Re: Upcoming Changes.
Posted: 08 Mar 2021 18:43
I want to ask, how does this bring fighters and casters closer? A caster now will definitely be destroyed fairly quick in a fight against melee and even in PvE they seem less capable, I used to fall into a tank role(which I can barely do now) and my damage doesn't compare to the white hits and specials fighters get right now. Sure I can heal...but I can no longer grind efficiently and there are better healers in the realms, There is no being on par right now, nor are casters sought after as much as you think currently. I'm not going to quit but it is pretty disheartening to not be able to do anything you used to be able to do well.Targun wrote: ↑08 Mar 2021 18:18Hektor
I have a lot respect for you as a player and I'm sure there are many that would name your character as one of the first who helped them make their first steps on Genesis, so please don't take this note as some sort of personal attack. I think you push it a bit too far here though and resort to some sort of blackmailing arguments, which follow the lines of: "adhere to my demands or I won't play".
Of course you put it in very eloquent and polite way, but in essence that's your statement. The actual problem here is, you don't even bother to test the changes and make up your own mind, but instead outright say, "I refuse to test it, here are my demands, or I leave". You make some good points, but at the same time fair share or your arguments - in my opinion - does not hold when subjected to critical thinking.
Active play vs. Passive Play
This argument makes little sense when applied to Genesis. As a melee your interaction with the game during grind is - set up your triggers and change rooms. If your special has "something extra" such us; selecting hit location or choosing whether to blind or disarm - you add a button or a switch, or have it automated as well. As a caster - the only difference is - your triggers are a bit more complex, and you have couple more modes, but it can be automated to the same degree. You then have some binds assigned on top of it for more mana consuming "burst rotation" for soloing big mobs. When it comes to combat MUDs really aren't something overly complicated.
Therefore, as far as player involvement in combat is concerned nothing changes for worse in this regard. If anything - right now you actually need to pay some attention, look at the screen from time to time and check your health if you want to min-max your progress. If someone wants to use their old bots, they have to downgrade their XP ground a bit (and still will do at least comparable progress) or invest some time in making their bots a little bit smarter.
I Cannot Play
Of course, you can. You just have to be tad more careful. I honestly don't believe one of the biggest chars in the game, in a guild which isn't exactly a pushover will suddenly flop just because white hits do 200% of their dmg.
Melee vs Casters
I have an issue here in terms of general statement coming from your note. You've been a member of a guild that was one of the most powerful creations in the history of Genesis (at least before the recode). The only two other guilds that could give it run for its money were MM and Vampires (who doesn't long those joyous times when we could enjoy ships with stat-cloud+black breath, somewhat distantly followed by autohunt coded as a guild ability).
Recently, while doing trip down memory lane I found on this very forum an old log, where Nikiel absolutely obliterates Amberlee in 4-5 spells. viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1537&p=12590&hilit ... mer#p12590 - for those interested.
Naturally, it's fairly old log, before Psuchea was recoded to Spirit Circle. My point here however is; most of population had to endure that level of imbalances literally for what ~15+ years? I am quite certain, they had much better reasons to come and say "I refuse to play the game, until things like those in the log, MM or Vampires are addressed" than you do right now.
Although, it's probably fair to say, many people stopped playing for these very reasons. Obviously, since then we've gone a long way and balance has improved massively. Communications, transparency, meritocracy, maturity you name it... simply, general approach by the people running the game is probably the best Genesis has ever enjoyed.
And by all means, I am not saying that if someone was OP in the past, they should be somehow punished. I don't have enough knowledge and data to make some definitive statements about the power comparison between melee and casters nowdays (even if I have some opinions and observations), but could it be that - right now - you're just somewhat on par with melee? Perhaps slightly disfavored in certain scenarios and probably still sought for and favoured in others with some upgrades to casters on the way?
On general note...
PvP
I think abilities blocking movement should be temporarily disabled, if possible. In my view PvP in Genesis requires a bit more thorough revamp, but it's a topic on its own. Unfortunately, in the past it often came down to solutions which resembled performing an eye surgery with a chainsaw and a sledgehammer, which might have netted suboptimal results. Bottom line is, I don't think it should be possible to just enter the room, stun whoever is in it and kill them before the stun ends. If this is the case, I think it should be addressed - or perhaps players should show some maturity and do not use these abilities for a moment.
This being said, if you join a guild like Knights, MM, Rangers, DA, etc. and then you're suprised or upset you died in PvP, then I really think you need to do some research, before you pick your guild.
Death penalty
I think with death recovery - it's really not big of a deal. You get 80% of lost XP back in absolutely no time. Just a quick look at the number of power-player myths that purposefully got themselves to expert just to quickly grind guild-stat in their new guilds should be an indicator enough and... they're back to myths in no time.
My Opinion so far
I like the fact that the game is more fast paced. I think there are some things that seem to fly under the radar or need to be adjusted. To name a few
- I saw some massive dmg coming from archer mobs, that normally wouldn't even scratch me.
- I think white hits should be normalized a bit more (reduced upper / lower bound on random ), so that general dmg stays the same, but we don't observe those massive hits that chunk so much health in one go.
Bias Disclaimer (of the 2 characters I tested the changes on): On my monk - I was so far able to get progress about 15% faster, with extensive healing. I think with some testing I can probably push that number further however. On my other character (offensively set up), I'm absolutely flying, doing progress at least twice as fast as before the changes. I am abusing some XP grounds and mechanics on that character though.