Ori nodes are freeing up because it looks like a banwave happened on the bots, at least on my server.
OPR only saw activity because of it’s reward, it had a lot of problems. It’s better now with the extra door and the continued terrain exploit fixes, but at the end of the day it’s a mediocre take on Alterac Valley which is a formula two decades old to MMOs at this point.
The point about the other pvp rewards is fair, but OPR is more accessible normal mode dungeons, which don’t give shards, they give resources and base items. I would be wholly supportive of OPR getting some pvp tokens, a box of reagents, Or more frequent “good” drops rom the box as you scale your expertise up. I would NOT be OK with umbrals freely from OPR because the only “infinite” umbral gain is via crafting with the most expensive stuff - Once people realize this your Ori routes will be jam-packed again. All of this logic mostly applies to War too, And you wouldn’t want people arranging pretend wars just for the umbrals (and they would)
tldr; War/OPR cant umbral because it would be infinitely farmable and somewhat exploitable if players agreed to trade wins etc - but it SHOULD drop better base items more often, the loot crate at the end is in the pitiful state and needs a change.
I am in the process of doing so like everyone else. It isn’t ignorance that drives my thought process… Its balance for receiving a reward for doing something passively with no cost or lower risk involved the reward should be significantly less. If you want to actively progress your gear then mutations should IMO offer a much greater amount than opr. Due to the points I’ve reiterated here.
I’m not saying there shouldn’t be a route to progression for doing other content. I totally agree with you there. I just don’t agree with the rate you are proposing. Considering umbral rewards from gypsum does scale up with your expertise level. It would still be feasible to increase in power be it significantly slower than mutations.
Edit: I would happily see an increase to umbral from gypsum casts as this is already limited. I think they could comfortably quadruple the rewards from gypsum and it still be a much slower alternative.
It killed OPR on my server for sure, waiting times are too high. I hate dungeon content, so let me do my PvP and open world content for umbrals.
Server populations are too low by design, they should merge servers to have 4k population divided to 2x 2000 population capacity channels. Make wars happen on the first channel. Make OPR queues shared among the region, it will solve waiting times and will allow us to have proper matchmaking due to bigger player count to choose from.
Also just add a lfg system so we can find groups for any content easier.
I think they should increase the reward rate from gypsum for sure. They could quadruple the reward and it still be a significantly slower method to earn umbral.
Doing something passively with little no risk or cost involved should reward a relatively humble amount.
I love opr… well I love PvP and this is the best we have!
In general I think we should retain an xp bar after 60 and everytime we level we get a gypsum orb(much like crafting apptitude) and when we reach 600gs we receive umbral… Just way more than 3 (I know that’s just the starting amount). They can cap this reward at 7 orbs per day like the current model, but with a hell of a lot more freedom. I think small amounts of shards should drop passively from all content you do and yes I think 5-10 for a passive amount seems fair.
Yesterday I left the game. What is the point of playing the game if certain groups of players are excluded from the game completely? As I am a PVP player, there is nothing I can do at the moment. Open world PVP doesn’t happen, everyone is in the cities or in the dungeons. OPR has long waiting times on my server and doesn’t take place at all. Wars are not happening at the moment either, as the companies are trying to get as far as possible in the dungeons. Before the patch, I ran the dungeons several times and it was torture for me, because I don’t enjoy PVE. I definitely won’t sit down and do the same thing again… For now I will let the game rest until AGS wakes up and sets the priorities right again.
I already explained… Increase the rewards from gypsum by 4x at least. I say this as it already has a limit and entry requirement. It also scales with your gear level.
You should also get passive amounts. I.e from things like OPR a chance drop from mobs etc… I’m not by any means suggesting you should just do OPR, but it is an endgame currency so it should take a long time to achieve and it should be achievable via the content you enjoy, but that content should be challenging.
We tried to warn AGS before patch. I posted in several topics weeks before patch that mutation/expedition will be the only rewarding content since nothing else is rewarding.
It has killed OPR
Fewer elite runs
No Wars or territory pushes since patch on my server.
Etc, a good way to invalidate all the other content the game have…
Gypsum cast reward way too little umbral shards, same with crafting legendaries.
Considering I get 800 umbral shards in 28 minutes of work, and you can get way more at higher levels. I don’t think getting 50 from OPR for 45 minutes is out of the question. Like I said that wouldn’t be balanced at all. It needs to be a sliding scale based on expertise. I don’t understand how you think there is risk in a mutation.
