It felt good to just let go. To be finally free again and live for myself.
This bullshit with the eternal "now unobtainables", this timelimited garbage was ironically freeing me.
Because why would I still continue to play when I know that I am now forever a "subhuman" type of player?
Cause I cannot even get the cool stuff anymore that I might want, as long as it is just unobtainable.
I got a Corehound just for LOGGING IN on a certain day.
FOR LOGGING IN. So stupid!
I did nothing special but because I literally "breathed" in the game during a certain timewindow, I was handed out something very cool that newer players cannot get anymore now. Forever.
This is the sh°° that just makes me want to quit.
I can never be smug and delusional enough to think this mount makes me another selfproclaimed King.
Which is really all it just boils down to.
Just so that some IRL losers who gave their entire reallife to the game, can feel like something special. And they are never known by anybody.
Please keep it mind. While this Topic is only for People to discuss ... ... i think(?) ... ... how Dropchances in Ashes of Creation "should be",
i think it's also important to mention, how Dropchances should NOT be - in every Case.
I think - > this would be the MOST horrible Scenario ever, if People who play Ashes of Creation, would start asking themselves something like
" Huh ... ... why am i even "playing" this Game any longer ? After i killed this specific Mob for over 1300 Times to get this specific piece of Loot i want to get for my Character, "
or :
" Why am i even playing anymore, when these kind of Mobs have a Dropchance of like 0.45% of dropping the Item /Cosmetic /Mount /Ingredient /Recipe-For-Legendary or so, "
" when i could just pay +100 Dollar/€uro to get enough Gold to buy in the Auction House instantly ? "
This is why i only call World of Warcraft - > World of Token-Warcraft since awhile - and now forever more.
This is the absolute, uttermost HORRIBLE Scenario that could happen to an MMO.
When playing normally - and putting Love and Effort and Time into the Game -> feels like Punishment. And like you are being thrown into Soul-less Grinds with Dropchances SO. LOW., that they insult every VideoGamer in the World who pays monthly to be allowed to play the Game.
Next point I want to make is : Is it smart to put all the best in slot items ( in ashes, items that class will typicaly farm) in one Raid loot table. So ther are kind of stuck doing the same Raid Until next expansion if they can even Play that MMO for that long. I mean how fun is it and what is the replay value of doing same raid and dungeouns for two years. What is the point of having three max level Raids all pretty good if the entire population is doing the one Raid with the Best in Slot Items.
Just guessing, but maybe two raids that can be done in one night 2 to 3 hours instead of a long raid that takes tow nights to complete with same item level. Talking about 16 man raids. As far as 40 man raids already posted about that a while back ago.
Now artifacts realy rare items as it turns out do have a place in MMO if they are truly powerful items plus have lore attached to them not just some stat stick with low drop rates. I an a former Dungeouns and Dragons player and can tell these are items are the stuff of legend. But it should be determined which items are going to be rare not just random. Plus lore.
But lets take a look at non artifacts items. Obviosuly if toon gets all their gear in lets say three months after reaching max level that would effect the replay value of content. From the point of view of Ashes of Creation they want players to play the game all the way till next expansion and when new expansion comes there should be more gear to farm. So think abotu two years should be about the max gear farm time for non artifact gear .But really how many years should a player farm an item before he gets it. Already talked about this so lets go to next point.
As far as gear being used to keep people on line. Think this would be better solution. Basically upgradable gear non linear. So have choice ot 2 perks from list of 5. Choice of one passive ability from choice fo 10.
Choice of minor or regualar from choice of 20. Basically talent tree in a let say a bow or different i slots like boots . That way player can make different versions of same bow for strategic reasons
So lets say get a frost bow let say takes 1 or 2 months to farm. And then then ther are the upgrades. First upgrade takes 1 to 2 months and second upgrade 3 months and so. But lets there is a very very very crafting material used to get a very rare upgrade that does take a while to get. (basically make your minor artifact.
