New unattainable content

Yay for new content that replaced old free content.. that i can now no longer get.

Is it just me or does having a three mission arc that is only playable fully if your level 50 with im guessing 50 rep sound like the stupidest invention ever. Now out of the three characters that i play fully and collect items and do missions on, one can complete the arcs the other two cant get past the first mission.

Even in theory it doesnt make sense. In order to actually get the full progressive story you have to be a required level and rep? So what your saying is as a level 30 with 30 rep you can only get the first mission of each arc which while essentially give you a snipit of the story and leave you with massive gaps every month or whatever? Its utterly stupid to be honest. 

Its a great idea the static replayable story quests but that catch needs to be seriously reviewed. Feel free to point out where the good points are in this system and correct me, as it stands though: Unimpressed.

Kind

It's 60 rep and no it's not a stupid idea.  If you can't put forth the effort to hit 50 then you shouldn't be rewarded with "free content".  God forbid you work for something.

I agree wholeheartedly Dangerfrog.  High level != canon enlightenment.  I hate leveling so immesurably much, but still spent the weekend finally (3 years, give or take a day) getting to 30, just to find out that I could only do the first mission.  It makes sense for the items, not for the quests.

Did you guys forget this is a game?

Garu wrote:

It's 60 rep and no it's not a stupid idea.  If you can't put forth the effort to hit 50 then you shouldn't be rewarded with "free content".  God forbid you work for something.

Its not putting forth effort to hit 50 as it stands i've "put forthe the effort" three times and going for the fourth. I've worked my butt off over the past three+ years putting sometimes more than i should into this game and now to be shunted sideways its silly.

Its not that im not receiving it i can still attain the missions fully on one side but more that i can get only the first arc of a mission every month... *That* is whats stupid. If your going to make it available to that level either make it all available to 30+ or even it out by making it a middle figure and keeping it that way for every mission arc. 

I would never want to tell someone how to spend their $15 but hitting 50 should be a priority.  If you cannot be bothered to level, then unfortunately you're now limiting yourself not only just from the story but the other content as well.

I told you its not just that the content is unattainable but that its partially attainable. Just so happens one of my 50's has lower rep and i have a char im leveling on recursion thats 39 either way i should either get all of the story content or none of it. Partials is just plain stupid.

Level requirements for the items - Yes, as in almost every other game and in fact life, if you want the best stuff you have to work for it.

Level Requirements to do the missions - I think it's a bit silly when the Rep requirement and area the missions are set in can dictate levels.

Danger_Frog1471 wrote:

I told you its not just that the content is unattainable but that its partially attainable. Just so happens one of my 50's has lower rep and i have a char im leveling on recursion thats 39 either way i should either get all of the story content or none of it. Partials is just plain stupid.

As far as I understand your situation, you are getting all of your orgs content. The other story content is the other orgs content. Which, like in the previous system, you wouldn't be able to access other orgs story content anyway and as Vinia said, some items have to have level restrictions on them. It's normal. Otherwise the buffs would be worse, more so.

Yea see that i can agree with but merging the two is unacceptable, they just cant be mixed fairly. I think the level requirement for the missions should be moved to the trade for the items or removed completely (remember the level requirement on the item itself will still stand)

Yasamuu wrote:

Danger_Frog1471 wrote:

I told you its not just that the content is unattainable but that its partially attainable. Just so happens one of my 50's has lower rep and i have a char im leveling on recursion thats 39 either way i should either get all of the story content or none of it. Partials is just plain stupid.

As far as I understand your situation, you are getting all of your orgs content. The other story content is the other orgs content. Which, like in the previous system, you wouldn't be able to access other orgs story content anyway and as Vinia said, some items have to have level restrictions on them. It's normal. Otherwise the buffs would be worse, more so.

No don't get me wrong yas it was never all available in the first place, so it shouldnt be now. But a level 30 with 30 rep can only attain part of they're own orgs story every month. A little silly if you ask me...

