Varyag's testimony on the current state of cRPG

[Felagunda]

I take it you haven't read much of this thread. Or your own posts, at that.

  I read up to page 5 and never saw anyone speaking for the whole community I saw people speaking for themselves.

[Topsnus]

The best way to fix the plate predicament would have been to remove plate. All of the weight, and upkeep, and prof lowering systems are just annoying. Does anyone remember how much fun the mod was before plate was added. I don't remember anyone complaining about armor.

[Felagunda]

Which would have worked, except that chadz underestimated the players of cRPG. They will go through generations so quickly that you will never see them at lower levels.

That's interesting I remember we Takeda came to him with some excles sheets 2 weeks after the retirement patch and he said it'll never happen.  Then proceeded to troll us after he denied that wpf stacking wouldn't happen multiple times.

[Felagunda]

we need that guy in the game balance team asap! Hundreds of tincans running around, killing peasants, with wpf of about 300 per weapon.

Sounds fun? Sure thing. I'd play it!

BTW chadz who had anywhere near 300 wpf any one weapon before you did the patch that added retirement?

Because I played alot back then and I never found a person I found it hard to block at all.

[BD_Guard_Bane]

BTW chadz who had anywhere near 300 wpf any one weapon before you did the patch that added retirement?

Because I played alot back then and I never found a person I found it hard to block at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbole

Anyway, I had 210 wpf in a single weapon type, and I used plate. It was obviously a ridiculous situation.

[Topsnus]

Best solution is to drop retirement, return to old grind system and money system, and drop plate.

[Gorath]

Best solution is to drop retirement, return to old grind system and money system, and drop plate.

^  Not a bad idea.

Also:  Soft level cap of 35 like now.  35 is a good solid number for "endgame".  Buff, but not redonkulously OP.

[Topsnus]

^  Not a bad idea.

Also:  Soft level cap of 35 like now.  35 is a good solid number for "endgame".  Buff, but not redonkulously OP.

This could work. And the incentive to retire (assuming the system is left in, but with absolutely no in game benefits) would be a solid ranking system. Integrate it into the leaderboard in game, the forums, everything. And make it so that your stats freeze when you hit the level cap. So if you want to be number 1, you have to keep retiring. I bet that would keep many of the players that play ridiculous amounts retiring.

The important thing is to get back to the old days, where you cared about your equipment because you earned it, unlike now, where you can have the same amount and type of weapons as a level 5 as if you are a level 30. Unless of course you are one of those people that actually wins the match for their team, but they are in the minority.

[BD_Guard_Bane]

Best solution is to drop retirement, return to old grind system and money system, and drop plate.

I dunno...

Retirement as a concept is a good one I think. It allows people to respec (without letting them auto-correct a bad build - making mistakes and trying out new stuff is part of the fun of character design), and its got a certain RP quality about it - having an heir to your line and all that. It probably needs a few tweaks, and I'd like to see some other applications for it, not just as an alternative to level grind (maybe some functions in strategus). But generally the concept itself is quite fun and adds to the mod.

Also, I'd hate for plate to be removed. It isn't OP (due to speed penalties and upkeep costs), and the more items in cRPG the better. Some people like to occasionally dress as a gothic knight, so let them. And when strategus comes, I imagine it will have its tactical uses there.

At the moment, while its taking some time to perfect, I think the mod is moving toward a situation that properly balances RPG and grind. There are bound to be mistakes along the way as new stuff is tested and fixed, but slowly its getting better at allowing character customisation and leveling without forcing grinding and particularly abusable grind.

EDIT: though I totally agree about the equipment (the feeling that you treasure what you have because you earnt it etc - I just don't think it should be earnt through grind).

[EponiCo]

Simplest solution, really. Make a cap on the benefits you can gain from retiring. On their own (i.e. masterwork sword or +10% now +3% more xp) they are certainly not gamebreaking. Only when you stack them like mad, but tbh you can just never retire and get level 40 if you are reallly pushing it.

[Topsnus]

I dunno...

Retirement as a concept is a good one I think. It allows people to respec (without letting them auto-correct a bad build - making mistakes and trying out new stuff is part of the fun of character design), and its got a certain RP quality about it - having an heir to your line and all that. It probably needs a few tweaks, and I'd like to see some other applications for it, not just as an alternative to level grind (maybe some functions in strategus). But generally the concept itself is quite fun and adds to the mod.

Also, I'd hate for plate to be removed. It isn't OP (due to speed penalties and upkeep costs), and the more items in cRPG the better. Some people like to occasionally dress as a gothic knight, so let them. And when strategus comes, I imagine it will have its tactical uses there.

At the moment, while its taking some time to perfect, I think the mod is moving toward a situation that properly balances RPG and grind. There are bound to be mistakes along the way as new stuff is tested and fixed, but slowly its getting better at allowing character customisation and leveling without forcing grinding and particularly abusable grind.

EDIT: though I totally agree about the equipment (the feeling that you treasure what you have because you earnt it etc - I just don't think it should be earnt through grind).

it will always be earned through grind, that is the nature of the game. The question is whether that money gets you a weapon and you feel that you earned it, or whether all weapons are available and you simply have to upkeep them.

I think retirement should stay, but completely cut off from gameplay, as a rankings thing. So that people have the ability to reset, and it might even make them look good in the ranks, but they won't become too powerful.

But plate has to be removed. If it is about looks, then all the armor ratings can simply be dropped so that plate seems gone, but it has to go. I played this game back when the server reset ever 30 min, there were like 3-5 maps, and 50 players on a good day. There was no plate, and it honestly was better because of it.

The game should aspire to have as much content as possible. But it is very important that the gameply be preserved while adding items.

[Felagunda]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbole

Anyway, I had 210 wpf in a single weapon type, and I used plate. It was obviously a ridiculous situation.

lol before retirement patch?  And 210 in a single weapon type is a long way from 300 in every weapon type.  210 is still easy to block with most weapons.

[Topsnus]

lol before retirement patch?  And 210 in a single weapon type is a long way from 300 in every weapon type.  210 is still easy to block with most weapons.

wow, there was alot of wrong in that statement.
210 is never easy to block unless you have a sizeable ping advantage. And the whole link to hyperbole was to say that the 300 was an exaggerated number, not a real one.

[MeevarTheMighty]

Another dismal take on the situation: When the "early beta" crpg ended, the Australian crpg community also ended. The old server would often have a couple of dozen people still playing at 6AM, while current numbers seem to flicker a couple of players around constant zero at all hours. The oceanic crpg clans are no more and half the playerbase has migrated to native. The other half probably died of sorrow or play some other silly games now. With the silly auto-gold system, people can replicate my characters in a matter of days, so it's hard to make anything unique or interesting. It's also pretty hard to feel at home in a server full of brand new 30+ characters, so in AU, it fell apart quickly. Really wish upkeep crpg had been created as a seperate mod, because there are a lot of people who would still be playing "early beta" if they could, myself included. 

[Felagunda]

wow, there was alot of wrong in that statement.
210 is never easy to block unless you have a sizeable ping advantage. And the whole link to hyperbole was to say that the 300 was an exaggerated number, not a real one.

exaggerated didn't go far enough hence the word + link. for weapons 94 speed and less 210 wpf isn't that bad to block those.