Incentives to get people playing again(cluster)

[Zede]

1) Realm Point Pool

Allows players to redistribute realm points between characters, via some difficult pve quest or something. A system like this has been in place in Ultima Online via device called "soulstones" for years - it works, and no reason why it should not in Daoc.

2) Starting Stats/Race Respec.

An awful lot of players in their noobness years ago put starting points in totally the wrong stats, same for race too.

3) Free Respecs/Cheap Respecs ( Skill & RA)

Let the dragons drop some other items, say with a bonus to rvr. One item could be something like a letter from the king to allow you to change your personal/group missions for rvr.

4) Battlegroup War Banners

Like the standard ones, but become available say when 30+ ppl join a bg, and affect everyone within 5000 units of the BG leader.

ps. I like no 1 the best

 

[Gratscensi]

haha, well i would definately solo a bit with a rr11 vamp ^-^

 

[SoulFly]

a big no to Rp transferring :E

 

[Zede]

haha, well i would definately solo a bit with a rr11 vamp ^-^

Obviously to avoid people who would do that, just impose a rr6 restriction, really dont take a genius to avoid such supposed abuse.

 

[Nate]

comes to the point where customers have to start thinking of ideas to bring people to the cluster, just goes to show GOA can't help us..other then the clustering, they haven't done an awful lot for low population servers.

 

[kirennia]

Very big no to the first one. Imagine when each overpowered new character came out, we'd have instant rr6 or whatever versions of them instead of the standard rr1's who have to work their way up the hard way. Would guarantee there would be a LOT more rerollers as the only thing stopping some people is the prospect of having to work through the 50 grind then low realm ranks.

Most of all, I think this'd ruin midgard who have always been the biggest victim of having a hugely overpowered character, only to have it nerfed and people reroll. At least LA people, then savages, then warlocks, now valkyries for the most part had to start from rr1 to work their way out. Imagine how many warlocks would have ruined rvr if people started with them at rr6+ :/

I'd love transfering my clerics rps to my tic but at the same time, being instant rr11 kinda takes the fun out of it a bit, working on a new character and building it up from scratch.

 

[Zede]

Very big no to the first one. Imagine when each overpowered new character came out, we'd have instant rr6 or whatever versions of them instead of the standard rr1's who have to work their way up the hard way. Would guarantee there would be a LOT more rerollers as the only thing stopping some people is the prospect of having to work through the 50 grind then low realm ranks.

Most of all, I think this'd ruin midgard who have always been the biggest victim of having a hugely overpowered character, only to have it nerfed and people reroll. At least LA people, then savages, then warlocks, now valkyries for the most part had to start from rr1 to work their way out. Imagine how many warlocks would have ruined rvr if people started with them at rr6+ :/

I'd love transfering my clerics rps to my tic but at the same time, being instant rr11 kinda takes the fun out of it a bit, working on a new character and building it up from scratch.

Really just think about it for a bit - putting safeguards in place would be very easy. For example, max allowed to transfer is 1 realm level / or say 700k rp, and say only between L50 chars you already have, and only for chars rr5 or below. Im not talking about making op chars over night, just a little something to make peeps happy.

 

[censi]

no competative end game = no end game

no end game = u can make everyone rr12 and shoot fireballs out their arse but u will still loggin and die to adds 99 runs out of 100.

 

[Where TheHellAmI]

i like nr2

 

[Lejemorder]

comes to the point where customers have to start thinking of ideas to bring people to the cluster, just goes to show GOA can't help us..other then the clustering, they haven't done an awful lot for low population servers.

you do know customer giving idea is a big part of the development of daoc?

and also why does people keep blaming GOA and not EA mythic. and i doubt you will see fresh new players at this time, the game is simply to old for that.

 

[Ctuchik]

a simple fix like making ppl have to do XP groups again would most certainly make me come back....

 

[Ctuchik]

and also why does people keep blaming GOA and not EA mythic.

because it still, after 4 years, havent sunken in to most ppls heads that its not GOA that code the game.

i mean, how fucking hard can it be?

 

[Lejemorder]

because it still, after 4 years, havent sunken in to most ppls heads that its not GOA that code the game.

i mean, how fucking hard can it be?

Yea i know it say GOA on there box, but when you start the game you see a big sign saying MYTHIC (and now also stupid EA). If people kept blaming me for something i didnt do, i would say screw you.

 

[Nikademus]

Why should I come back?

I am one of the many (I would imagine) that left the game.

Why did I leave?

