Suggested, rpl gains change

[Tre]

Hello, once again it's Tre I know you missed me.


Anyway today I wanted to talk about something rather important to me, as you may or may not know I constantly push to see that everyone enjoys the game at least to some extent which means getting a story out of everyone at least once- suggestions and how to keep it fun for everyone. Up into recently, I feel as if everything was going just swell until I kept hearing the same complaint over and over again - and I understand with the recent release of E3 there are quite a bit of new players out there - Those new players who like to live along the dangerous side and try to make the best out of their ic, find themselves stuck on truly following their ic due to the thought of oppression of moving through rpl after 150.


What do you mean?

What I am trying to say is I see a lot of people avoiding danger and not following their ic due to the thought of getting up to let's say at least 180 rpl again. Now I am not saying that its completely hard to do - what I am saying is when playing a character who is not considered antag or hero more of just living their life, in general, it is hard to get back into rping as a new character after a recent death.

Now before you bark at me for that statement let me explain why.

• If you had friends that you have made a bond with both oocly and icly  it would be weird to pop up as another character and just rping with them again ( btw that is totally cliqueing and that is just my view on that.) With that being said it is more or less hard to prove your self to another group (aka) factions if you are still making a grind up that is.
   
  
• The fresh start theory.  ok let me explain this theory real quick. So this theory of mine is that it is enjoyable when people are starting off at the same age and are all around the same rpl - this brings the idea that you can even the odds with them if it came down that you ic was to fight them, or force them into submission in some type of way - or just having a friendly rivalry, to begin with, Generally, when you have a character at a certain starting point you want to show that you can improve on your ic training or just generally get stronger as the bonds between the people you meet either break or get stronger- which is impossible for anyone past the 180 mark- the gap is way to large and you will find your self being the weaker one for a very very long time.
  

Ok so that was something I picked up from someone who was complaining about the rpl gains and I think I explained their theory quite well If i didn't you know who you are,  feel free to add to this.

Now my own personal theory to this.  :The food chain theory.

It's pretty simple really like any habitat there is a food chain - or atleast how I am trying to explain it here there is anyway it works kind of like this.

The current gap between rpls goes something like this, I will be ranking them to the point where you could possibly beat someone - or what the range is to beating someone in a verb due to your rpl.

1-60 rpl

60-100 rpl

100-130 rpl

130-150 rpl

Now here is where it gets rough so just bare with me for a moment.

150-160

160-170

170-180

180-190

190-210

210-200+

Ok so what I am trying to explain here is that the odds now that you will beat someone 10 rpl over you depends exactly on their skill and their build - but genuinely because of how much rpl they have they will may or may not have more skills then you which usually means you are in a losing battle. Which makes sense that's how it should be for the most part - but for people that are starting off in the age of 20- and up it would make sense for you to progress faster than say someone that is like 13-16 or 17 for that matter that is fine and that makes sense because they are young and there shouldn't be any snowflakes that just excel ultimately.


To continue the food chain theory I will be using an example of a situation.

Now let's say you found your self a rivalry - you are at 140 rpl  and he is lets say at 165, now that names have been established as well as goals you finally come to the conclusion that soon one of you are going to have to lose with either and major injury or death. Now see the one who is 165- has a complete advantage over you and will always have that advantage over you because - he is constantly rping at the same time as you and getting the  1 rpl check just like you - but he will always be that same number over you no matter what. Unless he works or gets sick - but you shouldn't be wishing on something like that ( that's just god awful).


The point without making this more difficult.

But if let's say that rpl gains were changed to 2 at 150 up until 180. then you both would be stopping at the same point - or even just catching up just a little bit to them to help even the odds - and at that point even if you did die due to this (OOCLY FRIENDLY RIVARLY)  you wouldn't have to go through the long draw of reaching to 180 all over again just because you stuck to your ic. 

Now there are some of you who have reached 220+ god have mercy on your soul I have no idea how you did it - and due to how oppressive the law enforcement could be!( could be not saying they are.) there will probably not be a person who starts off and will EVER CATCH UP TO YOU.  It would be impossible - without some sort of help - and the math is correct on that. ( Thanks bog for figuring out exactly how many times you have to post to get a check time and time again bless your salv soul.) / if you are this 220+ player congratulations you are at the top of a food chain which means upcoming new character moving to stand in your way is SHIT OUT OF LUCK for a very very long time. So if you're confident with your build and verbing you shouldn't be losing to anyone really.


