I will derail this thread a bit and attempt to make a case for what I believe is going wrong with practically all post-Nevrax content, not just "Tool Story 2". Short version: They nixed the important gameplay designers.
PARENTAL ADVISORY: STRONG OPINIONS
The current devs don't know what Ryzom was about; or was supposed to be; and consequently failed to keep additions true to the spirit of the game. (Right! Because I'm an expert on spirits of games and part time Exorcist. No kidding.) *hands out little packets of salt*
On top of this the thing Ryzom is about; or used to be; has always been difficult to manage:
Freedom combined with interaction. Freedom of interaction, too. Maybe some interaction with freedom. *suddenly, salt everywhere*
Ryzom presents you with many options at all times; and everybody else, too - and if you start interacting with people options multiply like rabbits.
You ran out of Sap? Harvest or fight until it regenerates? Craft instead? Maybe the Boss respawned? Find a Healer maybe? Event going on? Et cetera ad infinitum aeternam? You have the options, at all times.
Other examples are the craft system. Did I mention options? The way harvesting works. Or Sabrina, the stanza system. And there was the Ring. Options!
The key is providing options without overload, catering to as many playstyles and interests as possible along the way, and keeping all the options viable.
Most other games that try to provide many options fail in critical ways:
It might feel bulky; overloaded (then the so called feature creep took its toll) or some options are a not competitive enough (or no longer, after the fifth expansion) - things Ryzom avoids through great streamlining, integration and the uniform stanza system. But back to the issues....
Three underlying game changes or additions come to mind:
The new economy.
Occupations.
Silan.
SILAN
Replaced the four racial newbielands where you did whatever and left for the mainland to do whatever. Suckling Yubos, for example.
On Silan you run a bunch of questlines and earn xp and dappers, then you leave for the mainland and are pretty confused. Quit, for example.
Benefits of this change: Less population issues in newbieland. Newbies are slightly better educated (but also get the wrong impression, unless Silan is some future vision of this game that will be realized, which it will not be.
Even then: it should be clear that Silan failed its previous mission and cannot win a fight in the age of Free2Play.
ECONOMY
[I will be talking about faucets and drains here. Don't be alerted. The economy is of the Faucet-Drain type: The game gives you the money (faucet) and also takes it away (drain).]
Old
Near non-existent. You got good dappers for most things you did. Prices were low to average.
The Faucet was too big, drain too small. If you expended any effort you were super rich quickly enough.
By no means optimal.
New
The faucet got restricted to "one activity" (not truly, but for arguments sake let's settle for "missioning" being the singular activity and all other income stream being totally negligible); especially since we have to discount trading with other players:
They probably ran missions to get those dappers or used another faucet, rendering such interaction irrelevant to the economy.
To make matters worse: The faucet is still too big - just much more restrictive.
If you expend some effort now - on one prescribed activity that you have the skills for - you will be super rich quickly enough, still.
Otherwise you'll pretty much be poor, with practically no income beyond Silan.
Additionally: The drain is quite a bit larger.
The situation certainly wasn't improved. I doubt I could have done worse had I tried.
We just have a greater divide between poor people and rich people.
I will not go as far as to call the old Eco better. It was also dysfunctional - but in a less destructive way...
Suggestion
Sell prices closer to old levels, but reduce value gained from quality (mat, too) significantly. Occupations could be a drain instead of a time sink (that would have been pretty clever).
Scale porter ticket cost with zone level on a squared formula. lvl*lvl/2?
Is: lvl50:1250 100:5000 150:11250 200:20000 250:31250 (Roots like lvl300: 45000. Ouchies)
By far and wide, medium and high ql crafting was the biggest faucet, and given the amount that has to be crafted in the long term many dappers are created.
Reducing value gained from quality will help, a lot, but not fix this issue due to sheer amount of items. My ideas:
-Add a button to the crafting results window to disassemble the item, retrieving some mat (1/3?) and destroying the item.
-Allow donation of items to whatever to gain something. (Just fill in the words)
Nice alternative to missions, but the reward shouldn't be dappers or fame, just some dumping of items for... lottery tickets... where you have a 1/1000 chance to win... some crap. It's okay.
Endgame porters can be expensive, especially if people don't have to worry about dappers too much.
The tool prices as they are should work fine under these conditions.
But these are just some thoughts, not a proven system.
OPs and Tool quality has been discussed at length I think - so I'll just skip that part of the Eco. And about Occupations I have nothing to add.
In closing, not all was bad: just many of the actual game changes or additions feel.. wrong.
Free Accounts, subscription cost and subscription benefits align quite well.
Ryzom App does its thing... more integration! Good job.
Finally: I'm willing to accept if they want Silan continued on the mainland, but to me this is not the mission of, ahem, The Saga of Ryzom. Not the direction of a game I want to play.
I can do waaaayy better quests elsewhere if I felt like it.
If you need a reminder: The only purpose for missions in this game, apart from minor rewards, should be Fame.
Some clarification would be great but I don't want to turn this into a "The Direction of Ryzom" thread in any way. We can keep it Eco... I just think some buildup and background is necessary to tackle this issue in depth.
