Level 50 disenchanted - turbo levelling
By
Ad Astra,
Posted on: 2009-11-10 24:59 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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Exactly.|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Interesting... I think you just summed up how I feel about my characters at level 50 with that. Good job! I wouldn't have used GTA as an example (because... Ew!), but let's say... Devil May Cry. Yeah, you can upgrade Dante's weapons and skills, but right at the start of the game, he's an absolute badass dragged out of hell to basically be awesome. Or Metal Gear Solid, where Snake is a super skilled super agent dragged out of retirement because he's the only bad enough dude to save the president, so to speak. Or Halo's Master Chief, who's a veritable one-man killing machine just stepping out of the pod.
In probably the great majority of action games, you're put in control of a highly-skilled, very powerful, utterly competent hero who's pretty much the only one badass enough to survive the dangers and put a stop to the evil. Very rarely do you start out as the fledgling wimp who needs to train and improve unless you're in an RPG, because action games thrive on action, and depriving you of your skills for too long is counter-productive to that. That's essentially how I feel about my 50s. They've served their time, they've had their adventures, they've completed their training. These are now the veterans, the elite, the guys and gals who are above and beyond the day-to-day trudge of holding back the waves of crime and evil and who essentially hang back and let the younger heroes take care of things, stepping in only when the crap REALLY hits the fan. They are, if you will, the cavalry, charging in to save the day when all others have failed. Getting a hero to that point is not the end. Even if I don't go for Inventions Sets and Hamidon enhancements, this is pretty much the BEGINNING of the hero where his story truly starts now that he's done with his training. |
And I'll add this to build on your "just the beginning" point: exemping down with a "completed" level 50 to help teams on lower level content is just that much more fun to me.
"Alien"
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Originally Posted by Infernus_Hades
The way you play changes your IO slotting..
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76 characters and Twenty-four 50s later, I still love this game.
AlienOne's Human-Form Warshade Guide (Old guide+New guide = 12,000+ views!)
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Originally Posted by MPSCAPPY
Try doing a search without filter or search criteria, the list is truncated scroll down and see the actual number. For a long time on Triumph for example, it showed between 900 and 1300 players. Same on freedom. this was the regular amount at any given prime time during the week. It's not anymore. This past week end for example on freedom it was around 500 at prime times.
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YOU do realize there is a 'Hide' feature to not be seen in searches.. I run with 30+ people( we just had to get new vent) and all of us Hide.
Now that is not a high number but it is a feature that I am sure quite a few people utilize.
And past week.. You do realize as well that Nov-Jan are Holiday time... Meaning family and not gaming
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Ah, another 'challenge sig'. i suppose i shall accept your challenge....|
Originally Posted by MPSCAPPY
Now, if you have the guts, make a comment that corresponds to an Arch type
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Ogee arches have an interesting shape. Now while no characters in this game can create arches, i think that Controllers with Earth Control would be the archetype most likely to create arches in general, though they would be more likely (in my opinion) to create Depressed arch types, especially in PvP, since i have the feeling that those who play the Dominator archetype also using Earth Control would use their powers to constantly destroy Controller arches, no matter what arch type the Controller created, assuming we could make any arch types at all in game.
Base building doesn't require the use of any particular archetype, and you can use the ability to stack and merge objects in bases to create various arch types, so if we're talking base building, then any archetype can create multiple arch types. Which is as it should be.
As for your posts in this thread that your signature is found in.... Well, i'm going to have to side with Inigo Montoya.
Dr. Todt's theme.
i make stuff...
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mountain dew and cheetos
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Originally Posted by Weatherby Goode
<QR>
What kind of mats do you get for disenchanting a level 50 player? |
Lots of 50's yada yada. still finding fun things to do.
Cthulhu loves you, better start running
I�! I�! Gg�gorsch�a�bha egurtsa�ar�ug d� Dalhor! Cthluhu fthagn! Cthluhu fthagn!
