Live Feedback: Issue 13 : Merit Reward System
By
1VB_FIST,
Posted on: 2008-12-11 18:56 in Developers' Corner
Subjective:
So far Merits seem okay. I do like the randomness of getting a good recipe after a mission or tf but dislike the SO screen after story arcs. I don't do tf's much so the new system (theoretically) gives me a better chance to get rare recipes without spending millions.
I understand the point about Tf times but liked the fact that Katie was one of the few tfs that most of my friends could participate in and we had a chance a good recipe.
The only thing i hate about the Merit system is that the story arcs now work like tfs. In tfs everything is a bit confusing with only the leader knowing what's going on. When the tf is done the reward screen pops up and then the leader wanders off to see the contact. Everyone else quits and then reads their "souvenir" section to figure out gaps in their perception of the plot.
Things were different in story arcs and if a person hadn't done the arc, or had forgotten it, there was a bit of a mystery at the end. You wouldn't know what happened next until you got back to the contact. You might think you finished but couldn't be sure.
With the new system a bit of the mystery is lost.
After doing several arcs on my brute today & getting my 3 merits for each i have reached a conclusion. The Dev's are nuts. Assume i did 67 arcs, which is what it would take to get 1 high end reciepe at 200 merits. I think its absolutly absurd. I guess if you want to actualy accumulate any amount of merits you will have to farm TF's non stop. Forget about running a team & doing someone elses arc, your screwing yourself out of the limited amount of arcs u have avalaible to yourself. Unless you want to go back & do the arcs by going back in time. Merits, what a joke.
Post deleted by Moderator 08
Ignoring anyone is a mistake. You might miss something viral to your cause.
OK listen. I have 687 merits. I almost never team and I have done like 3 TF's total. I can solo and get that quickly, but other people just slow me down. I don't have a special build or anything spetacular.
I won't play my other toons because they are doing day job badges and I don't want my merits spread across 16 toons.
Are you hearing me? No teams, no TF's, and not using my other toons.
Merits get me everything except Purples and Inspirations. I do not use the auction house. I delete or sell to vendors everything because I can get more from a NPC, or the stuff is next to worthless and can be deleted. Influence is next to obsolete.
I used to sell Numina, Miracle, and LotG 7.5% and save up for a purple. If people won't pay the price for those 3 then I won't be able to afford the purples. They drop so infrequently as to be nonexistant for me. I have never seen one drop outside of intensive farming.
Is this what your goals were?
No teaming, no TF's, limited use for Inf, little use of Wentworths, and not using our other toons.
This is so frustrating!! I'm sorry but this just doesn't seem right.
I feel so let down after a really long TF and I just get 25 merits. I used to be excited sometimes about the rewards at the end, and now it's just not worth it.
Not worth finding people and getting a PuG to function and tolerating the noob questions/mistakes, and the arrogant Vet that thinks they know everything and really just hold us up.
The price for an IO is too high and the reward for teaming/TF's too little.
I don't want to get the random roll's because I don't feel as though there is even the slightest chance of getting anything good any longer and I would be out of some HARD EARNED merits for junk.
This is such a let down. PLEASE let us know if you have plans for any type of change. This is not the type of system I want to pay to play.
Note - this post is somewhat long and is based on my subjective experiences with a newly started Brute.
TL;DR version (subjective) - Merits are having a negative impact on how I feel about my progress in the game. It is too early to tell if they are having an actual impact on that progress.
On to the wall of text....
When I13 went live I started a new War Mace/Shield Brute as part of a sub-project within my SG network. This project is a light RP themed group (aka not min/max/optimized) and has enough folks in it that we can create teams across multiple time zones. We're using level pacting to help keep us all at around the same level (to the extent possible). The upshot is that at this point my level 27 Brute has run exclusively in teams where I'm usually no more than 2 levels off from the team leader.
The other aspect of the project is that, again to the extent possible, we are running story arcs and Strike Forces. We run papers/mayhems to get the temps and the contacts and then we start in with the arcs. So in my play time I've participated in a whole bunch of story arcs and helped complete a few of them. Since the group is designed for easy teaming folks are dropping in an out as we go so it is often the case that foks will help with some, but not all, of the missions in an arc. We also schedule SF runs and I've been able to run 2 of those - Virgil and Renault. So at this point I have 39 Merits - 25 from Renault, 9 from Virgil, and 5 from the Daren Wade arc.
