cRPG

cRPG => General Discussion => Topic started by: Safavid on June 28, 2011, 12:24:31 pm

Title: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Safavid on June 28, 2011, 12:24:31 pm
Unless you don't have a job and spend 24 hours a day on crpg, it takes a long time to make enough gold to buy, maintain, and use any equipment.  Either the Gold has to be more or the Repair costs less (or if at all, considering that we are already buying the items).  Why is there realism in money/repair when there is no realism in the use of two handed weapons with insane agility? It would be much nicer if we could actually use any armor etc we wanted after we buy it, considering it does not take weeks/months to make enough to buy it.  For professionals such as myself, I work 11 hours a day in consulting and I don't have the time to make gold for weeks and maintain.  It takes the fun out of the game and is only beneficial for teenagers who don't have jobs.  There we go with my 2 cents, or should I say 2k gold!  :mrgreen:
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Gnjus on June 28, 2011, 12:44:27 pm
For professionals such as myself, I work 11 hours a day in consulting and I don't have the time to make gold for weeks and maintain.

Consult your merciful god, you seem to be in very good relations with him. Also, read what your favorite scholar Harun Yahya has to say about this:

http://forum.c-rpg.net/index.php?action=profile;area=showposts;u=4084

Last but not least: you're a consulting professional, stand in front of a mirror and consult yourself.  :wink:
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Lobster on June 28, 2011, 12:47:20 pm
The repair/upkeep system works great, It is not about realism its about balancing the game.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Gheritarish le Loki on June 28, 2011, 01:07:56 pm
Exactly, this is about balancing the game, otherwise everybody will run in plate armor.

If you played before big patch you will understand it very easy, i can tell you it's very easy to make money now.
May be you run in high tier gear all the time which is a complete fail of understanding of game mechanic.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Dezilagel on June 28, 2011, 01:09:24 pm
Just don't use 100k worth of gear while playing, problem solved...?
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Trippin on June 28, 2011, 01:14:33 pm
I edit this bro.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Gnjus on June 28, 2011, 01:17:48 pm
Just don't use 100k worth of gear while playing, problem solved...?

Exactly. That's why i use 132k worth of gear, problem solved for me.  :wink:
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Armpit_Sweat on June 28, 2011, 01:21:41 pm
I work 11 hours a day in consulting and I don't have the time to make gold for weeks and maintain.  It takes the fun out of the game and is only beneficial for teenagers who don't have jobs.

Oh, i am so lucky to work from home! I am doing IT support on the phone, and fix PC's.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Earthdforce on June 28, 2011, 01:23:43 pm
You mad bro?
When the hell did you get unmuted? Back under your bridge troll! :D (no but seriously, welcome back)
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Digglez on June 28, 2011, 06:26:59 pm
take an hour of your earnings and buy gold from someone else
problem solved...just like in any other game.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Voodoox on June 28, 2011, 06:39:44 pm
you can buy gold? where lol  :shock:
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: jspook on June 28, 2011, 06:55:56 pm
dudes just whining
I work 10 to 16 hours a day, and for the hour or 2 i manage to play at night I still rake in 10-15k a session with 40k in gear equipped.

the man is fail.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Seawied on June 28, 2011, 08:33:26 pm
Just don't use 100k worth of gear while playing, problem solved...?


Dezil pretty much nailed it. Don't try to be goretooth'd out in armor and its fine.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Kafein on June 28, 2011, 09:12:04 pm
Or, find a few archers and force them to pay you an income for protection.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Bryggan on June 29, 2011, 12:05:53 am
I have to work long hours too, and can't play games all day either.  This really sucks, and I think someone should give me an $80K/year grant to focus on building my char and mastering game skills and getting heirloomed everything. Oh why, why did I ever stop being a teenager!?!?
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Barbas on June 29, 2011, 12:07:30 am
Once upon a time, it took ages to earn enough money for top tier equipment.  It used to be a fairly serious decision about what to buy since gold gain was so slow; you actually had to save up a while to try out that morningstar.  But once you had it, it was yours to use.  Those were good times; the quality (and diversity) of your equipment was determined by how much time you put in playing the game.

Now.. as it happened, a lot of people spent a lot of time playing without getting bored.. so what might be considered the 'problem' of too many people having top tier armor/weapons arose.  It is not unreasonable to suppose that there should be some sort of incentive for -not- using all of the most expensive equipment, in the interest of diversity in the game.

But yes, the 'solution' actually implemented is terrible.  Not being able to use equipment you've bought is stupid.  The real problem is that there is basically nothing to do with gold once you've bought whatever equipment you want.  This is a game design flaw.  Equipment repair fees is merely the laziest 'fix'; we don't want everyone to be wearing plate armor all the time, so let's just make it so they can't.

A genuine solution would involve, most importantly, giving players something worthwhile to do with gold.  It would be one thing if using expensive equipment slowed or even halted your gold gain, preventing you from saving up for something you probably would like to have - then at least it's your choice, and your preferences could dictate what you do.  Unfortunately.. given cRPG's history, any more elegant solution is more than one can expect.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: IG_Saint on June 29, 2011, 02:04:10 am
the quality (and diversity) of your equipment was determined by how much time you put in playing the game.

And now the quality (and diversity) of your equipment is determined by how well you do, instead of just how many hours you've put in. If you do well your average multiplier is higher and rounds end faster. That means you earn more money and pay less repair costs. The amount of time you play has (nearly) no effect on how much equipment you can wear.