You are in a maze of twisty little passages
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Yeah, ever since we got all those "specific" hide features available to us, I've had pretty much all my characters on "hide" from the main search function (mainly to avoid random invites and tells from spammers). However, anyone on my global list or on any of the active channels (RF2009, Freedom TF/TFs, Freedom Badge, etc., etc.) would be able to see that I was online.|
Originally Posted by BadBad_Girl
YOU do realize there is a 'Hide' feature to not be seen in searches.. I run with 30+ people( we just had to get new vent) and all of us Hide.
Now that is not a high number but it is a feature that I am sure quite a few people utilize. And past week.. You do realize as well that Nov-Jan are Holiday time... Meaning family and not gaming |
"Alien"
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Originally Posted by Infernus_Hades
The way you play changes your IO slotting..
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76 characters and Twenty-four 50s later, I still love this game.
AlienOne's Human-Form Warshade Guide (Old guide+New guide = 12,000+ views!)
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(Of course, not for everyone leveling is the game. And surely few that know the game will grow totally bored suddenly. I'm just afraid some may end up more bored than before in a while, and that allowing quick level 50 access may prove short-sighted then.)|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
You're still missing the point where it no longer as epidemic for new players to be sucked into some kind of spontaneous powerlevelling (I've played numerous lowbies and I haven't had offers to be powerlevelled since I16). That, and the fact that not everyone believes level 50 should be some kind of mythical end of the game. For some people, myself among them, it is merely a new beginning, that of another character. And for some people still, it is a beginning of the post-end-game where they can grind for "phat lewt."
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
I see no problem with the levelling speed as presented.
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Thank you for your opinion.
Oh, and I DO think that leveling WAS pretty slow a few years ago, and OK a few months ago. Its just now...
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Originally Posted by Scarlet Shocker
Without reading every post along the way I understand what the OP's getting at and have raised similar complaints myself.
But there's a differnt side to that argument too - because he and I clearly started playing a while back and often we have rose tinted glasses. For instance I had at least one debt badge on Scarlet before she was level 20 So comparatively, yes the game's a LOT easier now. Debt is negligible, XP comes easily and the leveling curve is so smooth that the horrible grind between about 38 and 42 has vanished If I came to this game now, I'd probably think it's about right. |
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Originally Posted by Scarlet Shocker
For my own part I feel the balance is right and the only change I'd realistically think about requesting is an option to turn off patrol XP.
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This is one of the concepts that a lot of games disappointingly fail to pull off well (either for lack of trying or just plain doing it wrong) and, for all the seething dislike I have of the Halo series, the story does a damn good job of presenting Master Chief as the legendary juggernaut of destruction he actually is as the game goes on.|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Interesting... I think you just summed up how I feel about my characters at level 50 with that. Good job! I wouldn't have used GTA as an example (because... Ew!), but let's say... Devil May Cry. Yeah, you can upgrade Dante's weapons and skills, but right at the start of the game, he's an absolute badass dragged out of hell to basically be awesome. Or Metal Gear Solid, where Snake is a super skilled super agent dragged out of retirement because he's the only bad enough dude to save the president, so to speak. Or Halo's Master Chief, who's a veritable one-man killing machine just stepping out of the pod.
In probably the great majority of action games, you're put in control of a highly-skilled, very powerful, utterly competent hero who's pretty much the only one badass enough to survive the dangers and put a stop to the evil. Very rarely do you start out as the fledgling wimp who needs to train and improve unless you're in an RPG, because action games thrive on action, and depriving you of your skills for too long is counter-productive to that. |
A lot of "Ace Pilot" games tend to screw it up, too, except maybe the old Tie Fighter games (Destroy the Rebel command ship on the very first mission with the crappy base Tie Fighter? Well, now you're a Master General) and the Armored Core series (which like to signify your growing eminence by making enemy assassination attempts more and more vicious, or in the latest games' branching endings, describing your character as being one of history's greatest monsters/heroes depending on the chosen path).
It gets kind of frustrating when you play through, racking up 1000s of kills, being the absolutely vital linchpin to your cause's success...and you're still getting scripted grief from some ******** who has one more star on his lapel than you do.