On the face of it this doesn't seem bad - I've run 2 SF's and have about the same as I would have had - 2 Random Pool C rolls. But I don't *feel* as if I'm doing well - why is that? Well, the main issue is that others in the group that I team with have more Merits - in some cases significantly more - one guy has 110 merits. Why is that? He's only run the same SF's as I have - why does he have more? The main reason is that he runs a bit more often and thus is usually the highest level on our teams. As such he is the one that tends to set the missions and so the delta is all due to Arc bonuses. That's an additional 70 merits from story arcs. If I had earned that - heck if I had earned 1/2 of that - then I'd probably be feeling pretty good about merits. As it is, I don't.
By this time the fervant merit supporters are probably dismissing this and saying - "but you could have had that if you'd just tried a bit harder". Let's take a look at that.
When our group was running in Cap I was way behind (RL having taken over) and so I never even ran a single paper mission or got a single contact in that zone. The only way I could have changed that was to break off from my group and solo to catch up or have the group re-run a second set of papers. The first option would mean soloing which I find boring (and is exactly counter the purpose of this effort). The second option would either have meant other members out-leveling their contacts or taking no-XP. They probably would have done this, but it wouldn't be fair to ask it of them (it was already the case that they were hold on to Mayhems so others could get the temps we would otherwise have missed). The net result - no merits in Cap (other than for Virgil) even though I helped complete the PTS arc.
By the time we got to Sharkshead I had caught up and was within 1 level of the leader (his pactee wasn't playing much, so he had a boat anchor on him 
). We ran the papers and got Petrovich as our contact. Then we ran the Daren Wade arc and simul-completed the missions - presto, we all earned 5 merits. This was looking good. Next we start in on Petrovich only now things aren't working. The team lead and one other guy get Petrovich to give out his arc mission, but others of us just can't. After running 2 of the random missions he gives out and still not getting the arc we decided to just move on and start running the arc. So again, even though I ran every mission in it - no merits. Then we ran Renault and so here I am with 39 merits.
I want to feel like this is a wash and I have what I would have had anyway - but I don't. Instead I feel like I'm once again behind for no particular reason. I ran many of those arcs - why don't I have any more merits to show for it? In the past it wouldn't have mattered - but now it does (at least psychologically). Sure I could grind to catch up - I could run solo or go back via Oro and earn some merits - but why? Why should I have to do that? Is that really the intended effect of this system? If so, then for me at least it isn't working. It is reducing my enjoyment of the game, not increasing it. But I'm not much for formless whining, so what would I like to see done? What would it take for merits to at worst be neutral and at best improve my game experience (which I would like them to do)?
The primary thing is to figure out some way for folks who contribute to story arcs, but who for some reason or another don't complete their own arc, to get some level of merit reward. As I mentioned above, I'd probably feel fine (neutral) if I had recieved 1/2 the merits that the arc holder did and I'd feel great (positive) if I had gotten the same number.
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[*]One idea that I've seen for this is to open up Oro earlier - at the start of the level band instead of at the end of it. That might help, but I'm not sure that would work for a group like ours. As I said - we have folks coming and going at all points - having to wait for arc start points to add team members would be a constraint. But it would probably be better than it is now.
[*]Another step would be to allow more control over the contacts and the missions they give out. I'd have more merits today (and be happier) if that darned Shark's contact had given me the fraking arc mission instead of a bunch of drek. This is a long standing bug that in the past made no real difference - not so much now - it needs to be fixed.
[*]Another idea would be to spread the merit awards out and simply give them for each non-paper/mayhem mish. That would provide the most flexibility in team formation and encourage running contacts (as opposed to grinding papers/scanners).
