After this poll was conducted, people got excited to be able to do battle like it was the good old days again. The assumption that came along with that is that we'd all be able to use the same builds we had pre-patch of destiny, if not a more advanced one since some people may have accumulated enough xp to level up more since then. However, we instead are given a completely new leveling system with nothing but gimped versions of the characters we had grown accustomed to. Over 80% of the active community voted in favor of a revert, while no one voted for an entirely new xp system.
The language I used was poor, I'll give you that. When I said "essentially" changing back to pre-PoD, I meant that retiring would once again be done at level 31 or so. The only thing that has been changed from pre-patch of destiny is the post-retirement levels. Given the assumptions we made didn't match up, in the future I'll make sure to be crystal clear in my intentions.
If you're trying to do some partial-wipe bs, at least ask around a little bit on the forums here to get some feedback before just going ahead and pulling the trigger. If the apparent goal here is to revitalize the mod, then you should first and foremost focus on getting the vets to return, something that a wipe is likely not going to help with as much. A wipe favors newcomers, something it is highly doubtful we will ever see again unless we can draw back in the vets to maintain a decent population in the meantime.
For the near future I have no plans for "partial-wipe bs." I don't see how what I've done so far can be considered close to that, maybe there's been more miscommunication. Of course, my goal is to get the mod back on its feet. One of the reasons I decided I decided to revert levels was that is exciting to a degree and could potentially draw back in players who left due to the introduction of PoD leveling system. Hypothetical, sure, but worth a shot. Again, the wipe is still under discussion. In the case that some form of a wipe does happen (not saying that it will or will not), it would be sometime early 2018.
Regardless of whether or not anything should even be wiped, if you're gonna do a partial wipe at least do the smarter (although still rather foolish) thing and take away all our looms while not touching our levels. Having just one more level makes all the difference in available playstyles, and by extension having 2 or 3 more is even more impactful.
As said before, wipe is not planned for now.
Players who were previously level 36 (pre-patch of destiny) are now level 33 at best, and leveling beyond that point is quite literally impossible. On the flip side, looms have almost no affect on the way you play whatsoever, they literally only make you artificially better by giving you an advantage in survivability, damage-dealing, etc. If someone is level 35 and running around in the same armor loomed and unloomed, nothing changes other than the fact they might be able to tank an extra hit when wearing it loomed. However if you've got someone running around at level 32 compared to 35, they'll be noticeably slower, or weaker, or outright unable to use the same items as the higher leveled version of themselves. The point I'm trying to make here, is ya done goofed.
Yes, it is now very difficult to level past 33, and yes the new post-31 leveling system is now different from pre-PoD. I changed it to this because, under the old pre-PoD system, theoretically a player could have their levels reverted back to
35, which was up until last weekend the retiring point for builds. My goal in this level revert was to improve balance, which has been strained by the high-level builds of PoD. Having players running around at level 35, a post-retirement level in PoD, completely defeats that purpose.
Admittedly, the system that I concocted isn't perfect. But, do remember that, in PoD, leveling past 38 was quite literally impossible. 38 itself was hard enough to get to, if not also impossible. The point of this patch is to weaken high-level builds that can abuse the combat system, and to lessen the effects of "OP" items. Even if the current leveling system is a bit too harsh in accomplishing that goal, here's the thing:
it can be tweaked.
You took away our ability to customize our characters and play the way we want, ruined any hybridization opportunities that may have existed beforehand, and for what reason, exactly? In the hopes that you could attract some noobs who will still hop on and see people using looms and go crying back to native? If you want to help noobs, remove looms. If you want to keep vets from coming back, take away our levels.
Item difficulties were lowered to accommodate lower levels, and can be lowered further. So, you can still customize your character. You can still play the way you want. You can still use hybrids. If this change has disproportionate affect on those, then I will think of ways to encourage them with in the new system.
The thing is, there is no way to quantify the effect that this change has on customization, hybridization, or anything like that until one plays the game with others, and sees for themselves how the balance compares to other players, and other builds.
Basically, all this shit is a work in progress. The post-31 xp for levels can change, item difficulties can change, etc. But the best thing to do for the mod right now isn't to go onto the forums and share opinions about the state of the game, it's to play the game, get it populated, and actually try out the new things that have been implemented. Then, if you want to share your opinion, at least it'll be informed, and as a result I'll be better able to adapt the state of the game if a problem area is brought up.
