Moderator mandated disclaimer : This conversation is for the the current players of Classic to express concerns, derision, hopes and dreams. If you're from renewal and you're interested in playing Classic that's great! But please remember this server is not a cryogenically restored version of whatever pre-renewal server you came from. It's developed very much it's own way. Please try to accept that if giving an opinion.
Any trolling or personal shots will be directed to a moderator for irradiating. I don't wish to see people prevented from expressing their thoughts, so just trolling to shut down any discussion is going to be looked upon very unkindly.
I'm going to break down the issues as clearly as I can. Not all of these come from me, a lot of this I'm expressing for people who feel that they're not listened to, or can't post for whatever reasons.
A lot of renewal players will say they don't play Classic because it will hit a wall when it runs out of updates. I think a lot of people overlook the fact that Classic can very well just continue onwards with a Marvel-style alternative universe content.
But this means
- we need new items.
All new items need thorough discussion and testing. It might seem like the item doesn't do much, but for example, when the Skull cap combo was added, it was adding MATK incorrectly, (I believe it was flat matk instead of a %) and some older items such as the Staff of Destruction were operating incorrectly leading to huge outputs of damage that otherwise shouldn't have happened. It doesn't matter how old or innocuous an item may seem, we have a test server now. It must be used before items are added no matter how "harmless" they may seem.
- we need new maps.
From what I understand (and I'm sure I will be corrected if I am wrong) Classic can have MAPS added fairly easily (not instances), but not monsters/visible gears such as hats until kRO help out.
- we need places to discuss the future.
Talking about needing XYZ changes is always going to be contentious, especially if the community has no way to talk between each other and come to an understanding. Let me be the first to say, almost nobody talks ingame outside of their guild/social group. Our only interactions come from stabbifying and deadifying each other on the battlefield.
The result of this is that when a topic comes up that is a change or addition to classic, it gets talked in great depth and a fairly rapid exchange of ideas happens. Some people get a bit overheated about it (you only want this because it benefits you/harms us etc) and sure, you know what, that stuff is going to be said. It's not entirely helpful but there can be validity in thinking about player biases toward a certain change. Personally I try to leave that stuff out, if I think something is too good for my group, I will say so! Either way, these exchanges need to happen so the community learns to understand eachother a bit instead of these discussions being forbidden and quickly shut down. I like to attempt to understand the other side.
Unlike renewal, we're not waiting for kRO to dump an update into our laps and the staff say often how much they rely on the players for their information. Should we not be making sure that information is as valid as possible? This is why classic players need to TALK.
-The server's PR
Classic still feels like a side weekend project, not gonna pull any punches about that.
- Cleaning up communication with the staff
So I said that it's important for the community to talk. Yeah, it's gonna be noisy and messy and in all that chaos, ideas and solutions are created. This is a question for you, staff. How do we take the results of this and relay it to you cleanly? Would you allow player representatives or players you've worked with in the past / still do to compile the important things for you? You guys don't have time and we care. Don't waste or stifle the energy of the classic community.
Now on to some key issues the community members bring up often
- PVM interaction
Is PVM too easy now leading to a lack of interaction in game?
Lack of diversity
New players can't find people to party with, therefore they enter an "empty server"
- KVM
Could KVM be a replacement for gear that could be used to create new episodes and content in the game? Will it impact the game a lot? Is there a way to make sure KVM items aren't subject to exploit or abuse (the flamberge exploit comes to mind).
KVM is a good example of old gear that will need to be tested extensively on Sakray.
- Prize medal system
Could this be reworked into getting veteran players to interact with new players?
- God items
Consumption of excess pieces, reworking the quest, new god items to move the old guilds on from the new ones, enhancing the "bad" god items?
- WoE Decline
This is the inevitable death cry of all RO servers and the game becomes saturated with the results of WoE and no new goals are present. Should WoE be altered to match the size of the server?
- PVP doesn't exist
New battlegrounds might help, but lets schedule a pvp night? What night would people prefer?
- Server Promotion
Encourage more people to stream! Let's get that video contest n0ne talked about in the patch notes thread.
I'm going to add to this thread as things come up. The idea is I'd like to see Classic players exchanging ideas about the future and attempting to understand eachother.
Pleease do not bring cheats into this topic. That's a different discussion.