Unfortunately, the very nature of MMOs makes it pretty hard for your character to ever really be painted as an arbiter of legend, regardless of how powerful it is, since persistent worlds are a hell of a lot more complicated than static ones.
Blue: ~Knockback Squad on Guardian~
Red: ~Undoing of Virtue on [3 guesses]~
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That's probably the BIGGEST thing that bugs me about most contemporary MMOs. As you level up, you should get stronger, more confident and more independent. I mean, you ARE getting more awesome, right? Instead, as the levels roll on, monster difficulty ramps up so severely you end up feeling weaker and dumber with each new level, up to the point where you need a team to shine your shoes and wipe your... Face. Oh, sure, you can run around pciking on weaklings, but the "real" monsters... Nah, those are team content. You're never awesome enough for them.|
Originally Posted by LostHalo
This is one of the concepts that a lot of games disappointingly fail to pull off well (either for lack of trying or just plain doing it wrong) and, for all the seething dislike I have of the Halo series, the story does a damn good job of presenting Master Chief as the legendary juggernaut of destruction he actually is as the game goes on.
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In a sense, you can never become Master Chief, and the harder you try, the more you become Private Ryan.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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Is it leveling speed or lack of new content that has reduced player levels? Any proof or just speculation? We have had 2 years of no real content. AE had potential, but they gutted it. Even with all the buzz about GR, it is still 4-6 months away.
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Originally Posted by MPSCAPPY
Even Though I have just replied and fear I will repeat my self. Samuel I can See that you joined in 2004. Certainly YOU can see the hugh reduction in players. Do you truly believe that this "Turbo power leveling" had no effect in the reduction of players? I submit to you that the more available and easier power leveling has become that the number of players has decreased.
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Lots of 50's yada yada. still finding fun things to do.
Cthulhu loves you, better start running
I�! I�! Gg�gorsch�a�bha egurtsa�ar�ug d� Dalhor! Cthluhu fthagn! Cthluhu fthagn!
You are in a maze of twisty little passages
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I watch the server global channels. If I am on Infinity and see no activity for 1.5 hrs in an average evening, I am inclined to believe that we have lower server activity. Go stand at Imperious and watch how many fewer TF's are starting. The frequency of hami raids and Mothership raids.You can see for yourself.
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Originally Posted by BBQ_Pork
If I may interject...
Of course, we will seldom if ever see yellow and red dots on servers like Triumph anymore. Green, Yellow and Red were a measure of percentage of capacity, and while population (judged by quarterly company reports) has been steady, server hardware was improved. With the improved servers (yeah, there have been problems from time to time, like when Sharkhead was unsteady as heck on Virtue, etc.) handling the same raw number of players, it would do so at a much lower percentage of maximum capacity. Since August of 2004, I have seen a few declines in apparent activity. *When debt was reduced in missions and mission completion bonuses were raised, I saw a huge decrease in street-sweeping. *When I-5 and I-6 nerfed the heck out of certain powersets, I saw a decrease in PL beggars in P.I. *When I-9 introduced IO's as something for L50's to blow thier nest eggs on (and to farm/grind for), I saw a decrease in people standing around AP running Costume Contests. *When the RMT'ers were bugging us and even more when the /hide feature became granulated, I saw a decrease in the number of players available on /search. *When the AE farms were introduced, I saw a decrease in the amount of players spamming in P.I. for "PL meh!" *When the AE farms were nerfed, I saw a decrease in the amount of players spamming in AP for "PL meh!" I predict that in about a month, I will see a decrease in the amount of players not in Pocket D. My point? You only see a decrease in population in this game when you only look in one spot. I am not employed by the company, nor do I believe that any of the posters in this thread are either. (Unless I missed a red-name, since I skimmed through it a bit.) So feel free to skip terms like "Company Hack". |
Lots of 50's yada yada. still finding fun things to do.
Cthulhu loves you, better start running
I�! I�! Gg�gorsch�a�bha egurtsa�ar�ug d� Dalhor! Cthluhu fthagn! Cthluhu fthagn!
