymore of Will? Conqueror's Wall? DMG/DPS tanks would ideally want a Bonesaw or Maul, but the Legendary counterpart is possibly the Planar Club of Assault or Magmatic Claymore of Assault. The point here is that the comparison between the Mythic versus Legendary is ENORMOUS! Same goes for Rogues and the Elondorian/Frost bows versus the next best, which is a junk Expedition Recurve of Potency. In this case, you're looking at an 80+ DMG differential!

Initially, I thought the Tooth shop a good idea, where, for instance, you could buy Dragonbone Daggers and even though you were giving up a little bit on the stats, the PROCs were very desirable. This model, in my opinion, is a very good one. It is a case where, if you work hard, you eventually can earn something that can be competitive. Unfortunately, this was only the case when Magmatic Daggers were the best weapon available for Rogues, but now that we have two mythic bows and a set of mythic daggers, so this concept no longer applies.

Then, I had hopes for the event amulets (specifically, the Wilds and Eerie ammy's), thinking, OK, if you worked hard, you could earn one of these and remain competitive. Unfortunately the Planar Pendants were released and the differential between the two is jarring.

Finally, when Planar Tombs came out, and we all saw the Imbued gear sets, again, I thought great, something we can earn! Again, I was a bit let down to realize that drop rates of the Planar Chests were really, really low, and even then, you needed to loot a Dark Crystal item out of the Planar Chest in order to craft. Even if you master these tombs, farm aggressively, and work hard, the likelyhood of you actually looting the correct items to craft a set are astronomically low. I even know some extremely wealthy people that have lost tens of millions trying to buy (and farm) Planar Chests looking for the appropriate Dark Crystal items without any luck.

Which, ultimately, brings me to two points on gear disparity. First, I am concerned that Legendary gear simply isn't competitive with their Mythic counterparts. I understand, and expect, Mythics to be better, but individually, the differential is large. In totality, a Fully Legendary player versus a Fully Mythic player might as well be 10 levels (or more) apart, which I think is unreasonable and unfair. Second, I simply have an issue with so much of this game being based purely on luck. The rewards for grinding and working hard are extremely limited and to be honest, mainstream players don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. Currently, the only way to grind and actually make income is to farm Teeth or farm Planar Fragments. For most Legendary players, farming Planar is not an option, so a large majority of players do nothing but farm for Locked Crates in Brackenridge/Kraken Mines 3, Essences in Watchers Tombs 4, or Teeth in normal Wilds, all boring, all low income, all low prospects of moving up in wealth.

What I would like to see is much better gear available for Teeth, so players can gear up (if they work hard) and be prepared to farm the Planar Tombs. Then, I would also like to see Dark Crystal items be available for purchase via Fragments - even if it is a high cost like 250 fragments per Dark Crystal item, at least you are assured that hard work will pay off. Far too much in this game is luck based, and skill, experience, tactics, party, friends, and guild all mean nothing to a random number generator. This game SHOULD reward effort, it SHOULD reward good strategies, and it SHOULD reward good teamwork.


ON LEADER BOARDS:
Let's be honest, people actually like to see their names up on the board, even if it's only for a day or even a few hours. Given my rant on gear disparity, I think something fun, and exciting would be daily leader boards. No, these dailies won't award banners or anything, it's purely for vanity, which, is what this is all about. This way, if players ever get in the mood, they can go for one of the daily LB spots and see how they stack up against the competition.

As far as overall leader boards go, there should be both overall leaders and seasonal leaders. I mean, there are players that still occupy the leader board that haven't played this game in over a year! With the other Legends games going into, what amounts to, End Of Life, more and more players are coming into AL for the first time. How daunting and demotivating it must be to see 1 trillion PvE kills at the top spot. Same goes for Overall Players....many APs are unattainable now, so even if someone that starts today becomes the best player in the game, they will never make it onto the leader board because it is simply impossible to do so.

Third, it would be nice to see where you stand in the game versus the leaders. Many times, I have been curious whether my toon is in the top 5% or right smack in the middle of the bell curve. There should be something added where you can see if you are advancing or falling behind in game, whether it be your Overall Rank at the bottom of the leader board, or a lookup page on the Forums here where you can get metrics on yourself.