Darn, basicly: a colossal (I upgraded this word twice now) whine post about "my Ryzom" being violated. Thank me later.
PARENTAL ADVISORY: STRONG OPINIONS
The current devs don't know what Ryzom was about; or was supposed to be; and consequently failed to keep additions true to the spirit of the game. (Right! Because I'm an expert on spirits of games and part time Exorcist. No kidding.) *hands out little packets of salt*
On top of this the thing Ryzom is about; or used to be; has always been difficult to manage:
Freedom combined with interaction. Freedom of interaction, too. Maybe some interaction with freedom. *suddenly, salt everywhere*
Ryzom presents you with many options at all times; and everybody else, too - and if you start interacting with people options multiply like rabbits.
You ran out of Sap? Harvest or fight until it regenerates? Craft instead? Maybe the Boss respawned? Find a Healer maybe? Event going on? Et cetera ad infinitum aeternam? You have the options, at all times.
Other examples are the craft system. Did I mention options? The way harvesting works. Or Sabrina, the stanza system. And there was the Ring. Options!
The key is providing options without overload, catering to as many playstyles and interests as possible along the way, and keeping all the options viable.
Most other games that try to provide many options fail in critical ways:
It might feel bulky; overloaded (then the so called feature creep took its toll) or some options are a not competitive enough (or no longer, after the fifth expansion) - things Ryzom avoids through great streamlining, integration and the uniform stanza system. But back to the issues....
Three underlying game changes or additions come to mind:
The new economy.
Occupations.
Silan.
SILAN
Replaced the four racial newbielands where you did whatever and left for the mainland to do whatever. Suckling Yubos, for example.
On Silan you run a bunch of questlines and earn xp and dappers, then you leave for the mainland and are pretty confused. Quit, for example.
Benefits of this change: Less population issues in newbieland. Newbies are slightly better educated (but also get the wrong impression, unless Silan is some future vision of this game that will be realized, which it will not be.
Even then: it should be clear that Silan failed its previous mission and cannot win a fight in the age of Free2Play.
ECONOMY
[I will be talking about faucets and drains here. Don't be alerted. The economy is of the Faucet-Drain type: The game gives you the money (faucet) and also takes it away (drain).]
Old
Near non-existent. You got good dappers for most things you did. Prices were low to average.
The Faucet was too big, drain too small. If you expended any effort you were super rich quickly enough.
By no means optimal.
New
The faucet got restricted to "one activity" (not truly, but for arguments sake let's settle for "missioning" being the singular activity and all other income stream being totally negligible); especially since we have to discount trading with other players:
They probably ran missions to get those dappers or used another faucet, rendering such interaction irrelevant to the economy.
To make matters worse: The faucet is still too big - just much more restrictive.
If you expend some effort now - on one prescribed activity that you have the skills for - you will be super rich quickly enough, still.
Otherwise you'll pretty much be poor, with practically no income beyond Silan.
Additionally: The drain is quite a bit larger.
The situation certainly wasn't improved. I doubt I could have done worse had I tried.
We just have a greater divide between poor people and rich people.
I will not go as far as to call the old Eco better. It was also dysfunctional - but in a less destructive way...
Suggestion
Sell prices closer to old levels, but reduce value gained from quality (mat, too) significantly. Occupations could be a drain instead of a time sink (that would have been pretty clever).
Scale porter ticket cost with zone level on a squared formula. lvl*lvl/2?
Is: lvl50:1250 100:5000 150:11250 200:20000 250:31250 (Roots like lvl300: 45000. Ouchies)
By far and wide, medium and high ql crafting was the biggest faucet, and given the amount that has to be crafted in the long term many dappers are created.
Reducing value gained from quality will help, a lot, but not fix this issue due to sheer amount of items. My ideas:
-Add a button to the crafting results window to disassemble the item, retrieving some mat (1/3?) and destroying the item.
-Allow donation of items to whatever to gain something. (Just fill in the words)
Nice alternative to missions, but the reward shouldn't be dappers or fame, just some dumping of items for... lottery tickets... where you have a 1/1000 chance to win... some crap. It's okay.
Endgame porters can be expensive, especially if people don't have to worry about dappers too much.
The tool prices as they are should work fine under these conditions.
But these are just some thoughts, not a proven system.
OPs and Tool quality has been discussed at length I think - so I'll just skip that part of the Eco. And about Occupations I have nothing to add.
In closing, not all was bad: just many of the actual game changes or additions feel.. wrong.
Free Accounts, subscription cost and subscription benefits align quite well.
Ryzom App does its thing... more integration! Good job.
Finally: I'm willing to accept if they want Silan continued on the mainland, but to me this is not the mission of, ahem, The Saga of Ryzom. Not the direction of a game I want to play.
I can do waaaayy better quests elsewhere if I felt like it.
If you need a reminder: The only purpose for missions in this game, apart from minor rewards, should be Fame.
Some clarification would be great but I don't want to turn this into a "The Direction of Ryzom" thread in any way. We can keep it Eco... I just think some buildup and background is necessary to tackle this issue in depth.
Darn, basicly: a colossal (I upgraded this word twice now) whine post about "my Ryzom" being violated. Thank me later.