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--- suggestions [2024/06/30 20:59] – unhandled
+++ suggestions [2024/06/30 22:06] (current) – unhandled
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 ===== Easy to Code, Highly Desirable =====
+==== Mob Aggro Issues ====
+Aggro ranges also seem to be problematic from zone to zone as it seems quite different in Gazluk compared to Serbule and there's no real explanation as to why the aggro is different in some zones over others. Everyone's first experience in a zone like Gazluk is simply dying from a swarm of mobs (and not the cold!) because they aren't prepared to fight multiple enemies.
+One particularly egregious area where aggro range is just too far is Rahu's Plateau. If you are a player used to shorter ranges and it changes, seemingly for no reason, it doesn't make you feel like you're getting better at the game.
+It even seems like sometimes the "calling range" for mobs in combat is different from zone to zone, too. I am not sure why that changes either. The mobs are already difficult, there's no real skill gain that comes from making the player wait for a better time to pull.
+Again, I don't want to upset anyone, but this is kind of one of those "how did this ever get out of testing?" issues. I think a very small bit of work here could go a long ways towards giving the players agency so that when they do die to a swarm of mobs, they kind of know why. Increased aggro range has no rewards. It's only punishment.
+Lastly, it's really difficult to feel like I am playing a game where my experience is rewarded when things like aggro range change from map to map with no explanation as to why. If it's to make things harder, cool, but at least say something about it or explain it with in-game lore or something.
+==== Mob Density ====
+So, I've avoided saying anything about this for a long time because I realize this is a game that is a work-in-progress and even having any suggestions here might not really help if I'm not positive about them, but there's a few zones where mob density is such a problem it's almost impossible to grind mobs that I actually want to try leveling some skills on.
+The most glaringly problematic is Rahu Desert where the combo of three things: water requirements, aggro range, and  the Skeleton Dickweeds are so annoying I have to question if this was the original intent for this zone to be so difficult for level 50 or 60 players when level 70 and 80 players can regularly die here just running straight from Rahu to the Povus or Ilmari warps. I think if there were altars, graves, or other points-of-interest or something that mobs "congregated" around, with a few wandering rhinos, it might not be a huge problem, but even the plateau Pask is on is an issue in some respects due to the huge aggro range on mobs in this zone.
+The Rahu archers that pull you around in the lower "Rahu mining" section actually are fine gameplay-wise, IMHO, because it's challenging and these are the only mobs in the area, but I'd hate to be doing this content at level 60 without maxed endurance or a tanking skill due to their huge aggro and patrol ranges. I think it could be toned down just slightly while still being a fun and engaging area for mineral mining.
+Gazluk is the other zone where this is what I would consider a huge problem. It's just not simple for a level 70 to contend with both the elemental problems of this zone as well as the mob density problems, especially with regards to Orc Camps where the walls and aggro range make playing here unpleasant. One issue is enough to cause many players to forgo grinding in the zone, but the combo of both just makes it not fun. It's possible though that the purpose of Gazluk is to just serve as a repository for the dungeons in this zone as well as the Yellow Crystals, in which case I guess I understand the design decision, but it'd be nice if there were a good way to still fight some of these mobs safely.
+The current iteration of Kur is actually worse than the old one in this respect, too. There's not really areas where you can farm safely and no easy "routes" to avoid mobs, so I regularly pull aggro even while on a horse. Kur is easy content for a lvl 80 though, so I consider this less of an issue, but lower level and even mid level players probably really struggle with the mob density here enough that they just farm Kur Tower or Wolf Cave instead of playing on the overworld.
+The Fae Realm isn't horrible, but it can be dangerous for a higher level 60ish player leveling here to unlock content for when they are 70. Again, the aggro range increase with no explanation really hurts players.
+Povus is actually one of the better zones, but here it's the tree density that is an issue with respect to the mobs. I was a player that took advantage of the 0 tree draw distance bug. I get that the zone wasn't supposed to be exploited in that way, but now that we have forced trees, I will mention that it's very difficult to see if I'm in a safe position to engage now in Povus. (and while we're on this topic, parts of Gazluk are pretty much unplayable now that I'm forced to draw trees).
+One zone that is bad but where it's not a major problem is Sun Vale. For some reason this zone has a much more agreeable aggro range compared to these other large zones, and it makes for a much more enjoyable experience. Except for the SE island with the roaming Ranlon, but at least there, there's an excuse. You're supposed to be sort of "invading" their territory, so it makes sense for it to be more difficult and for there to be widely roaming mobs. Sun Vale is an example where mob density can be high and it's not too much of a problem. I wish every zone 40+ was more like Sun Vale.
+Again, I don't see how mob density got out of testing without anyone ever mentioning it. It's so bad that I have told friends that leveling overworld ends in Eltibule and Sun Vale and after that they are going to be leveling from 40 to 80+ in dungeons only. I've avoided making a leveling guide on this site because I keep hoping these issues are going to be fixed, but I'm realizing they probably never will be, sadly. :(
 ==== More Info Changes (Inks and other special abilities) ====
 More Info could be improved in a few ways for certain items...