Finally, while gear is a deciding factor on the timed runs, strategy is equally important. I am modestly geared, and with the exception of a Mythic Bow, I don't think my gear is anything that could be considered unattainable (Mythic Helm/Armor, Blood Ruby/Archon of Potency, Wilds of Potency), yet I am competitive in timed runs and have managed to take (and eventually lose) LB spots. The point is that Timed is more sport than anything else. It is a reason to sharpen skills, to improve strategies, to push the envelope. I have never won a timed run banner, yet I feel more accomplished making the effort of being competitive. I have developed strategies that have dramatically improved my farming abilities, so while I ultimately will not get an LB banner, I think I am a better player for even trying. I am not so vain that I feel I deserve one, I just appreciate the strategies and unusual dynamics that make some of these LB times possible.


Sorry for the long post, I know most of you will just say TL;DR, but these are my opinions on the matter.

I read the whole thing ;P Great points as always. I would be way more motivated if I knew where I stood to push for the lbs. I would like to get on TDM myself but I am currently 18,000 kills away from the bottom spot. Which isn't exactly encouraging. If I could see that I was number idk 125 and watch as it went to 123 etc, then I know that would be a huge push. As of now I am still chugging along going for my goal but it does feel impossible at times.

I do agree with Rav that if they do seasonal leader boards there needs to be two. One for end game and one for twinks. Say 45-46 (for next cap) and then anything below that would have a different set in regards to pvp.

As far as gear goes it's just a joke. The itemization thing was a HUGE FAIL. They took forever to release stuff then when they did it was the same items over and over *cough* 3 sets of mythic weapons *cough*. Nothing was added to the teeth vendor except a new pet in what October/November. I know they focused a lot on events which are fun (most of the time) but people including myself always dread the lull in-between them and many don't even log back in until events are live again.

Too much is based on luck as well, I have yet to open one planar chest. Every time I resist the 10g epic item to liquidated and sell for 300-400k. Chests really stink in this game and they are everywhere! First the chest itself is on a loot table filled with junk, then you finally get one and you decide to open. Here you are faced with yet another loot table filled with junk . I'd much rather have direct drops then have to deal with two loot tables.

[Zylx]

This may come out rude but I'm gonna say it anyways.. If you want to a be `top player`instead of spending your time on this post you should be out farming and meeting these players.. Alot of them are just average players who had luck in the market and have the monetary funds to play the market and make more gold.. Also you can sit here and talk about how there stats are so amazing compared to average players but that's only half the reason these players are successful in the game.. These players understand the class they play in and out like the back of their hands.. They understand the mechanics of the game and have utilized a playing style that allows them to succeed. I've seen many plat players with over the top gear and still have no idea on what they need to be doing. Pvp is the most obvious example.

In all if you were to suddenly open a chest and get an arcane fossil then you would enjoy access to these 'elite' items because you have the funds.. These items are so over the top powerful because they are rare.. If you flooded the market with items that are closely related to same stats as arcane ring the ring would become obsolete. It's powerful because it's rare. Every game you play these days has these items and its just part of the mechanics. So if you want to be a top player start running elites and farming.. Like most ppl in AL you'll have the most luck farming crates and selling them during 2x myth weekends so gl.

P. S get off this post and start playing

That's the thing, I don't need or want to be a top player. I just want to be able to play with what I got, and if everything gets released with the top players in mind, where they are literally a year ahead of everyone else, I really have nothing that I am able to do. I am pretty lazy, yes, but I believe I am appropriately geared to be considered upper-middle class (mythic armor/helm, archon ring, fenrir, exped bow, abaddon/slag), and yet I can barely run PT, because it was made with the top players in mind. I understand the tactics, the pulls, where to go, what to do, but I can't even get through a single hit. Obviously you deserve to be rewarded for your hard work, but this is a little excessive.


And I'm not saying there needs to be a nerf, we just need more things in between what we, the middle class, have and what the current next best thing is. We need balance.

[ClumsyCactus]

I agree that there is a tremendous gap in game, and it has continued to widen. I also agree that there seems to be some flaws in the Leader Boards. So, with that said, here are my thoughts:

ON GEAR DISPARITY:
The gear disparity is large, and even though many of the event items are nice, and more than serviceable, the problem remains that there isn't enough Legendary gear that is suitable at end-game. For example, a pure tank would ideally prefer one of the Bulwarks (Frost or Elondorian); however, the next best tanking weapon would probably be, what? Planar Club of Will? Magmatic Claymore of Will? Conqueror's Wall? DMG/DPS tanks would ideally want a Bonesaw or Maul, but the Legendary counterpart is possibly the Planar Club of Assault or Magmatic Claymore of Assault. The point here is that the comparison between the Mythic versus Legendary is ENORMOUS! Same goes for Rogues and the Elondorian/Frost bows versus the next best, which is a junk Expedition Recurve of Potency. In this case, you're looking at an 80+ DMG differential!

