And before I begin, this is NOT saying that the global should be removed. There are people who do it, and find it worth doing, and I'm not the kind of person who says something should go just because I don't do it. This is solely to explain why I've personally lost interest in it.
There was a time I regularly participated in the global quest. From the very beginning... I was the one who first found the right NPC for it when it was introduced, I covered a lot of what was needed that first time, and was the first to find a worm.
Over time, it got less and less. These days it's regularly taking at least 2-4 days for it to get done.
Why is that?
I can't speak for all, but I can give my personal reasons in losing interest in it. So I'm only speaking for myself here.
"Get it done, now, or it's gone!"
If something is being done too slowly, or not as often as was expected, or even not at all, it means the players have found it to not be balanced value-wise.
This isn't the first thing with that threat of removal hanging over it, and a long time back when I finally realized it was becoming a regular thing for almost everything new that was added, I decided that once the threat of removal got put out there, my interest in it was over, it may as well be gone. I don't feel it's worth investing time, effort, and gc in doing something that's just going to be removed, or constantly be threatened with removal.
I don't play to be forced to focus on anything. I have what I want to do planned, and I'm not gonna stop it just because something else has to be rushed or "it'll be removed". I'd rather it be removed than that be a constant threat.
I don't comprehend the harm in it taking "longer than expected", or something being used less than expected, but... the interest is gone the second that happens. And it is happening on a regular basis for the global.
My interest had already waned (due to below reasons) in the global, but I was still helping with it a bit. Once the threats of removal started though, my interest died completely. I do what I want to do, as it's a game, not what I'm feeling forced into.
("ZOMG, he's complaining about radu!?!" ... Nope. I'm having an opinion on something I think doesn't belong in a game. I have nothing personal against radu. That doesn't mean I won't occasionally disagree with him. No two people agree on everything, that's called being human. My normal tendency is to go along with his game changes, as I've rarely complained about a game aspect.)
The Problem of What It Requires
Amber. MoPs. RVMs. Oranges. Scales.
The global is something that is supposed to be for "everyone's" benefit (though as I explain below, I don't really see the benefit personally).
However, the requirements for it don't fit the reward. High-level harvs that require high nexus that many won't get because it doesn't fit their "fighter" build. High-level potions that again are limited to only a select group of people to mix. Oranges, only available to a select group who do instances. Scales, again a limited group of people.
Someone mentioned on 6 that they thought the requirements for global should be something everyone could be involved in, and I very much agree with that.
"Difficult" does not have to mean rare or high level. 200k yellow roses for example: noone stocks these due to their lack of use, they're not directly close to a storage like the votd red roses, it would take time and effort to harvest that many... BUT, and this is the important part, ANYONE could help.
I do believe one of the serious issues with not so many wanting to help with the global is simply that it isn't designed to be able to be done by anyone who has benefit... anyone. There's just too much that's required that's on a more rare or high-level skill. While these could occasionally be required, the primary requirements for a global that (supposedly) is good for everyone should be able to be assisted with by most anyone. And not just by wasting away gc, as I don't think that's the purpose.
Yellow Roses. Black Roses. Cactus (do get used for DEs, but the weight adds to the difficulty but can be harved by most anyone). Wheat. There's 4 items alone that, if huge amounts were required, would make it difficult to do, but still anyone could help with.
Hell, tree shrooms. Yes, there's a lot of people currently having those in heavy stock atm, but that would eventually deplete, getting them out of the game, and there'd be a need to harvest them. Those would be limited to higher-level harvesters but we have a lot of them in-game, more importantly no nexus requirement.
The use of rare or hard to get items does eventually cause issues with gameplay. Just as grapes had to be removed for the global most recently as they were becoming too difficult to come by. Amber is hitting that state now. (And no, fighters, engineers should NOT have to give up THEIR use of it just because you want it, or the global wants it. We have just as much right to buy and stock it, as well as harv it for our own use, as you do. Your desire to have it does not negate others' need for it for other reasons.)
