cRPG

cRPG => General Discussion => Topic started by: Arkonor on April 03, 2013, 01:42:14 pm

Title: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Arkonor on April 03, 2013, 01:42:14 pm
I decided to start over with a new main after 1000 hours of play and now have no MW items and the difference is staggering.

The extra 8 armor you get from gloves and body armor is like the difference from low medium armor and heavy armor. You can take about half the hits you could before.
Also the bows and crossbows which you would think are friendly to new players are almost useless without having them ranked up.

Examples:
Light Crossbow does 52 pierce total with Steel Bolts.
MW Light Crossbow does 65 piece total with MW steel bolts.

This makes them do about 13 more pure damage since armor had already been counted.

I really like the ranking system but the difference to me seems too great on certain items. Ranged and armors being VERY noticeable. New players are "forced" to use the more advanced weapons with high damage output by default to be able to do decent damage and are pushed away from all ranged items. This makes the game frustrating for them since they seem to be way worse players then they might actually be.

Fixing it would be simple. Upping the normal items and lowering the difference from ranking them up.

My 2 cents.
Arkonor
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Aiyasha on April 03, 2013, 01:47:37 pm
Also the bows and crossbows which you would think are friendly to new players are almost useless without having them ranked up.

This is actually one of the bigger problems with the constant mindless archery nerfs. A LOT of the players that can rack up kills with bows have them fully loomed because it takes a long time to learn to reliably land shots past ten feet in front of you.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Gurnisson on April 03, 2013, 01:57:12 pm
I remember suggesting only increasing accuracy, draw rate and missile speed for the ranged weapons, and only quiver size of bolts/arrows (past the number it is now) instead of the damage increase. Adjust the damage of the bows/xbows to somewhere around loomed damage now, a tad lower maybe. It would help newer players, but still not remove the purpose of looming ranged gear.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Teeth on April 03, 2013, 01:59:34 pm
Just remove looms. What is the point if having them if everyone has them, except the new players who are at a huge skill and level disadvantage anyway. The only thing looms do is restrict us all in what we can play, if I want to play a Spanish buckler man today and a Viking axeman tomorrow. I can't because I need to trade for a few weeks to get the stuff.

Free freedom, remove looms.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Grumbs on April 03, 2013, 02:19:41 pm
Just remove looms. What is the point if having them if everyone has them, except the new players who are at a huge skill and level disadvantage anyway. The only thing looms do is restrict us all in what we can play, if I want to play a Spanish buckler man today and a Viking axeman tomorrow. I can't because I need to trade for a few weeks to get the stuff.

Free freedom, remove looms.

I've thought of this, but the truth is certain people would lose their sense of progression and long term goals. I like having an economical element to the game, with the marketplace and sense of overall wealth.  I quite like how people specialise into a certain role too.

I would rather just nerf looms and buff rank 0 stuff to compensate. Then nerf ranged just because why not.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: [ptx] on April 03, 2013, 02:23:25 pm
Don't forget how important loom ranks are for 1h weapons too. Or basically any weapon with relatively low  base damage. The impact from looms is quite uneven between various different items. And yeah, it can be stupidly huge in some cases.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Fuma Kotaro on April 03, 2013, 02:36:41 pm
Looms are fine in my opinion
for example in 2010 the extra points you got were insanely high they already nerfed it to an acceptable bonus and any other nerfs are not necessary in my opinion
what about those high gen players which invested thousands of hours to get stuff loomed?
if you are new you have to accept it and try to do good
(On my stf without looms I can still do very good even as archer)
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: LordRichrich on April 03, 2013, 02:46:31 pm
It really isn't.

I've played for 2.5 yrs + and my play time well exceeds 2000 hours (can't tell exactly as steam doesn't register me playing WB through cRPG anymore)
Only had a +3 for a few weeks, thought meh. I use non-loomed gear 99% of the time, unless there's something in the armoury I wanna try.
I started playing a little before upkeep etc, when leveling and gold was slow as hell.
I make new characters all the time, I don't find it bad.

Maybe you're just used to loom crutching? It's different I grant you, with no exp bonus and no looms, but it isn't difficult.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: no_rules_just_play on April 03, 2013, 02:57:46 pm
you are talking about the +8 bonus wich is too 'OP'. but as you said: 1000 hours of playing. 2 +3's are 6 gens of playing. it would be kinda worthless if you did 6 gens for +2 body armor. right? if you remove looms you will get huge lvl crutchers too. and you take away the spirit of the game where everyone is unique because they use different weapons.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Kuujis on April 03, 2013, 03:06:16 pm
I would actually give HUGE applause for implementing some kind of "improve one stat and diminish other" approach for looms. Then compensate all loom item owners with these new looms and replace all looms with virgin copies of orig items. And let the experimenting begin! 8-)

OFC - easier said, than done... :rolleyes:
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Vibe on April 03, 2013, 03:06:41 pm
I think it's the worst with ranged - a non loomed archer will have a much harder time than a loomed archer, especially against someone with loomed body armor. I just laugh at how many arrows it takes for my 15/24 loomless HA to kill something :D
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: no_rules_just_play on April 03, 2013, 03:14:54 pm
I think it's the worst with ranged - a non loomed archer will have a much harder time than a loomed archer, especially against someone with loomed body armor. I just laugh at how many arrows it takes for my 15/24 loomless HA to kill something :D
indeed, low lvl ranged and horse ranged without looms are quite useless. especially with archery
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: bavvoz on April 03, 2013, 03:19:39 pm
If looms were removed no1 would retire so new players would be screwed against all lvl 35+ anyways.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Necrorave on April 03, 2013, 03:30:22 pm
I decided to start over with a new main after 1000 hours of play and now have no MW items and the difference is staggering.

In all honesty, I have been playing Crpg for I would say almost 2 years now.  I am still only Gen 3 with only a +1 loom.  (Because I respec like a fiend)

I know Looms do make a change in gameplay, although I never thought of it as major enough to make it priority to finish a gen for a loom.  I play, I do well with stock items, I have fun.

I think the ranking system is completely fair as it is.  Although, I still think a wooden dagger should get +10 blunt damage at Elder rank.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Joseph Porta on April 03, 2013, 04:08:45 pm
I do fine without looms, only items worth looming imo are horses, shields and ranged items, sure it takes one, two, three, four or five hits more to kill a loomed player but hey, thats not too bad.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Darkoveride on April 03, 2013, 04:40:18 pm
yea looming horse is a must really. only other thing i ever thought to be important is arrow's.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Teeth on April 03, 2013, 04:52:45 pm
yea looming horse is a must really. only other thing i ever thought to be important is arrow's.
That is because you are a GK and you have never fought in melee.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Kafein on April 03, 2013, 05:14:51 pm
I'm against removing looms, but they sure could use some tweaking. Such as inverting the net gain curve. Getting a +0 to +1 should be more important than a +2 to +3.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Algarn on April 03, 2013, 05:19:59 pm
-
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Macropus on April 03, 2013, 05:24:05 pm
Fix the name of this topic.
The forum ranking system is too unfriendly to new players.
Calling new member a beggar...  :evil:
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Armpit_Sweat on April 03, 2013, 06:28:52 pm
Calling new member a beggar...  :evil:

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New players should know their place! Or they will end up like this:

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Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Ikarus on April 03, 2013, 06:38:40 pm
^ what he said
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Phew on April 03, 2013, 07:10:13 pm
Heirlooms instill a sense of personalization that is a source of pride for most players. If you feel like they are just a meaningless grind, you probably loomed a Kuyak and a Longsword. For instance, there are certain weapons that are rare enough that I am excited when I find one on the battlefield. And I can usually guess the owner due to this rarity. 

I think Final Boss' texture pack has a lot to do with the fun of finding rare heirlooms on the ground; his textures for many weapons look amazing, and I'll equip them just to admire.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: oprah_winfrey on April 03, 2013, 07:20:15 pm
Just remove looms. What is the point if having them if everyone has them, except the new players who are at a huge skill and level disadvantage anyway. The only thing looms do is restrict us all in what we can play, if I want to play a Spanish buckler man today and a Viking axeman tomorrow. I can't because I need to trade for a few weeks to get the stuff.

Free freedom, remove looms.

Its the same thing. Instead of the people playing a lot having all +3 items, the people who play a lot are all going to be level 34-36 and destroy new players just like they would with their loomed out gear.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Necrorave on April 03, 2013, 07:26:22 pm
In all honesty.  Looms just make it easier for people to make a build that they wouldn't normally do with that item and still have some fun out of it.  Example: Using a Sword with a str build until the sword was loomed.  Then you could put less into Str and still do similar damage because of the loom.

I like looms mostly because it opens up a whole new way of playing sometimes.  As well as a whole new way to mess with people, Elder Club is my goal.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: oprah_winfrey on April 03, 2013, 07:55:01 pm
In all honesty.  Looms just make it easier for people to make a build that they wouldn't normally do with that item and still have some fun out of it.  Example: Using a Sword with a str build until the sword was loomed.  Then you could put less into Str and still do similar damage because of the loom.

I like looms mostly because it opens up a whole new way of playing sometimes.  As well as a whole new way to mess with people, Elder Club is my goal.

To be fair, if people didn't have loomed armor, those agi builds could be viable as they are with a loomed sword.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Torp on April 03, 2013, 08:02:38 pm
Heirlooms instill a sense of personalization that is a source of pride for most players. If you feel like they are just a meaningless grind, you probably loomed a Kuyak and a Longsword. For instance, there are certain weapons that are rare enough that I am excited when I find one on the battlefield. And I can usually guess the owner due to this rarity. 

I think Final Boss' texture pack has a lot to do with the fun of finding rare heirlooms on the ground; his textures for many weapons look amazing, and I'll equip them just to admire.

i think you have a good point here - i rarely use gear that's not loomed, but that's because i have been playing for a very long time and i like to use the same items because that's just part of my character by now. Now i actually usually use a kuyak, but thats cause i've loved that armor ever since it was implemented; both stat-wise and looks as it fits my style - but i also use stuff like my +3 quarterstaff which is actually very usble once it's loomed.

As for Final Boss' textures i personally think they are awesome and should be implemented by the devs; that could be combined with an across-the-board loom nerf as people would still be inclined to heirloom their items simply for looks while making the game more playable for new players facing heirloom-crutchers.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: San on April 03, 2013, 09:17:40 pm
Glove looms should give an offensive buff, maybe even the regular armor stats could be tweaked to something else. After I won some loomed gloves, I took nearly twice as many hits.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: oprah_winfrey on April 03, 2013, 10:52:46 pm
By the way, I would like to see leg armor buffed. Decrease in weight as loomed would be mighty swell.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Lactose_the_intolerant on April 04, 2013, 12:50:09 am
Just remove looms. What is the point if having them if everyone has them, except the new players who are at a huge skill and level disadvantage anyway. The only thing looms do is restrict us all in what we can play, if I want to play a Spanish buckler man today and a Viking axeman tomorrow. I can't because I need to trade for a few weeks to get the stuff.