You are in a maze of twisty little passages
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We're not making up our observations any more than you are. Many, like me, don't see the decline you claim is easy to see. I don't see any fewer people running mothership raids, or standing around at the market, or RPing in the D.
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Originally Posted by hedgehog_NA
I watch the server global channels. If I am on Infinity and see no activity for 1.5 hrs in an average evening, I am inclined to believe that we have lower server activity. Go stand at Imperious and watch how many fewer TF's are starting. The frequency of hami raids and Mothership raids.You can see for yourself.
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Originally Posted by PRAF68_EU
Dispari has more than enough credability, and certainly doesn't need to borrow any from you.
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Your observations are no more inherently accurate or valid than anyone elses. Only the devs know what the numbers really are.|
Originally Posted by hedgehog_NA
I watch the server global channels. If I am on Infinity and see no activity for 1.5 hrs in an average evening, I am inclined to believe that we have lower server activity.
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For my part, if there's been some kind of decline I haven't noticed it.
I've been playing on Triumph lately and if anything it seems more active and populated.
The Deadly Apocalypse reliably drew a bunch of big teams out of the woodwork, accumulating more players than I've seen in one spot since they opened the door to the Rogue Isles.
The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.
My City Was Gone
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And not trying to call on me....was it something I said on the forums. |
Originally Posted by Nethergoat
....I've been playing on Triumph lately...
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CAUSE PERFECT PAIN SAID SO!!!!|
Originally Posted by Perfect_Pain
I dont want to level as slow as you.
They way you play sounds BORING AS HELL. That is the bottom line. |
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>.> Heh.
But i agree. For me, it's hero building and alting thats the big draw of this game now. The fact leveling feels brisk keeps me making new alts. I think to myself... maybe i'll try this build... i'll have it into it's 30's in a few week NP and see how i like it... Before it wasn't like that. Makes alting easy. Which in turns keeps me intrested.
And like many have pointed out... just turn the xp off if you want to slow your leveling. Trying to make a 6 year old game MORE teidious isn't a good idea, the majority of us has been here and done that 10 times over. At that point, you make the game less teidious, which they have. IMO of course. lol
@KingSnake - Triumph Server
@PrinceSnake
My common sense is tingling... ~ Deadpool
If you can't learn to do something well... learn to enjoy doing it poorly...
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Originally Posted by hedgehog_NA
I watch the server global channels. If I am on Infinity and see no activity for 1.5 hrs in an average evening, I am inclined to believe that we have lower server activity. Go stand at Imperious and watch how many fewer TF's are starting. The frequency of hami raids and Mothership raids.You can see for yourself.
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I play on Triumph, and have ever since the start. TW2, and TW2.1 go through spells of hyper activity and hyper INactivity. I'll admit lately it seems deader on the channels, but i still see tons of people running around. I'm thinking it's got more to do with SG's and globle friends setting up teams, and not needing a public channel quite as much more then it is a lower population. And frankly, if i were so incline to be more of a leader type, i'm sure i can't put together most any non shard TF i wanted with alittle effort. I just don't like leading.
@KingSnake - Triumph Server
@PrinceSnake
My common sense is tingling... ~ Deadpool
If you can't learn to do something well... learn to enjoy doing it poorly...
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Oh, I'm pretty sure population is down overall from our historic highs. I just don't think it's reasonable to conclude that, of all things, faster leveling is clearly to blame for that.|
Originally Posted by hedgehog_NA
I watch the server global channels. If I am on Infinity and see no activity for 1.5 hrs in an average evening, I am inclined to believe that we have lower server activity. Go stand at Imperious and watch how many fewer TF's are starting. The frequency of hami raids and Mothership raids.You can see for yourself.
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Here are just a few reasons I can think of for server populations to be down that have not only have nothing to do with leveling speed, but with anything the devs can control.
- The game is going on 6 years old.
- We're still in the throes of the largest economic downturn since the Great Depression, with unemployment in the developed world at 30+ year highs.
