The Current State of PL

[Baylakk]

Hello all. I have a few things to say about modern PL as well as a few ideas that could be implemented to help the game out. Be warned - this thread is going to be a longer read but I truly hope you will all read it in all it’s extent. (Cinco as well :P)

Table of Contents:
1. My PL past and what caused me to stay hooked.

2. What we can do as a community.

3. Game update I deas to retain new players.

4. New dungeon idea to promote activity of all levels.

Just a note before I begin. At least one idea I will be listing has already been brought up before by others players, everything else is my original thought. Criticism is WELCOME. I want you guys to say what you like and don’t like about this and maybe what could work or wouldn’t. Now to begin.

1. My PL Past And What Caused Me To Stay Hooked.

I first started playing PL not too long after 56 became the new level cap. My best times were during the 56 cap. As a noob I went through my ups and downs of the game (getting scammed and whatnot) but I always came back no matter how much I lost. Why? People are what kept me returning to the game. I knew that I could log on and see 10-15 of my PL friends and just chill with them. We’d farm for random crap for hours and chat about stuff. What I generally see in modern PL now are some close-knit cliques. Numerous times people have been having a conversation in a towne and I’ll make some comments and get completely ignored. I’ve seen it happen to others as well. I understand, lots of the players nowadays have been playing together for ages; but having just returned a few months ago, it seems that people either stay within their cliques or go it alone. I’d like to see us bond together as a community more.

2. What We Can Do As A Community.

The number one thing we can do is help new players adjust to the game. Answer questions for them, run through just a few dungeons with them, and just make new friends. I’d really like to see a Consignment Shop NPC placed in Forest Haven and possibly removed from Oktal. Why? Move the high levels to the lower level area to interact with new players more. Updates and events are not always enough to retain new players. Sometimes we are needed.

3. Game Update Ideas To Retain New Players.

Besides not having anyone to play with, new players also need to feel as though they are progressing. If I was a brand new player coming into PL today, I honestly would probably quit. The gold you make from low levels is quite literally nothing compared to prices nowadays. More powerful gear is also normally required as fewer people play, more dungeons must be soloed. And that gets frustrating for a new player.

Idea 1 - New players start off with a Non-Tradable pet that give them a stat bonus of +75 attack, +75 defense, and +150hp in ALL DUNGEONS. This will allow them to solo many of the beginning stages while not making them completely overpowered in PVE.

Idea 2 - Create a Quest in Alien Oasis (Available to level 38+) that rewards a Non-Tradable pet that gives a stat bonus of +250 attack, +250 defense, and +500hp in ALL DUNGEONS. These levels get harder to solo even with the starter pet. This would again make them powerful for the next few stages.

Idea 3 - Make all quests in the game ACTUALLY worth something. Revamp a number of the rewards and give the players gear that has decent stats for their level and at least looks semi cool. I’d also suggest increasing gold payouts from quests by a large amount (15-25k per quest) but this could possibly be abused to continuously create new characters to redo quests for gold. If there’s an idea around this then that’d be great.

Idea 4 - New players want gold. Having a little spending money will go a long way in getting them to stay. Ideally I’d like quests to have large payouts but that may not be possibly. This alternative option has already been suggested before but it is a very good one. Increase the payouts from the liquidation of normal drops. Somewhere around 500 gold per liquidation would be a good range.

Idea 5 - Give new players a way to farm rare items. Always having a shot at rare expensive items kept me coming back as well. Nowadays many lower level rare items that were once quite pricey are worth hardly anything now. I will detail a new dungeon later in this post that will allow everyone to farm for extremely rare items at all times (not just waiting for events).

Idea 6- This has also already been suggested. Leveling is too slow for new players right now. A balance of decently fast leveling but not too fast is required. The new pet’s would allow them to kill faster, but xp can still be quite a grind. Add rareish random xp orb drops to all mobs (small 25-100xp ones) and add an xp orb drop to every boss kill (along with normal gear loot). Boss xp orbs range from 100xp-5000. Keep the higher orbs (5k+) for the higher levels. When noobs can kill quicker, level quicker, and gain a decent amount of gold, there’s a higher chance they’ll continue. Obviously, once they out level a map orbs would no longer drop.

If anyone has any other ideas to keep new players coming back please post them below and I’ll add them to this list.


4. New Dungeon Idea.

We need a place to farm without waiting for events. Sorry but IMO it’s true. My options right now are farm Elite Dragon for starries or farm Endgame stuff. Both of which are kind of meh sometimes. I have already thought out a new dungeon and will describe it below.

The new map will have 3 levels to it and will be based off of the three OCD (Omnipotent Crown of Dreams) helmets. These helmets are some of my favorites and are very unique. As a result, I’d LOVE a set for them.

This map would be available at all times to anyone level 10 and above with the option of a solo run or group run. Choosing solo run puts you into the dungeon by yourself with the mobs scaled down to accommodate this. Level of difficulty in group runs will be scaled based on the highest level character in the room. So if a level 100 and level 10 are running together the mobs will be level 100.

Level 1: Golden Dreams

The layout would have a similar style to Sandstone caves except replace the rocky structures with Golden Clouds. The clouds would have pink lines of light running through them like veins.

The level would have approx. 100 mobs. The design of these mobs could be anything but a few random ideas include some Floating Ghosts as well as Cloud mobs.

All mobs must be cleared to spawn the boss. The boss would be wearing the complete Golden Omnipotent set (I will describe the set just a bit later).

