This article looks at what the game may be changing to and possible problematic issues and solutions. Please note the following are merely speculations by the author and should not be taken as fact. What the game is changing to? From the recent reworking of loot tables for mobs and the rise of low TT (L) guns I think it's safe to conclude a lower cost to play model is in it's fruition. Once the improved loot reworking is completed it's therefore likely it'll be cheaper to play this game. This is something that many of us have asked for and if the game is to go mainstream it needs to be cheaper for casual players as well as more serious players. There are also other changes like the rise of unlimited sib rifles from all PP's. This is likely to be a precursor to more unlimited sib gun offerings for all category of weapons from all PP. The dmg/pec rating of most if not all new weapons seems to be fairly good. This seems to indicate the game in the future will no longer be about selecting a gun for it's dmg/pec rating as in the past and more about a persons real life reactions to move, aim or shoot. Furthermore game dynamics could also be changed which allow the use of vtols for hunting for example and other actions which were previously disallowed e.g. trapping could be allowed and in fact encouraged. Why? well because the game would be more about the intelligent/creative use of all equipment available to an avatar rather than dmg/pec of uber items as in the past. New items could drop that in fact encourage this kind of game play. We already have in game various chips that follow this kind of model e.g. metabolic acceleration chips that once applied allow you to run faster. This can be used to kill mobs without taking any damage and hence save an avatar from buying any armor. Therefore reducing their cost to play further. Problems related to these changes? While a lower cost to play model is good for the game. The effects of this could be drastic and could potentially be a catastrophic blow to the whole platform. This is because these changes are likely to affect those players who have deposited large amounts in the past to buy various equipment. In the past people were encouraged to deposit large amounts to buy various uber equipment. The need for such equipment under this new model seems to be redundant as they would offer little advantage to the newer equipment being introduced. If this is the case the biggest "losers" would be the very people that deposited large amounts to buy such equipment. They are unlikely to be happy about the new changes as their "investments" would no longer be worth what they paid for. This could cause a backlash from such players and if enough of them leave the game the level of deposits into the game would fall drastically. Without depositing players the game cannot survive. I must stress again these are speculations on what could happen and are not facts. Possible solutions? It would seem wise for MindArk to help somehow keep the value of old equipment as it was in the past. To keep the people who invested in the game in the past happy. If they can't do that it would erode confidence in EU because who will trust a company that stabs it's best customers in the back? The question is, is it possible to have a cheaper game to play with cheaper new equipment and older equipment at a higher price? If this can be achieved it will be good for the game and everyone. Low cost to play as well as low cost equipment is essential as is the need to keep value of old equipment high. How can these two contradictions be reconciled? The following are possible ideas that could help achieve these aims: Change stats of old equipment so that they are valued higher. For some reason I suspect this option is unlikely to be favored by MindArk. However, it is still an option that should be considered. Addition of new attributes to old equipment to add value. For example there is a mining finder when equipped increases metabolic acceleration. Thus allowing a miner to run faster. Old equipment could have such attributes added in relation to their weapon ladder position i.e. better ones get higher stats and lower ones lower stats thus preserving their ladder position. Note this could work for weapons as well as armors. So wearing unlimited pixie could add a marginal metabolic benefit while wearing some uber armor like shadow a higher benefit. A new type of upgrade mechanism added to older equipment. For example use of MindForce powers if old equipment is somehow upgraded. This could be like the SI increase on spaceships. Addition of some minerals increases MindForce powers of equipment. MindForce powers used by such equipment could be proportional to the extent of upgrade i.e. 10% upgrade would only use 10% of ME and only !0% of benefits to one that is fully upgraded. A new type of upgrade mechanism added to older equipment. This could be different from one mentioned above. For example a damage/speed control knob. This control could allow us to alter the damage/speed of a weapon (or other stats in case of armor i.e. protection/durability). As long as it only allows downward change it shouldn't be a problem i.e. can't add more damage but could be used to reduce damage output. Again use of this should be proportion to cost i.e. if damage is reduced ammo and decay of weapon should also be reduced in proportion. To be honest don't see such a upgrade adding too much value to an item. Another option could be to make unlimited old school weapons dmg/pec start at 2.9 even at zero skills of an avatar. As an avatar increases their skills so does the dmg/pec of an item. This could be a good solution as it gives benefit to old school items and reinforces the importance of skills without "punishing" for having no skills. Finally please note the above are merely speculations by the author and should not be taken as fact. Furthermore author is owner of some unlimited old school items.