I think in this case the player wins, because they get the frost bow sooner than latter. And Ashes of Creation Wins cause player keeps playing game to upgrade. Plus if you could do this for multiple items then players players could be farming for a while. There are all kinds of bows in Dungeouns and Dragons.
what if you have better sources of income, why would you replay the dungeon? repeating a dungeon to farm gold is repeating the dungeon to progress or get an incentive other than fun. it might be fun or it might not be.
just say you want to be able to solo dungeons xD nothing wrong with saying that. also you could still make more gold than what you lose by wiping. that depends on the game.
also, ashes will mostly have open world dungeons
There will always be the max gold per hour activity. so lets say the max per hour activity is (insert activity that is not dungeoneering or raidinglike mining or crafting or fishing) let say that is 4k an hour.
And dungeouns and raids actually cost you gold for the most part. But lets say the most gold producing activity yeilds you 4k an hour and dungeouns come out to be 3k an hour net gain. There is a fun factor involved. You may decide to do dungeouns with guildies insteadof the 4k per hour activity. There is also a synergy factor like learning how work together. So dungeouns would not be the best gold source but still vialble as a gold run.
As far as open World dungeouns well how much gold are getting from open world dungeouns if any isit a deficit? If you are trying to get gold to buy some item you at least have the option to get the gold from doing dungeouns or some it.
Any ways I did not mention any thing in my last post about the actual drop rates so lets get into that.
This is actually a repost but as it turns out (heard in some video) the number of times that you would havetod a raid or dungeound to get a mount for a one percent drop it is about 163 times cause numbers repeat. Of course there are unlucky protection systems but lets focus on the number 163. Now if that is a raid that gets locked out every week as is the norm that comes out to 163 weeks but lets say 3 years. However if you are in a raid wiht 15 other poeple or 39 other people then we are looking at way over a decade and possibly no mount.
So for content that has a weekly lock out really think one percent drop is really low and if you can solo it well looking at 3 years.
Now lets look it from the perpective of expansions. WoW comes out with expansions about every 2 years. Lets say Ashes of Creation has a similar time line. So in 4 years you will have the Original game plus two expansions. But let say there are 103 mounts in the orginal game. And lets say 3 of them for whatever reasons the Devs Decided this mounts going to be super rare. Like less than one percent drop rate. Fine. As far as the the other hundred mounts. Those mounts should be attainaible in a period of four years. Reason being there should be plenty of new mounts for players to farm in the two new expansions. Plus this is true If you are the type of player that plays every week if not even more time.
So one thing to consider is how long does it take for a player to get the non super rare mounts. Some mounts you can buy, other comes from quests, others have good drop rates others you have to farm mats for and other are like you have to have a certain currency and so on. So when you add it all up excluding the 3 or 4 or 5 or 6
super rare mounts, How long would it take for the a player to get those 100 mounts.
I was talking about mounts but could be any other set of items in game like armour sets weapons pets and so on.
So i just got talking about loot in content that has weekly lock outs. So how often a player has access to the content matters.
Now lets talk about a slightly different top. Lets say Ashes of Creation made the design decision to put really rare, mega rare items in the game. Well how should they present that.
Well one way to present a really rare item is an event. In WoW there is a yearly event called Love is in the Air and in that event you have a certain number of chances to get this very rare pink rocket mount. I In that game I have a red racket and blue rocket and some other rockets mounts but not the pink one. But it is a really rare mount because you only have a week to farm it and that is it till next year.
Now in Ashes of Creation you may have periods were let say a Winter Dragon spawns and part of the loot table is a very rare pet baby Winter Dragon. But that is not all there is also chance to drop crafting material to make lets say Winter Dragon weapons and armour sets. Im a ranger so lets say I need the crafting material to make a frost bow. Plus should get some gold and standard array of goodies.
So in this loot table you have a chance to win the lottery get the baby White Dragon pet plus a decent chance get crafting material for cosmetic items or real item. Lets a Frost bow was a standard arsenal of a ranger you just had to farm for it for a while.