(click to show/hide)

That is my standard equipment and with that I still earn quite a bit of gold.

A genuine solution would involve, most importantly, giving players something worthwhile to do with gold. It would be one thing if using expensive equipment slowed or even halted your gold gain, preventing you from saving up for something you probably would like to have - then at least it's your choice, and your preferences could dictate what you do. Unfortunately.. given cRPG's history, any more elegant solution is more than one can expect.

And what exactly would you suggest the players spend their money on? And why would anyone not first buy equipment before spending money on your gold sink? And how would you fix the issue that with time comes infinite money? Without repair costs all you need to do is spend enough time grinding away until you can afford that black armour+plated charger and then never use anything else again.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Gheritarish le Loki on June 29, 2011, 02:55:14 am
Barbas you completly failed to understand the benefit of the upkeep big patch, i can understand this from a new player, but if you knowed this time you should understand that former system was exponientaly going to fail.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Safavid on June 29, 2011, 03:53:20 am
I am neither a stay at home father or a teenager, so I don't have the time to always gather the gold, plus why do they have armor if we should always be running around like peasants.  Once you buy the item, there should be no repair.  I stopped playing WOW because of the same kind of time consuming concepts.  Warband was fun because you didn't have to do all the waiting.  That is why lately I have switched back to Native most of the time and Fire and Sword.

Even if everybody had plate, which I don't like anyway due to weight issues, you can still have a lot of challenge based on your stats and weight ratio...and GOD FORBID...SKILL! :)

I see 2h agi whores running around swinging faster than 1h all the time.  Basically with the current system, only 2h agi whores and pikes have the game.  Out of every round you see 80% 2h agi and pikes and the rest are archers. 

Forget skills and balanced characters that have more than one or two weapons.  A typical warrior regardless of nation could wield a dagger, sword, bow/crossbow, arrows/bolts, and spear/lance that they would carry on their persons. 

BTW for all the Islamophobes out there that keep giving me negative karma points, it only shows your sense of inferiority and fear.  For a game like Warband that was made by Turks...it's ironic to find that you have tried to set up the game in order to reflect Euro-Centric fantasies of 2h, Pike, and Crossbow heaven.  Maybe the makers of the game itself will come out with an official CRPG game that has less limitations and more fun.

I just finished my consulting for one of America's biggest companies onsite, flying back and forth weekly and staying at the hotel, so I typically play on the week nights or weekends.  The rest of the time I am travelling or with my girl.  Until there is something better, we have to do with crpg and it's 2h agi spamfest I guess.   
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Digglez on June 29, 2011, 04:21:30 am
Until there is something better, we have to do with crpg and it's 2h agi spamfest I guess.   

Guess you just stepped out of your time machine from the past.  This game is dominated by STR monkeys with bec de corbin polearms.  Last patch pretty much destroyed the remaining agi-elves.

Noone cares about your real life either.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Varyag on June 29, 2011, 04:22:36 am
The gold/xp you gain highly depends on your luck... maybe you just had bad luck? I suggest increasing that stat...
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: MouthnHoof on June 29, 2011, 11:50:54 am
Upkeep is based on time fractions, not total time. The people with no life playing this game and run in full place either have a stash of gold from previous low-cost runs or have to rotate their equipment just like you do in terms of fraction of the time. It is as fair as a system can get and I speak as someone that plays 4-5 hours a week max.

Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Camaris on June 29, 2011, 12:03:05 pm
2 people in this thread dont have any clue.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Gheritarish le Loki on June 29, 2011, 12:18:19 pm
You such a lame, if you don't like this mod why do you play it?

Second, you failled to understand that upkeep system was implemented for ppl like you (and me), the casual players. It's so clear, what don't you understand. The upkeep allow you to fight with the same chance a guy that play 1h a day or a guy that plays 12h a day, bedause they can only afford the same gear, no one have an advantage because he has a better gear, so it's only the skill that make the difference.

Your proposition is plain stupid and will have the opposite effect of what you want. You said once i buy an armor, i own it and you don't want to pay upkeep, but think a second. In 1 month, all the grinders will have the best armors and weapons, and the poor casual player will be pwn by uber gear players. That's'why there is upkeep, everybody have the same chance. It's called balance (btw did you play before big patch?).

As for the equipment, i don't see where there is a european/western lobby, a lot of ppl made a call for saranid/arabian style gears, i never see devs refuse to implement this. Just give them the models and you will wee it in the shop.

You speak about 2handers agi whores, you will see that in Strategus 2h are almost useless (oh shit Risen!). Seems to me that you don't know how to fight 2h, they pwn your ass and you just rage.

And final, plz don't speak of religion, it's a fuckin'game, don't mix your believes, no one cares, again it's just lame...
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Barbas on June 29, 2011, 12:47:41 pm
Barbas you completly failed to understand the benefit of the upkeep big patch, i can understand this from a new player, but if you knowed this time you should understand that former system was exponientaly going to fail.

Naw, I was here 9-10 months ago before there was upkeep - back when they were first thinking about adding it to the game.

And.. the game was somewhat better back then, I'm sorry to say.  It was also possible to attain a considerably higher level - though the benefits of retiring were good enough that most everyone wanted to do it.

