4 replies to this topic

[Volbeast]

      Hi everyone, my goal with this post is to start a dialogue on the current state of WoE balance and collectively brain storm ideas on how to make it better. The purpose of this thread is to identify problems on a systemic level, and to propose changes to address these problems. Please do not bring up specific class balance, this is a separate topic and I think that this will quickly lead to defensive posturing and away from productive discourse.

 

      Something to keep in mind is that simple changes are ideal, because any change that is implemented needs to be coded. Ragnarok has been around for a lot of years, and complicated changes often introduce a lot of bugs because of "spaghetti code". I also don't think that hardline approaches like banning or disabling items/cards is a healthy approach, as many people have significant monetary investments in gear. Also all proposed changes should be WoE specific, and not impact PVM.

 

I will start with a few examples of what I see as issues:

 

1.  Aggressive and fast-paced combat is an important component of WoE. However, through years of power creep from new items and class updates, increases to offensive power have dramatically outscaled defensive capabilities. I propose implementing an additional blanket reduction in damage dealt of X %.

 

2.  While I do think that damage is broadly too high from all sources, I don't think that total damage immunity (100%) from any type of damage is healthy for the game, as it restricts playable options and decisions in both class and gear selection. GTB card should retain its status as the single strongest option for surviving and tanking magic damage, but I think that it would be better for game health if magic damage reduction was capped at 90 or 95% rather than completely invalidating multiple classes that rely on magic damage. This issue will become worse with time, as the total number of GTB cards on the market increases. Even with a high cap on damage reduction, a magic damage dealing class should not be able to 1v1 any class wearing GTB card, but should be able to at least feel like they can contribute *something* to taking someone down. Similarly, I think that ranged damage reduction should also have a high cap (like 90-95%) for the same reasons.

 

3.  Total defense and magic defense bypass (100%) is too prevalent  and has removed many defensive options from possible consideration. I think that a cap on the percent defense and magic defense bypass would allow for more varied decision making in gear selections.

 

Hopefully this thread can spark some healthy discourse on the future of WoE, even if you think I'm full of bologna and that there is no need for change please let me know. Contributions are appreciated from everyone.

Edited by Volbeast, 21 May 2021 - 06:53 PM.

[3544190106025751243]

This is like a personal request all over again to suit a certain play style or game play towards a certain situation in WoE. Just like a certain someone requested OCPs, MvPs, Gods to be disabled in WoE. There's also a certain someone complaining about broken MA and more topics regarding GTBs and Tao Gun Ka as well.

If every wish is granted it'll become a personalized/modified version of iRO which may or may not be a good solution after all once it gets too messy with countless requests permitted. But anyhow it is indeed require certain fixes towards the mechanism of certain gears and skills Bonus or Malus which requisite immediate attention.

Undoubtedly you have a good point and its understandable where you are coming from with this requests. But still every matter is not as easy to be taken into consideration as it will cause a certain disgruntle feelings towards certain people with other class which may escalate to a more complicated requests in the future.

[Volbeast]

This is like a personal request all over again to suit a certain play style or game play towards a certain situation in WoE. Just like a certain someone requested OCPs, MvPs, Gods to be disabled in WoE. There's also a certain someone complaining about broken MA and more topics regarding GTBs and Tao Gun Ka as well.

If every wish is granted it'll become a personalized/modified version of iRO which may or may not be a good solution after all once it gets too messy with countless requests permitted. But anyhow it is indeed require certain fixes towards the mechanism of certain gears and skills Bonus or Malus which requisite immediate attention.

Undoubtedly you have a good point and its understandable where you are coming from with this requests. But still every matter is not as easy to be taken into consideration as it will cause a certain disgruntle feelings towards certain people with other class which may escalate to a more complicated requests in the future.

 

Regarding your first paragraph, I don't think this is comparable because I mentioned that hard line changes like banning OCPs and MVP cards are not good approaches. Regarding MA, that is a class specific topic and not something that should be discussed here.

 

And I agree that every wish shouldn't be granted, maybe mine shouldn't be considered either. Any changes made should be thoroughly debated and vetted. The first step in getting to that point though is through healthy and productive discourse, which is the ultimate purpose of the thread. 

 

I appreciate the input, thanks!

[crystalerLM]

The most direct method to save the WoE balance is to disable GTB card.

 

The most unreasonable part of GTB card is not immune to magic damage, but is immune to magic control. The direct outcome is, a RG with inpiration is almost unsolvable. But in fact, in the game mechanism, there should be a lot of control method to deal with such RG, but all of those control method is broken by GTB.

 

Disable GTB card will not result in super OP of magic users.   Since Maya card and Mad Bunny Special can be a direct threaten to WL, and Magnetic Earth and Mad Bunny Special can be a direct threaten to Sorc. In an environment without GTB card, the game is more balance.

 

To change the effect of GTB to reduce magic damage by 90% or 95% is also a solution. Then GTB users are still under magic control skills. That's still reasonable. But I'm wondering is that achievable under technicals.

[Volbeast]

The most direct method to save the WoE balance is to disable GTB card.

 

The most unreasonable part of GTB card is not immune to magic damage, but is immune to magic control. The direct outcome is, a RG with inpiration is almost unsolvable. But in fact, in the game mechanism, there should be a lot of control method to deal with such RG, but all of those control method is broken by GTB.

 

Disable GTB card will not result in super OP of magic users.   Since Maya card and Mad Bunny Special can be a direct threaten to WL, and Magnetic Earth and Mad Bunny Special can be a direct threaten to Sorc. In an environment without GTB card, the game is more balance.

 

To change the effect of GTB to reduce magic damage by 90% or 95% is also a solution. Then GTB users are still under magic control skills. That's still reasonable. But I'm wondering is that achievable under technicals.

 

The decision to disable GTB would carry a lot of fallout. I agree that it would make for a healthier WoE environment, even though GTB card is actually the one MVP card that I have. Some people would be outraged though I'm sure and it is hard to blame them. I also agree that changing the magic damage reduction percent may not be achievable due to coding limitations. It would be nice if Campitor or another member of WP staff could update us on whether or not they have been considering working on a WoE balance patch.