124480-please-read-my-ideas-to-help-wildstar-prosper-no-f2pb2p-here-please (2024)

Hello!First and foremost: Thank you for reading!I would like to begin by saying that english is not my first language, so please do disregard any grammatical or semantic errors. Or correct me, with a explanation why (I am always trying to improve) .As the title says you won't find here any discussion on B2P/F2P. There are enough post about that already and I don't understand gaming monetization well enough to partake in such discussion. Whatever the future of Wildstar holds, Carbine has already decided, I bet my right mag pistol on that.Because of my timetable (I blame my always changing working schedule), and me being a brazillian player, I have yet to be able to play on american prime time (I work on all days of the week). By the time it comes, I am already in bed (10pm GMT +3). Because of that I get Random Dungeon/Adventures pops every 20-50 minutes on average (odd playing times). I have yet to get any PvP queue to pop. Sometimes I get to play on oceanic prime time (late morning for me). The waiting times are 10-25 minutes on this occasions. This game needs more player on odd times, it really does.I have 130 total game hours on my spellslinger and 140 hours on my warrior. I am leveling an esper and an engineer now. I played on beta, and quit after a few days when the game went live. The reason is that I had a Intel processor on beta, and early release, but it died on me and I decided to go for a amd processor (of all stupid decisions...), which sucked on Wildstar (I couldn't play at all). Returned because I made a new PC (Intel FTW), and my brother commented on Drop 4 comming to Wildstar which got my renewed interest.It is with all of that in mind that I compiled this ideas, in hope that they would attract more players to this awesome game. A game that deserves to be played.This is a set of ideas, some mine some not, that I BELIEVE could help improve Wildstar for casuals. They are born out of my love for Wildstar, the desire to see this game flourish and a great deal of brainstorming with my brother. This concepts are rough, in dire need of improvement, so please help me out, be constructive. I do not pretend to have all the answers, or that my ideas are even viable. They are just that: Ideas!It is my hope that someone at Carbine read this, and find some of the ideas here a good thing to add in Wildstar.So, no more delay, let us begging.Chapter 1 - The easily implementable.This chapter is composed of changes that I believe could be more easily implemented (to varying degrees). The ideas here described are my best bets to easily add content and proper rewarding based on time, not difficulty (leave that for raids).All things were created with the casual player in mind. For I am on of those players. I have yet to do any raids, so I have no experience on them, thus I have no idea on how to improve raids. I also don't have any ideas on PvP, not because of any desire to play, but because, as I said, can't get the Queues to pop.1.1 - Monster Level RallyThis is the same concept that already exist in other games, but in reverse. Instead of the player level getting downgraded to the creature level, it should go the other way around.How? Simple: Computer today are fast, blazingly so, so let us assume all Creatures in Wildstar start as a blank. They are just a possiblility. That possiblility is decided when the creature is attacked by a player. Let us says this player level is 50, the moment he attacks a creature, any creature in game, the game does a quick calculation, in accordance with a preexisting table of stats for Mobs, and brings this attacked creature on par with the attacking player. This can be done quickly, with little problems, I believe.Why not just downgrade the player level? Well the leveling process exist to make the player feel stronger. That feeling quickly evaporates when you wish to see earlier content, and your character gets downgrade. It sucks, badly... The reverse, rally the monster to our current level, eliminates this feeling, and helps add replayability to the game.Monster rewards should be, of course, level appropriate.1.2 - Daily QuestsHow many here have wished to go back to earlier content only to find it dead? I sure did. After you complete a zone, there are no reason to go back, save for world bosses and events (more on that later).My idea, I believe, could be easly implemented. Do you remember all those task quest we did while leveling up? I do, and some of them were awesome. So what if all those Task quests got turned into Daily quests? Quest that give level appropriate rewards, of course. Wouldn't that create a massive influx of replayable content to the game, with a simple modification?Now I would have a reason to go back to farside (loved it), algoroc, wilderun, etc.I mean, really, how difficult could that be? Please Carbine, if nothing else, consider this one, please?1.3 - Time Based RewardsA simple concept, that could put to use all that data that Carbine has sure collected by now. All rewards so be given in accordance with the time put by the player to complete the activity.Sometimes I feel that Wildstar does not correctly reward me for my time investment on the game. Don't get me wrong, I love playing the game, but the rewards for doing activities could be better.Challenges, random dungeons rewards, veteran shiphands and adventure should have their loot table reviewed. More on this next.1.3.1 - ChallengesSome challenges reward us well enough (with dyes and other rare stuff), but the great majority are underwhelming in their reward, especially at later levels. Add to then monetary recompenses be it gold, elder gems, renown, etc. Give us a reason to do them. And remember: More time invested = better rewards.1.3.2 - Random Dungeons RewardsThis