How long I do not know 3 months. In the Case of a Frost Bow might take 1 or 2 or 3 months to gather the materials. But you will eventually you will have it. For mages you might have frost robes and so on. Might be tradeble. I would not like it if the only reason people come together to kill that dragon is for the super rare drop the hardly drops.
This particalur method is just a number of drops really rare (pet). Semi rare (crafting material) and normal array goodies. Plus it is a really rare pet becuase it only drops for a limited time. Cannot farm it over and over again. Now if you have like 100 people participating in the event then the pet is really rare cause you have to roll against 100 people. But the most important element about this event is one people have to know that the dragon is there and two people have to that it drops some pretty cool loot.
I was watching a video and Video and the Creative Director said somehting about Artifacts. Now in terms of Dungeouns and Dragons artifactsare truly powerful items (I am very familar with the book of artifacst and the tables and the abilities and so on.) Yes they are very powerful items, but one of the most important elements about the super unique or rare artifacts is........The Lore.
I still have a lot more to say but think I am going to get some league of legends in
Good day to you.
I agree with your first point about the fun factor, however, you were talking about soloing dungeons for a gold run because your teammates would cause you to wipe and lose money instead, so I was replying to that. if we removed the gold farm factor, then you would just repeat the dungeon for fun, not for rewards, which is why you want the dungeons to be fun, isn't it?
anyways I strongly disagree with instances in aoc where players can lock themselves in forever and farm farm farm avoiding all the perils of verra and PVP. that's a game killer.
Next point I want to make is : Is it smart to put all the best in slot items ( in ashes, items that class will typicaly farm) in one Raid loot table. So ther are kind of stuck doing the same Raid Until next expansion if they can even Play that MMO for that long. I mean how fun is it and what is the replay value of doing same raid and dungeouns for two years. What is the point of having three max level Raids all pretty good if the entire population is doing the one Raid with the Best in Slot Items.
Just guessing, but maybe two raids that can be done in one night 2 to 3 hours instead of a long raid that takes tow nights to complete with same item level. Talking about 16 man raids. As far as 40 man raids already posted about that a while back ago.
Now artifacts realy rare items as it turns out do have a place in MMO if they are truly powerful items plus have lore attached to them not just some stat stick with low drop rates. I an a former Dungeouns and Dragons player and can tell these are items are the stuff of legend. But it should be determined which items are going to be rare not just random. Plus lore.
But lets take a look at non artifacts items. Obviosuly if toon gets all their gear in lets say three months after reaching max level that would effect the replay value of content. From the point of view of Ashes of Creation they want players to play the game all the way till next expansion and when new expansion comes there should be more gear to farm. So think abotu two years should be about the max gear farm time for non artifact gear .But really how many years should a player farm an item before he gets it. Already talked about this so lets go to next point.
As far as gear being used to keep people on line. Think this would be better solution. Basically upgradable gear non linear. So have choice ot 2 perks from list of 5. Choice of one passive ability from choice fo 10.
Choice of minor or regualar from choice of 20. Basically talent tree in a let say a bow or different i slots like boots . That way player can make different versions of same bow for strategic reasons
So lets say get a frost bow let say takes 1 or 2 months to farm. And then then ther are the upgrades. First upgrade takes 1 to 2 months and second upgrade 3 months and so. But lets there is a very very very crafting material used to get a very rare upgrade that does take a while to get. (basically make your minor artifact.
I think in this case the player wins, because they get the frost bow sooner than latter. And Ashes of Creation Wins cause player keeps playing game to upgrade. Plus if you could do this for multiple items then players players could be farming for a while. There are all kinds of bows in Dungeouns and Dragons.
so ur ok with farming the same dungeon for 2 years for cosmetics but not for gear? o-o it becomes boring if its for gear?
It felt good to just let go. To be finally free again and live for myself.
