@vedran625 said in Power Gap Struggles:
I couldnt post this yesterday 
the forums went down but here it is.
@d3Sync
Ok to start of i think it is important to understand that we are in an alpha, we are here to test the game and not to "play" as it were. I get it that everyone wants to MAXIMISE everything but i spend most of my time messing around with stuff trying to see if i can break it in some way. Or checking how things interact with each-other. With that in mind i think the current player experience is night and day of what I expect it to be in a released state.
Now to go over what you said. I actually dont think i misconstrued what you said rather im questioning what you define as progression and reaching end game. What people consider progress, and how they set goals is different from player to player. In fact i think that we can both agree that cities need to be more accessible to randoms and newcomers, and this is exactly what i wanted to highlight with the need for more permission options in cities.
Again i think that making work benches available to the public for a fee (some amount of gold or maybe a barter of some kind) would be a great way for towns to attract more people.
To look at the stuff you specifically highlighted:
A reasonable path to 80% of character abilities. Which may include access to most base abilities, outside of special mobs that are too difficult for a small group.
Im pretty sure you can already do this, unless you are determined to play a certain spec and never change your spells any creature can be countered at the current time. I can see some problems maybe with some tougher ones but 80% should be doable even then.
A reasonable path to 80% of possible knowledge points. This should be everything outside of special mobs that are too difficult for a small group, which includes city content.
Again much like the previouse point this is completely doable ... frankly i would say that at the moment anyone solo or otherwise can achieve both a 100% in skills and knowledge points. It will take you a while, and you will need to create setups to combat the different abilities the creatures have but its doable.
The thing everyone is concerned about here is the Legends, but i think things like this need to exist to keep everyone interested not just the solos/small groups.
Now for the part where i have to disagree.
The ability to craft every basic armor set in the game. Meaning, the base armor set of light, medium and heavy. Which would require the ability to craft work benches at your home.
The ability to harvest anything, outside of nodes. This would require !rare! high level harvest-able nodes in the open world. City nodes would still be incredibly important.
I do not think that an individual should be able to craft anything past the basics in their own home. The way the game is structured right now there are very few armor sets to craft, and the complexity comes down to the material you want to craft them out of. Thinking about it I would like to know what exactly you would want to be able to craft in your home in the current build. Where do you draw the line and why !? Should everyone be able to craft weapons and armor from some basic material (one that gives +0 bonuses) ... maybe but then the materials come in question.
When you speak about the harvesting outside of nodes I guess you are specifically speaking about the ore at the moment. Since there is not really any resource that you cant harvest outside a node apart from those at the moment. This is where I have to heavily disagree with you because if these "rare" were so rare that the big groups were not concerned about them it means that it would be an incredible grind to pile up enough of them as a solo, and on the other hand if they were not SO rare then the big companies would themselves camp those resources to pad their own numbers.
To finish of i would like to again say that there needs to be a focus on pulling everyone into cities, and in order for that to be a thing there needs to be more permission options (and probably a detailed log of what is going on in the city, who is taking things out of smelters/storage and who is crafting what etc).
Alright. So when thinking about this, as a solo player, you need to consider the mindset of one. They don't like anyone carrying them along. Often times, these people only have a friend or two that play. Or they don't have any. So I feel that they need a reason to interact, as it's just not in their nature.
Currently, the only thing they can do is create charcoal, harvest stone and plants, and create hide. The problem is that only one of those things is actually valuable to a city. Well, for the most part, it's enchanting resources. I'm worried that eventually, even that profession will be taken away from the solo player, as I've heard that tanning tubs once were place-able in housing plots, but no longer are. Perhaps leather working table as well? Not sure.
What is the incentive to go to a city? Game mechanic? I feel like that's a very poor way to design a game, when you're trying to convince people to play AND stay. There must be a way to give solo's more of a natural progression to push them towards city life in a way that doesn't feel forced. Where simply playing the game as it is, would naturally guide the player to cities.
Solo players have no bridge in my opinion. They can't become group players. The gap is too large. Their natural play sessions will be short. The life of their desired path is shallow. It includes the tutorial, some exploration to find a horse, grinding 1000 gold to buy a plot, and building their home. Then, they are left wondering what they could possibly do. Perhaps joining a city or guild is too much of a leap for them. At least right now. So how do you nudge these people in the right direction? This is definitely an alpha. And there will be a few other activities that could prolong this. But not many in my opinion, and not for long. A lot of them are group based. And the issues that most affect solo players will still remain.
Not allowing them to craft anything valuable. Not allowing them to harvest anything valuable, outside of enchantment reagents. Not allowing them to refine anything valuable. So what is the draw to cities? Hell, what is the point of a house? Just extra storage and a place to respec? No vendors, and will there even be any long term? This isn't even so much as a cry for representation for solo players. It's a highlight to a very shallow early game that forces players into decisions artificially.
I'll try and define my idea of basic materials. One step above primitive clothing that is done in your inventory. Not just hide and cloth. It would also include refining basic leathers and crafting basic leather armors. Refining basic alloys and crafting basic metal armors. So in terms of workbenches, I'd propose that non-citizens could have a basic smithy and smelter. A basic tanning tub and leatherwork bench. So on and so forth. The cities would have access to advanced workbenches. They would make all of the special alloys and leathers. Similarly, enchanting tables would stay, but not advanced ones. They would be in cities. That's the sort of way I'd like to see things play out. If you do that, you'd give these players the natural reason to take the crafts they've made into the cities for trade. Right now, the only reason is because the game tells you that you have to, or you can't progress. Or, you must grind your heart away to purchase gear to make your character more powerful. Which is fine. That's part of the economy. But it shouldn't be the sole reason. I believe this anti-solo mindset is creating a gate to content that isn't necessary.
Then, obviously, if you're going to let players refine, then you must allow them to harvest. I'll toss out an easy number, for the sake of conversation. On average, every 10 stone nodes that you mine, you'll get a random non-stone block. Of those non-stone resources, they'll have varying chances to drop as well. Including gems. This would at least give these players a chance to get something of value. And while it may not supplement the economy in a meaningful way, in terms of city needs, it may just be another bridge to convince solo players to interact in a natural way, without feeling forced. It will give them something valuable to barter with, as rags won't cut it. Weave all of these basic materials into common items, such as housing decorations, non-combat clothing, trinkets, weapons and armor, capes, etc. It would create a sort of sub-economy with the average player that wouldn't particularly effect the city economies. It's that sort of complexity that keeps people playing the game. Being able to sell the things they find, because they have value. We already know that charcoal isn't going to cut it for higher level alloys anyways. So even if they needed coal for something, they likely can't craft it with a basic bench, and even if they could, they'd have to go barter for coal in order to get it anyways. But, maybe they'd find JUST enough in those rare drops occasionally to create something valuable.
I think there are too many people trying to defend the city life idea. And too little people actually considering the downside of neglecting an entire play-style. I'd love to think that you're right about the game playing completely differently when it is closer to full launch. But I don't have that information. I can only tell you what my experience has been sans group/city play. I was done in three days. And I've had people tell me that I'm slow. That should send alarm bells off in every direction for the community and the developers. There may be hundreds of hours of city/guild play to experience. But getting to that point is the issue here.
The respec should preferably only be allowed in the tavern, to make this the center of the city.
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). You can as a solo rather easily accumulate a decent amount of gold, and with this gold you can basically go and buy anything that is on sale from the people in the cities. Unfortunately at the moment there is no support for public crafting stations, but unless you are a metal user I think you can craft anything you want in the starter towns (I honestly didnt check is there a forge there ????).