Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Phase II testing is currently taking place five days each week. More information about testing schedule can be found here
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Phase II testing is currently taking place five days each week. More information about testing schedule can be found here
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
[FEEDBACK] Glint, Gathering/Crafting, PVP, Economy, Caravans. Solutions & Issues
PHaRTnONu
Member, Alpha Two
I appreciate the time and effort everyone is putting into testing and providing feedback on the game. In the discussion below, I have outlined what I believe are the most pressing issues that should be addressed first to ensure a smoother and more rewarding experience for all players. These topics focus on key aspects of Glint availability, economic balance, PvP incentives, and progression systems, highlighting areas where small adjustments could make a big impact.
I encourage everyone to read through these points and consider how they affect gameplay as a whole. By tackling these areas early, we can help create a more engaging and well-balanced experience moving forward. Avoiding rework for the very passionate development teams, no one enjoying revisiting things multiple times.
Mob Availability & Glint Drops
Below Level 15 Mobs
No Stars: 7,493
One Star: 1,455
Two Stars: 482
Three Stars: 631
Total: 10,061
Above Level 15 Mobs
No Stars: 1,357 (18% of prior availability)
One Star: 317 (21.7% of prior availability)
Two Stars: 443 (Comparable to prior availability)
Three Stars: 2,748 (4x increase)
Total: 4,865 (50% reduction in available mobs that drop Glint at player level 25)
While a 50% overall reduction in Glint-dropping mobs seems bad on paper, the actual situation is worse. The majority of remaining mobs are Three-Star or higher, making them far less soloable. This means players are now forced into competent groups to farm efficiently, leading to hours of grinding—which would be fine in an MMO if not for some key issues.
__________________________________________________________________________
Glint Waste from Death & Grouping Issues
In a party system, players lose 25% of their Glint upon death with an in-place revive. This may seem reasonable, but in practice, it leads to frustration and resentment. A single death often results in repeated deaths, compounding the loss—25% per death and possibly 50% on the final one.
The problem isn't just the loss itself, but the lack of player agency. This system penalizes players based on group performance, not their individual skill. Unlike other mechanics where a player can learn and adapt, this loss is out of their control, leading to blame, frustration, and a strong deterrent from grouping.
This is a critical red flag for developers. It creates the same frustration as inventory disappearing due to a bug or a caravan falling through the map—things players cannot avoid through skill or strategy. Grouping should not feel like a penalty.
Possible solutions include:
Introducing craftable inventory-less bags that reduce Glint loss on death (e.g., 50-55% reduction for uncommon bags, 80-90% for legendary).
Implementing a dynamic scaling system that reduces Glint loss based on group size, ensuring that larger groups aren't disproportionately punished.
There are many ways to address this issue without making grouping feel like a liability.
__________________________________________________________________________
Zero Glint Drops in Some Areas
Many players, including myself and my guildmates, have noticed some areas have a 0% Glint drop rate floor. This must be removed.
If players are forced into Three-Star mobs due to the removal of lower-star mobs, then every 8 kills should not result in Zero Glint. When compounded over hours of grinding, this system kills player motivation. Imagine 10 rotation/drop for you result in nothing, cause i've seen it multiple times personally
I've personally stopped engaging in endgame POIs and dungeons because they are simply not rewarding. Instead, I now focus on smaller 3-5 man groups, avoiding content that should be meaningful.
The solution is simple:
Ensure all Two-Star and higher mobs have base Glint drops.
Eliminate situations where players receive 0 Glint after multiple kills/drops.
Reduce the extreme variance in Glint gain between different groups.
When players walk away with 1/4 of what others party members are earning for the same effort, resentment builds. A minor variance is fine, but the current disparity is extreme.
__________________________________________________________________________
PvP zones must offer at least 2x Glint drops to incentivize risk and reward.
Here’s the logic:
This change removed one of the best congestion zones for PvP, where players actively fought over resources. Why discourage consensual PvP interactions in a PvP zone?
Currently, PvP zones serve no purpose beyond being caravan routes. There are no increased Glint rewards, no increased harvesting benefits, and no compelling reason to engage with them.
The solution:
__________________________________________________________________________
Glint TL;DR (Fixes Needed)
Remove zero-Glint drops from Two & Three-Star mobs.
Increase soloable mob availability (current 18% availability compared to low-level players is excessive).
Buff PvP zones with at least 2x Glint drops.
Ensure all PvP zone mobs drop Glint (since the PvP itself is the risk factor).
Introduce a harvesting bonus in PvP zones to encourage resource conflict.