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As for the overall impact on the progression of my character - it is too early to say. If merits become the only real way to get certain recipes then I'm probably not going to be happy (pre-merits I could easily buy the recipes I needed and it is still too early to tell if that will be true post-merits). In the end I might be able to build the toon I want just as I have in the past (leaving only the sour feeling of lagging merit earning on a relative basis - which is completely subjective). I won't really have a good handle on that until I'm in the 40's and maybe not even then since the markets are in turmoil right now and will likely remain that way for months.
However, at the moment on a subjective basis merits are a downer - they make me "feel" like in order to make progress I have to play the game in ways I find un-fun. Whether that's objectively true or not, it is the way I currently feel and so I'm disappionted in merits right now.
ok objective,I have just done the total TV arc with my lvl 50 stalker, at one point, I was awarded 4 merits, the first 4 ever for this char, later I got 2 more for some other missions from tv, so I go 6 whole merits for 2-3 hours of work, this was done on lowest setting,a dnd I ghosted as much as my stalker could(which I know is a no no ,but as a stalker if your mission is to take out X, you go to X and take them out with the min of colladeral damage,)if I was a brute, i would have done LARGE body count, now for the same amount of time I could have gotten 5-8X the amount of merits(itf or LG), and for this char merits are next to worthless as I have her enhanced out using min IO sets and a lot of hamis, that a extra recipe means little to me
Fluffy Bunny 1 Person SG
Rabid Bunny 1 Person VG
Both on Pinnacle
Hobbit's Hole 1 Person SG
Spider's Web 1 Person VG
Both on Freedom
Subjective:
I know I said in a previous post that I sort of liked the system, but since then I've changed my mind.
The merit system just feels... wrong. I can't exactly put it into words.
It's like, the game was great before, not overpowered or anything, very well balanced. But now for some absurd reason, we suddenly have to grind for our rewards, instead of them being actually *rewarded* to us.
Having to grind for the sake of "phat lewt"?? That sounds a lot like some of the other big MMOs out there, and is one of the main reasons why I play CoX instead of them. I don't like that the game I enjoy is slowly being converted into a total grind-fest MMO like those others, who shall remain nameless.
I like the idea behind the system, the general concept is pretty appealing, but I just don't feel that it was implemented very well. It just seems... forced, sort of.
Two wrongs don't make a right. However, three rights make a left.
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Go. Hunt. Kill Skuls. Rularuu.
Thanks to the new Merit Reward system every TF I'm on now is a speed run. It's broken down to what AT is taken and what powerset is need or not need.
Welcome to the City of Cookie Cutter Heroes/Villains. YeaH! And now I'm making less inf now because all the TFs I go on now are speed runs.
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After doing several arcs on my brute today & getting my 3 merits for each i have reached a conclusion. The Dev's are nuts. Assume i did 67 arcs, which is what it would take to get 1 high end reciepe at 200 merits. I think its absolutly absurd.
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Previously, doing arcs would have gotten you ZERO pool C and pool D recipes. Now, after getting 20 merits, you can get a random roll. You are getting something where you previously got NOTHING.
Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
(QR)
Objective: Since I13 went live (and speed TFs extended to TFs other than Katie) I've done an ITF in 41 minutes and 44 minutes...and those were slow runs apparently.
The system of rewarding merits-per-time ignores the difficulty of TFs. The LRSF rewards the player with the same amount of merits as Moonfire's, Manticore, Imperious, etc. all of which are significantly easier TFs imo.
Subjective: While I personally have no problems running speed TFs and such, I wish there was a way to encourage players to actually play the TFs rather than Farm them. (Easier said than done, I understand).
My 'main,' Bret, is by far not an 'optimal' character while D-Mint is. To that extent it's already more difficult to get teams to desire Bret over D-Mint, but I was always able to convince people that Bret would be an asset to the team. Since I13 I've actually been told flat out that I was not wanted if I was bringing Bret. Something that was unheard of before I12.
I find myself desiring D-Mint over Bret because she is more likely to get Merits. Additionally, because they are non-transferable I have to ask myself: why would I play Bret when that LoTG would come faster if I play D-Mint all the time?
I wonder what other pre-I13 statistics could be looked at to figure out how difficult a given TF is. For example, the number of failed attempts or actual runs. The mission types could also be a factor. TFs with a bunch of defeat alls will make it harder to cut corners.