When you're designing a game that involves leveling up to become stronger and earning gold to buy better equipment, the natural inclination of players is to aim to become a high level with the best equipment.  If you don't want to see half the players in the game being high levels with the best stuff, you have to figure out how to make it take longer or be more difficult to reach that point, or have equipment that you can only attain through special means such that few players will have it, etc.  'Upkeep cost' solutions are sloppy, and don't fit the general game model - not when the gold you gain is mostly dependent on a randomly selected team.  Sure, if you try really hard you can somewhat increase the chances of your team winning and thus increase your multiplier; but it's still mostly dependent on teams, and autobalance does a lot to curtail individual influence anyway.

 
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Gheritarish le Loki on June 29, 2011, 01:16:05 pm
If you make it longer to obtain high tier gear it would be worst, the gap between grinders and casual will be even bigger (logical). And it would mean that you only have to play a lot to have good gear. It's even worse with xp, you will have just to play a lot to be good... Don't you remember the 24/21 build with 200+wpf, how a casual player can fight equaly with this (rank 1 has more than 220 million xp...)
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: SkyrayFox on June 29, 2011, 01:24:32 pm
Naw, I was here 9-10 months ago before there was upkeep - back when they were first thinking about adding it to the game.

And.. the game was somewhat better back then, I'm sorry to say.  It was also possible to attain a considerably higher level - though the benefits of retiring were good enough that most everyone wanted to do it.

When you're designing a game that involves leveling up to become stronger and earning gold to buy better equipment, the natural inclination of players is to aim to become a high level with the best equipment.  If you don't want to see half the players in the game being high levels with the best stuff, you have to figure out how to make it take longer or be more difficult to reach that point, or have equipment that you can only attain through special means such that few players will have it, etc.  'Upkeep cost' solutions are sloppy, and don't fit the general game model - not when the gold you gain is mostly dependent on a randomly selected team.  Sure, if you try really hard you can somewhat increase the chances of your team winning and thus increase your multiplier; but it's still mostly dependent on teams, and auto-balance does a lot to curtail individual influence anyway.

chadz said pretty clearly when upkeep was introduced that he doesn't want cRPG to become a grind-fest. The only way to enjoy the game before the upkeep was to be a tincan. Surely getting to that level was hard and took a long time. Some players might even enjoy the challenge but once you got there nobody could take away that from you. You could ride that plated charger every round practically forever. How is that balanced for casual players who can't afford the grind I do not understand. Please explain that to me because I'm missing something.

Current upkeep system is the best balance between fun and grind. You don't have to be a tincan to enjoy the game now, there are still plenty of low armored targets to choose from precisely because of the current upkeep and retirement system. Even if you see a plated charger on the battlefield its pretty rare and doesn't ruin the gameplay for the other 100 people on the server who can't afford it.

If cRPG was a subscription based game like any other MMORPG out there you would have a point. Developers would want players to grind for a long time to get higher levels or equipment. Fortunately cRPG is free and will stay that way. Casual or not everyone can enjoy it now.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Laufknoten on June 29, 2011, 02:08:30 pm
Once upon a time, it took ages to earn enough money for top tier equipment.  It used to be a fairly serious decision about what to buy since gold gain was so slow; you actually had to save up a while to try out that morningstar.  But once you had it, it was yours to use.  Those were good times; the quality (and diversity) of your equipment was determined by how much time you put in playing the game.
At that point I agree with you. It was a nice feeling when I was finally able to afford my first transitional. Now I can afford everything in a few days and even if you can't wear the stuff all the time you don't have the "yes, finally" feeling anymore. :(
Besides that I don't have any problems with upkeep, cause I use crappy equipement most of the time anyway.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Kafein on June 29, 2011, 02:46:30 pm
Upkeep was and still is a fail, fast-tought and brutal solution to a very subtle problem.

As you can never hope to go any further than level 35, heavy armor and expensive equipment is not optimal, with or without upkeep.

The "tincan" problem we had before the january patch was that people could and actually were level 40 and more. At those levels you can wear plate without any problem. Currently, with all the characters at level 30 or a little over, light armors prevail in combat against heavy armors, which only are good for first line shocktroopers. If big melee clusterfucks don't happen, then heavy armors are pure gimp. Weight slows down people so much that it is actually safer to wear light armors to protect yourself against projectiles. An decent archer or crossbowman hardly ever misses a plate guy at 200 meters. The same person with peasant clothes is way harder to hit.

This is about armors. The case of horses is different. Pre-january patch, horses were rare because many people didn't had the patience of accumulating so much money. And by the end, peasant plate chargers, The Finn and copycats were proofs that it needed some tweaks. Upkeep "solved" this by essentially making any decent horse an unsustainable goldsink, except for extraordinary good players. I don't think there are more than a handful of courser (or a more expensive horse) users that break even without switching often, so it is sort of overkill, and not enough at the same time.

Not enough simply because upkeep doesn't force you to use sustainable gear. If you have 1M gold, you can afford black armor + plate charger during several hundred rounds, if not more, so trolling is still possible and actually happens (no I'm not looking at you skyrayfox). This also means that people do grind. The reasons for grind didn't disappeared, it's actually the contrary. As the battlefield became increasingly competitive, even one heirloom point can make the difference between killing and dying. So now there are two reasons why you would grind, to get gold, and to get heirlooms (which in the end is the same thing with the marketplace).


Joker did an extremely well documented suggestion, describing the flaws of upkeep and how to design a system that could achieve the same goals without ruining equipment weight diversity, the feel of progression and the class balance. But as always it got trolled to the bones, just like any of his interesting posts, mind you, that wasn't really surprising.