Drops for this level:

Omnipotent Chestplate of Dreams (Legendary)(Vanity)

Omnipotent Shield of Dreams (Legendary)(Vanity)

(Intelligence)
Golden Cowl of Dreams(Elite)
Golden Robe of Dreams(Elite)
Golden Wand of Dreams(Elite)
Golden Eye of Dreams(Elite)
Golden Staff of Dreams(Elite)

(Dexterity)
Golden Cap of Dreams(Elite)
Golden Leather of Dreams(Elite)
Golden Talon of Dreams(Elite)
Golden Wing of Dreams(Elite)
Golden Bow of Dreams(Elite)

(Strength)
Golden Helm of Dreams(Elite)
Golden Plate of Dreams(Elite)
Golden Blade of Dreams(Elite)
Golden Shield of Dreams(Elite)
Golden Broadsword of Dreams(Elite)

The vanity’s are extremely rare. The equipment is also very rare but not as rare as the vanity’s. The Level of the equipment will be based on your level in increments of 10. So the available levels for the equipment will be 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100. The stats of this equipment will be the best equipment for that level (with the exception of level 50+ due to Pure stat items).

As you may have noticed, the OCD helm does not drop in the dungeon. I did this on purpose. We already have helmets in game and in the platinum store. A reduction of platinum price of the helms would be good.

800 plat for Gold
900 plat for Silver
1000 plat for Black

In addition to purchasing the helmets, an elixir would appear in the elixir store titled “OCD”. This elixir would cost 10 platinum and would last for one hour. For that hour, OCD helmets would be added to the loot table in all the Dream levels (extremely rare chance just like the chest and shield).

Level 2: Silver Dreams (unlocks after completion of previous). Increase mobs to 120. Map layout is Silver Clouds with blue streaks of light running through them. Option to solo or group just like previous. All details the same except for drops. Boss will be wearing completed Silver OCD set.

Drops:

Silver Omnipotent Chestplate of Dreams (Legendary)(Vanity)

Silver Omnipotent Shield of Dreams (Legendary)(Vanity).

Intelligence)
Silver Cowl of Dreams(Elite)
Silver Robe of Dreams(Elite)
Silver Wand of Dreams(Elite)
Silver Eye of Dreams(Elite)
Silver Staff of Dreams(Elite)

(Dexterity)
Silver Cap of Dreams(Elite)
Silver Leather of Dreams(Elite)
Silver Talon of Dreams(Elite)
Silver Wing of Dreams(Elite)
Silver Bow of Dreams(Elite)

(Strength)
Silver Helm of Dreams(Elite)
Silver Plate of Dreams(Elite)
Silver Blade of Dreams(Elite)
Silver Shield of Dreams(Elite)
Silver Broadsword of Dreams(Elite)

Stats of Silver are the exact same of Gold. Just slightly harder to obtain (more mobs per run).

Level 3: Onyx Dreams (Unlocks after completion of previous). Increase mobs to 140. Map is black clouds with red veins of light. Boss wears completed Onyx OCD Set.

Drops:

Onyx Omnipotent Chestplate of Dreams (Legendary)(Vanity)

Onyx Omnipotent Shield of Dreams (Legendary)(Vanity)


Intelligence)
Onyx Cowl of Dreams(Elite)
Onyx Robe of Dreams(Elite)
Onyx Wand of Dreams(Elite)
Onyx Eye of Dreams(Elite)
Onyx Staff of Dreams(Elite)

(Dexterity)
Onyx Cap of Dreams(Elite)
Onyx Leather of Dreams(Elite)
Onyx Talon of Dreams(Elite)
Onyx Wing of Dreams(Elite)
Onyx Bow of Dreams(Elite)

(Strength)
Onyx Helm of Dreams(Elite)
Onyx Plate of Dreams(Elite)
Onyx Blade of Dreams(Elite)
Onyx Shield of Dreams(Elite)
Onyx Broadsword of Dreams(Elite)

Stats of Onyx are the exact same as Silver and Gold except slightly harder to obtain(140 mobs).

Mobs and bosses will also drop worthless loot (that liquidates for 500 eh?


Completed OCD set:

I have a drawing of the Shield and will make one for the Chestplate. I’ll upload the pictures later this weekend. To describe them quickly, the Shield has two eyes and a mouth (looks similar to a creepy jack o lantern). The Chestplate will have a bulky look to it (Think lavaforged and Deep) but will have a scaly look to it like the Earth set from sandstone. Obviously the base color of each chest and shield would be the same as the helm. Gold shield would have Gold base with Pink eyes and mouth Onyx Shield is Black with red eyes and mouth etc...

Set effects include flames emitting from OCD helmet horns. Flames coming the eyes and mouth of shield and flames coming from the wings of the OCD armor. Pink flame for gold, blue for silver, red for black.

Set bonus: Unknown. Whatever sounds good.

I feel like this dungeon would promote loads of farming as there is tons to collect. I understand a platinum sink for this is required to make it applicable for the business side. I added the elixir for the helm and reduced helmet price to promote more purchases. If that is not enough, the OCD Chestplates and Shields could be account bound when dropped but made tradable for a price of 100 platinum. Just a thought.


I understand that this was long but I hope most of you read it all. Cinco, I really appreciate all the work you’re putting into PL. I’ve played many games and you’re the best developer I’ve seen. You are active with the community and truly listen and I commend you for that. This game has been my all time favorite for ages and I just want to see some things that drive life into it. If any of this seems plausible please consider it, or let me know why it wouldn’t work.

If I knew how to code or was wealthy I’d work on it for free or donate money to you lol.

Apologies for any mistakes, I’ll be run through it later. Please comment/critique!!

~Baylakk