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 Additionally, weapons like staves, orbs, cups and etc. that are weapons could also show that they are used for combat abilities.
+Lastly, while it is easy to see who Barters *FOR* an item, you can't necessarily tell who will barter *THE ITEM* for something else. It should probably do this as well as tell you who you can sell the item to. Just knowing who you can sell an item to would be a huge benefit, even if you wanted to lock it behind a skill like Retail Management, but I think an argument could be made that it shouldn't even be locked behind Retail Management and should just be a base feature.
+The More Info changes put into the game midway through 2024 were great, btw.
 ==== Crossbow and Aggro ====
 I think one of the main reasons why I ignored Crossbow while playing is that it doesn't really provide much of a true advantage over the other sidebar skills. One way to give it an advantage is to have the skill not aggro other mobs if used as a "first attack". Perhaps for bosses, it could still aggro other mobs, but I think giving it the ability to not aggro or have a seriously reduced aggro range would make it a more viable option, especially for solo players that are focusing on damage dealing skills.
+When the entire server gets together to do egg runs and other mass group content, I think having Xbow users doing the pulls would be such a good thing, too.
 ==== Better Grouping Options ====
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 Also, grouping with people regardless of what zone they are in probably needs to be a thing. This would just be a quality of life improvement. Or maybe it could be allowed if you have a specific item if it's supposed to be gated like this normally. The more new zones are added into the game, the less likely you are going to be in the exact zone of your friend at the time of grouping. A new item allowing this could also introduce new optional abilities like "Teleport to Group Leader" or whatever. These can even be hard abilities to get. Instead of considering these game breaking, consider them challenges with great rewards.
+In any event, I think a LFG or automated grouping system would be relatively easy to code based on a bot I made that essentially did this for defense of certain strategic regions/areas in Darkfall. Being able to use a command and then have the automated system auto-invite doesn't seem too difficult unless it's also doing level checks and things.
 ===== Hard to Code, Highly Desirable =====
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 Sorry if it seems curt to just request an auction economy, but this is the one single thing about this game I simply do not understand. I cannot readily sell staples like Quality Phlog or Cotton directly to players that I know could use them, instead I have to craft a box that costs leather and wood resources and doesn't last more than 90 minutes and half the time I have to guess what a reasonable price is from players that are overcharging (player stalls) or underpaying (work orders). With rare exceptions, many of these go without getting a single sale so I instead use them to give away items instead.
-When I go to price items in the stalls, it needs to be high enough that some high level with unlimited resources doesn't just buy it completely out to sell at their stall for an inflated price, but not so high that newbies can't buy it to level their crafting skills. Or I have to rent a vendor and use an alt that goes to a poetry jam to be able to effectively sell things.
+When I go to price items in the stalls, it needs to be high enough that some high level with unlimited resources doesn't just buy it completely out to sell at their stall for an inflated price, but not so high that newbies can't buy it to level their crafting skills.
-There are some staple items in game that simply MUST have an auction for there to be a robust player economy. Specifically I'm thinking Animal Skins, Cotton, and Phlog fall into this category, actually. At the very least add in an auction for these and see if the playerbase thinks it's a bad thing after like, three months. If everyone hates it, I'll admit it was a bad idea, but I think certain staple goods *should* be auctionable and I think players will love it if auctions existed for such staple goods, too.
+Also, the downside to selling some goods for reasonable prices is that we have to rent a vendor and use an alt that goes to a Poetry Jam to be able to optimally sell things. Not a huge problem, but new players don't really know to do this.
+There are some staple items in game that simply MUST have an auction for there to be a robust player economy. Specifically, I'm thinking Animal Skins, Cotton, and Phlog fall into this category, actually. At the very least add in an auction for these and see if the playerbase thinks it's a bad thing after like, three months. If everyone hates it, I'll admit it was a bad idea, but I think certain staple goods *should* be auctionable and I think players will love it if auctions existed for such staple goods, too.
 In short, I think some of the barriers to player trading that exist in PG don't make sense. This game is already played by a bunch of us on the autistic spectrum, so we honestly need more incentives and facilities to directly trade with other players than less, IMHO. :D
-EDIT: Sorry if that was rant-like, when I initially wrote this I was angry that someone bought out all my stock of Cotton and was selling it at a higher price than I listed it at right next to my vendor. I'm trying to be constructive with my criticism, but certain things can be pretty frustrating for new players and old players alike.
+I do realize a full-fledged auction system would be difficult to code well, but I do think it's needed.
