15 replies to this topic

[Kenedos]

Introduction:

Hello everyone, im kinda new here but I do realize someone has to say this, so I'm willing to do this, even though I know I may be risking myself in here.

Anyhow, I feel there is much more about this game than the Moderators can actually foresee.
I've played this game for a while, and I really do like it, I would hate to see Dragon Saga dying.
This topic is an attempt to give my suggestion, even tough perhaps badly placed in the forums, about the whole situation this server has been going through.

Situation:

The server is, I believe, in a undesired state. Many players have left recently, you don't see the population going up anymore,
and there has been a lot of complaints about everything going on. I have friends myself, which also see the server in a dangerous situation,
going either to be shutting down, or at least wiped.

Opinion:

As a player, I would hate to see all my efforts going down the sink, and I bet anyone who gave their time to this game would feel the same way.
Therefore, I have listed a few possible solutions to fight the current problem, perhaps the whole condition may go over my comprehension, but again,
I cannot leave this server without a good try.

Possible Solutions:

Alright so, I guess anyone that played this for a while may have gotten frustrated over something, I think the most obvious concept for any game is to draw
player's attentions, and the best way to do it, is to have a good fair game-play, that isn't harmful for any player.

I believe there are crucial things to be fixed here and there, before we can even bother about the whole cash system. The namely 'bugs' in this game happen quite
often, and those are, honestly, a huge cons for any game, with bugs, or lack of easiness in the game-play itself, the players tend to quit, or become unhappy, let's
first try to aim for those, and once we have a solid base we can finally go deeper into the cash system itself.

Here are some of my opinions to improve greatly the game-play for Dragon Saga, some of those may have changed in newer versions, although i am not sure:

- (Basic) Inventory Size, Bank Vault Size, Both of those are really small, and difficult a lot the game-play, considering there is a large variety of items disposable.

- (Basic) Party System, this is a fairly difficult change, but I believe a window giving a list of all the Public parties around your level is more than essential.

- (Basic) Key Fixing, the normal system is lacking, some of the auto-trigger skills may trigger unexpectedly. Also, anyone who has played a priest knows spamming X key is fairly
faster than holding it down, I believe this is a crucial issue, and should be fixed as fast as possible (making holding down the key shoot just as fast, if that's the case).

- (Basic) Mission Glitches, sometimes, from time to time, you just happen to teleport outside out a 'Defending Mode' or a 'Mission Map' for no apparent reason. This is a VERY annoying
glitch, and most likely would make anyone really frustrated.

- (Basic) Skill Descriptions, most of the skills have mistaken descriptions, or unhelpful ones, lacking information, or with ambiguous premises. Any new player will be definably disappointed upon wasting a skill point into a skill that shows unexpected results.

- (Basic) Game Compatibility, a lot of my friends who I have invited to this game had problem with the Gateway patcher, some couldn't even run the game, some couldn't download, and so on.
I believe at least, a Fully-Updated Bitorrent and HTML mirror for this game should be provided, seeing the gateway download may not work for most people. Also, it would be great
if players had another choice to patch their clients other than Gateway itself. Either that or provide a perfectly working version of Gateway, because this server is losing a lot of people
before they can even think of start. Also I have noticed for some of my friends, who were on different Windows Softwares, the game didn't even run at all, this issue should be reviewed until it's perfectly working.

- (Advanced) Diversity to the Game, most of the times all you find yourself doing is questing or hunting monsters. Some people attempt to 'spam' F6 (Defending Mode) runs, to earn experience faster, But i believe some events, mini-games, or different instance zones (other than just the missions) could be pretty handy and add a lot to the actual game-play.

- (Advanced) Better Skill Redistribution, honestly I find it really fun to change your 'job class' and have nearly all skills close to the level you just changed. But considering the rate you get experience, after reaching higher levels, before changing job again, the skills become unappealing, and the game tends to get boring very quickly due to the fact you are spamming the same sequence over and over. (example, most level 20 skills go around 20~26, but you do not get any new skills level 38 for instance.)