This bullshit with the eternal "now unobtainables", this timelimited garbage was ironically freeing me.
Because why would I still continue to play when I know that I am now forever a "subhuman" type of player?
Cause I cannot even get the cool stuff anymore that I might want, as long as it is just unobtainable.
I got a Corehound just for LOGGING IN on a certain day.
FOR LOGGING IN. So stupid!
I did nothing special but because I literally "breathed" in the game during a certain timewindow, I was handed out something very cool that newer players cannot get anymore now. Forever.
This is the sh°° that just makes me want to quit.
I can never be smug and delusional enough to think this mount makes me another selfproclaimed King.
Which is really all it just boils down to.
Just so that some IRL losers who gave their entire reallife to the game, can feel like something special. And they are never known by anybody.
that's a motivator for people to log in, even if they are tired after a long day of work. after they log in and do something, they are suddenly not tired anymore and want to keep playing. anyways its a cosmetic, why do you care if no one can get it anymore?
Another thing I want to mention is well getting gear like from dngeouns, raids, world bosses well that represents stats increase from gear. Well if the only way to increase your stats then well is it not that putting all your eggs in one basket. I mean ounce you finish farming; get the gear you are willing to farm for then.... that is the end of the progressive value as far as your stats go.
In BSGO online you could use experience to buy a ten percent boost to basially every stat in game in one percent increments grind would take one year if played enough to get them all.. Not suggestion Ashes of Creation does this. I teally do not know what type of system would be good for this game off the top off my head. If the only way to increase stats at max level is gear, I would have to agree that ounce a toon gets his gear then stat journey comes to an end reducing replay value. So maybe should not put all eggs in one basket, and find other ways for players to increaee their stats besides just gear.
anyways its a cosmetic, why do you care if no one can get it anymore?
Dear Dripyula told me for Years.
" Time-gated " Stuff -> is F.O.M.O.
And "fomo" - is never good.
It is like an attempt of an Argument to motivate Players to play, when You have no Argument.
But WHO really cares about getting as much Cosmetics as possible ?? Usually, i mean.
Usually it's just People who are never really social : sit on their Super-Rare ABC~XYZ Mount in Dalaran or another Hubcity in for WoW or another MMO,
like one of these (Reallife)Birds with these huge, gigantic, colorful Feathers at their behind -> instead of just being "grey" like most other Birds, (Casuals)
and no one even knows them. Now,
the Reason "DRIPYULA" cares - > is that it is in the way of Freedom.
This kind of Behaviour from the Company and Developers - HINDERS Freedom.
It makes the MMO concerned smaller.
It makes it more restrictive.
THIS (?) - is the Argument brought to buy the Game and being logged in and play at certain Times and Years of our time ??
What about the People who never played the Game before ? Who are lets say - > like Thirteen Years old in 2022 or above and only got Permission to play World of Warcraft from their Parents, because their Notes in School are good enough. (lol)
Or People who were very sick for a few Months and had to take a Break ? Etc etc etc.
This Time-gated Stuff - > is just asocial.
A~so~cial. 🙃
It also creates a kind and Sort of Player, who thinks very elite-like - > to the Extent of not playing the Game really for Fun anymore - but because of some type of Elitist or Perfectionist Mindset.
This can feel rewarding for awhile, but it usually gets lonely after a few Years. At least if Players " DID " in fact play for something else at first, than being the whipped, rushed and harried Workaholic, who is afraid that he might miss "ONE" time-gated Mount, Armor, Cosmetic, etc.
But in the End - > there is no use in trying to argue with Taste.
If some People want to spend the Time of their Life they never get back like this - People should let them. It is just that "WHEN" the MMO becomes bad because of this Mindset of both Players and Developers - it usually starts making the Game feel hollow and soul-less. 😓
that's a motivator for people to log in, even if they are tired after a long day of work. after they log in and do something, they are suddenly not tired anymore and want to keep playing. anyways its a cosmetic, why do you care if no one can get it anymore?