And about "skill allows you to wear better equipment", this is just a big myth. First, your income and expenses are extremely random. Second, expensive doesn't mean better. Third, you will be teamswitched much more often if you have a good k/d, and that usually means losing your multiplier. And finally, choosing your banner wisely well will help you ten times more than playing well. Try changing your banner to T, DRZ or STR and join the russian server. Watch the xp and gold flow in like never before.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Barbas on June 29, 2011, 04:54:18 pm
chadz said pretty clearly when upkeep was introduced that he doesn't want cRPG to become a grind-fest.

cRPG is a grind-fest because multiplayer Warband is repetitive by design. 

'Grinding' is usually understood to mean doing the same things, over and over, to accumulate xp/gold.  The problematic part of that isn't the accumulation of xp/gold; it's the repetitive nature of what you do to get it.  For many people, that can become boring.  But repetition is the very nature of the game; you go online and fight battles against other people.  Over and over again. 

Now.. obviously the solution to the real problem with this isn't "Let's tweak or do away with gold and xp!"  That doesn't make the game any less repetitive.  That just makes it.. more like native multiplayer.  Which is extremely repetitive, though without the added fun of leveling up and buying better equipment.  If you're concerned about 'grinding', what you need to add more do to in the game.  But it's really about the silliest imaginable situation to create a game/mod with a traditional leveling up, earning gold/xp, buying equipment, etc. type setup, and then try to 'fix' elements that are the very core of that type of game. 

I think there would be far fewer complaints if the game hadn't been, until the recent (and still shaky) implementation of Defend the Village, pretty much exclusively PvP.  If there was more fighting against NPCs - especially if it were, say, part of Strategus, and success or failure had a more lasting impact - it wouldn't matter so much if some players were much stronger, and had much better equipment, than others.  But.. sadly, I doubt we will ever see such interesting developments in the future; there's far too much focus - obsession, even - with tweaking this or that minor element for 'balance'.  It's too bad that even in that fantasy far-future scenario in which all the weapons and armor are finally 'truly balanced', the game still won't be any more fun than it is now if nothing new has been added. 
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Gheritarish le Loki on June 29, 2011, 05:08:42 pm
In fact there is far more ppl happy with present system than ppl that complains...

Why? Simply because chadz wants his mod to be played by any type of players, grinders, casual, good, noobs... And i think that he find a good system for all this type to have fun. A casual can play, he will not be too far of a no-life, and grinders can still grind, it's a win-win situation.
It's very hard to have a general vision of game mechanics and balance and everybody want change for himself.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: IG_Saint on June 29, 2011, 06:46:54 pm
cRPG is a grind-fest because multiplayer Warband is repetitive by design. 

'Grinding' is usually understood to mean doing the same things, over and over, to accumulate xp/gold.  The problematic part of that isn't the accumulation of xp/gold; it's the repetitive nature of what you do to get it.  For many people, that can become boring.  But repetition is the very nature of the game; you go online and fight battles against other people.  Over and over again. 

Now.. obviously the solution to the real problem with this isn't "Let's tweak or do away with gold and xp!"  That doesn't make the game any less repetitive.  That just makes it.. more like native multiplayer.  Which is extremely repetitive, though without the added fun of leveling up and buying better equipment.  If you're concerned about 'grinding', what you need to add more do to in the game.  But it's really about the silliest imaginable situation to create a game/mod with a traditional leveling up, earning gold/xp, buying equipment, etc. type setup, and then try to 'fix' elements that are the very core of that type of game. 

I think there would be far fewer complaints if the game hadn't been, until the recent (and still shaky) implementation of Defend the Village, pretty much exclusively PvP.  If there was more fighting against NPCs - especially if it were, say, part of Strategus, and success or failure had a more lasting impact - it wouldn't matter so much if some players were much stronger, and had much better equipment, than others.  But.. sadly, I doubt we will ever see such interesting developments in the future; there's far too much focus - obsession, even - with tweaking this or that minor element for 'balance'.  It's too bad that even in that fantasy far-future scenario in which all the weapons and armor are finally 'truly balanced', the game still won't be any more fun than it is now if nothing new has been added.

Adding "more to do" doesn't solve any of the issues that the repair system fixed, you're still going to have a moment when you have all the best items and you can't just add more items either because too high stats break the warband combat system (as seen before the lvl cap patch). You really completely missed the point of the repair system and are now just talking about turning cRPG into a WoW clone where grinding to the next tier of newly added content is the whole point of the game. Seriously have you ever tried WoW? It's a much closer fit to what you want cRPG to be than cRPG will ever be.

'Upkeep cost' solutions are sloppy, and don't fit the general game model - not when the gold you gain is mostly dependent on a randomly selected team.  Sure, if you try really hard you can somewhat increase the chances of your team winning and thus increase your multiplier; but it's still mostly dependent on teams, and autobalance does a lot to curtail individual influence anyway.

This I do feel is somewhat a problem, but one with no easy solution. I certainly haven't seen one that would work. My own way of dealing with this is just to never play in servers with more than 50 people. The less people there are, the more my personal work or the work of the group of friends/clanmates I'm playing with makes a difference.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: DANK on June 29, 2011, 07:05:27 pm
I don't understand.... I play about 10 hours a week(While working 40+ hours a week).... I always wear the same armor (Vaegir War Helmet, Black Lamellar Vest, Red Wispy Gaunlets, Mail Chaussus, and my MW Danish Greatsword)  Armor: 47h 43b 33l Cost: 47,604 gold Slots: 2/4, and I still make about 25k a week.

