1.7.1 Content Update (57007)

[sticky420]

Maybe keep gcd for attk spells but for heal and buffs it all gets alittle sloppy and slow please consider some of the ideas people r coming up with I loved this game and I will miss it if it stays the same.

[ardonemis]

Ok, I finally had a chance to play post GCD. Like many others, I went to Plasma Pyramid, a map that I can generally solo without too much trouble.

What did I find? Yes, I can still do my combo, but the game feels painfully slow and boring. One simple lag spurt, and I'm looking at the death screen when I used to be able to recover just fine.

So here's my honest constructive criticism:

First of all, the gcd HAS to go. Period. Most of us are on flaky 3g connections, so casual is good. If we wanted hardcore, we'd probably be on a pc or console game with a wired low ping connection, not on a cell phone, tablet, or ipod. Think about this.

Second, radical changes in gameplay after the beta stage is a huge no-no. Ask SOE, who has successfully killed at least 2 fairly popular games by radical gameplay changes. I'm guessing a few of you witnessed this firsthand, so you should know better. Yes, the gcd registers as a huge change in gameplay to a great number of players.

What was the goals of this gcd anyway? Was it simply for pvp, or to lower lag and stress on the servers? If its pvp, you need to take into account that there are a great number of players that aren't interested in pvp. If it is lag, then maybe they should upgrade, not make 90 percent suffer to please the 10 percent. (Made up numbers to make a point, ie don't punish the ones on modern devices in order to please somebody on a second generation iphone.) Any connection not on wifi is likely to be somewhat laggy, and I'm sure most of us realize that and are willing to deal with it. If it's to lower stress on the servers, then let's compromise and have a discussion on the matter. Make a thread laying out the problem, and lets discuss solutions.

I really don't want to tell you I'm quiting. I don't want to quit. I want the old fast paced game back. I do however have a bad feeling that if the gcd keeps going on in the current form that this game will die a slow, painful death much like PlanetSide and SWG.

One last request: Can we please get an option to disable fart pack sounds and animations so they aren't displayed client side? Not everyone is a pre-teen that find such things amusing.

On the plus side, I do like the rest of the changes. GCD + fart pack = bad, rest = good.

I 100 agree. If you need money for better Servers make a donation call. I Monate somthing, but only if gcd dosent stay.

[Kindread]

I would say that b 4 the update I used my spells with thought and was definitely not button mashing now ima masher by the time u get a spell or two off and one didn't work after hittin it 2 or three times now im half dead not attacking with my weapon cause the guys already dead but the other 10 r still attacking I gota look over to see if I can heal standing there Doin nothing but getting hit about to die suckin down potion after potion well do I use a spell or heal im gettin creamed so I gota use a spell but gota heal ehh im just gonna turn it off this ain't no fun

I dunno. That scenario you just described sounds fun to me. So many critical decisions to make with the threat of failing and dying hanging in the balance. It sounds fun because it sounds like a challenge.

Also, with the new GCD changes, you probably don't want to kamikaze into group of mobs 10 deep anymore. You have to be more strategical about it.

[kopi]

The update is the skill cooldown is no longer need to be verified by server but based yr device's timing.

Not a big difference, it is still tiring for me, having to watch out for my and party health and skill refresh. I couldnt play long. I play game to relieve the stress from real life and now the game has give me more stress, how ironic.

Yes, my blessing of might wasnt working and i thought it was my phone's fault.

I have experienced that in lag situation, its will mess up the skills activitation. Alot of us players as sts will know are outside US, we do not enjoy the luxury of having super fast ping, and some parts do not have high quality 3g service provider. In the past even when i am getting spike lag or having 1000+ish ping, i know and confident that the skill has been activated, but in this case before and after the patch, when i am having this ping issue, skills that i thought should be activitated but its not. Its very hard for people like us to play and enjoy.

I love this game, i have spent over a thousand of plats and i know there are alot more players out there too spent alot. My friend's list last night was almost grey. And there were some came in, tried playing a bit and went off.

Honestly from last night i gathered from some guys, some even they are frustrated, they dont want to come forum and give feedback. Reasons they gave me : they heard that complaining in forum will get them banned, and this is the impression they get. I explained to them no you wont if you are only givibg feedbacks but they just not willing to come. Another reason they give is : what for? They post and they get a flame war.

Bottom line, even with this patch, a lot of pple still dont like it, not as smooth as before. And now you have to concentrate more on the game itself, very tiring. Now PL has become a friendster for me, login, stand in town chatting and joking with others, dont feel the urge to farm, only occassionally get my 47 mage in keeper to 'practise' a bit of skills

[Kaarataka]

This tweeking of the code has made gcd tolerable but I keep feeling like there is a hiccup in spell rotation on my mage. If the timing could be lowered by just 0.05 - 0.1 it would make it perfect. Thanks for your hard work devs.