Initially, I thought the Tooth shop a good idea, where, for instance, you could buy Dragonbone Daggers and even though you were giving up a little bit on the stats, the PROCs were very desirable. This model, in my opinion, is a very good one. It is a case where, if you work hard, you eventually can earn something that can be competitive. Unfortunately, this was only the case when Magmatic Daggers were the best weapon available for Rogues, but now that we have two mythic bows and a set of mythic daggers, so this concept no longer applies.

Then, I had hopes for the event amulets (specifically, the Wilds and Eerie ammy's), thinking, OK, if you worked hard, you could earn one of these and remain competitive. Unfortunately the Planar Pendants were released and the differential between the two is jarring.

Finally, when Planar Tombs came out, and we all saw the Imbued gear sets, again, I thought great, something we can earn! Again, I was a bit let down to realize that drop rates of the Planar Chests were really, really low, and even then, you needed to loot a Dark Crystal item out of the Planar Chest in order to craft. Even if you master these tombs, farm aggressively, and work hard, the likelyhood of you actually looting the correct items to craft a set are astronomically low. I even know some extremely wealthy people that have lost tens of millions trying to buy (and farm) Planar Chests looking for the appropriate Dark Crystal items without any luck.

Which, ultimately, brings me to two points on gear disparity. First, I am concerned that Legendary gear simply isn't competitive with their Mythic counterparts. I understand, and expect, Mythics to be better, but individually, the differential is large. In totality, a Fully Legendary player versus a Fully Mythic player might as well be 10 levels (or more) apart, which I think is unreasonable and unfair. Second, I simply have an issue with so much of this game being based purely on luck. The rewards for grinding and working hard are extremely limited and to be honest, mainstream players don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. Currently, the only way to grind and actually make income is to farm Teeth or farm Planar Fragments. For most Legendary players, farming Planar is not an option, so a large majority of players do nothing but farm for Locked Crates in Brackenridge/Kraken Mines 3, Essences in Watchers Tombs 4, or Teeth in normal Wilds, all boring, all low income, all low prospects of moving up in wealth.

What I would like to see is much better gear available for Teeth, so players can gear up (if they work hard) and be prepared to farm the Planar Tombs. Then, I would also like to see Dark Crystal items be available for purchase via Fragments - even if it is a high cost like 250 fragments per Dark Crystal item, at least you are assured that hard work will pay off. Far too much in this game is luck based, and skill, experience, tactics, party, friends, and guild all mean nothing to a random number generator. This game SHOULD reward effort, it SHOULD reward good strategies, and it SHOULD reward good teamwork.


ON LEADER BOARDS:
Let's be honest, people actually like to see their names up on the board, even if it's only for a day or even a few hours. Given my rant on gear disparity, I think something fun, and exciting would be daily leader boards. No, these dailies won't award banners or anything, it's purely for vanity, which, is what this is all about. This way, if players ever get in the mood, they can go for one of the daily LB spots and see how they stack up against the competition.

As far as overall leader boards go, there should be both overall leaders and seasonal leaders. I mean, there are players that still occupy the leader board that haven't played this game in over a year! With the other Legends games going into, what amounts to, End Of Life, more and more players are coming into AL for the first time. How daunting and demotivating it must be to see 1 trillion PvE kills at the top spot. Same goes for Overall Players....many APs are unattainable now, so even if someone that starts today becomes the best player in the game, they will never make it onto the leader board because it is simply impossible to do so.

Third, it would be nice to see where you stand in the game versus the leaders. Many times, I have been curious whether my toon is in the top 5% or right smack in the middle of the bell curve. There should be something added where you can see if you are advancing or falling behind in game, whether it be your Overall Rank at the bottom of the leader board, or a lookup page on the Forums here where you can get metrics on yourself.