is a great idea, but sorely lacking in implementation. The rewards are too little to actually grab the player desire.How do I know this? I always use it when trying to get a pub for dungeons and, at least for me, in 4 out of 5 times I get Stormtalon's Lair. Either the RNG is broken, or player base don't use the random feature, prefering the dungeon of the choice (which appears to be SL...).How much should this rewards be increased? I don't know, but Carbine sure has the data to work with (more time = more money). On my opinion, at least triple the gold and glory rewads.I believe the same could be said for random adventures and shiphands.1.3.3 - Veteran Shiphands and AdventureLet us be frank. The reward of them suck! I can get better gear by reputation or crafted gear, and quickier too!The only reason I do them is because some of them are fun and/or I need the ability/amp points. But I really don't expect any rewards. And that is not a good way to attract players to activities. I'm sure this has been said to exhaustion, but player this day need incentive to replay content. Good rewards are always the best incentive.So give us more gold, better gear, more renown/glory (for shiphands, adventures should give us glory).I also believe that Adventures should be soloable content. Sure, if you play it in group we get better/more rewards, but adventures could be a great addition to solo content in the game. And it wouldn't be so difficult to add.1.4 - World Bosses and EventsRight now there are no reasons to do them at all. How to fix this? Monster Level Rally plus Level Appropriate Rewards. This should attack max level player to this activities.Furthermore, like events, world bosses should also have symbols on the world map indication that they are available.If you guys need more, just take a look at Guild Wars 2. I leveled to 80 an Elementalist, a Warrior and a Guardian. I lost count on how many world bosses I did on them. Sure I lost leveling time on them, but it was fun. And that is why casuals play games. To have fun.But wait, what about those low level players who want to get some action? The bosses/events will probably be higher level, they will be squashed! Worry not this is easy to fix! Rally the low level life, shield, damage and resistances to the event/bosses level. Like and aura or something that give this low level player the boost they need not to die.And, of course, give ALL those involved the appropriate rewards for their level and time invest. After all 'how doesn't like shinnies?'1.5 Elder GameThis too was an excellent idea but, I believe, end up somewhat lacking.The first problem is the hard time gating on Elder Gems acquisition. To me, that's beyond frustrating. 180 gems I can get in three days tops, most people can get it in less (I'm a 'filth' casual, I know xD).Hard content gating, like all insurmountable barriers IRL, are irritating. An irritated player has a greater chance to become a non-player. Wildstar can't afford to lose players. Also when I see all those high elder prices, and that barrier becomes depressing. That's even worse...The solution? Soft gating. For example: Every week I can get 200 gems with experience (let us excluded other means of gem gathering). After those 200 gems, if a want a 200 more gems I will have to expend double the amount of XP (or 50%, 75%, any number that makes sense) to get them. This way, if I am willing to put more time in to it, I can get as many gems as a want.It is a human characteristic to want to overcome obstacles. And when we do overcome them, we feel good about it, great even. And that is good for a game, for people always want satisfaction when playing. Insurmountable barriers, are a great way to annoy and loose players, in my humble opinion.1.5.1 - Elder Gem RewardsWith a new system for Elder Gem acquisition we also have to change the rewards.So already have dyes bags (we love them), but the value of them would need to be reviewed. We have LAS slot (and we need more, really). We also need more costume slots (I lost count on how many player have already clamor for this). A gear slot system would also be a God send and with it we would need more slots too. And whatever other QoL improvements there maybe be, they could be add for Elder Gems.Perhaps even the ability to exchange Elder Gems for gold, renown or glory , could be a nice addition.But please no hard limits. You can increase the price of things exponentially if you like, but do not hard gate us.1.6 - Player rewarding1.6.1 - Partial Primal PatternThis should drop on all bosses, be they open world, shiphands, adventures, dungeon and raids. Why?Vessel of Various Valuables (X Partial Primal Patterns) Contains one random item e.g.: Greater Quality Runes, Dyes, Decour, Glory, Renown, Gold;Hopper of Hued Hardware (Y Partial Primal Patterns) Contains either one purple gear (Veteran Dungeons Item Quality, class specific) or a small change for one entry level raid gear (Genetic Archives Item Quality, class specific).This would need to be properly balanced, but it also represent another way to reward players. Again, we all love shinnies. It doesn't matter if they are usable or not, I love seeing my bag full of shinnies after doing dailies, or other activities.1.6.2 - Renown and GloryRemember all those new daily quest available to us thanks to the the task->daily conversion? Well, they would still give reputation rewards, that probably are in Beloved already. What to do? Once beloved is reached, change the reputation gain to renown, using the good formula: more time to finish a quest = more renown.Glory should be awarded in all group instanced activities. This mean Group Shiphands, Adventures, Dungeons and Raids.We also would need more rewards to spend are renown and glory. Decors, mounts, costumes, etc. So please, give us more cowboy hats. The wangler