1000 Token Board Change

[______________hobbes]

We need a token board unification thread. Currently there are too many parallel threads going, re-iterating the same points.

We need 1 monster bumped thread to replace all these mini-threads to show Funcom that change is desired.

Call it the "Brittany Spears token board" People will associate token boards with Ms. Spears and people will be clamoring for more.

So, get on it. I've already taken my best shot and failed.

[____________Ejeckted]

Originally posted by RedSonja

Higher level boards would be, if you WANT to do a lot of missions then you could do so and have this nice target to aim for.
if you do NOT want to do missions you can go and hunt outdoors and not get the later boards.
Things existing in the game does not mean you have to get them.

My playstyle is my own choice and simply saying "No need for higher boards because there are plenty of places outdoors for XP after the 14.5 patch" does not compute, that is a dictation on my playstyle.

You are horribly wrong.

Sorry, but this is a game that forces players to compete
against eachother. Missiondood having 1200 more HP
than Hunterdood punishes Hunterdood for his playstyle.
It forces Hunterdood to play like Missiondood if he wants
to play on an even playingfield. That is unfair, and not fun.

Mission Token Farmers are not an elite class of players
who deserve advantages over Hunters and Roleplayers.

The Token boards are there to discourage players
switching sides on a whim. It helps ensure loyalty.
It does this well enough already.

IMHO the 1K board is way too good already.
It already punishes players who prefer outdoor zones.
(as well as the poor nuetrals)
This would be more of a problem if leveling over 100
was possible anywhere but inside missions . .

Higher boards with even more uber buff modifiers
would just discourage newer players/customers,
and put them at a permenant disadvantage.
Players like me who have been here since release day,
will always be able to have a higher token count than
the player who starts tomorrow.


Personally, the concept of never being able to get off
this mission/token/leveling treadmil, would make me sick.
I just couldnt do it. I've endured it, because it's temporary.
I can hit 200, have my 1K board, having ammased my fortune,
and finally get off the wheel and enjoy the world, participate
on an even playfield, and fight in the conflict. If i felt like I was
going to be forced to play the game like this (in missions) forever,
I just couldnt continue.

Try to lose the hamster mentality and enjoy a mmorpg.

If you actually still enjoy missions (i doubt it) then the
fun of that should be more than enough reward for you.
Otherwise, you're just a human macro farming uberness.

[MrGorak]

i like replying to old posts!


yes 1000 tokens is not that hard to get, and the token board stats should be changed slightly...

[______________Suasor]

Your point of view is shared by many, I'm sure, Scumbag. Try to look at it from a different point of view...

When you say "Missiondood having 1200 more HP than Hunterdood punishes Hunterdood for his playstyle", it sounds as though you expect everyone to be the exact same character with the same stats. Most everyone from EQ remembers just how annoying it was to work hard to get a unique set of armor and turn around to see someone else wearing the exact same thing. But that's only half the point. "Hunterdood" is enjoying a playstyle "Missiondood" is missing out on. With the new patch, Missiondood won't get a shot at the same loot as Hunterdood but instead will get a token board and meager exp at best. Yet later on, they can switch their situations. See where I'm going with this?... If you want exp/new-loot, you'll hunt outdoors. If you want the token boards, you'll do alot of missions. If you want both, then you'll have to satisfy your powergaming craving and do both.

As for new players... Well, you can't expect to get everything you want at the blink of an eye as a newbie. If they like the stats, they'll figure out what they have to do to get it. It's up to them to decide if the price of doing missions for tokens outweighs the work required. Everyone has this choice, and noone is being forced to do it.

There are alot of things many players prefer to do over others, but that doesn't mean the players who want something obtainable by all should have to do without because other players don't feel like doing more work to stay atop of the food chain.

The main point of most of us wanting another token board is because we are sick to death of leveling and want a different goal to entertain us until we decide to level again. Those who have went through the torture of mind-numbing high level mission after another deserve to get something out of their unspent tokens as well.

[____________Ejeckted]

To clarrify because my opinion spanned 2 posts:

- I do not object to higher level boards totally

- I do object to higher level boards that forces any player who
wishes to remain competative to be stuck in missions forever.

