📝 Dev Discussion #61 - Time Dedication ⌛

HandOfUnity

Shared sentiment among our community members was that a "expert" title should be comfortably claimed by someone who played a 1000+ hours. Those hours should however be filled with actually playtime and research about the game.

The difference between expert and casual according to our community is often the knowledge difference the player has. A casual player should be able to use a skill and have an impact, but an expert will know the intricacies of the skill and use it more efficiently.

Dripyula

Vaknar wrote: »

How much time do you think someone should invest in order to become an expert at an MMORPG? What are the differences between an expert player versus a casual player - time commitment, skill, and game knowledge?

Can this even truly be defined? I would say... it should take as long as it takes to pretty much discover every single advantage in any kind of situation. For example I remember my Retributionpaladin in ClassicWoW at some point being so powerful that no one on the entire server could defeat him anymore in a 1-vs-1 scenario.

Why? Because my gear was on equal level to every other player in the game, or maybe worst to that of... I dunno 20 people... but my knowledge about PvP was 100/100.

* I had the best gear I could get my hands on.
* The gear had the best enchants on during that time.
* One of my two jobs was engineer, with elemental reflectors, a deathray trinket and other powerful things which made my Paladin's divine shield phase not just a selfheal but also a heavy damagedeal phase.
* I used the super weak selfheal from the Ungoro crystals one could farm in the openworld of Unguro.

Some of the buffs & items I deployed were almost insignificant but all of them together boosted my overall might about 10% to 12% more. And I knew exactly what every other class could do in a duel.



How long did it took me to figure all of my advantages out? Roughly 8 months or so. Maybe a bit more.
This is when I had come around everywhere and was on the highest high I could get.
So yeah;

" It will take as long as it takes... for each and everyone of us. "

AGEOFEXISTENCE

Let's redefine expert, by using another word, like hardcore. If your hardcore and have done your research and have game knowledge, plus skill and have other guild mates as defined as such, you should be unstoppable. I define hard-core as the amount of hours spent in one day playing a single game. I define game knowledge in MMORPG's as understanding all the classes and abilities, what, where, why, when, how. If I'm this class, which classes can counter and why, also understanding of enemy combos.

Aszkalon

AGEOFEXISTENCE wrote: »

Let's redefine expert, by using another word, like hardcore. If your hardcore and have done your research and have game knowledge, plus skill and have other guild mates as defined as such, you should be unstoppable.

And then all "Hardcore-Guilds" band together and bully the whole Server for all of Eternity. x'D

Xlorntabis

My first big time sink in an MMO started with Ultima Online many moons ago. It seemed to take ages to tame a dragon, but man was it a magnificent feeling after all those relentless hours of taming lesser beasts.

Once tamed, I had to find a place to rent in order to store it overnight. The next morning when I woke up my guildmates informed me that my dragon had escaped in the middle of the night and attacked the city.

I don't really have a greater point, except the amount of time invested is what made the experience epic in the end...and that there, of course, should be consequences to owning a dragon.

cupi

How much time do you think someone should invest in order to become an expert at an MMORPG?

This question implies that expert status is function of time. Sure more time usually always help but people don't learn at the same rate over time. And I say usually because doing more of something you've already learned don't give you much insight into other mechanics.

This being said, the equivalent of a couple hours a day for a year or two and I would hope that makes anyone an expert.


What are the differences between an expert player versus a casual player - time commitment, skill, and game knowledge?

The expert can use the game mechanics to his/her advantage more efficiently than the casual player.

aMeagerCarcass

We'll skip how the internet will enhance the learning process.

I'd say a week including exploring lots of options.

Know what you want to be. explore the best weapon to do It for you. Should be winning most of your battles from the beginning, comprable enemies. You'll only get better because Its more natural.

I understand the game Is about winning rewards. With that said I'm cool with a slower funner curve to the top. If I'm not having fun why am I even playing.

Garren

I believe you can become an expert when you have played 800 to 1000 hours within a game. But playing a game also doesn't make you an expert. Some people research games, FAQ's, walkthroughs, different build guidelines, the current meta, discord chat rooms. The people who put in the time outside the game to better themselves inside the game, who do the research, and actually improve their skills because of it are experts.

A casual gamer PLAYS the game. An expert gamer learns to play the game WELL.

Some ideas about what make an expert player "expert" in ashes or another MMO might be: knowing how to max a character fast, knowing where the best drop spots are, having a large social network of players to rely on, winning at pvp, being able to Explain a system and how to work With it, beating the top tier content.