No Item Progression Path Impacting Fun Factor

[GodlikeNay]

Playing this last week has come with a rollercoaster of feelings about the game.

• Update .36 was announced: “Yeah, new stuff and improvements are coming”.
• Others who got the update before me complain of impending doom: “Oh no, what did they do to the game?”.
• I get the update and my main method for winning battles (stun locks) no longer works consistently: “Oh no, what did they do to the game?”.
• I adjust my gear (using the free gifts), do some upgrades, and adjust my strategy a bit: “Maybe this update isn’t so bad”
• I get Legendary boots from a chest: “Yeah, this is awesome… maybe I have a chance of winning end game battles again”
• I’m only able to level my boots up to 21 and realize it will take weeks, if not longer, to get that one item higher than the level 35 boots that were given in the free gifts: “Hmmm, that’s disappointing”
• Realize that the boots are nice, but in the new age of nerfed spells, what really matters is a Legendary weapon: “Dang, who knows how long it will be until I get one of those… maybe I can collect the Relics for my Mace”
• Come to the realization that anything over level 50 is no longer enjoyable to play because of how long it takes me and how much chance is involved… yet I need to farm better gear to keep progressing my characters: “Catch 22”
• Get some Relics for gold in the Shop: “Awesome, maybe it will be possible to upgrade my gear and start having fun in the 50+ content again”
• Realize I can’t upgrade my items without Glyphs… of which I have none and have only seen 1 in the shop in the last month (with 3 to 4 refreshes daily): “Dang, I see no legitimate path forward for progressing my gear”.

From my perspective, the game has been changed too much for me to still enjoy it. The free gear that was given with the update is irrelevant for spell casting. I have good spell casting gear at Rare, but I have no way to get them to Epic without Glyphs (or Relics). The main thing I like about RPGs is the character and gear progression. This game appears to have no legitimate path for item progression. The main plan is to hope you get lucky with a Diamond Chest… or hope you get lucky with an offering in the Shop and hope you can afford it. Neither of those options are a legitimate path for progression (in my opinion). Based on luck, someone may see exactly what they need tomorrow and someone else may not see it for 6 months. That’s not a legitimate progression path. There is no way for me to farm relics or glyphs. There is no way to build or create relics or glyphs. There is no known rotation of relics or glyphs that can be counted on with the Shop or Events. Having no legitimate progression path makes me feel like I’m floundering in the game. No ore means I’m not going to get any help from my followers. All that leaves is what feels like an aimless grind… hoping that maybe I’ll get lucky at some point. No thanks. With that, I’m out. Good luck to everyone.

PS - I’ve asked myself why the game feels so different after the update when before the update there was no path for progression either. The only thing I can come up with is that before the update, I could at least farm the end game content, where I had some expectation that I may be able to pull end game items. I probably shouldn’t have been able to beat that content based on my gear, but honestly, that was part of the fun and it didn’t take that long to do, so it seemed like low risk/cost and high reward. With the new changes, I can’t farm that content anymore. The stuff I can beat takes forever and only has about an 80% success rate. Feels more like high risk/cost and low reward. Feels like there is nothing to do with my level 50 except the daily events, which don’t help me progress at all and takes quite a while to complete. It just feels different. The fun is not there. It just feels like a grind now.

[Kings]

I do agree with most of your points.

Though I think the problem lies in what our true destination is with this game in terms of what our goal is. You get stronger for the purpose of… fighting higher dungeons? same dungeons as lower levels but with bigger numbers. It doesnt feel super enticing.

Dont get me wrong, I have made more progression with this patch than the entirety of .35. Im thankful for the changes. Yes, glyphs are hard to come by and do hope they address them being less of a pain point.

I do think they need to scale back down the dungeon changes some because I think they went a little too aggressive with buffing their numbers that no one is enjoying it, even those who can tackle the content.

[Sibelios]

In terms of “progression” or the prospect that during game play sufficient opportunities exist that allow gear to be acquired, leveled up, and evolved over time, I think the event system is a huge component of that process. I’ve been very critical (as many know) that there is not a “outside-of-event” farming option for relics (I still think it is an issue) but I’m willing to accept from what I’ve seen initially that the event system does appear to offer (in theory) a reliable resource pool for levelling/evolving items.

Am I sure about this? No. The problem is they just implemented the system and it requires a “tiering” up to be useful. So all of us that were waiting for “progression” are now in some ways on hold again waiting for this new component to bear fruit. A new player would have a more synergistic experience (in that they would both level their character in the story while also “tiering” up the new events system) and possibly be experiencing those benefits at a more expected timeframe. For now I’m willing to see how it unfolds.

Plenty of things still need to be addressed (“difficulty” ) but at least on this point of item “progression”, I see some potential positives and I’m at least looking forward to seeing what it holds. It is unfortunate that they couldnt have “grandfathered” players into tiers based on level to allow more immediate access to rewarding content but so be it.