Gem sinks that are not game altering
Last few days have brought on some raw emotions with the latest beta change. Seems like some of the changes have caused the howls of P2W for the first time in Eternium's history. I personally define P2W as purchasable advantages that are overwhelming thus becoming game altering.
Jewelries are the most important pieces of gear in the game. Thus gemstones that go into making those jewelries are game critical. Anytime when the slightest changes impacting jewelries are made, predictably they cause an uproar. Whether jewelries should be this powerful is another topic for another day.
Assuming that the philosophies behind Eternium isn't to have pay to win. I have no reason to doubt this assumption unless this is an elaborate 3yr hoax that is all designed to build a big playerbase and then turn on the p2w machine to watch money pouring in for 6 months etc. (p2w games eventually die out as the payers no longer feel special enough since the masses had moved on)
My feelings on the subject is that if the purchasable advantages are limited to small doses of daily conveniences and nonfunctional appearances, then why not. Goto town with it. Since we need the game developers to make a decent living so we can have the game we love to play continue to evolve with more gears, levels, skills, etc.
My theory is make them feel special, but don't actually make them special.
The boosters unfortunately crosses that line. The xp booster is borderline. Given how easily to gain level nowadays. It isn't game breaking but still close to the edge. The currency booster however definitely goes beyond that line. Gemstone is a resource that previously can only be gotten after long hours of grinding. With this booster, that is no longer the case. 12 months' work is now reduced to 3. Hence I can see why the Vets have spoken out. There is also the point of making things TOO easy. But more importantly you have now created two separate classes of players. Those that can pay and those that will be left behind.
So I see the currency booster as a solid example of p2w while xp booster is borderline.
I understand Devs' desire to bring more of the playerbase to a competitive level so the trial leaderboard and eventual pvp will be more balanced. I just think currency booster crossed the line there by creating a permanent separation of ppl that use it and those that don't.
But there are many gem sink ideas that can be implemented without crossing those lines. I will list out a few suggestions below.
Auto potion: Let's make those healer minion more fun by giving them a purchasable, temporary skill that will trigger the player to auto use potion/elixir when their hp falls behind 25%. Gem cost: whatever dev decide, duration: 1 week actual time. Btw also make this purchasable with gold but making it duration 30mins game time and a high gold cost. Why 1 week actual time for the gem purchase version? because the money players don't really grind that much. It feels like a long long time, but probably isn't longer than 2hr active game time. Also make this tied to the actual minion purchased, thus char specific and account specific. Hey let them have the chance to spend and spend big. btw since elixir and apple have CD, this doesn't make ppl immortal. So I don't see this as game altering/breaking.
Auto skill trigger: Let's make Xghana? more useful by giving them a purchasable, temporary skill that will help the player auto trigger an utility spell (think BR, SB, anything with duration) about 0.5 sec after it becomes available. This is the officially sanctioned skill spammer. The 0.5 sec delay is to ensure this booster doesn't actually make the purchaser better at the game than a good skilled player. But it will give them some daily convenience thus their game play will be less tedious and more fun. Cost: dev says, duration: 1 day. There should be a gold version that is shorter in duration but based on active game time. Again no one will think of using these when attempting high trials, but on a lazy sunday afternoon xp grinding? sure why not.
I have more.. but I have a meeting so let's start here.
Jewelries are the most important pieces of gear in the game. Thus gemstones that go into making those jewelries are game critical. Anytime when the slightest changes impacting jewelries are made, predictably they cause an uproar. Whether jewelries should be this powerful is another topic for another day.
Assuming that the philosophies behind Eternium isn't to have pay to win. I have no reason to doubt this assumption unless this is an elaborate 3yr hoax that is all designed to build a big playerbase and then turn on the p2w machine to watch money pouring in for 6 months etc. (p2w games eventually die out as the payers no longer feel special enough since the masses had moved on)
My feelings on the subject is that if the purchasable advantages are limited to small doses of daily conveniences and nonfunctional appearances, then why not. Goto town with it. Since we need the game developers to make a decent living so we can have the game we love to play continue to evolve with more gears, levels, skills, etc.
My theory is make them feel special, but don't actually make them special.
The boosters unfortunately crosses that line. The xp booster is borderline. Given how easily to gain level nowadays. It isn't game breaking but still close to the edge. The currency booster however definitely goes beyond that line. Gemstone is a resource that previously can only be gotten after long hours of grinding. With this booster, that is no longer the case. 12 months' work is now reduced to 3. Hence I can see why the Vets have spoken out. There is also the point of making things TOO easy. But more importantly you have now created two separate classes of players. Those that can pay and those that will be left behind.
So I see the currency booster as a solid example of p2w while xp booster is borderline.
I understand Devs' desire to bring more of the playerbase to a competitive level so the trial leaderboard and eventual pvp will be more balanced. I just think currency booster crossed the line there by creating a permanent separation of ppl that use it and those that don't.
But there are many gem sink ideas that can be implemented without crossing those lines. I will list out a few suggestions below.
Auto potion: Let's make those healer minion more fun by giving them a purchasable, temporary skill that will trigger the player to auto use potion/elixir when their hp falls behind 25%. Gem cost: whatever dev decide, duration: 1 week actual time. Btw also make this purchasable with gold but making it duration 30mins game time and a high gold cost. Why 1 week actual time for the gem purchase version? because the money players don't really grind that much. It feels like a long long time, but probably isn't longer than 2hr active game time. Also make this tied to the actual minion purchased, thus char specific and account specific. Hey let them have the chance to spend and spend big. btw since elixir and apple have CD, this doesn't make ppl immortal. So I don't see this as game altering/breaking.
Auto skill trigger: Let's make Xghana? more useful by giving them a purchasable, temporary skill that will help the player auto trigger an utility spell (think BR, SB, anything with duration) about 0.5 sec after it becomes available. This is the officially sanctioned skill spammer. The 0.5 sec delay is to ensure this booster doesn't actually make the purchaser better at the game than a good skilled player. But it will give them some daily convenience thus their game play will be less tedious and more fun. Cost: dev says, duration: 1 day. There should be a gold version that is shorter in duration but based on active game time. Again no one will think of using these when attempting high trials, but on a lazy sunday afternoon xp grinding? sure why not.
I have more.. but I have a meeting so let's start here.
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