But for the most part, I do feel a bit of grief for that matter - the physical peak of anyone is 180rpl anything higher is just the extra topping king of like end game material for your character so why not let it be the average goal for everyone?

Alright, last part of this long topic.

Now I have seen quite a few new players quit and I have seen quite a few older players quit - and over and over when I asked why not just make a new character they say it's because of the rpl gains - they feel as though they couldn't get anywhere in the relevancy fast enough to be apart of everything that is going on in E3's timeline, or even long enough just for them to survive and die again- which will set them back once again.  I know the feeling of being set back and having the urge not to go to the same people for rp just to climb back up to that once again so I feel their pain. It is pretty tough- but those people also told me that if they were able to make a new character and the rpl changes were something like 2 up to 180 - then that would make it worth their time to play. because they feel that even though they work or have " A life" they would still have a chance to catch up and make an impact to someone's story.


And that's what the rp is any way just impacting each other's stories again and again - it's what makes it fun.


TLDR: SUGGESTION TO CHANGE RPL GAINS PASS 150 to 2 UNTIL 180, THIS POST WAS MADE BASED OFF A COLLECTION OF COMPLAINTS BY THE COMMUNITY.

[Cloutio2x]

[Heart]

[MalikCatcher]

[Mordere]

Lets say you start a bit later on a character compared to some others, and you both gain rpl at a decent speed. They're already 160 from existing for about a week while you've just started off at say 110. Eleven checks later you've hit 154, but they've now hit 170. They're forever 16 RPP above you, forever having 16 rpp more (probably for a 15 rpl ability) and forever 16 more stats above you.

Whereas when gains were 2 rpl per check at 150 until 180.... They would've hit 182 while you're at 154, gap widening for a while but eight checks later they're at 190 while you're at 180; the gap closing a bit.

Yes those who live longer than others should be stronger but please lets not have the 280 rpl statwall masteries meme again.

[Glulisine]

Trying to have a life and play this game.
Lol.
But yeah not a bad idea. Grinding sucks, rp fun.

[Esmeraude]

From reading the topic, going to add onto it with something that wasn't really said and I feel is a big part of things.
Or I might have missed it, but I just woke up and here it is.

RPL gains being slower doesn't really promote you to roleplay more, it doesn't make the game less based on combat or less based around getting that check. It just makes it worse, it makes it harder to feel like you have to work when you're trying to achieve something. And when you want to make magic or gain an ability to make your IC more interesting, you are going to need RP points to do that. And people aren't as fortunate to have a hug box to write with every day, or be able to stay at home and roleplay all the time, or have a job that allows them to roleplay while working? People don't have the time all the time, or the people to be around... Or even the confidence to approach a group and interact with them. It's intimidating when you want to roleplay and the same group of people is idling and red texting and the worry of being ignored or forced out dwells against your mind. And sometimes that actually happens, when you are roleplaying with someone or trying to do something people just aren't interested or get pulled away by someone else which is rude, even if fair.

And I couldn't tell you how to make your character more approachable or yourself in general. (I guess some people could be less passive-aggressive in LOOC, but that isn't a huge problem right now.) The only thing I could suggest is making that approach to someone else sometimes, extending out of your little group and trying to make things interesting for more than just yourself?

Other than that, this is the main thing I wanted to focus on.

Changing the RPL gains will encourage people to do more and be more active, going out and even if people hate 'battlechadding' (I really do not think this even counts towards that but some people will disagree.) Going out looking for trouble promotes a lot of roleplay, and can become a chain reaction to a longing development between characters and even factions. And right now, nobody wants to risk their neck or what they have got due to how difficult it is to climb. And really... It isn't even that difficult to get to 200 RPL past 150, it just feels not worth doing? Like you'll always be behind those in their cliques and groups, and verbing is a big part of this game. (Fighting, in general, is a big part of any roleplay.) So when someone who is 220+ because they can roleplay all the time with their little group or the same people, and you don't have that while the gains are so low? You are out of luck!