Free freedom, remove looms.

well you can give me your looms, like that you can freely change class as you wish!!!!!

Don't thank me, I'm a very generous man
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Malaclypse on April 04, 2013, 12:59:02 am
Gotta agree about body (chest, glove) heirlooms as well as dual ranged (due to tandem use of bow/arrows or xbow/bolts), heirlooms being quite a lot better than their unloomed counterparts. Being a high level/multi heirloom character, I support Teeth's suggestion. Either remove heirlooms or lower their benefits to +1 in any given stat total, if anything (either case will likely entail buffing the stock items).
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Vodner on April 04, 2013, 01:03:52 am
Personally I've always been in favor of removing looms. That being said, the grind is an enormous part of the game for many players. If they didn't have some sort of goal (other than having fun and getting better) to work towards, then they would likely lose interest.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: mofugga on April 04, 2013, 01:31:02 am
Need moar looms! (NA1 last night) :shock:

(click to show/hide)

(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: obitus on April 04, 2013, 01:34:12 am
Looms matter too much.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Lactose_the_intolerant on April 04, 2013, 02:07:19 am
   You people are funny, all spitting on looms and stuff in all a big circlejerk about how looms are uncool like hippies protesting against massive corporations. Truth is, looms keeps me going in this game. The only reason why people grind is for looms, not counting on the fact of course getting to a higher level! Because lets face it, why would you retire if there would be no looms?

   I stopped retiring some time ago thinking i was done, too tired of grinding, i had the looms that i wanted...and then i found out some new cool item and/or some cool guy using it , try out the masterwork, and there i went again. retired! And oh boy how i hated the peasent years, i remembered why i didnt want to retire anymore! And trust me, i wouldnt do it again if there were no looms! So why retire then, if you want to change build, you have respec! or just grow to have a high level build?

   And you can try to lie about it, refuse to admit it, but if most of you people are still here, its because of the grind. Do any of you people play world of tanks? wargaming (the people that make that game) have understood very well that griding gets the players hooked to the game, they grind to the biggest tankn what does wargaming do? realse new big shiny tanks, and there goes the grind again!
And this happens here. You can all pat yourself on the back saying : "yea dude, looms are so uncool ban em", but there is a very silent majority out there that thinks : "whatever shut up", and i didnt really feel like breaking your circle of back rubbing but here i am writing a wall of text.
And truth is, i dont know why i am doing so, because you all know that the devs wont do it, but still comes up regurlarly a thread about how we should removes looms, with the same people saying the same stuff "looms uncool man" over again like if it was the first time it was ever mentionned.

Guys, even the devs have given up on this thread....let it die

Looms make my character, my specialisation, my class. You are so against looms but...you can't change class because you have looms? joke?  Some of you have maybe seen me playing, sometimes i use my loomed gears, but sometimes i have javelins, a poleaxe, new pieces of armors, a shield and that stuff is not loomed and i still do good! Looms help but are not that gamebreaking. they are a little extra edge. they are a motivation

The only thing that they do break a bit is for archery and crossbow : you get double ranged damage. In return those classes get nerfed because of the high hitting loomed archers just kicking in the dirt the no loomed archers (that is another problem)

and have you seen how much the game has progressed, we havem mrkets, auctions, booths, we have a fucking economy and that gets people going!

So really if you so against looms, i think we should ban high levels! actually we should just all be level 31!!!11!!! it would only be fair! all those level 35 have better builds then me making them more effective on the battlefield! QQ

Welcome to Communist-rpg

Ps :go play age of chivalry...

Ps 2 : I'll talk to schmako to have you banned from the armory Teeth  :mrgreen:



Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Kyza on April 04, 2013, 03:04:45 am
This isn't about experienced players and looms.  The point is that looms, in my opinion , prevent the player base growing as much as it could.  More players is a better game for all, and the disparity between those players that already have years of mechanics trained is bad enough let alone having a significant equipment advantage too.

You can have grind and balance you know.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: obitus on April 04, 2013, 03:09:35 am
Looms are a good idea and should still be used.  The problem is that there is too big of a difference between +3 items and +0 items.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Sir_Senior_the_Eldest on April 04, 2013, 03:36:14 am
Game is getting very hard for beginners as there is a big inflation in gold and loom issues. We shouldn't remove looms as they are, as previously mentioned, a nice longtime goal you can look forward to. But what about adding items who are not that good but look cool/ are a sign of your status and cost some looms. Something like the Saxon Kings helmet from GB
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 (which wouldn't be that safe because of parts of gold but lets others see you are pro)

This is just an example. I definetly don't want the game to be some kind of fantasy game and maybe this helmet doesn't look good for some of you but I think you got my point.
Use some kind of "badges" to ripp of the loom points of our pro gamerswith no rl

Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: korppis on April 04, 2013, 07:44:25 am
I'm against removing looms, but they sure could use some tweaking. Such as inverting the net gain curve. Getting a +0 to +1 should be more important than a +2 to +3.

That's a very good idea. Also why not lower the armor buff slightly so the cumulative difference between fully loomed and non-loomed gear isn't so huge?
What I mean is, instead of always adding armor, maybe something like this ie for body armor:
+1: +2 armor
+2: +1 armor
+3: -5% weight

As for melee weapons, I think the ranks are alright as they are.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Korgoth on April 04, 2013, 10:42:51 am
Just remove looms. What is the point if having them if everyone has them, except the new players who are at a huge skill and level disadvantage anyway. The only thing looms do is restrict us all in what we can play, if I want to play a Spanish buckler man today and a Viking axeman tomorrow. I can't because I need to trade for a few weeks to get the stuff.

Free freedom, remove looms.

Well put your looms in the armoury. You can be a commie if you want.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Ronin on April 04, 2013, 10:45:18 am
Guys, you are playing to wrong mod. There are lots of other warband mods if you want to play a fair game (needless to say more balanced).
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Berserkadin on April 04, 2013, 11:05:21 am
Looms had a place in this mod a couple of years ago, but now it doesnt really improve the mod in any way. I play this mod to be able to play my own, customized character.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Kafein on April 04, 2013, 11:56:18 am
   You people are funny, all spitting on looms and stuff in all a big circlejerk about how looms are uncool like hippies protesting against massive corporations. Truth is, looms keeps me going in this game. The only reason why people grind is for looms, not counting on the fact of course getting to a higher level! Because lets face it, why would you retire if there would be no looms?

   I stopped retiring some time ago thinking i was done, too tired of grinding, i had the looms that i wanted...and then i found out some new cool item and/or some cool guy using it , try out the masterwork, and there i went again. retired! And oh boy how i hated the peasent years, i remembered why i didnt want to retire anymore! And trust me, i wouldnt do it again if there were no looms! So why retire then, if you want to change build, you have respec! or just grow to have a high level build?

   And you can try to lie about it, refuse to admit it, but if most of you people are still here, its because of the grind. Do any of you people play world of tanks? wargaming (the people that make that game) have understood very well that griding gets the players hooked to the game, they grind to the biggest tankn what does wargaming do? realse new big shiny tanks, and there goes the grind again!
And this happens here. You can all pat yourself on the back saying : "yea dude, looms are so uncool ban em", but there is a very silent majority out there that thinks : "whatever shut up", and i didnt really feel like breaking your circle of back rubbing but here i am writing a wall of text.
And truth is, i dont know why i am doing so, because you all know that the devs wont do it, but still comes up regurlarly a thread about how we should removes looms, with the same people saying the same stuff "looms uncool man" over again like if it was the first time it was ever mentionned.

Guys, even the devs have given up on this thread....let it die

Looms make my character, my specialisation, my class. You are so against looms but...you can't change class because you have looms? joke?  Some of you have maybe seen me playing, sometimes i use my loomed gears, but sometimes i have javelins, a poleaxe, new pieces of armors, a shield and that stuff is not loomed and i still do good! Looms help but are not that gamebreaking. they are a little extra edge. they are a motivation

The only thing that they do break a bit is for archery and crossbow : you get double ranged damage. In return those classes get nerfed because of the high hitting loomed archers just kicking in the dirt the no loomed archers (that is another problem)

and have you seen how much the game has progressed, we havem mrkets, auctions, booths, we have a fucking economy and that gets people going!

So really if you so against looms, i think we should ban high levels! actually we should just all be level 31!!!11!!! it would only be fair! all those level 35 have better builds then me making them more effective on the battlefield! QQ

Welcome to Communist-rpg

Ps :go play age of chivalry...

Ps 2 : I'll talk to schmako to have you banned from the armory Teeth  :mrgreen:

This. Grind with diminishing returns is the way to go. Even better, polynomial xp curve and logarithmic returns.

Also, the grind should never stop. Otherwise, grinders will stop after reaching the cap because bored, and others will cry rivers until they reach the cap, then complain that it was unnecessary.

You can have infinite grind without unbalancing the game towards high levels because level bonuses can shrink to insignificance (at least individually).
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Teeth on April 04, 2013, 04:09:50 pm
I play cRPG because you can customize builds and because it has better combat system than Native. I am well aware that I am the minority here, but to me acquiring looms is like collecting a 100 flags in Assassin's Creed. Annoying bullshit that other people somehow like which gets in the way of my fun gameplay. Fun gameplay is the only thing that matters. In fact acquiring looms is even worse, because if I do not do it, it will also get in the way of fun gameplay. Pixel awards do just not attract me, the bad thing is that every game has them now and they obstruct gameplay.

My ideal version of cRPG would be a fixed level (like 30 or 35) character and no looms, which you can respec at will. No grind, because good games have gameplay that is interesting enough to keep you playing, without a pixel pat on the back. That is why old games are usually better, because they still agreed with me back then. Warband has good enough gameplay to entertain me.

And don't give me that retard argument that looms do not make a difference. A 27b blunt Military Hammer gets 30b when +3. That is an 11% damage increase, even more when accounting for the way that armor effects scale. That is an 11% offensive bonus, and that is just one item and not even talking about the increased weight it also gets. +10 body armor without any disadvantages is a huge deal as well. Sure you can do good without looms, but if I can top the scoreboard with a cudgel, does that make it as fun or fair as using a NCS?

And yes I have played World of Tanks, agonizing grind which makes me stick to some tier 2, maybe 3 tank that I max out, because I can't be arsed to do the process again and again. Having shit gameplay for hours because some stupid retards can't enjoy the game unless someone keeps dangling a carrot in front of them.

Just the term 'grinding' itself, I can't believe people actually see that as something positive these days.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Phew on April 04, 2013, 04:32:25 pm
There is no "grind" in crpg. There is nothing you "have" to do that isn't fun that's required to actually have fun in a different phase of the game. MMORPGs are a grind because you have to do stupid quests/crafting/other boring crap to have the gear you need to actually have fun in dungeons/raids/whatever. Then they release expansions that make old gear/max level obsolete, so you have to keep chasing the "new" gear/levels just to experience the content. CRPG is just fighting people (that's the content), which you get to experience regardless of level/gear. Don't like being a peasant? Skip The Fun or don't retire.