Aszkalon pretty much represented my point.
Cosmetics are good -> as long as they can be collected in year 1 and still even in year 20.
Newer players must not become "subhuman type" of players or lesser players just for coming to the game later otherwise this will create smugness, narcicism and consequently, toxicity.
Aszkalon and Me we played WoW during the Legion expansion and a bit afterwards and we suddenly noticed that after the hype of Legion... people started to become wierd.
Maybe they were always wierd though since we played on a roleplaying server during our last years.
Players sat around on ki~nda~ rare mounts in the current hublocations.
Or they donned mostly gear that was yet impossible to collect by yourself cause the "skin" for the gear only dropped in raids that were still came out too frequent, hence your level was not high enough to collect them yet by yourself, hence people who were previliged enough to find a group that could make them, only donned this gear to feel superior to others.
And by their behaviour with others during RP or even in the tradechat, you just knew where their heavenshigh nose came from.
It was just tiring. So many random dudes who all think they are Kings but they do not even know each other among themself, far from being known by casual players.
Timelimited cosmetics are okay I guess... as long as this does not traverse into "unobtainable" later on.
Stuff you can only obtain during the time when some parts of the gameworld are in winter, or summer or in fall or spring, sounds pretty cool.
But WoW took it too far all the time. And the unimpressive reason for that was clear.
It was FOMO, to make people play all the time, so that they would not feel like losers for all eternity later on, by likewise elitist players who have since long stopped playing for actual fun.
People who play for pride only and only pride has become their fun.
Those really are the most toxic players.
And one way or the other it always shines through and ruins the feeling of the community in the later years of any videogame.
And it always happens.
Ashes will give such elitist people enough stuff to drug their ego anyway.
If such a specimen becomes a node Major after all they will be given a flying mount most probably. " I am flying through the SKY like a GOD while those lower & lesser beings crawl on the ground like the WORMS they are compared to ME. "
This is totally going to happen!! ^^
But it is okay... since everyone could still become Major in the future, you see?
It is not an unobtainable thing.
I think it's best to stick with lesser, otherwise you have no economy and like others said it kills the crafting professions. Nothing worse than getting all leveled and have the recipes and mats and take the risk to be able to craft items that are worthless to 90% of the player base. A lot also depends on how different/powerful each grade increase is. Dropping greens and blues should be normal and a much lower chance from there on up. Higher level or World bosses could start above blue depending on the drop rate/quantity and respawn of the boss.
It's irrelevant. If game gd grind gd, if game bad grind bad. Developing a game and trying to accurately dial the grind as if it's going to make your game better is noob dev stuff.
Only two Factors are important regarding this Question.
First would be ( 1.) - > does grinding really like a lot, pay ?
Is it at least giving the Person doing the Workaholic-like Existence something in return ? Because if a Person does not have at least "SOME" Advantage of working the Game like a Machine, over someone else who is playing normally or EVEN in lazy ways - > what even is the Point in putting in more Effort anyways ?
Second ( 2.) i dare say, is even more important.
- " Fun "
Is it fullfilling ? Is it enjoyable ?
You leave your Node. Your Woodcutter-Axe firmly held in your Hands. Your Backpack and bags empty.
You run around until you felled pretty much every single Tree that looks promising until you notice it makes more time to wait for them to respawn, before You run around for several Minutes anytime to your Destination "AND BACK" to your Node, only to bring your Node a little bit more Material.
- > You leave your Woodcutter-Gear - jump into your Mining-Gear - and do the same for Minerals. Ores. Stones. Anything that can help your Node grow bigger and stronger.
Maybe if you are Hunter you can add even that ontop to your hard-grinding Worker-Ant Nature as well.
But will it be fun ?
Will the Landscape be enjoyable ? Pretty ? A Dream to experience ? I think many People always greatly underestimate, how important it is, to be inside a beautiful Fantasy-World.
Will you enjoy the different Seasons ?
