This is not as much of a suggestion as it is an observation. There is a disturbing trend occuring within AO that is making it more of a single player RPG than an MMORPG. I think we have all seen this with the impact of the daily missions. Don't get me wrong, I love them. I enjoy being able to log in and have an immediate activity that will significantly move my XP/Research/AXP bar. But more and more, I see players that log in, run daily missions on three or four toons, and then don't have anything else to do. This is especially true at those levels where there is not a lot of significant quests to be done (read 170 - 210).
I think, for awhile there, we were pretty heavily weighted towards the team aspect of the game. You simply couldn't get much done unless you were in a team. With the perceived shrinking player base, it certainly became more frustrating to earn XP and AXP particularly for professions that were not highly desirable in teams. Now it seems we have swung the other way. Before daily missions were introduced, teams were not as easy to come by as they were in the past, but they were there. Inferno missions were running regularly. Pen missions got started up once in awhile. LE before level 180ish was pretty easy to get. Now, it's a wasteland. Seeing two or three 220 players on LFT for inferno missions is startling. As a 220 toon not that long ago, you had your pick of people to fill your team with from LFT. Gathering them up now is a trial to say the least. I do not believe that this is from a smaller player base, but rather from the fact that you can essentially complete the equivalent of 3 or 4 inferno missions in the span of a half hour through dailies. RK missions seem to be nearly extinct as players can now get their token grinds done through dailies as well.
Maybe I'm wrong, and you all are seeing something different, but as a player that is in his 3rd year of AO (I know, I'm still a newbie) the change seems quite dramatic to me. So, how do we fix this?
1) Add team versions of daily missions. And by this, I mean real, accessible, fun team missions. Yes, I know that you can pull Smug Den, IS, APFs, etc. from the Elite Handler and these are supposed to be team missions, but let's face it, they are either way the hell out in the boondocks (Sumg Den), ridiculously hard (IS), or require a specific kind of team to complete (APFs). So, create something as inventive as the single player daily missions (which are awesome), but make it team only.
2) Make team level mean something. In all the years I have been playing, I have heard every possible explanation for the benefit of having a high team level. Higher XP rewards, better credit awards, increased AAO/AAD, etc., but I have never seen any difference between having a team level of 1 and having a team level of 5. So make it mean something for real. The longer you hold your team together, you get XP bonuses up to a max of 10%, let's say. And have it show in your system window. So you'll get a message like, "You received 100,000 XP. 14,000 XP was gained as a side bonus. Team level of 3 gained an extra 5,000 XP." That way people will see the tangible benefits of having a high team level. I realize that the whole anti-OST crowd will cry foul about those teams sitting AFK at kite hill for hours to get their team level up, but ignore them. It's totally worth it.
3) Elminate the 18 hour lockout on DR team instance. Please, for the love of god, just do this! DR should be played, and played often. It's insane that an instance as creative, challenging, and entertaining as this one should be deserted simply because you can only do it every 18 hours and you have to not only find players that are interested, but are on the same clock as you. Tone down the mission rewards if you have to. But whatever you have to do, do it so that more people will go to this instance.
4) I'm a bit iffy on this one, but how about adding XP bonuses to SL quest lines if you are teamed with people in your range? In the same way that your quest rewards are nerfed by being teamed with someone outside of your range, they could be boosted by teaming with people inside your range. I realize there is potential for sploiting in this, but make the boost small yet noticeable and it should be fine.
5) Reduce the insane HP bars on SL cata mobs. Even a team of 160 players will struggle with doing Sheol catas simply because it takes so fricking long to kill a single mob in there. This will have the added benefit of making tier armor more accessible. Again, it may not be the most uber armor available anymore, but as social it's pretty hawt for most professions.
6) Listen to the suggestions of the PvPers in regards to Notum Wars. Anyone that knows me will confirm that I fail spectacularly at PvP. However, I do realize it's importance in an MMO. I also understand that dedicated PvPers tend to become more hardcore fanatics of a game than even the most avid PvMer. So listen to them. Behind all the whines and QQ, they do come up with solid suggestions. No, don't make every zone PvP. I don't want to have to worry about gankage when I'm hunting in the wilds of RK (that's ridiculous), but the whole concept of Notum Wars is a good one. It's just the implementation that could use tweaking now. I don't know what those tweaks are, but there are people here that do. Take their suggestions to heart rather than passing them over.
A few ideas, I'm sure you all have more. Basically, we need to undo some of the damage done to the team aspect of this game by the introductions of daily missions. Getting people involved with each other is still the surest way of player retention.
Originally Posted by Gunfytr
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) But as we all know everyone on lft says the same thing... "why cant we go get a pocket?" >_>
ideas ideas....