Finally, while gear is a deciding factor on the timed runs, strategy is equally important. I am modestly geared, and with the exception of a Mythic Bow, I don't think my gear is anything that could be considered unattainable (Mythic Helm/Armor, Blood Ruby/Archon of Potency, Wilds of Potency), yet I am competitive in timed runs and have managed to take (and eventually lose) LB spots. The point is that Timed is more sport than anything else. It is a reason to sharpen skills, to improve strategies, to push the envelope. I have never won a timed run banner, yet I feel more accomplished making the effort of being competitive. I have developed strategies that have dramatically improved my farming abilities, so while I ultimately will not get an LB banner, I think I am a better player for even trying. I am not so vain that I feel I deserve one, I just appreciate the strategies and unusual dynamics that make some of these LB times possible.


Sorry for the long post, I know most of you will just say TL;DR, but these are my opinions on the matter.

+3,14159265358979323846264 for letting people know Where THEY are.
(Yes that number is a bit of pi thanks for asking)

[Serancha]

Seasonal leaderboards have become a necessity. STS also needs to purge the leaderboards of cheaters, exploiters, and dummy farmers. I know a handful that worked their butts off for their spots, but 98% of the boards requiring 10k flags (flagging, and top player boards) did not get there by actually doing it as intended. Filling ctf rooms with guildies and calling anyone down / ganging anyone who thinks to (omg) fight in ctf is, not the spirit of the game, and does not, make anyone "best".

Never mind the dummy farmers who toss so many legit players off the kills board and also end up on the "top player" list when they can't even run hauntlet in full mythics without dying (saw this with my own eyes....proof of how broken the system is).

At least seasonal boards would give current players a chance, but STS also has to start giving a crap about their own rules, and those the players have been requesting (like banning dummy farming) for over 2 years now.

[Zylx]

I agree that there is a tremendous gap in game, and it has continued to widen. I also agree that there seems to be some flaws in the Leader Boards. So, with that said, here are my thoughts:

ON GEAR DISPARITY:
The gear disparity is large, and even though many of the event items are nice, and more than serviceable, the problem remains that there isn't enough Legendary gear that is suitable at end-game. For example, a pure tank would ideally prefer one of the Bulwarks (Frost or Elondorian); however, the next best tanking weapon would probably be, what? Planar Club of Will? Magmatic Claymore of Will? Conqueror's Wall? DMG/DPS tanks would ideally want a Bonesaw or Maul, but the Legendary counterpart is possibly the Planar Club of Assault or Magmatic Claymore of Assault. The point here is that the comparison between the Mythic versus Legendary is ENORMOUS! Same goes for Rogues and the Elondorian/Frost bows versus the next best, which is a junk Expedition Recurve of Potency. In this case, you're looking at an 80+ DMG differential!

Initially, I thought the Tooth shop a good idea, where, for instance, you could buy Dragonbone Daggers and even though you were giving up a little bit on the stats, the PROCs were very desirable. This model, in my opinion, is a very good one. It is a case where, if you work hard, you eventually can earn something that can be competitive. Unfortunately, this was only the case when Magmatic Daggers were the best weapon available for Rogues, but now that we have two mythic bows and a set of mythic daggers, so this concept no longer applies.

Then, I had hopes for the event amulets (specifically, the Wilds and Eerie ammy's), thinking, OK, if you worked hard, you could earn one of these and remain competitive. Unfortunately the Planar Pendants were released and the differential between the two is jarring.

Finally, when Planar Tombs came out, and we all saw the Imbued gear sets, again, I thought great, something we can earn! Again, I was a bit let down to realize that drop rates of the Planar Chests were really, really low, and even then, you needed to loot a Dark Crystal item out of the Planar Chest in order to craft. Even if you master these tombs, farm aggressively, and work hard, the likelyhood of you actually looting the correct items to craft a set are astronomically low. I even know some extremely wealthy people that have lost tens of millions trying to buy (and farm) Planar Chests looking for the appropriate Dark Crystal items without any luck.

Which, ultimately, brings me to two points on gear disparity. First, I am concerned that Legendary gear simply isn't competitive with their Mythic counterparts. I understand, and expect, Mythics to be better, but individually, the differential is large. In totality, a Fully Legendary player versus a Fully Mythic player might as well be 10 levels (or more) apart, which I think is unreasonable and unfair. Second, I simply have an issue with so much of this game being based purely on luck. The rewards for grinding and working hard are extremely limited and to be honest, mainstream players don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. Currently, the only way to grind and actually make income is to farm Teeth or farm Planar Fragments. For most Legendary players, farming Planar is not an option, so a large majority of players do nothing but farm for Locked Crates in Brackenridge/Kraken Mines 3, Essences in Watchers Tombs 4, or Teeth in normal Wilds, all boring, all low income, all low prospects of moving up in wealth.