- (Advanced) Better Combo System, I believe the combo system is too limited, you can hardly 'Chain' skills, to get higher damage outputs, most of the time you're just spamming a sequence of skills, which gets really repetitive. Also, there should be a damage modifier for attacking monsters in mid air, seeing there is almost no advantage launching a monster up and hitting it on the sky rather than just spamming a good damage skill while its at the ground (without considering the -disabling- part of launching). if you hold down and X while a monster is on the floor, you do hit harder than your normal X attacks, I do not see the reason air attacks don't do the same extra damage. Same goes for skills...

- (Advanced) More Skills, there are too few skills, which also implicates in the two solutions given above.

- (Advanced) Keep up the Patches, as far as I know, with all respect, this server is rather outdated compared to other Dragonica servers, I believe it is more than essential keeping
up with the patches, to keep the old players active.

Final Comments:

I believe, despise the very few facts I have listed, there is much more you can do to improve a game-play, and I'm pretty sure there are thousands of other things I haven't listed that will threat a new player to stop playing the game.

Now, about the cash system, If you can firstly get done with the basic of the solutions stated above, the popularity will rise by itself, and you won't need more expensive cash items, or making them untradeable/soul bound to keep up with the server's profit. Sorry to mention this but, let's just remember the server got to this situation because the people who used to buy cash items stopped playing, and now the server's income is way lower than it's supposed to be...

Despise all the things I have mentioned, most likely it depends on the Admin's common sense on what to do, if you think you can keep the server up until all those patches are done, and fix the server for good, then that would be the most recommended solution. But, if the server is burning way more money than it should, I believe a quick temporary solution to this situation would be making a really huge exp event, absolutely increasing the rates drastically, raising the cash items prices, and offering new-players special bonuses, such as experience boost items, or even some cheap cash items.

The reason behind this, the exp boost would make people excited about it, and more active to play, they would invite their friends, and with the new-player support, the population could grow quickly, seeing the players would reach high level easily, they would want to buy better equipment, and then the cash shop would profit a lot more, giving the server a good base to start working on the patches I suggested above.

About whether or not the cash items should be Tradeable/Soul Bound, I believe making them permanent to a single player (Soul Bound) would just lower the benefits of the cash system. Same goes for selling it on the market, or any kind of deals regarding it. If the item is Tradeable, players who buy cash items won't just buy it for themselves, but they will also buy cash items to sell for in game money, seeing they can earn a lot of in game money from those. This would lead to a better sale of the cash items, and obviously a even more fair game-play for those who can't afford the cash items with real money.

Alright so, I believe all my ideas have been made clear through this topic, if anyone has any question, suggestion, or flame towards me, feel free to share them.
Thanks everyone who spent their time reading this topic.

Edited by Kenedos, 10 February 2011 - 12:33 AM.

[ridicule]

Some of the things you've mentioned, which I quoted, are pretty much non-issues unless you're capped.

With all the complaints about combos, skills, and the general lack of nothing to do... I honestly don't know why you want to play DS? I mean, it has it's problems, but after that, what's left?

(Basic) Inventory Size, Bank Vault Size, Both of those are really small, and difficult a lot the game-play, considering there is a large variety of items disposable.

Changed using cheap IM items

- (Basic) Party System, this is a fairly difficult change, but I believe a window giving a list of all the Public parties around your level is more than essential.

Crappy one exists now, new one added in new version as well as guild search/applications.



- (Basic) Key Fixing, the normal system is lacking, some of the auto-trigger skills may trigger unexpectedly. Also, anyone who has played a priest knows spamming X key is fairly
faster than holding it down, I believe this is a crucial issue, and should be fixed as fast as possible (making holding down the key shoot just as fast, if that's the case).

Intentional. Can always be changed to a less annoying key to spam. I have an invoker and managed to get 6x without this being an issue, in fact pressing it keeps me awake. A little.

- (Advanced) Diversity to the Game, most of the times all you find yourself doing is questing or hunting monsters. Some people attempt to 'spam' F6 (Defending Mode) runs, to earn experience faster, But i believe some events, mini-games, or different instance zones (other than just the missions) could be pretty handy and add a lot to the actual game-play.