Right now, the game feels like it’s restricting player options rather than expanding them. These changes would reintroduce player agency, increase engagement, and fix major progression bottlenecks.
__________________________________________________________________________
The current economy is constrained by multiple bottlenecks, making any ongoing balance adjustments premature and ineffective. Given the interconnected nature of the economy, any changes implemented now may require reversal later, rendering them a waste of development time. While I acknowledge Steven’s comments on enchanting and gear balance, my focus (here) is on parallel systems that directly impact the in-game economy.
Harvesting
There has been significant discussion about static node quality (i.e., nodes spawning with Heroic/Epic/Legendary base rarity). While I mildly agree with concerns, I believe it’s premature to make adjustments.
Why Static Nodes Are Fine (For Now)
The Real Issue: Hunting
Hunting is a Level 0 base spawn with no quality tiers, making it the only resource-gathering system without rarity scaling. Every other gathering system allows for higher-quality materials, but Hunting’s lack of scaling creates a trickle-down effect that weakens multiple professions, including:
This results in mediocre outputs across the entire economy, preventing top-tier crafting, resource bags, processing materials, and gear enhancements from being fully realized.
Why This Matters for Economic Balance
If Hunting lacks Epic and Legendary materials, players are:
This cripples economic data collection, as the current market operates under broken conditions. Balancing the economy before fixing this is like measuring a car's performance with a flat tire—the data is irrelevant because the system is fundamentally incomplete.
Proposed Fix
Hunting should follow the same rarity distribution as other resources. If trees, for example, yield Epic and Legendary woods at a known rate, then Hunting should match those drop rates for high-tier carcasses and animals.
TL;DR: Fix Hunting Rarity!
Without this fix, the entire economy remains stuck in mediocrity, and any balance adjustments made beforehand are based on flawed data.
__________________________________________________________________________
Overall, the caravan system is solid, but there are a few issues that need addressing:
1. Caravan Clipping (Falling Through the World)
There should be a failsafe layer beneath the world that detects when a caravan falls under the mesh and reverts it back to a valid location. Losing an entire shipment because of a bug is unacceptable.
2. Destruction Mechanics
Instead of 100% part loss, caravan destruction should include an RNG-based salvage system, where a percentage of caravan parts are recoverable rather than everything being wiped.
3. Allow people in groups to declare defend or attack without passing lead/dropping groups. Additionally Don't allow outside declaration healing, if they try to heal someone declared on an event, stop it from casting. Or PVP force flag that healer AT A MINIMUM.
4. Trade Bureau Discounts Are Insufficient
The original 50% discount was reasonable.
The current 5% discount is pointless and provides no meaningful incentive to use the system.
5. Guild Leveling & Commodity Trade Distance
Currently, the first five guild levels feel disproportionately difficult for small guilds (still). However, we cannot accurately assess this system yet, as we only have access to 5% of the world.
Testing Consideration:
TL;DR
__________________________________________________________________________
Thoughts:
Right now, economic balance is being tested on an incomplete system. Fixing Hunting rarity is the first priority—without it, all economy-related data is flawed. Similarly, adjustments to caravan mechanics and trade incentives should reflect how the full game world will function, not just the 5% available in alpha.
Without these fixes, any economy balancing efforts are premature and ineffective.
Additional Considerations
I’ve read Steven’s comments regarding gear power and enchanting being too strong, and I urge caution in making adjustments before addressing the larger systemic issues outlined earlier. Once those are fixed, the overall balance will naturally shift.
In reality, only one aspect of gear truly needs adjustment—penetration. Add a diminishing returns (DR) scale on penetration as it would allow:
Right now, penetration + enchanting stacks too effectively, allowing too much unmitigated damage. Applying DR to penetration would solve this issue without requiring a full overhaul of enchanting or altering base damage mechanics.
Potential Enchanting Adjustments
If anything, enchanting should be adjusted to increase defensive stats—currently, 1 armor or 1 CON is vastly weaker than 1 STR or INT in terms of impact. Balancing CON & armor values would bring defensive stats in sync with offensive scaling, without breaking the entire enchanting system.
Unless there’s a new system planned that makes the current enchanting mechanics a placeholder, a targeted penetration DR and defensive scaling tweak should be enough to address the concerns.
Closing Thoughts
There are other topics worth discussing, but I believe these five points are the most pressing and impactful for the day-to-day player experience. (Glint, PVP zones, Hunting, Caravans & Enchanting/TTK) I’ve deliberately avoided class-specific discussions, as those require a different level of analysis.