Danger_Frog1471 wrote:

No don't get me wrong yas it was never all available in the first place, so it shouldnt be now. But a level 30 with 30 rep can only attain part of they're own orgs story every month. A little silly if you ask me...

Just a reminder that even a lvl 50 with 30 rep couldn't do all the crits in the old system... Of course a level 20 (for example) with 60 rep could do all of them.

So yeah, as I said, it should be the area that dictates the level requirement (of course you could always tag along with a 50 to see the story) for a lone player.

50 rep was required to do the final critical mission in the old system.  60 is just 10 more missions, give or take.  I knocked mine out in an hour and was running the 3rd mission immediately afterwards. 

Rarebit wants the items to be somewhat challenging to obtain so he has to make the missions difficult. The last mission requires you to defeat a non-scaling Level 55 NPC for Zionites/Machines, and two non-scaling Level 53 NPCs for Merovingians. You would have to be Level 50 anyways to do the mission and complete it.

Mathalos wrote:

Rarebit wants the items to be somewhat challenging to obtain so he has to make the missions difficult. The last mission requires you to defeat a non-scaling Level 55 NPC for Zionites/Machines, and two non-scaling Level 53 NPCs for Merovingians. You would have to be Level 50 anyways to do the mission and complete it.

Well if it wasn't down to the fact that you could invite a lvl 50 to tear through it, then an NPC scaled to 5 levels above the mission starter's level would also be a challenge. I can see what Rarebit was wanting to do though. I love the challenge these missions bring.

Danger_Frog1471 wrote:

Mathalos wrote:

If Rarebit makes it too easy, people complain that it's too easy. If Rarebit makes it too hard, people complain that it's too hard. If Rarebit makes it take a short time, people complain there's nothing to do. If Rarebit makes it take a long time, people complain it takes too long. Rarebit is trying to please the most people with what he is able to do each month. The majority of people are Level 50 with 60 reputation in their organization. The majority of people are able to do all three missions. If he spends his time trying to make everything work for every level, then he won't have any time left to do anything. At the end of the day, this new system works for the majority of the people.

Thanks neoteny thats what i was getting at along with the way you can get some but not all every month.

I know what you're getting at but you're just full of sh*t.

Knowing this update was coming I leveled to just over 30 so I could begin to participate and level on these missions! (lol, effort.)

New players will feel like they have no clue whats going on in the story. Thats where the old crits, ie archive missions, come in. HUGE COINSIDENCE, there's more than enough to level to 30+ with there. ALSO, introduction missions. Don't they give rep? There's a fair few of them to get you started and you can burn through 2phase missions in like what, 3minutes? Wow, thats like a whole 20rep points in half an hour? How taxing.

Leveling in an MMO, who would have believed such a thing be necessary. I mean, I signed up to WoW expecting all content at level 2.

I really, really struggle to see how people can be complaining about this change, even in it's first implementation I think it's great.

The fact that it replaces 5 relatively dull weekly missions (no offense rare) that just didn't make up for missing a live event, so you basically logged in ran a mission and got told anome had been owned in an event and you missed it, or things along those lines. That has been replaced with three pandoras box style missions, which pretty much pull their pants down and do a number 2 all over the old critical missions. The fact we actually get to take Wright down, rather than hear about it in a weekly crit is brilliant.

And to top that, there are some relatively good items you can gain from doing these missions if you put a little bit of effort in, rather than doing one 5 minute mission, and waiting for a week to get another.

On face value, and upon playing them, it's an amazingly impressive change.

And if you've put the effort in to get 50, it's not particularly hard to get 60 rep either, so I can't see what the complaints there are for. I think it's a good idea to have the rep cap there, means you have to either have a character in each org, or trade with other orgs for their items.

I personally don't mind grinding to 50 to get a firm grip on the storyline myself, but I do sympathize with those who don't want/have the time to grind all the way at the same time.  I would like to see a mechanism introduced by which lower-level characters could access the missions for the storyline, but prevents them from getting the rewards (to balance it all out).