I honestly think we make to much gold.... Playing casually for 2 months I have every piece of gear I want and 250k+ to go with it.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Barbas on June 29, 2011, 07:47:16 pm
Well.. the repair system didn't really fix anything. 

The game is still a grind-fest.  You just reach the top(-ish) a lot sooner now since prices are lower and gold gain is much faster.  Making it such that you can only use the most expensive equipment some of the time but not all of the time (were you inclined to use it to begin with) only 'fixed' the most superficial issue.

Hey, it's still better than nothing.  I'm just saying, it could be a lot better if there was more focus on moving the game forward rather than obsessive tweaking.  I got bored and took a 7-8 month break, long enough for it to be fresh and fun again - for now.  But.. there are no substantial differences.  It's not any better than it used to be.  Perhaps the very crude 'fix' of equipment upkeep serves as something of a patch for one of the effects of the deeper problem - there being very little to strive for after a certain point in the game - but things could be much more interesting.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Tears of Destiny on June 29, 2011, 09:45:16 pm
I don't understand.... I play about 10 hours a week(While working 40+ hours a week).... I always wear the same armor (Vaegir War Helmet, Black Lamellar Vest, Red Wispy Gaunlets, Mail Chaussus, and my MW Danish Greatsword)  Armor: 47h 43b 33l Cost: 47,604 gold Slots: 2/4, and I still make about 25k a week.

I honestly think we make to much gold.... Playing casually for 2 months I have every piece of gear I want and 250k+ to go with it.

Upkeep costs are based on the base price of the item(5%) not counting heirloom price inflation. What is the total using a standard danish not a mw one?
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Oberyn on June 29, 2011, 09:59:29 pm
Heirloomed items don't have higher upkeep as far as I can tell.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: DANK on June 29, 2011, 10:02:19 pm
Upkeep costs are based on the base price of the item(5%) not counting heirloom price inflation. What is the total using a standard danish not a mw one?

Honestly don't know... I was just trying to say that you can wear decent gear and still make enough gold.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Sofa_King on June 30, 2011, 02:07:28 am
as u guys r complaing about it, do u even have a idea that can help the game more balance? If u do, did u test it out like chadz and his team did? stop complaing, theres no 100% balance, the game is better than before, at least the level gap isnt that huge now.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: IG_Saint on June 30, 2011, 02:42:05 am
...there being very little to strive for after a certain point in the game - but things could be much more interesting.

Won't there always be that certain point? At some point you have the best items and the highest lvl. There is nothing that can be done about that. Adding more items/lvls only works up to a point, because too high item stats (things like speed and damage) break the warband combat system. Too high stats result in things like attacks being faster than the animation plays, in other words invisible attacks, arrows firing from bows before the archer has drawn the cord, that sort of thing.

Really I feel the long term future of cRPG has nothing to do with the repair system or how many items/lvls you can get. It has to do with new game modes and strategus. And the devs are working on that stuff. At least 2 more gamemodes are coming and strat seems to be looming closer and closer.

Also could you maybe give some suggestions as too how things could be made much more interesting?
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: MouthnHoof on June 30, 2011, 11:40:29 am
honestly think we make to much gold.... Playing casually for 2 months I have every piece of gear I want and 250k+ to go with it.
The money system now is not about being able to buy the items, it is about being able to use them for long periods. Archers and light infantry rarely have monetary issues since they use cheap equipment anyway. For them money looses its meaning quite fast. For cavs and heavy infantry money limits their ability to field the best equipment that they would otherwise use.

edit:
Perhaps archers need more gold sink. The real thing they waste are arrows so perhaps the upkeep of those need to increase, but give them a wider range of quality in arrows (combinations of larger bags, damage bonuses), so that the expensive ones are also desired.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: DANK on June 30, 2011, 05:43:30 pm
The money system now is not about being able to buy the items, it is about being able to use them for long periods. Archers and light infantry rarely have monetary issues since they use cheap equipment anyway. For them money looses its meaning quite fast. For cavs and heavy infantry money limits their ability to field the best equipment that they would otherwise use.

edit:
Perhaps archers need more gold sink. The real thing they waste are arrows so perhaps the upkeep of those need to increase, but give them a wider range of quality in arrows (combinations of larger bags, damage bonuses), so that the expensive ones are also desired.

So you think that Cavs and Heavy Infantry should have the same repair costs as a light infantry or archer running around in peasant gear(other than his bow and arrows).... You sir make no sense.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Tears of Destiny on June 30, 2011, 06:09:46 pm
Perhaps archers need more gold sink. The real thing they waste are arrows so perhaps the upkeep of those need to increase, but give them a wider range of quality in arrows (combinations of larger bags, damage bonuses), so that the expensive ones are also desired.
>Stop It<


The new patches have increased the price of bows by a significant amount as well as doubling the costs of arrows (one quiver of bodkins now cost over five thousand and upkeeps about 256 per quiver).

The average archer now exceeds 30K in total gear.

Old Pre-Patch archers I might have agreed that they needed a gold sink, but the stream of patches has made rolling an archer significantly more expensive.

EDIT: I am currently experimenting with a bare bones (worst gear, Stick Wrapping Boots etc) archer load out, and I have lowered my total cost to about twelve thousand, but my scores have dropped significantly. Archers do not need a "gold sink" thank you very much.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Barbas on June 30, 2011, 11:20:50 pm
Won't there always be that certain point? At some point you have the best items and the highest lvl. There is nothing that can be done about that. Adding more items/lvls only works up to a point, because too high item stats (things like speed and damage) break the warband combat system. Too high stats result in things like attacks being faster than the animation plays, in other words invisible attacks, arrows firing from bows before the archer has drawn the cord, that sort of thing.

