Sundance
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Good evening fellow Epic Duel colleagues,
The following post you are about to read is somewhat of a monologue written by a returning player who is reflecting on the current status of Epic Duel as a game, business, and as a community. For those individuals who are inclined to read this long post, I would like to remind them that this is just the written opinion of one person, myself. An opinion is only worth the amount of effort you put into getting it; since this written sentiment has required little to no work for you to attain, please regard what I have to say with a grain of salt.
To begin:
Before I begin, let me first give you some background information of how I developed along with the game. Although I’ve never been a widely famous or particularly ancient player, I have been actively engaged in many communities throughout various stages of Epic Duel. In the beginning of my stay I was a non-varium mercenary, spending credits poorly and being under geared and uneducated about the game in general— my win record suffered immensely. It wasn’t until I reached level 28, (two levels away from the level cap at the time) that I was discovered and helped along.
An old time player Sky Blade24, leader of a high ranking faction of the time called FIRESCYTHE, assisted me with trying to create a decent build. He got me into contact with a few of the top mercenaries of the time, namely Tagryt and Snake King. The two of them spent over an hour teaching me about builds. For those old dogs out there, this was during the time just before TSAAS, when gamal was the 1v1 leader and Lords was a leading faction.
As time progressed, so did my knowledge of the game. Wiseman108 soon came out with some revolutionary support builds and like most non variums of the time, I started making my own. It was in this fashion of low defense and high support (96 to be exact) that I met and started enjoying the company of many well-known founders of past and present. Namely, Epicness, 3.lol, Beastmo, Fay Beee, xxDantExx, Shaniqua, Ramirov, Testbuild and OxBlooD. Just to name a few. These players, at least to me, were giants of their class and represented the epitome of what I wanted to be. Non- varium support builds were widely regarded as the most effective of the time and with this build I met and socialized with many well-known players.
After spending some time away from the game I returned and joined Lyconia’s tutoring faction. She was dedicated to helping out up-and-coming varium and non-varium players learn about the game in general. I joined as her *Dean of Mercenaries*to share some of what I had learned from what past players had taught me.
For a few months I kept this up until I felt I wanted to be in a more competitive faction. Lyconia, always a giving person, hooked me up with one of the most competitive factions at the time, The Jarmellos. There I made some good friends like Babyrayman and Ch0p Suey. Both of which I still remain friends with today.
It wasn’t until late beta, when five focus builds were released, that I purchased varium and met the most influential person of my time in Epic Duel. I met G00ny, another well-known player and we seemed to connect immediately. It wasn’t before long when I was invited to join Renegade Masters, which I believe is made up of some of the most amazing people in the Epic Duel community. Most of the relationships that I have today sprouted from friends of G00ny’s or associates of the Renegade Masters. I stayed in RM through Beta, Gamma, and Delta.
As I was writing this summation of my Epic Duel life, I kept wondering where I met one of my dearest friends within the game, Elf Priest JZaanu. Although I still can’t remember where exactly I first met her, she is a very special friend and it would be remiss for me to write anything about my past life without mentioning that wonderful person. Thank you G00ny, Jzaanu, and everyone else, for making my time in Epic Duel fun filled and exciting.
Currently, I am now back with FIRESCYTHE and ready to take on Omega.
The method to the madness:
Now that I have established myself, I hope you will take the time to consider what I now have to say about the current condition of Epic Duel. I will break down my thoughts into specific sections for easy reference later.
Epic Duel, The game:
If the above text wasn’t enough to convince you, I’m wild about this game and its people. I love it, I always have and I always will. I’ve played for a long time, and there is no other MMORG that I’ve experienced that is quite like this one.
Like any new game, Epic Duel has had various bumps in the developing road, but in my own personal opinion, none of these hiccups permanently detracted from the game itself. As players, we have immense freedom with our builds. Our only restriction is our own ingenuity. If we want to build a balanced reactive build, so be it. If we want to spam a particular stat, so be it. If we want to share someone else’s success and stand on the shoulders of their creativity, so be it. To some, this type of freedom is a negative thing. To others, it’s seen as an attractive feature of the game.
Many games teach valuable lessons that could be used in real life. Leveling up, for example could teach players how to be determined to work for the things they want. Pricey weapons and upgrades for example can teach players how to save their money. Just to name a few things.
Epic Duel adds another element that I feel people sometimes pass by without noticing. I feel, Epic Duel can teach us something about our attitude and our own human nature.
The world, whether we like it or not, is a very competitive place; to become a success you need to excel in your craft, aided usually with some luck and some ingenuity.
Many try to become a success by coming up with ideas. Titan, Nightwraith, and all gaming innovators are good examples of these types of people. Others try to cheat or steal, their way to success.