It feels like Merits are being used as a treat being waved in front of my nose to entice me to play TFs that I don't like. I've played all the hero side TFs and Trials except Dr. Q, Sara Moore, and half of Justin Augustine (I was doing homework 
). That said, there are some TFs that I like, some that I don't, and some that I'll only run with friends. I realize that, on some level, DR is necessary to protect against farming. As it stands though, it feels (to me) more like you're trying to get us to play the content that's gathering cobwebs rather than the content we want to play. This, of course, doesn't address the reason why we didn't' want to play the content in the first place.
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After doing several arcs on my brute today & getting my 3 merits for each i have reached a conclusion. The Dev's are nuts. Assume i did 67 arcs, which is what it would take to get 1 high end reciepe at 200 merits. I think its absolutly absurd.
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Previously, doing arcs would have gotten you ZERO pool C and pool D recipes. Now, after getting 20 merits, you can get a random roll. You are getting something where you previously got NOTHING.
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That isn't exactly true, many arcs ended with the choice of a DO or SO enhancement. If he's getting 3 merits per arc then the amount of return he is getting per story arc has decrease by more than 50% (SOs are 8).
Though, of course, some arcs give significantly more...
As I see it Merit "rewards" are just another penalty that discourages me from playing, and certainly from paying to play.
Right now I'm laid off, but during a normal day I work ten or more hours, sleep eight hours, spend two hours commuting, and an hour cooking/eating. That leaves me about five hours to do anything else.
Being a clean person one of those hours should go to cleaning up the house, taking a bath, brushing my teeth, etc . . . so we cut it down to four hours. . . What am I going to do with that time?
Well one thing is play city of heroes, but I need to get the most fun and rewards out of my playtime that I can. Which means I probably should play mostly solo since waiting for a group to form isn't time efficient.
I pay the same money per time every month whether I play COX or not, whether my characters gain levels or not, and whether I'm bored stiff or not. So to keep my business I have to be able to get on, play, and actually accomplish something in a short amount of time.
That cuts out Taskforces in general, which advertise that you need a number of hours to play through them even after getting a group together. And now I need those task forces to get merits?
That's a non starter. I pay my money, spend a good amount of my time on the game every month, and thus deserve to be able to get worthwhile rewards.
Right now I know most players are probably college kids, or schoolboys, but as time goes on your base is going to age. There will be more 30+ folks like me wanting to play an MMO, and the time issue will become larger.
Skill should be the measure of how you progress, not how many hours per month you can mindlessly grind through repetitive content.
Something else is being overlooked here specific to SF/TF comments made elsewhere in this post.
You still get access to your random drop at the end of a tf/sf if you have enough merits. The random roll from the merit vendor provides the exact same reward as completing a sf/tf did in the past.
I did a Sharkshead SF yesterday on a PUG invite, brought 3 friends, finished in an hour and a half, turned in my 25 merits for a random lvl 50 recipe after completion and got the Numi +regen/+recovery recipe (super woots!)
However, can the merit system be improved? Absolutely?
Is it bad? A matter of preference.
But I don't think that our CoX lifestyle has been damaged if you recognize the developers went to great lengths to encompass our needs in the changes. This is the first release of the system...there may be updates based on our feedback - so be constructive in your criticisms!
Loyalist *chokes on it* ... scum!
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After doing several arcs on my brute today & getting my 3 merits for each i have reached a conclusion. The Dev's are nuts. Assume i did 67 arcs, which is what it would take to get 1 high end reciepe at 200 merits. I think its absolutly absurd.
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Previously, doing arcs would have gotten you ZERO pool C and pool D recipes. Now, after getting 20 merits, you can get a random roll. You are getting something where you previously got NOTHING.
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if the sum total of the system is "I13: One Recipe of Your Choice" then it hardly seems to be worth the trouble to have the whole thing in place. There has to be better payoff for the new features.
Objective:
I tend to play primarily on Tuesday and Wednesday with ocasional sessions other days of the week. this makes it difficult to get on TFs as not as many are run early week as on weekends, also my sessions on other days are usually an hour or so.