- There are new MMOs out, including the first ever competetion in the same genre.
- School started up again a couple of moths ago.
Blue
American Steele: 50 BS/Inv
Nightfall: 50 DDD
Sable Slayer: 50 DM/Rgn
Fortune's Shadow: 50 Dark/Psi
WinterStrike: 47 Ice/Dev
Quantum Well: 43 Inv/EM
Twilit Destiny: 43 MA/DA
Red
Shadowslip: 50 DDC
Final Rest: 50 MA/Rgn
Abyssal Frost: 50 Ice/Dark
Golden Ember: 50 SM/FA
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The other part of this is that natural churn ensures that any STATIC source of teaming like a SG or a private global channel will only ever get deader. The people you know leave, yet more people join, only you don't know them and they aren't in your channels. For the longest time, my team screen was completely inactive, because the people I met back in 2004 have all left. A while ago I was invited to a SG and their community, however, and I found plenty of cool people who are on a lot of the time, whom I would never have known even existed.|
Originally Posted by KingSnake
I play on Triumph, and have ever since the start. TW2, and TW2.1 go through spells of hyper activity and hyper INactivity. I'll admit lately it seems deader on the channels, but i still see tons of people running around. I'm thinking it's got more to do with SG's and globle friends setting up teams, and not needing a public channel quite as much more then it is a lower population. And frankly, if i were so incline to be more of a leader type, i'm sure i can't put together most any non shard TF i wanted with alittle effort. I just don't like leading.
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So, yeah, I can't disagree with people who say "My SG is DEAD!" or "My favourite global channels are all empty!" or "My friends all left!" It's natural, but these resources always diminish even with a stable, or indeed even with an increasing population. You can't expect the game to always have lots of THE SAME people in it, but you CAN expect it to have lots of people per se.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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And don't discount the game wave currently cresting now with Dragon's Age, Borderlands, Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Assassin's Creed 2...|
Originally Posted by UberGuy
Here are just a few reasons I can think of for server populations to be down that have not only have nothing to do with leveling speed, but with anything the devs can control.
<list snipped> |
--NT
They all laughed at me when I said I wanted to be a comedian.
But I showed them, and nobody's laughing at me now!
If I became a red name, I would be all "and what would you mere mortals like to entertain me with today, mu hu ha ha ha!" ~Arcanaville
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Wait, what?
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Originally Posted by NuclearToast
Assassin's Creed 2...
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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Sam, what god-forsaken rock have you been living under?|
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Wait, what?
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Friday, 20th, welcome to Renaisance Italy and so much awesome I might just have a nosebleed?
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
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The kind that only has a PC under it. I found out on my own.
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Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha
Sam, what god-forsaken rock have you been living under?
Friday, 20th, welcome to Renaisance Italy and so much awesome I might just have a nosebleed? |
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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I think perspective is important to have.
This game is almost 6 years old. EVERY MMO that has reached this age (or even come close) has tweaked its advancement model. I remember when the 800lb gorilla released, it took me six weeks to get to 60. Now, it takes less than half that time to get to 80. In six weeks, I can have a max level toon practically dripping in raid gear. The same can be seen in every other MMO 5 and older. Part of the problem is that most people aren't like you. People look at older games and only see the STEEP climb ahead of them to "catch up to the rest of the playerbase". Nowadays, since there are ways for 50s to advance beyond just leveling, there's no reason to gate it behind months of toil.
Never thought I'd say this but, I'm with Perfect Pain. The best content in this game is largely at the high end of the level spectrum. Thus, forcing people to spend large amounts of time at the low end, seems folly to me. And since I'm immune to grind (I'm sure anyone who played can tell you how grindy Lineage II is and how "hard" maxing out four characters (primary and subclass) can be), they couldn't possibly institute a progression rate that would faze me in the least. So I'm not an 'easy mode' type of personality. But in order to have wide appeal, you have to make yourself accessible. A person starting today should not believe it'll take them a year to get to "the good part".
@Remianen / @Remianen Too
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