-==== Automated high level dailies ====
+==== Automated High Level Solo/Duo Dailies ====
-I would even consider adding money-only dungeons as higher level duo/triple-dailies with lvl 65+ mob/elites from the top 3 dungeons, but automate creating them like the War Caches. These could be very simple and wouldn't require going through a 45 minute-plus dungeon. Short 15 minute excursions with low cash rewards might work, or more rewards, but slightly longer like 30 minutes. They'd be designed for two to three newer high level players or perhaps even soloable by a longtime level 80 max endurance tank player, but take a lot longer to kill. They could even have a spot where it requires two people or three people to pull a lever at the same time to open a door or something to enforce duo-triple play if necessary.
+I would even consider adding money-only dungeons as higher level duo/triple-dailies with lvl 65+ mob/elites from the top 3 dungeons, but automate creating them like the War Caches. These could be very simple and wouldn't require going through a 45 minute-plus dungeon. Short 15 minute excursions with low cash rewards might work, or more rewards, but slightly longer like 30 minutes. They'd be designed for two to three newer high level players or perhaps even soloable by a longtime level 80 max endurance tank player, but take a lot longer to kill. They could even have a spot where it requires two people to pull a lever at the same time to open a door or something to enforce duo play if necessary.
 Optional: Tokens from these could then be turned in once per day for either money or time-locked items like Vervadium and Fae Silk. Money isn't enough of a reward depending on the time sink and having to find other people. Another option: allow bartering loot from these dungeons for high level seeds like Red Rose, Muntok Peppercorns, Mint, Honey, Saddle Gems, or higher Animal Fats like Typical and Smooth Fat. They are still time-locked items, this makes these rare items just a little easier to obtain.
-I should probably just participate more in the Aurum Rest (spelling?) dailies to see if this already kind of exists with those or something, but I think the lack of great grouping abilities for this sort of thing has impeded participating for the most part. :/
+I should probably just participate more in the Aurum Rest (spelling?) dailies to see if this already kind of exists with those or something, but I think the lack of great grouping abilities for this sort of thing has impeded participation for the most part. :/
 ==== Augmentation and Extract Problems ====
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 It's hard enough getting the exact right items with the exact right mods, IMHO.
-===== Easy to Code, Desirable but not Highly =====
+I'm not sure how difficult this would be to code, but since there's a ton of gems and I've been playing the game for 7 years or more and still don't know, I'm going to assume it's at least Medium difficulty.
-==== Endurance Training ====
+==== Mob Ranged issues ====
-Endurance may need to be a bit more defined or slightly easier to level around the mid-game. If I play the game well, I don't get hit, which means I have to actually play the game poorly or level a secondary pair of slow-tanking-based combat skills to properly level Endurance.
+Again, unfinished game, so I understand this might still be something that needs worked on.
-I'm removing most of my comments on a different system because I just don't know how to balance the game around this. Maybe a Dodge skill would work if done in tandem with endurance, but it just seems weird that to get tankier you need to get hit more. I guess it's not that weird as an in-real-life interpretation of the skill, but it is kind of weird in a "I want to be a better tank, let me just go AFK farming for a few hours spamming my basic attack and First Aid at some bears in Eltibule." Maybe there should just be something in the game that explains this so players understand the mid-game is actually just going to be hard for a solo unless you take some time to level Endurance back in the newbie areas like the Ranalon Cave or with bears in Eltibule.
+If a player can't do it, a mob shouldn't be able to. There's some spots in the game where mobs can shoot through walls and such. Also, ranged poison damage, especially for certain mobs, seems to be much higher than it should be. For example, the Orc camp archers in Povus seem to be easier to deal with than the Rahu archers around Pask because of the ability to hit through walls plus the poison/debuff they do.
-==== Work Orders ====
+Poison dmg itself might just be really high, btw. In Rahu sewers if there's more than two slugs, I regularly run the risk of dying even at combat level 85+. Maybe they are supposed to be this hard though and maybe we're supposed to run with Poison Resistance potions most of the time. This combined with high regen is a combat-killer for most players though. I'd like to think my base resistances are already pretty high on certain builds, though. It's kind of embarrassing to die to poison mobs because of the stacks.
-The Work Orders system makes leveling a lot easier and more efficient, but there should be questing, rumors, or favors that lead the players to the appropriate Work Order boards for the various crafting skills or should be turned into a system whereby WOs are turned into boards/NPCs in certain areas based on level instead of what appears to be inconvenient assignments.
-It's okay that the Leatherworking board is in Amulna, for example, but a process should be in place whereby newbie players are encouraged to travel there (with tips on how-to do so safely) so they can more easily level Leatherworking as a new crafter.
+I'm putting this under hard to code because I don't know
-There might need to be a part of the main questline (or an addition of a "crafting questline") that leads players to the work order boards in some of these regions.
+===== Easy to Code, Desirable but not Highly =====
-Lastly on Work Orders, the player work order board should be shared across all locations in which it can be accessed. Small quality of life improvement. They will continue to go unused in certain areas otherwise, I can assure you of this. There's just no way a player is going to put up an order on a board that they know is going ignored by most of the playerbase.