(1). Because it was impacting my life - lost a job, lost my girlfriend (probably both a good thing), and gained a few pounds while playing.

Are these directly attributable to daoc - well no. But it played a large part. I, like many of you I guess, was an addict. Coupled with the fact (which now explains alot) I was recently diagnosed as having bipolar.

Very trendy these days, even that famous Stephen Fry (serial egotist and about as funny as having your nuts caught in a combine harvester).

But probably more than these facts;

(2). Because I was sulking. Mythic / daoc whoever the hell it is - quite frankly I don't really care who does the programming.....all I care about is why did they ruin the game? - they made me leave by altering the game mechanics, so many many times.

How so /and who am I?

I started as a pally. Sulking one day, when I was stomped on by a troll zerker, that I barely scratched (Pallys were gimps in those days), I re-rolled a zerker and moved to Midgard. That and the fact I was an officer in a role-playing guild, which was becoming more like an (unpaid) job every day, and I could not be arsed with the roleplaying or the responsibility.

Of course, then zerkers became gimps, and pallys Gods. This sort of thing happened so often, it became beyond a joke. How could the game mechanics be altered so much. Surely it would have been far better to get it right in the first place - with testing etc before go-live????? Called me old fashioned - but to me that is glaryingly obvious. Otherwise is like being employed. One day your boss turns round and says - "sorry mate, I want you to do the same job, but we are going to take a quarter of your salary away. Is that ok?"

Then the obvious one - ToA. That is when I stopped playing. I vowed to stop playing when the level cap was removed - this was an indirect way of so doing....like the Politicians and indirect taxes...... Sure there was the "classic server" which made me chuckle. If it really was "Classic" I would have gone back to those days when my zerker / shammie combination could take a chunk out of bad arse monsters. But anyway - I had worked hard getting to where I was. Why should I have to start all over again, or do all that ToA trials bollocks, and hunt down artis with loads of uber greed ridden kids.

Thats when the game was ruined beyond repair. People were encouraged to become greedy, item possessed animals. Few played for the love / for the fun anymore. It was such a sad day, such a big mistake in my opinion. I know you have to work hard as daoc/mythic/whatever the company - to try keep people interested and hence $$$$$'s rolling in. I think the best solution would have been to leave the world as it was - offer the option for characters to be moved permanently, to this new scarey and horrible place. Or clone the characters (as I am sure option 1 would have been technically unfeasible). Then old battle axes like me would not have left in their droves.

I was in love with this game. It was my life, my mistress, and my virtual community of friends.

I have recently been contacting one, who I felt a special bond with, endlessly recently, to no avail. I have no idea why I am so keen to get back in touch. He is a great bloke....went to Sweden to meet him and many others in the guild we were in at the time. Would of met up twice if it wasn't for Ryan air - but hey....thats a different story. But mainly - I think to try and re live that period of my life.....when there really is no going back.

The 'friendships' you form in this game, are unfortunately 90 percent of the time superficial. And it was the comaraderie / these 'friendships' that made this game what it was and I imagine still is - the boys, and girls (well mostly confused boys pretending to be girls I'll wager)

Any - I digress.

Do I want to come back?

Sure I want to come back. But what would the cost be? My idea of a virtual bliss would be converting my wife's 8 bedroom house in rural China into a cyber haven. A room with 8 pcs networked. And 7 other mature and likeable people at my beckon call, to explore every facet of this game. It is so vast. To play in uber groups in every realm. With my wife, of course, on hand to cook for us....think I would have to sell this part to her, when I win the lottery!!!!

This very month I have been thinking of returning for a month. My wife is pregnant, poorly and remaining in Hong Kong for a month, while I return to count beans in England. Got a month of boredom and worry, which I thought I would try and fill again with this game. But, at the same time, the memories I have would be ruined in a way in so doing. And I am also fearful I would get sucked in again. The other person I found inspirational in this game, although many moons ago, was a player called Aethelstan (the main force behind Order of The Knight Templars at the time). He compared the game to a heroine addiction....and he probably is not far off the truth.

Another digression - had a bizarre experience once. Nikademus was my first character - a dress wearing (see - I am curious too :kissit: ) Paladin, pretty much from just after beta phase, back in the day when glowy swords were the best thing on earth. Think I stopped playing him not long after epic armour came out (celebrated getting my epic by taking a keep with no siege equipment and less than a full group, several of which were under 50.....those were the days!!!!!)