Farm chaos maps, farm mission maps, F6, farm quests, monster cards, guild quests, ranked PVP, battlesquare, emporia, F7 (coming soon), new maps coming soon, run instances (Lavalon, Aram). There is not a lack of things to do.

[Chrysanthemum]

I think most of this makes sense, and as a newer player it's something I can get behind - although some of the issues you've outlined are a bit.. Eh. I've been playing MMOs for nine years now and I can see how flawed the system is that is in place right now. That being said, however, I don't think you're aware of just how much there is that needs to be changed - and how time consuming it is for the people who manage this server. If you want change, you've got to be prepared to stick with the game while it irons out the creases. As it is, it's functional - the only major disappointments I've come across is the favorability of veteran players and their heirloom items (a lot of which are grossly overpriced in the marketplace), as well as the Fire/Water guardian sets... And, of course - as I've been very verbal about it - the changes they'll be applying to the item mall consumables come tomorrow.

The fact that the administration even bother to read through our QQing and criticism of the way they run things is, in itself, very promising. I have no doubt that if they're truly determined to fix this server they'll listen to us. A lot of the players I've read posting on this forum so far are both incredibly intelligent, and some even business smart - I'm sure that, given time, this server will not go to hell in a hand basket. This isn't MMOpocalypse, this kind of thing has happened to hundreds of "free" MMOs over the years, and I've been around to watch a lot of it happen as I'm sure plenty of you have been. If a company wants to increase their revenue, up the sales - whatever, there are ways they can achieve this without totally screwing over their current playerbase. I think this boils down to having some faith in the game developers/administration/people with WP/Gravity/Barunson - and I hope that during this period of tribulation they'll come to trust us, their playerbase, in return for valuable advice on what we would like to see.

I've made the decision not to give up hope on Dragon Saga, and in comparison to a game like Conquer Online who charges their American players with hundreds of dollars worth of IM points (CP, Dragonballs) - this game is hardly deserving of all your criticism. It's a unique game that should, given time to flourish, stand on its own in the MMO community. What the Administration needs to keep in mind is fairness of gameplay right this minute, I think. Before they take the jump off the ledge of no return (so to speak). Personal bias, being unemployed, does play into this post - but I also feel that the term unemployed in this situation serves to explain how players who are underage or underprivileged must feel about consumables becoming soulbound.

Anyway, this is probably one of my last posts on the subject - I'm reiterating myself.

[mimodi]

actual i think is kinda unfair tht the new charas have a smaller inventory i think is like 24 slot while the old chara get about 40 slot...is hard to hunt when onli 24 slot n even buyin the inventory+8 slot that still only 32..still a disadvage...


and im unsure about the combos ^-^ but more skill would be nice...but more importantly more hotkey slot there r other skills that i want to use but cant ;-;...sigh..

[Rimmy]

I think this belongs in the suggestion forum.

Having said that, I'm getting tired of these doomsayer topics. "The end is nigh! EVERYONE IS QUITTING!"

For those of you who keep pressing the IM consumables issue: You do realize that in our previous server, under THQ*ICE, NONE of the IM stuff was tradeable? And yet that server experienced plenty of growth throughout its lifetime and, in general, the only major complaints most players brought up dealt with: 1) the lack of content updates, 2) the lack of bug fixes, or 3) the general lack of GM/CM attention.

From what I have seen Gravity/WP have already far surpassed our previous host in all 3 of those areas, and personally, I believe the only major issue that has been holding us back and preventing more growth for the server is the lack of new content. IMO, once we get the next major content update (RoF + Drakos), our server will be well on its way to becoming one of the best of the "Dragonica" servers. (Permanent Big Wheel/Mixboard items? That, alone, gives us a pretty big edge -- IIRC, we're the only server that has seen such a change.)

[EnderW]

actual i think is kinda unfair tht the new charas have a smaller inventory i think is like 24 slot while the old chara get about 40 slot...is hard to hunt when onli 24 slot n even buyin the inventory+8 slot that still only 32..still a disadvage...


and im unsure about the combos ^-^ but more skill would be nice...but more importantly more hotkey slot there r other skills that i want to use but cant ;-;...sigh..