Similarly, in some cases some ideas were so superb that they stood out above the rest. It’s human nature that in a competitive setting people will want to win. So, naturally, it makes sense that when certain builds became widely known to be successful many people try to fashion builds that are similar. That way, others could share in the good fortune of that build.
Those that could not fashion similar builds were caught in the crossfire of either creating a build to counter it, or to pack up and go home.
Another funny thing about human nature is when we’re not successful we’re more than likely to complain about our circumstances, or our bad luck, or God, or whatever, rather than to critically analyze our actions.
Too often I feel that many ingenious builds were destroyed by people that would rather complain, than put in some effort and come up with a build of their own.
“With great freedom comes great responsibility." ~ Voltaire
As we just discussed, Epic Duel is, or was in some cases, a game centered on freedom of expression. For some reason, when a great new build is discovered, it soon gets the title of being *OP*. Quickly thereafter some individuals will start to complain about the build’s success. We have a great responsibility in Epic Duel that we do not even realize. We have through our comments, gaming habits and posts the power to restrict stats, abolish builds, and destroy success.
As established earlier, we as humans like to be competitive. We also like to be successful. If there is a particular circumstance in which we are unsuccessful or feel that someone is more successful than ourselves, we will more likely they not try to tear that person apart. It’s simply human nature.
“There is in fact a manly and legitimate passion for equality that spurs all men to wish to be strong and esteemed. This passion tends to elevate the lesser to the rank of the greater. But one also finds in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to want to bring the strong down to their level, and which reduces men to preferring equality in servitude to inequality in freedom” ~ Alexis de Tocqueville
As we try to pursue success, their through building ourselves up, or tearing others down, we somehow lose sight of who to blame when things go wrong.
To provide an example, somehow, the Epic Duel staff is supposedly at fault for every, so called, “OP” build that comes around. When did it become our right, or the staff’s right to rip tear down an idea? Who can be the judge of who is successful, and who is too successful? Aren’t we by making that very decision discouraging ingenuity and restricting our freedoms in creating builds?
I believe that Stat nerfs, skill requirements, and other restrictions detract from the game and discourage ingenuity. I also believe that the Epic Duel staff is not at fault for any of this, nor are the people who came up with these creative ideas. It is the fault of us, as a majority of players, to would rather complain about an idea than make up an idea of their own.
In conclusion to the gaming section of this post, I would like to remind everyone that is reading this that we are about to go into Omega. The Epic Duel staff is lifting many restrictions to gaming content, if you want to have more freedom than in past phases of this game, learn to think and be creative.
In Omega try to encourage success, not smother it. Learn to be innovators, not imitators. Lastly, try to be companions, not just competitors.
Epic Duel, the Business:
Let’s face it; the majority of us have never once owned a business, held a paying job, or handled large sums of money. For most, our knowledge of money is simply what we’ve picked up along the way from our parents or guardians. In addition, many of us purchase varium packages with money from our parents, and on the whole, I think it’s safe to say the majority of us want our money to go farther.
I remember a time, in Beta, where we were getting release after release, George Lowe, Charfade, Easterzookas, Bunny Borg armor, all within a few weeks of each other. It’s times like this when people really started to complain about how short success was to be purchased in the game. I’m about to say now what I was saying back then.
If we like it or not, success in Epic Duel cannot be purchased to the degree some individuals have been lead to believe. Success is something that comes from an idea. Strong stats help a great deal, but in the end, it’s the player, not the parts, that breeds success.
To provide a quick example before I continue: In late beta strength hunter builds were alive and well, the typical smoke > gun > cheap-shot >massacre > rage gun. But a non-varium hunter came up with the idea of using EMP before going through the gauntlet of devastating attacks. This idea turned out to be a hit, and quickly many other varium players started following suite. Naturally those that paid varium had better percents than the non varium. But who can say that makes the non varium player any less successful? The way I see it, a person came up with an idea so unique that other players recognized its excellence. As they say, the best sign of admiration is imitation.
Back to business, as we well know Epic Duel is a fun game. Sometimes I feel that in our state of gameplay we forget that Epic Duel is not just a game, but a business as well. As a business, you need to make a profit, if you don’t make a profit you go out of business. We as players need to realize that Epic Duel is a business first, game second. One could not exist without the other. When these releases come about, it’s not “the devs getting greedy” it’s in actuality just the natural function of a business.
In addition to this, we must also know the difference between being taken care of, and being taken advantage of. What I mean by that is when a business starts trying to exploit certain parts of human nature for a quick buck. Thankfully, most businesses realize that abusing the wallets of their consumers, or rather the wallets of the consumer’s parents, is bad business. Eventually the majority of consumers realizes the actions of the business and takes their money elsewhere. In short, bad business creates an environment of no business at all.
