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Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Leveling process changes needed.
Githal
Member
The way i see AOC - leveling should be an afterthought.
Leveling should be in the way of achievements!
For example you gain 1 level up every time you complete 1 of the following FOR THE FIRST TIME.
* you complete some big quest story line
* participate in upgrading node to town / city / metropolis (1 for each)
* Level up your profession
* explore region
* complete caravan run
* kill world boss
* clear dungeon
* win node war / guild war / siege
* get 50 pvp kills
and so on. Ofc the number of ways you can get levels should be more than 50. so you are not forced to do an activity you dont like.
This doesnt mean that the leveling will be fast. It can even be made slower than it is now. just it will be much better than farming the same spot of mobs for hours.
The game should incentivize you to explore the world and do different activities all the time.
Leveling should be in the way of achievements!
For example you gain 1 level up every time you complete 1 of the following FOR THE FIRST TIME.
* you complete some big quest story line
* participate in upgrading node to town / city / metropolis (1 for each)
* Level up your profession
* explore region
* complete caravan run
* kill world boss
* clear dungeon
* win node war / guild war / siege
* get 50 pvp kills
and so on. Ofc the number of ways you can get levels should be more than 50. so you are not forced to do an activity you dont like.
This doesnt mean that the leveling will be fast. It can even be made slower than it is now. just it will be much better than farming the same spot of mobs for hours.
The game should incentivize you to explore the world and do different activities all the time.
0
Comments
Therefore, opposed. Not really a discussion-worthy type of opposition. I understand your wish and won't be upset if it is changed to be done this way, but don't like it.
Not that i dont respect your opinion, but would be more constructive to say why you dont like it.
What are you seeking to accomplish?
Is the idea that if a player completes say 50 of 150-200 things in the game they reach max level?
I don't see any value in the idea either.
If this change was made how would this effect the overall game?
Sure, it's just that these turn out to be long, I'll try not to go into too much detail though.
For me, MMORPGs are about 'definition', whereas for many people (not saying you) they're about 'checklists'. Even if you're not a 'themepark' MMO enjoyer, games where the thing the game outright incentivizes is 'do a little of everything to progress' takes away from the experience, for me.
I like when players distinguish themselves by following different paths, and part of that is choosing specifically to not spend their time on certain things.
Like the 'loner' player who plays an MMO solo because you can't really be a 'loner' in a game without other people, it's not the same (credit for this snippet goes to a YouTuber, moreso).
Incentives to do different things, especially incentives as strong as 'gaining a level', is a nightmare to balance while also just not sitting well with me, I don't even like the idea of getting better at Adventuring level because you collected 3 million Daffodils.
But ofc, if the game turns out to not be good enough quality in economy, content or challenge to give people a reason to move around and not just kill the supposedly 'most efficient' farming spot, then I'd probably prefer your suggestion, assuming I was still playing.
Ye thats why my idea was that there will be more than 50 things that can give level, so you can still choose what you want to do and what you dont want. But you are right, it sounds like a checklist.
At the moment it just feels like there is no reason to anything than farming mobs. And yes maybe if they buff the quests rewards it may improve this somehow. But the real problem will still persist.
Like if you want to gather/craft - you are being left behind by levels, This leads to not being able to gather/craft better equipment. So it will always be going for max level first, and then focusing on crafting.
Same with node / siege / guild wars. People will be rushing levels so they can easily win those events vs any player that didnt rush for max level.
Caravans - same
World bosses? - The biggest level group will always get the boss.
So in the end it will not be about how you like to play the game, but you will feel forced to farm levels and do nothing else, otherwise you fall behind those who only farm.
And tbh if i have to start a game that tells me that i have to farm these mobs for 10 hours, then swap to killing those other mobs for 12 more hours and this repeats again and again till you reach max level for 80 hours, I wont be excited to play this at all.
Yeah but we're still early in, and the problem isn't solved this way exactly, because each thing is supposed to have its own progression, conceptually.
Yes, right now it seems blatantly obvious that rushing to max level is always the correct thing to do first, but changing how we get the exp will just lead to the BDO problem. It'll be good for maybe a week...
I just think that this will allow for different play styles, and still be rewarded for it.
For example:
You may be able to get to level 20 just by focusing on gathering and crafting. Then you may want to run some caravans to sell your mats/crafted equipment, Then focus on developing some nodes with those mats. and so on and by this you can reach some reasonable level. After this you may need to do other stuff since i dont like the idea of only doing 1 thing to reach max level, but at the moment if you do what i said above you will be stuck at some low level with exp debt of thousands from deaths
Another question, if your suggestion has 'specifics', in your mind.
Is it actually 'level' or 'a chunk of exp', or what? Here's an example of why I ask.
In BDO, when you're in a certain level range, doing certain quests will give you 1% of the exp toward the next level.
The optimal action is always to level by fighting, or main story, right up until the point where you will get the maximum benefit because it's a percentage, then run around doing the quests. Doing it the other way means that if you don't like grinding, you're grinding more than you would like to.
In Ashes this would be 'even worse' depending on the exp values per mob.
So, in your suggestion, when you say 'get exp', do you mean 'a percentage of a Level Requirement', or 'a specific exp value'?
Because the first thing means that people will grind, and then use this system to boost through the 'rough/slow patches', but the second thing means that people who like grinding and skip doing these activities, will get much smaller benefits for doing them later.
What i had in mind is neither of those 2. Its a whole level. For example you do this long quest chain of 10-15 quests and after you finish it you gain whole level.
And for those who like grinding mobs, there can always be checkbox for lets say: kill 50 3-star level 20 mobs, when you complete it you gain level.
People will just look for what path is the shortest/easiest and do that, just as people are grinding mobs rn even if they dislike that.
You can level with artisanry right now. It's just slower than grinding mobs. Your suggestion will not change this. It'll simply change "grind mobs" to "grind this activity". And as Azherae said, balancing all those activities to be "the same", in terms of how quick they are, would be a massive pain in the devs' ass.
Sadly this would kill my motivation for this game. I prefer a slow grind for glint than do "tasks" for levels.
Embrace the grind.
Grind is joy. Grind is life.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
Expect Leveling to change significantly after the start of Phase 3.
I of Course plan to do a bit of levelling with a Dunir in Phase Two, but jeah the levelling process must get improved somehow. I don't even care how exactly. Just something. (lol)
✓ Occasional Roleplayer
✓ Guild is " Balderag's Garde " for now. (German)