Simply put, yes, global should have some difficulty, but as it's something that's supposedly good for everyone, it should be primarily doable by everyone.
The Value of the Rewards
As I said, there are people interested in it, and doing it, so there are those in the game who find the rewards worthwhile.
I haven't though, in quite a while.
The reasons I don't find them worth the effort:
1- "wait less to do daily quests" - I'm a creature of habit. I do my dailies when I get up in the morning. Due to the time diff in game and real life, on a rare occasion I skip a day just to get it back to "my" morning time game day.
Being able to do them every 3 game days doesn't change that I do them once a day.
At best, I can use this to not have to skip a single day. But that's only if that happens to occur when I need to skip the day, which is a 1 in 4 chance.
Actual Value (for me): nothing
2- "fewer harvesting mini events" - I've been collecting a lot of experience and gc with these, since I do the overwhelming majority of my harvesting on red astro with a harv medallion, which makes for some peaceful non-stop harvesting.
This reward is actually a Big Negative in that respect. I get less gc, and less experience because of it.
When the latest harvesting perk was added, which invalidated this reward, I didn't hesitate to take the perk. It gave me that experience and gc back.
Actual Value (for me): nothing now, a bad thing before I took the harv perk
3- "More Special Days, and Less Bad Days" - This just isn't happening the way it claims. While it's just randomization at work, the last 4 times I saw this reward, we ended up with more bad days than when this wasn't in effect, and less good ones.
It needs to be tweaked. Badly. (Disclaimer: I haven't seen it since I was off for a couple months recently, so I don't know if it's changed since before that break. I've seen nothing in server updates.)
On top of that, I don't focus on special days. You never see me screaming for special ones. Yes, I stock for when school days happen, or engineering days, or whatever. But I'm in no rush for them, I just prepare for when they happen. Those days have thus far tended to happen less, or not at all, when this reward is in effect.
So I not only don't look forward to this reward, I actually hope it doesn't happen.
Actual Value (for me): a Negative. Or no value. Yeah, the latter I guess. With a possibility of being negative.
4- "Consume less food when we make items" - Okay, of the four, this is the only good one (for me).
And it, not that big a deal. Maybe if it was done in a manner where it was based on clicking the food instead of mixing an item, I'd regularly do the daily in hopes of getting this.
Why? The overwhelming majority of food I consume is during running, not mixing. Comparing to the overall amount of food I consume, saving some while mixing just isn't that much.
Compared to what is required to get (1 in 4 chance of) this reward, the cost is enormous, and it wouldn't take donating much to completely invalidate what is saved on food.
Actual Value (for me): Slightly positive
Overall result of rewards: Other than the last one, nothing I want or have use for. And the 4th being a 1 in 4 chance of showing up, and limited to mixing, makes it something I wouldn't lose sleep over losing.
And a reminder, as what tends to happen is some moron will get upset that I dare have different opinions than them, these are my opinions and only explaining my personal loss of interest in the global. I have no interest in seeing it removed... unless the threats of it being removed are gonna continue, of course.
The Cost of Doing It
I'll first give Kudos for grapes being removed due to their need elsewhere. Things do need to be tweaked sometimes, especially when other things are changed requiring items more in other ways.
It's supposed to be difficult and something everyone can participate in. But unfortunately that's not quite how things are.
The biggest holdups tend to be, in order:
1- Amber
* 30 action points gets you 2 pieces. Action Points are *incredibly* slow to regenerate. Potion of Action Points is way too expensive to be wasted on amber harvesting, their only regular use being for making books.
* Inorganic 6 is an extreme limiter in who can harvest it. Your average fighter for example tends to have at most Inorganic 2 to harvest iron/silver. This puts the burden on those who do heavy-harvest, and their limited action points.
* Harv 110 for amber as well limits who is going to actually try harvesting it to those that are Harv 90 or higher.