I tend to prefer to team and rarely am I leader, I also rarely have open arcs that I have not outleveled. This means I do not usually get merits through arcs.
In the month since I13 launched I have played the following characters:
lv 50 Mastermind (Has no remaining arcs and therefore no way of getting merits other than SF/Trials or Ouroborus arcs. Has not earned any Merits yet);
lv 50 Dominator (Has some remaining arcs in the Patron and Vanguard contact pools. Unfortunately, has only found farm teams and not a single mission team all month. No merits yet.);
lv 40ish Arachnos Soldier (Gained a level soloing, teamed on a radio team and helped out here and there. No merits yet);
lv 50 Blaster (Got on a few PI teams, did one Respec trial. 25 Merits.);
lv 50 Scrapper (Teamed a lot on various and SG teams, completed 2 Respec Trials and an Ouro arc along with countless other missions and was able to afford a Karma -KB IO);
lv 27ish Defender (Teams regularly, gained 2 levels, went on a Synapse and has something like 50 Meris.
Subjectively:
This is generally how I tend to play and I do not see myself especially enjoying the changes I would have to make to my gaming style in order to acumulate enough Merits to actually have them make a significant impact on my characters.
EDIT: I have also noticed a significant DECREASE in TFs being run in general and an INCREASE in Ouroborus teams since I13 launched.
Merits and How I Learned to Love Positron's TF.
Objective: A general poll of the players pre-I13 would probably reveal that many did no TFs for whatever reason, some did a few when they could, some did them as often as possible and a few players farmed the heck out of them. Before Inventions this meant little since the rewards were Inf, Prestige and Exps. Then I firmly believe that the Devs decided to get a bit more mileage out of all that content with Inventions and begin dropping Recipes at the end of the TFs. Thus the Speed Katie was born.
Now, new for I13, the Speed Posi! I have friends and have seen postings on the board that reveal that Posi's can be done in under 2 hours solo. This nets a whopping 60 Merits. One clever soul managed to glean a total of 800+ Merits since I13 went live and traded them all in for Rare drops and the result was staggering. Piles of junk but also much of the loot that only drops through intense farming of just the right foes.
So now it looks like Positron's TF, possibly one of the worst in the game, is seeing tons of action. So...what now the Devs need to bribe us to play ill-used content?
When Merits was first released I was pleased because it meant that casual players like me (seldom play TFs for a number of reasons) could just play the arcs and get the occasional shiney. Then I discovered how many Merits you needed to get anything. Yeah...ok...I see how this works. Notsomuch.
I've read that all drop systems have to have 'junk' drops and I still fail to see why. This relates to the Merit system because many players feel that the number of junk drops means that they have to farm TFs to be able to either narrow the band to the Rare Recipes or just out and out pick what they want.
If the junk recipes were not so crappy then perhaps players might settle for the random roll and the Merit prices might not seem so steep.
"Comics, you're not a Mastermind...you're an Overlord!"
The Merit Reward System is helping Task Forces and Trials. Players want the Merits and the TF's are fun, so that's the good part.
The Merit Reward System is taking the place of Wentworths and the Black Market. There is rarely any IO Recipe for sale that you want now, so everything is either 10 million+ and perma-sold-out or there are 20-90 for 1000-10,000.
Obviously no one or few players are willing to risk Merits on a Random Roll which in turn caused Wentworths/BM to fail as a source of needed items.
It may be that the Merits needed for Random Rolls is too high, or maybe it's about right and no one wants another Blood Mandate or Call of the Sandman over and over and over....
To fix Wentworths/Black Market balance add a free Random Roll at the end of TF's and Trials to go along with the Merits. Example: Player completes Positron TF, receives 55 Merits and 1 Random Rare Recipe from the TF Pool. That way you'll preserve what Wentworths/Black Market was before Merit System and you'll keep all the positive things that the Merit System is adding to the game.
Quixotik
"I did not say this. I am not here." -Guild Navigator
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After doing several arcs on my brute today & getting my 3 merits for each i have reached a conclusion. The Dev's are nuts. Assume i did 67 arcs, which is what it would take to get 1 high end reciepe at 200 merits. I think its absolutly absurd.
