Uncontroversial Opinions: What Needs Fixing
Feb 11, 2015 15:31:38 GMT -5
delerak, lulz, and 7 more like this
Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2015 15:31:38 GMT -5
This is my attempt to compile a list of fairly uncontroversial opinions about what needs changing/fixing among the Armageddon playerbase. There are a lot of varying viewpoints among the GDB, but there are a few issues that keep coming up over and over again, and seem pretty universally accepted as problems except among...to be nice, I'll just call them 'the ones who always support the Arm status quo.' I was thinking it might be helpful to put all of those issues in one place. Maybe some good might actually come of it...who knows? If you want to help add to the list, awesome, but keep in mind this isn't about what you or I think is a good idea, but about what appears to bethe general consensus. Of course, I don't have any actual stats, so I'm forced to kind of 'eyeball it,' but I think some of these are pretty obvious. Now, to unveil...
PRINCE'S LIST OF UNCONTROVERSIAL OPINIONS: WHAT NEEDS FIXING.
Note: Again, none of these necessarily reflect my personal opinion; my intention is only to list apparently popular opinions about what sucks and how to fix those sucky things.
- City-elves need to be given a decent level of running ability. Whether that amounts to giving them a nerfed version of desert run, making desert run a learnable skill, or consolidating the two elven races into one, city-elves need love. Either that, or let them ride mounts. Something has to give; people are not happy with city-elves having delusional pride about a running ability they do not possess.
- The ability for PCs to play full sorcerers should be brought back. The removal of the option for PCs to play full sorcerers caused an outcry on the GDB when it was announced. Players of all karma levels seem to want sorcerer to be a playable role, even if it is only available via role call.
- Force-storage should not be the norm for getting promoted past a certain point or even enslaved. Players should be informed about the difficulties and limitations of the role, and allowed to make an informed decision about whether to give it a shot. If they decide to store then or later, let them!
- The Byn should be open to any loser with 300 'sid. Making potential runners find a 'sponsor' goes against the very nature of the niche that the Byn is supposed to fill, a big part of which is bringing new players into a clan in which they get to explore the world while engaging in some great gritty roleplay.
- The skill-up system needs tweaking. Most players seem to dislike the 'gamey' system that is currently in place, which encourages all manner of twinking to rack up 'fails.' While there are many proposed solutions, it seems to be fairly universally acknowledged that the current way of improving skills is far from the best way.
- The economy needs a major overhaul. While fixing this would be a daunting task, it seems to be pretty unanimous that salters should not be richer than nobles. While some would say that it is a player's responsibility to curtail the amount of coin they are racking up as a lowly grebber, most agree that the fact that you have to do that at all is a problem.
- The RNG shouldn't be allowed to screw over your character concept. While some players seem to like the random element of stat rolls and the feeling of 'inequality' the system promotes, many more seem to dislike the fact that their plans for their character can be dashed to pieces over the roll of a die. A point allocation system is one possible solution, along with more dynamic stats that can change over a character's lifetime by performing (or not performing) certain actions.
- Combat should be improved. A general consensus among critics of the Armageddon combat system seems to be that it is very H&S oriented and vanilla. I haven't really picked up on what the most popular solution to this problem is.
- Players should have more capacity to change the world. A common complaint about Armageddon is that the world is stagnant and the atmosphere stifling. Players want to feel that they can change the world in some way, even if it's something as simple as constructing a small landmark out in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, staff tends to be pretty unpredictable about whether or not they will give such plans a "go," and all too often, they seem willing to crush even the humblest of player goals in the name of "reducing work for staff."
- Transparency. Players are frustrated over staff's unwillingness to share their vision of the game and their reasons for changing/taking away features, clans, guilds, etc. When players reasonably ask why something was done or whether something may change in the future, staff consistently responds that they don't discuss such matters with players. This creates an unnecessarily antagonistic and stifling atmosphere in which players are left in the dark for no apparent reason, even though they are the ones who are affected by these changes.
PRINCE'S LIST OF UNCONTROVERSIAL OPINIONS: WHAT NEEDS FIXING.
Note: Again, none of these necessarily reflect my personal opinion; my intention is only to list apparently popular opinions about what sucks and how to fix those sucky things.
- City-elves need to be given a decent level of running ability. Whether that amounts to giving them a nerfed version of desert run, making desert run a learnable skill, or consolidating the two elven races into one, city-elves need love. Either that, or let them ride mounts. Something has to give; people are not happy with city-elves having delusional pride about a running ability they do not possess.
- The ability for PCs to play full sorcerers should be brought back. The removal of the option for PCs to play full sorcerers caused an outcry on the GDB when it was announced. Players of all karma levels seem to want sorcerer to be a playable role, even if it is only available via role call.
- Force-storage should not be the norm for getting promoted past a certain point or even enslaved. Players should be informed about the difficulties and limitations of the role, and allowed to make an informed decision about whether to give it a shot. If they decide to store then or later, let them!
- The Byn should be open to any loser with 300 'sid. Making potential runners find a 'sponsor' goes against the very nature of the niche that the Byn is supposed to fill, a big part of which is bringing new players into a clan in which they get to explore the world while engaging in some great gritty roleplay.
- The skill-up system needs tweaking. Most players seem to dislike the 'gamey' system that is currently in place, which encourages all manner of twinking to rack up 'fails.' While there are many proposed solutions, it seems to be fairly universally acknowledged that the current way of improving skills is far from the best way.
- The economy needs a major overhaul. While fixing this would be a daunting task, it seems to be pretty unanimous that salters should not be richer than nobles. While some would say that it is a player's responsibility to curtail the amount of coin they are racking up as a lowly grebber, most agree that the fact that you have to do that at all is a problem.
- The RNG shouldn't be allowed to screw over your character concept. While some players seem to like the random element of stat rolls and the feeling of 'inequality' the system promotes, many more seem to dislike the fact that their plans for their character can be dashed to pieces over the roll of a die. A point allocation system is one possible solution, along with more dynamic stats that can change over a character's lifetime by performing (or not performing) certain actions.
- Combat should be improved. A general consensus among critics of the Armageddon combat system seems to be that it is very H&S oriented and vanilla. I haven't really picked up on what the most popular solution to this problem is.
- Players should have more capacity to change the world. A common complaint about Armageddon is that the world is stagnant and the atmosphere stifling. Players want to feel that they can change the world in some way, even if it's something as simple as constructing a small landmark out in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, staff tends to be pretty unpredictable about whether or not they will give such plans a "go," and all too often, they seem willing to crush even the humblest of player goals in the name of "reducing work for staff."
- Transparency. Players are frustrated over staff's unwillingness to share their vision of the game and their reasons for changing/taking away features, clans, guilds, etc. When players reasonably ask why something was done or whether something may change in the future, staff consistently responds that they don't discuss such matters with players. This creates an unnecessarily antagonistic and stifling atmosphere in which players are left in the dark for no apparent reason, even though they are the ones who are affected by these changes.