* Amber has regular usage for invances, and even more so, quite a few are using it for high-level engineer leveling, myself included. This has been keeping it off the market for quite some time. Even those of us using it for non-global reasons are having a difficult time getting any.
The end result: Asking for 1200 amber every 10 days is damn near impossible.
And no, as long as I need it for other reasons, there's no way in hell I'm going to give up any stash of it I get for a global that I get essentially nothing out of. I need it for other reasons... and by the way, one huge GO FUCK YOURSELF to a few who complained about that. I don't care. I need it for my own reasons, and they are no less valid than yours, they're part of the game. Nobody is stopping you from trying to stock up for your precious global in the same way that I stock it for my own precious engineering. I'm not the first to do it, I know several who have, and I know I'm not the last, or even the only doing it right now.
One of the fuckers who dared complain to me about that also was against my idea on the forums of the fast regen perk/cape slightly speeding up AP regeneration, because we didn't need faster AP. Hey, moron, here's your need. And if you can't harvest amber yourself because you don't want to "waste PP's" on Inorganic 6... again, I don't care about your opinion, since you're not contributing to the supply at all.
2- 50 ref veg mixes (or mix of powers)
This is where many *could* get involved, but don't. A huge part of the burdon of this ends up being put on the backs of those who have earned their high potion level and have the nexus to mix these.
There are of course some who'll help harvest for these and I don't want to take away credit for those. But it does tend to be left to potioners to waste their time harvesting the incredible amount of flowers needed for these potions.
Not to mention the feran horn collecting for the MoPs.
The difficulty is fine, it's the few number of people willing to help harv that makes this problematic.
Oddly enough, gypsum, fruits, and other such directly-asked-for items don't have this problem as much.
Let's remember as well... all of this has to be done *every 10 days* (on threat of removal, *has* to be done).
Sorry... no. I just don't see the value in it, personally. And as such, I lost interest.
A final reminder, for those individuals who can't grasp basic concepts well... this is not stating that the global should be gone, it is solely explaining why I personally lost interest in it. I'm aware of those who do find it worthwhile, and wouldn't request something be removed that others find useful.
Over time, it got less and less. These days it's regularly taking at least 2-4 days for it to get done.
Why is that?
I can't speak for all, but I can give my personal reasons in losing interest in it. So I'm only speaking for myself here.
"Get it done, now, or it's gone!"
If something is being done too slowly, or not as often as was expected, or even not at all, it means the players have found it to not be balanced value-wise.
This isn't the first thing with that threat of removal hanging over it, and a long time back when I finally realized it was becoming a regular thing for almost everything new that was added, I decided that once the threat of removal got put out there, my interest in it was over, it may as well be gone. I don't feel it's worth investing time, effort, and gc in doing something that's just going to be removed, or constantly be threatened with removal.
I don't play to be forced to focus on anything. I have what I want to do planned, and I'm not gonna stop it just because something else has to be rushed or "it'll be removed". I'd rather it be removed than that be a constant threat.
I don't comprehend the harm in it taking "longer than expected", or something being used less than expected, but... the interest is gone the second that happens. And it is happening on a regular basis for the global.
My interest had already waned (due to below reasons) in the global, but I was still helping with it a bit. Once the threats of removal started though, my interest died completely. I do what I want to do, as it's a game, not what I'm feeling forced into.
("ZOMG, he's complaining about radu!?!" ... Nope. I'm having an opinion on something I think doesn't belong in a game. I have nothing personal against radu. That doesn't mean I won't occasionally disagree with him. No two people agree on everything, that's called being human. My normal tendency is to go along with his game changes, as I've rarely complained about a game aspect.)
The Problem of What It Requires
Amber. MoPs. RVMs. Oranges. Scales.
The global is something that is supposed to be for "everyone's" benefit (though as I explain below, I don't really see the benefit personally).
