I get what you're saying...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Thymoglobul
These two points are the reason for the existence of the "portable GMS interface" that traders have. This is a small advantage but if you give it to everyone, you actually remove the advantage from the traders.
What you are asking is like "I am not a fixer but I want instant grid because it takes me time to get back to a city after mission" or "I am not a bureaucrat but I want to have access to my bank everywhere".
Just roll a trader and you'll have access to the GMS everywhere.
Most of the other points are not big problems for me: use the price min and max to narrow your search if you get more than 30 items in the search result. Come back to check your shop often and refill it if you feel that 21 shopping slots is too low. Sale at a bit lower price so that no items stays for ages in your shop.
I forgot about portable GMS.... you're right, it would take away a Trader advantage to have a GMS in the shops.
However, the idea of "sell at a lower price"... I completely disagaree. I have put items up for sale on GMS that were less than 20% of the LOWEST price on GMS, much lower than the average price on arpa3.net. Yet, they sat and sat and sat... and these are not random shop-food. Good nanos and armor and such. The population of players who have access to GMS is simply too small to support a fully robust economy. Which is why, LONG after the debacle of creds inflation due to ingots, there is still massive inflation of most items.
You could say to me "just roll a neut trader to be your shop mule"... yes, I could. But then what's the point of being clan? Throw RP completely out of the way and give up any semblance of it is what would happen if that's what you needed to do to compete.
Why AO is doomed to fail unless balance is restored BEFORE new content is added...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Khuri
Thank you!
You just pointed out two of the facts why this game is so different from "the rest" on the gameplay. What i like about this game is that there are almost no restrictions when it comes to customising your character. There are easy and hard skills based on your class, however it IS possible to do almost anything if you spend enough points (in regards to equipment and crafting).
With the GMS example, everyone can use these. However you can do almost anything, there is still the little things that are different. Now it is not a requirement to have these, but they help making "socialising" a part of this game that goes beyond just "teaming and bashing" with other players.
Now i see sturmalfar's point, where this kinda cuts into the "gaming fun experience" to have this drawback.
But i think it's the uniqueness of those "special features" of classes and even factions (like neutrals can use the GMS of all factions), that not only are good for experiencing new stuff (that is not new armor/nanos/weapons...) on a game update at a later point of your game time, but also add a special uniqueness and detail to the game. It's these little things that make this game very special among all "the rest" out there.
And that i think, even though it might cut into the gameplay fun sometimes, is worth it, in the greater picture of this game world and the experience of a more "real" world you experience while traveling on the surface of Rubi-Ka.
(and please don't get me wrong sturmalfar. I see what you mean. But on a specific game detail like that i rate it higher then the gaming comfort drawback :) )
Oh, BTW, I'm fully paid for the next 10 months. This rant comes from a majorly disenfranchised player, and not some froob...
Khuri, let me further elaborate (and perhaps belabor) my point. My major problem with this game are the major time sinks involved to be able to enjoy the game. You say that there are "almost no restrictions to customizing your character". Really?
Listen.... just read Yin's quote of abhinav250 here, and what people say afterwards: http://forums.darkfallonline.com/sho....php?p=1954579
He shows basically what is the problem with all level and gear based MMORPG's, and AO is no exception. Grinding for leveling and gear substitutes for a lack of interesting content in most MMO's and AO included.
But, in my words, how about:
1) Race based restrictions, that new players have no clue what the max abilities, fully upgraded perks, etc. of their class without extensive research. And if you actually have a life, when you get to 210+, no time or willpower to start another toon from scratch because you chose your race for RP reasons, and then find that it... SUCKS.... MAJORLY... at both PvE and PvP content with your chosen class and there is nothing you can do about it. Re-roll a new toon. Grind it out.
2) Class restrictions. Classes=templates=you cannot really customize your character to its fullest extent and play exactly the type of character you want to play. You simply have to choose whichever class is closest to the play style you would enjoy the most... Quite simply, the amount of points it costs to upgrade particular skills is a MAJOR restriction at the higher levels. This lends itself to "cookie cutter" setups where there are obviously certain skills for that class to upgrade... but you don't figure that out unless you extensively research the forums or are in a helpful guild. And needing to use most of your IPRs to re-do your character at a high level means that the next time FC decides to add more game unbalancing content and you need to change your skills around, you're gimped... and getting 50,000 VP or 500 million gold to add ONE IPR of ONE skill
takes quite a while. What if you need to IPR 5 skills? Oh, and because you sometimes need every single buffing item in the game to get on end-game gear, you have to re-do all of that every time you IPR. This DISCOURAGES inventiveness. This tells people: research the best cookie-cutter setup for your race/class and stick to it, or you are in for some MAJOR headache = Grinding.
