OK So I've thrown around a few ideas with the community and staff about the methods for solo leveling.
One that I didn't post related to Questing. Now, questing itself is hopefully being reviewed for the future, but, that is also a ways off.
The idea for that one, was a consumable, rewarded from questing. The consumable would reward a % of your level's exp.
The consumable itself would be broken into level tiers:
1-10
11-20
101-110
etc
It would be character bound, can't be sold / dropped or stored. You simply use it.
The other idea -the reason for the post- is an idea I molded from Dragon Saga's solo leveling perk.
In Dragon Saga, the more combo's you land, you gain an exp multiplier -capping at 2x exp gain I think-.
Now having that in mind I came up with 2 ideas.
1: A passive that everyone has, that act's on a 1 minute [60 second] timer. For each monster you kill, the timer is reset back to it's full duration.
For each 20 monsters you kill, you gain a 10% bonus to exp [capping at 100% bonus [2x].
2: A timer style passive, that for each 10 minutes you are not in a party / do not join a party, you gain 10% bonus to exp gained from killing monsters. [capping at 100% or 2x exp gain]
This one is completely weird, and I'd prefer number 1, simply because you could just afk for about an hour and a half, come back and start grinding indefinitely at 2x exp gain, and doesn't support you being active for the bonus to accumulate.
Essentially, the idea is that it takes so long as a solo playing char, that it could legitimately take you months to level to cap, even from 100+ starting point. I feel this is unnecessary when compared to PT leveling.
The end result would preferably be that, solo leveling is possible, while still slower then PT leveling. After all, ROSE is an MMO, and should encourage interaction with others to develop friendships and interactions.
Currently the level speed is at a rough [not exact] scale of
For every 1 level gained solo, you can gain 5-10 levels in a PT [x5 - x10 faster]. I think this gap is itself way too distant.
And that estimate is at modest level ranges, about around 120-170.
Under level 120, the difference is less, about 1 solo to 3-7 PT.
At 170+ though is a massive difference. For each 1 level gained, a party can gain as much as 10-15 levels.
This issue isn't so bad for people playing during the "active" time zones. And most have figured out when those times are, and will only attempt within that time frame. But not everyone can. Some of our player base is casual, 1-3 hours a day at most, and are often restricted to a very narrow window, and that window of time doesn't always match up with when the server's leveling community is in full swing. This, to me, means those casual players are being left out, or to a degree discouraged from attempting anything in the end-game areas.
I personally have tested over the last month or so, leveling a few characters at different level ranges.
Katar Hawker: Level 30-50
Experience: Not bad, I can gain a pretty decent amount of exp within an hour or so
Scout : Level Range 105-130
Experience: This is slow, and even somewhat frustrating at times. It's most effective to find a quest that can be repeated, and just constantly running it, but few of those exist.
Artisan : Level range 140-145
Experience : This is terrible. It is soo slow and boring that I actually asked myself, why am I trying, I'm literally wasting time doing this. I stopped testing at this point, and the other test I did was conducted about 3 months ago on a BC built for PvM leveling.
That experience itself is when I started to have an issue with solo leveling. It took me 4 hours, to get a little more then 1 level. And I only took 2 10 minute breaks to grab a drink and use the restroom.
All in all, the issue itself is very well documented, and the staff have had a number of these threads posted to their attention.
What I'd like to see, if input from the community in roughly~ the format below, just so I myself, the other members here, and the staff can all see a general opinion on the subject.
What the longest | Average wait time for you to find a party?
What level are you during that time?
Did you attempt to level on your own at all?
How effective was it?
Where did you level at?
Would you recommend this for other who are having a hard time finding a Party?
...^ Why?
Do you have any ideas to help with solo leveling?
Regards, ~Feuer