Addressing these core economic and balancing issues first will ensure any further adjustments are based on a properly functioning system rather than temporary imbalances.
Also please Turn on the world bosses & force flag to pvp any one attacking or healing attacker out of party. We bored XD
-PHaRTnONu
I encourage everyone to read through these points and consider how they affect gameplay as a whole. By tackling these areas early, we can help create a more engaging and well-balanced experience moving forward. Avoiding rework for the very passionate development teams, no one enjoying revisiting things multiple times.
Glint Drop & Game Balance Concerns
Mob Availability & Glint Drops
Below Level 15 Mobs
No Stars: 7,493
One Star: 1,455
Two Stars: 482
Three Stars: 631
Total: 10,061
Above Level 15 Mobs
No Stars: 1,357 (18% of prior availability)
One Star: 317 (21.7% of prior availability)
Two Stars: 443 (Comparable to prior availability)
Three Stars: 2,748 (4x increase)
Total: 4,865 (50% reduction in available mobs that drop Glint at player level 25)
While a 50% overall reduction in Glint-dropping mobs seems bad on paper, the actual situation is worse. The majority of remaining mobs are Three-Star or higher, making them far less soloable. This means players are now forced into competent groups to farm efficiently, leading to hours of grinding—which would be fine in an MMO if not for some key issues.
__________________________________________________________________________
Glint Waste from Death & Grouping Issues
In a party system, players lose 25% of their Glint upon death with an in-place revive. This may seem reasonable, but in practice, it leads to frustration and resentment. A single death often results in repeated deaths, compounding the loss—25% per death and possibly 50% on the final one.
The problem isn't just the loss itself, but the lack of player agency. This system penalizes players based on group performance, not their individual skill. Unlike other mechanics where a player can learn and adapt, this loss is out of their control, leading to blame, frustration, and a strong deterrent from grouping.
This is a critical red flag for developers. It creates the same frustration as inventory disappearing due to a bug or a caravan falling through the map—things players cannot avoid through skill or strategy. Grouping should not feel like a penalty.
Possible solutions include:
Introducing craftable inventory-less bags that reduce Glint loss on death (e.g., 50-55% reduction for uncommon bags, 80-90% for legendary).
Implementing a dynamic scaling system that reduces Glint loss based on group size, ensuring that larger groups aren't disproportionately punished.
There are many ways to address this issue without making grouping feel like a liability.
__________________________________________________________________________
Zero Glint Drops in Some Areas
Many players, including myself and my guildmates, have noticed some areas have a 0% Glint drop rate floor. This must be removed.
If players are forced into Three-Star mobs due to the removal of lower-star mobs, then every 8 kills should not result in Zero Glint. When compounded over hours of grinding, this system kills player motivation. Imagine 10 rotation/drop for you result in nothing, cause i've seen it multiple times personally
I've personally stopped engaging in endgame POIs and dungeons because they are simply not rewarding. Instead, I now focus on smaller 3-5 man groups, avoiding content that should be meaningful.
The solution is simple:
Ensure all Two-Star and higher mobs have base Glint drops.
Eliminate situations where players receive 0 Glint after multiple kills/drops.
Reduce the extreme variance in Glint gain between different groups.
When players walk away with 1/4 of what others party members are earning for the same effort, resentment builds. A minor variance is fine, but the current disparity is extreme.
__________________________________________________________________________
PvP Zones Need Buffed Glint Drops
PvP zones must offer at least 2x Glint drops to incentivize risk and reward.
Here’s the logic:
- Steven wants contention and risk-reward mechanics.
- PvP zones previously had Shardlings, an excellent source of Glint for solo and small-group players.
- Devs removed this by nerfing their levels, making them no longer drop Glint past level 23—without explanation.
This change removed one of the best congestion zones for PvP, where players actively fought over resources. Why discourage consensual PvP interactions in a PvP zone?
Currently, PvP zones serve no purpose beyond being caravan routes. There are no increased Glint rewards, no increased harvesting benefits, and no compelling reason to engage with them.
The solution:
- Double Glint drops in PvP zones. The risk is PvP, so the reward should match.
- Increase harvesting rewards in PvP zones. Double gear rarity & gear quantity, with a high chance of heroic/epic/legendary drops (obviously nothing absurd).
- Improve clarity and transparency on PvP zone changes. The lack of communication is frustrating players.
__________________________________________________________________________
Glint TL;DR (Fixes Needed)
Remove zero-Glint drops from Two & Three-Star mobs.
Increase soloable mob availability (current 18% availability compared to low-level players is excessive).
Buff PvP zones with at least 2x Glint drops.