One idea could be to create 2 sets of the missions, one ('new' style) from the collectors and one ('old' style) from the mission window.  The 'old' style missions would be basically what we had before, only difference is all enemies would be scalable and would not drop the reward barter items nor reward respective items upon completion of the mission.  If it would make things easier (not a developer, so I've no idea), create a separate 'token' item to activate each subchapter in this format.  'New' style would function the same as they do now, rewarding barter drops on completion/loot.  This way the only things being changed are the token's character-level requirement and the loot table flags (or whatever designates certain mission NPCs drop certain items) between the 2 types.  I would even agree to a level 30 requirement for the full set (plus the standard rep requirements) to keep the mission locations relatively in-line.  Still, such things that superficially seem simple probably would be like trying to cure cancer in terms of development/resources. 

Either that or, as Cloudwolf suggested, opening up Archive tokens an update down the line (though I imagine some people will still complain about the delay).

Really, though, I simply don't know.  I would very much like to see some sort of comprimise, but at the same time can live with where we stand.  I just feel a bit bad especially for newer players who wish to experience the story without the full grind to 50.

I can see why people are annoyed at the level 50 requirement (I mean hey, it is a bit extreme), but this idea that you're missing out on two thirds of the story is utterly ridiculous.

I'm a lazy git and only have one character I regularly play on. That's one org for which I could run missions. Yet I never complained I didn't know what Zion and the Mervs were doing. It's all over the forums for god's sake! People write transcripts, evryone leaks information, and I daren't guess how many juicy details will be revealed when the occasional live event gets posted.

You're not missing out on the story in the slightest. Switch your argument to something more appropriate if you want to persist. For example, the fact that you're missing out on the fetch quests and 'personal' interaction with the NPCs of the missions. Let's face it: you're not missing much there either.

Think of it this way. Yes, maybe you could do all these wonderful things with minimal effort with your alt characters in the past, and now you can't. Does that mean he's made it unfair? No! He's corrected a terrible mistake and now it's fair(er).

I am kind of tired of content you need a group for to get and did NOT expect this in the new quest system. + the points that Kindeller made I think we should get those quests to scale to the size of the team and to the lvl so if one person solos it they dont get to fight lvl 65s or w/e. This is something that is possible and the system is already there. I am still amazed that it's not used fully and expected it to be used in the new quests.

cloudwolf wrote:

Yes, because people have been soooo sharing so far ¬_¬

It's been out for less than a week dude. Come on. 

So... they made it that you have to be even more committed to the RSI with a particular org to do content.. and we get complaints...

If the content is setting a requirement that will make players make a choice about how much time/effort they want into getting it, is that really so bad? If I suddenly wanted to do the new Mec specific content, then I know I'd have to level a Machine Rep RSI, or change my own rep, it's a choice I'd have to make.

Unlike before, the storyline content now extends further than just doing a mission and has moved into gameplay content, so ANY gameplay content has to have certain requirements, in this case its tied to Rep and player level. The main problem here is that people don't seem to understand it's no longer just storyline content, but gameplay+storyline. Storyline alone can be set without any level requirement, but gameplay can't, otherwise what would be the point in leveling at all.

I can't see how Rarebit can change this, because if he does, then the storyline content is standalone and he will need to make MORE content for the high level players, for gameplay, and it's clear this has been done so the storyline and gameplay fit into 1 grouping of content, so don't expect this to change anytime soon, unless Rarebit wants to extend his work load more.

Villemar_MxO wrote:

This is a storyline-based MMO and what I find absolutely disgusting is the fact that you now are forced to have three 50's, one per org, to get full access to the storyline.

I know what you mean but nobody forces you to have three 50s. In fact, nobody forces you to have even one 50. Before anything you wanted to know about the storyline, you were able to get to know it through archieves or low-level alts. Now, 1 has been partially (dunno how the new archieves are going to work) and 1 completely (lowlvl alt) removed.

And you know what? That's not bad. Why? It means you need to interact more with the world, both PwE (leveling) and PwP ("social" interacting) (w = with). If you want to know what goes on in the other organisations, ask friends you have over there, get -their- story. That is so much more interesting, asking around, gathering information. MxO has always been an easy-access game, no effort required for anything. I don't entirely support that philosophy anyways.