There might be a certain maximum point in theory, but with appropriate design even the most hardcore players can continue making real gains - slower and slower though it may be - without hitting that limit almost indefinitely.  Where the game engine demands limitations, let there be stat allocation limitations if need be; e.g. make 200 wpf or whatever number the max.  If attaining a higher level resulted in having excess wpp beyond that, there's always putting points into a different weapon. 

Given the current game design, there's really no reason in these terms why the level cap couldn't be considerably higher.  Even if limits need to be set on whatever stats to prevent 'game-breaking' situations, there is more than enough room for players to expand with multiple skill specializations.  Iron flesh, athletics, shield, power throw, riding... lots of ways to expand a build if you could go further than is currently possible.

But what seems the silliest to me is how quickly you reach the top now.  Okay, sure, if you forgo retirement you could eventually go up.. a few more levels.  Or with retirements, you can get some small bonuses from heirlooming stuff.  Still, consider how quickly I can purchase and use (though not -all- the time, with repair costs) the best equipment - the most expensive at least - as opposed to how very long it takes to get the relatively small bonuses from heirlooming:  Let's say that the average bonus multiplier is 2x, so you're earning 100 gold and 2000 xp per minute on average.  (Slighter less with repair costs, but I'll ignore that.)  So in.. under 6 hours, I can earn enough gold to buy Black Armor, with 60 points of body armor.  But reaching retirement, so I get heirloom that armor for a few more armor points.. that's something like 73 hours of total play time.   

If it were me designing the system of play from the ground up, I would make it take much longer for a player to get this top-of-the-line type equipment.  Granted, you want a curve of reward that is somewhat faster at the beginning, and after some point the progress must become much slower.  But if you can get to within 90-95% of the max in a few weeks of playing.. that just isn't a curve designed for longevity.

Now.. better diversity of game features is more important than all of that.  Not that there is any reason why there shouldn't also be a well-considered achievement curve, in addition to more game modes, Strategus, etc.  But these issues seem especially significant now, given the general lack of new game features over the past however many months.  Hopefully there will be some remedy on that front some time in the not too distant future, but as of now, when there's little else to do but fight, fight, and fight again while leveling up.. the unnecessary inelegance of the leveling/equipment system become more and more painful.   
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Dehitay on June 30, 2011, 11:50:04 pm
I was not aware there was a level cap? What is it?

Also, this game is mostly about skill. The fighting is the fun part here for most of us. If you considering the fighting to be boring and want to be entertained by your money supply, I also suggest you go play WoW. Not meant as an insult or anything, but it just seems like a better fit for you
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Barbas on July 01, 2011, 12:25:53 am
I was not aware there was a level cap? What is it?

Also, this game is mostly about skill. The fighting is the fun part here for most of us. If you considering the fighting to be boring and want to be entertained by your money supply, I also suggest you go play WoW. Not meant as an insult or anything, but it just seems like a better fit for you

If you just want fighting and don't like leveling, go play native. 

Not meant as an insult or anything; you just don't seem to understand the discussion.

Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: MouthnHoof on July 01, 2011, 12:27:14 am
>Stop It<
I think you have misread my post - the gold sink I was talking about is the equivalent of infantry's plate to archers. i.e., very high quality albeit very expensive top equipment that you cannot use every round. The easiest to implement is through the arrow stacks. Will you pay more for another +1 damage quiver? How much will you pay for 5 more arrows in a quiver? How about +2 or 10 more arrows?

What I am talking about is giving them a small BOOST through un-sustainable upkeep on some new items, not replacing the current ones. Don't want it? keep your current gear and hoard the money.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: IG_Saint on July 01, 2011, 02:23:58 am
There might be a certain maximum point in theory, but with appropriate design even the most hardcore players can continue making real gains - slower and slower though it may be - without hitting that limit almost indefinitely.  Where the game engine demands limitations, let there be stat allocation limitations if need be; e.g. make 200 wpf or whatever number the max.  If attaining a higher level resulted in having excess wpp beyond that, there's always putting points into a different weapon. 

Given the current game design, there's really no reason in these terms why the level cap couldn't be considerably higher.  Even if limits need to be set on whatever stats to prevent 'game-breaking' situations, there is more than enough room for players to expand with multiple skill specializations.  Iron flesh, athletics, shield, power throw, riding... lots of ways to expand a build if you could go further than is currently possible.

But that would completely ruin the choices you have to make when making a character. Currently you have to choose if you want to be a inf, cav, ranged or hybrid. You can't be all those things at the same time. With your suggestions the only choice you'd have to make is what do you want to start as and then just grind long enough until you can do everything.

And what about the skill issue that Dehitay raised? Player skill (things like feinting, blocking, positioning and timing) is a major part of the warband system. It's the reason I enjoy warband as much as I do and I have no doubt that it's the same for a great deal of people. My main issue with cRPG used to be the fact that character skills/lvl and equipment could replace player skill. Currently that isn't the case, a lvl 30 has an advantage over lower lvl characters, but player skill is still the biggest factor in which player will win.
Adding more lvls and beter items increases the character skill gap and thus takes away the importance of player skill. Imagine a lvl10 vs a lvl30. Currently if the lvl10 is a good player and the lvl30 sucks, the lvl10 has a good chance of winning. Now imagine a lvl20 vs a lvl60...Yeah, good luck winning that fight even if the lvl60 is a complete idiot.