Quicker gains promote people to be more confident and doing a lot more, fear of losing a character will always be there but at least you can make again knowing it's not going to take a stupidly long time to get back up there again and be relevant to other people's stories. I feel like near the end of Spires proved that where a lot of people were going out and trying to provide roleplay with others. (Some people did just kill and I don't promote killing people so easily, please injure or act like you think they are dead to build more depth to yours and their character! Unless it's absolutely necessary...) It just got a lot more active compared to the time before those increases, even newer players showed up or returned to write due to it.

Hopefully, some kind of change is made, so things can feel a lot faster in gains and Roleplay.
At the end of the day, things shouldn't feel like a chore. Eternia is a game. You should be having fun.

[Gold]

Early Game rpl gain.
(0-150)
This is all the buffer new players need, time to explore the game and its mechanics, mess up their builds and things of that nature.
This is where the most time is spent initially on a new game you like, you tend to do more than you will later on because its still fresh.

Mid Game rpl gain.
(150-200)
This is a solid 50 checks. For a new player this is the long haul, this is the grind they didn't expect to come.
If you have a job and are going to school, you are going to have to commit extra time to catch up to your friend with more free time than you, not that it should be a race, but your time constraint leaves you in the dust where you're in an area where it should feel like fair game. It feels a little risky to travel as a new character knowing that we have these 'new village initiatives' where someone spawns in to promote the plot while you still take some hours from your day to get a check or two whole engaging in your real life responsibilities and agreements.

Cutting this chunk down by a percentage where it ends up going to 150-180 is more fair, realistic and then expected to be harder beyond that. 20 Rpl difference from a 180 and a 200 comes down to, ok maybe they have one more spell than me, but at least I'm not 155 trying to escape from this 200. Or any other of the hundreds of scenarios that emerge. 180 is the psuedo cap where you can actually put up a fight and be noticeable. Most people overlook some characters who aren't even above 175, because your stats are so low you're unlikely to be able to catch or intervene with anyone above 200, which is not a bad thing because thats the big leagues, the end game.

Getting to 180 faster would provide a few more interesting scenarios. Going from 180 to 200 is more of the 'This is solidified, we are within range of people of great power and might be able to stand a chance.' 

An increase from 150-180 of 2 rpl instead of 1 would ease that bitter taste in some of these players who meet unfortunate ends. It's the catch up that they deserve for losing the hours they've put into the game all in one scene that may or may not have done their character justice or sat right with them oocly.

[Jetniss]

I just want to go ahead and say--

Increasing RPL gains are not going to fix anything, it's going to create a worse problem.
150 is the middle tier, and there are a lot of characters around this level. This is the level anyone and everyone who isn't from the first week or who grinds like a madman sits at. Meaning majority of characters can relax around this level and do well, unless they're trying to stand up to the greatest and oldest characters in which case-- that's a commitment worthy of grinding and actually striving for.

As Mordere said, if you increase any RPL gains, you're not going to be better off. You're not going to catch up, the gap between you and the other person will be relatively the same, but worse. They're going to get even higher, faster, which means they will complete their builds and get extra rpp faster-- and so will you. Except once you're in the 180 range, you're going to find that build matters a lot more and RPL starts to matter less, so for those not quite 170 and up, it will make you lose more fights because the guys who were always 10-20 checks ahead of you are now 10-20 checks ahead of you with a complete build to your incomplete build, faster. You're also going to raise the ceiling of power-- whereas people in the 200+ range are top of the top, increasing RPL gains are going to make 200 the new 180, and 180 the new 150, and 230-250 the new 220(not that it's going to get any easier to climb at those levels, but it's a power-standard creep that is not the answer).


As for talks about not being relevant or important enough to a guild, I don't know who's denying people on RPL... Buuut... I mean, I'll just say every guild needs trainees. And the fix to such behavior isn't a change in RPP gains that have a ton of extra effects on the server at large.

Edit:

I do support some way to get increased gains, like the old danger systems of early E2. But I know that had problems-- and I think we do need something like it, but not "increased flat RPP gains" to everyone.

[Lorelai]

Who is really complaining about fights below 200? the only time fights feel unfair is if Im sub 180 fighting someone above 180. This kind of change is going to make that feeling hit harder faster. Its not gonna be 150 trying to escape a 200 which is already gonna be like a cap 1 or cap 0, its gonna be 180s trying to escape 220s and then the people who are 150 are now trying to escape a lot more 200s or 210s and 220s this is bad.