Game Balance

I am enjoying the game so far but I personally feel that the balance between even a single lvl is too skewed at most times. While I am all for promoting group activities for it to be almost a dependency in order to play the game is not really my cup of tea. The ability to quest alone is almost impossible unless you go to areas with mobs that are more than a few lvls below you.

Furthermore, the lack of quests or story driven immersion is greatly lowering the fun factor of this game. It is starting to feel more and more like a job where you just log in and find a group (fates willing) and just go grind the exact same area for hours on end where it takes an entire group to kill a single mob. If I wanted to play Dark Souls or Elden Ring then I would, but I don't. I want to play a fantasy MMORPG where I can feel like I can accomplish more than just mining or harvesting on my own.

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Phoenix77

I hope u realize aoc is still in development and many features/systems are missing or are not finalized? Alpha is a place to test not game. I suggest wait until later in phase 3 when more systems will come online and try again

Volgaris

@Omega187
What do mean balance between even a single lvl is too skewed?
In PvP, PvE, solo questing, gathering, crafting?

I too think questing is really important and to my knowledge there's going to be some highly story driven activities. Solo or grouped focus I don't know, I'm fine with either. I wouldn't bet on too much solo content though. I have not tested much in phase 2.5, but I didn't have any issues leveling solo prior. Also didn't mind lfging my way through POIs.

As Phoenix said, the game isn't "playable" like a full release. Think of it like an experimental airplane and you're a test pilot.

Azherae

I wonder if Intrepid would ever be 'kind' enough to share a specific thing about this balance struggle, actually.

In my experience the problem with difficulty/balance is always 'the gap'.

I've seen certain players (not even on particularly 'meta' or 'op' classes) solo content in games that other groups die to, and often, swapping just one of my guild's 'A-Listers' to a 'B-List' player makes an area or boss go from 'a casual relaxing way to spend time' to 'almost impossible to actually do' in games with really good tuning.

Does Intrepid know 'the actual skill distribution' from their data? I must know!

Laetitian

Omega187 wrote: »

It is starting to feel more and more like a job where you just log in and find a group (fates willing) and just go grind the exact same area for hours on end where it takes an entire group to kill a single mob. If I wanted to play Dark Souls or Elden Ring then I would, but I don't. I want to play a fantasy MMORPG where I can feel like I can accomplish more than just mining or harvesting on my own.

That last sentence is worded extremely incohesively. I'm guessing you're trying to say that you want to be able to achieve more on your own, because that's the only interpretation that makes sense.

In that case: Wrong game.
Go play WoW, Black Desert, Guild Wars 2, or ESO - or New Worlds, if you want something more modern. They all still exist. Or, really, play a light-hearted single-player RPG, that would really be the best use of your time.

Not every game needs to fit the same formula. This one emphasises Holy Trinity groups, PvP interfering with PvE, and guild expansion and territory control. You could hardly have picked a worse game to make this complaint in.

Unless of course you can find it in yourself to care enough about those things to give up on the "I need to do be able to do everything I want, when I want, without preparation, on my own" mentality, and start enjoying the coordination of group-focused gameplay, and the long-term vision of growing your node and shaping its future. Then, welcome to the tribe.

Omega187

Laetitian wrote: »

Omega187 wrote: »

It is starting to feel more and more like a job where you just log in and find a group (fates willing) and just go grind the exact same area for hours on end where it takes an entire group to kill a single mob. If I wanted to play Dark Souls or Elden Ring then I would, but I don't. I want to play a fantasy MMORPG where I can feel like I can accomplish more than just mining or harvesting on my own.

That last sentence is worded extremely incohesively. I'm guessing you're trying to say that you want to be able to achieve more on your own, because that's the only interpretation that makes sense.

In that case: Wrong game.
Go play WoW, Black Desert, Guild Wars 2, or ESO - or New Worlds, if you want something more modern. They all still exist. Or, really, play a light-hearted single-player RPG, that would really be the best use of your time.

Not every game needs to fit the same formula. This one emphasises Holy Trinity groups, PvP interfering with PvE, and guild expansion and territory control. You could hardly have picked a worse game to make this complaint in.