Ashes will have, what not even other Games offer, at this Point.
Will you be excited everytime when Winter dawns ? Or when Summer is about to arrive upon the Land ?
Fun is not imporant for grinding alone. Fun is important for ANY type of Content and Gameplay if you want to play it for longer Periods of time.
In previous posts on this thread was discussing how super rare or rare mounts should drop. Think same Idea could be applied to really rare gear drops for example
If a Frost bow drops think ther should be a small stone pillar coming out of the ground and then bow appears but does not have frost particle effect on it. So a Frost Pheonix comes from above and breaths Frst breath on it to complete the Frost Particle effect for the bow. Think this would be pretty cool and complimentary of a legendary drop.
Comments
It felt good to just let go. To be finally free again and live for myself.
This bullshit with the eternal "now unobtainables", this timelimited garbage was ironically freeing me.
Because why would I still continue to play when I know that I am now forever a "subhuman" type of player?
Cause I cannot even get the cool stuff anymore that I might want, as long as it is just unobtainable.
I got a Corehound just for LOGGING IN on a certain day.
FOR LOGGING IN. So stupid!
I did nothing special but because I literally "breathed" in the game during a certain timewindow, I was handed out something very cool that newer players cannot get anymore now. Forever.
This is the sh°° that just makes me want to quit.
I can never be smug and delusional enough to think this mount makes me another selfproclaimed King.
Which is really all it just boils down to.
Just so that some IRL losers who gave their entire reallife to the game, can feel like something special.
And they are never known by anybody.
Please keep it mind. While this Topic is only for People to discuss ... ... i think(?) ... ... how Dropchances in Ashes of Creation "should be",
i think it's also important to mention, how Dropchances should NOT be - in every Case.
I think - > this would be the MOST horrible Scenario ever, if People who play Ashes of Creation, would start asking themselves something like
" Huh ... ... why am i even "playing" this Game any longer ? After i killed this specific Mob for over 1300 Times to get this specific piece of Loot i want to get for my Character, "
or :
" Why am i even playing anymore, when these kind of Mobs have a Dropchance of like 0.45% of dropping the Item /Cosmetic /Mount /Ingredient /Recipe-For-Legendary or so, "
" when i could just pay +100 Dollar/€uro to get enough Gold to buy in the Auction House instantly ? "
This is why i only call World of Warcraft - > World of Token-Warcraft since awhile - and now forever more.
This is the absolute, uttermost HORRIBLE Scenario that could happen to an MMO.
When playing normally - and putting Love and Effort and Time into the Game -> feels like Punishment. And like you are being thrown into Soul-less Grinds with Dropchances SO. LOW., that they insult every VideoGamer in the World who pays monthly to be allowed to play the Game.
Just guessing, but maybe two raids that can be done in one night 2 to 3 hours instead of a long raid that takes tow nights to complete with same item level. Talking about 16 man raids. As far as 40 man raids already posted about that a while back ago.
Now artifacts realy rare items as it turns out do have a place in MMO if they are truly powerful items plus have lore attached to them not just some stat stick with low drop rates. I an a former Dungeouns and Dragons player and can tell these are items are the stuff of legend. But it should be determined which items are going to be rare not just random. Plus lore.
But lets take a look at non artifacts items. Obviosuly if toon gets all their gear in lets say three months after reaching max level that would effect the replay value of content. From the point of view of Ashes of Creation they want players to play the game all the way till next expansion and when new expansion comes there should be more gear to farm. So think abotu two years should be about the max gear farm time for non artifact gear .But really how many years should a player farm an item before he gets it. Already talked about this so lets go to next point.
As far as gear being used to keep people on line. Think this would be better solution. Basically upgradable gear non linear. So have choice ot 2 perks from list of 5. Choice of one passive ability from choice fo 10.
