One of the most discussed topic here in the forums and what we hear complained about the most has got to be the lower levels getting "bullied". We all know Kano has implemented a ton of limits and restrictions to protect the lowest of levels so that they will have enough time to learn the game and prepare them for what the games are all about before they get run off(thats a good thing). The level limit for "protection status" and restrictions placed upon players has increased and once again there is talk of doing even more. Obviously there has to be some limits and restrictions....but does continually adding to them really solve the problem....or is it perpetuating it and creating resentment among other players which perpetuates it even further? How similar is the early stages of the game to the later stages? The protections themselves afforded at these levels seems to ensure that the experience is nothing like what the "real" game is. Its pretty much a given once "protection" status is lifted most these players are in for a rude awakening so to speak. Another thing that seems to belie the realities of PVP battle games like this is the seemingly endless supply of abandoned accounts in the early stages of the game. There is literally tens of thousands of accounts that people started yet abandoned at one stage or another early on. How true to the real game is it when these brand new players are interacting with a vast majority of accounts that dont fight back? Personally I think this is a big part of the problem. Its so easy in the beginning that the newbs get to pad their stats and level so fast with little or no consequence that they get a completely false sense of the game and an unrealistic impression of their skills. Basically they all think that they are bad ass right up until reality sinks in when the restrictions are lifted and they get to the levels in which there are many more active participants. At this point is when one of 3 things is gonna happen, 1) they quit. 2) They persevere, overcome and go on to kick ass n take names. 3) They come to the forums and whine incessantly rather than strengthening there accounts and wallow in mediocrity forever. Unfortunately....it seems to be option #1 or #3 the majority of the time. Would eliminating some of these abandoned accounts help? Do u think this is perpetuating the problem later in the game? Theres an obvious reason Kano would be against this....its the same reason they go out of their way to make it difficult to actually delete an account. Every account whether abandoned or not counts as an active account. Take a look at the number of active players Kano lists for the respective games...is anyone foolish enough to believe that many people are playing actively? The deception continues at even the mid to high levels in the form of the jumps in XP needed to be able to level. Back in the day this was a pretty talked about topic because know one knew it was going to happen until it did. Even today many players are unpleasantly surprised when they reach these barriers and many quit or decrease their playing time significantly because what should have been a happy milestone has unexpectedly turned into a WTF moment. There is some legitimate reasons for this jump in XP needed...but it also has some very unfortunate side affects. It was suggested countless times back in the day to let these "jumps" be known...why hasnt it? There is numerous other limits and restrictions that happen throughout the game at different stages and levels that Kano doesnt let be known like bounty delays, caps etc etc that we as players get to find out after weve already spent countless hours and money only to find out its to late and that we have essentially wasted our time, SP and FP. Is this deceptive? Should all caps,limit, restrictions and sudden changes in the games be made known ahead of time so we as players can make educated choices? Do think that players knowing so that they are prepared might decrease the negative impact later on? I guess its all about transparency. I think its to late to actually change some of these things but would letting players know what to actually expect help going forward? Would giving new players a more realistic experience in the beginning combined with transparency ensure that more players with the right mentality for these games progress while weeding out the ones that dont earlier on make the games a better place? There is no substitute for experience.....but knowing what to expect surely helps. Can Unrealistic expectations, deceit and not being informed do the same? In the end....Kano is a business and the bottom line is that they need to generate revenue, but where do u draw the line? Is the lack of transparency and the promotion of unrealistic expectations helping or hindering the games, players and Kanos bottom line in the long run? Just a few things I thought might be fun to see how others felt about and what they thought might help, or whether its all doomed to fail. Its becomes more and more evident that players are becoming more and more disgruntled and leaving the games, is it Kanos fault or just the natural order of things? You tell me.
to begin with, the suggestion of weeding thru the abandoned accounts sounds good in theory but think about it...can you imagine how much time and manpower that would actually take?? id much rather they work on game play than that xxxx. as for newbs not expecting whats coming, well thats really an individual issue...all it takes is a little bit of common sense and logic to have some real expectations about any game...for the most part the people playing arent jumping in to a game for the first time, theyre gamers and have to have SOME kind of idea what to expect, even tho there are alot of differences between games, most attack based games are generally the same when it comes to personalities, rivalries, preferences about being attacked and so on. you cant blame kano for the reasons people quit playing at the low levels, thats just the nature of things. i do however completely agree with you when it comes to letting players know when exp needed to level goes up, when i hit 1850 i almost quit the game lol i def stopped playing as much as i had previous to that and for a long time too....but then i noticed other things went up as well...amount of exp given for helping on challenges, adventures, hunter challenge exp, calendar exp, world boss exp...all of that offsets the increase for the most part, not completely but enough so that it doesnt take forever and a day to gain levels....as for restrictions, they really dont bother me much if at all, if the quakers want more ways to hide then so be it...eventually they get whats comin ;p tiiiiiiiiiiime is on my side.....yesitis
I agree that it would be a daunting task...but would it be worth it? Im actually not suggesting that we do it...rather just wondering if its part of the problem, same with the rest of post. I also agree on the whole "individual" thing, I too think players need to tough it or go home, but unfortunately that doesnt seem to be the case because there is a boat load of whiners out there crying about crap that everyone else already went through. Im def not blaming Kano for people quitting at the lowest of levels....that just seems to be normal in any game....its the levels that reach the end of protection status that Im concerned with. I almost quit at the XP jump as well because it came as a complete shock....theres really no surprise that you, me and the others past that point are still playing....but how many arent? Would be interesting to here some stats on how many accounts go mostly inactive soon after those jumps
well i know quite a few have quit because they take things too personally, that or they get too addicted to this crap and it takes a toll on their personal lives and have to take a step back...thats what usually happens with highers that quit. i think exp increase is more of a cause of decreased playing time more than anything, ive never had someone tell me they left because the exp to level went up...like in any free game, if you dont pay then you wont get to play as much...even with my high amount of max stamina theres only so much i can do before its gone, even with all the fps i get from challenge payouts and boss farming (i dont buy anymore) that only extends my play time by maybe an hour with the exception of the arenas. and another thing that is adding to reduced playing time IS the arena itself, if you dont buy fps then you have to start saving up at least4-5 days before it starts to have enough to play from start to finish...it takes me 40 fps to go all out in an arena. i can for the most part earn about 10 fps a day, 7 minimum so when i have to save up that takes away a total of about 6-8 hours away from playing time for me. it sucks but i like the levels i get in the arena and how fast i get them, i can get almost a weeks worth of levels in under 12 hours even with the crappy exp i get from most. guess i went off topic a bit haha but all in all i think the game has gotten better over all and the players that adapt prevail while the others are left lacking...i wont name names but we are both aware of quite a few notable ones ;p