Anyways I was at a posh wedding in London, at the law society. I nipped outside for a stealthy fag (a cigarette I mean - I am not that curious uke: ) A taxi pulled up, a guy in a kilt got out, and said to me "Knight Templars, Sir", ironic and bizarre as I was an officer in the Knight Templars. Still fond memories of hunting with Darkbain, Cirwan, Aeth, Lamont and many others, on the giant infested golf course part (can't remember what it was called) and the scarey place that was in StoneHenge) . The guy was actually after directions to a pub called the Knight Templars, just around the corner, where I believe the virtual Knight Templars had a real life meeting (my brother went - I was too scared in case my stamp collecting anarok would clash with other peoples).

People are happy to see you back, but you never get the return welcome you expect. People move on, and this game has evolved so much - I cannot compete and am a newb in most aspects.

Anyway - best go do my packing. Got to fly in a few hours- a lovely 15 hour flight .

in tin can land: Nikademus

in beardy cold land: Longbeard (the original one - not that lookalike imposter, after the world turned bad)
Grunta
Cobolt
Salrith
Indecision ('s killing me - I put the laughter into bean counting)
Harbard
.....and other equally rubbish characters (bad workman, and all that)

 

[chretien]

...stuff...

/wave!
Don't be a stranger on our boards Nik.

 

[Nate]

Yea i know it say GOA on there box, but when you start the game you see a big sign saying MYTHIC (and now also stupid EA). If people kept blaming me for something i didnt do, i would say screw you.

ofc i know mythic code the game, goa can add stuff..although they get a bit of a slap on some things they add (hello Barrels)


Well the thing is US are doing alright for population atm so Mythic aren't going to help us, and the OP gave ideas for a underpopulated server. GOA can most likely code in the changes he wanted, but if they haven't come up with ideas other then the ones supplied by Mythic already..what chance is there GOA are going to listen to anyone about what we think of how to improve underpopulation? I'm sure all the camlann/spanish/italian servers have come up with ideas, some they've posted here whilst a few of them have been quite flawed the fact remains that..all have been ignored.


They could vastly increase the bonuses currently in place to be more noticeable bonuses to the underpopulated servers such as Camlann/Cumbria/Deira and remove the bonuses from highly populated servers. Very easily done tbh and would probably make people want to try it out as it's so easy to level up.

 

[Lejemorder]

ofc i know mythic code the game, goa can add stuff..although they get a bit of a slap on some things they add (hello Barrels)


Well the thing is US are doing alright for population atm so Mythic aren't going to help us, and the OP gave ideas for a underpopulated server. GOA can most likely code in the changes he wanted, but if they haven't come up with ideas other then the ones supplied by Mythic already..what chance is there GOA are going to listen to anyone about what we think of how to improve underpopulation? I'm sure all the camlann/spanish/italian servers have come up with ideas, some they've posted here whilst a few of them have been quite flawed the fact remains that..all have been ignored.


They could vastly increase the bonuses currently in place to be more noticeable bonuses to the underpopulated servers such as Camlann/Cumbria/Deira and remove the bonuses from highly populated servers. Very easily done tbh and would probably make people want to try it out as it's so easy to level up.

im pretty sure GOA have very little to say about, such as population bonuses etc. because Mythic have provided how it shall be done.

 

[Ctuchik]

ofc i know mythic code the game, goa can add stuff..although they get a bit of a slap on some things they add (hello Barrels)

think i remember Reqiel saying something along the lines of "We send the ideas to what we want to add to Mythic, they code it, then send it back to GOA as a patch for us to implement" meaning that GOA dont do any coding whatsoever, the only thing they ARE allowed to do (iirc) is to translate. other then that they have to go to Mythic to get things like the barrels implemented...

 

[Nate]

think i remember Reqiel saying something along the lines of "We send the ideas to what we want to add to Mythic, they code it, then send it back to GOA as a patch for us to implement" meaning that GOA dont do any coding whatsoever, the only thing they ARE allowed to do (iirc) is to translate. other then that they have to go to Mythic to get things like the barrels implemented...

Quite funny then how it comes about that GOA send them what they want added for barrels, Mythic code it for them, send it back and we have it for a year...then finally Mythic realise what they coded and find it to be game changing and also that GOA shouldn't have added it in the first place. Can't really see it happening that way..but ok if you say so

 

[IainC]

think i remember Reqiel saying something along the lines of "We send the ideas to what we want to add to Mythic, they code it, then send it back to GOA as a patch for us to implement" meaning that GOA dont do any coding whatsoever, the only thing they ARE allowed to do (iirc) is to translate. other then that they have to go to Mythic to get things like the barrels implemented...