It's not like it's less fun to fight people if you don't have looms; the combat mechanics are the same. Looms just let you make more mistakes and still win. A peasant with no looms can beat anyone if they don't make mistakes.

Looms are part of the customization process, and that's the appeal for people. Obtaining the +3 item you want is no different than achieving the riding or power strike or athletics you desire in your build.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Teeth on April 04, 2013, 04:56:32 pm
Part of the cRPG content is also competitivity, which looms obstruct. To be able to experience the full content of cRPG, you need to be able to compete, which requires you to have looms. Therefore the grind in cRPG for looms is the same to me as having to chase 'new' gear and levels in MMORPG's.

Of course not having looms compared to everyone else having looms reduces the fun you have while playing. Surely needing 4-5 hits to kill everyone while they need 2-3 for you gets on your nerves at some point, don't you think?

Looms are not customization, they are simply bonuses. I would be fine if looms provided trade offs, if you like to have a fast spear with lower damage, go ahead. It is the absolute advantage they offer you because you are willing to grind, which is stupid game design in my opinion.

Put yourself in the shoes of a new player. You come into a game where you have a huge skill disadvantage with an enormous learning curve, on top of that there is also people who have a level 33-35 character and full sets of looms. A quick calculation tells me that to retire 9 times, which gets you 3 masterworks, and to get to level 33, you need to play about 850 hours. 850 hours to get at a somewhat level playing field with the established playerbase. Tell me with a straight face that is not stupid and disheartening?
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: rufio on April 04, 2013, 05:09:26 pm
just remove looms, and set lvl cap to 31. make teeth happy plz now dev team, stop work on new game, crpg needs revamp, it sux sobad right naow!!!!!
(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Falka on April 04, 2013, 05:15:20 pm
A quick calculation tells me that to retire 9 times, which gets you 3 masterworks,

To get 3 mw items you need to retire "only" 6 times, like it or not, but currently marketplace is part of the game. Maybe you're right that better game design would be customizable - not upgraded - items, but for crpg removing looms means instant death. There are too many ppl who keep playing mostly because of looms. So this discussion is an entirely pointless waste of time.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Kafein on April 04, 2013, 05:37:21 pm
Part of the cRPG content is also competitivity, which looms obstruct. To be able to experience the full content of cRPG, you need to be able to compete, which requires you to have looms. Therefore the grind in cRPG for looms is the same to me as having to chase 'new' gear and levels in MMORPG's.

Of course not having looms compared to everyone else having looms reduces the fun you have while playing. Surely needing 4-5 hits to kill everyone while they need 2-3 for you gets on your nerves at some point, don't you think?

Looms are not customization, they are simply bonuses. I would be fine if looms provided trade offs, if you like to have a fast spear with lower damage, go ahead. It is the absolute advantage they offer you because you are willing to grind, which is stupid game design in my opinion.

Put yourself in the shoes of a new player. You come into a game where you have a huge skill disadvantage with an enormous learning curve, on top of that there is also people who have a level 33-35 character and full sets of looms. A quick calculation tells me that to retire 9 times, which gets you 3 masterworks, and to get to level 33, you need to play about 850 hours. 850 hours to get at a somewhat level playing field with the established playerbase. Tell me with a straight face that is not stupid and disheartening?

Even more disheartening is installing a competitive arcade MP game and realise the game is so warped around competition and nothing else, you won't be able to compete with any serious player because you haven't been playing that same game during the last decade. This is virtually the same as a grind barrier, and if anything worse because new players cannot attribute their failures on anything but a lack of skill, which like it or not will not please them. The good way to attract new players is either to minimize the influence of skill in the game (okay, this isn't the good way), or to de-emphazise competitiveness. If the only way of having fun in the game is to win, the game is at any time a failure for half the players (also this is why the multiplier is a horrible feature). Encourage veteran players to do goofy, ineffective, impressive etc. stuff rather than utterly destroy the newcomers. Such a feat is difficult to accomplish (hardly any game I know pulled that off). But maybe some kind of acheivement-ish status for self-nerfing would do.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Lactose_the_intolerant on April 04, 2013, 05:38:57 pm
i started when people were at level 45, there were full plate archers and sword of cookies, people had over 200 wpf and i stuck in there. I wanted to be one of them and work my way there. I didnt bitch out the game and whine. stop wanting to downgrade and the dumb the game down

Newbes will be newbes. Even if they had as many looms as the random crpg veteran, they would still go aroung with two shields and in samurai gear. The game is alive after all this time, not like it really needed a complete overhaul
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: zagibu on April 04, 2013, 05:57:02 pm
What would happen if looms were removed:

- Nobody would retire anymore, making it harder for new players, not easier
- Those who whine about how much an effect looms have would see that they were wrong
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: dreadnok on April 04, 2013, 07:05:06 pm
Sure make it easier. They did with kick and 2h blocking
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Oberyn on April 04, 2013, 07:38:47 pm
Recently rolled an alt polearmer using ashwood pike, no looms or extra gold, just straight lvling as if I had just started playing. Once you get past 25 or so you are competitive. If you are a bad player, looms won't help. If you are a good player, you can be good without looms. Skill is still the most important factor, as it's always been.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Necrorave on April 04, 2013, 07:52:57 pm
Ps :go play age of chivalry...

If you guys really want it so everyone is the same, then just go play Native.  Duh

Crpg community surprises me in how silly they are sometimes.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Teeth on April 04, 2013, 07:55:42 pm
If you guys really want it so everyone is the same, then just go play Native.  Duh

Crpg community surprises me in how silly they are sometimes.
Because Native with looms and levels is the same thing as cRPG, yeah, good point.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Kafein on April 04, 2013, 09:19:49 pm
Because Native with looms and levels is the same thing as cRPG, yeah, good point.

Not in its current state. When I started playing, it totally was. I had much fun fighting those level 40 plate monsters as if they were bosses in some kind of weird 3D action game.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Son Of Odin on April 04, 2013, 09:35:34 pm
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: [ptx] on April 04, 2013, 09:38:29 pm
What would happen if looms were removed:

- Nobody would retire anymore, making it harder for new players, not easier
Don't much care about the rest of this thread, but... what? How? The highest level character right now, one that hasnt retired ever, is like lvl35? How much of an advantage does that level grant? Maybe take one additional hit or move slightly faster...

If the same person had been retiring, he would be clad in a full +3 armor/weapon set, that gives him

*significant armor bonus, making it much harder for others to even hurt him and then he takes less damage anyway
*significant damage bonus, making it easier (depending on weapon) to hurt others

The armor part is really the most important, its why almost everyone is a bloody tank nowadays, high str builds rule and newbies complain about dying in one hit, whilst it takes them 5+ to kill others.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Kafein on April 04, 2013, 09:54:55 pm
Don't much care about the rest of this thread, but... what? How? The highest level character right now, one that hasnt retired ever, is like lvl35? How much of an advantage does that level grant? Maybe take one additional hit or move slightly faster...

If the same person had been retiring, he would be clad in a full +3 armor/weapon set, that gives him

*significant armor bonus, making it much harder for others to even hurt him and then he takes less damage anyway
*significant damage bonus, making it easier (depending on weapon) to hurt others

The armor part is really the most important, its why almost everyone is a bloody tank nowadays, high str builds rule and newbies complain about dying in one hit, whilst it takes them 5+ to kill others.

With the right plan, the difference between 33 and 35 is serious. The difference between 30 and 35 is huge. A level 35 build can break weapons that are already borderline with normal chars. Example are 100+ speed weapons, the lightest shields with 13 shield skill, peasant tier polearms doing ok damage by stacking PS... And I won't even cover ranged. You can do much better than loomed armor + weapon combined with 5 attributes and 5 skills. And if you already have your equipment heirloomed (which is the case for many regulars these days), you don't even need to choose.


Renown whore
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Necrorave on April 04, 2013, 10:00:55 pm
Because Native with looms and levels is the same thing as cRPG

Who said its the same thing?  You guys are complaining about looms being unbalanced for new players.  If you want items to be the same then just play Native.  This is not a post about levels, its about items.  People who complain because low levels cant do anything have invalid opinions.

good point.

Thanks Teeth,

On another note, I think the whole idea of customizing a weapon with "compensations" is a good idea, although if that were the case you might as well let everyone have access to it anytime they want.  Retiring to "Increase speed and decrease damage" seems a bit silly considering all the time you put into it.  People want to be rewarded for their time, not agree to give something up.  They already gave up time for their reward, let them have it.

PS: I have no looms so this is me NOT defending my looms.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: CrazyCracka420 on April 04, 2013, 10:05:27 pm
Don't much care about the rest of this thread, but... what? How? The highest level character right now, one that hasnt retired ever, is like lvl35? How much of an advantage does that level grant? Maybe take one additional hit or move slightly faster...

If the same person had been retiring, he would be clad in a full +3 armor/weapon set, that gives him

*significant armor bonus, making it much harder for others to even hurt him and then he takes less damage anyway
*significant damage bonus, making it easier (depending on weapon) to hurt others

The armor part is really the most important, its why almost everyone is a bloody tank nowadays, high str builds rule and newbies complain about dying in one hit, whilst it takes them 5+ to kill others.

I'd say the majority of people retire to get looms (unless they've been playing for quite some time).

Here's the same builds at level 30, 33 and 35:

2h
Level 30
(click to show/hide)

Level 33

   
(click to show/hide)

Level 35
(click to show/hide)

I think a non-hybrid build such as this, is the least difference between level 30 and 35, but having 10 PS versus 8 is a big difference, as is 6 more HP. 

So I'll make some more examples:

Archer:

Level 30
(click to show/hide)

Level 33

(click to show/hide)

Level 35
   
(click to show/hide)

Having 8 power draw versus 6 is a big deal

And probably my favorite level 35 build would be a polearm/1h/shield/cav player:

Level 30

   
(click to show/hide)

Level 33

   
(click to show/hide)

Level 35
(click to show/hide)

Some pretty big differences between the levels, I personally think that level 33 or 35 have a pretty good advantage over level 30's (if you take two comparably skilled players).  You can do a lot with 5 levels.

And now after having spent the time messing with builds, being level 35 with 0 looms is not as good as being level 30 with 5 +3's.  To get to level 35, you would have been able to retire at least 17 times (and that's not even taking the generation bonus into account).  That's 5 +3's at least (possibly a lot more).  I'd rather be fully loomed out than at level 35 with no looms.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: oprah_winfrey on April 04, 2013, 10:16:49 pm
For melee builds I think level 35 is better then looms. Loomed out basically boils down to 10 more body armor and 3 more damage. Level 35 (from huesbys example) is +6 hp and 16% more damage.

Quote
I'd rather be fully loomed out than at level 35 with no looms.