Hell, if you're still obsessed with knowing and having everything easy, read the logs. Also if you want a storyline on a tablet, go read a book.

The new content is... an interesting take on the storyline.  I think it has potential to be geared a little better to make it last these next weeks until another patch.

We all hate grinding, but I really don't see a big issue with the storyline.  This encourages low-levels to team up with 50s in order to complete the missions, which is after all what an MMO is supposed to do.

I'm sure we all get tired of the Kill -> Loot -> Collect -> Trade game, which is essentially what MxO has become.  Not that that's a necesssarily bad thing, but if that's what we're limited to, I say make the content more challenging, or interesting. Have a world spawn that only spawns a certain day or days of week that drops an item that is essential to getting a pretty uber item or something similar.  I know the Danielle spawn is static.  Don't, however, require us to farm needless amounts of "x" item to trade for "y" item, as that's just farming for the sake of farming.

Flood a building with re-spawning story-related NPCs with a weaker boss at the top that drops a new consumable or make use of that tool slot!  For this chapter, for instance, spawn a crapload of Wright Accelerated Programs in a Hampton Green building, or the Accelerated Suits (which would make even more sense), to give us a feel like the actual Matrix as a world is being overrun.

I think alot of focus is being put on missions, when there's alot you could do with the world as well.

cloudwolf wrote:

But if details are going to get freely shared anyway (which they should, especially if people's suggestions arn't taken on board), why not Archive the new style missions in the same way the old ones were, opening them up to all orgs an update down the line? It's just denying people the chance to experience the story for themselves instead of reading it like a book. This is a game, an interative storytelling medium, for a reason.

Because they won't go away next update and can always be found in Hampton ready to be run at any time. It's stupid to have an archive of a quest that can be found still inside the game. Also they are designed specifically for down town meaning only a lvl 30 can safely run them in the first place. The critical missions before hand were geared for Richland/Westview and sometimes were compatible with international and DT.

People need to get it through their head that the story's progression is no longer through the means of missions and events. It is now cinematics and quest. All this time most of you have spent bitching about a grind could have gotten your character at least to 30.

Villemar_MxO wrote:

We understand the mechanics of what needs to be done to access all three org's storylines, but we also understand that this game has gone from a dynamic, evolving game into a static game in one fell swoop.   For many of us the evolving, dynamic aspect of this game is what has kept us here for almost four years and is what has made it such a unique and enjoyable experience. 

Then you obviously don't understand the role that you and everyone else plays. You are the player, Rareibt is the developer. What rarebit decides is what happens. All you can do is voice you opinion which you already have. Sense you have done that stop complaining and work with what you have been given while hoping that next update something changes.

Solutions to the problems you and others claim there are have been given. Just because you don't want to talk to someone outside your faction or buddy list doesn't null the point that all one has to do to experience this supposed "unattainable content" is ask either a friend or someone you meet "Hey can you run your orgs 11.3 quest so I can experience that part oft he story" which I'm sure if he decided to post here is exactly what Rarebit would tell you to do.

Our "dynamic evolution" was proven to be a money and time consumer back when we had a LET. It was only a matter of time before the daily events would stop and the efforts would be moved towards traditional MMO systems rather than our radical ideals of an MMO. Obviously we have reached that point in which the amount of time devoted or needed to keep the story going at that level is to much for one developer and there are other ares that need to be worked. Case in point the new content added to Tabor, that sorta thing for noobs should have been added when Uriah got a make over but because of time issues we just got it.

Villemar_MxO wrote:

I agree, and would be more than happy if our overworked dev had 90% less of a workload.  Very happy with new lowbie Neighborhood mission content and RSI masks.  I don't want the baby thrown out with the bathwater though.  I ask myself, what makes this mmo special and unique?  Its the dynamic and evolving story based content.  Now the content is staic just like every other mmo.  Its unique appeal is gone.   If our dev is putting in 1000% of the work of a normal person, he should be allowed to drop it down to 50% if he wants.  Lord knows he deserves it.  But by doing that I don't think we should reinvent the wheel and remove this game's uniqueness.  Scale waaaaay back, but dont kill the golden goose in the process.