Choice of minor or regualar from choice of 20. Basically talent tree in a let say a bow or different i slots like boots . That way player can make different versions of same bow for strategic reasons
So lets say get a frost bow let say takes 1 or 2 months to farm. And then then ther are the upgrades. First upgrade takes 1 to 2 months and second upgrade 3 months and so. But lets there is a very very very crafting material used to get a very rare upgrade that does take a while to get. (basically make your minor artifact.
I think in this case the player wins, because they get the frost bow sooner than latter. And Ashes of Creation Wins cause player keeps playing game to upgrade. Plus if you could do this for multiple items then players players could be farming for a while. There are all kinds of bows in Dungeouns and Dragons.
I agree with your first point about the fun factor, however, you were talking about soloing dungeons for a gold run because your teammates would cause you to wipe and lose money instead, so I was replying to that. if we removed the gold farm factor, then you would just repeat the dungeon for fun, not for rewards, which is why you want the dungeons to be fun, isn't it?
anyways I strongly disagree with instances in aoc where players can lock themselves in forever and farm farm farm avoiding all the perils of verra and PVP. that's a game killer.
so ur ok with farming the same dungeon for 2 years for cosmetics but not for gear? o-o it becomes boring if its for gear?
that's a motivator for people to log in, even if they are tired after a long day of work. after they log in and do something, they are suddenly not tired anymore and want to keep playing. anyways its a cosmetic, why do you care if no one can get it anymore?
In BSGO online you could use experience to buy a ten percent boost to basially every stat in game in one percent increments grind would take one year if played enough to get them all.. Not suggestion Ashes of Creation does this. I teally do not know what type of system would be good for this game off the top off my head. If the only way to increase stats at max level is gear, I would have to agree that ounce a toon gets his gear then stat journey comes to an end reducing replay value. So maybe should not put all eggs in one basket, and find other ways for players to increaee their stats besides just gear.
Dear Dripyula told me for Years.
" Time-gated " Stuff -> is F.O.M.O.
And "fomo" - is never good.
It is like an attempt of an Argument to motivate Players to play, when You have no Argument.
But WHO really cares about getting as much Cosmetics as possible ?? Usually, i mean.
Usually it's just People who are never really social : sit on their Super-Rare ABC~XYZ Mount in Dalaran or another Hubcity in for WoW or another MMO,
like one of these (Reallife)Birds with these huge, gigantic, colorful Feathers at their behind -> instead of just being "grey" like most other Birds, (Casuals)
and no one even knows them. Now,
the Reason "DRIPYULA" cares - > is that it is in the way of Freedom.
This kind of Behaviour from the Company and Developers - HINDERS Freedom.
It makes the MMO concerned smaller.
It makes it more restrictive.
THIS (?) - is the Argument brought to buy the Game and being logged in and play at certain Times and Years of our time ??
What about the People who never played the Game before ? Who are lets say - > like Thirteen Years old in 2022 or above and only got Permission to play World of Warcraft from their Parents, because their Notes in School are good enough. (lol)
Or People who were very sick for a few Months and had to take a Break ? Etc etc etc.
This Time-gated Stuff - > is just asocial.
A~so~cial. 🙃
It also creates a kind and Sort of Player, who thinks very elite-like - > to the Extent of not playing the Game really for Fun anymore - but because of some type of Elitist or Perfectionist Mindset.
This can feel rewarding for awhile, but it usually gets lonely after a few Years. At least if Players " DID " in fact play for something else at first, than being the whipped, rushed and harried Workaholic, who is afraid that he might miss "ONE" time-gated Mount, Armor, Cosmetic, etc.
But in the End - > there is no use in trying to argue with Taste.
If some People want to spend the Time of their Life they never get back like this - People should let them. It is just that "WHEN" the MMO becomes bad because of this Mindset of both Players and Developers - it usually starts making the Game feel hollow and soul-less. 😓
Aszkalon pretty much represented my point.
Cosmetics are good -> as long as they can be collected in year 1 and still even in year 20.