Your biggest critic
Me

[Elnendil]

Agree

I didn't care for the comment on the other thread that if you don't have constructive feedback, you could be banned. I have worked my entire career (now as an exec) in the service industry and making threats to customers who complain about the product/service is the quickest path towards being out of business. If you don't want feedback, then don't ask for it. If you pat yourself on the back about being a responsive Development team then I think you should take stock of the feedback you've received and decide if you're actually being rational or stubborn with your "enhancements" to the gaming environment. Maybe tweaking GCD isn't the right answer, maybe reversing it is?

Hulluko's post said it best, you've slowed down gameplay which was maybe your single largest competitive advantage. You've also caved to childish whims by putting fart/puke emotes into the game...BUT "don't let me catch you cursing or bans are coming"!!! No profanity in this game but fart, vomit and crap your pants all you want. This deviates from a squeaky clean image that I thought PL did a good job of maintaining. Again, I'm not entirely sure what problem you were solving with this patch..."loop time" is developer code speech...I'm not a developer and could care less what that means. As a customer, I can tell you that your improved "loop time" has the counter effect of creating a degraded gaming experience. If that was your goal, good job.

This may sound like a rant post but consider it an implore to take stock in your strategic direction before you lose a lot of fans and customers. You guys were on a good trajectory and seemed to take a random, ill-advised 90-degree turn but seem to have an attitude that the community will simply adjust. Don't be too sure - these changes have radically changed the quality of the game. The halo effect of "loop time" will steadily improve with less players logged on.

he has a very good point if u missed it maybe you should take look again

[nazgulking]

Devs I love you. Now gcd is the way it was supposed to be. Played a few runs and absolutely love it Don't listen to trolls and flamers that just whine for the sake of it. Other people will give you REAL feedback, as for me keep gcd as it is now.

[karmakali]

I have tried to keep nonconstructive feedback to myself so far. I just feel the need to point out that it is currently 12:50 here now and I logged out of PL about an hour ago. I haven't gotten offline before 2 am in a while. I actually sat there looking at the "accept revive" button for over a minute debating on whether to rejoin play or not. At that point I figured it was better to just log out.
I will try to be more specific tomorrow about issues I have found that have affected the lure of the game.
Right now all I can say is "Please Devs....make it better".

[DOAPSaint]

Love the new faces and emotes!
GCD was annoying at first but now I've started to learn to deal with it... it could be better if the cooldown was just a little shorter.
I give two thumbs way up!!!

[Siejo]

Morhawk you trying for a shield?

On seperate note, gcd still sucks. Sure it feels faster and smoother but its still to long and game still isn't fun like it used to be. I still think some or all of these need to be brought to game to make gcd not so bad.
Gcd reduced further
Mob hp cut
Mob dmg cut
Xp increase
Dmg increase
Money drop increase
Pink rate increase
Elixer and buffs length increased
Or remove gcd......
Bosses changed in some way to make up for loss of mobilty and dmg

Markus has some interesting suggestions here. As it stands right now they said GCD is here to stay. If it is true and they stand firm maybe we can offer them suggestions to lessen the pain. Decreasing mob damage and increasing skill potency and duration could offset the delay experienced. Maybe they can test that out and see if it works. I am not here to say which side is right but maybe we can meet in the middle somewhere. Sometimes the user sees things the creator doesn't and thats totally fine as NOBODY is perfect, but instead of threatening to quit and calling them names we should help them understand. Best thing would to describe to them where you experience difficulty with GCD and with what party combination so they can mimick it. Thats what I think in my opinion anyways. You can flame all you want I am just trying to be helpful in a more mature way.

[cynic]

Devs I love you. Now gcd is the way it was supposed to be. Played a few runs and absolutely love it Don't listen to trolls and flamers that just whine for the sake of it. Other people will give you REAL feedback, as for me keep gcd as it is now.

so everyone that gives an other answer then u is a troll and flamer??? u are so wrong this is about a game that isnt funny anymore after a patch and people are dissapering, have u seen how many people are online?
im so sick of people that only here to become a guardian by giving answers the devs would like

[Kindread]

so everyone that gives an other answer then u is a troll and flamer??? u are so wrong this is about a game that isnt funny anymore after a patch and people are dissapering, have u seen how many people are online?
im so sick of people that only here to become a guardian by giving answers the devs would like

No one is answering to get a guardian shield. You only get that when you've shown significant contribution to the community. This thread and this whole topic of GCD is about personal opinion.

[nazgulking]

People that states "Omg this sux! I quit! Remove it or I'll quit" are trolls and flamers, people that states " this, this and this will improve actual gameplay" are the one that give real feedback. You cynic are trying to portray me as a dictator, which i am not, that only wants good feedback from players or as someone that wants PL shield, which i am not looking for. There is a big difference between trollers, like you, and players who cares about the game by giving advices on how to improve the game.

[Riccits]

my 2 cents now:

- GCD feels much much better on my iphone, its almost playable now. i would like to reduce 0,15-0,2 and i can play almost like before
- thx very much for free skill respec, i needed for all my chars
- plz fix the new ao town quests, still cant craft the weapon and turn in the other quest.
- thx very much for the buttons at longon screen, they was badly needed!!!!
- the invite textes are annoing, when iam f.e. at gobblin tunnels i invite my whole list to come.. i have to wait a minute until all textes of invites are scrolled... :/
- thx for reducing sounds of farts!!

