EXP Curve Adjustment

[DirtBun2y]

I like this. As a long time player sometimes getting a character into ultimate can be tedious especially since I just started on this server a month ago. Personally I think this is a great way to make the game a little more playable for newbies and those returning to PSO after all these years.

 

[Mille Marteaux]

I voted no, because this seems to be aimed mostly at newer players.

This sums up Phantasy Star in general, I feel.

This will have very little impact on players with uber gear trying to get new alts in ultimate as pointed out by others.

It means you spend less time grinding TTF before your SID bot is useful, and you don't need to wait for an EXP boost to make your 15th RAcaseal.

So basically, we're just gonna help those newer players reach ultimate even quicker so that they had even less time to properly learn how to play this game...

You do not learn anything about the game spamming TTF or Rafoie Tagging MAS4 Desert.

The learning curve is there for a good reason, it helps newer players acclimate to the game or players who haven't touched the game in years relearn how to play it.

Battle Training teaches you how to play the game. Playing the game normally and doing something other than power grinding off TTF and MAS helps you learn the game. So do more experienced players helping out newer players, which you seem to be adverse to doing.

I'd rather not have to go through more Tower/Seabed with a lvl100 Humar/Hucast using his Dragon Slayer on Every. Single. Enemy. I'd even vote to remove TTF outside of Ultimate quite frankly... But that's another debate.

So you're selfish AND a snob, got it.

Yes, I'm aware that you're not going to learn how to properly play this game before reaching Ultimate, but there are some fundamental pieces of knowledge you need to learn outside of Ultimate like not attacking a single enemy with a multi-hit weapon or using Shifta and Deband when you're the only force on the team.

Or not clicking Resta, right? That's very intuitive. HEY MATT WHERE'S NEGATE/HEAL MY GUY

For those ready to dog pile on me, I'm not pretending I know how to properly play this game nor am I stating I'm some awesome player (lol), I'm just voicing my opinion based on my observations.

It's your opinion and I'll respect that, but it's a very selfish one. Saying that people shouldn't be allowed to catch up with the main playerbase when every other online RPG does it now is fairly strange.

While we all think of Ephinea as a "vanilla" server, it really is closer to a term I like to call "chocolate" - it retains all the same mechanics, but there's just enough changes thrown in that make it feel like a more refined experience. In this case, we have a ton of quality of life features - freely choosing a SID for a character regardless of name, maintaining room ID after making it and the host leaves, 32 character slots, PSO2 drops... why not add another QOL feature that makes being able to match up with the rest of the playerbase easier?

As someone from the inside looking out at the EXP curve changes, I obviously agree with them so my stance may be biased, but I believe that they are strictly an improvement. With the curve halved, raising up alts will be like it's always on 2x EXP. Raising alts during a large event with a larger EXP boost will be even faster, as well. It's win/win for everyone involved.

 

[Lileya]

So you're selfish AND a snob, got it.

I don't think throwing personal insults should be part of this debate. Calling me a snob and selfish was unnecessary, especially when you say you're respecting my opinion two sentences later...

 

[Kody]

I voted no because I think things are fine as they are right now. Maybe this hasn't been thought about, but when we think about the demographic of new players, a vast majority of them have almost certainly been playing PSO for years already. They are fully aware of the grind ahead of them. That said, if the xp values get changed, that's fine, but I find it sort of unnecessary.

 

[Celestra]

If it attracts and/or retains users, I'm all for it.

 

[Ryan]

I guess I forgot the obligatory "don't flame other users in suggestion threads" post. Keep things civil, please.

 

[anime]

Saying that people shouldn't be allowed to catch up with the main playerbase when every other online RPG does it now is fairly strange.

This is a big part of the reason I'm not playing every other online RPG ;_;

Edit: I voted no because I don't think the change is necessary. I don't like the idea of directly modifying the xp curve either. Allowing 70+ to play Ultimate would make more sense to me.

 

[GuardianGirth]

I don't agree with modifying the exp itself. I would only just buff VH enemy exp values. Personally...I think the "feel" of ultimate should be left untouched.

 

[Matt]

We're not touching the EXP of enemies, we've discussed various methods and decided this is the cleanest one if we want to speed up the VH grind.

 

[MudkipzJm]

IMO the grinding for levels in general, especially after your first level 200, is boring and time consuming. Getting to Ultimate faster would cut out some of the unnecessary grinding.

 

[GuardianGirth]

I like the overall idea, I just don't agree with the method. Either way, helps new people will less free time than myself so w/e works.