Keep in mind, no one else has looms either...
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Son Of Odin on April 04, 2013, 10:26:48 pm
Renown whore
Lol speak for yourself renown farmer :lol:. I was just trying to summarize this thread into a short video clip.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Tydeus on April 04, 2013, 10:54:50 pm
For crpg, removing heirlooms is an impossibility, it will never happen so no sense entertaining the idea. What can be done though, is tweaking the effects of heirlooms. It should be obvious that the +10 armor you get from combining chest and glove looms is simply far too strong. It means that you can have a Heavy Kuyak with the same protection as a Heavy Yawshan but with 9 less weight. That's a 40% weight reduction!

I'd rather heirloom effects be dependent upon the type of armor that it is, so something like the following, with each comma separating the additional bonuses from further heirloom levels:

Cloth armor(sub 2.0 weight armors): +2 armor -.5weight, +2 armor, +2 armor
Heavy cloth/leather(make Leather Armor 2.0 weight): +2 armor, +2 armor, +1 armor -1 weight
Mail(sub 14.0 weight armors): +2 armor, +1 armor -1 weight, +1 armor -1 weight
Mail and Plate/Plated: +1 armor -1 weight, +1 armor -1 weight, +1 armor -1 weight
Plate(Transitional and higher, also including Black Armor): +1 armor -2 weight, + 1armor -1 weight, +1 armor -1 weight

Then make all gloves +1 armor for each additional heirloom.

The only things you have to worry about here, is slightly rebalancing armors that are near the weight border. So +1 body armor for the Mongol Armor and slightly increase gold cost as an example. I'm just afraid that the weight reduction will enable usage of higher armor value equipment, but we can always go back and lower armor values if this is the case.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: zagibu on April 04, 2013, 11:12:33 pm
Don't much care about the rest of this thread, but... what? How? The highest level character right now, one that hasnt retired ever, is like lvl35? How much of an advantage does that level grant? Maybe take one additional hit or move slightly faster...

1. The difference between level 30 and level 35 is the difference between these builds:
- 21/18 7IF 7PS 6AT 3WM 133WPF 70HP
- 24/21 8IF 8PS 7AT 3WM 140WPF 75HP
The advantage here is not take one additional hit OR move slightly faster, it's take one additional hit AND move slightly faster AND hit harder. Probably also higher chance of crushthrough, knockdown and weapon stun as well as reduced glance chance.

2. You don't think very far. Currently, level 35 is almost like a level cap, because xp needed to go higher is practically unattainable. This would of course have to be changed, if looms were removed, because otherwise people would get bored fast and quit. XP curve would have to be flattened and higher levels made attainable to keep the grinders going. This means it would probably not be uncommon to see level 40+ characters on the battlefield. Level 40 can do a 27/24 build like above with everything improved again, level 45 a 30/27 and so on.

3. The general dilemma of the skill and character/equipment gap between long timers and new players is a fact. It exists everywhere in the world. What is the point of removing it? To make it easier for new players? Why should that be a goal for a non-profit mod of an old game? Do you really want the CoD and Halo kids to get into cRPG? There is always a point in the life of a game when influx of new players equals amount of quitters. When that point is reached, you can do two things: keep going or change the game. If you keep going, the game will slowly fade out, but will still matter to a lot of players for some time. If you change the game, all hardcore fans will leave in a rush and if you are lucky, new player influx will increase again. But there will be a vacuum after the change, and sometimes, you won't survive it (SW:G, SupCom 2, DmC come to mind).

We are the hardcore fans, obviously we don't want them to change the game (too much).
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Grumbs on April 04, 2013, 11:57:27 pm
Looking at lvl 35 builds is kind of pointless imo. It takes an average player years to get there, and if they do they will generally be poor or have fewer looms than someone who retires. People don't build just for 35 too, they build for 33, 34 and with 35 a vague possibility in the future. Only a few will want to go pure into 35 too, they will have a bit of one thing and another

It may be be possible to tweak the retirement level without screwing over lvl 34+ guys though. You could change the curve so the XP you need for lvl 30 now gets you to lvl 33 instead. Then put the rest of the xp needed into 33-35. I have no idea if thats actually possible or even worth doing.

Then the bonuses from looms could be reduced a bit but rank 0's get a little boost.

TBH though, cRPG is a team game. Its not 1v1 so its not like it matters as much as people make out. A newbie should learn to play with his team and not think he can go 1v1 anyone. He will lack the skill/experience and the levels/gear. That teaches you to work with your team
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Ronin on April 05, 2013, 12:02:20 am
Thanks to armory, I can never retire and have 4-5 looms if I'm in a good clan. Yay! :D
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Bronto on April 05, 2013, 02:32:07 am
Tydeus, this armor loom rework is genius. Implement now please.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Banok on April 05, 2013, 04:14:26 am
wow I've been whining about looms for years and getting hate for it, and now teeth says remove looms and people actually agree  :shock:

not sure straight up removal is best solution at this point tho.

looms were better before when they at least had a potential downside (increased requirement). bring this back for easier fix. A better but harder fix is making looms side grades instead of upgrades, like increased dmg = reduced speed, increase armour = increased wieght.

Ive suggested all this before since apparently people have changed thier minds figured I'd repost.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: [ptx] on April 05, 2013, 09:27:23 am
You all seem to underestimate the difference that 10 extra armour points do.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Kafein on April 05, 2013, 09:34:37 am
You all seem to underestimate the difference that 10 extra armour points do.

Why do you think I'm trying to get the second lightest armor with a +5 bonus at +3 ?

(click to show/hide)

The higher you go in armor rating, the better getting more HP over more armor.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: [ptx] on April 05, 2013, 09:48:43 am
And here i thought you above pulling statements out of your ass, Kafein...

1. Click me! (http://alpha-lider19.ru/MB/)
2. Hit Melee damage calc
3. Set weapon to 1h, 32 cut, ~140 proficiency - that is perhaps somewhat above the average unloomed 1h, even. Use 18 strength, 6 PS. Average.
4. Set HP to whatever
5. Set armor to 35 - very light armour, note the average damage (bolded, big number), the minimum damage (smaller number) and amount of body hits to kill (number on the torso)
6. Now increment armour by 10 - to 45, which would be ~ the most common amount of armor worn by most people today (unloomed). Note the numbers again.
7. Then increment by another 10. What do you see?
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: The_Bloody_Nine on April 05, 2013, 10:25:29 am
Who said its the same thing?  You guys are complaining about looms being unbalanced for new players.  If you want items to be the same then just play Native.

You don't seem to understand. We want the items to be the same (no looms) and the levels but the combat mechanics and items amount and character customization and whatnot from the current c-rpg. This isn't there in Native, so we don't play it.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Penguin on April 05, 2013, 11:35:14 am
I've always thought it would be cool if looms weren't just focused on damage/speed and the player actually got to pick meaningful upgrades to his weapon/armor that fits his/her playstyle. Let's say you wanted to loom a blunt object; it would be pretty neat if you got to select an option for bonus or increased chance of knockdown over an increase in damage and speed. And armor, if you could choose to upgrade its effectiveness against certain weapon types(like blunt) instead of the standard +1/+3/+5 armor. Maybe even an increase in durability that reduces chances of upgrades (controversial stance, I know). In short, getting rid of the crazy loom disparity while still satisfying those whose neckbeards might be ruffled by giving them less effective, but more personalized looms.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Leesin on April 05, 2013, 12:56:53 pm
Looms only make a small difference unless you really badly suck at the game, then it's your own skills that need improving and not looms being removed. Considering I'm not by any means a great player and I went 14-0 the other day with shitty light armour and just a MW bamboo spear ( which is still only 28 pierce damage ), upkeep was about 300 gold max, it shows it just isn't about having the highest armour ratings and the most stats. Player skills exceed all of these things.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Ronin on April 05, 2013, 01:06:27 pm
The difference between lvl 30 and lvl 35 with 6 looms can be significant. So what? Isn't this the point of playing cRPG? You nerfed everything about non-loomed horse archery and archery in general. I remember my frustration only because of this thing. Melee is, after all melee. Where people can be useful on level 20.

If anything is unfriendly to beginners is, they do not know how useless archery can be without good levels and good gear. They even think they will do some damage with an archer-melee hybrid. Because those silly archery nerfs are beyond the imagination of a beginner. People like to be legolas, when they experience a high level of frustration; they leave the mod.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: The_Bloody_Nine on April 05, 2013, 01:52:32 pm
The difference between lvl 30 and lvl 35 with 6 looms can be significant. So what? Isn't this the point of playing cRPG?

For me it is certainly not.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Teeth on April 05, 2013, 01:57:33 pm
Looms only make a small difference unless you really badly suck at the game, then it's your own skills that need improving and not looms being removed. Considering I'm not by any means a great player and I went 14-0 the other day with shitty light armour and just a MW bamboo spear ( which is still only 28 pierce damage ), upkeep was about 300 gold max, it shows it just isn't about having the highest armour ratings and the most stats. Player skills exceed all of these things.
With this bullshit attitude we can just remove balance, don't worry, you are not the only one. What does it matter if a Danish Greatsword has a 100 speed and 48 cut? A good player with a 32c 98 speed NCS can still beat a bad player with that Danish, so who cares? Let's leave everything gravely unbalanced because skill decides in the end.

Deep fucking sigh.

(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: dreadnok on April 05, 2013, 02:15:16 pm
You all seem to underestimate the difference that 10 extra armour points do.


True that
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Lactose_the_intolerant on April 05, 2013, 02:16:02 pm
indeed, i did miss his point.

don't worry teeth, keep on thinking the pro loom players are retarded and don't understand anything to game balance,  that will work
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: [ptx] on April 05, 2013, 02:17:27 pm
I think you missed his point completely.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Joker86 on April 05, 2013, 02:19:23 pm
The problem we face here is that different people prefer different aspects of the game. It's really difficult to find an optimal solution.

For example, although I am not a total fan of grind, I prefer having advantages after playing a game for a long time. If it's more arcadey, and I don't see any progress apart from my personal skill increase, the game will have no long term motivation for me. I guess it's because I think that a game should not only be based on player skill. So here I disagree with Teeth. On the other hand I do agree with him that the entire heirloom situation in its current state is rather bad.

One solution I really liked were the "tradeoff"-looms. You give up speed for damage and vice versa. I don't think that this is not enough of a bonus for having retired, because it allows you to customize you build even further, and allows some insane builds eventually.

And this is a possible downside of the system as well. What happens if you take the weapon with the highest attribute value in the game, and push this value even further? Like maximizing the damage on the deadliest axe, or the speed on the fastest sword? Could this break balance? This should be checked. If it does, what is the solution? Limiting the stat raise to some certain values? E.g. speed 100 for every weapon below? This could lead to all looms becoming more similar at +3.

And how about another approach to looms?

What about that heirloom model project? I never used it, so I am not up to date, but I recall having read that it died. I think it would be nice to implement it into the game. I know that every user can customize his texture at his end of the connection, but still I think knowing that everybody who didn't mod anything (which should be the majority) will see your new fancy weapon, is motivation enough.

