"leef;c-1780645" wrote:
I think you and everyone who agrees with you is wrong. Competition for number 1 will turn into a who can refresh the most contest (i can elaborate further if you want me to), which i think neither of us or anyone who you think agrees with you will actually enjoy. Obviously you think you're right, but please just explain why instead of just referring to your experience.
...
I think i still don't understand, or phrased differently, i don't see how that's even possible in this game. I've never played guild wars and have no interrest in ever playing it, so if you're willing to describe how a raid could be designed on ability i might agree with you, but now i simply don't know what you're talking about.
From where i'm sitting it's already all about ability, finding the right teamcomposition for each raid/phase and strategize to get maximum damage. Over time it gets easier due to powercreep, but having the right team/strategy is still the key to success.
...
They'll never remove the grind out of this game, it's one of the core elements of this game. So realistically speaking that's never going to happen. There also isn't a story line in this game whatsoever. We get a few cutscenes, but that's about it.
Based on what you're saying i think you want to turn this game into something it's not. Or maybe i don't understand what you actually want to happen, i'm not sure at this point.
Pretty much all the strategy in this game takes a backseat to the resourcemanagement aspect. It seems you want that to be the other way around, but based on the decisions the devs made over the past 3 and a half years that is not going to happen. Not because i don't want it to happen, but because the grind and powercreep have been this game's bread and butter since forever.
By the way, thank you for your comments, they are logical and well thought out, beyond the 'this is what I like and nothing will change that' posts. What I ask you is to avoid speculation about what could happen and instead look at evidence of what already did happen in both this and other games.
Every shard has different people at different payout hours. The only time it matters to climb and lock in is during your own hour when you want to take number 1 or get the highest rank possible, otherwise you can expect to be knocked back if you hit someone else during their hour when they are climbing.
To facilitate this, many shards like mine have created Discord chat servers and in game chat rooms where we post everyone's payout hours into one big schedule so we know who is going when, and we can avoid the random sniping leading to crystal refresh. It is mutually beneficial for all, but still does not eliminate the need to climb every day, which is just how competition works despite cooperation, and that's fine and good.
In more volatile situations, typically top 100 through 20, and certainly even top 10 through 1 after the most recent Revan event, no matter who you are, what team you have, whether a fully geared and modded prot heavy Revan GK team, or super fast and deadly one, or any Traya variant, you still lose on defense. No team exists that holds perfectly on defense, otherwise there would be no rock paper scissors and we would be living in extreme Dragon Ball Z, which has brought down other games like Marvel War of Heroes (app card game like Magic with a story and pve backdrop but ended up focusing on Dragon Ball Z power escalation for progress). Have you played it or a game like it? I played that one for a while until I realized what was going on. They've closed down since then. Similar experience with other games.
I'll describe Guild Wars (1 and 2) for you. They are PC based (maybe console too) MMORPGs. Rather than the ubiquitous World of Warcraft model where you are locked into specific classes and builds and you are completely dependent on your gear stats (which come from very low percentage drop rates), you instead have a number of ability slots composed of abilities across classes and gear (classes and gear produce abilities you can use), and you choose what you want to slot at any time, which produces different combos and effects depending on what you have slotted and how you use them. Don't want to be punished for picking mage and not warrior for this fight? No problem, slot the spellcasting abilities in and use a staff instead of that sword. (GW2 is slightly more restrictive in this sense but the core of GW1 variability is still there. In GW1 you didn't really have classes, whereas GW2 you still pick a class and your choices of what you can slot don't draw as much from other classes as they do flavors of what makes each class unique) Of course you may not be as effective as if you brought a fire mage, but you can still get the job done. Gear is mostly cosmetic at this point, there are no gear drops in the world, only currency, XP (if you're not max level), and crafting mats for cosmetic stuff. Gear scales with your level, they don't produce stats of their own. Raids require the right slot choices and combo executions, and people working together to counter the boss while protecting the attackers. Or other mechanics where you have to put out fires in houses while stopping cows from escaping while ensuring the goats are still happy. Etc. There is no single ubiquitous mechanic that can become overused and stale.
Watching the video is more helpful than reading my words.
So what can SWGoH do? My overarching point is that it's not only possible to make a game like that, but to succeed at it, without subscriptions, and thrive to the point of releasing expansions long after initial launch. It means we're not forced to accept the WoW model of doing things, we don't have to live with Dragon Ball Z power escalation, and furthermore those models have destroyed games in the past and continue to do so today.
I'm not suggesting making a copy and paste in mobile form (though honestly I would buy that in a heartbeat). I'm suggesting the developers get creative with what they have already, as we have the fundamentals in place. As an example of an aspect of the game that could try it out, here is my suggestion for fleet: https://forums.galaxy-of-heroes.starwars.ea.com/discussion/185509/fleet-ship-and-space-combat-overhaul-suggestion
The question for the developers is, what kind of game do you want to be at your core, which will dictate how long a lifespan you have. Do you want to be a resource mgmt game with everything else tucked in as fluff to entice people, do you want to be a pve game, do you want to be a pvp game? Yes you can try all three, but at the end of the day, which one wins out? I think the answer depends on demographics and sales.
From my experience, more people spend more over time on cosmetic stuff rather than functional (or pay to win) stuff, because cosmetic stuff has no real creative ceiling, and can be enjoyed after you win the game (or are waiting for the next thing to beat), and there tend to be more people who don't beat the game than those who do. Furthermore, Star Wars has a rich franchise and fanbase who each like specific chars and so many of them are here just to collect them. (People have told me this) The dress up aspect of SWTOR is hugely appealing there next to the story (frankly the only things keeping that game alive), aspects sadly missing here though you get snippets in the journey events.
Sell me costume changes and give me more atmosphere like TB or cutscenes from the legendary and journey events, and I'm hooked, those are very entertaining for a Star Wars fan like myself. Force me to grind every day to stay competitive in pve or pvp (rather than just let me play the pve or pvp -- disproportionately more time spent grinding and preparing rather than actually playing) and I'm less interested in a second job, like many i know who have already quit (just like in other games). If I like the pve or pvp enough I will buy more time, if i don't then I am only doing it because it feeds the resources needed for something else (like my costume collection).
Again, my point is, to make the actual gameplay more enjoyable and profitable in the long run, you don't have to do power escalation. Other games failed doing that. It's already proven that you can do a different design, it's just a matter of, what do you want to do.