Ensure all PvP zone mobs drop Glint (since the PvP itself is the risk factor).
Introduce a harvesting bonus in PvP zones to encourage resource conflict.
Right now, the game feels like it’s restricting player options rather than expanding them. These changes would reintroduce player agency, increase engagement, and fix major progression bottlenecks.
__________________________________________________________________________
Economy Analysis & Bottlenecks
The current economy is constrained by multiple bottlenecks, making any ongoing balance adjustments premature and ineffective. Given the interconnected nature of the economy, any changes implemented now may require reversal later, rendering them a waste of development time. While I acknowledge Steven’s comments on enchanting and gear balance, my focus (here) is on parallel systems that directly impact the in-game economy.
Harvesting
There has been significant discussion about static node quality (i.e., nodes spawning with Heroic/Epic/Legendary base rarity). While I mildly agree with concerns, I believe it’s premature to make adjustments.
Why Static Nodes Are Fine (For Now)
- The world is only 5% accessible—once the full world is available, static nodes will be less contested and more valuable.
- End-game harvesting tools, buffs, and dynamic world systems (stars, seasons, etc.) aren’t implemented yet, meaning the current system is barebones and subject to future enhancement.
The Real Issue: Hunting
Hunting is a Level 0 base spawn with no quality tiers, making it the only resource-gathering system without rarity scaling. Every other gathering system allows for higher-quality materials, but Hunting’s lack of scaling creates a trickle-down effect that weakens multiple professions, including:
- Cooking
- Alchemy
- Husbandry
- Tanning
- Stone Masonry
This results in mediocre outputs across the entire economy, preventing top-tier crafting, resource bags, processing materials, and gear enhancements from being fully realized.
Why This Matters for Economic Balance
If Hunting lacks Epic and Legendary materials, players are:
- Unable to craft top-end harvesting tools
- Restricted from making high-quality armor/weapons due to leather scarcity
- Forced to rely on lower-quality food buffs and crafting materials
This cripples economic data collection, as the current market operates under broken conditions. Balancing the economy before fixing this is like measuring a car's performance with a flat tire—the data is irrelevant because the system is fundamentally incomplete.
Proposed Fix
Hunting should follow the same rarity distribution as other resources. If trees, for example, yield Epic and Legendary woods at a known rate, then Hunting should match those drop rates for high-tier carcasses and animals.
TL;DR: Fix Hunting Rarity!
Without this fix, the entire economy remains stuck in mediocrity, and any balance adjustments made beforehand are based on flawed data.
__________________________________________________________________________
Caravans
Overall, the caravan system is solid, but there are a few issues that need addressing:
1. Caravan Clipping (Falling Through the World)
There should be a failsafe layer beneath the world that detects when a caravan falls under the mesh and reverts it back to a valid location. Losing an entire shipment because of a bug is unacceptable.
2. Destruction Mechanics
Instead of 100% part loss, caravan destruction should include an RNG-based salvage system, where a percentage of caravan parts are recoverable rather than everything being wiped.
3. Allow people in groups to declare defend or attack without passing lead/dropping groups. Additionally Don't allow outside declaration healing, if they try to heal someone declared on an event, stop it from casting. Or PVP force flag that healer AT A MINIMUM.
4. Trade Bureau Discounts Are Insufficient
The original 50% discount was reasonable.
The current 5% discount is pointless and provides no meaningful incentive to use the system.
5. Guild Leveling & Commodity Trade Distance
Currently, the first five guild levels feel disproportionately difficult for small guilds (still). However, we cannot accurately assess this system yet, as we only have access to 5% of the world.
Testing Consideration:
- Since the game is designed for large-scale trade across the full map, we should adjust trade distance multipliers during alpha testing to simulate full-world conditions.
- For example, a trade route from Tropic to Azmeran should be scaled to match what would be a world-spanning trade in the final game.
- This ensures we can properly test risk vs. reward, even within the limited alpha map
TL;DR
- Implement a failsafe to prevent caravans from falling through the world.
- Introduce partial item loss instead of full destruction.
- Force flag out of declaration healing, Allow declaration in group
- Increase Trade Bureau discounts (5% is useless).
- Scale trade distance rewards to reflect how global trade will function in the full game.
__________________________________________________________________________
Thoughts:
Right now, economic balance is being tested on an incomplete system. Fixing Hunting rarity is the first priority—without it, all economy-related data is flawed. Similarly, adjustments to caravan mechanics and trade incentives should reflect how the full game world will function, not just the 5% available in alpha.