However, the requirements for it don't fit the reward. High-level harvs that require high nexus that many won't get because it doesn't fit their "fighter" build. High-level potions that again are limited to only a select group of people to mix. Oranges, only available to a select group who do instances. Scales, again a limited group of people.
Someone mentioned on 6 that they thought the requirements for global should be something everyone could be involved in, and I very much agree with that.
"Difficult" does not have to mean rare or high level. 200k yellow roses for example: noone stocks these due to their lack of use, they're not directly close to a storage like the votd red roses, it would take time and effort to harvest that many... BUT, and this is the important part, ANYONE could help.
I do believe one of the serious issues with not so many wanting to help with the global is simply that it isn't designed to be able to be done by anyone who has benefit... anyone. There's just too much that's required that's on a more rare or high-level skill. While these could occasionally be required, the primary requirements for a global that (supposedly) is good for everyone should be able to be assisted with by most anyone. And not just by wasting away gc, as I don't think that's the purpose.
Yellow Roses. Black Roses. Cactus (do get used for DEs, but the weight adds to the difficulty but can be harved by most anyone). Wheat. There's 4 items alone that, if huge amounts were required, would make it difficult to do, but still anyone could help with.
Hell, tree shrooms. Yes, there's a lot of people currently having those in heavy stock atm, but that would eventually deplete, getting them out of the game, and there'd be a need to harvest them. Those would be limited to higher-level harvesters but we have a lot of them in-game, more importantly no nexus requirement.
The use of rare or hard to get items does eventually cause issues with gameplay. Just as grapes had to be removed for the global most recently as they were becoming too difficult to come by. Amber is hitting that state now. (And no, fighters, engineers should NOT have to give up THEIR use of it just because you want it, or the global wants it. We have just as much right to buy and stock it, as well as harv it for our own use, as you do. Your desire to have it does not negate others' need for it for other reasons.)
Simply put, yes, global should have some difficulty, but as it's something that's supposedly good for everyone, it should be primarily doable by everyone.
The Value of the Rewards
As I said, there are people interested in it, and doing it, so there are those in the game who find the rewards worthwhile.
I haven't though, in quite a while.
The reasons I don't find them worth the effort:
1- "wait less to do daily quests" - I'm a creature of habit. I do my dailies when I get up in the morning. Due to the time diff in game and real life, on a rare occasion I skip a day just to get it back to "my" morning time game day.
Being able to do them every 3 game days doesn't change that I do them once a day.
At best, I can use this to not have to skip a single day. But that's only if that happens to occur when I need to skip the day, which is a 1 in 4 chance.
Actual Value (for me): nothing
2- "fewer harvesting mini events" - I've been collecting a lot of experience and gc with these, since I do the overwhelming majority of my harvesting on red astro with a harv medallion, which makes for some peaceful non-stop harvesting.
This reward is actually a Big Negative in that respect. I get less gc, and less experience because of it.
When the latest harvesting perk was added, which invalidated this reward, I didn't hesitate to take the perk. It gave me that experience and gc back.
Actual Value (for me): nothing now, a bad thing before I took the harv perk
3- "More Special Days, and Less Bad Days" - This just isn't happening the way it claims. While it's just randomization at work, the last 4 times I saw this reward, we ended up with more bad days than when this wasn't in effect, and less good ones.
It needs to be tweaked. Badly. (Disclaimer: I haven't seen it since I was off for a couple months recently, so I don't know if it's changed since before that break. I've seen nothing in server updates.)
On top of that, I don't focus on special days. You never see me screaming for special ones. Yes, I stock for when school days happen, or engineering days, or whatever. But I'm in no rush for them, I just prepare for when they happen. Those days have thus far tended to happen less, or not at all, when this reward is in effect.
So I not only don't look forward to this reward, I actually hope it doesn't happen.
Actual Value (for me): a Negative. Or no value. Yeah, the latter I guess. With a possibility of being negative.