-Alternatively, maybe only certain work orders can go on certain boards, but IMHO, this might be a step in the wrong direction as it kind of limits the player-based economy.
-==== Armor ====
-I don't know if this is as big of an issue, but I think tanking is needed to solo in the late game, but space is also an issue, too, so Cloth gear is also still necessary. One hour of Povus-grinding basically fills up most player inventories, I can't imagine trying to do it in full metal armor. Also, I think Metal Armor was "buffed" to add a bit more mana on combat refresh, but I'm still hesitant to try it after having been burned so hard when I tried it last time. The solo gear route for end game content still pretty heavily encourages Cloth Chest and Legs for the inventory and then Metal for everything else. I'm not sure why players use anything else.
 ==== Gear Ingredients ====
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 EDIT: Okay, I found out that if I really want to grind for Orcish Steel the best place is Prestonbule, but there wasn't really any in game explanation for that aside from one off-hand remark by the Orc in New Prestonbule. This might be another thing where an in-game Gossip system might shine. Not sure.
-==== Legendary Solutions / Imbuing System / Classifying Treasure Mods ====
+==== Work Orders ====
-Recent changes were made to drop the extra treasure mods that made balancing hard. I like the idea of Mastercrafted items, too. What I think could be done as a solution to give players a little bit of a boost to gear without adding treasure mods is making the new legendaries that are crafted "Imbue-able" by taking them out on a certain raiding mission or something to break them in.
+The Work Orders system makes leveling a lot easier and more efficient, but there should be questing, rumors, or favors that lead the players to the appropriate Work Order boards for the various crafting skills or should be turned into a system whereby WOs are turned into boards/NPCs in certain areas based on level instead of what appears to be inconvenient assignments.
-Maybe you head out with your yellow gear and it gets a unique but not overpowered mod based on which type of "dungeon boss" you kill while wearing it first. So if the top out on gear levels is 120, say that level 60 and lower gear you have to run one of the four dailies to get this unique treasure mod imbued on it. You can only wear one piece of imbue-able gear at once that is "honed" for imbuing ahead of time using some Artificing skill or maybe even Sigil Scripting or Gadgetry combined with Rubywalls or other Gems. Or maybe this is where Combat Wisdom comes in? Like you can activate the "Master Barrage" (mentioned on the Combat Wisdom wiki page) but only if a certain gear piece has been imbued with it? With 5 pieces of crafted/imbueable gear (or 6 with belts), that would let players "specialize" in just those skills.
+It's okay that the Leatherworking board is in Amulna, for example, but a process should be in place whereby newbie players are encouraged to travel there (with tips on how-to do so safely) so they can more easily level Leatherworking as a new crafter.
-Otherwise, an example might be that a Dark Chapel "boss" might make your gear more likely to get Treasure mods affecting X Ability Types/Tags. Ice Cave for Y Ability Types/Tags. Then Winter Nexus for Z types, etc.
+There might need to be a part of the main questline (or an addition of a "crafting questline") that leads players to the work order boards in some of these regions.
-A higher level (for 60-120, maybe similar or the next step up from the Aurest Mission) Daily system would imbue gear with one more mod above level 60, making it go from yellow to orange like Legendary to "Mythic" or "Eternal" or something. Maybe non-crafted gear could get two free imbues if not already yellow or something, too.
+Lastly on Work Orders, the player work order board should be shared across all locations in which it can be accessed. Small quality of life improvement. They will continue to go unused in certain areas otherwise, I can assure you of this. There's just no way a player is going to put up an order on a board that they know is going ignored by most of the playerbase.
-I'm not saying this is a great solution to the problem of balancing crafted vs. looted gear, but it's one option that might make crafting less necessary but still beneficial for high level gear yet still encourage people to fight mobs to get the "best gear".
+Alternatively, maybe only certain work orders can go on certain boards, but IMHO, this might be a step in the wrong direction as it kind of limits the player-based economy.
-==== Stopping Global spam / Words of Power woes ====
+===== Hard to Code, Desirable but not Highly =====
-Words of Power should only work in Nearby/Party/Tell tab. This is just a quality of life improvement, but would be good to cut down on people thinking Global or other places are a good place to use them. Make them not work at all in certain tabs and players will be much less likely to spam.
-Additionally, it would appear that these are on a cycle as I've randomly had some not work and ones that I once used now work again. I just stopped using them altogether as I've had so many of my words fail to work, presumably because several players just have sheets of the stuff and go down through them to take other player's words of power and now that essentially everyone knows this is happening they are all doing it.
-EDIT: Still a problem as of March of 2022. I attempted to use a Human Illusion WOP that I had made about a year ago and never shared with another soul and it didn't work. This needs fixed or at least should be addressed or acknowledged for new players.