Without these fixes, any economy balancing efforts are premature and ineffective.
Additional Considerations
I’ve read Steven’s comments regarding gear power and enchanting being too strong, and I urge caution in making adjustments before addressing the larger systemic issues outlined earlier. Once those are fixed, the overall balance will naturally shift.
In reality, only one aspect of gear truly needs adjustment—penetration. Add a diminishing returns (DR) scale on penetration as it would allow:
- Consistent PvE balance (assuming mobs have no/low Armor Rating (AR)).
- Increased Time-to-Kill (TTK) in PvP, reducing damage spikes.
- Mitigation to play a meaningful role, counteracting the current stacking effect of penetration and high-tier enchants. (also alot of gear sadly doesnt have raw mitigation... was this a mistake?)
Right now, penetration + enchanting stacks too effectively, allowing too much unmitigated damage. Applying DR to penetration would solve this issue without requiring a full overhaul of enchanting or altering base damage mechanics.
Potential Enchanting Adjustments
If anything, enchanting should be adjusted to increase defensive stats—currently, 1 armor or 1 CON is vastly weaker than 1 STR or INT in terms of impact. Balancing CON & armor values would bring defensive stats in sync with offensive scaling, without breaking the entire enchanting system.
Unless there’s a new system planned that makes the current enchanting mechanics a placeholder, a targeted penetration DR and defensive scaling tweak should be enough to address the concerns.
Closing Thoughts
There are other topics worth discussing, but I believe these five points are the most pressing and impactful for the day-to-day player experience. (Glint, PVP zones, Hunting, Caravans & Enchanting/TTK) I’ve deliberately avoided class-specific discussions, as those require a different level of analysis.
Addressing these core economic and balancing issues first will ensure any further adjustments are based on a properly functioning system rather than temporary imbalances.
Also please Turn on the world bosses & force flag to pvp any one attacking or healing attacker out of party. We bored XD
-PHaRTnONu
6
Comments
But according to Steven they're getting shit tons of data from people 'play-testing' the game. What how's that help, specifically? His answers are so vague it's frustrating. The master of saying very little by saying a lot...
I personally can't stand the current state of the alpha. It's not fun to play once you're passed 18 or 20ish. It's a massive grind with bugs and bottle necks on the systems/mechanics that aren't even complete. The devs can't articulate what we're testing or how we can help or even what value we're giving, we're web clout for the game, an advertising piece. They can't or won't tell us what is a placeholder system, and therefor can't tell us what the systems will look like in the future. I'm not even excited for the rogue anymore, was going to be back to test that, but each time I log in there's nothing fun to do, a new class won't change that.
For glint, just bank it more often. Glint management is an aspect of the game and I actually like that there is a currency that is lootable by other players. Imagine if you also had a chance to drop gold...
For the lawless zones, sure, make more glint drop. Put in more valuable resources that gatherers want there or with more frequent respawn timers to encourage fights.
And whatever it is we are testing (completely agree I truly have no idea and there's really no feedback from Intrepid in these forums or elsewhere...), but it isn't the economy. All freeholds were bought long ago mostly with exploited gold. Unless you're going crazy with enchanting or determined to craft legendary gear, there's little incentive to grind out gold.
Oh i agree people dont listen though. i dont really have this issue, its one many people have said they have issues with and i would be remiss if i didnt mention it while talking about counters too it. My issue is 4 hours in carph hundreds of mobs killed and i have 4 blue glint..... cause the round robin system feeds me ZERO glint regularly while other people have a purple glint..... so its that that is my biggest gripe.
My #1 complaint remains hunting by far though XD
And seems like coal is on a similar loot system. Higher quality coal is far rarer than other resources.
Currently the coal system is 1 in 100,000 rocks will be give a lego coal. For smaller rocks. Larger rocks is 1 in 100,000 rocks give 3 coal.
Higher tier rocks have marginally better odds.
1. Get rid of static nodes and instead setup the system so every node has a realistic chance of producing all rarity levels. This should tie in nicely once the harvesting skill trees come online.
2. Add motherlodes that require multiple hitters but add a twist, hitting a motherlode will flag the hitters generating some risk around harvesting motherlodes.
3. Consider adding POI's players can fight over that will produce guaranteed materials at a given rarity level.
a. Metal and Stone quarry POI that is capturable for a period of time and produces materials the owning guild can collect. Expand this system to also include capturable farms, animal processing plants, lumbermills, etc etc. Ensure multiple POI's go active at the same time to spread out the player population, set the capturable windows to occur every 2 hours for 6-8 hours during peak prime time.