Incoming Changes

[Mamma ama Warlock]

Hello!

I want to preface the main part of this feedback thread with an important disclaimer: I do not oppose the changes, and I agree that in a long run they will lead to a much healthier environment. Warlock and Spellsword are well known as overperforming classes that trivialize an unhealthy portion of content. I wholeheartedly agree that certain changes are necessary.

I fully understand that for whatever considerations the team has had while going through with the changes, it might not be possible and/or justifiable for them to publicly release the info, but: can we please get a rough outline of what might or might not change in the upcoming weeks and months? It is not an easy thing to commit to, but. As a member of this community (I will only speak for myself), I really want to know that something I invest my limited time into will not be significantly decreased in potency, compared to performance expected on character creation, or outright made unviable. And even though Roleplay is the main course of this complex meal, it is still a video game, and a multiplayer one at that, so planning out your power curve/level is an integral part of the fantasy. If it wasn't, those adjustments wouldn't have happened all together.

As of today, we can't even be certain those are the final changes these 2 classes will go through. Not to mention other classes (khm-khm, Defiler Cleric) that people might be planning or playing. What I see is, the choice is between: a) an outcry if severe changes are announced; b) a slow burnout from incremental changes on the part of the players. Both are bad, but the second one is better damage control.

Pretty please?

[Ironsides]

It has admittedly been a rough week for character creation.

I started out rolling a wizard on the same day the summon changes went in. Played for a day or two before deciding I'd switch to a warlock until the summon changes were looked at again.

New casterlock was eaten by the rollback- remade it and started grinding, and then the casterlock nerf hit and I had to remake again.

[Bazelgeuse]

I'm in full agreement, OP, so you're not alone in thinking this.

I've put a year of effort and focus into a character I've greatly enjoyed so far, but within the span of a day her build has gone from effective to... not effective. Do I remake her? Do I roll her? Do I just try my best to salvage her build into something that runs the risk of getting hammered even further into oblivion? Do I just resign myself to sitting in a tavern chatting because her build now struggles against anything more than half my level?

I also don't really know how to explain why or how my character suddenly lost her combat capabilities from a narrative point of view.

I think the big over-arching issue (for me at least) is that any character made is at risk for this. I could make a character that I love playing and writing, and then overnight... boom. Build dead. It stifles my "I really want to play this because I like playing this" energy.

[Kythana]

Admittedly, part of makes these changes so bad is that there's no real option to recover from it unless you do a -remake. A caster warlock who previously relied on withering ray, sound lance, ect and did not invest in dexterity at all can't really pivot to blaster.

Previously, or at least around the time I was playing again a few years ago, complete rebuilds were offered for anyone whose class was seriously affected by sweeping nerfs.

Having something to this nature again would be nice, and if not that, let awards be refunded past the normal cutoff for characters created within 2-3 months of time of request. It's extremely discouraging for someone to spend a high tier award, and then have their class identity completely shifted away from what they wanted, and no option to recover the character beyond spending the same award again.

[Security_Blanket]

While changes are necessary to maintain balance and to continuously breathe life into the server, I've found it a little disheartening at times what is taken away in the name of balance, too often it's something they should have never been given to begin with. I've been pushed to roll level 30 characters because of a nerf to a class, it had nothing to do with the role play, nothing to do with the story of the character, the build was made useless because during the nerf a crucial feat was taken away and crippled the build. Maybe it needed to happen, but the way in that it happened left me wondering if I should even bother making a new character? Why would I invest my time into something that may be taken right from under me without any RP explanation.

You devs are creating this power creep, you're deciding behind closed doors that this class needs this many cookies, with this much flavor, but you have so many custom classes now, so many combinations, you may have shot yourselves in the foot in that regard. I think Loremaster has done a great job of screwing up the balance on this server, the Loremaster utility class has done to Arelith what Planeswalkers did to Magic the Gathering, it completely changed the game and I don't think for the better.

