Aren1227
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Hiya!
As I am sure other players will do a much better job of specific class details, I will instead opt to focus on the bigger picture.
The TL;DR for this post, however, may be something like this: Having extensive stat customization doesn't make sense in AQW, due to the core game mechanics.
Obviously that is a bit of a heavy opinion, so I will try to back it up when I can. I am also writing this for a reader who has little to no knowledge of the examples I am using, so forgive me if I set things up from time to time....like now!
Back in the day of tabletop games, when the computer was a human Dungeon Master (DM), each and every player had to maintain total confidence in their individual stats, abilities, feats, traits, backstory....you get the point. Loading all of that on one DM would mean games would take far longer than they already did, so each player had a 3-5 page document with all that info for them. Each stat was incredibly important, as not only did it effect combat, but also playstyle when role-playing your character. A bard human may have a much better go of persuading the NPC to give them information than a 7 foot tall Orc Berzerker; that player would probably choose to intimidate instead. While Persuasion and Intimidate were based largely on those stats (in this case, Charisma), other influences, like being an orc, or a bard, meant one was almost definitely a better choice than the other.
In today's games, the computer does everything (and thank god for that. Can you imagine 1 DM for 10,000 players at any time?) But it also means that the player no longer needs to see those crucial stats, merely their effects. When I play AQW, my stat screen may as well look like this: http://prntscr.com/f311xp
The stats just aren't important or useful to me in this game. What matters first and foremost is usually the power/DPS of whatever I am using to attack with, and my total HP. That's it. A large amount of this game's content can be done with thinking about those two stats alone. Maybe if you want a Boss-fighting, supporting, or farming class would come second (and usually just the first or last, since not many battles have need of any sort of support).
In this game, we seem to have both heavy stat customization, (which implies we have the ability experiment with builds, and make off-meta ones), and heavy class customization. That's fine, but really you don't need both. Games like Dungeons and Dragons or League of Legends had crazy in-depth stat customization because there were limited classes/champions (shhh, I know LoL has a lot of champions, but bear with me) to choose from, BUT each class could be built in several ways, like tank, off-tank, DPS, Jungle... AQW's current 'meta' on the public servers is quite the opposite: everyone uses one enhancement, and instead switches the classes themselves around the task required. These are both effective styles of play, but trying to do both would mean a LOT of customization and tailoring, and that's not even mentioning the aesthetic side of getting crazy awesome looking gear! It just doesn't make a lot of sense, especially for a game intended for a younger audience.
Because this game is, to put quite simply, not a hardcore game. You needn't learn muscle memory, or crazy boss fight patterns. It IS a solid game, and one of my favorites, but it isn't trying to be as complex or challenging as Dark Souls. And it doesn't HAVE to be. So, why add in things that are unnecessary for a game like that? You don't need to worry about persuasion, acrobatics, or stealth checks in this game. To be fair, it does make sense to have Endurance work for HP, or Wisdom for mana. But I feel that, if you are only going to use half of a system, there may be a better alternative.
Therefore, I would suggest a few things.
1) Showing the players (if indeed you want to do enhancements at all) enhancements that are clear and concise. Every class in this game auto attacks. Almost every class uses skills (way to bring down the curve, No Class). But these two things can be boiled down to Physical and Magical attack damage. Perhaps something similar to Diablo 3's system would make sense for something like this. Each of their items DOES have stats under the hood. But for the majority of players, they also feature a handy baseline at the bottom (http://prntscr.com/f33rq1 <== an example, if you don't know that game well). Adventure Quest Worlds could benefit from this greatly. To be honest, I have absolutely no clue how much my enhancements increase from level to level. I have no idea if it is worth even the 3 extra minutes to do it, if the enhancement is only increasing from level 64 to level 65. If you used this way, you could still have stats that are unique to each type of class, but you wouldn't have to worry about players taking time to understand them if they didn't want to.
2) Less deciding, more playing While some classes can be built different ways, players aren't fighting crazy bosses that need teamwork and dedication for the majority of the game. Earlier in this, you mentioned having a jack of all trades sort of enhancement to replace Luck. This makes sense to me, and you should definitely pursue it. With all the possible weapons, armor, capes, helms, and more, it would be and is tedious to constantly switch enhancements for each piece of gear, just because I want to farm instead of boss-fight. Adding in this Balanced enhancement would help. Furthermore, perhaps a way to save a load-out of your current items(something like being able to save 5 sets of Helm, Cape, Weapon, Armor, Pet, and Class would be more than fine), and equip them all in one click would be a godsend Honestly, I would pay 200 AC's per loadout savable (Similar to bank slots, you could have load-out slots) to be able to have that function, or even have it be a Member perk(As I recall, Member perks are all about time saving anyway, so this fits in nicely). While I know many players, not the least of which myself, who have grown up with the games, and actively play for story reasons, boss fights, or even to chat and hang out, a large percentage are collectors (and obviously, those categories bleed over substantially.) To them, and to me, it can allow for fluid and dynamic class changes, that don't look silly because the only Wizard Helm enhancement you have is a blue tiger with rainbows shooting out of its eyes (which btw is awesome, but slightly clashes with Beleen's stuff).
3) If players are able to Min/Max their stats in the new server, allow them to see stuff*. I am really excited for the new server. With elemental statuses being a possibility, it makes sense to have those stats be visible to players, much like in Adventure Quest. However, if that is happening, might I suggest having an option in the setting file to turn on or off that particular display of stats? I wouldn't need to see them all the time, especially if I am just farming a new release casually. Some players, however, would love to use something similar to that to tinker with a full Critical chance build, or get crazy high resistances. This leaves room for both types of players to flourish.
4) Make each enhancement worth picking Finally, I would recommend adding in special bonuses (like awe bonuses) to equipping items with crazy enhancements. While this isn't required by any means, I would love to see it. Perhaps warrior classes receive a 10% damage buff to all physical attacks, or 10% HP boost. Perhaps mage classes get mana regen increases. The idea is to make each enhancement have value. Otherwise, there isn't a real good point to having so many enhancements, hybrid enhancements, or whatever. A great idea would also be to have bonuses for equipping staffs with mage enhancements, or having all 4 enhancements the same type enable another bonus. Going back to Diablo 3, they do this very well with what are called Set Bonuses. They make the game interesting and fun, and allow for some very great playstyles, and off-meta picks that are combinations of sets and their bonuses. To that effect, players could farm for (or pay with AC's) these interesting Set enhancements, allowing more interaction to class customization than equipping some enhancements, farming at a spot for an hour, and being done. An interesting conclusion would be to make the balanced enhancement not have the ability to have those bonuses, meaning players who want to go the extra mile are encouraged beyond +10 to strength, and +5 to HP. I know this directly seems to conflict with my previous statements, but I couldn't resist! I enjoy character customization, and if implemented, I can see myself doing this for 4 or 5 of my favorite classes, but not every single one.
In this game, I like seeing the new areas, exploring new places, developing characters I have known for years, and collecting sweet sweet loot. I feel these changes help supplement these endeavors.
Thank you for reading, and I hope I made sense! If you have additional questions, feel free to poke me on twitter or something.
~Aren
< Message edited by Aren1227 -- 5/2/2017 0:35:42 >
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