It has a cost for entry and a risk that you may not complete it. It also encompasses repair costs and potentially ammunition. There is not the same risk or time gate that you have with a mutation. Though an opr can take up to 45 minutes it normally doesn’t and you can do it whenever you like without forming a group. You certainly don’t need any form of optimization within your group dynamic. You just queue and do it.
I agree with your argument about time investment, but the other variables imo make it less comparable. Like I said I would be very behind adding more ways to get umbral shards and increasing the gypsum cast rewards dramatically. Gypsum is already time gated and bottlenecked and there for have limitations as to how quickly you can earn them.
It’s fine if you don’t agree, but this is just my thoughts on shards. Know that I would much rather just do OPR to earn them than anything else currently in the game. I also want GS 625 to be difficult to acquire and be a reward worthy of investment.
I had an idea here about lots of simple changes that would make current systems better imo. I think you’d enjoy at least a few of them. Regardless would love to get your thoughts:
Dungeon give coins and insane gear that you can sell or just equip your char with it.
For OPR you need buff food coatings if you want to perform well and you get nothing as reward besides bad green gear in a chest and the amount of coins if not even worth mentioning. Do you know the prices for coatings and buff food?
There is also a risk that you wont do shit alone within 45 minutes OPR and not even have enough points to get your ruby.
To perform well in OPR you need a group and group play or you just get stomped.
I would appreciate if you could stop posting your thread here and just push it there if you want to find attention for your ideas. The situation in my thread is clear and i am sure that the majority of players agrees with me.
I’m simply trying to give my opinion. If you don’t wish to have a discussion it’s probably best not to start one. There will of course be opposing thoughts when you start a discussion. I have stated I agree with the sentiment just not the rate you proposed. It is equally damaging to have rewards too easy to acquire… So while your post has merit it lacks balance in my opinion.
Pure theory, what makes people leave the game is that it’s bad, people won’t leave the new world because they have “maximum GS”, they will leave because of the lack of reward and the lack of content :>, if you think about it more a little, you will see that it is a silly mistake and pure theoretical field
10 shards is stretching it. I would say 3 at the absolute max unless a tuning orb for entry into OPR is added in to keep the cost equivalent to running expeditions/mutations.
100% agree with this, a server size of 2000 cannot complete with the sheer amount of grinding needed to just maintain the game.
Townboard quests and Station are barely being run anymore on my server.
I cannot get my buff for quests anymore, and will probably have to abandon houses to move to Everfall and Windwards.
Looks like it will go back to 1-2 Hub city and the rest irrelevant again, because there is not enough people to do everything and run quests everywhere.
Many companies who own those territories are just giving up, and not running boards, cause they know they will eventually lose it.
Many players are leaving, because unless you were at the top of the Watermerk System and were grandfathered in, or really grinded Expertise to 590 on everything already the new content is inaccessible to you (even if you can craft fulll 600GS for yourself).
No-one want to play this game to grind and grind, and grind some more (just to maintain house tax/townboard/mutator keys… etc). It is already too much, and new content will only compound this.
Barely get time to enjoy PvP and you get no umbral shards for it. Even crafting or Cast gypsum is a complete joke, they need to be greatly increased or more people will just quit.
Personally I hate being forced into the PvE dungeon key buying grind, and this keep on indefinitely I dnt know why I would want to play this game (feels like i have daily chores in a digital world).
Your opinion is that it lacks balance but my opinion is that its just right and as it should be. A lot of people agree with me and yes you go the rude way of trying to push your own thread here while we clearly see that your own thread barely has likes or attention.
Anyways i appreciate having a discussion here but your “balance” ideas are out of this world and would not change anything at all…better keep it then as it is because the amount of shards you are suggesting would just make players feel fooled.
Also its not about having a perfect balance between which content gives how many shards…Its about giving players the opportunity to obtain a good amount with other activities they wish to play and progress with. That would keep different playstyles and players in the game you know ;).—> in the end that helps AGS and especially the community.
For now there is unfortunately only one efficient way which is mutations and we clearly see that a big part of the community is not satisfied with it.
for receiving a reward for doing something passively with no cost or lower risk involved the reward should be significantly less. If you want to actively progress your gear then mutations should IMO offer a much greater amount than opr. Due to the points I’ve reiterated here.
(I know that’s just the starting amount). They can cap this reward at 7 orbs per day like the current model, but with a hell of a lot more freedom. I think small amounts of shards should drop passively from all content you do and yes I think 5-10 for a passive amount seems fair.