You may get all the forum cq's you want but just dont be all surprised if the player base drops really drastically over the next year.  And lets say you have an org trifecta, three 50's, you still can farm all the org quests in a few days.  What are you going to do the rest of the 5-1/2 weeks?  Hang around Mara?  There's no reason to concurrently sub (for me anyways).  If I get the other 2 up to 50, and get the org trifecta, I'll probably go on a 4 weeks subbed/2 weeks unsubbed schedule.  Or take longer unsubbed breaks, since the quests are static and you can access them any time now.

In regards to intancing things in DT and having level requirements for that, I say keep them in as hard an area as you want.  Set them in Creston and Startford Campus for all I care.  If you have the rep, and you want to give it a go, that's on you.  Personally I like the idea of my lvl 25 with 100+ rep having the extra danger and challenge of dodging purple mobs, purple building security, and Agents.  If you cant stand the heat, don't go there, but I'd welcome the challenge. 

By the way, the new nub content is just for us vets, forget about trying to get new players.   All pretense of that is gone now.  And there's now a huge disincentive to fully experience lowbie content as most everyone is going to powergrind now to get exactly back to where they were one week ago.

Its nice and I enjoyed running it but its kind of moot now.

But what you don’t seem to grasp is that the daily events was the last breath of the baby in the tub and that it was so weighted down that it drowned and had to be thrown out. What made this MMO unique and special was that it was an experiment into a new form of MMO systems and mechanics. That experiment is over and the results have proven them to be ineffective in time management dev side and money spent to maintain. So we are left reverting it back to a system that works which I am very thankful for as most people would have just up and left it where it was and abandoned it all together. At least we have a dev who is willing to revert to something that works and keep some small pieces of the experiment working rather than just up and leave it.

If people leave because of this then that just shows how dedicated they really are. The only reason I have stayed with this game is its story and as far as I can tell that story is still progressing. Sure the way that it is presented has been altered but it is far from unattainable as many seem to assume and anyone that stays for the same reason I do should at least be able to tell that there still is a story and it is still progressing. Maybe a little slower than before but it is still there.

Then amount of time it takes to complete the quest is irrelevant to this discussion however I do agree and stated on the update discussion that it needs some work done to it. However again, I’ve voiced my complaint and went on my way. However it is a little to early to assume that nothing is going to happen in those next five weeks. It’s only week two now and we have the org meetings coming on week 4. This is a start at spreading the content but again it still needs work.

The lowbie content was just an example of the problems the former method of updating had. The daily events  (which you cannot possibly deny that the excitement and discussion of was steadily dwindling) to up way too much time that content that should have been introduced years ago was only now going in.

cloudwolf wrote:

Yes, they won't go away. I know that. They're repeatable to facilitate the 'Quest' bit of grind and trade. But come next update, by the sounds of things, we still won't be able to access the other two org's mission sets. One of the major selling points of the previous Archive system was the ability to run missions from all three sides of the story. This feature appears to have been unneccesarily removed from the new system.

Thats all I've ever said needs to be changed. I've already voiced my support of a level focused storyline set in unused parts of the city. It allows the story more creative freedom than before. But that doesn't mean that freedom should come at the price of only being able to experience one third of it. Having to have org alts was never a requirement before and the missions had plenty of "loyalty" rep caps like they do now.

What? No seriously where does anyone get that idea that they wont be able to get the other two orgs mission sets? Have you just ignored everything anyone's said in this thread? Ask a friend, grind an alt, god forbid you have to converse with someone or work for something in an MMO! I'm sorry but that's life, even in games you don't just get an instant win button. You have to work at it and if you want to get everything out of the game you have to put forth a bit of effort. If anything this is a plus, it shows who's really dedicated at learning and experenceing everything and who all just wanted a free ride with no work.

