Dullahan
So this patch is "the good ol' days" patch then? the time where it failed to hold on to players? where the game got passed through different publishers and still couldn't hold on to players so they had to merge the servers?
sounds legit, this should bring back the old players, and invite newcomers.. Not!
"Leaving game" and "Value of Masters", like it or not are inextricably linked. Cause for many folks, when they have 1, 2, 5 ... or ... xx masters, they have "reached THEIR endgame" and may view continuing as having no value. So if you give mastering value, there is more reason to keep going.
The introduction of New Horizons was a welcome patch as it eliminated the drudgery of long swims and treks. Things many folks immediately didn't like.
a) The rewards were hugely unbalanced effectively eliminating the viability of choosing 11,000 other missions in favor of just 4. It was the equivalent of one weapon being 15 times that of any other.
b) Unlike TPs, it allowed folks to travel to cities they weren't ready to handle .... at least in desert and lakes. To my view, you should be able to get their on your own before any type of quick travel.
c) It favored some faction / player mindset choices at the expense of others.
In Ryzom there are no classes. No race had any advantage over the other. No weapon had any inherent advantage over another. No advantage other than finger actions exists in crafting (XP is a function mats used) one tree versus another. Much effort was placed in the focus beta stage to balance the game with respect to magic versus melee which was way out of balance at this stage. As it was mages were getting significantly more XP per kill versus melee. They balanced it prior to release.
The key to making all the content in a game enjoyed by the most players is "balance". There were 11,000 missions in the game. Some were impossible (i.e. creature did not exist in that region or time was insufficient). Some were impractical (craft 80 launcher ammo)/ But for the most part they were doable. And some weren't worth the T & E required for the reward. But the great majority were worth doing.
Then came NH and while useful for traveling, it became one G-I-A-N-T exploit. No you say ?
"To show just how quick and easy it can be I have taken the time to record my daily routine of the florist occupation grades 1 - 4 "
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II3kQ7jmMkY
As for the people leaving, do you have evidence that people are leaving the game because an exploit was removed from game. I have been monitoring how many subscribers are playing the game since Day 1. As a game ages, subscriptions drop ... that is a given outside any major revision or change in cost. I joke that most of my levels are in "chat" and this it's a question I always ask and no one ever said they play the game cause it's easy .... Just the opposite.
Also remember that the average age of the player base is over 35. So the adolescent types that are frustrated if they aren't max level in everything in 3 months won't stay in Ryzom.
So as the saying goes ... "let's go to the videotape" ... in this case "the numbers" or number of recurring subscriptions
June 2015 - 1052
June 2016 - 652
June 2017 - 512
June 2018 - 396
May 2019 - NH Patch
June 2019 - 415
The skill level required for most games is a quick finger ... that's not the challenge most folks who play this game are looking for.
Originally all 2H or 1H weapons were the same damage / speed. They changed it so that each weapon had different advantages in different situations. Initially, everyone chose axe cause it put the biggest orange number over their heads. Then folks learned that each weapon had advantages particular to the situation.
In a small team, tanking a boss, I will choose a high parry HA set w/ staff and shield. I could choose a high damage, high speed weapon, but my damage pales next to a mage; so team benefits most if I am just taking the strikes, few of which will actually hit due to the parry ... thereby freeing the mages to spend less time healing and more time hitting for 3k.
Also when tanking plods for example with their "clone" skill, reach is an important factor when you have to hold 3,4,5 ... of them. This is why most long term players will say they are still learning after xx years.
Crafting is far from easy ... that's a HUGE attraction.
Simply put ... folks who want "easy" have short attention spans ... that is not and never has been Ryzom's player base.
[quote=Dullahan
they left because it's a slow grind game without end game content released by the devs
oh wait, I'm wrong, there's the Gubani brothers..[/quote]
Been playing game 15 years and I haven't reached the end of game.
The introduction of New Horizons with the original exploits was itself **new content".[/quote]
Arfur
Yes normally you would stop so as not to make the kill shot. Having a master skill means having to adjust your technique accordingly. Evolve new ways of doing things that maximise the XP of whoever you are trying to help. I count this as a good thing.
Just to clarify, the kill shot is not "a thing". If the OoT folks do 51% of the damage, the team gets 0 XP and also on kill missions, 0 loot mats.
The part getting lost here is that mastering doesn't really get ya much more than a title. Yes, you can overcraft "sister craft trees" at max XP up to 200, but ya can do that at 240 too, albeit at lower success rate.
Not suggesting these specifically ... just a straw man of something that would push the end game further out encourage folks to "complete" groupings besides in skill, one region, one craft
Master Harvest in one reqion, get + [insert number here] Total Focus
Master Harvest in all reqions, get + [insert number here] Total Focus
Swap out Harvest for Magic and all magic and Sap for Focus
Swap out Harvest for Melee and all Melee and Stamina for Focus
Master one branch (i.e. Pike) in one 2H Weaps, get + [insert number here] in success rate in 2H weaps
Master all branches in 2H Weaps, get + [insert number here] in success rate in 2H weaps
Repeat for all major branches
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