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SMGS -> RE: =ED= May 15th, 2014 - May Madness (5/17/2014 17:07:49)
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I'm probably one of the only people who think the map change was actually a good thing. There were two main issues I had with the old one. The graphics were a problem since the whole thing was just too plain (I love the flat UIs that Windows 8, etc. have... but this was a bit much). The other main problem I had was the amount of teleportation that was incorporated into the map. The point of building map screens is for people to explore them, not there for decor and to just be skipped over because you can teleport straight to the map you want. I also found that there was too little effort to do missions, such as the 'collection' missions that Xap mentioned. I mean, it is convenient and easy to just teleport to the maps needed... but I felt it was a bit too easy. It makes you have to work a bit to complete the mission. And really, I don't think anyone's going to say these missions are hard with a few added maps to run through.
The new change also 'forces' people to congregate at certain maps and make the game feel busier and livelier. It also gives more incentive to use vehicles... since that was the original point of making them - to move between maps faster. They became a lot more irrelevant with the old map since, at maximum, you would only need to run through two maps. I agree that walking is a bit too slow and needs to be looked at as well.
Overall, I found the map update itself to be good. A bit more running around, a little more work to complete some missions (you can still teleport to the NPC, so not all it is lost), relevance of vehicles and an overall feel that you're not alone in the game. I will say that running all the way to the Mine Station might be a bit annoying and it could probably use a separate area itself in the map, otherwise everything seems to be at reasonable distances.
The war is another story and I agree with Exploding Penguin on this one. It does seem a bit repetitive but Charfade was kind enough to clarify the war a bit. She mentioned that these regional wars were intended to be "a gateway of progressions though out the game rather then considered isolated events" (full quote below). I think the problem here is that the wars may be a bit too complex and there is a lack of flow between one war to the next (in my opinion, at least). They may not be intended to be isolated events, but they're perceived as such.
Competitions, such as this, that happen throughout the game are better off being simpler, I think. I found there was better excitement/participation in the old daily war system (the pie charts, if anyone needs a refresher). Was it repetitive? Yes. But it was simple and straightforward, and there were different winners on a daily basis. These events take a few weeks to complete and it becomes monotonous after some time, because of the length. The simple war system in the past allowed for a build up to bigger war events such as Fryste and Infernal, which brought in huge numbers.
Might be a bit pessimistic here, but I imagine that any impact the new balance tools have will be minimal. There just aren't enough people working on balance (I think the Testers and RabbleFroth are the people who will be using this tool mainly, but correct me if I'm wrong) to accurately see what impact the balance changes will make. OP builds will always come up eventually by one person and will inevitably tip the balance. I'm in agreement with something Mother1 said in another thread, "My idea of balance would be having the classes as different as possible, with individual strength's and weaknesses but still being able to compete with one another," and hopefully they work towards making each class a bit more unique. It'll be a challenge but hopefully it works out better than I think it will, and I hope they prove me and my pessimism wrong!
quote:
ORIGINAL: Charfade
Current War's were meant to be a gateway of progressions though out the game rather then considered isolated events. The problem we always saw with the Frystaland war and Infernal wars was the immense time it took to develop them. Each war, though extremely successful and I would agree probably one of the best things we have done with the game, were not in anyway reusable. And each time we had to start over from scratch. I'm also talking about the huge technical dept we ranked up and this was not a sustainable method to introduce new an exciting content in the game.
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