headpiece does not count, its ugly and shabby looking. Come on, you guys are american. All those movies about the Old Wild West should give inspiration on this. John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and so many others.Chapter 2 - The NOT so easily implementable.This part consist of ideas that could be a great addition to Wildstar (on my opinion), but are also much more difficult to do. They would require massive rewrite of existing systems and the addition of new one.2.1 - Items2.1.1 - Items attributesThe idea here is to add more variation on items stats within content brackets. For example:Blue Quality Mag Pistol (crafted): Assault Power: Variable, from 800 all the way to 1000 Finesse: Variable, from 50 all the way to 80 Secondary Stats: Variable, from 20 all the way to 40Shiphands/Adventures/Dungeons Purple Mag Pistol: Assault Power: Variable, from 1000 all the way to 1300 Finesse: Variable, from 80 all the way to 130 Secondary Stats: Variable, from 40 all the way to 80And so on. The numbers I just gave are just an example. By having items with a greater possible variation in stats would also give the player a greater arrays of options to procure, creating for them more reasons to replay instanced content. It doesn't have to be new items, the same item could have all that stat variability.I won't be giving raid examples, because I do not raid. But you guys get the gist of the idea.2.1.1 - Item DecayThis section is only with casual content in mind. I have no idea how this would behave in raid settings.I'll probably get a lot of fire for this but please read everything. Please. This idea was born out a new MMORPG that I've been following. The name of the game: Crowfall.One of the problems within MMORPGs this days is "Item Permanence". Once I get the best items some form of content has to offer, I no longer NEED to run that content, it becomes superfluous. Sure I can still the run that content for fun, but how many player do that? Let us be honest, those are too few...How to fix that content depreciation? Read on.Plenty of games have item durability that can be repaired for coin, but what if it wasn't quite so easy to patch up that gear and over time it needed to be replaced? Equipment will take small/medium amounts decay from use in combat and small/medium amounts of decay when the player is killed in combat. You would be able to repair equipment which will lower its max durability each time it is repaired. Once it reached zeros durability the item becomes unusable. Disassembling an item with lowered durability would give us less items, to avoid player waiting to disassemble item at the last possible moment.The amount of decay would need to be fine tuned for each item bracket. The easier an item is to get, the sooner it would break down. Also items would need to drop a lot more frequently for players to substitute those item lost.This may be a radical idea, and I don't know how many players would accept it, but I do believe that this would create a massive drive for casuals do do all kind of content, again and again, just to replace those items they would be losing to decay. Couple that with Gear Slots, and bingo! You would have a great way to stimulate player to replay content.2.1.2 - Item Loot in group contentHaving in mind that items now decay permanently it becomes necessary for items to drop more frequently. This would need to be fine tuned, taking in mind the rate of decay on the item and the time necessary to acquire that the new one.Also to ensure that player would be rewards constantly loot should be giving on a individual basis. I shouldn't have to compete with other players for loot. Carbine do you have an idea of how frustrating it is to run a dungeon many times for an item to drop and when it finally does someone else get it because of his RNG were better than mine. Sure the guy who got the item is happy, but for each one of those there will be another player who is frustrated. Using that to force someone the replay the game is not a smart move. Positive reinforcement is the way to go.Group loot should exist for things like: extra Partial Primal Patterns, Eldan Modules, Tarnished Eldan Gifts, Dye Bags, etc.2.2 - Faction2.2.1 - Faction Specific MapsDominion Zones: Crimson Isle level 3 - 6 Levian Bay level 3 - 6 Deradune level 7 - 14 Ellevar level 7 - 14 Auroria level 14 - 22 Exiles Zones: Northern Wilds level 3 - 6 Everstar Grove level 3 - 6 Celestion level 7 - 14 Algoroc level 7 - 14 Galeras level 14 - 22 Seriously guys?!? All that content, for only one faction? In this day and age? Bad design is bad. How to fix this? This is Nexus, a world at war, there are plenty of place here exiles base could be put on dominion zones, and vice versa.Want an example: On galeras there is, right at the beginning, a Dominion invasion going about. Exiles player get to help NPCs on protecting Thayd and the Tempest Refuge. It would be easy to have Dominon base giving Dominion players quest to help NPCs attack Exiles forces.There is plenty of content, on both sides, that could be reused for the opposing faction.2.2.2 - On Faction ChangeEver wanted to play a aurin on dominion side? Or Chua on exiles? Now you can! It doesn't need to be complicated, just add a NPC that lets you change faction. For player still the Arkship it would be free of charge. Also, on changing faction you loose all you current progress with faction aligned with the one you are leaving.But that would not be cannon!!!! Really, you mean to tell me that there are no mercenary among the Aurin, willing to do anything for money (or the shinnies)? Or that no Chua can have a change of heart (they do have a heart, I hope), and embrace the green?Come on, how cool this could be? Be sincere with yourself!.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.This is it... For now...

