07-16-2016, 06:19 PM
So just reading through this thread I've got a couple thoughts.
First, there are definitely balancing issues in fishing. It makes me sad to look at how far out of reach the rods are, but I still focus them because of the diminishing returns on pearls. If I dick around too much with the upgrades I can actually afford, I'm just making it take even longer to reach higher tiers of fish which will limit the amount of pearls I'm getting, etc. etc. in a vicious cycle. There needs to be some sense of reward from participating in an activity that is in itself tempered by the fact that you don't truly get anything out of it except another way to progress soul orbs. If there were tangible benefits beyond sacrifices (which of course you get in diminishing returns from your fish built up), then maybe fishing would feel less disheartening. Or even if there were a mathematical reason to upgrade things a little more equally.
This brings me to point two - I agree with the sentiment that soul orbs should level up more quickly, but not provide the same bonuses. This would lead to a bigger sense of achievement, even if in reality nothing's changed at all when you look at sacrifices spent vs bonuses provided. This is kind of a minor one for me though as I've been enjoying the orbs so far and can still see a sense of progress. I imagine that'll change soon though. Maybe even getting more of a bonus from the progress made to the next tier and lowering the bonus for achieving that tier somewhat like what happened with challenge damage bonuses? Heck, if fishing progress is sped up without decreasing the fish gut gains, this would be a time to decrease the effectiveness of the orbs as a way to balance fishing but letting people level up faster so they feel more satisfied.
Forests could probably use a slight adjustment so you don't hit this massive wall after a couple months all of a sudden (and maybe don't clear them so fast to start out), but it's not really a huge deal to me.
Mines are fine the way they are, especially after you get that lvl 4 woodcutting orb.
Treasure claims should probably scale better as you open them (and scale better based on lvl) since how many you get is dependent on how much attention you pay to the game and are willing to break up your sleep. Someone who gets the theoretical max chests in a day (whatever that number is) should get something they can feel happy about as opposed to the relatively mediocre rewards now. The mechanic is really only useful at very low levels as it stands.
Buildings are fine - except that damn altar...ugh...haha I put a moratorium on stone donations to the altar. It getting to lvl 13 was the catalyst for turning on the bank (which is a hell of a lot more efficient anyway).
Last, but definitely not least, challenges. I don't know if it's worse than fishing progress for me, but damn I think it might be since I've struggled with it for far longer. People are right, I shouldn't be able to know I can go right from a s4 b3 g2, whatever group challenge and immediately finish the single version of the next tier. That's always made me frustrated, especially since I'm generally not on par for my group challenge, I only go into them when I can do the work of at least 2 people since there are far too many folks who show up without being the least bit ready. Also, in some cases, I find the jump from solo to duo to group to be a bit much. By this I mean that the damage you need to clear solo vs the damage you need to dish out to be on par in duo and then group just increases way too much sometimes. Perhaps fixing the first issue would rectify this one as well? Another thing is that I believe the difficulty increases too much between some of the end challenges. It was fine when they were first introduced, but with the overhaul to make the system more extensible I don't know if I should be stuck on Bronze Infested and Gold rats haha
Think that's it. Them's my two cents.
First, there are definitely balancing issues in fishing. It makes me sad to look at how far out of reach the rods are, but I still focus them because of the diminishing returns on pearls. If I dick around too much with the upgrades I can actually afford, I'm just making it take even longer to reach higher tiers of fish which will limit the amount of pearls I'm getting, etc. etc. in a vicious cycle. There needs to be some sense of reward from participating in an activity that is in itself tempered by the fact that you don't truly get anything out of it except another way to progress soul orbs. If there were tangible benefits beyond sacrifices (which of course you get in diminishing returns from your fish built up), then maybe fishing would feel less disheartening. Or even if there were a mathematical reason to upgrade things a little more equally.
This brings me to point two - I agree with the sentiment that soul orbs should level up more quickly, but not provide the same bonuses. This would lead to a bigger sense of achievement, even if in reality nothing's changed at all when you look at sacrifices spent vs bonuses provided. This is kind of a minor one for me though as I've been enjoying the orbs so far and can still see a sense of progress. I imagine that'll change soon though. Maybe even getting more of a bonus from the progress made to the next tier and lowering the bonus for achieving that tier somewhat like what happened with challenge damage bonuses? Heck, if fishing progress is sped up without decreasing the fish gut gains, this would be a time to decrease the effectiveness of the orbs as a way to balance fishing but letting people level up faster so they feel more satisfied.
Forests could probably use a slight adjustment so you don't hit this massive wall after a couple months all of a sudden (and maybe don't clear them so fast to start out), but it's not really a huge deal to me.
Mines are fine the way they are, especially after you get that lvl 4 woodcutting orb.
Treasure claims should probably scale better as you open them (and scale better based on lvl) since how many you get is dependent on how much attention you pay to the game and are willing to break up your sleep. Someone who gets the theoretical max chests in a day (whatever that number is) should get something they can feel happy about as opposed to the relatively mediocre rewards now. The mechanic is really only useful at very low levels as it stands.
Buildings are fine - except that damn altar...ugh...haha I put a moratorium on stone donations to the altar. It getting to lvl 13 was the catalyst for turning on the bank (which is a hell of a lot more efficient anyway).
Last, but definitely not least, challenges. I don't know if it's worse than fishing progress for me, but damn I think it might be since I've struggled with it for far longer. People are right, I shouldn't be able to know I can go right from a s4 b3 g2, whatever group challenge and immediately finish the single version of the next tier. That's always made me frustrated, especially since I'm generally not on par for my group challenge, I only go into them when I can do the work of at least 2 people since there are far too many folks who show up without being the least bit ready. Also, in some cases, I find the jump from solo to duo to group to be a bit much. By this I mean that the damage you need to clear solo vs the damage you need to dish out to be on par in duo and then group just increases way too much sometimes. Perhaps fixing the first issue would rectify this one as well? Another thing is that I believe the difficulty increases too much between some of the end challenges. It was fine when they were first introduced, but with the overhaul to make the system more extensible I don't know if I should be stuck on Bronze Infested and Gold rats haha
Think that's it. Them's my two cents.