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??