It works in different ways for different situations. Items, quests, NPCs, and similar things can be coded up by us directly. We have spare database slots to use for this purpose. Mythic have given us guidelines on what we can and cannot add and they have the ultimate right of veto over any new content that we might want to drop in - it's their game after all. We can also directly fix (in consultation with Mythic) problems that are simply a case of an incorrect database field (such as a monster that drops the wrong loot, a typo in dialogue, items with a wrong ability for example).

Fixes that aren't a simple case of altering a field in a database such as pathing problems, effects of spells and abilities and other such things that are buried in the actual code of the game need to be fixed by Mythic. They'll send us a patch which we'll test and if it needs further tweaking will be sent back to Mythic until the problem is solved.

 

[Himse]

free rr upon 50 imo. make it low, or give a free realm rank every 10 levels, so lev 40, rr2, 50 rr3... so people have things like mcl etc to level with?

since less people are playing maybe ml's should be made into quests, like a 10 step quest per ml.

 

[Nate]

It works in different ways for different situations. Items, quests, NPCs, and similar things can be coded up by us directly. We have spare database slots to use for this purpose. Mythic have given us guidelines on what we can and cannot add and they have the ultimate right of veto over any new content that we might want to drop in - it's their game after all. We can also directly fix (in consultation with Mythic) problems that are simply a case of an incorrect database field (such as a monster that drops the wrong loot, a typo in dialogue, items with a wrong ability for example).

Fixes that aren't a simple case of altering a field in a database such as pathing problems, effects of spells and abilities and other such things that are buried in the actual code of the game need to be fixed by Mythic. They'll send us a patch which we'll test and if it needs further tweaking will be sent back to Mythic until the problem is solved.

so other then putting us right about what you can code/can't, are any of the ideas above an option? would GOA take ideas from the public further? are GOA looking at populations on servers/ways to improve them?

 

[Javai]

Posted this idea before but - open Glast as standard rule set - cluster it and allow us to therefore play all 3 realms in English.

 

[Klonk]

How about an actual "classic" server?

We all miss the old school leveling (when did you ever go to Gna/Galplen on Glastonbury?) outside instanced dungeons, right? I was VERY disappointed once I realized that "classic server" didn't mean "classic" server at all..

Maybe include DF, but that's about it

 

[Jeremiah]

so other then putting us right about what you can code/can't, are any of the ideas above an option? would GOA take ideas from the public further? are GOA looking at populations on servers/ways to improve them?

Why not just miss out GOA and send your ideas to Mythic themselves. I would think it would be more effective for Mythic to recieve 300 emails from EU people than 1 from GOA saying "300 people have requested...".

 

[Lamp]

* Hands nic a bottle of nurofen *

 

[Dwali]

or just reroll the servers to si state with the new models and have all the abilitys from OF...that would bring ppl back. To bad it cant be done

 

[Reformed]

You know I think the rot started with the introduction of SC. Why bother with game exploring - which was amazing at the beginning - when you can become far better by messing with sc'ing. That really is, in my opinion, the big fault with this game now. Shit I was so overjoyed when I got my first 100% qual gladius (think that was what it was called) drop. Now though? You can get one with a very powerful proc as well. In essence everyone's vision of the game has been severely restricted. Players more or less focus on the things they need to become 'uber'. This doesn't include exploring the game anymore. The game for many boils down to having 2 accounts - buffbot and other - one account for sc. To become 'uber' now means no more than parking some alt or other in Aegir to craft mainly whilst passing the items on to your heavily twinked other alts that are boosted to the high heavens with buffing as well. No-where in this view of the game is the thought of grouping or game exploring anymore. End of camaraderie and the creation of very 'elite' players. TOA ofcourse made things that much worse.

How to put the above right? Well Mythic had a chance with a 'Classic' server but I think chickened out of making it a proper classic server. It just boiled down to a slightly altered normal server. In my opinion a test server with polls should be setup and any alteration should be passed to this test server so peeps can try it out. Ultima Online has one where you can start the game at any level (if I remember rightly) and any spec and with unlimited dosh. If they make such a mess of enforced gameplay why don't they bleeding well ask us first and provide us with an area to test things out?

 

[Talsar]

2) Starting Stats/Race Respec.

An awful lot of players in their noobness years ago put starting points in totally the wrong stats, same for race too.

3) Free Respecs/Cheap Respecs ( Skill & RA)

Let the dragons drop some other items, say with a bonus to rvr. One item could be something like a letter from the king to allow you to change your personal/group missions for rvr.

<nods> i would vote for those.