You can buy more than one inventory expander they stack to a max of 72 slots (I believe 72 is the max someone please correct me if I am wrong) no matter if you're an old character or a new character, I do agree it's kind of cheap of them to drop the number of starting slots down though forcing you to buy more expanders if you want to max out your space.

[Triter]

I think this belongs in the suggestion forum.

Having said that, I'm getting tired of these doomsayer topics. "The end is nigh! EVERYONE IS QUITTING!"

For those of you who keep pressing the IM consumables issue: You do realize that in our previous server, under THQ*ICE, NONE of the IM stuff was tradeable? And yet that server experienced plenty of growth throughout its lifetime and, in general, the only major complaints most players brought up dealt with: 1) the lack of content updates, 2) the lack of bug fixes, or 3) the general lack of GM/CM attention.

From what I have seen Gravity/WP have already far surpassed our previous host in all 3 of those areas, and personally, I believe the only major issue that has been holding us back and preventing more growth for the server is the lack of new content. IMO, once we get the next major content update (RoF + Drakos), our server will be well on its way to becoming one of the best of the "Dragonica" servers. (Permanent Big Wheel/Mixboard items? That, alone, gives us a pretty big edge -- IIRC, we're the only server that has seen such a change.)

Agree!
I think you all are going to much dramatic (specially who already left). We live in THQ*ICE for almost 1 year, and happy (me at least). If warpportal really hunt down the scammers we will go really fine.
Rimmy said everything... And you all aren't thinking in the possibilities, only "OMG WE GONNNA DIE!!!".
Plz open your minds.

[Kazu731]

I think it's nice you want to be involved but I feel like this is more a new person hopping on a bandwagon of common complaints. It does belong in the suggestions forum as well but I guess discussion is always nice.

What always bothers me is when people complain about an aspect WarpPortal has no control over. The inventory size, for example, is something that has happened in ALL versions. We are not deserving of any special treatment. I realize not everyone keeps up with the other versions but it gives you a much better perspective when you want to talk about the condition of our game when you're aware of where the game is in terms of the other versions.

I think one sentence from Crysanthemum hit the nail on the head. You have to be willing to stick with an MMO while it irons out the creases. That said, consider that we have had our game off for many months before WarpPortal took it up and they have a LOT of work to do, all the while trying to maintain at least some level of contentment for the current players.

My view is to take everything for what it is and not act like a high and mighty all-seeing person who can foresee the death of an MMO at a mile away because it's overly dramatic and often not true. I enjoy the game very much where it is right now and with what is coming.


EDIT: Also, thanks Rim because that's been my thoughts on the Consumable issue but I didn't have the guts to risk throwing myself to the wolves like that. I agree 100%

Edited by Kazu731, 10 February 2011 - 08:40 AM.

[AppleEater]

Well the only problem I have with the game at this point is that we can't trade consumable item mall stuff, which basically means I have to buy over priced insurance scrolls again, which also means item mall scamming is gonna skyrocket yet again, which in turn is a total piss off

[Hawkstorm]

The part about giving new players special items, I remember that in THQ*ICE they gave all new players a gift box, that would give them a bunch of important IM stuff such as feathers, exp pots, and some other stuff, as well as a item box 5 lvls higher.

[Jelliefishie]

The part about giving new players special items, I remember that in THQ*ICE they gave all new players a gift box, that would give them a bunch of important IM stuff such as feathers, exp pots, and some other stuff, as well as a item box 5 lvls higher.

That's true!! I still have a phoenix feather leftover from then; I'm level 43 right now. Holding on to it for sentimental reasons

[Hawkstorm]

I'm keeping an angels feather

[Hector14]

The part about giving new players special items, I remember that in THQ*ICE they gave all new players a gift box, that would give them a bunch of important IM stuff such as feathers, exp pots, and some other stuff, as well as a item box 5 lvls higher.

This still exists. You have to do the tutorial to obtain it.

[Yurai]

This still exists. You have to do the tutorial to obtain it.

That did not exist at the time when the person posted.

[Hector14]

That did not exist at the time when the person posted.

I see. I did not know. Rookie mistake.

[Hector14]

That did not exist at the time when the person posted.

I see. I did not know. Rookie mistake.