But what seems the silliest to me is how quickly you reach the top now.  Okay, sure, if you forgo retirement you could eventually go up.. a few more levels.  Or with retirements, you can get some small bonuses from heirlooming stuff.  Still, consider how quickly I can purchase and use (though not -all- the time, with repair costs) the best equipment - the most expensive at least - as opposed to how very long it takes to get the relatively small bonuses from heirlooming:  Let's say that the average bonus multiplier is 2x, so you're earning 100 gold and 2000 xp per minute on average.  (Slighter less with repair costs, but I'll ignore that.)  So in.. under 6 hours, I can earn enough gold to buy Black Armor, with 60 points of body armor.  But reaching retirement, so I get heirloom that armor for a few more armor points.. that's something like 73 hours of total play time.

On this I somewhat agree with you, it does seem odd that you can afford the best items in no time when reaching retirement lvl takes so long. But this could easily be solved by simply decreasing the amount of xp needed for 31.

If it were me designing the system of play from the ground up, I would make it take much longer for a player to get this top-of-the-line type equipment.  Granted, you want a curve of reward that is somewhat faster at the beginning, and after some point the progress must become much slower.  But if you can get to within 90-95% of the max in a few weeks of playing.. that just isn't a curve designed for longevity.

The bolded part is really the crux of the matter, because you're right. The current system just isn't designed for longevity through character progression. That would indicate the devs don't want that kind of longevity, possibly because it brings with it so many problems, like the things that I have already mentioned: too high stats breaking the game, loss of any real choice in character creation and how much time you've spend grinding replacing how good you are at the game.

Now.. better diversity of game features is more important than all of that.  Not that there is any reason why there shouldn't also be a well-considered achievement curve, in addition to more game modes, Strategus, etc.  But these issues seem especially significant now, given the general lack of new game features over the past however many months.  Hopefully there will be some remedy on that front some time in the not too distant future, but as of now, when there's little else to do but fight, fight, and fight again while leveling up.. the unnecessary inelegance of the leveling/equipment system become more and more painful.

This is just a result of cRPG being a mod with a small dev team. The devs all have jobs/school/friends/other hobbies that eat up much of their time. That leaves precious little time to spend on coding new things like game modes (which seem pretty tricky to code, since of the 3 newly added game modes in the last patch only 1 is actually working atm).
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Gheritarish le Loki on July 01, 2011, 01:01:11 pm
I guess the system is made for everybody, hardcore gamer may find it light, but casual can play.

This mod is fuckin addicting, so you play, you play, you play and you play....
At one time you may find this repetitive, but you continue playing till you are disgusted, hey you played more than 1000 hours....
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Teeth on July 01, 2011, 01:09:46 pm
How is it unrealistic that not everyone can run around in plated gear? Upkeep system works like a charm, you can really wear a shitload of equipment before you start to lose gold, so you really dont need to spend time to save up. Armor is for the weak anyway.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Ylca on July 01, 2011, 02:08:03 pm
The marketplace has made upkeep trivial. The people who have more time sell one heirloom for about 300 too 400K and then never worry about upkeep again.

I sold one heirloom at around the time the marketplace opened up, i've been running around in about 100K of gear on average and i'm just starting to see a minor dent in my funds.

Upkeep is pretty much a joke at the moment, the only way i could lose all this money is if i chose to ride a plated charger every round, which instead i "just" ride a charger on cav map. It's a little ridiculous.

Problem is if you increase upkeep you penalize new players and those who don't have the time to get multiple heirlooms to sell. On the other hand if some change isn't made people like me will have a serious advantage over others, i see people choosing to get off their destriers for lack of money when i can afford to ride a charger every single round. There's a bit of unbalance there.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Barbas on July 01, 2011, 05:31:10 pm
But that would completely ruin the choices you have to make when making a character. Currently you have to choose if you want to be a inf, cav, ranged or hybrid. You can't be all those things at the same time. With your suggestions the only choice you'd have to make is what do you want to start as and then just grind long enough until you can do everything.

Oh, I don't know about that.  It would take ages to become, say, an effective 1h+shielder tank + horse archer.  I mean, I generally do only Powerstrike + Weapon Master, so I'd be adding Iron Flesh and Athletics before I even thought about expanding with cavalry or ranged.  And with the slot system.. would it really matter that much anyway?  If I'm carrying a long bow + arrows, I only have one slot left - so I couldn't also have a 1h + shield, or any 2h, or most any polearm on me.  Perhaps a few additional combinations would become feasible, but by and large, at best, a person might be able to play 1h + shielder one round, then switch to horse archer or whatever the next round.  It would be mostly like having an alt.. except it would be much, much easier to just level up an alt. 

Besides, easy way out of that with retirement:  You start with a level cap of say 31 or so, and that increases by 1 each retirement.  That drastically increases the time it would take to reach even 35, 40.  Anyone who aspires to have an uber-character, then, is going to be spending a lot of their time at lower levels.  Further, when retirement first came around, with each generation the required level to retire went up as well; so it could be set so that you have to hit 31 for your first retirement, 32 for your second, and so on. 

It also used to cost some gold to retire, more each retirement, and I think that would allow for a far better alternative to the current upkeep system:  I don't necessarily object to repair costs in general, but only that you can be losing more money in repairs than you are earning each round.  Better if more expensive equipment had a gold-gain penalty such that wearing 'too good' of gear could even stop gold gain completely - but not so far as to cost money you've already saved.  That may not work now, because there's really nothing you need gold for once you have the equipment you want to use.  But if you needed gold to retire - an increasing amount each generation, perhaps - then you have  a nice incentive (rather than a mandate) to use lower-tier equipment.