Villemar_MxO wrote:

Please, spare us the condescension and insults.   If Rare removed all missions and NPC's and you could only get XP by banging your head against a wall, I'm sure you'd yell at those of us who dared express concern and insinuate we were all lazy jerks for not sitting for hours on end banging our heads against a wall.  I get it...you want this game to be just like WoW or Lineage but set in a modern setting and with 0.00000001% of the player base.  Good for you.  Just dont come crying to us in six months from now about how no one is online anymore.

And you addressed my point where?

If you and others are tired of the insults that your seeming all looking for a free ride try a new argument because all your saying right now is "I shouldn't have to work that hard to get all the story." For chirst sake the solutions people have given hardly take that much effort at all and all you and everyone else complaining that you are somehow denied 2/3rds of the story because your not a certain level makes yourselves out to be lazy.

I've never once said that this is how I wanted the game to be, its not and I'd take the old system over this any day. The current system can be completed in a days time leaving 5 weeks of nothing in between updates this is it's flaw. Not that you can't experience 2/3rds of the story but that after you do your left with 5 weeks of nothing. However at the same time I realize that the old system was broken and way past it's prime which some of you seem to be unable to comprehend despite Rareibt outlining it for everyone in a thread prior to this update.

Go back and compare live event from these past 6 months to a year ago, anyone can see the steady decline in attendance and discussion. The amount of time needed to maintain that was ridiculous and took way from other areas. In terms of development and time management the new system is far better then what we had. We went to a WoW like system because it works and is an effective usage of developer time, something that the old one was not.

And look at whose arguing against you, people that have also been here for 4 years+. Your point is mute. Especially the dynamic one after Vinia's post.

Villemar_MxO wrote:

eval wrote:

I'd like to know what is the thing you get out of running a mission rather than hearing about what happened/reading about what happened. What exactly is it?

If just reading about it was the goal, I could save $15 a month by checking it out for free on DN1.

Live dabei, auf 99 komma 2. MxO was and always has been about living the story, being -there- and those that lived in the US had it more convenient. But MxO has also been about player interaction and intense roleplaying and yes, also about all the crazy PvPers at Mara Central

ZippyTheSquirrel wrote:

*gasp* I see what this really is! It's all a scam to get us Recursionites to go to Syntax! Curse you, Syntaxians! You'll not have our tea!

We already have it, thank you. And it is not pleasant.

Now, something I am annoyed about with the update is the inability to do other orgs' missions in archival form. Because that really is a new barrier to content, as that was freely available before.

Villemar_MxO wrote:

The ability to grind to 50 is not the issue here.

Vinia's post is technically true, but her point is a semantic one and not what we are trying to get across.

I'm looking at the Big Picture here.   Actions have consequences that may not be evident right away.

The issue is that people are complaining that they can't access 2/3rds the story when they can. You don't need to grind to 50, you can get on a lvl 5 alt and ask someone from that org to run it while you tag along.

Vinia's post pointed out that this game hasn't been "dynamic" for a long long time. You have been arguing that this last update killed that. How can you kill something that wasn't there to begin with?

Obviously not because if you were you would see that the old system wasn't working. It limited the big picture to only adding small tiny pieces to it while using a large amount of time to out daily events that more and more people were not attending or caring about. I can't count how many times I've read on these forums or talked to people that said they hadn't run their crits sense 8.1 for any org. Old system was screaming to be put out of its misery and was causeing just as many people to leave. Come to think of it privaronT's thread is the only "good bye" thread I hve seen sense this update.

Fatmop wrote:

Like I've said, I don't care one way or another, as I haven't been very involved in the main storyline and normally did missions for only one faction, the mechs.  And if the level requirement is the only spot on the otherwise opulent persian rug that is the 11.3 update, and it's people who normally don't complain complaining, then maybe it oughta be changed.

