CheckeredZebra
Youngster
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2011
- Messages
- 2,372
- Points
- 38
I fail to understand why people believe there are more cons than pros at this point. What I say next may be harsh, but it is truthful. I'll try to not be harsh, but knowing myself I can be brutally honest. =P So bear with me.
This is what I have gathered from the complaints:
People miss a super difficult quest/bragging rights
People want Bagon to be worth more
This quest is not the old DD. It was never meant to be.
Is not meant to be super difficult or focused on Bagon. Bagon was even increased in difficulty so old players weren't slapped in the face too hard.
This quest is meant for players with 8 badges to put in a decent (but not too much) amount of effort to access a training area. It is small reward for beating johto and trying that extra little bit harder; a reward for sticking with the game thus far. Bagon could have been removed, yes, but what of the few players that were straggling behind? The ones that only finished DD a month ago? Two weeks ago? One week ago?
There was literally NO way to change DD and have everyone be happy, we knew this going in. Could we have appeased everyone by just adding another random area? Maybe. But that'd be pointless and frivolous. This is a beta game, and it is bound to change (hopefully toward progression.) Nothing good can come from duct taping problems, and it'd be a tacked on extension. In other words, definitely not efficient, clean, or professional.
But, instead of going "screw everyone" and just changing the thing, there was a "Pros and Cons" approach to it. "What will the backlash be? Is this change worth what will happen? How can we make this more fair?" This wasn't thrown in randomly and the game's balance is a major concern at all times. We know we will sometimes get yelled at for changes.
(Now, this is where my "I may be harsh" disclaimer kicks in.)
I am always open to concerns by players, but none of the ones that have been brought really stick out to me. The only concerns brought up seem to be centered around this thought that DD should be left untouched. Some are debating Bagon's value needs to be higher. I'm also getting the feeling that some are feeling: "I already did it so everyone else should have to do it too." That emotion stems from the fact that you/ other people were forced into an unfair quest that was duct taped to the game in the first place. Was a lot of effort put into that quest? Of course! Did some enjoy the immense challenge the quest presented? Yes, yes, and yes! =)
But instead of being written and being an active story part in the imaginary novel of PWO, it was just a sentence added onto the end.
There is a place for a difficult quest that separates the boys from men, but DD simply makes more sense as a progression point. Players will be encouraged to continue instead of coming to a (literal) grinding halt. Old players will still have a reason to visit the area endgame. Waiting johto players will have something to do while saving up for kanto.
Finally, -and if you're against this new quest, you are not going to like what I am going to say next either- by being a player in this game, you take an inherent risk that things will change. Sometimes this is in your personal favor, and other times not.
And, as staff, we take an inherent risk that players will not like what we do or say.
Staff try to make sure that things are not easily exploitable and overly offending to existing players, but sometimes it simply is not possible. This is one of those times. How many times do I have to relay the story of how I bought an UC xatu/houndour/murkrow/insert other weird UC here, and it became common a month later? And that time that I bought a $10,000,000 surfboard.
Change is the nature of this game, and we try to do it for the better. Sometimes people's pockets or opinions will not come out unscathed, but changes are done with the intentions of moving the game forward.
So I will again say this again:
Pros:
-Sensible Location progression. Players can reach DD after johto, as is in the games.
-Sensible Level progression. Players can train on level 40s instead of level 20s for their kanto experience. They can use the time to get enough money for a surfboard. (Huge plus.)
-Reward. Players are encouraged to put a little extra effort into PWO and are rewarded with a pretty awesome area.
-Story makes sense (teeny plus)/quest not horribly broken from what we can tell(teeny plus)
-Quest allows room for expansion
Cons:
-Bagon's value may/may not go down (Bagon owners had an advantage to sell during DD's close)
-Super difficult quest is out of the game
Thus, Players that completed the older quest may feel a bit cheated (due to above reasons)
*Most people are debating the current DD spawns. If anything, I am for the spawns becoming less valuable. The opposite seems more invested in helping player's pockets or interests. In which case, the excitement quickly fades and such updates become expected. This leads to crowded areas filled with pokemon that either do not belong or do not make sense.
I will not personally be moved in my opinion of the new DD unless somebody else either A: shows how the cons are so bad that the Pros don't count in comparison or B: Brings up some other concern that involves the overall balance of the game. As for those that are now offended, sorry. But I speak what I think is true (although it is my own !!!!personal!!!! thought).