[Hayabusaz]

Devs , please we are a lot that wants sewer king's set !
Why isn't there any ? There MUST be one ! Devs , please make one !!

[cynic]

People that states "Omg this sux! I quit! Remove it or I'll quit" are trolls and flamers, people that states " this, this and this will improve actual gameplay" are the one that give real feedback. You cynic are trying to portray me as a dictator, which i am not, that only wants good feedback from players or as someone that wants PL shield, which i am not looking for. There is a big difference between trollers, like you, and players who cares about the game by giving advices on how to improve the game.

so now i dont care about the game????
man i stated my opinion bout gcd already and i think its not fair that they changed te game and made a good action rpg into a dull game.
im just pissed i spend a lot of money on something that isnt the same anymore, they are changing the game for the worst.
why do i need to adjust my gamestyle, i dont want that i liked the game as it was.
everybody may express themselfs, beeing agry, sad or whatever! man this our last change before we really quit the game to try to change it.

why change something that isnt broke???
now were dealing with a problem that just started after the patch.
THIS GAME ISNT FUN anymore.
i dont wanna flame or troll and im not saying others do or point any finger (like u) i just wanna express my sadness and try to do what i can to change it before i really give away all my stuff and unplug

[Luchta]

After doing a few runs in PP, I'm having a slight problem with the new snappy model. At 300-400 ping (which is normal for any 1mbps wifi or 3G) is when I tap a skill and it doesn't register, I have to tap it again until I see it registers and is on the cool down. This may not be a biggie to some, but the problem here is when you're in frenzy and you have to do a combo, if first skill doesn't register, tapping the second one is going to kill you.

@Devs: I hope you can consider queuing. Let the server load the request for us instead of canceling a request when it gets confused with lag. In basic terms, it's letting everyone tap as many ready to use skills then just put maybe the same .5 seconds or faster cool down for each skill before they register? This would allow the animation to finish and at the same time, help us survive if device to server lag is an issue.

My two cents.

[Kindread]

Just spent the last 3 hours in Balefort Sewers playing in PUGs only. With this update to the GCD, my random PUGs were finishing maps almost as fast as pre-GCD performances and in some instances, faster than pre-GCD times. Biggest difference that I noticed, aside from the smoother GCD action from the recent update, was that all the players concentrated more on a team game without any prompting or instruction. If there was a bear, everyone deferred to the bear's lead and allowed him to group first. No one was playing Rambo and taking off by themselves. When there wasn't a bear, it seemed the teams instinctively stayed together more to maximize kills and reduce potential for player deaths.

Hideout runs were basically same speed as pre-GCD and many times the map was cleared just shy of the exp pot limits. For Roach and Catacomb runs, we were flying through those almost as fast, if not faster, than pre-GCD. The only run which consistently took longer was Stronghold and even then, it was not much longer than pre-GCD. It appears that many of the players have adapted to the rhythm of the GCD already.

I'm not sure what's different between the players that I ran with a few hours ago and the players in this thread that absolutely cannot cope with the new changes. Granted these were all PUG team runs and not solo. I don't have any insight on solo runs as I rarely solo any maps anymore and haven't solo'ed myself in a really long time. Have the detractors here really given the GCD a fair shot in the team environment or has this just become a matter of principal that they've decided to not compromise on at all?

[Riccits]

Just spent the last 3 hours in Balefort Sewers playing in PUGs only. With this update to the GCD, my random PUGs were finishing maps almost as fast as pre-GCD performances and in some instances, faster than pre-GCD times. Biggest difference that I noticed, aside from the smoother GCD action from the recent update, was that all the players concentrated more on a team game without any prompting or instruction. If there was a bear, everyone deferred to the bear's lead and allowed him to group first. No one was playing Rambo and taking off by themselves. When there wasn't a bear, it seemed the teams instinctively stayed together more to maximize kills and reduce potential for player deaths.

Hideout runs were basically same speed as pre-GCD and many times the map was cleared just shy of the exp pot limits. For Roach and Catacomb runs, we were flying through those almost as fast, if not faster, than pre-GCD. The only run which consistently took longer was Stronghold and even then, it was not much longer than pre-GCD. It appears that many of the players have adapted to the rhythm of the GCD already.

I'm not sure what's different between the players that I ran with a few hours ago and the players in this thread that absolutely cannot cope with the new changes. Granted these were all PUG team runs and not solo. I don't have any insight on solo runs as I rarely solo any maps anymore and haven't solo'ed myself in a really long time. Have the detractors here really given the GCD a fair shot in the team environment or has this just become a matter of principal that they've decided to not compromise on at all?

had same experience

[On7H3MooN]

Remove gcd please. I don't want to play my level 50 mage anymore... and have started up a bird... but still frustrated with gcd. :/