-==== Early NPC/Favor Issues ====
-I don't hear about issues with Marna not buying items in chat anymore so this might not be an issue anymore. Now with Cleo Conyer in Serbule Hills, this might not be as big of a deal. I also think maybe something was introduced to explain to new players how Marna's favor works so hopefully there won't be Steam reviews complaining about this anymore.
 ==== Orcish ====
 Other than a hangout with an NPC in Gazluk, what is the intended way to legitimately increase Orcish? I don't get at all why the Orc books are #1, so rare, and #2, give really really horribly low amounts of XP. More common drop rate or a better system is needed or at least a portion of Gazluk (outside?) needs to be soloable and safe from the elements, IMHO. And I do understand that there is an NPC in Gazluk that provides a way to get better at Orcish, but it's not exactly intuitive to know anything about them or to tie an end-game dungeon to a language learning process. Also, I play mostly solo, so it's very hard for someone like me to get to that NPC.
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 (Update January 2024) My opinion on this one hasn't changed. Orcish was notoriously difficult for a solo player to learn. I think if the drop rate on Orc texts from mobs in Kur and Gazluk was increased it might help, but getting those early levels is extremely difficult. Also, I am very much not recommending it be as easy as Goblinese is to level or that every Orc should drop a text item. I just think it should be easier for solo players.
+This is in the hard to code section because I'm assuming we'll need the Orc playable race before we get the zone to make Orcish learning easier.
 ==== Cooking Suggestions ====
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 (Update March 2023) Still hard to reliably get things like Almonds, Juniper Berries, and Muntok Peppercorns. Fairy Juice is something I've just accepted I'll never have since I'm a solo player. Another suggestion I might have is to make a goat NPC or Goat Milk available in a future Orc town/zone maybe just to increase the availability of this slightly. Or add a goat NPC or two to the Orc Camp in Povus?. Right now its only possible to make this relatively easy if you have a character that can get to the right spot in Rahu Sewers solo.
-==== Kur needs a few newbie-friendly changes ====
+I'm guessing these will be added in later sections of the game, but I don't know. For now, I'm going to assume this requires more/new game zones and thus that's why some of these things are so rare. New zones are harder to make so I'm putting this here.
-A players first experience with harsh environments needs to be a little bit easier. Kur is the first zone in the game where the RPG aspect turns into something many MMORPG fans have never seen before. It's a huge shock to them. Over time, it's a net positive immersion-wise to have this environment be this harsh this early, but it takes a while to acclimate to it, I think.
-I've removed most of my suggestions here, because again, I just don't know what to do to fix this really aside from some sort of cross-zone quest that gives the player an objective. But I think finding Nightshade is already a planned quest now with the main storyline so this is probably not going to be an issue anymore. I think Kur is still a shock for new players, but maybe it's a good one at this point. It's certainly easier to get to Kur Outpost now than in the last zone.
-I think with the main quest line leading into Kur and a likely suggestion as part of that to bring a piece of wood for the fire at the start of the zone, this is going to be more than sufficient.
 ==== Keeping Gazluk dangerous while encouraging more player use ====
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 Then, to counteract that, create a new type of campfire, that, like what I describe above for newbies in Kur, lasts for 15 minutes or more. This campfire requires a Rubywall or glowy yellow crystal, however. It's a special campfire that negates the speed debuff from glowy yellow crystals or even provides a benefit to speed only in Gazluk, but it also lasts significantly longer, so that players will be more inclined to actually play in and level characters in this zone. The reason why I recommend a Rubywall crystal or glowy yellow crystal is that it seems like a good tradeoff for someone who is already at surveying levels that they would be in Gazluk, and it also gives a bit more demand for new players to farm.
-I think if the zone logs are checked, it may show that most players basically avoid Gazluk unless they are collecting yellow crystals. I would love to farm mobs here more, but I'd need a good solid way to do that and the only real way is to load up on campfires and deplete tons of wood. I could check to see if this is feasible now that I don't really use logs for any crafting skills, though.
+I think if the zone logs are checked, it may show that most players basically avoid Gazluk unless they are collecting yellow crystals. I would love to farm mobs here more, but I'd need a good solid way to do that and the only real way is to load up on campfires and deplete tons of wood.
-If there was a reliable way to set down a campfire and then keep pumping it full of logs so I could fight more enemies, it might encourage more of this gameplay. Right now the Orcs protect their campfires, so it seems a bit difficult to even get to the point of owning a space or area like that. I'll have to see if it is viable and if the loot justifies the work. (Update in August 2022. I tried taking over a Gazluk Orc Campfire, it didn't work and it's too hard to zone Ranged Mobs in this Orc spot. Needs to be more walls or debris to hide behind or something.)