As Epic Duel developed as a game, it was developing as a business as well. When going through developing stages occasionally bad decisions are made. I do not know what was causing, for example, the stat inflation in the mid Beta period. Perhaps the developers were hurting for capitol, perhaps AE was pressuring Titan and Nightwraith into producing more money, or more likely, the staff was trying to figure out what their audience could handle fiscally. In other words, they were trying to figure out better business habits.
It is undeniable that there was some stat inflation in the mid Beta period. Soon after an excellent post, found here http://forums2.battleon.com/f/tm.asp?m=18575944&mpage=1&key=, argued for standardized stats versus stat inflation. From a consumer standpoint the message was sound. It raised a series of very excellent points. However, there was also a fatal business flaw in the logic. If the stats stayed the same, what would inspire the consumer to by new produces? Stated simply: why would a person be convinced to buy a weapon that was already just as good as the one they already possess?
Whether or not that post or posts similar had an effect of the developers, what is certain is that shortly afterwards the staff did standardize stats. They also came out with the brilliant business move of giving weapons special abilities. In that way, they didn’t constantly daunt their consumers with ever increasing stats, but created an environment of ever increasing build options.
If you notice what’s happening in Omega, they’re doing exactly the same thing. They are trying to increase business by give us a greater variety of special abilities without having to tantalize us with major heavily statted weapons.
In addition, they’re lifting restrictions on health, energy, and weapons requirements and boosts. What they’re trying to do is to sell us more freedom and flexibility. They are making a very smart business move.
We as consumers however, have the ultimate power over their decision. We can decide through our purchases whether or not we want more freedom with stats, or do we want a more restricted atmosphere. If we like these new changes, Epic Duel as a business will thrive, and as a natural occurrence, the game and its participants will also thrive.
Also remember that the developers are not just some faceless group of people that are there only for your enjoyment. They are human beings that came up with a great idea, and are trying to share that idea with others. In addition, not only are the developers putting in their time and effort, but also the developer’s families.
I watch the developers with admiration and respect as they try so hard to put together something great like Omega. To work fifteen hour days seven days a week for four weeks is not something that is easy to do, and not something that most players can claim to have done in their life.
What we can as players associate with and understand are the families of the developers. Just imagine if one of your family members was gone from the house for that long. Try to understand the hardship that some of these families are going through to make something like Omega possible. Also try to understand how devastating it is for the developers, and their families, when something like Omega gets delayed.
Omega for us represents a new challenge and some entertainment over Christmas break. Omega for the developers represents their livelihood, and a job well done. Its completion means Titan and the other developers can get their paycheck, and their families get their father or mother, brother or sister back for the holiday season.
Please remember when your complaining in-game about how Omega was delayed, for you it was a disappointment in your weekend, for the developers it was a devastating event over the holiday season. Very few things could be more devastating than having to work through the Christmas Holiday surrounded by people who think you’ve failed. Please respect Epic Duel as a business, as a game and as a collection of people that are trying to provide you with a fun filled holiday season.
Epic Duel, the Community:
Very often now I here conversations about “the good old days” of Epic Duel. Having been actively participating in many of these events during the “good old days” I can’t but help reflecting how much we used to complain back then as well.
Just like the saying, “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence” similarly, “the past always seems brighter than the present”.
Sometimes, in the competitive atmosphere, we forget that ultimately it’s a game. We forget that we’re here for our enjoyment. We forget that success shouldn’t be revolving around how many kills and hour we’re getting, or what percent we have, it should be concentrated on making sure we’re having a blast! In my opinion, if you’re not having fun here, don’t stay here! There are so many other things in life that are more entertaining than complaining about a game you don’t happen to like!
By that same token however, if you are enjoying yourself, keep playing and realize that you are experiencing the true intent of gaming. Games in general, are trying to provide you with an entertaining alter reality. They’re not trying to steal your money, or make you unhappy. You get to choose if you want to spend your money, and you get to decide whether or not you’re happy or not!
Take command of your own happiness, enjoy Epic Duel for what it is, a game. As we enter into Omega, let’s make sure we’re pursuing our own happiness and success first. Let’s make sure we’re recognizing that Epic Duel is a business first, game seconds. Let’s make sure that make sure we see the developers and staff as people, not servants. Let us go into Omega with minds ready for creativity, attitudes ready for camaraderie and may we forever be saying: BATTLE ON!
God bless,
Sundance.
< Message edited by Sundance -- 12/21/2012 0:15:03 >
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