I'd love it if this were kept a low-magic server, which is what I used to think Arelith was, but considering the direction of this power creep you may as well just let us level all the way to 40, this is getting out of hand.

[D4wN]

I definitely agree with this actually. Some transparency would go a long way in curbing some of the negative outcries people might have about these sudden changes too. Allowing people to see what is planned and/or decided ahead of time will allow these people to either accept their fate, make changes to existing character builds if possible or wrap up their story and create a new character to have fun with.

I see no downsides in this. Thanks OP for bringing this up!

[-XXX-]

As inconvenient as abrupt big changes might be, announcing them beforehand inevitably translates(1) into OOC knowledge affecting IC decisions = calculated hoarding of stuff that might become useful after the change.
This negatively impacts both RP and IG economy.

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(1) I am using present tense here because that's what we see happening with runes right now - players sitting on them waiting for the dweomercraft update.

[Paint]

The only really big downside to forewarning on nerfs/buffs is essentially what happened with the new dweomercraft system being shipped to PGCC; Characters ICly responded with entirely OOC knowledge and turned the market on its head about it despite the new system having no solid ETA.

I dislike these kinds of things immensely, as they're very clearly influenced by metagame knowledge in a way that can be harmful and disruptive. We got our 5% rolls taken away over it, even.

[TooManyPotatoes]

We got our 5% rolls taken away over it, even.

I do miss the dwarven tradition of 5%ing the easy to make dwarven waraxes.

[Definately Not A Mimic]

Too many times when they do say this class is coming or changing or what have you, for the next few months that's all you hear. People asking the devs "when is this" "how much longer" "is it almost ready". Can't blame them for not wanting to deal with that for months while they work on something. And if they need a break from it? Everyone is up in arms because they were told it was coming. This can't be fun or inspiring for them. Why would they ever want to keep going if all they get is harassment for trying?
The announcement thread has been very active in the last week. A lot of hard work going in for changes for us who play on this server. We may not like every change and some may really baffle, but it is still a lot of work and effort and that should be acknowledged and appreciated for what it is. Not constantly crapped on.

[perseid]

As inconvenient as abrupt big changes might be, announcing them beforehand inevitably translates(1) into OOC knowledge affecting IC decisions = calculated hoarding of stuff that might become useful after the change.
This negatively impacts both RP and IG economy.

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(1) I am using present tense here because that's what we see happening with runes right now - players sitting on them waiting for the dweomercraft update.

Does it though? Most people seem to mainly be discussing about scenarios where they commit to a particular character archetype without knowing it's going to radically change soon. And in the case of the ig economy that seems wildly different since you can't just farm/basin a bunch of characters prior to a change coming up. It's an extremely different dynamic that seems mostly hypothetical. At worst you might get people committing more to classes that aren't slated for changes in the near future because they'd prefer something stable for a character they're hoping will become a longterm one.

[Mamma ama Warlock]

As inconvenient as abrupt big changes might be, announcing them beforehand inevitably translates(1) into OOC knowledge affecting IC decisions = calculated hoarding of stuff that might become useful after the change.
This negatively impacts both RP and IG economy.

---

(1) I am using present tense here because that's what we see happening with runes right now - players sitting on them waiting for the dweomercraft update.

Does it though? Most people seem to mainly be discussing about scenarios where they commit to a particular character archetype without knowing it's going to radically change soon. And in the case of the ig economy that seems wildly different since you can't just farm/basin a bunch of characters prior to a change coming up. It's an extremely different dynamic that seems mostly hypothetical. At worst you might get people committing more to classes that aren't slated for changes in the near future because they'd prefer something stable for a character they're hoping will become a longterm one.

Yes, this is the exact sentiment I'm trying to convey. Nothing else, nothing more. An announcement will inevitably trigger a cascade of activity and questions, but the lack of it for long enough does bring a feeling of unease and uncertainty.