+If there was a reliable way to set down a campfire and then keep pumping it full of logs so I could fight more enemies, it might encourage more of this gameplay. Right now the Orcs protect their campfires, so it seems a bit difficult to even get to the point of owning a space or area like that. I'll have to see if it is viable and if the loot justifies the work. (Update in August 2022: I tried taking over a Gazluk Orc Campfire, it didn't work and it's too hard to zone Ranged Mobs in this Orc spot. Needs to be more walls or debris to hide behind or something.) (Update in mid-2024: It's still ridiculously hard to clear one of these Orc Camps as a level 85)
 Another thing I was thinking might be good is having the zone get dark, like super dark, or limit the player's visibility in some way. These could also be counteracted by these Rubywall campfires, Priest/Fire spells, etc. This might also be a mechanic that would work better in a new zone, though.
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 Lastly, consider having perma campfires in this zone at both the entrances to the zone from Povus and Kur. It's not a huge deal, but it lets players take a second to plan out their actions and such after their deaths. Being on a timer while traversing a zone is complication enough, if players have a spot where they can "breathe" and do some planning, it makes it just slightly more palatable.
-I also mention mob density and aggro issues here below.
+EDIT (November 2023):So, I've been playing with a Fire/BC build and I think Fire-based builds can survive just fine in Gazluk with reasonable buffs. Perhaps this was the point. I also don't know for sure, but it could be that animal forms survive easier in the cold or could have buffs in the Survival Instincts line that help them survive longer. It also maybe could be a thing that surviving the cold becomes easier with built-in buffs from Endurance and/or Survival Instincts. This might need extensive playtesting though, to make sure any balancing is done with new players in mind to see how difficult it is at the start.
-EDIT (November 2023):So, I've been playing with a Fire/BC build and I think Fire-based builds can survive just fine in Gazluk with reasonable food buffs. Perhaps this was the point. I also don't know for sure, but it could be that animal forms survive easier in the cold or could have buffs in the Survival Instincts line that help them survive longer. It also maybe could be a thing that surviving the cold becomes easier with built-in buffs from Endurance and/or Survival Instincts. This might need extensive playtesting though, to make sure any balancing is done with new players in mind to see how difficult it is at the start.
-==== Mob Density ====
-So, I've avoided saying anything about this for a long time because I realize this is a game that is a work-in-progress and even having any suggestions here might not really help if I'm not positive about them, but there's a few zones where mob density is such a problem it's almost impossible to grind mobs that I actually want to try leveling some skills on.
-The most glaringly problematic is Rahu Desert where the combo of three things: water requirements, aggro range, and  the Skeleton Dickweeds are so annoying I have to question if this was the original intent for this zone to be so difficult for level 50 or 60 players when level 70 and 80 players can regularly die here just running straight from Rahu to the Povus or Ilmari warps. I think if there were altars, graves, or other points-of-interest or something that mobs "congregated" around, with a few wandering rhinos, it might not be a huge problem, but even the plateau Pask is on is an issue in some respects due to the huge aggro range on mobs in this zone.
-The Rahu archers that pull you around in the lower "Rahu mining" section actually are fine gameplay-wise, IMHO, because it's challenging, but I'd hate to be doing this content at level 60 without maxed endurance or a tanking skill due to their huge aggro and patrol ranges. I think it could be toned down just slightly while still being a fun and engaging area for mineral mining.
-Gazluk is the other zone where this is what I would consider a huge problem. It's just not simple for a level 70 to contend with both the elemental problems of this zone as well as the mob density problems. One issue is enough to cause many players to forgo grinding in the zone, but the combo of both just makes it not fun. It's possible though that the purpose of Gazluk is to just serve as a repository for the dungeons in this zone as well as the Yellow Crystals, in which case I guess I understand the design decision, but it'd be nice if there were a good way to still fight some of these mobs safely.
-The current iteration of Kur is actually a little worse than the old one in this respect, too. There's not really areas where you can farm safely and no easy "routes" to avoid mobs, so I regularly pull aggro even while on a horse. Kur is easy for a lvl 80 though, so I consider this less of an issue, but lower level and even mid level players probably really struggle with the mob density here enough that they just farm Kur Tower or Wolf Cave instead of playing on the overworld.
-Povus is actually one of the better zones, but here it's the tree density that is an issue with respect to the mobs. I was a player that took advantage of the 0 tree draw distance bug. I get that the zone wasn't supposed to be exploited in that way, but now that we have forced trees, I will mention that it's very difficult to see if I'm in a safe position to engage now in Povus. (and while we're on this topic, parts of Gazluk are pretty much unplayable now that I'm forced to draw trees).
-==== Mob Ranged issues ====
-Again, unfinished game, so I understand this might still be something that needs worked on.
-If a player can't do it, a mob shouldn't be able to. There's some spots in the game where mobs can shoot through walls and such. Also, ranged poison damage, especially for certain mobs, seems to be much higher than it should be. For example, the Orc camp archers in Povus seem to be easier to deal with than the Rahu archers around Pask because of the ability to hit through walls plus the poison/debuff they do.