Oh, and for those who don't get how horrible grinding is, here's an apt description:
"Grinding is defined/described as “the process of engaging in repetitive and/or non-entertaining gameplay in order to gain access to other features within the game”. Grinding essentially removes the “fun” aspect from any given game and turns it into an “un-fun” or outright “feels like work” aspect. This is not why people play games. At least not the people I know. Grinding is universally seen as the worst part of all games, and in my personal opinion is a gimmick to keep people logged in and playing/paying for games.
My biggest issue with grinding is what I perceive to be the reasoning behind it being necessary, which is two-fold. The first is that MMO makers don’t want to lose their customers too quickly and want to milk all the money they can before people finally give up and quit. The second is that since there is a massive lack of in-game and end-game content in many MMOs, they use “the grind” to keep people playing. There is, to me, a huge flaw in this line of thinking. Basically I see it as MMO makers saying “Since we don’t have enough content in the game to keep you interested, we’re just going to make it require months to achieve your goal or goals; whether those goals are to reach maximum level, or to acquire a full set of gear.” And then as if that weren’t bad enough, once you have actually acquired that maximum level and full set of gear, another set of gear is released that is so much better than the set you are currently wearing that you must grind for it if you want to stay competitive. It’s a hook to stay in an otherwise stale game that makes up for its lack of content by making you grind."
3) The leveling grind in AO is horrible. I can't compare to other games, but months of time to get "powerful" is not my idea of fun. Not only do you have 1-220 (which is over 15 billion XP, if you count SK=1000 XP), there's 1-70 on LE research (another 13 billion XP), and then 1-30 on AI (50 million AXP, which an average of 30 to 50,000 aliens). More grinding.
4) To be competitive in the end-game (i.e. be able to PvP and not be ganked immediately or be invited onto teams), you need appropriate gear. This gear, for most classes, includes end-game symbiants/spirits, Tier3 or penultimate Ofab or combined armor, etc. Billions of credits and massive time expended. More grinding.
5) PvP setup is different than PvE setup in many cases. Also, two players of equal skill with different gear setup = person with the better gear will almost always win. Player with better skill at playing their class, against another class that is unbalanced against most toons and with better gear but WORSE skill = pawning the better skilled player. That means more time invested in getting the right gear. And, if you're not 220, you have to figure out if you're even interested in PvP, or you haven't invested into the right skills that normally have nothing to do with your class (like Aimed shot for.. anybody other than an Agent... esp. Aimed shot for a melee class). And, if you haven't spent your points properly: welcome to IPR. Yay! Grinding.
6) PvP is restricted to certain level ranges because the game mechanics make it stupid to even consider PvPing outside of those ranges. Early level PvP = traders. TL4 PvP = cookie cutter setups. TL5 PvP = the only interesting range for most of the game. TL7 PvP = get destroyed until you get to 215+, and then realize that you didn't roll an "uber" PvP class. Whoops! Re-roll. More grinding.\
And, there is no case of "an army of level 50s taken on a 220" except in tower wars.. however, that 220 could take on pretty much 100+ level 50's and pawn them all. Is this in any way realistic or fun?
Also, other than a few small PvP zones (and arenas that nobody uses, and special PvP areas in player cities that nobody uses), people pretty much PvP in: BS, Tara, tower wars, dueling. Let's see: BS - level-locked, boring to be in the SAME MAP ALL THE TIME / Tara - the same damn boss every time, MAJOR lagfest / Towers - combo of Shadowbreed and Orbital Strike = Omni pwn Clans... end of story. Look at the XP bonus Omni has on Rimor - 20% while clans are 3.x%. / Dueling = interesting somewhat BUT for all PvP:
even if they hide their gear setup, you still know your opposition's race, class and level. There is no sensation of "wandering through the wilderness and wondering if that player is powerful = run away or let's gank him/her".
7) BTW, on reaching 220. Do you know it takes more XP to go from 219 to 220 than it takes to level from 1 to 204? Also, once you reach 220, what is there for you to do? Hmm... grind to level 70 in research... which gives the same bonuses to everybody of your particular race/class = cookie cutter. Grind to AI=30. Most race/classes combos use the same AI perks, with only a few exceptions. Or, roll a new alt and start the grind all over again. Oh, and what do people do at 220 anyways, besides help out lower level people in their guild or lower level alts... Beast, Tara, Greek gods, Blitzing mishes, some RK content, AI raids (every one is almost the same grind), LE mishes... not much variety at the top.
8) Summary: Lack of balance between classes in both PvE and PvP. Lack of dealing with borked items, setups, classes, etc. before adding new "more fancy" content... Just like fixers rocked before SL, and then when SL came around, give them balance became an afterthought. This is why I'm not leveling my fixer beyond 174 - I'll have to then go all the way to 220 and grind out billions of creds to have the competitive gear for end-game. Cookie cutter setups. Grinding. More grinding.
End of rant.