You can go even further and implement new armours and weapons which are only buyable by loom points (and "soulbound" - not tradeable  :wink:  :P ). Those items should NOT be top tier, but high or mid tear and perhaps close some (deliberately placed) gaps. That way you have a certain weapon which is not stronger than others, but suits a certain playstyle the best. Or armour which looks really unique.

I think it would be a huge motivation to aquire those items, but it wouldn't break balance at all.

The important thing is, that "removing heirlooms" in their current state doesn't have to mean a mass GTX of old players. If they keep their loom points, and are allowed to spend them in the new heirloom system, only few will quit. Maybe the new looms don't give you as much power as the old ones did, but relatively to the other players with less loom points your advantage stays.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Leesin on April 05, 2013, 02:24:26 pm
With this bullshit attitude we can just remove balance, don't worry, you are not the only one. What does it matter if a Danish Greatsword has a 100 speed and 48 cut? A good player with a 32c 98 speed NCS can still beat a bad player with that Danish, so who cares? Let's leave everything gravely unbalanced because skill decides in the end.

Deep fucking sigh.

(click to show/hide)

Erm since when did I say anything about ITEM BALANCE? that's a different matter and completely irrelevant to what either you or I said, what I said was basically "skill always trumps looms" which it does, so why don't you climb off of your horse and stop being a fucking queen about it. Do looms make a difference? yes they do, do they ultimately decide who wins a fight? no they don't, is this an RPG type of game where character and item progression is a main feature? yes it is. Lowering the power of looms is one thing, removing them completely is another, I'll leave it to you to decide which one I disagree with, I at least hope you're smart enough to figure that one out instead of pissing the bed about it.

I think you missed his point completely.

I think Teeth missed my point completely.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Teeth on April 05, 2013, 02:33:34 pm
Erm since when did I say anything about ITEM BALANCE? that's a different matter and completely irrelevant to what either you or I said, what I said was basically "skill always trumps looms" which it does, so why don't you climb off of your horse and stop being a fucking queen about it.

I think Teeth missed my point completely.
Right, I will explain myself thoroughly.

The relevancy is that I project your argument on something else to show to you that it is flawed, because you do not seem to see it in the case of looms. You say that looms do not matter because skill decides who wins in the end. 'Skill always trumps looms'. Now I apply this reasoning to item balance. I illustrated my point by saying that one item being hugely OP, the hypothethical example of a Danish with 48c and a 100 speed, would not matter, because skill would still decide. 'Skill always trumps looms' in the exact same way as 'Skill always trumps stat differences'.

Yet I hope you can agree with me that balance is important, even when skill is the deciding factor, and I hope you can apply the same thought to looms. That the strength of looms does in fact matter, regardless of skill being the deciding factor.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Necrorave on April 05, 2013, 02:46:17 pm
You don't seem to understand. We want the items to be the same (no looms) and the levels but the combat mechanics and items amount and character customization and whatnot from the current c-rpg. This isn't there in Native, so we don't play it.

I know what you guys are saying.  Although this post was merely just about items, and that's what I spoke about.  I did not put levels into consideration.

I may not agree with your view of looms, but I'm still open minded to what people could consider a replacement.  So far I only like the idea of choosing what you want to upgrade in an item rather then it being chose for you.  Although that could be exploited pretty badly with things like the bastard sword and their speed.

Some may not agree but I think they are fine as they are.

(I like the idea of lowering weight of armor instead of the +10 boost in defense though.)
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Grumbs on April 05, 2013, 02:50:05 pm
With this bullshit attitude we can just remove balance, don't worry, you are not the only one. What does it matter if a Danish Greatsword has a 100 speed and 48 cut? A good player with a 32c 98 speed NCS can still beat a bad player with that Danish, so who cares? Let's leave everything gravely unbalanced because skill decides in the end.

Deep fucking sigh.

(click to show/hide)

Striving for balance is important, but most of the time battle is not clean balanced fights so there is some leeway. People gank, stab from range, backstab, hit when people are knocked down etc. If a 1v1 becomes a 2v1 it could be like one side has a 80cut weapon against a 40cut, or one hit of which can be unblockable. The skill in battle is more about choosing your fights, outnumbering people, retreating (even if you leave team mates to die), zerging into a group and dividing the enemy up into smaller groups. Mechanical fighting skills are important too ofc. That + battle awareness will win games, whether you do +3 damage or not

Its not like balance is unimportant, it blatantly is but in the scheme of things +3 damage and +1 speed is not much to be concerned about imo. I would support tweaking them though, I don't really mind either way as long as people still have long term goals so they don't quit. Gloves should not give +5 armour maybe. Mail mittens go from +3 to +8 I believe, over 100% bonus. Again though, in the scheme of things they are just cheap plate mittens which anyone can buy
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Leesin on April 05, 2013, 02:53:38 pm
Right, I will explain myself thoroughly.

The relevancy is that I project your argument on something else to show to you that it is flawed, because you do not seem to see it in the case of looms. You say that looms do not matter because skill decides who wins in the end. 'Skill always trumps looms'. Now I apply this reasoning to item balance. I illustrated my point by saying that one item being hugely OP, the hypothethical example of a Danish with 48c and a 100 speed, would not matter, because skill would still decide. 'Skill always trumps looms' in the exact same way as 'Skill always trumps stat differences'.

Yet I hope you can agree with me that balance is important, even when skill is the deciding factor, and I hope you can apply the same thought to looms. That the strength of looms does in fact matter, regardless of skill being the deciding factor.

I can too keep spamming minuses on your posts Teeth if it means that much to you  :lol:.

 Yes I agree the strength of items matters, of course it does, there is no denying that, but in a field where everyone can get any item they want in time, I don't see how your comparison has any relevance to Heirlooms. Now considering what you suggested, i.e just removing looms altogether because they somehow make it so newer players can't kill other plaers, that is what I disagreed with. If looms were 'nerfed' it wouldn't bother me, but having heirlooms is just another RPG feature of cRPG, you don't need to nuke things to "balance" them. 

New players to Warband are going to die regardless of looms, if they're not new to Warband then they can hardly use the excuse "I only die and can never kill anyone because of looms", you and I both know that would be bullshit, there are plenty of good native players who come to cRPG with no looms and do well.

Basically, balancing looms is a good idea, deleting them for absolutely no reason isn't, it's another part of progression that people enjoy about cRPG. Maybe they should make a server where you can't use Heirlooms and those that don't like Heirlooms can play there.

Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: BombInAPizzaBox on April 05, 2013, 02:54:25 pm
As a generation 0 player since I play cRPG inconsistently and have respec'd a thousand times over, I've only felt disadvantaged when:

Obviously I've never known what the advantage of having loomed gear is since I've never used the stuff, but as far as I can tell its by no means crippling to not have, at least for the builds I like, and I imagine being a 1her with a blunt or pierce weapon is fine as well.

Then again perhaps I've just grown used to being massacred because I don't have the loomed stuff and play DTV most of the time anyway...
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Lactose_the_intolerant on April 05, 2013, 03:11:51 pm
It is very nice to back up your arguments with examples, but don't you think your examples are just slightly far fetched? of course a 100 speed 48 cut danish would give to much of an edge over skill.

But the question is do the looms give to much over skill? if they would give + 5 speed and 8 damage that would be yes and iirc it was like that in the past, it was toned down. Now what is it? +3 damage and +1 speed? You are telling us that gives to much of an edge on skill? I don't think so, I'm very sure you give me an adequate build and a mw polearm, you would still hand my ass over in duels. Maybe once or twice i would get a crit in making you very close too lose but in no case its going to change the whole game around.

Another very important thing you don't take in account, damage randomisation, i will take an examples, you like those. A cav rides past me, i throw him my Mw throwing lance, i dont one hit him. Next round i have a basic throwing lance i found of a dead body, use it on the same cav guy, i one shot while he rides away. WTF?
I also tried some time ago with royanss the damage in between mw jarids and normal one. the damage i did with mw where sometimes lower then normal jarids.

So what does it really change? Well maybe you will be able to finish off an enemy instead of leaving him at 5 hp. I really do believe you are over exagerating the problem.

Some classes really need, A HA with looms can become pretty decent, some need it less, archers with double loomed items that hit far ahrder then a normal archer. Hopliting with a throwing spear is like the day and the night. with a normal lance its glancefest, with a mw i can perform well. You could hoplite very well without a loomed throwing lance. Skilled players can actually live without looms, even i manage to eprform well sometimes with unloomed gear.

The only problem is, you think that the pro loom side is full off retard that understand nothing at game balancing, you are not willing to see our side and this is why this conversation is going nowhere i understand that looms in some cases can get out of hand , If we would have had this thread in the pst where looms gave + insane speed + insane damage i would have totaly agreed with you.

final word : devs dont plan of withdrawing looms , so no point talking about it
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Teeth on April 05, 2013, 03:30:40 pm
Mail mittens go from +3 to +8 I believe, over 100% bonus.
That is another good point, the absolute increases from looms means that the relative bonuses differ. Which means that pre-loom balance is not the same as loomed balance. Which is also quite a flaw in the system. A 45 cut weapon going to 48 cut is hardly as significant as a 23p weapon going to 26p.

(click to show/hide)
Common strategy to get anything done is advocating the extreme and accepting compromise :P

I know looms are a huge part of the game to some, and even though I cannot fully relate, I am aware that cRPG partly thanks its long active playerbase to the progression that looms and levels provide. Their effect is quite large though, which is a thorn in the eye of people who value competivity and core gameplay above progression. It bothers me personally that I can't switch gear around all the time without having a notable effectivity drop and I think new players deserve some kind of catch-up system or starting bonus. Skip the looms system, damn right.

(click to show/hide)
A MW Ashwood pike (33p) will still do 10% more damage than a non loomed one. Which means that even after all the random factors, I will have 10% more damage output overall, even more with the way armor works. For free, no penalties. For balance overall is the only thing that matters, sure you can one shot someone with a spiked mace and need 3 hits with a flamberge, this is all completely irrelevant. Then there is the 1 speed, and the 5/10/10 head/body/leg armour you can also gain. Which reduces damage received by more than 10%, a whole lot more. 10 body armour, that is the difference between wearing Archon's Armor and Black Armor, without any of the wpf and movement penalties.

To illustrate the effect of 10 body armor difference, using the damage calculator. 7 PS, 120 wpf, 40c. Against 50 body armor it does an average of 15.5 damage, against 60 body armor it does 9.5 damage on average. That is a 39% damage reduction, just because you played the game longer than the other guy. Looms are simply a huge deal.

At least the devs realise that the current situation is not desirable, because they intend to make any mechanics like looms based on tradeoffs in le secret project.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Necrorave on April 05, 2013, 03:35:00 pm
To illustrate the effect of 10 body armor difference, using the damage calculator. 7 PS, 120 wpf, 40c. Against 50 body armor it does an average of 15.5 damage, against 60 body armor it does 9.5 damage on average. That is a 39% damage reduction, just because you played the game longer than the other guy. Looms are simply a huge deal.

