I really liked the old system because you would have something to look forward to every week until the new patch came out. now you have all of the content thrown at you at once and once you finish it, no more. No live events to keep you entertained, no more missions, you have all of the items, Christmas items are done too...well um...what else can i do? For a person that has basically every quest item in the game, you have an idea on where I am coming from...I finished the winter content in about 2 days (not straight, few hours each day) and I finished the 12.1 content (missions and most items) in 4 days (again, few hours each day). I even got the archive effect item and some items I didn't have from 11.3 and still summed up to a week
The old way in my opinion was better and I still hold to the fact that I could be leaving soon...I am not the only one either because I am seeing a lot of vets quit this game...look at how many people just quit in the last week or 2.
Outlaw wrote:
I really liked the old system because you would have something to look forward to every week until the new patch came out. now you have all of the content thrown at you at once and once you finish it, no more. No live events to keep you entertained, no more missions, you have all of the items, Christmas items are done too...well um...what else can i do? For a person that has basically every quest item in the game, you have an idea on where I am coming from...I finished the winter content in about 2 days (not straight, few hours each day) and I finished the 12.1 content (missions and most items) in 4 days (again, few hours each day). I even got the archive effect item and some items I didn't have from 11.3 and still summed up to a weekThe old way in my opinion was better and I still hold to the fact that I could be leaving soon...I am not the only one either because I am seeing a lot of vets quit this game...look at how many people just quit in the last week or 2.
I'm inclined to agree, sir.
3 Quest Missions - Live Events = 6 LONG WEEKS IS LONG!
Yeah and you know as a fellow Vectorite a lot of us aren't regular DN1 posters...or stick only to the Vec boards. We just happen to be vocal about it. I could cut and paste some choice quotes echoing this opinion from a couple of faction forum posts....but I won't of course for privacy reasons. Not to mention those that just up and quit or let their subs go and don't make noises about it.
Rarebit wrote:
Fractor wrote:I have just started the 12.1 collector missions and I'm at the point where I need 10 function fragments to get the 12.1.3 mission ticket. I personally think this is too much and it's a huge leap in difficulty from collecting just 1 Override Trace for the 12.1.2 mission ticket.Just to give you a few numbers for your argument:The Override Trace drops at a 20% rate from level 42 NPCs, who appear mostly one at a time in a single neighborhood.The Function Fragments drop at a 50% rate from level 53 NPCs, who appear mostly in pairs in a single neighborhood. Getting the Trace is meant to be a bit of a challenge for a level 40 character (have to find and kill ~5 groups). Getting the Function Fragments is meant to be a bit more of a challenge, and for a level 50 character (have to find and kill ~10 groups).
Fractor wrote:
I have just started the 12.1 collector missions and I'm at the point where I need 10 function fragments to get the 12.1.3 mission ticket. I personally think this is too much and it's a huge leap in difficulty from collecting just 1 Override Trace for the 12.1.2 mission ticket.
Just to give you a few numbers for your argument:
The Override Trace drops at a 20% rate from level 42 NPCs, who appear mostly one at a time in a single neighborhood.
The Function Fragments drop at a 50% rate from level 53 NPCs, who appear mostly in pairs in a single neighborhood.
Getting the Trace is meant to be a bit of a challenge for a level 40 character (have to find and kill ~5 groups). Getting the Function Fragments is meant to be a bit more of a challenge, and for a level 50 character (have to find and kill ~10 groups).
So, like, put it at 100% drop rate and make it take 5 instead of one?
I had to kill about 20 for each trace I got.
It's similar with the function fragments. It's been my experience that the greatest lament of any player is fighting forever to get an item and the probability just seems to go against them every time. It is fun to get things, and have a simple, tangible count of them. It is not fun to kill things for an hour with nothing to show for it, even though after five, the drop rate dictates that you should have something.
In any case, no, I don't believe that forcing the story into a grind/quest mode is saving it, or making it more interesting. The one thing I actually like more about MxO than any other current market MMO is the options you have while running a mission. You don't need to go see Fargo the Dwarf in the mines - you push the button on your cell phone and talk to Tyndall and she sends you somewhere nearby. As it should be.
"Quests," as applied to chapters, are not only a bastardization of the Matrix Online, but are a bastardization of the modern day. How often do you really think that someone would rather meet in person, have their identity known or recorded as opposed to speaking over the phone, presumably anonymously with the background of intense hacking that surrounds this universe?
Not only that, but the structure, as mentioned before and before - it is severly limiting to lower level players. In a game where the story is considered to be one of the last redeeming qualities (given that events were thrown out the window with virtually no explanation - simply that Rarebit is too tired or lazy to do them and thinks that we could do better with a simple 5 minute cinematic where no one knows who face number one is) new players are excluded rather than included, limiting the marketing even further than the game has already been limited.
The coffin was nailed shut by the new approach. Unless you flip the hammer and pull it out before it's too deep in, MxO will die. And I'll certainly be gone before the servers shut down.
Post edited. Reason Code 001: Bypassing language filter.
My opinion has greatly changed in regards to the new approach as I've watched friend after friend unsub to a point now where even I wonder what the point of jacking in between updates is.
Sure, I can go farm every item I neglected over time but what after that?
I think that while it's cool to grind for new items every update, I think the story should be much more accessible to everyone. With that in mind, I personally think that the story missions should return to their old format (weekly criticals). In the meantime, release the org item collectors available for those of us who like to farm. In short, provide the crits and the option of farming something.
That gives everyone the option to participate in the story, it provides a weekly update of progression and makes the missions easy to archive later.
Meanwhile we can farm ourselves into oblivion for the new items.
Win. Win. IMO.
All I know is I didn't sign up for WoW but set in a modern setting but with 0.00000001% of that game's playerbase.