To be honest I see this as asking to make rich player even stronger than they currently are. They already gave old shool players insane skill boost. New players cant even get close to their lvl. To get to lvl100 (where u use most UL items with some eco DPP) is close to impossible... unless u sell your house and chip in ofc. I don't see a reason why MA should make u another free gift really. I rather see the new players able to catch up and balance things a bit without the need of depositing $10k+. Don't get me wrong... I do understand the idea of the game and that it will cut from the higher lvl player. I also have some nice gear and I want to think im in the mid-higher end of the food chain. But i never depoed in this game and I've been in the durt too so i know what it is to be neglected by the ubers. So you just have to get over it i guess... buying uber gear is a gamble and sometimes it pay off sometime u loose... I guess u are on the loosing end this time...
whatever speculations are made now will be likely to be made wrong in a year or ten. The truth of the matter is Mindark knows how to put a carrot on a stick that they like to move around a lot. Give someone a hope that they almost have the carrot and then bash the hope by showing that it was just another mirror trick so the carrot's on the other side... 180 degrees from the direction they were leading you. They have done it since day one.
Back in 2004 we had so called skill-barriers. When you tried to jump from 1999 to 2000 rifle skill it took "ages". From 2999 to 3000 it took even longer and so on... There were no skil chips that one could insert. Im not the best skilled player for sure, but I already SEE avatars from 2009, with attributes above mine. Which shouldnt be too hard to be achieved it seems. (76 agility, 62 strength, 57 Intelligence, 36 Psyche) ;p Sure, lvl 100 and 350 hp is something else...but a TripleSkill Event is long overdue
Hi, a good approach IMHO. What EU needs are massive armies of mid-level players IMHO. We had them, ages ago. But most left for good, since long. Who shall pay the price? Who shall pay for the (I hope much less) insane ATH's? Without a serious base of happy, well doing, heavily skilling, depositing mid-level players there's a dead end. Newbies don't deposit usually, and if, not much. This is correct, they need to find out if this is worth their money. Usually the answer is "No!", so maybe we might think about what makes 'em stupid nOObs think so. Fresh mid-levels these days are learning quickly that it's best to disguise as a complete nOOb, 'cause all the mobs suitable to them skill-wise are bare of any good loots, and have serious costs to kill. Good loots come few more steps up in the mob ladder, but trying 'em now is economic suicide. So they whack on boring small mobs ad nauseam, until they really start to puke. At least not this heavy loss! But puking hasn't ever been recognized as fun. And the Ubers are complaining that nobody anymore buys their left over loot, nobody but the few crafters that make a closed economic circle with them. But who should buy it? I'm not even real mid-level, but I have my assortment of UL gear already, and, dear Ubers, you might admire my cute behind, but I don't need your stuff no more, I see no way to improve above my 5K weapon skill in finite time, I don't even work on this anymore - it just doesn't make sense, it just means loss. I hunt ridiculous little critters now for the sole reason not to loose too much. This works, I haven't deposited since years, and still my value is rising slowly. I see no more way to improve in this game without dropping major RL money. The next step would be spending at least 10K PEDs for advanced gear, and this might be wasted in few weeks. I'll not do. Sorry, I know that this is assholeish. But I cant help to prefer some slow improvement above a huge risk, and a nearly certain loss. This is what MA might learn. It seems they are very blue-eyed about their customers, or limited to the views of the few "old-time-friends" of them. And catering those means hurting EU as a whole. For sure. Have fun!
As Xandra put it noobs are running away from the game before they have a chance to really get to know much about it. This is due to the fact that it either takes months of game play or more $$$ then a test of the game is worth. MA therefore needs to work towards retaining these noobs by finding out why they are leaving in the 1st place. If for every 100 new players there was only 1 paying player it would still be worth MA time and energy to retain those 100 new players.
Hi, When I met the game back in 2005, I sweated a lot until I met my cap, and it was fun and excitement. Doing those monsters at Nea's today are a pain in the eye now, easy as putting your little finger up your nose, and a boredom beyond good and evil. We sweated Trox back then at Zychion, and we had to bring them from far away, every single one, and we had no healers. But we had a lot of fun, just at our very beginning. And this made us a great community. Thus quite a lot of us are here, still. And, would I ever have sold any sweat (what I never did) I had got a serious price. 1 day sweating, half a day hunting small critters, or dropping a small amount of bombs, that would have worked. Not anymore. Sweat is useless now. Newbies don't have a goal anymore but to deposit some time, and they clearly see that it's just the entrance into a money sucking ladder. Because it is. It wasn't like this always, there was times when you could hit a jackpot even as a close-to-noob. Has gone. You might still get a global, but a Bravo from a young Atrax? You'd need an insane luck - more then a multiple of the already insane amount of luck needed before! It's just no fun anymore. "Gimmi your PED" is the inscription everywhere, and especially fresh nOObs are the main targets. Once I deposited 12.5 EUR a month, then 25 - don't think you'd reach anything with this but being another looser like me. EU has become elitist-centered. They get all the good loots, that are in critters that take years for a nOOb to become ready for. EU isn't a game anymore to play with low wages, and not anymore a game that offers free access to nOObs that don't pay huge sums of money. Any decent loot is in critters ways above your ceiling, you're just here to pay the ATH's. I very well understand why the new players are dropping left and right. They just are less stupid. Have fun!