I have already done several thousand missions. That's enough.

2K, 3K, 5K, 10k boards are fine and dandy,
but adding more and more HP/nano/offensive modifiers is not.

700 HP advantage isn't enough or you? Would boards that
offered non-combat stats not make the farmers feel uber enough?

Like it or not, PvP is part of this game, and even tho I'm not much
of a PvPer yet, I do want the opportunity to compete at 200
without being forced to do thousands more missions to compete
with the guy who has the god-mode 10K board.

If Missondoods win this arguement, everyone else will leave.
If people dont feel like they can compete, they dont.

And for new players entering the game.. would you want to
play knowing that simply due to the time elapsed since release
you will never be able to catch up?

[____________RedSonja]

So your very final argument against those people who have decided that missions is the main thing they will do is:

"More baords and everyone will quit".

Humm, like they all did after the OE patch I suppose?
I am really pleased that you have plenty of time to play AO.
I'm pleased that whenever you log into the game you've got temas of people just waiting to go hunting with you or go on some PvP gank fest.
Some of us unfortunately cannot afford that time every single evening of the week.
Some us are only able to do some "team action" at the weekends.
But of course, because of our "decision" to play in this style, of doing missions we should not be rewarded for this?

Let's just look at the full options should new higher level boards appear with good bonus's:

1. Exploiters and early day farmers will instantly upgrade to the new boards because they cheated their way to thousands of tokens.
So be it, they personally do not effect me in any way.
If they farmed tokens constantly at Level 7 then that was their choice, an extremely sad one, but their choice.
Exploiters and cheats, again they do not effect me and us honest players not getting extra rewards because of them means they have won.
Cheats should never prosper.

2. The everday, part of gamestlye mission runners will have some new targets to aim for.
Don't you think that by the very nature of them running lots of missions they really cannot be bothered with PvP?
So even if new boards added to health they are not going to be getting in the way of your precious gank fests.
It does however give the mission runners a new target to aim for.
Our target was always the 1000 board, we were going to be some of the few people who owned one - the majority of fast levellers got to 400 tokens and decided to leave it there.
A new series of bonus's which we would reach during normal gameplay is not too muc to ask, we've already paid dearly on two fronts.
While we were collecting tokens you were all playing "get to level 200 as quickly as possible".
Then as an insult to the injury we go and get all our current tokens de-valued, would like a little give back.

3. The must own everything in the game gang will camp and exploit (if any token exploits are still around) to get the new boards.
Their choice, if wasting their time gaining tokens while they could be getting one level closer to level 200 is their thing then that is ther choice.
It will be difficult for them at higher levels to do so, however they should realise more effort equals more reward.

4. The moaners will complain about having to do more and more missions that tye don't want to.
No matter how many times other people say "Look, there are no guns being held to your head here, it is your choice if you wish to go for token baords or not" they reply over and over again with "I don't want to do more missions, I'm sick of them".
It is these people who are the most vocal in the anti-token discussion and the ones I am hoping the dev team are taking with a pinch of salt.
If they cannot understand the simply concept of "You don't have to get the new boards" that is the whole basis of their argument and really not valid.

People have become far too complacent with tokens.
As a new character is created everybody knows that character will ahve a 1000 token board.
There is no longer an effort=reward system in place for tokens.
Because everybody knows they will get the 1000 board, a few people object to the sudden thought that maybe if higher level baords were introduced they may not get it.
Then the vocal "Crap idea" & "I'll quit" come in to play.
There is one simple bottom line here:
Nobody is forcing you to take part in the token system.
You have acheived your 1000 baord (if you haven't you will) with relative ease at the expense of those pioneers of the token system (farmers and exploiters not included) who used to get a single token for their token, not five or six.
It is the pioneers of the token system who have been royally screwed here and we want something back.
How about if we promise not to get in the way of your precious PvP, then will you let the "I don't WANT to do more and more missions I'm sick of them" argument drop?