4- "Consume less food when we make items" - Okay, of the four, this is the only good one (for me).
And it, not that big a deal. Maybe if it was done in a manner where it was based on clicking the food instead of mixing an item, I'd regularly do the daily in hopes of getting this.
Why? The overwhelming majority of food I consume is during running, not mixing. Comparing to the overall amount of food I consume, saving some while mixing just isn't that much.
Compared to what is required to get (1 in 4 chance of) this reward, the cost is enormous, and it wouldn't take donating much to completely invalidate what is saved on food.
Actual Value (for me): Slightly positive
Overall result of rewards: Other than the last one, nothing I want or have use for. And the 4th being a 1 in 4 chance of showing up, and limited to mixing, makes it something I wouldn't lose sleep over losing.
And a reminder, as what tends to happen is some moron will get upset that I dare have different opinions than them, these are my opinions and only explaining my personal loss of interest in the global. I have no interest in seeing it removed... unless the threats of it being removed are gonna continue, of course.
The Cost of Doing It
I'll first give Kudos for grapes being removed due to their need elsewhere. Things do need to be tweaked sometimes, especially when other things are changed requiring items more in other ways.
It's supposed to be difficult and something everyone can participate in. But unfortunately that's not quite how things are.
The biggest holdups tend to be, in order:
1- Amber
* 30 action points gets you 2 pieces. Action Points are *incredibly* slow to regenerate. Potion of Action Points is way too expensive to be wasted on amber harvesting, their only regular use being for making books.
* Inorganic 6 is an extreme limiter in who can harvest it. Your average fighter for example tends to have at most Inorganic 2 to harvest iron/silver. This puts the burden on those who do heavy-harvest, and their limited action points.
* Harv 110 for amber as well limits who is going to actually try harvesting it to those that are Harv 90 or higher.
* Amber has regular usage for invances, and even more so, quite a few are using it for high-level engineer leveling, myself included. This has been keeping it off the market for quite some time. Even those of us using it for non-global reasons are having a difficult time getting any.
The end result: Asking for 1200 amber every 10 days is damn near impossible.
And no, as long as I need it for other reasons, there's no way in hell I'm going to give up any stash of it I get for a global that I get essentially nothing out of. I need it for other reasons... and by the way, one huge GO FUCK YOURSELF to a few who complained about that. I don't care. I need it for my own reasons, and they are no less valid than yours, they're part of the game. Nobody is stopping you from trying to stock up for your precious global in the same way that I stock it for my own precious engineering. I'm not the first to do it, I know several who have, and I know I'm not the last, or even the only doing it right now.
One of the fuckers who dared complain to me about that also was against my idea on the forums of the fast regen perk/cape slightly speeding up AP regeneration, because we didn't need faster AP. Hey, moron, here's your need. And if you can't harvest amber yourself because you don't want to "waste PP's" on Inorganic 6... again, I don't care about your opinion, since you're not contributing to the supply at all.
2- 50 ref veg mixes (or mix of powers)
This is where many *could* get involved, but don't. A huge part of the burdon of this ends up being put on the backs of those who have earned their high potion level and have the nexus to mix these.
There are of course some who'll help harvest for these and I don't want to take away credit for those. But it does tend to be left to potioners to waste their time harvesting the incredible amount of flowers needed for these potions.
Not to mention the feran horn collecting for the MoPs.
The difficulty is fine, it's the few number of people willing to help harv that makes this problematic.
Oddly enough, gypsum, fruits, and other such directly-asked-for items don't have this problem as much.
Let's remember as well... all of this has to be done *every 10 days* (on threat of removal, *has* to be done).
Sorry... no. I just don't see the value in it, personally. And as such, I lost interest.
A final reminder, for those individuals who can't grasp basic concepts well... this is not stating that the global should be gone, it is solely explaining why I personally lost interest in it. I'm aware of those who do find it worthwhile, and wouldn't request something be removed that others find useful.
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