At least the devs realise that the current situation is not desirable, because they intend to make any mechanics like looms based on tradeoffs in le secret project.

Not saying you are wrong, but isnt the calculator based off estimations from a year ago?

I never trusted the damage calculator because it doesn't factor in weight of the weapon.  Which (I think) is a big deal when it comes to damage.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Phew on April 05, 2013, 03:41:31 pm
Not saying you are wrong, but isnt the calculator based off estimations from a year ago?

I never trusted the damage calculator because it doesn't factor in weight of the weapon.  Which (I think) is a big deal when it comes to damage.

You're half right; cmp has said both damage calculators are wrong. Weight has no impact on weapon damage though, only on chance to give/receive block stun (it also affects chance to give/receive crushthrough, and chance to cause knockdown on those weapons).
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: The_Bloody_Nine on April 05, 2013, 03:51:49 pm
I know what you guys are saying.

I don't want to start a war but why exactly then you suggest that we go play native?
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Lactose_the_intolerant on April 05, 2013, 03:54:17 pm
 I am actually pointing out what happens. Very nice of you to just outrule arguments with the irrelevant (or you are stupid) tag just for your convenience. while, even if I don't agree, I see that there can be problems with looms, you just go on theorycrafting and using stats like a politician (and outdated calculators apparently?).

For the gloves, its probably the fact that they forgot to nerf those with the rest...

Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Necrorave on April 05, 2013, 04:02:32 pm
I don't want to start a war but why exactly then you suggest that we go play native?
Although this post was merely just about items, and that's what I spoke about.  I did not put levels into consideration.

I was taking the discussion as a "I want all items the same."  Not what you guys were saying about levels.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: The_Bloody_Nine on April 05, 2013, 04:12:58 pm
It bothers me personally that I can't switch gear around all the time without having a notable effectivity drop and I think new players deserve some kind of catch-up system or starting bonus.

This is the important part for me. I don't care that much if looms take advantage over skill or not and it's honestly a silly discussion. But that the heirlooms I posses dictate my choice of items is a shame. Sure I can play with other items but if I make a 1h alt with 6PS and have one 1h loom why would I use another weapon? And even if it's true that a beginner isn't helpless because of the lack of loomed items it goes on top of that. This is not an easy game to learn why additionally give beginners small disadvantages (looms, lower level, no gen bonus)?



Sorry necro, I really don't get what it's got to with levels and items, whatever.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Necrorave on April 05, 2013, 04:20:19 pm
Sorry necro, I really don't get what it's got to with levels and items, whatever.

"All items are the same" = Native

That was my main reason, on to something else :p
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Teeth on April 05, 2013, 04:27:07 pm
I am actually pointing out what happens. Very nice of you to just outrule arguments with the irrelevant (or you are stupid) tag just for your convenience. while, even if I don't agree, I see that there can be problems with looms, you just go on theorycrafting and using stats like a politician (and outdated calculators apparently?).

For the gloves, its probably the fact that they forgot to nerf those with the rest...
I am not outruling an argument as irrelevant to my convenience. You have to understand that you cannot balance on the basis of individual cases. You simply have to balance by average damage. Single cases are not representative of the whole. You might be stating what you notice, but for balance you have to use facts and the stats we have combined with formulas are the only facts. If you throw a 1000 MW javelin's and a 1000 normal javelins at the same target, you will get an average damage value which will show higher damage for the MW javelin. And the damage difference will almost equal the extra damage it should have according to the formula.

This game is borky sometimes, but not that borky. That I used outdated calculators is unfortunate, thanks for the info, but the difference between Archon's Armor and Black Armor makes my point hold I hope. Theorycrafting sure beats pumping out arguments based on gut feeling.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: sir_Ady on April 05, 2013, 04:45:05 pm
Just an idea: why not create a special armoury for newbie players (for example main chars, 1-3 Gen, independent of level), just like those used by the clans?
Each player with multiple looms can throw in not used heirloom items. Each player whose items were borrowed let's say for 300 days in total (put 3 items, each borrowed for 100 days by different players..), gains a loompoint/special gear/gold/etc - well, exact rules can be found out later...

Problem solved, new players can have heirlooms (many heirlooms, can try out many items and choose the best ones for themselves), and no heirloom is to be removed...
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Necrorave on April 05, 2013, 04:48:05 pm
Just an idea: why not create a special armoury for newbie players (for example main chars, 1-3 Gen, independent of level), just like those used by the clans?
Each player with multiple looms can throw in not used heirloom items. Each player whose items were borrowed let's say for 300 days in total (put 3 items, each borrowed for 100 days by different players..), gains a loompoint/special gear/gold/etc - well, exact rules can be found out later...

Problem solved, new players can have heirlooms (many heirlooms, can try out many items and choose the best ones for themselves), and no heirloom is to be removed...

Maybe just add a section in market to "Rent" looms for a certain amount a day.  I like the idea though so I'll give you credit for that.  Not saying this would "Balance" things but I like the idea nonetheless.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Lactose_the_intolerant on April 05, 2013, 04:48:21 pm
I am not outruling an argument as irrelevant to my convenience. You have to understand that you cannot balance on the basis of individual cases. You simply have to balance by average damage. Single cases are not representative of the whole. You might be stating what you notice, but for balance you have to use facts and the stats we have combined with formulas are the only facts. If you throw a 1000 MW javelin's and a 1000 normal javelins at the same target, you will get an average damage value which will show higher damage for the MW javelin. And the damage difference will almost equal the extra damage it should have according to the formula.

This game is borky sometimes, but not that borky. That I used outdated calculators is unfortunate, thanks for the info, but the difference between Archon's Armor and Black Armor makes my point hold I hope. Theorycrafting sure beats pumping out arguments based on gut feeling.

Of course there would be a better average damage, no one is denying that. now to what point is the average of the mw above? we are just going round in circles here

and no, statistics and calculator do not prevail on what goes ont the battlefield
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: sir_Ady on April 05, 2013, 04:58:15 pm
Maybe just add a section in market to "Rent" looms for a certain amount a day.  I like the idea though so I'll give you credit for that.  Not saying this would "Balance" things but I like the idea nonetheless.
thx
yep, this "rent" option would make it a lot easier to handle... (3 days, each player can have a single item), although 1x, 2x, 3x generation players do not really need money... let's say they can choose to get some fee for renting or a "lottery ticket" where a unique gear will be the jackpot. They would offer more items, I think :)

As to Balance: no balance is needed imho, only some decrease in the gap between old and new players. 1 +3  item for each new player could make it...
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Rumblood on April 05, 2013, 05:00:59 pm
This is the important part for me. I don't care that much if looms take advantage over skill or not and it's honestly a silly discussion. But that the heirlooms I posses dictate my choice of items is a shame. Sure I can play with other items but if I make a 1h alt with 6PS and have one 1h loom why would I use another weapon? And even if it's true that a beginner isn't helpless because of the lack of loomed items it goes on top of that. This is not an easy game to learn why additionally give beginners small disadvantages (looms, lower level, no gen bonus)?

This is an example of some backasswards and contradictory thinking. Leveling, small bonuses to individual weapons given after days and weeks of playtime, and an experience bonus given only after giving up those high levels and going back to level 1 is no longer a perk given for dedication to the game, but is now somehow a disadvantage deliberately inflicted upon those who just recently clicked install? Say what?
You do realize that they can get to the same bonuses by choosing and sticking with a class and playing? Its called a goal. Load up any number of games, from World of Warcraft to Battlefield and guess what? New players experience the same thing.
They don't have to put in the same amount of hours either. Pick a class, and it doesn't take 3000 hours to loom a primary weapon, which is mostly all you need. Can you spend a lot more time looming each piece of armor and a secondary weapon? Yes indeed. Which gives you a long term goal and keeps the Achiever gamer happy and logging in again and again.

Okay, so a new player doesn't have to play as long as the veteran has to get a class into top fighting shape. The primary difference between a long time veteran and a journeyman player who has shaken off the n00b dust with a couple retires or so under his belt is that the long time veteran has loomed out his chosen class, and is working on looms for a secondary, or maybe even tertiary build or class for his primary to load out or use on their alts. But since you can only be playing one class at a time, they are equal no matter what the long time veteran decides to play. You only have so many slots to use and all those extra heirlooms don't do you a bit of good, except that you can switch to a different class with looms if you have them for it.
Since most players, no matter how long they have been playing, don't have enough heirlooms for every possible class in the game, what do we see when they decide to try play a new class? Long time veterans having to play with the gear a new player uses until they retire and loom it. The only difference is the long time veteran can do it as much as 50% faster with the experience bonus that they earned through hundreds of hours of playtime sacrificed in the form of retirement back to level 1.

But what do you guys complain about after saying veterans have all the advantages (oh wait, new players are penalized with a disadvantage)? That you can't just take your heirlooms points and move them into any class that you want? Yet, if you were to do that, you would remove the level playing field enacted when a veteran player decides to build up the gear for a different class or an alt? Contradict your stated desires much?

Really this discussion just irritates the hell out of me. This idea that "Oh if you remove the leveling and heirlooms and experience bonus and capped the stats we could get SO many more people playing this game!" is a load of crap. Remove all of that and see how many people would have stuck around. Is it a stupid carrot? Maybe so, but people WANT that carrot to chase after. Does this mean that new players will be at a disadvantage compared to people who have played forever? Yes indeed, but so what? Every single player who started this mod months after it launched have had to go through the same early disadvantages to become one of these "priviledged long time vets" and they are still here.

You know what the solution is for these new players? JOIN A CLAN AND BORROW LOOMS FROM THE ARMOURY. In other words, join the community. If you can't be assed to do that, then what do we care??
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Miwiw on April 05, 2013, 05:26:40 pm
Everyone can easily get looms. Prices of looms dropped heavily during the last time. You can get a Danish Greatsword for 2 LP, a Crossbow for 2 LP. A Horn/Rus Bow for 2LP and some gold. Armor for about 2 LP and 50-200k gold. Helmets, horses and boots/gaunlets for similar prices, depending on how rare the item is or how popular it is.

After every gen it's a bit quicker to get to the next generation due to gen bonus.

If you plan to play this game a bit more serious by putting more time into it, then you will retire and make some generations. You are not forced to do 15 generations. You do not need 1450 xp per tick. You neither need a full set of looms. A weapon and armor is enough, that is not even 5 generations as you do not need to loom gear from scratch now. Sell 2 LPs, add some gold, get +3 item, win! When I started my first character and looms were introduced, I loomed from scratch like anyone else did. Now there are many +3 items, some +2 and many +1.
If you however do not play active but about 3 hours a week only, you do not care about people having looms, a lvl 30+ build or anything similar. If you play a game for fun and casually, then it doesn't matter for you if other people who play for 3 years and 5 hours everyday, kill you with 2 or 3 hits at max. It simply does not matter then. This is a rather competetive game where you need some skill to compete with others.

Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: zagibu on April 05, 2013, 05:30:55 pm
Sure I can play with other items but if I make a 1h alt with 6PS and have one 1h loom why would I use another weapon?

Why not? Do you always have to use the best items available to you? What compels you to do so? I have a gen 15 main with loomed everything, yet I rarely play him. I mostly play a 1h no shield alt with no looms whatsoever. And I have a lot of fun. Sure, my K:D is usually around 1:3 or worse, so what?

Just accept the fact that this is not a pro competitive skill only game and move on.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Kafein on April 05, 2013, 07:03:28 pm
Between two players of similar skill looms, level, build and equipment do define who wins more often.

To argue that skill has "enough" (exactly how much is enough ?) influence for looms to be "ok" is not going to work. For me the problem with this reasoning resides in the premisses. The game doesn't have to be fair on the chances of winning to be enjoyable, and relatedly, winning shouldn't be what defines your overal satisfaction with the game. We shouldn't even care about people getting "advantages" because they have looms, levels, whatever.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Macropus on April 05, 2013, 07:05:53 pm
Well c-rpg is not all about skill, but also about having good items and character build, that's where the "rpg" part is.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Kafein on April 05, 2013, 07:08:43 pm
Well c-rpg is not all about skill, but also about having good items and character build, that's where the "rpg" part is.

Since when Role Playing Game means making multicriteria optimization ?
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Ronin on April 05, 2013, 07:17:36 pm
cRPG is not a RPG.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Phew on April 05, 2013, 07:24:32 pm
Would a revised reward system satisfy you loom haters?

i.e. if a lvl 25 with no looms kills a lvl 35 that's fully loomed, they get a massive gold/xp reward, but the high level/loom guy gets little or no reward for killing the newbie?

This would retain the progression/customization aspect of the game while rewarding players that "punch above their weight class". Would also make it hard for high level guys to pay upkeep on expensive stuff, because they wouldn't have as many opportunities for large payouts. It would also encourage top players to "slum it" on unloomed low-level chars, but this just makes it easier on the newbies also, so I don't see that as a problem.

Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Necrorave on April 05, 2013, 07:26:21 pm
Would a revised reward system satisfy you loom haters?

i.e. if a lvl 25 with no looms kills a lvl 35 that's fully loomed, they get a massive gold/xp reward, but the high level/loom guy gets little or no reward for killing the newbie?

This would retain the progression/customization aspect of the game while rewarding players that "punch above their weight class". Would also make it hard for high level guys to pay upkeep on expensive stuff, because they wouldn't have as many opportunities for large payouts. It would also encourage top players to "slum it" on unloomed low-level chars, but this just makes it easier on the newbies also, so I don't see that as a problem.

Code like that is a bit complicated and would slow down the servers immensely.  (I would think, I am not certain though.)
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Phew on April 05, 2013, 07:31:44 pm
Code like that is a bit complicated and would slow down the servers immensely.  (I would think, I am not certain though.)

It's not like the rewards need to be calculated in real time; make it like upkeep where it's just assessed at the end of the round. The computational overhead of a few calculations every 5 minutes or so would be miniscule.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Necrorave on April 05, 2013, 07:35:03 pm
It's not like the rewards need to be calculated in real time; make it like upkeep where it's just assessed at the end of the round. The computational overhead of a few calculations every 5 minutes or so would be miniscule.

The calculations would not be a big deal, although saving everything that happened in the battle may cause a problem.  This is me trying to find problems in a field I am still new to.  Also my way of saying a Radius bonus is better c:
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Dexxtaa on April 05, 2013, 07:35:35 pm
Well c-rpg is not all about skill, but also about having good items and character build, that's where the "rpg" part is.

Was about to go to town on your post, but you wrote "not all about skill," and that's something I agree with completely.
`~`


On another note, here comes an old man rant:
This mod, as much as the new guys aren't happy about it, is pretty scaled down in terms of difficulty. Those purchases you're complaining about? The OH SO unattainable expensive armor, advanced weaponry etc etc that you're incessantly insisting is REQUIRED for the equal footing of combat, used to be far worse.

People are getting 500 gold a round. A ROUND. Shit is cash, is what it is (literally). Stop complaining.

We used to fight 7 god damn minutes PER ROUND for a measly 34 gold. 40 gold, if we were lucky with a fully populated server (about maybe 50[? someone help me out] people back then). That padded cloth that people don't even look at anymore was my first major purchase in the game at 340 gold at the time (currently 588). I grinded for a month to get my Milanese plate, and my Cataphract took longer (I'm so sorry I ever sold you, Keyarna. Those were hard times, but I found you again).

Heirlooms were unheard of, and battlefield leviathans ruled supreme (Fedor, Crymoar among others) Our weapons would do nothing, and standing against them was generally suicide. We saw fighters leveling as far as 48 (I was 44 myself at the time of the rebalance)

Introduce the heirloom system: All of a sudden, the playing field is made more equal (for the most part) because we see more retirements, and more "super weapons" come into play. The heirloom system was made to balance out the levels, and the increase in damage/defense of items and armor was a fair price to pay to deny insane amounts of leveling (of course, that brought its own problems *coughKeshcough*).

Heirlooms in the form of weapons and armor serve their purpose; they make good weapons better, and allow cheaper, weaker weapons to compete with the big guns in addition to limiting mad leveling.

Raising the floor and lowering the ceiling means a smaller deviation of item stats. The demand for heirlooms will go down, prices will go up, and the market floods with pointless surplus weapons that no one cares about. Gold will be hoarded, the market will stall, and then we're back in the shitter with weapons and levels again. What's the point of retiring if there's no incentive to do so (unless you're fond of getting shat on at levels 1-5)?

It'll be like the old days of high leveled combatants who don't care to retire anymore (albeit level 35, 36 as opposed to higher). Except entry level people will get shit on (just like The Golden Era of the Bah Mace and Rape Train). This person will look back to now, and think "shit I guess keeping the incentive to heirloom shit might have saved us from this," as an arrow storm of the Clan Longstride  demolishes his meager cover.

Riders of Stratia will tear through the ranks. The Murder Ravens will clash with Astralis of the Shadows, sweeping all the new players aside without a second thought. And the Occitan of Frisia will bring castles down killing and burning all in their way. Naturally EU is used to monarchies and dynasties and shit, so they're really business as usual (NA drama thread, anyone?) except with superpowers being supererpowers.

Actually, that sounds fun as nuts. Let's do it. +1 op.

tl;dr The future is bleak for new players if we bring the heirloom stat ceiling down and the floor up. Stop complaining.
edit; spelling and syntax
edit2; tl;dr is more reflective of what I intended
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Macropus on April 05, 2013, 07:37:55 pm
Since when Role Playing Game means making multicriteria optimization ?
I've no idea what that is and im too lazy to google it, but anyway, RPG assumes people can have different armor and weapons quality which ofc will affect everything and ... meh, im too sleepy to write in english right now.  :(
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Dexxtaa on April 05, 2013, 07:41:16 pm
I've no idea what that is and im too lazy to google it, but anyway, RPG assumes people can have different armor and weapons quality which ofc will affect everything and ... meh, im too sleepy to write in english right now.  :(

To paraphrase, he's being ironic.

"Since when was a role playing game about min-maxing"

Implying that his take on this is : As far as "rpg" goes in cRPG, it's not really cRPG. But more like cMINMAX.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: The_Bloody_Nine on April 05, 2013, 07:45:53 pm
1. I agree that the question "Sure I can play with other items but if I make a 1h alt with 6PS and have one 1h loom why would I use another weapon?" was a bit stupid and over the top. Also I see that it is kind of my own fault when I pick the 1 loomed weapon and let it hinder me picking some others. Still it is like that, when I have no weapon from armory borrowed I enjoy the freedom of choice and picking up weapons from ground, If I have one loom I only play with that.

2. I am ok with the current system and I have settled with it a long time ago that many want heirlooms similar as they are now. This discussion is over 2 years old and you are right, looms are part of c-rpg even if I think of them annoying at times. I hope however they will find another solution for M:BG which they seem to do.

3. I can only guess how new players feel when they try this mod these days. In my opinion the biggest barricade is the steep learning curve (over 3 years old discussion), that's Warband. But when I try to think myself into a new player I imagine it to be demotivating if on top of that you get the feeling (even if its wrong) everybody got an advantage because of their looms. How long does it take to retire the first time to get one Item +1?

4.
If you can't be assed to do that, then what do we care??

I don't like that arrogant attitude. Everybody who don't want to join a clan (at first) doesn't concern the rest or isn't part of the game or even the community? bullshit.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Dexxtaa on April 05, 2013, 07:51:52 pm
4. I don't like that arrogant attitude. Everybody who don't want to join a clan (at first) doesn't concern the rest or isn't part of the game or even the community? bullshit.


I don't mean to be a cherry picker, but I personally feel that if a game is going to have a balance mechanic specifically engineered to be based on an allegiance to a faction, it's probably likely that their target audience is clanners and team players.

CoD might be a more suitable place for one man armies and (heh) "Lone Wolves."
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Necrorave on April 05, 2013, 07:54:32 pm
"Lone Wolves."

More like, no friends :)
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Dexxtaa on April 05, 2013, 07:56:24 pm
More like, no friends :)

Well, that's not true. I have... um.

:(
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Vodner on April 05, 2013, 08:13:21 pm
Quote
tl;dr The future is bleak for new players if we bring the skill ceiling down and the floor up. Stop complaining.
Removing the grind elements from the game does not affect the skill ceiling in any meaningful way.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Dexxtaa on April 05, 2013, 08:14:28 pm
Removing the grind elements from the game does not affect the skill ceiling in any meaningful way.

Fuck. I meant stat floors and ceilings. I'll change that.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Tydeus on April 05, 2013, 08:30:01 pm
Unfortunately people will always min/max and taking away heirloom bonuses won't stop that. The only thing that can stop that, is actually having every play-style and every weapon equally effective. Maybe not in the same exact ways or with the same skill set or character build, but equally effective nonetheless. Will this ever happen though? No. The only thing you can really do, is focus on the outliers and try to make more and more items arguably effective.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Rumblood on April 06, 2013, 12:00:52 am
I don't like that arrogant attitude. Everybody who don't want to join a clan (at first) doesn't concern the rest or isn't part of the game or even the community? bullshit.

I don't care. You want to complain about item disparity because of rewards to veteran players, but don't want to take the ezmode route to those same bonuses provided by joining a clan, and thus the community? Talk to the Huscarl  :twisted:
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Kafein on April 06, 2013, 12:30:28 am
To paraphrase, he's being ironic.

"Since when was a role playing game about min-maxing"

Implying that his take on this is : As far as "rpg" goes in cRPG, it's not really cRPG. But more like cMINMAX.