[Palmero]

god damnit this game isent EQ!. i dont want more uber item hunting or mission token farming.. why do i hafto do boring things to have fun in a game i pay for..

camping mobs is the most boring thing in this game right now. and doing missions for tokens is boring like hell.
lvling is fun so i do missions for XP and to have fun whit new peapols.. but i will never do missions for tokens becous it sux.

we dont need more Token boards it wouldent be fun to do missions for tokens.

giw us somthing else to do insted of more pointless token missions.

[____________RedSonja]

Originally posted by Tolbat
god damnit this game isent EQ!. i dont want more uber item hunting or mission token farming.. why do i hafto do boring things to have fun in a game i pay for..

camping mobs is the most boring thing in this game right now. and doing missions for tokens is boring like hell.
lvling is fun so i do missions for XP and to have fun whit new peapols.. but i will never do missions for tokens becous it sux.

we dont need more Token boards it wouldent be fun to do missions for tokens.

giw us somthing else to do insted of more pointless token missions.

...and to anybody who has decided to read the whole of this thread and more importantly the points I've made you'll see that this post perfectly encapsulates one of the points I'm trying to make.
New boards for some reason seems to make some people still assume that they have to get them, that they will be forced to do more "boring missions" in their words.
Point proven really, just because a few people don't want to do missions any more they feel that those people who do want to do them should "fall in line" and have no goals.

[______________Suasor]

Originally posted by Tolbat
we dont need more Token boards it wouldent be fun to do missions for tokens.

Hmm... One of those "I don't want to do more missions, I'm sick of them"-kinda responses.

Anyways, nice post RedSonja. Just about everyone who rejects the idea of there being more token boards comes up with this reason, and only one thing comes to mind. Time spent.

The time you spend in AO determines what stuff you're able to get to improve your character. That's how it is with basically any game on the market. You can't just expect to get any item you want without having to work for it. You can't expect to be the best at PvP or be able to show off a nice item or whatnot without having to sacrifice your time getting that item, be it fun or boring. If you want to go out and hunt, that is your choice and you can have fun doing it. However, if you want to PvP or compete, there is a different type of fun involved and you have to spend that extra time to make sure your character is top notch. Someone with more time and skill than you will win in the long run. That id a fact of life, and you should learn to accept that part of gaming whether you like it or not.
Let me ask all of you a question... Have you ever camped anything before? Most likely, yes, right? By all means, please explain to me how that is far more entertaining than doing missions. Everyone has had their experience with camping, and now you have your experience doing missions. If you can come up with a better time-involved method of getting items that is 'fun' to the masses, make the game and get rich. Until then, feel free to use the methods provided and know that people who have more time on their hands than you or have a higher tolerance of doing boring crap will be able to get items you cannot.

Personally, I don't find it fun that alot of the best items out there are No Drop and only on the loot table of the hardest mobs, since I will have no chance of getting that item. But how would the market be if they were tradeable or if that item were common loot? We'd all look the same, have the same stats, and many people would get bored very quickly as there would be nothing left but a level to get, and that I'd rather not want to see.

(P.S. RedSonja, do you have something against farmers that aren't out to prevent others from getting loot?)

[Zed Dabucho]

hehe i just want my 1000 board. only 428 tokens to go. =)

[____________Ejeckted]

RedSonja, you dont get it.

Somebody is putting a gun to your head.

That's called PvP.

Having a massive Hp/nano/offensive advantage
because you spent 10,000 hours in missions
over somebody who spent the same amount of time
playing the game a different way is just unjustifiable.

If they do not have the uber +2000HP/+100damage 10K board
then they lose every single time in every PvP encounter.
It's bad enough the neutrals are at a 700HP disadvantage already.
Uber boards would only make l33t d00ds able to Pwn easier.
It doesnt make the game better.

You seem to not understand the purpose of the boards.
It's a roleplaying thing. It's a game-mechanic that creates loyalty.
But this is a roleplaying game and at some point some people
are going to want to change sides for roleplay reasons.
Making back a 1K board after that is a daunting enough task.


In short, if it is basically impossible to win a fight against someone
with a 10K board, then were are all forced to get it or give up.

Infact, I would bet you hate missions as much of the rest of us,
and you're just gambling that you have more time to waste.