-Poison dmg itself might just be really high, btw. In Rahu sewers if there's more than two slugs, I regularly run the risk of dying even at combat level 85+. Maybe they are supposed to be this hard though and maybe we're supposed to run with Poison Resistance potions most of the time. I'd like to think my base resistances are already pretty high, though. It's kind of embarrassing to die to poison mobs because of the stacks.
 I don't know if there should be a slime/slug/archer poison resistance skill as well or not, but Iocaine Resistance doesn't seem to make things any better.
-==== Mob Aggro Issues ====
-Aggro ranges also seem to be problematic from zone to zone as it seems quite different in Gazluk compared to Serbule and there's no real explanation as to why the aggro is different in some zones over others. Everyone's first experience in a zone like Gazluk is simply dying from a swarm of mobs (and not the cold!) because they aren't prepared to fight multiple enemies.
-One particularly egregious area where aggro range is just too far is Rahu's Plateau. If you are a player used to shorter ranges and it changes, seemingly for no reason, it doesn't make you feel like you're getting better at the game.
-It even seems like sometimes the "calling range" for mobs in combat is different from zone to zone, too. I am not sure why that changes either.
-Again, I don't want to upset anyone, but this is kind of one of those "how did this ever get out of testing?" issues. I think a bit of work here could go a long ways towards giving the players agency so that when they do die to a swarm of mobs, they kind of know why.
-Lastly, it's really difficult to feel like I am playing a game where my experience is rewarded when things like aggro range change from map to map with no explanation as to why. If it's to make things harder, cool, but at least say something about it.
 ==== Saddlery ====
 There's a problem late game where there isn't a way to sell Amazing and Great Saddles or higher gear to vendors to get their full value as far as I can tell. This might be intentional, I am not sure, but if it's a value thing, I'm not sure why the price of them isn't just decreased so players can't sell them for more than 2k anyway.
+Again, assuming that this requires more end-game content or more zones to fix, thus hard to code.
 ==== Safecracking ====
@@ Line 206: / Line 198: @@
 I really, really like the idea of logic puzzles as mini games or side quests, but I'm just not sure putting this into the War Caches works as well unless there were multiple safes to open. That said, I like that some rare and even really rare items are in these War Caches, so maybe I *should* be doing more of them.
+I'm going to assume there's plans for these in new zones or areas maybe, so these might be hard to code.
-Additionally, while it is easy to see who Barters *FOR* an item, you can't necessarily tell who will barter *THE ITEM* for something else. It should probably do this as well as tell you who you can sell the item to. Just knowing who you can sell an item to would be a huge benefit, even if you wanted to lock it behind a skill like Retail Management, but I think an argument could be made that it shouldn't even be locked behind Retail Management and should just be a base feature.
 ===== Old Ideas =====
+These are old ideas I had that have mostly been fixed by other game changes or by me understanding a bit more of how the game works. Some of them are also just "I give up" changes that I'm moving here, because they were changed for the better, but not necessarily the way I thought they should be.
-These are old ideas I had that have mostly been fixed by other game changes or by me understanding a bit more of how the game works.
 ==== Gossip System ====
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 === Gossip 2.0 ===
 If done correctly, a trading system for Gossip (humanoids would have a chance to drop these, maybe the cultists in Eltibule, or the Mantises in Serbule) could even be implemented, allowing for very small favor increases (like +1-5 or something). These would require a lot of running around as certain players would want only certain gossip. For a new player this could be difficult, but could really introduce a new player to the game and the roles specific NPCs play. Plus, Rita and Blanche would have another purpose in Serbule to introduce new players to NPCs and favor.
@@ Line 255: / Line 243: @@
 Come up with some sort of way to let players get Mentalism or maybe Fire Magic on the tutorial island. I think Mentalism makes more sense and it would just be another way players could deal with the dummy. It also gives the impression early on there is more than one way to play the game and gives players a way to get off the island without being forced into thinking they have already sunk too much time into unarmed or sword and thus are required to stick with a melee skill.
+==== Armor ====
+I don't know if this is as big of an issue, but I think tanking is needed to solo in the late game, but space is also an issue, too, so Cloth gear is also still necessary. One hour of Povus-grinding basically fills up most player inventories, I can't imagine trying to do it in full metal armor. Also, I think Metal Armor was "buffed" to add a bit more mana on combat refresh, but I'm still hesitant to try it after having been burned so hard when I tried it last time. The solo gear route for end game content still pretty heavily encourages Cloth Chest and Legs for the inventory and then Metal for everything else. I'm not sure why players use anything else.
 ==== More Info ====
 "More Info" deserves multiple mentions during the early part of the game. Perhaps the first few times the player's inventory fills up. Perhaps the first ten times they see a loading screen. Perhaps also as part of a "gossip" or "rumors" system.
-I think I see it in the loading screen now. I guess maybe it's alright because I don't hear as many questions in game about how to know what to do with certain items, but it's hard to know how new players learn about these things.