So.. okay, okay.  Let's say someone plays a lot, daily, for two years or something and finally reaches level 60.  All Lordly plate armor, max Iron Flesh.  A real tank.  What's the problem with that?  Yeah, a level 10 probably can't kill him.  But.. that's kind of a silly test.  It doesn't take long to level up from 10.  Heck, if you're a casual player, you can Skip the Fun and get right to 30.  Even leveling 1-30 doesn't take too long.  A really good 25-30 player with an appropriate build would have a fair shot even against a super-tank.  I used to have Lordly Gothic Plate w Bevor back in the earlier days of retirement; when you get whacked by someone with high Power Strike, it still does a heck of a lot of damage.  And in any case, a player like that would encourage people to play as a team rather than a bunch of solo duelists ignoring their fellow teammates;  there's not a whole lot you can do if 2-3 cooperating players are on you at once, no matter how well armored you are.  I don't think we need to worry so much about 1v1 parity - that's why we have team autobalance.   
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Gheritarish le Loki on July 01, 2011, 05:57:30 pm
in fact its simple, a player should not have a big advantage because he plays a lot, and that´s the case now.

cRPG is not grinding, its customizing... Something like pimp my char.
Your proposal will give too much advantage to no lifers, having better gear or high lvl only because you spend a lot of time is not equality.

Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Grimm3r on July 01, 2011, 07:58:43 pm
OP...

By your logic, EVERYONE would be running around in full plate on plated charges with a great lance and the weapons of their choice.

Pre-repair patch, the game was headed in that direction. Now, hardly anyone uses plate as it is expensive to repair. That's how it should be. I know it sucks if you have to work for lots of hours, but at the same time can you not see that if this game became watered down to cater to every casual person, it would be tenfold worse than it is now.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Ylca on July 01, 2011, 11:46:33 pm
Again, sell the first loom you get for 325K or  more, never worry about upkeep again. Eventually everyone will get a loom point. The smart ones never have to worry about upkeep ever again, unless they just have to have a plated charger.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Barbas on July 02, 2011, 03:36:49 pm
in fact its simple, a player should not have a big advantage because he plays a lot, and that´s the case now.

cRPG is not grinding, its customizing... Something like pimp my char.
Your proposal will give too much advantage to no lifers, having better gear or high lvl only because you spend a lot of time is not equality.

If that were the case, then every character should just start out at level 30 with 50k gold; no leveling, just customizing your stats and trying out different equipment - and you can re-spec for free, any time.

(As a side note, if there is concern for making the game more playable for casual players, it actually would be a good idea to allow free re-specs.  Maybe once per week or so.  Because if you don't have that much time to play, it's a heck of a wait to either retire or level up an alt just to see what it would be like to be an archer, etc.)

Anyway, it's kind of amusing when someone who wants the game to be so playskill-dependent is so worried about 'no-lifers' getting an advantage over them.  People who are really good at videogames.. well, they're generally the people who spend a lot of time playing videogames. 

If anything, the concern with 'no-lifers' having too much of an advantage over more casual players would suggest lessening the influence of playing skill, given that the average casual player is going to be far less skilled than someone who plays for hours every single day.  And that would be well-served by a leveling design more like the one I suggested, wherein hardcore 'no-lifer' players would have an incentive to use cheaper equipment (to save up gold for retirement) and would spend much of their time at lower levels from multiple retirements, while casual players could just forgo retirement and use the equipment they liked without worrying so much about earning more gold.

Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Dehitay on July 02, 2011, 05:27:40 pm
- and you can re-spec for free, any time.

(As a side note, if there is concern for making the game more playable for casual players, it actually would be a good idea to allow free re-specs. 

Really? Ignoring the playerbase telling you this is a primarily skill based system wasn't enough? Now you're not even going to pay attention to what you say yourself. All this from the brilliant mind that brought you "If you're concerned with no-lifers having too much of an advantage, I suggest lessening the influence of playing skill in favor of a levelling design"
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Gheritarish le Loki on July 02, 2011, 08:01:12 pm
so a no lifer is better because he plays a lot (not sure about that but anyway) and you want to give him better gear and more lvl... Dude i´m happy that dev team doesn´t think like you, hopefully they have a better knowledge of game mechanics and how to make a big game. Btw warband still exist bdcause crpg is here, and it´s here since a long time because it was i.tended for all players.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Barbas on July 02, 2011, 09:00:16 pm
so a no lifer is better because he plays a lot (not sure about that but anyway) and you want to give him better gear and more lvl...

Hrm.. well if you read my post, you'd see I suggested that retirement should cost money - an increasing amount each time - which would give inventive for hardcore players not to use the best equipment.  As has already been mentioned, long-term, hardcore players often have millions in gold saved up and can sell their heirloom points since they probably don't need them by now anyway, so really it is already the current state of things that 'no-lifers' can use the best gear, while more casual players cannot.
Title: Re: Jobs, Gold and Repair
Post by: Baggy on July 03, 2011, 03:27:55 am
Naw, I was here 9-10 months ago before there was upkeep - back when they were first thinking about adding it to the game.

And.. the game was somewhat better back then, I'm sorry to say.  It was also possible to attain a considerably higher level -

Fail.

Quote
though the benefits of retiring were good enough that most everyone wanted to do it.
Fail.