Sorry for the surgery done on your OP, but I wanted to highlight some of your ideas I thought were really thought provoking. I highlighted the main points as bold.Overall very good post, and I hope this thread hasn't discouraged you. Your post was really well put together and presented some excellent ideas. The fact that members of the community will make any post into a pay-modeldiscussion is beyond my comprehension.TL:DR - Great points from a great post, proposing new ideas to improve Wildstar outside a change in monetization. I agree on most points, disagree on some, but got me thinking of new ways to enjoy Wildstar. Those without a sense of humor can stop reading at 2.2.11.2: Yes, Please? This pairs very well with point 2.2.1 where players could participate daily in the war between the Dominion and Exiles. However, part of Carbine's strategy seems to be re-releasing leveling zones as Post-Cap Play-spaces. This removes the need for a rally system as the area is populated with max level enemies. But I had some very memorable moments I had while leveling that I would love to experience again without the need to create a new character, and getting rewarded for doing so would be awesome.I would advise against Tasks however. Many of them were 'Kill this' or 'Collect that' type quests that weren't as inspired as some of the story quests.1.3.3 On this point I disagree. Vet Shiphands seem to give out great loot and the dailies make it more so. I remember specifically running them a couple dozen times just to get a Alien Velocirex. Each time they would give out 10-30g, approx. 500 renown, not to mention dyes, and runes that sold on the CX for a bunch as well. One run in particular made me a few plat when I got a Dark Matter dye and a Fusion Blast rune. Add the fact they can be completed in 10-15 min and you have a great way to get gold/renown.As far as gear, I can't say as I already out-leveled them when they were launched.Adventures should not be solo-able. Vet Shiphands have already created, and excelled in that niche as repeatable solo content at endgame. More difficult and complicated Shiphands is something the community are already clamoring for and I'm sure Carbine is working on. It did get me thinking though of Adventures in smaller groups. What if Carbine made Adventures complete-able for a group of three to five people?I'm just spit-balling here, but many of the adventures can be completed with a tank and a couple dps, War of the Wilds being the prime example. Is that something you can see being an alternative? Group content: Shiphands 1-3, Adventures, 3-5, Dungeons 5?1.5: I feel like this is an excellent idea. Right now, Elder gems is the only currency that has a weekly cap, and while there isn't much on the Elder gem vendor anymore, it seems out of place as a currency now with glory being added and renown stepping up. Your idea of escalating experience needed per gem past 140 is awesome and something I can see Carbine doing in the future. However, the scale would need to a fixed increase, multiplicative past 140. This being done to avoid things like Elder Gem farming like the renown train of old.If this was to be added to the game, I feel like trading those gems for another currency would negate their purpose. Elder gems need a reason to be obtained and to be in turn spent, only to be reacquired by the player.1.6.2: Love the rep to renown idea, melds well with both 1.2 and 2.2.1 as I said above. Glory on the other hand i feel is fine were it's at. Glory is obtained by doing the content which allows you to spend it on gear to help you better complete the content and get ready for more challenging content. Same can be said about renown and adventures. By adding glory to Adventures, your basically skipping gear steps.2.1.1 I have a guild buddy of mine that is love with this game...won't shut up about it. Sounds like an excellent game play mechanic, makes it feel like nothing is permanent. Wouldn't work in Wildstar...in end game raiding, your basically punishing the player for using the gear he/she so desperately acquired by raiding. Progression would come to a screeching halt, feuds would ignite over raid members not using their best gear and therefor not preforming at their best. They would voraciously consume, and break, crafted gear, therefor depleting crafting resources sending the economy into a tailspin of super rich farmers selling mats to sweatshop guild crafters. Only for their hard work to just be shredded by system deamons three nights a week. CreDD would skyrocket, as casual players need to spend real world cash for In-game money just to survive and purchase materials hoarded, and farmed by new guilds that emerged to create a monopoly of the market. As they buy/sell/trade and keep all their transactions in a spreadsheet with Wildstar minimized in the corner.....Spreadsheets....miles and miles of Spreadsheets....

• Gasps*

Wait...where am I, what just happened....Blacked out for a minute.