 

[honeydrew]

if a 'fix' had to be done, i personally would strongly prefer ult level to be 70 instead of 80 as anime said. this would be a *much* easier and more effective fix as well.

*its still unnecessary*

 

[fishhao]

I'd prefer VH mode changing a few drops to actually have Ultimate entry-level gear so the jump from VH ruins to U forest isn't so stupidly drastic for the newer players (I think there are more complaints from sissy elitists about how someone is still using a Justy or DB's saber than the leveling grind). Imho exp is fine as is cos you're going into PSO knowing it will be a grind.

 

[Leonalmasy]

Personally I voted yes. I feel as though this change will allow new players (and I mean players that have literally not play PSO in any shape way or form) to get into the game a bit better. Nowadays people are more used to getting to the end game content in a relatively comfortable pace. And of course will allow pre-existing players to level up new characters again without having to pull their teeth out going through VH again. Generally I think this will be a healthy change and will hopefully keep in new players that come in. Also not to mention that we can't just keep the game vanilla forever changes are bound to happen (I would assume), so this is only the natural step forward to that.

Also making ult available at 70 (as anime has said, and honey reiterating that) would only fix half of the problem. That being older players leveling alts, but not new players coming in whom will likely not really have any gear to go into ultimate, unless they get really really lucky and some high level player hands them something they probably shouldn't have for a long time.

TL;DR. This is a good change.

 

[Matt]

We probably should have mentioned this from the start but didn't as we felt it would probably end up eclipsing the main discussion, but regarding the milestone system:

We'll be permanently retiring the milestone system after the event for another system (most likely permanent rotating boosts), but most importantly, 2x EXP will be removed from any boost system that is implemented after the event. There will no longer be any large boosts that consistently come and go, meaning after this, the N-VH grind will be at 1x EXP.

This may or may not change your opinion on the curve change.

As Ryan said, this change will be happening regardless of the results or discussion in the poll. Note that the purpose of this thread is to discuss the EXP Curve suggestion - if you wish to discuss the milestone system, please take it elsewhere on the game or forums.

 

[phantasystarved]

Voted no, even though this change would benefit alt-aholics like me more than anyone.
First off, I really don't see what's so difficult about getting to level 80.
Secondly, people are saying it will be less of a grind for newbies, why lie to them? lol. PSO is all about grind.
If you don't find the grind (gameplay) fun enough to keep your interest, then this is the wrong game for you.

But really, I don't think this is about the newbies, I think that's kind of a front for people who don't mind bending decades-long game mechanics in order to level their alts a few hours quicker. As if it wasn't easy enough with people twinking their new characters with level 200 mags and S-Rank Hell Needles or whatever is at hand.

 

[CTB]

I don't really care either way, but I will say that getting multiple characters from 1 to 80 in a short period of time really does kill the game in terms of fun. Losing 2x EXP is more of an annoyance regardless of any changes, but thats for another topic I guess!

I don't think "ease" has anything to do with it. It was easy getting to 80 the first time, it was easy getting to 80 the twentieth time. PSO is about the grind, but doing a grind to get to the grind is another matter (to me.) If ya wanna talk about why PSO is 2ez4u now, look to EP4 additions for the real answers, not the Needle. If you really want to have fun without the Ultimate toys, you probably would rather play challenge mode anyway.

 

[phantasystarved]

If ya wanna talk about why PSO is 2ez4u now, look to EP4 additions for the real answers, not the Needle. If you really want to have fun without the Ultimate toys, you probably would rather play challenge mode anyway.

Not saying I don't like or want the ultimate toys, I'm saying many of us don't rely on them to have fun.

And I wasn't singling out S-Ranks... all uber gear can make early game content trivial and boring. The reason why it's boring when power-levellers do this is because they don't care about getting hit, they don't care about the drops, they don't care about anything except getting xp as fast as possible to reach Ultimate. That in of itself isn't a bad thing, but I'm not the one asking to change longstanding gameplay mechanics to suit my playstyle.

 

[thegmk]

Some times, I enjoy doing unique quests outside of TTF or MA, but without exp boosters, it makes little sense to expand my horizons in anything that isn't like, Ult and 110+.

 

[Linnaeus]

If someone isn't ready for Ultimate, they can stay in VH to work on technique before moving on to Ult. I don't see the harm. There's also an abundance of guides for best practices, so a new player today will learn much faster than a new player back in the day.

I appreciate your use of 'best practices' in this context.