New Grind Solution

Sometimes yes. But sometimes not.

But then, being in the NFL is a game of skill. Grinding is not.

 

I would say being a rookie in the NFL does not equate to being a rookie at football itself also. You have to be pretty damn good just to be in that league.

 

That's a great point.

But it's still a game of skill. I mean if you're an old man that can throw a football 60 yards down the field, you could score a touchdown in the NFL in the right situation. The point is that there are games of skill and there are games of chance.

SOTA combat is LARGELY a game of chance. The more levels you go up, the more your chance of winning improves. It has very little to do with skill however. "Skill" is simulated by levels.

So what's frustrating to me is that the simulation is based on TIME and EFFICIENCY of gaining levels. Two things that are boring and require a great deal of not having fun. I'm not the only person that thinks this either. It's probably one of the largest reasons we have such a low testing population.

 

I think we have a low testing population because of the frequent wipes. When gaining levels means a permanent change to your character (not just for three months), people will find it much less tedious. And, I'm sorry, but not everyone hates going out and levelling. I have lots of fun adventuring with my friends and guildmates. Just because you don't enjoy it doesn't mean no one does. I'm not a huge fan of crafting. I think it's kind of boring and finding recipes is dull. Does that mean it shouldn't be in the game? Or I should automatically be a master crafter because I find the tedium of gaining the skill boring?

 

can I ask you a question, and I'm not trying to offend. What is the difference from you grinding compared to you going out adventuring? I am not saying I am for or against Barons idea. What I am saying though is if your having fun grinding then why does it have to be tied to levels and experience. You can still grind with the system he is proposing.

 

You'll notice my proposed solution in the OP doesn't say we should do away with leveling, just that we should not reward people for endlessly doing it.

When you go out and gather resources, does a cotton planet endlessly give you cotton? No, there's a point where you can't get anymore from the same nodes. I think that should be longer than it currently is, but that's basically what I'm proposing. I'm just saying that the people that exploit the mechanics so they can be 60 levels higher than everyone else, should have some speed bumps.

If they enjoy leveling so much, then they shouldn't really mind.

 

A single cotton plant may not endlessly give you cotton, but you can go from plant to plant gaining the same amount of cotton (or more, depending on your skill level). If one zone is depleted, there are a myriad of other zones to choose from. What you are proposing is that after I have spent hours gathering cotton, every cotton plant I gather should give less and less cotton, then practically none at all. You are trying to tell me how long my game play is efficient. How high I am "allowed" to climb.

 

BTW, speaking of Manning. There's a report that he (allegedly) used HGH in 2011 to help him recover from his neck surgery. He denies this. Funny how people will do anything to get an edge.

 

I'm trying to make the game fun for more than just you.

If your adventuring didn't impact everyone else in multiplayer, I wouldn't care at all about how you played. But when looking at the competitive balance of pvp, allowing a few players to dominate pvp areas simply because they CAN is not good for the game.

You have to understand that. You have to agree with that. If you are being honest with yourself, surly you can see that it's a problem that is in need of a solution.

 

You CAN still grind with that system, but there wouldn't be a point to it. It effectively restricts how many hours someone can play the game before their time is useless. No one wants to waste their time. Even if this is their "game" time, their "fun" time, you still want to feel rewarded for what you have done. So, in essence, I should stop what I'm doing, because someone who doesn't play as often as I do can't be as good as I can? That sounds very polite, but not very realistic OR competitive. If you tell people who want to devote time to playing the game that someone who plays a 10th of what they do can be just as effective, then you are just telling them to play less.

I should play less because some people do not want to play more? That is fair and balanced?

The bottom line is, if you want to be the best. Then try. Then work at it. Don't just throw your arms up and say "this is boring so someone give it to me." or "You cannot achieve this because I don't feel like doing it and I want what you have."

Ask anyone in the PVP community.. I am NOT a hardcore PVPer... I am a giant marshmellow. At level 70, there are level 50's with better builds who can kick my butt any day of the week. I don't flag for open PVP because I would get slaughtered. I am not concerned with this proposal from the position of a Superior PVPer. I am concerned that someone else is telling me how much I am "allowed" to play.

 

one solution is try to make the grind not feel like a grind but that your always actively playing a part in a grand story.
I dont mind levels or the use base system but i dont want to play a game like runescape where it is a year of grinding just to enjoy end game content. I would much rather have low level cap, say 50, and then have many different style end game armor and weapons where a person can customize their character.
Less of a grind and player level gap which would allow for easier entry to pvp. There can be special items that require groups of people to kill a boss, like the dragon, to get the reward. It would be time consuming but rewarding in the end.

 

that!!! Its just like play less or don't mind waisting your time

 

We totally agree here. No one wants to waste their time. And that's exactly how I feel when I can't pvp and I have to grind instead. I feel like I'll never get to a point where I can actually have fun.

 

I do not want you to waste your time . I was going off of you saying you LIKED grinding. That lead me to understand that you liked just killing things over and over. Now I understand you like to grind for exp. That is a bit different. This game has so many different dynamics involved and the player base is all over the boards. Now understand. The group adventuring MMO part of the game is 1/4 of the game features. It could be considered half possibly on how the Friends online works. But at least 50% of the game is single player online/offline people. These people tend to like the story elements and progression through the story. They do not like the group grind leveling. I can understand your version of what you want, all I ask is open your mind to the other 50%+ of people that do not see the game as you do. I would love for there to be a compromise.

 

Well, single player online/offline aren't concerned with PVP and honestly, you do not need HUGE levels to be able to progress in the storyline. I don't see how capping how high someone can level effectively would help these folks at all.

 

capping levels would allow for new players to catch up and compete. It also promotes diversity.

 

I'm all for capping levels.

It's not my preferred method of solving these problems. But it's a lot better than how it works now.

 

But you were saying that there should be a balance for the people that are in the other portions of the game, single player online and offline. They wouldn't need to compete with anyone. In fact, the whole point of those modes is the limited amount of competition.

And there is a soft cap already that makes progressing past a certain point fruitless, the OP is suggesting this should be much lower than it is. And I disagree.

 

No, it doesn't promote diversity. It encourages us all to be the same. And I don't think the way to encourage new players is to lower the bar. I think it's important to make the game meaningful at EVERY level. And that might mean that a level 10 does not do the same things a level 80 does, and that's okay!

 

It's not fruitless, it's just slower. I'm suggesting that be even slower than it is currently, and I'm suggesting that be based on the average level per player in the game.