So I don't know a whole lot about endgame in Archeage, as every time I get to it I log out forever. I'd like to post some AA changes that probably won't fit entirely in line with how AA works, but maybe with some community feedback/smart devs it will make sense with some minor changes. The main problem I see with AA is the incessant grinding; the entire game systems for gear was built around a non-stop, unfair, boring chore of a grind to upgrade. When I played on release, after farming entry level Hiram gear, before whales were upgrading into one-shotting me, the end-game of archeage was ALIVE. Tradepacks were flying across the ocean, factions were teaming up to intercept/pvp on Freedich island, factions and pirates were battling it out at the Hiram farming spot, and any random player you ran into was actually a good fight. The actual game itself was centered around trade packs, pvp, and farming hiram (especially fun when the zone was pvp active!)
I think this is where AA really shines, and just a few minor changes to adjust the gameplay loop towards the actual fun parts of AA would be amazing. Essentially, speeding the game up towards having actual fun, and throwing in maintenance. This is how the large pservers like DAOC phoenix, warhammer ROR work: establishing an end-game not based on gear, but maintenance of your main/alts/pvp/amassing wealth.
The concept, in general, would speed up new players towards end-game, but force constant interaction with the gameworld, forcing maintenance in gameplay loops that benefits all players. In a perfect world, a player could join the server, level up, and be grouping/guilding in end-game content within a week or two.
This idea that it’s a lot easier to get cap geared, boats, land, etc, but the gameplay cycle for replacing pieces is built into the economy, pvp, group-play for leveling, etc. will propel the server. Ideally, if someone plays 4 hours a day for 7 days, a couple of those hours should go into farming gold, running packs, farming gear, running dungeons for gear, or something to replace their pieces. IT should be STUPIDLY easy to gear up, but require that you constantly do something towards maintaining your gear (especially if you’re playing alts!). Additionally, if there is a meta of plate users, for example, this adds a gameplay loop and gives players a quick way to gear up an alt to combat the meta, allowing players to feel more comfortable in their choice and have more fun with access to diverse classes without giving up months and months of progress on their main. PVE players will amass gold to craft or buy crafted gear for alts, boats, ships, etc. PVP players will farm other players for honor merchants, farm mobs for replacement gear and gold to buy from crafters, boats for tradepacks, and general gold for land rent.
I’m sure some of this doesn’t make sense as I am no archeage expert, but as a pvp player with a lot of experience with other games of this nature (daoc, ror, etc.) I would love to see the server thrive and support all types of gameplay. I’ve been following archeage changes for years hoping they’d ever normalize gear and catch-up mechanics to allow the game to actually be enjoyed by old & new players alike, and I think something like the above would really set the tone for a massively successful server. Given the low barrier to entry, I’m sure new players would be happy to support server costs as player count goes up as well.
Lastly, over time, various vendor costs, repair costs, durability loss, rent cost, etc, can be dynamically adjusted to keep things in line – staying away from the incessant power creep that killed this game years ago.
Any thoughts?
I think this is where AA really shines, and just a few minor changes to adjust the gameplay loop towards the actual fun parts of AA would be amazing. Essentially, speeding the game up towards having actual fun, and throwing in maintenance. This is how the large pservers like DAOC phoenix, warhammer ROR work: establishing an end-game not based on gear, but maintenance of your main/alts/pvp/amassing wealth.
The concept, in general, would speed up new players towards end-game, but force constant interaction with the gameworld, forcing maintenance in gameplay loops that benefits all players. In a perfect world, a player could join the server, level up, and be grouping/guilding in end-game content within a week or two.
- End-game gear and all upgrade components can now be obtained farming X mobs in Z safe zone. The same items can be farmed from X pvp zone at a significantly higher drop rate % to incentivize pvp across factions/pirates, but not force it.
- End-game gear drop stats cannot be adjusted, but come in all standard stat allocations, giving players a default template to use for each class, but requiring crafted gear for specific non-meta builds or playstyles.
- Dropped end-game gear has significant repair costs and durability loss compared to crafted gear, establishing a gameplay loop for non-crafters towards replacing gear
- Dropped end-game gear cannot be traded, but can be sold or used in some other way for gold or resources towards the applicable set-piece
- I don’t know much about dungeon gear, but this would be a good half-way between farm zone drops and crafted gear, another option for players to get good gear
- Durability loss on dropped gear/dungeon gear significantly increased for pvp deaths, incentivizing safe play and eventual crafted gear upgrade, and adding meaning to pvp deaths (sort of like full loot, but less aggro)
- Crafted gear still has a significantly increased repair cost and durability loss, but not near as much as dropped gear - this means end-game gear would ideally be crafted, and players who don't enjoy crafting or grinding would eventually have enough gold to buy their crafted set, dropping the maintenance on farming gear, but requiring maintenance on gold once crafted gear breaks.
- Droprate for all items increased by the relevant % to support group-play: IE.: for each group member added to a farm group, the % for an individual to get the item they need is increased, building an ecosystem of farm groups, especially helping things like tanks/healers farm better at end-game.