In other news, the EVE update is freakin' amazing.  No, don't just stop reading because I'm not talking about MxO, seriously, chump, sit down and listen for a second.  You know how in some MMOs you can get titles?  Like LOTRO, I think.  Well aside from all the excellent speed-rebalancing issues that they fixed, as well as server upgrades so that fleet battles can get up to a thousand or two people, they created a skill-based "certification" system that allows you to claim certificates based on your character's skills.

One of the certificates is "Hull tanking."

The description for this certificate says something along the lines of "Real men hull tank" and "Hull tanking is really dumb."

I have now stopped all training in pursuit of this glorious goal.

no post is complete without kellner posting about eve.

privaronT wrote:

To answer your question about how you kill something that was never there. You may not be killing it but mutliating the corpse than calling it art usually is frowned upon in most circles.

Next time a system isn't working my personal gut feeling is that cutting out existing content forms replacing them with limited new ones and removing certian ones completely to ease things up is a bad idea. 

The corpse is GONE. Again go back and read Vinia's post. We haven't had a real "dynamic" story telling system since LET and even then it was only the Neurophye event which was a joke for the servers that decided to kill her. This isn't some brutal annihilation of some broken being its a replacement for a broken malfunctioning and waste of resource system with one that works and has been proven to work.

The existing content before this update was more and more going unused and uninteresting. You can see a dramatic decrease in the live event discussions int he past year and quiet a few people were not even running the weekly crits. Why keep a system that the majority of the player base isn't even using?

privaronT wrote:

Eh I think in some regards you get the wrong idea about where I stand on things because I look at it alot more grey than most. With that said I see your points and on the most simple aspects I agree with them. LESIG in its current form was an utter failure. That's not knocking the human beings that invested time in it but its just stating a fact. Promoting subscribers many of which were strong personalities that had no businuess in what arguably was a volunteer public relations job was an utter move of desperation to pawn off job responsibiilities to subscribers and buy time.

However the removal of the sub organizations was a poor move. The inclusion of them was an even poorer one. People like me you and Phrack back in the day should have been told to pound salt and never been given tags. They fed a lame duck of a situation for two and a half years and eventually the development snapped from the work load and scrapped the organizatiions entirely.

 Also what I mean by this is that interactive content should have been worked on to be better not entirely removed. I feel if Rarebit had tried harder had less of a negative attitude towards the community at times and let it sneak into his work which he has admitted to us before that things could have been pushed to a higher standard. What Rarebit did was refuse to focus on character progression personal RP relationships and really maximize what he had left.

Monolith was known for their events being cool because we felt we were part of the team. Like if we owned really hard in Zion Niobe would appreciate what many of us got as a result were caddy inside digs via email along with selective perpetual handouts towards the end. The system failed for two reasons staffing which was unavoidable and the second which I hold the team fully responsible for a lack of motivation and a negative attitude that affected the game over time in this stressful job. 

I dont know how many events I went to where the Live Event Character would literally just sit around afk kill mobs for screenshots and be non responsive to the community. I really get the impression he hated dealing with us at these events for awhile. Many times the LO's didnt even know what was going on at the event and they had to rely on me sending them tells to let them know what was going on. The one with Veil and crew was a perfect example. If it wasnt for Bayamos and Evalr tracking Wright and Bay telling me than me relaying it to the LO's they never would have even found the event.

The points Im trying to make here is the Live Events in their current form were in many respects a social failure just as much as a resource based one. I believe Rarebit even admitted that frankly and took some personal blame. I really feel he should have tried to approach the events and the content distribution with a more positive free flowing interactve approach before axing this entire thing and giving up on it.

Ill agree the corpse wasn't there because really the best way to look at it was a system and a very cool idea at that in desperate need of life support and I feel the development team allowed their personal issues and feelings to also motivate the choices that were made and I suppose that really just doesn't fly well with me.

So truth be told Im not going to sit here and preach doomsday this system may work out just as well as the last one did or even better but let me remind you thats not a high standard in any respect given how poorly they were done towards the end. The real thing MxO should have tried to aim for is doing a better job at what they were failing at. Not spinning fanfaire feedback which I was present at by askng Mave who was drunk as could be if he didnt like critical missiions than mocking the storyline for an hour for two days with a sarcastic tone.