My support for a 10K board that isn't imbalancing:

click on it and recieve special back-slot armor that is as good
as any coat/tank curently ingame, but has a unique look,
and is NODROP, so that everyone else knows of your lifetime
of loyal service. (perhaps Knight-armor graphic for Clan and
some sort of new cool looking uniform for Omni).
Stroll around in that and you can feel special and impress noobs,
but no, sorry, you dont get god-mode.

[______________hobbes]

Ok, ok I can't take it anymore. I agree with both of you and have already proposed what I feel is an excellent compromise, modified by other players.

I will post them below as this will become the definitive token board thread.

I agree with Red Sonja that more token boards should be created with tangible rewards.

I agree with Scumbug that these rewards should not upset gameplay balance.


From this thread:http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...0&pagenumber=1 here are is the meat.


NEW token board solution- input welcome
Dilemma:

Solo players earn thousands of tokens as a consequence of their mission based playstyle and would like some perks for those tokens over 1000.


Conflict:

Team players object to higher token board benefits as they feel it will upset combat balance for PvP, particularly at level 200. They feel it would force them into boring missions just to be viable. This is a quite reasonable concern.

However, solo players are unable to obtain any of the special mob boss drop items/unique items that team players can get. So we feel a bit gimped in this regard. Yes, we can buy the stuff, but the economy is mad and many items are never offered for sale.


Solution:

This solution will make collecting tokens for completed missions meaningful, while simultaneously leveling the playing field in regard to team vs. solo.

For every "x" number of tokens collected over 1000, you will receive a unique/special piece of armor. The same stuff that team players get from bosses. Just as their items are random, (I think), so should ours be. The quality will improve as you ascend the token ladder, but never surpass what team players are getting.

It simply gives solo players a chance to obtain the same items as the teams players.

Note, that by this system, the team players will NOT need to do any boring missions as there is no threat of becoming gimped.

Items collected will have a title requirement, just like the 1000 board, so newbs CANNOT get an unfair advantage in PvP by collecting high level armor.


Objections:

Token farming will return!!!!

So what! Spend your time doing what you enjoy. In the end they will have no advantage over you.


Too easy to exploit!!!!

Whatever, don't gimp the game just for fear of a few exploiters. Seems to me, exploiters will exploit anyway, at least let some of us have some fun.

Red was right all along, we do deserve something for collecting all those tokens.

[______________hobbes]

and this post:

I'm not sure what the difference is between earning unique items through reaching token goals or using tokens on a machine to purchae unique items. One is random, the other is not. Either way is fine with me.

I like the addition you made about name, gender and breed. It shows that people have interests in things I haden't even considered. This would could be expanded into an additional room to stores.

The room would be called the "Admirals club", it would check against the 1000 token board, and contain a room full of various machines operated by tokens, granting a wide variety of services including unique items, IPR points, gender and breed changes, as well as unique ceremonial clothing.

I think that would be great, as once you have hit 200, you could use these machines to mold your character in a way to make him unique on Rubi-ka.

So BGumble, that is the type of post I have been looking for. You have taken my idea and helped me expand and refine it.

So now, tokens can be taken to the Admirals Club to help assist your character and to help to mold him into a true individual.

Remember people, nothing in the shop will make you more uber than anyone else, so no complaing about being forced into boring missions to be viable.

In all honesty and modesty, I again say that I see reason for anyone to object to these ideas. The only problems I have encountered are from people who fail to actually read the posts and just spout off their knee jerk opinion about token boards.

[______________hobbes]

Looks like I've killed this thread, too.

Ah, token boards, why hast thou forsaken me?

[Mharc]

Originally posted by Scumbug
My support for a 10K board that isn't imbalancing:

click on it and recieve special back-slot armor that is as good
as any coat/tank curently ingame, but has a unique look,
and is NODROP, so that everyone else knows of your lifetime
of loyal service. (perhaps Knight-armor graphic for Clan and
some sort of new cool looking uniform for Omni).
Stroll around in that and you can feel special and impress noobs,
but no, sorry, you dont get god-mode.

Yep. That's the way to go IMO too.