What I really wanted to say is that extremely few videogames are true RPGs. A game in which you play a role (whatever that may be) like an actor is complicated to create with a computer system because it is unable to understand the semantics of what you are doing. By that definition, only tabletop RPGs can apply. And even them are not all valid (D&D 4 :rolleyes:).
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Rumblood on April 06, 2013, 01:30:42 am
What I really wanted to say is that extremely few videogames are true RPGs. A game in which you play a role (whatever that may be) like an actor is complicated to create with a computer system because it is unable to understand the semantics of what you are doing. By that definition, only tabletop RPGs can apply. And even them are not all valid (D&D 4 :rolleyes:).

Where you are looking for is http://www.topmudsites.com/ (http://www.topmudsites.com/)
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Sniger on April 08, 2013, 05:13:16 pm
Free freedom, remove looms.

and banner balance, multiplier and valour now that we are it, please. (yes im utterly serious)

*runs for cover*
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Kafein on April 08, 2013, 05:31:16 pm
Where you are looking for is http://www.topmudsites.com/ (http://www.topmudsites.com/)

I'm not really into those things, I just wanted to rant about the abusive use of "RPG" when all it really means is "you gain levels".
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: CrazyCracka420 on April 08, 2013, 05:33:54 pm
I'm not really into those things, I just wanted to rant about the abusive use of "RPG" when all it really means is "you gain levels".

And collect pixel crack
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: [ptx] on April 08, 2013, 05:41:18 pm
Apart from the forced meme of "Levels = RPG", i've always felt that roleplay games are ones that allow you to... roleplay?

By that logic, cRPG is at least a partial roleplay game, since you got a vast amount of different gear to allow you to tweak out your char to some sort of persistent role. A viking warrior, a templar knight, a mamluk rider, an english longbowman or maybe a japanese samurai archer, lost in medieval europe, forced to replace parts of his armour with ill-fitting western gear?

Which is why i ever despise all the minmaxers with khuyaks and what-have-you :mad:
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: CrazyCracka420 on April 08, 2013, 05:53:30 pm
It's not a true RP game unless you have men cybering with each other pretending the other is a female
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Joker86 on April 08, 2013, 05:58:52 pm
Although I agree that the initial meaning of roleplaying game is something different, you can still call cRPG an RPG, simply due to the lack of an alternative expression for a game where you have a player character you can grow more powerful by improving character attributes and equipment.

Especially since the character attribute part if often used to determine the line between an RPG and an adventure game.

So the bottom line wold be: Since the term "RPG" does not only include "acting" and "playing a role" but also choosing a directon in which a character grows more powerful, it can (still) be used for cRPG.

Can everyone agree on that?  :?
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: [ptx] on April 08, 2013, 06:00:56 pm
I'd prefer "different" to "more powerful".
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Joker86 on April 08, 2013, 06:09:24 pm
Well, it's usually about leveling and less often about shifting the strengthes and weknesses, so I decided for "more powerfull" instead of "different".
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Kafein on April 08, 2013, 06:11:49 pm
I have nothing against grinding honestly, but the use of the term RPG to designate just that isn't right. I agree cRPG is a RPG-ish because it lets you create your own character with his equipment, but not because there are levels.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: UnholyRolyPoly on April 08, 2013, 06:21:32 pm
I'm a relatively new player (6 months.)   I have zero problem with any of the systems or item balances.  Looms are another carrot to dangle for new players.  If you remove them from the game you will ruin the game.  First and foremost Looms encourage everyone to retire because people who want to try out different classes want to do so with Master work gear.  Without them you will REALLY destroy the games balance and make it ten times more difficult for new players to be a part of it.  Instead of encouraging players to retire and re-class you will have a bunch of super high level players running around murdering everyone.  What hurts new players more?  Being level 16 and fighting a level 30 with fully loomed gear or being a level 16 and fighting a level 34 without gear.....?   We all know what a difference those few extra levels make.  I've retired twice and have no intention of doing it again.  At level 30 my KD was fairly even on my current build.  I hit lvl 31 and all of the sudden I'm killing twice as much as I die on average.  I would rather face an entire army of fully loomed lvl 30's than the same number of unloomed lvl 33's.  My build at lvl 30 wasn't complete.  Now at 31 it's much more well rounded and the difference is incredible.  I can't imagine what level 34 and 35 must be like. 

BTW only so many people will have the desire to work their way into this game.  Player skill is one of the most important aspects to this game.  Not everyobody who plays it is all of the sudden going to love it and play forever.  My brother and I joined about the same time.  He was boored in a few weeks and tired of getting killed over and over again.  I was not.  He's playing something else and here I am totally addicted to CRPG.  Nothing you do to balance the game is going to change that.  Nothing is going to attract people who aren't overly competitive to this game.  People who play this do it because they love to win.  They love the feeling of going one on one to clutch a x5 and beating their opponent.  Not everybody is into that kind of intense gameplay so why change the balance of the game?  It won't do anything good for anybody. 

If you want to attract new players to this mod I suggest two things....  One is implement a few more variations of DTV.  My brother and I began playing DTV and I never set foot onto Battle until I joined the Fallen.  Come up with some new and interesting Player vs AI modes which will attact new players.  Second is add some sort of RP town level to the game.  Add an element where players go onto a fixed map server and buy things like houses and other RP elements.  I don't know how difficult that would be but it would go a long way to attracting new players to the server.  It doesn't have to have any combat related elements or anything complex.  It just needs to be something fixed. 
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: The_Bloody_Nine on April 08, 2013, 06:44:16 pm
Good to hear. Of course removing heirlooms would only make sense combined with some leveling/level-cap overhaul.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Joker86 on April 08, 2013, 07:47:26 pm
I have nothing against grinding honestly, but the use of the term RPG to designate just that isn't right. I agree cRPG is a RPG-ish because it lets you create your own character with his equipment, but not because there are levels.

Levels are usually what is contained in the common definition of the term RPG. Usually, if something does not provide the player with some kind of leveling system, it isn't considered an RPG, rather an adventure. The question if someone is playing a "character" in its initial meaning, with acting, making story-based decisions and so on is not considered in the common term RPG. In its initial meaning it is, but describing a computer game genre it definitely is not. In World of Warcraft you don't make any story based decisions which display the attitude of your character, and yet it is considered the mother of all MMORPGs and the grinding/leveling aspect of RPGs in general.

There is simply no other word to describe a game which revolves around leveling up a character.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: zagibu on April 08, 2013, 08:43:12 pm
WoW the mother of all MMORPGs? Wut? It may be the star, the most popular MMORPG, but the mother? No.

But you are right, RPG applied to computer games is only very loosely defined. Some think it's already fulfilled when there is some form of character progress (Bioshock, Deus Ex), while others require the player to be able to create his own character (not play a pre-defined role like in the previously mentioned games).
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Kafein on April 08, 2013, 09:39:21 pm
WoW the mother of all MMORPGs? Wut? It may be the star, the most popular MMORPG, but the mother? No.

But you are right, RPG applied to computer games is only very loosely defined. Some think it's already fulfilled when there is some form of character progress (Bioshock, Deus Ex), while others require the player to be able to create his own character (not play a pre-defined role like in the previously mentioned games).

This is nitpicking, but in Deus Ex your role isn't very tightly defined. You can make plenty of decisions that can build a detailed character.

Levels are usually what is contained in the common definition of the term RPG. Usually, if something does not provide the player with some kind of leveling system, it isn't considered an RPG, rather an adventure. The question if someone is playing a "character" in its initial meaning, with acting, making story-based decisions and so on is not considered in the common term RPG. In its initial meaning it is, but describing a computer game genre it definitely is not. In World of Warcraft you don't make any story based decisions which display the attitude of your character, and yet it is considered the mother of all MMORPGs and the grinding/leveling aspect of RPGs in general.

There is simply no other word to describe a game which revolves around leveling up a character.

I know everybody will use the word like that but it doesn't make it the right way to use it, especially when there's no possible ambiguity about the meaning of "role playing game". With words such as "racism", you have huge debates going on because the word doesn't explain its meaning, the situation of RPG is much simpler.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Joker86 on April 08, 2013, 10:17:58 pm
WoW the mother of all MMORPGs? Wut? It may be the star, the most popular MMORPG, but the mother? No.

With "mother" I meant the "Big momma", not something like "the first one" or something like that. In no other RPG I think the grind and the equipment spiral are that huge as in WoW. It's the reason I stopped playing it.

I know everybody will use the word like that but it doesn't make it the right way to use it, especially when there's no possible ambiguity about the meaning of "role playing game". With words such as "racism", you have huge debates going on because the word doesn't explain its meaning, the situation of RPG is much simpler.

That's right. But we can't start suddenly to use terms like "RPG" for role playing game (or rocket propelled grenade) and "CDG" for "character development game".

But I agree, if we wanted to be percise, cRPG is a CDG, nor RPG. On the other hand, only few games would really deserve the label "RPG" with that definition.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: zagibu on April 08, 2013, 11:48:03 pm
This is nitpicking, but in Deus Ex your role isn't very tightly defined. You can make plenty of decisions that can build a detailed character.

No. You are JC Denton, a nanotechnologically enhanced human UNATCO agent. The role is tightly defined. You cannot play a different character.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Jarold on April 09, 2013, 12:01:27 am
Looms...the whole reason I play this game, PROGRESSION!

Looms are the integral part of this mod. I feel like the only people saying remove looms are the people hoarding 10 mw's!
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Kafein on April 09, 2013, 12:53:23 am
No. You are JC Denton, a nanotechnologically enhanced human UNATCO agent. The role is tightly defined. You cannot play a different character.

You can choose what kind of motivation moves you, how do you interact with people and so on. Many games don't offer that much freedom.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: [ptx] on April 09, 2013, 02:22:14 am
WoW the mother of all MMORPGs? Wut? It may be the star, the most popular MMORPG, but the mother? No.
It is the one game that most other MMORPGs that came after it have been copying more or less. If every other MMORPG can be said to be a WoW clone, then calling it the mother isn't really that unjustified?
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Tydeus on April 09, 2013, 02:42:11 am
ITT people thinking 'rpg' is a specifically defined term.
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Rumblood on April 09, 2013, 04:03:22 am
It is the one game that most other MMORPGs that came after it have been copying more or less. If every other MMORPG can be said to be a WoW clone, then calling it the mother isn't really that unjustified?

WoW is nothing more than a clone of the MMORPG's that came before it. It isn't the Mother of anything, just the slutty daughter that everyone has slept with.  :lol:
Title: Re: The ranking system is too unfriendly to new players
Post by: Phew on April 09, 2013, 07:05:58 pm
In WoW, good gear makes a bad player good, and bad gear makes a good player bad.

In cRPG, good gear doesn't make a bad player good, and bad gear doesn't make a good player bad.

I think that's the appeal of cRPG for many people, the fact that there is a gear progression, but skill trumps gear every time. The gear progression is almost a sub-game.