- Gear zone has a boss loop that has a significantly increased chance to drop gear or upgrade items (bosses that cannot be solo’d) – pushing group play content/pvp even further
- EXP rate either not shared in a group, promoting group play, or significantly improved per member added to group, incentivizing group play for leveling as well as farming.
- A small droprate bonus for groups who group a sub-55, giving social players, healers, tanks, alts, and people done with main questline a quick, easy access to group play, finding friends, guilds, and an introduction to pvp, all-the-while farming their end-game gear.
- Dropped end-game gear cannot be transmogged or dyed, giving additional incentive for obtaining crafted gear, but not forcing it.
- I’m not sure how boats/etc work – but if it’s possible to increase their durability loss, or put them at total risk of loss to the opposing faction/pirates, this would add a similar gameplay loop where guilds and players are putting time & money into creating the ships they need, using them in the designed system where there are risks involved, but pushing the grind away from Billy Joe having to upgrade his gear for a year towards simply working on mats etc to replace his boat/farmcart/etc as they get stolen, destroyed, or run out of uses.
- Underdog bonus: a small % increase to exp rate and droprate for the underdog faction in each given pvp zone
- Significant increase to all vendor costs unrelated to end-game gear, increasing gold sink for various gameplay loops while keeping end-game gameplay balanced
- Significantly increase honor rewards for open world PVP, increase war time pack turn in reward a ridiculous % - make ocean pack runs the end-all lucrative choice for guilds and small-man content, adding a purpose to opposing faction runs and pirating
- Double something on weekends, whether its EXP, droprate, honor rewards, trade pack turn ins, whatever – force specific content for the server during busy hours to promote an active, meaningful world
- Further incentivize illegal crops – huge amount of fun pvp gameplay amongst guilds in the first iteration of Archeage
- Add HUGE gold sinks to keep the economy afloat, potentially with scaling prices – name change, race change, faction change, transmog, you name it – make people need gold to push for farming, crafting, selling gear, etc.
- Remove all potions that are imba in pvp, or add them to an honor merchant so pvp only players can self-sustain
- Freedich island – add something here that makes this the center of all pve and pvp. I don’t know enough about archeage to know what it could be but pushing content towards centralized locations is always smart. For example, all dropped gear can be farmed in Hiram, but the upgrade enchantment to get them is farmed on Freedich
- Normalize all mounts, gliders, etc.- but make the basic one you get ugly as shit, with the upgrades a huge gold/time sink (this should be generally how the game works – easy barrier of entry, even harder timesink to look cooler – without imba pvp)
- With the barrier to entry low, and people less focusing on constantly trying to upgrade gear, we can now increase the cost of other things to drive players. For example, increase rent cost of land exponentially over time, making land far more valuable the longer one has it. Guilds can choose specific land to keep forever by pooling resources to keep it, but outside of great costs over time, land will always be coming and going, allowing new players/old players to compete along the same trajectory. Good locations will be held by top guilds, but they’d need to remain active with significant gold income to keep it. Otherwise, due to the low barrier of entry, we will see land changing hands a lot to keep costs down – a great system for a living world and a great catch-up mechanic to promote new players not feeling overwhelemed
- Keep systems SIMPLE - this is the second largest barrier to entry for archeage - an infinitely complex crafting, rng enchant system blows new players minds and is one of the main reasons we see low populations across all archeage servers. Especially on a pserver- things should be fun, not a chore.
This idea that it’s a lot easier to get cap geared, boats, land, etc, but the gameplay cycle for replacing pieces is built into the economy, pvp, group-play for leveling, etc. will propel the server. Ideally, if someone plays 4 hours a day for 7 days, a couple of those hours should go into farming gold, running packs, farming gear, running dungeons for gear, or something to replace their pieces. IT should be STUPIDLY easy to gear up, but require that you constantly do something towards maintaining your gear (especially if you’re playing alts!). Additionally, if there is a meta of plate users, for example, this adds a gameplay loop and gives players a quick way to gear up an alt to combat the meta, allowing players to feel more comfortable in their choice and have more fun with access to diverse classes without giving up months and months of progress on their main. PVE players will amass gold to craft or buy crafted gear for alts, boats, ships, etc. PVP players will farm other players for honor merchants, farm mobs for replacement gear and gold to buy from crafters, boats for tradepacks, and general gold for land rent.
I’m sure some of this doesn’t make sense as I am no archeage expert, but as a pvp player with a lot of experience with other games of this nature (daoc, ror, etc.) I would love to see the server thrive and support all types of gameplay. I’ve been following archeage changes for years hoping they’d ever normalize gear and catch-up mechanics to allow the game to actually be enjoyed by old & new players alike, and I think something like the above would really set the tone for a massively successful server. Given the low barrier to entry, I’m sure new players would be happy to support server costs as player count goes up as well.
Lastly, over time, various vendor costs, repair costs, durability loss, rent cost, etc, can be dynamically adjusted to keep things in line – staying away from the incessant power creep that killed this game years ago.
Any thoughts?