+I see this is in the loading screen now. I guess maybe it's alright because I don't hear as many questions in game about how to know what to do with certain items, but it's hard to know how new players learn about these things.
+==== Stopping Global spam / Words of Power woes ====
+Words of Power should only work in Nearby/Party/Tell tab. This is just a quality of life improvement, but would be good to cut down on people thinking Global or other places are a good place to use them. Make them not work at all in certain tabs and players will be much less likely to spam.
+Additionally, it would appear that these are on a cycle as I've randomly had some not work and ones that I once used now work again. I just stopped using them altogether as I've had so many of my words fail to work, presumably because several players just have sheets of the stuff and go down through them to take other player's words of power and now that essentially everyone knows this is happening they are all doing it.
+EDIT: Still a problem as of March of 2022. I attempted to use a Human Illusion WOP that I had made about a year ago and never shared with another soul and it didn't work. This needs fixed or at least should be addressed or acknowledged for new players.
+==== Endurance Training ====
+Endurance may need to be a bit more defined or slightly easier to level around the mid-game. If I play the game well, I don't get hit, which means I have to actually play the game poorly or level a secondary pair of slow-tanking-based combat skills to properly level Endurance.
+I'm removing most of my comments on a different system because I just don't know how to balance the game around this. Maybe a Dodge skill would work if done in tandem with endurance, but it just seems weird that to get tankier you need to get hit more. I guess it's not that weird as an in-real-life interpretation of the skill, but it is kind of weird in a "I want to be a better tank, let me just go AFK farming for a few hours spamming my basic attack and First Aid at some bears in Eltibule." Maybe there should just be something in the game that explains this so players understand the mid-game is actually just going to be hard for a solo unless you take some time to level Endurance back in the newbie areas like the Ranalon Cave or with bears in Eltibule.
+==== Legendary Solutions / Imbuing System / Classifying Treasure Mods ====
+This section was moved because it looks like we are getting a way to use Combat Wisdom to buff the Foretold in Prophecy items.
+Recent changes were made to drop the extra treasure mods that made balancing hard. I like the idea of Mastercrafted items, too. What I think could be done as a solution to give players a little bit of a boost to gear without adding treasure mods is making the new legendaries that are crafted "Imbue-able" by taking them out on a certain raiding mission or something to break them in.
+Maybe you head out with your yellow gear and it gets a unique but not overpowered mod based on which type of "dungeon boss" you kill while wearing it first. So if the top out on gear levels is 120, say that level 60 and lower gear you have to run one of the four dailies to get this unique treasure mod imbued on it. You can only wear one piece of imbue-able gear at once that is "honed" for imbuing ahead of time using some Artificing skill or maybe even Sigil Scripting or Gadgetry combined with Rubywalls or other Gems. Or maybe this is where Combat Wisdom comes in? Like you can activate the "Master Barrage" (mentioned on the Combat Wisdom wiki page) but only if a certain gear piece has been imbued with it? With 5 pieces of crafted/imbueable gear (or 6 with belts), that would let players "specialize" in just those skills.
+Otherwise, an example might be that a Dark Chapel "boss" might make your gear more likely to get Treasure mods affecting X Ability Types/Tags. Ice Cave for Y Ability Types/Tags. Then Winter Nexus for Z types, etc.
+A higher level (for 60-120, maybe similar or the next step up from the Aurest Mission) Daily system would imbue gear with one more mod above level 60, making it go from yellow to orange like Legendary to "Mythic" or "Eternal" or something. Maybe non-crafted gear could get two free imbues if not already yellow or something, too.
+I'm not saying this is a great solution to the problem of balancing crafted vs. looted gear, but it's one option that might make crafting less necessary but still beneficial for high level gear yet still encourage people to fight mobs to get the "best gear".
+==== Early NPC/Favor Issues ====
+I don't hear about issues with Marna not buying items in chat anymore so this might not be an issue anymore. Now with Cleo Conyer in Serbule Hills, this might not be as big of a deal. I also think maybe something was introduced to explain to new players how Marna's favor works so hopefully there won't be Steam reviews complaining about this anymore.
+==== Kur needs a few newbie-friendly changes ====
+A players first experience with harsh environments needs to be a little bit easier. Kur is the first zone in the game where the RPG aspect turns into something many MMORPG fans have never seen before. It's a huge shock to them. Over time, it's a net positive immersion-wise to have this environment be this harsh this early, but it takes a while to acclimate to it, I think.
+I've removed most of my suggestions here, because again, I just don't know what to do to fix this really aside from some sort of cross-zone quest that gives the player an objective. But I think finding Nightshade is already a planned quest now with the main storyline so this is probably not going to be an issue anymore. I think Kur is still a shock for new players, but maybe it's a good one at this point. It's certainly easier to get to Kur Outpost now than in the last zone.
+I think with the main quest line leading into Kur and a likely suggestion as part of that to bring a piece of wood for the fire at the start of the zone, this is going to be more than sufficient.