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Previously, doing arcs would have gotten you ZERO pool C and pool D recipes. Now, after getting 20 merits, you can get a random roll. You are getting something where you previously got NOTHING.
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That isn't exactly true, many arcs ended with the choice of a DO or SO enhancement. If he's getting 3 merits per arc then the amount of return he is getting per story arc has decrease by more than 50% (SOs are 8).
Though, of course, some arcs give significantly more...
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The fact that SO's cost 8 merits is utterly absurd and tells us NOTHING about the relative value of the merits. I think I speak both for myself and many others when I say that getting 3 merits is vastly preferable over getting an SO.
Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
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As I see it Merit "rewards" are just another penalty that discourages me from playing, and certainly from paying to play.
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So to keep my business I have to be able to get on, play, and actually accomplish something in a short amount of time.
That cuts out Taskforces in general, which advertise that you need a number of hours to play through them even after getting a group together. And now I need those task forces to get merits?
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Once again, we have a comment that mystifies me. You say you were never doing task forces anyway. So if you wanted 'special' recipes, I guess you either had to buy them at Wentworths or do without them.
But now, you are able to earn merits FROM OTHER SOURCES, like regular mission arcs (which you said you solo anyway) and Flashback arcs.
So you now have the opportunity to get the 'task force recipes' when previously you had NO chance to get them. I'm not following; how does this discourage you from playing?
Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
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To fix Wentworths/Black Market balance add a free Random Roll at the end of TF's and Trials to go along with the Merits. Example: Player completes Positron TF, receives 55 Merits and 1 Random Rare Recipe from the TF Pool. That way you'll preserve what Wentworths/Black Market was before Merit System and you'll keep all the positive things that the Merit System is adding to the game.
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One way that could be balanced would be to have each TF give random drops at the content's level, not at your level.
So... if there's worry about Katie giving farmable recipes AND merits, it gets farmed for level 34 recipes. (Plus 1 or 2 levels on higher difficulties.) Not nearly as abusive as farming level 50s, given the difference in power between 50 buffs and 34 buffs.
55 Merits on Posi plus a level 15 drop isn't much more from the view of a 50 farmer, but consider how it looks to a level 15 character.
etc, etc. Not totally the random drop plus merits, but still a great compromise.
This would actually help the market quite a bit by generating a variety of levels. Consider how many level 30-ish Posi Triples were getting sold even before Merits came along.
Objective Feedback:
Initially the Katie Hannon Task force gave 10 Single Origin enhancements for fighting the AV TEN TIMES (remember, the S.O. Reward was for defeating an AV) and 1 S.O. for completing the Task Force.
Now, those 11 enhancements are replaced 1 SO for defeating 10 AVs and the one for completing the task force was replaced with the merit equivalent of half a S.O. enhancement.
Specific suggestions for the KHTF:
Make Mary #1-9 elite bosses, drop a SO at the end of the task force in addition to the merits, and give a 1 use version of the summon Katie for those that have used up the 5 charges of the temp power.
Subjective Feedback:
Can a developer please point to how groups can do the Eden trial in less than an hour? I think it is time to get serious on fixing the shortcuts if this is the reaction.
A task force should be worth at least a Single Origin. If it isn't, then either the merit rewards are too low or the prices too high.
At what point is the cut off of "too little merits" for the task? I can already guess the next TF on the merit reward chopping block is going to be the ITF. I had groups finish it in an 80 minutes, I've had groups take up to four hours. People have already posted completion times of under 30 minutes. So a range from 1 merit:under a minute to 1 merit:10 minutes.
Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters
I have a problem with the merits/time equation itself . . . I'm still paying the same money every month whether I'm a kid with all night to play video games, or a factory worker with maybe an hour a day to waste.
If you have the skill to do a task force in thirty minutes, well that's your reward to being GOOD. It's called skill, you know the shortcuts, the enemies, who/what you need to assemble before you begin.
Objectively what this setup tells me is that the more time I have to play the more I'll be rewarded by the game. More time spend equals more tockens, which leads to better stuff, an easier run, and quicker collection of those tokens.