You can dislike me for having such a negative attitude but you know frankly these things I have brought up have proven themselves over time. This move was just as much of a developer giving up on a hard work load as it was a logistical choice and I dont respect that a bit because this just isnt an MMO it was a creative liscence that has been butchered and watered down by personal choices.

Look I understand where you and everyone else comes from. My only gripe is at people who claim that there is no progression for the story when there is or that they can't access two thirds of it and try to make excuses as to why they shouldn't have to work at getting it. Outside of that I'm right there with you. I pointed out to Vil that while I like most of the update there is still alot of work left to be done in making this new system all it can be within MxO. The long periods of time in which there is nothing to do for everyone that's already completed and gotten everything they wanted out of that stories quest. I would take the old system over this current one any day but I still understand why it was removed.

privaronT wrote:

You forgot the part where a certian union that starts with an L sticks up for the laborer because their reliant on power and tiime investment which their hoping a postive disposition will  reward eventually.

That's why I take everythng with a grain of salt. When half your power personalites in MxO are on the take by being given out player program powers its really hard to get a good read... 

My advice Viil do what I did just stop caring dude.. trying to disect the finer points of a quality entertainment experience to these people is like trying to sit through dinner with a lobbyist and get a straight answer.

I doubt few of you remember my name or even know who I am, but I've been here since beta.

Despite having a full-time job, two and a half hours of travelling to and from it every day, and several other activities taking time from me, I also live in Europe - all this has severely limited my time for interaction with others in this game.

I care about the story above all - that's what made me play this game to begin with, and that's the main thing that has kept me around this long. I've seen piece after piece of what made this game unique and interesting being dropped for various reasons, as have you all.

Previously, I played to collect hard-to-get items and I have my inventory stock full of event items, rewards and memorabilia. Most of it, I've done all by myself, but I've played with others as well, though less nowadays since many of those I called friends and faction mates went on to other games or changed servers, and even quit on MMOs entirely. Nowadays, I only collect certain items - partly becaues of lack of inventory space (yes, I store a lot in my email as well) and partly because I do not have the time and patience to grind every new content that is put in so I can get the rewards.

Before this last change I have never even for a second thought about quitting this game. I've payed a lot of money and spent a large chunk of my free time on this game, neglecting sleep and sometimes even work to take part in events or grind for items. These days, I'm considering quitting.

People are dropping from this game like flies from the Assassin, and there are several reasons. One important reason is that grinding in this game is often even more repetetive and boring than it is in other MMOs. Now that the story be default also involves just that type of grinding, I won't be surprised if we lose another bunch.

I've played other MMOs, but so far nothing has been able to hold my attention the way MxO has. AoC came close, but I found a lack in motivation in that. The only thing it offered as a carrot was higher levels and further abilities. WoW at least offers new areas, but I hate the graphics of that game. MxO offers story - both 'static' side stories in each and every neighborhood; stories that are interlinked and interesting, and more importantly - an ever-evolving and intruiging main story.

The key thing that has had me playing MxO over the other MMOs I've tried is the ability to Choose. I could choose if I wanted to solo or play in teams; I could choose if I wanted to grind or casually level. I could choose to dedicate a lot of time and effort to interacting with liaisons and events to get the full story. I could choose to grind for rewards, or grind for info and buy them instead (in many cases).

A lot of that choice has now been made for me, just like in other MMOs.

The suggestion to open up the Quests for every level but keep the rewards at lvl 50 is a good one. Make sure the tokens for the rewards only drop from fixed level mobs, and the challenge remains for the 50s, while opening the story to easier participation for low-levels and casual players.

The question is this: does MxO as a whole benefit from alienating certain players by forcing them to  commit more time and effort to the game?

The answer is no. It benefits MxO to keep itself accessible to all, both high and low level; power gamer or casual player.

It's as simple as that.

Otherwise, we will be left with nothing but a useless porcelain mask and no flies holding it ip.

Locking this thread as it has degenerated into a developer bash.