What I would like to see is much better gear available for Teeth, so players can gear up (if they work hard) and be prepared to farm the Planar Tombs. Then, I would also like to see Dark Crystal items be available for purchase via Fragments - even if it is a high cost like 250 fragments per Dark Crystal item, at least you are assured that hard work will pay off. Far too much in this game is luck based, and skill, experience, tactics, party, friends, and guild all mean nothing to a random number generator. This game SHOULD reward effort, it SHOULD reward good strategies, and it SHOULD reward good teamwork.


ON LEADER BOARDS:
Let's be honest, people actually like to see their names up on the board, even if it's only for a day or even a few hours. Given my rant on gear disparity, I think something fun, and exciting would be daily leader boards. No, these dailies won't award banners or anything, it's purely for vanity, which, is what this is all about. This way, if players ever get in the mood, they can go for one of the daily LB spots and see how they stack up against the competition.

As far as overall leader boards go, there should be both overall leaders and seasonal leaders. I mean, there are players that still occupy the leader board that haven't played this game in over a year! With the other Legends games going into, what amounts to, End Of Life, more and more players are coming into AL for the first time. How daunting and demotivating it must be to see 1 trillion PvE kills at the top spot. Same goes for Overall Players....many APs are unattainable now, so even if someone that starts today becomes the best player in the game, they will never make it onto the leader board because it is simply impossible to do so.

Third, it would be nice to see where you stand in the game versus the leaders. Many times, I have been curious whether my toon is in the top 5% or right smack in the middle of the bell curve. There should be something added where you can see if you are advancing or falling behind in game, whether it be your Overall Rank at the bottom of the leader board, or a lookup page on the Forums here where you can get metrics on yourself.

Finally, while gear is a deciding factor on the timed runs, strategy is equally important. I am modestly geared, and with the exception of a Mythic Bow, I don't think my gear is anything that could be considered unattainable (Mythic Helm/Armor, Blood Ruby/Archon of Potency, Wilds of Potency), yet I am competitive in timed runs and have managed to take (and eventually lose) LB spots. The point is that Timed is more sport than anything else. It is a reason to sharpen skills, to improve strategies, to push the envelope. I have never won a timed run banner, yet I feel more accomplished making the effort of being competitive. I have developed strategies that have dramatically improved my farming abilities, so while I ultimately will not get an LB banner, I think I am a better player for even trying. I am not so vain that I feel I deserve one, I just appreciate the strategies and unusual dynamics that make some of these LB times possible.


Sorry for the long post, I know most of you will just say TL;DR, but these are my opinions on the matter.

I completely agree with everything you said. The tooth thing was a great execution, yet the gear was short-lived. I do agree that gear needs to be rotated out of elites, as well as the tooth vendor and refreshed with more up-to-date ones.

And I also agree that it's ridiculous to have everything luck based, and leave little to no reward for hard work. I still believe there should still be a luck system, but I believe there should also be rewards for really trying, and there doesnt seem to be anything for that. Luck should be a shortcut to top gear, not the only way.

Daily leaderboards would be AMAZING as well! Something to encourage newer players to get up and do it!

[twoxc]

There's a problem with timed runs too. Gear dominates timed run way harder than in PvP because of the simply fact that you can get kills I know PvP, but you can never run faster than someone with over 300 damage than you.

This isn't fully true. I know paddothee for a fact without Arcane ring or Ancient Mythic Pendant can literally out run anyone 300+ damage then him in timed run, especially in beginning maps which mostly require skill and precision. Also Pets play a big role as well.

[Candylicks]

The legendary items in Tindirin were very good for a long time. The magma sets were used, the claymores, and the drops were not frequent and the people farming in there had something to farm for a very.long.time. Then came the event sets that were a dime a dozen and blew the Tind legendary sets out of commission. And the tombs drops? OMG what was that about, I mean I have seen 2-3 weapons drop in a single run several times. StS struggles a lot with the drop rate in this game.

1. The expansion legendaries should be better than mythics (because the last ones were not)
2. They should NOT drop often so they can retain value
3. New mythics should be introduced into the game eventually, probably not at the start of the cap.