Here's another analogy. Let's say you live in a small town or city, and on one street you have an old record store...the kind where you can lose yourself in...with all kinds of esoteric titles, rare imports, promos, cool used CD's, records, etc. You go and you can spend hours there discovering amazing music.
One day you show up and there's a giant WalMart on the city block where your record store used to be. Now, you're stuck with their CD section, and you only have access to the Top 20 Billboard pop titles in their CD bins. nothing more. Well, those titles appeal to a lot of people...after all that's how they got to the top of the charts....but for those of us who want more of a selection than the latest Soulja Boy or Carrie Underwood....we're pretty much out of luck.
It's a shame...this is a niche game that should run with it's unique appeal...instead of trying to be like every other generic MMO on the planet. Some people like it...as evidenced on these boards, but it might just be that that's what their used to and feel comfort in the same old same old.
That's the best analogy I've ever heard.
To be quite honest and frank, this game will never be WoW. It will never have 10 million subscriptions. I appreciate the effort taken to ensure new players get to experience the story at their own pace... but I really think the focus needs to be on the diehard Matrix fans, and those of us who have stuck with the game for four years or more. We are the meat and potatoes of this game. And to be honest, this new approach is only chasing those old diehards away.
The -only- reason I continue to stay with MxO is because of my faction, and the stories and events we put on to entertain ourselves. There is no longer a reason to jack in for more than a few days a month, honestly.
The one thing us oldtimers really enjoyed was taken from us. Yes, grinds and static content appeal to most gamers. However, most gamers are not playing this game.
Fen wrote:
That's the best analogy I've ever heard.To be quite honest and frank, this game will never be WoW. It will never have 10 million subscriptions. I appreciate the effort taken to ensure new players get to experience the story at their own pace... but I really think the focus needs to be on the diehard Matrix fans, and those of us who have stuck with the game for four years or more. We are the meat and potatoes of this game. And to be honest, this new approach is only chasing those old diehards away.The -only- reason I continue to stay with MxO is because of my faction, and the stories and events we put on to entertain ourselves. There is no longer a reason to jack in for more than a few days a month, honestly.The one thing us oldtimers really enjoyed was taken from us. Yes, grinds and static content appeal to most gamers. However, most gamers are not playing this game.
EPN Liaison Fenshire speaks the Truth, MxO was suppose to be about interacting with the Matrix characters via Live Events and by a story line influenced by the players. Both of which do not happen with this new format. What made MxO different and unique from other MMOs is gone, its now just like everything else which I guess makes some people happy, but I liked the uniqueness of MxO
I think the new approach needs more Live Events... and cow bell too. I never gave so much for the old Crits I was more about the live events and reading about the ones other people had had on the two other servers, it was like a comic... I guess I'll have to get back to my comics now... hm, guess what happened to Magneto, Gambit, Wolverine, Storm and the rest of the gang in those 3 years?
You guys are so ungrateful, if he makes it easier to farm things you know your just going to fly through it too quickly and then your going to complain about how little content there is and about how there's no events - it's a double edged sword you can't complain about one and then other sheesh.
Ungrateful players, keep doing what your doing rarebit, i like the content at this level because i'm a drooling idiot whose parents are related.
~Darminian
now you have all of the content thrown at you at once and once you finish it, no more. No live events to keep you entertained, no more missions, you have all of the items,
this basically summed up how i feel and where i'm coming from. I can handle the new style of missions and think it's exciting to run around megacity collecting things, but without any sort of live event there's no reason to play this game until the next set of missions/items comes out. You can only PvP/duel/stand around talking for so long after you have all the items in the game. If we had live events to look forward to every other week i bet there would be a significant drop in all of these Farewell! threads
I prefered the old crits for being longer with more content inside.
I prefer the new crits for sending us around MegaCity into districts people usuall don't go in.
The grind isn't necessarily a bad thing, the level restriction does hurt, though.
I prefer the new approach to find out new stuff by myself over having everything handed to me on a platter (Pandoras Box thinking).
I prefer LEs, even though I don't really like the LE threads (the arguments were fun, true BUT ->, which reveal ALL things said and done without thinking about the consequence (even "secret" meetings).
The amount of time spent grinding seems both appropriate and bearable in the 12.1 mission series. I can't say that about 11.3... but live and learn, eh?
To be honest, the only real problem I have is the fact that only high-levels can participate in the content. Removing the level restrictions from the tickets seems like it would solve that problem completely (especially given that you can't use the collector gear until you get up to the necessary level, if restricting the use of the gear is really the point here...). Why not make it available to every player, regardless of level?
As far as I've been able to gather, the format was changed because the development team believed (perhaps mistakenly) that most players just ran the criticals in five minutes and probably ignored the content completely. Maybe true for some folks. I'm not going to try arguing this one way or another - but if you're going to produce something, why not make it available to all of those poor newbies that come walking out of the Uriah hardline? Most of us don't care about level as far as RP is concerned. The only thing it matters for is PvP. And if folks want to PvP, they'll be willing to grind. It's asking a lot to make them grind all the way to 50 just so they can find out more about the Oligarchs.
Darkhawk wrote:
... wants players to read his story - then why the ridiculous level/Rep requirements? Not everyone has a lvl 30/20rep to 40/40rep to 50/60rep. Vetran players do - but if I was a new player - I would say, F' this!
Bingo. Now just combine this with Fen's comments and you have a lot of the problem displayed right here.
Supposedly the changes were made so that the story was more accessible and easier to follow... yet new players, or old players who had multi org alts, are now being excluded from the story altogether. The veteran players who can follow the story because they have enough XP/rep are finding that the level and quality of story content (not necessarily the quality of story itself) just isn't there anymore.
What does this leave us?