Newer players must not become "subhuman type" of players or lesser players just for coming to the game later otherwise this will create smugness, narcicism and consequently, toxicity.
Aszkalon and Me we played WoW during the Legion expansion and a bit afterwards and we suddenly noticed that after the hype of Legion... people started to become wierd.
Maybe they were always wierd though since we played on a roleplaying server during our last years.
Players sat around on ki~nda~ rare mounts in the current hublocations.
Or they donned mostly gear that was yet impossible to collect by yourself cause the "skin" for the gear only dropped in raids that were still came out too frequent, hence your level was not high enough to collect them yet by yourself, hence people who were previliged enough to find a group that could make them, only donned this gear to feel superior to others.
And by their behaviour with others during RP or even in the tradechat, you just knew where their heavenshigh nose came from.
It was just tiring. So many random dudes who all think they are Kings but they do not even know each other among themself, far from being known by casual players.
Timelimited cosmetics are okay I guess... as long as this does not traverse into "unobtainable" later on.
Stuff you can only obtain during the time when some parts of the gameworld are in winter, or summer or in fall or spring, sounds pretty cool.
But WoW took it too far all the time. And the unimpressive reason for that was clear.
It was FOMO, to make people play all the time, so that they would not feel like losers for all eternity later on, by likewise elitist players who have since long stopped playing for actual fun.
People who play for pride only and only pride has become their fun.
Those really are the most toxic players.
And one way or the other it always shines through and ruins the feeling of the community in the later years of any videogame.
And it always happens.
Ashes will give such elitist people enough stuff to drug their ego anyway.
If such a specimen becomes a node Major after all they will be given a flying mount most probably.
" I am flying through the SKY like a GOD while those lower & lesser beings crawl on the ground like the WORMS they are compared to ME. "
This is totally going to happen!! ^^
But it is okay... since everyone could still become Major in the future, you see?
It is not an unobtainable thing.
Grind gd or grind bad?
It's irrelevant. If game gd grind gd, if game bad grind bad. Developing a game and trying to accurately dial the grind as if it's going to make your game better is noob dev stuff.
Only two Factors are important regarding this Question.
First would be ( 1.) - > does grinding really like a lot, pay ?
Is it at least giving the Person doing the Workaholic-like Existence something in return ? Because if a Person does not have at least "SOME" Advantage of working the Game like a Machine, over someone else who is playing normally or EVEN in lazy ways - > what even is the Point in putting in more Effort anyways ?
Second ( 2.) i dare say, is even more important.
- " Fun "
Is it fullfilling ? Is it enjoyable ?
You leave your Node. Your Woodcutter-Axe firmly held in your Hands. Your Backpack and bags empty.
You run around until you felled pretty much every single Tree that looks promising until you notice it makes more time to wait for them to respawn, before You run around for several Minutes anytime to your Destination "AND BACK" to your Node, only to bring your Node a little bit more Material.
- > You leave your Woodcutter-Gear - jump into your Mining-Gear - and do the same for Minerals. Ores. Stones. Anything that can help your Node grow bigger and stronger.
Maybe if you are Hunter you can add even that ontop to your hard-grinding Worker-Ant Nature as well.
But will it be fun ?
Will the Landscape be enjoyable ? Pretty ? A Dream to experience ? I think many People always greatly underestimate, how important it is, to be inside a beautiful Fantasy-World.
Will you enjoy the different Seasons ?
Ashes will have, what not even other Games offer, at this Point.
Will you be excited everytime when Winter dawns ? Or when Summer is about to arrive upon the Land ?
Fun is not imporant for grinding alone. Fun is important for ANY type of Content and Gameplay if you want to play it for longer Periods of time.
If a Frost bow drops think ther should be a small stone pillar coming out of the ground and then bow appears but does not have frost particle effect on it. So a Frost Pheonix comes from above and breaths Frst breath on it to complete the Frost Particle effect for the bow. Think this would be pretty cool and complimentary of a legendary drop.