Offsetting the Costs of Rune Nullification (COMMENT)

[dunkargo]

Hey everyone,

In reading through the forums, there seems to be a ton of grief over the game's Rune system. All of it has to do with PvP, of course, because no one in their right mind would complain about their dungeon running buddy being OP. The runes are obviously tied into PvE content also, though, as the top guild most assuredly play at a level of difficulty otherwise unplayable without the runes to bolster their gear. So just doing away with runes can not happen. Not only would it piss off a lot of paying players, for one, it would unbalance players and their current content. Also, the rune system apparently makes up for a decent chunk of cash shop sales. If the crystal chips didn't sell and didn't make gPotato any money, they wouldn't be there.

So how would the Allods crew even go about ironing out the wrinkles in their PvP community caused by the rune system? In other games, the cash shop is rife with pay for power items; see the new Star Wars The Old Republic cash shop if you'd like to realize what other "free to play" games are really like. Even free to play MMORPG games like Atlantica and any Perfect World game have their vanity items caked with bonus stats on top of the power ups already available in their cash shops. Allods is the truest free to play MMO out right now. If anyone disagrees, please reference a game and cite, intelligibly, why said game outshines Allods' pay for convenience model. Otherwise, let's brainstorm together and see what ideas we come up with for this already amazing game.

=)

[jorgefs]

Its has been like that for 2 years now, the company needs money and its getting it trough Runes and Strongboxes, not gonna change in the near future i guess...

And this is the 1.152.325 time a thread like this is posted -.-

[frooltace]

Remember the first time the game did a mass blanket nerf? Gi...naah nobody remembers that.

[galean19]

Runes are an off-setting factor in PvP yes, but not the major one imo. Other CS items added along the way helped. People qqed about runes mostly when they became OP from their initial minimal damage increase.

Over the time they added 2nd earring, ruby, stat, talent scrolls, trinkets, battle mounts, etc. with all summed up to eventually increase the gap in PvP. Let's say that, in a dream, you fix the rune system. Then what? Make them remove all other CS items stated above to further improve the PvP? That unfortunately ain't doable.

Even if crystal chips aren't the major revenue of the game, it is still a big one. I see this kind of topic at least two times per month and I never say anything because I already know the general answer to this, but game is patching atm so eh.

Remember the first time the game did a mass blanket nerf? Gi...naah nobody remembers that.

nger.

[summonkorasi]

So just doing away with runes can not happen. Not only would it piss off a lot of paying players,

a very true statement. I was on my psi ult a few weeks ago, and some one suggested we get together with no runes and just use our gear for some fun duels. Almost right after this person suggested that a couple people called him or her an idiot and " getting runes is part of the game why would we take them off to duel?"

allods will always have those players who will be upset if they dont have godmode, even if its just for a fun duel where they are able to put their runes back on right after.

but as you stated i think in your pvp thread, if we had some sort of battleground skirmish type thing where runes didnt matter not only would it be fun, it would help attract and keep newer players who are trying allods out for the first time, hell even returning from quitting.

[dunkargo]

I know exactly what you mean. My friends and I did the same thing and caught flak too, like dueling on equal terms to feel out the game's PvP was a dumb idea or something. xP

It's something that should be noticed, I think. Without exaggeration, literally the last four to five new players I've talked to in the past few days all say the same thing:

"When can I PvP?"
"I can't wait to start PvP!"
"What level do I start PvP?"
"PvP!"
"PvP?"

I don't want to say "lolol silly newb," which is really what the situation is. They have no idea that they won't get to PvP in any sort of competitive way for a long, long time if ever. By level 20-39 they're gone.

The game is obviously attracting new players. Every time I roll a new character to help out new players I see the streets of Nezebgrad full of new characters. They are not all staying, though. My observation is that PvP (or lack thereof) is a major contributor.

[Nobbpack]

+1

while in Nezebgrad it was FULL everywhere... till even sverny steppes (spelling? ) to an extent

by Igsh Military District, it became deserted type... (so where'd all those people go? )

and Asee-Teph was a bit more populous i guess because both factions present, but Elijune onwards again sudden decline in population... then steady till yazes shard (that's wehre i am at the moment )

funny thing Dragon Ring is very less populated... i guess it is SO tedious to move there that people finish and leave like i did

[arisenpanda]

Let's talk endgame.

Runes sure are a major factor in pvp, because they provide flat % damage output increase and just % damage reduction. Sure they do. Let's compare that to a recently release MMOFPS that is all about competition. In that game, you can buy every weapon. Some weapons are stronger than others, and you can buy every single one with cash. Unlocking a weapon takes between 5 days and 2 months for a single weapon. Combined with all the other upgrades that improve you it takes quite a while to reach the top game for free. But! The redeeming factor is that individual power doesn't matter at all. It is all about teams. Same as in Allods, where individual power is of no importance. Runes are the same as power in that game - they can be made over time, or just bought as a short cut.

WH (by WH I mean all skirmishes) teams. But people have to look on the greater scale of stuff, where they take into account all WHs that happen through a day. There is times when Ligs dominate WH, there's times where Imps do that. It's exactly for the fact that. Individuals do not matter in skirmishes, and if your team wins it doesn't matter if you're the lowest dps with highest death count in the skirmish. I have no idea where people who play this kind of MMOs got the idea that they need to be equal with others, so they can have the highest dps. This is the mentality here. Everyone wants to be an individual, and nobody is allowed to be more individual than the other in a random team.

But, with Allods runes are the easy target. There is far too much depth in Allods gear importance to just reduce it to "runes ruin pvp". There is one other thing I've noticed people never bring up and this is draconic relics. They are very important secondary set of gear. Relics with daily pot easily can provide 150-200 extra stat points to every skill you use. This is huge damage boost. But nobody bothers with it. It's runes. It's not that a full mythics vs some newb in astral blues wins, it is that the former guy has higher runes. To all who complain against them, there is one thing they need to be told - you will still lose in runeless pvp. It's not only about runes, they provide decent boost only on lower levels. There is barely any difference between full 9s and full 10s for example.

Before blaming runes for failing pvp, make sure you have these covered so I know you're credible:
1.Full balanced set of at least lvl45 relics.
2.14k velhuru
3. Pvp gear set
4. Pvp build
5. Stat balanced around working well with your build.

You can't complain about pvp if you rock a lightning/ice mage build or something similar. That sucks.

I have no idea why people love fairness in games, as if fairness existed anywhere in the world. Life is not fair. All Allods does is just earn money, like every business' job is.

People brought up SWTOR's model. It's a bad free2play model. Don't even bring that crap up. It is extremely unfriendly to free players, completely denying them access to content, races and various other stuff. Allods gives free players access to every single thing, which no MMO "doesn't sell power" does. After all, Allods is a pve game, having access to that content is more vital than being the top pvper. When I want competition, I play the game I mention in the first paragraph.

[rampage618]

You can't complain about pvp if you rock a lightning/ice mage build or something similar. That sucks.

LMAO.


on topic: gear >>>>>> runes

[weevilofdoom]

Silly panda, even with my ice/light build I still roll all but the best guilds xD Especially you! bahaha.