This is what I have gathered from the complaints:
People miss a super difficult quest/bragging rights
People want Bagon to be worth more
This quest is not the old DD. It was never meant to be.
Is not meant to be super difficult or focused on Bagon. Bagon was even increased in difficulty so old players weren't slapped in the face too hard.
This quest is meant for players with 8 badges to put in a decent (but not too much) amount of effort to access a training area. It is small reward for beating johto and trying that extra little bit harder; a reward for sticking with the game thus far. Bagon could have been removed, yes, but what of the few players that were straggling behind? The ones that only finished DD a month ago? Two weeks ago? One week ago?
There was literally NO way to change DD and have everyone be happy, we knew this going in. Could we have appeased everyone by just adding another random area? Maybe. But that'd be pointless and frivolous. This is a beta game, and it is bound to change (hopefully toward progression.) Nothing good can come from duct taping problems, and it'd be a tacked on extension. In other words, definitely not efficient, clean, or professional.
But, instead of going "screw everyone" and just changing the thing, there was a "Pros and Cons" approach to it. "What will the backlash be? Is this change worth what will happen? How can we make this more fair?" This wasn't thrown in randomly and the game's balance is a major concern at all times. We know we will sometimes get yelled at for changes.
(Now, this is where my "I may be harsh" disclaimer kicks in.)
I am always open to concerns by players, but none of the ones that have been brought really stick out to me. The only concerns brought up seem to be centered around this thought that DD should be left untouched. Some are debating Bagon's value needs to be higher. I'm also getting the feeling that some are feeling: "I already did it so everyone else should have to do it too." That emotion stems from the fact that you/ other people were forced into an unfair quest that was duct taped to the game in the first place. Was a lot of effort put into that quest? Of course! Did some enjoy the immense challenge the quest presented? Yes, yes, and yes! =)
But instead of being written and being an active story part in the imaginary novel of PWO, it was just a sentence added onto the end.
"And then the player lived happily ever after. The end. *Cue Afterword.*
...
...
And then Player, out of hesitant horror, killed a dratini after grinding for hours and hours. The valiant hero then did some other stuff, and after painstaking days or months of work, made it into dragons den. Player then walked around just to maybe find a Bagon."
There is a place for a difficult quest that separates the boys from men, but DD simply makes more sense as a progression point. Players will be encouraged to continue instead of coming to a (literal) grinding halt. Old players will still have a reason to visit the area endgame. Waiting johto players will have something to do while saving up for kanto.
Finally, -and if you're against this new quest, you are not going to like what I am going to say next either- by being a player in this game, you take an inherent risk that things will change. Sometimes this is in your personal favor, and other times not.
And, as staff, we take an inherent risk that players will not like what we do or say.
Staff try to make sure that things are not easily exploitable and overly offending to existing players, but sometimes it simply is not possible. This is one of those times. How many times do I have to relay the story of how I bought an UC xatu/houndour/murkrow/insert other weird UC here, and it became common a month later? And that time that I bought a $10,000,000 surfboard.
Change is the nature of this game, and we try to do it for the better. Sometimes people's pockets or opinions will not come out unscathed, but changes are done with the intentions of moving the game forward.
So I will again say this again:
Pros:
-Sensible Location progression. Players can reach DD after johto, as is in the games.
-Sensible Level progression. Players can train on level 40s instead of level 20s for their kanto experience. They can use the time to get enough money for a surfboard. (Huge plus.)
-Reward. Players are encouraged to put a little extra effort into PWO and are rewarded with a pretty awesome area.
-Story makes sense (teeny plus)/quest not horribly broken from what we can tell(teeny plus)
-Quest allows room for expansion
Cons:
-Bagon's value may/may not go down (Bagon owners had an advantage to sell during DD's close)
-Super difficult quest is out of the game
Thus, Players that completed the older quest may feel a bit cheated (due to above reasons)
*Most people are debating the current DD spawns. If anything, I am for the spawns becoming less valuable. The opposite seems more invested in helping player's pockets or interests. In which case, the excitement quickly fades and such updates become expected. This leads to crowded areas filled with pokemon that either do not belong or do not make sense.
I will not personally be moved in my opinion of the new DD unless somebody else either A: shows how the cons are so bad that the Pros don't count in comparison or B: Brings up some other concern that involves the overall balance of the game. As for those that are now offended, sorry. But I speak what I think is true (although it is my own !!!!personal!!!! thought).