Also, subjectively, how long do you think it will take for this "speed" concept to come crashing down when people realize that by sitting still on "quick" missions they can drive up the number of tokens they get for an easy run?
Lets hope not long because a practiced "raiding guild" decked out in the best equipment is going to run those TF's a LOT faster than any regular group ever could. Which economically will lead to your having to join one of those groups if you want to run the task force and actually get something from it. Just like what happened in WOW.
I just got a Miracle +recovery for 240 merits. I worked for a week to get the merits along with normal leveling with my spouse. In that same week I could not earn 50 million influence under normal grind/leveling. On top of that I am level 38 now and I was able to select a level 20 miracle +recovery so I can slot and use when I am exemped down to that level range.
I like the merits, they are a little low but I like the thought.
I would change how they are given tho. I agree story arcs are worthless unless your the team leader selecting your arcs. I would like to see 1 merit per mission in story arcs across the board, and a reward for finishing an arc. Badge missions merits, I currently dont know if you get merits for this. Police/Paper missions, 1 merit each for group. This way every group will slowly be building up merits for doing missions. You can bank them and spend them, or us AH for faster gains.
Subjective Feedback
I very much like the merit system as it gives me something to shoot for. However, for me, it has a rather bad drawback as well.
Some necessary background, I play between midnight and 8 AM PST. Finding Task Forces to run during those times has been, in the year I've been back playing, impossible (it's hard enough finding enough character's near your own level just to get a PUG together).
This leaves the only means of gaining merits being Story Arcs. Given the small number of merits available through Story Arcs, it makes it very difficult not to run the same content on every single toon (which, given extreme alt-itis, means alot of toons) unless I simply want to ignore the merit rewards entirely. Running the same content, for me, leads to boredom, which is why farming merits in Orobos is not a viable option, either.
So, from my point of view, I'd like to see story arc rewards increased, or prices of what you can buy with merits severely reduced. Task Forces should still remain the biggest source of merits, I'm not suggesting that any story arc should be worth the same merits/minute as a TF. I'd also like to see stand alone missions, other than radio missions which already lead towards their own reward, be worth 1 merit, so you don't feel like you're completely missing out by running a mission that is not part of a story arc.
Granted, that will make farming for merits easier, but, those who run content solely to gain merits are going to make their merits regardless.
@Doctor Gemini
Arc #271637 - Welcome to M.A.G.I. - An alternative first story arc for magic origin heroes. At Hero Registration you heard the jokes about Azuria always losing things. When she loses the entire M.A.G.I. vault, you are chosen to find it.
Subjectively the big problem I see is that people speed through the task force to get the merit, skipping all the enemies in between, and leaving behind those team mates who actually want to enjoy the scenery, the enemies, or even get the XP. It makes me not want to play in a task force at all.
Objectively farming is inherant in any system where one piece of loot drops X% of the time from a certain enemy. People learn about it and simply kill that one enemy until he gives out the candy they want. If you want to get rid of farming you need to randomize the loot!
Give out a random recipe with X number of random ingrediants, that makes something with Y number of random effects. Sort of like what Diablo Two did with all of it's items.
Subjectively when people learn that enemy X no longer has any candy to give out they'll stop farming him, and probably start whining at you for removing the candy, but . . . the farming will stop.
Subjectively people enjoy showing off loot that is rare. Even if it stinks they'll laugh about it providing it's unique. Plus when you never know what you'll get your freed from farming enemy X and can explore the rest of the game. A lot of us like that.
Objectively the system MMO's have adopted for granting loot causes the farming. The merit system may limit it if the costs are lowered, but at the expense of making "rare" items more common and causing people to concentrate their farming on things that do give out merits, rather than actually playing the game they way they want. That's rushing, changing toons every few days, etc . . .
Subjectively it's simply not fun to have a common item, it's also not fun to do the same thing 1 million times over. I do that at work, they pay me because it's not fun. It's boring. Are you going to pay me to farm merits?
Of course some people would say your paying me with merits for farming these task forces and story arcs. I then use the money to buy the candy I want. So objectively your paying me to stop playing the game and just farm things in a certain way. ::grins::
If you want to get rid of farming this isn't a great way to do it.