Unless of course you can find it in yourself to care enough about those things to give up on the "I need to do be able to do everything I want, when I want, without preparation, on my own" mentality, and start enjoying the coordination of group-focused gameplay, and the long-term vision of growing your node and shaping its future. Then, welcome to the tribe.

1) Not really sure why that last sentence is so hard for you to understand. My guess would be a difference in dialect. Either way, why did you feel the need to point that out when you ascertained exactly the point I was trying to make?

2) Rather than pointing out that you spelled "emphasises" incorrectly, I will instead choose not to directly insult your intelligence because you had a differing opinion from my own. I will ,however, engage in discussion which is the point of these forums. I understand the game is designed to be Guild Based. My only opinion is that there should be options outside of that in some capacity that isn't just gathering, mining, hunting, etc.

3) I am really not sure why you would choose to let someone else's opinion personally irritate you so much. You seem to be legitimately offended that I felt there where things in the game that need to be addressed.

Noaani

Omega187 wrote: »

Not really sure why that last sentence is so hard for you to understand.

Yeah, I had no issue understanding it. Seemed straight forward to me.

As to your issues in the OP, I break them down to two main issues.

The first is that it isn't solo friendly, the second is that the quests are lacking.

While this doesn't help you today, the only real thing to point out here is that the developers have said that there will be improvements to the solo leveling experience. It won't match that of the group experience, but it will get better (this is an alpha test after all, things are supposed to be kind of bad).

For questing, they are still working on the actual quest systems. What we have so far are kind of place holder quests - so you can again expect improvements there at some stage.

No timelines on either of these.

Vyllz

Totally get where you're coming from, and you're not alone, a lot of players have mentioned that the level gap feels a bit too punishing right now. Soloing is definitely rough unless you're overleveled for the area, and that can make the experience feel limiting.

That said, just a quick reminder: we're still in Alpha, and a lot of systems, including quest density, mob tuning, and solo viability, are likely still undergoing major balancing. This phase is mostly focused on gathering data, so feedback like yours is actually super valuable for shaping how things evolve.

Hopefully, future phases will flesh out more solo-friendly content and smoother progression. Hang in there!

SmileGurney

Omega187 wrote: »

Furthermore, the lack of quests or story driven immersion is greatly lowering the fun factor of this game. It is starting to feel more and more like a job where you just log in and find a group (fates willing) and just go grind the exact same area for hours on end where it takes an entire group to kill a single mob.

What, no! This is impossible...Intrepid said they hate mindless grind!

https://www.youtube.com/clip/Ugkxy1o6r5ZVskH1YD_DdITPjlL6y37eqKYj

Ludullu

SmileGurney wrote: »

What, no! This is impossible...Intrepid said they hate mindless grind!

You will always be remembered, Jeff!

Xeeg

Omega187 wrote: »

I am enjoying the game so far but I personally feel that the balance between even a single lvl is too skewed at most times. While I am all for promoting group activities for it to be almost a dependency in order to play the game is not really my cup of tea. The ability to quest alone is almost impossible unless you go to areas with mobs that are more than a few lvls below you.

Furthermore, the lack of quests or story driven immersion is greatly lowering the fun factor of this game. It is starting to feel more and more like a job where you just log in and find a group (fates willing) and just go grind the exact same area for hours on end where it takes an entire group to kill a single mob. If I wanted to play Dark Souls or Elden Ring then I would, but I don't. I want to play a fantasy MMORPG where I can feel like I can accomplish more than just mining or harvesting on my own.

Omega, if you are having a hard time soloing then the problem is your gear. Most people give bad advice and just say "join a group", and then you farm mobs slowly with a bunch of other noobs in bad gear, getting levels slowly and never getting gear. Or you get carried by a couple people in the group with decent gear, which tricks you into thinking that you just need to party to level. This only makes matters worse, because levels dont do alot to increase your player power, so the mobs get harder and worth less exp and you still do the same damage.

If you want to level faster, get gear. Specifically, gear that adds to physical power or magic power. Go to ashescodex.com to figure out what kind of gear you want and where to get it. At this point in the game, you can probably find alot of decent upgrades in various town markets.

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