So basically everyone will have a shot to farm a new awesome legendary set with the cap and close the gap.

My thoughts on the leader board are this- WIPE THEM. Then investigate every single account that was on there and a chrome player because those are the ones cheating. Now I find out that the majority of your esteemed timed runners are using autopot. GG guys. Way to take ALL of the fun out of a game.

[Candylicks]

This isn't fully true. I know paddothee for a fact without Arcane ring or Ancient Mythic Pendant can literally out run anyone 300+ damage then him in timed run, especially in beginning maps which mostly require skill and precision. Also Pets play a big role as well.

Autopot. Let's be real here.

The leaderboards are full of cheaters. Timed runs, PvE kills, PvP....

All have cheaters in there. Lots of them.

[Tatman]

ON GEAR DISPARITY:
The gear disparity is large, and even though many of the event items are nice, and more than serviceable, the problem remains that there isn't enough Legendary gear that is suitable at end-game. For example, a pure tank would ideally prefer one of the Bulwarks (Frost or Elondorian); however, the next best tanking weapon would probably be, what? Planar Club of Will? Magmatic Claymore of Will? Conqueror's Wall? DMG/DPS tanks would ideally want a Bonesaw or Maul, but the Legendary counterpart is possibly the Planar Club of Assault or Magmatic Claymore of Assault. The point here is that the comparison between the Mythic versus Legendary is ENORMOUS! Same goes for Rogues and the Elondorian/Frost bows versus the next best, which is a junk Expedition Recurve of Potency. In this case, you're looking at an 80+ DMG differential!

I read the whole thing and those are like my exact thoughts. I just can't put them on paper (or on forums) as masterfully as you can.

Now, on the quoted paragraph. 80 dmg differential is big. Now think about the differential between full legendary and maxed out rogue. It's 300 dmg on average. It's like the pink rogue is lvl 41 while the maxed out one is lvl 65. I'm sorry, but that's absurd.

Even the differential between me (myth armor/helm, myth ring, planar pendant, myth bow, Blinky/Grimm/etc.) and a maxed out rogue is about 100 dmg. One might say "farm/merch more". Yeah, farming and merching can only take you so far. I'm missing what - arcane ring, Nekro and imbued set to be maxed out? While those seem like only 3-4 items, it's actually a nine digit number in gold. Now imagine a fairly new player getting there without spending a ton of real money or having some enormous luck like looting a fossil from Arena (if it's possible at all).

And don't get me started on health, armor or even crit. Especially health.. gap's just monstrous there.

[twoxc]

Autopot. Let's be real here.

The leaderboards are full of cheaters. Timed runs, PvE kills, PvP....

All have cheaters in there. Lots of them.

Autopot? for beginning map such as breckenridge, ydra forest or dead city?

[Zylx]

Autopot. Let's be real here.

The leaderboards are full of cheaters. Timed runs, PvE kills, PvP....

All have cheaters in there. Lots of them.

Isn't there also a cheat bot for gaining pve kills? Where the bot continuously runs WT4 by itself? I've heard of it happening and I realise that its possible.

[twoxc]

here's a thought. IF the gap aren't that noticeable in gears or stats such as Health and Damage, would anyone actually pay or want the expensive ones in base on price? lets take Ancient Pendant for example. It's as rare as it is to loot one in arena. If the stats were not that significant say +10 extra primary only, would you have the will power and urge to even want to obtain one? or if it's only worth 500k-1m probably less or rather 5-10mil which i'm sure no one will pay that amount for nearly any noticeable in stats.

[Serancha]

Autopot. Let's be real here.

The leaderboards are full of cheaters. Timed runs, PvE kills, PvP....

All have cheaters in there. Lots of them.

The only way to "cheat" timed runs is on enhanced by repeatedly dying and revenging so you can spam pet AA. Even that is questionable because you are relying on lucky banishes and wasting time you could be hitting and doing constant damage, and it won't work on lower elites.

You cannot do that on pure in any case. The timed boards take the most actual skill of any leaderboard and are the least exploitable.

[Candylicks]

The only way to "cheat" timed runs is on enhanced by repeatedly dying and revenging so you can spam pet AA. Even that is questionable because you are relying on lucky banishes and wasting time you could be hitting and doing constant damage, and it won't work on lower elites.

You cannot do that on pure in any case. The timed boards take the most actual skill of any leaderboard and are the least exploitable.

I'm going to pm you.