![Newbie Guide](https://i.imgur.com/Uy7hIlu.png")
Post by Maxsuz Argin on Jan 12, 2022 19:39:26 GMT -5
New Player Respec Mechanics
Greetings. My name is Gabriel, and I play the new character, Maxsuz Argin, in this role-playing game. When joining the game for the first time, I had plenty of text to read and rules to understand before I even created my character. As such, many of the intricacies of the game's mechanics (such as the combat rules) eluded me, or were misinterpreted. Many of these doubts I did not know I had came fourth during my first Action Thread, revealing I hadn't understood the mechanics as well as I had thought when just reading. For example, I had interpreted that Vampiric would steal 1 (one) Ki Point from the opponent, when in reality it only grants me one. Not only that, but all my original techs spend KP in multiples of 2 (two), making it so that Vampiric was a plainly bad pick fo me. That, combined with the fact that I had no idea I'd like the game, meant I wouldn't put in a lot of effort into properly reading, considering, and understanding the meaning of the options the game offered before I have even properly played it and gained a full grasp on it's system.
Now, through the Action Thread I'm participating in, as well as the thorough investigation me and my "stats nerd" friend made, we realized just how misguided my choices were when it comes to traits and initial techniques, and where I want my character to go. However, things such as traits and techniques cannot be easily changed, for they require the purchase of consumable items to respec them.
The problem lies in this system and its interaction with new players. To reallocate the Technique Points of a single standard technique, the single use item "Fighterz Manual" must be bought and used. To reallocate the TPs of a sparking technique, the single use item "Sparking Strategy Guide" must be bought and used. This means that, just to reallocate the TPs of all 3 (three) standard techniques a new player starts with and the single sparking technique, it would require them to spend 24.000 (twenty four thousand) Zeni, which means the new player would have to type 48.000 (forty eight thousand words) without spending their Zenis to do anything else in this entire process. Taking into account the fact that an average post usually has between 200 - 700 words, it would take hundreds of posts for an average new player to get to that point. In addition, those items only allow you to reallocate the TPs, and not the category or type of the technique, such as changing it from an attack to a defense, or changing it from a medium to a heavy.
In regards to traits, players can change the optional trait or one of the general traits for use of the consumable single use item "Naughty Magazine", which costs 8.000 (eight thousand) Experience Points and has a timer of 2 months. This means that, to change both the optional trait, as well as the 2 (two) general traits, it would require a total of 24.000 (twenty four) thousand XP, as well as the passing of 4 (four) months at the very minimum. Even if we assume a player only finds threads with 4 players, which grant the maximum XP, it would still take dozens of posts without spending a single XP point into getting stronger in any way to reach those numbers. Also, like with the technique items, there is no way to change a character's core traits after their creation.
Based on my own experience when creating Maxsuz, I believe other players have experienced similar problems before and new players will face them in the future, because the respec system in place currently is too hazardous for new players and seems to punish "newbie" errors, rather than allow them to make mistakes at the start or even incentivize experimenting with builds without creating a whole new character. With all that being said, I have a few suggestions that would help solve, or at least mitigate, the problem with the current respec system:
The first suggestion is definitely my favorite option, and would immediately fix the problem in question, while the other three are more subsidiary and would help mitigate it. Any or even all of these suggestions could be implemented at once, and I'm sure this RPG I've already grown to appreciate would benefit greatly from it.
Now, through the Action Thread I'm participating in, as well as the thorough investigation me and my "stats nerd" friend made, we realized just how misguided my choices were when it comes to traits and initial techniques, and where I want my character to go. However, things such as traits and techniques cannot be easily changed, for they require the purchase of consumable items to respec them.
The problem lies in this system and its interaction with new players. To reallocate the Technique Points of a single standard technique, the single use item "Fighterz Manual" must be bought and used. To reallocate the TPs of a sparking technique, the single use item "Sparking Strategy Guide" must be bought and used. This means that, just to reallocate the TPs of all 3 (three) standard techniques a new player starts with and the single sparking technique, it would require them to spend 24.000 (twenty four thousand) Zeni, which means the new player would have to type 48.000 (forty eight thousand words) without spending their Zenis to do anything else in this entire process. Taking into account the fact that an average post usually has between 200 - 700 words, it would take hundreds of posts for an average new player to get to that point. In addition, those items only allow you to reallocate the TPs, and not the category or type of the technique, such as changing it from an attack to a defense, or changing it from a medium to a heavy.
In regards to traits, players can change the optional trait or one of the general traits for use of the consumable single use item "Naughty Magazine", which costs 8.000 (eight thousand) Experience Points and has a timer of 2 months. This means that, to change both the optional trait, as well as the 2 (two) general traits, it would require a total of 24.000 (twenty four) thousand XP, as well as the passing of 4 (four) months at the very minimum. Even if we assume a player only finds threads with 4 players, which grant the maximum XP, it would still take dozens of posts without spending a single XP point into getting stronger in any way to reach those numbers. Also, like with the technique items, there is no way to change a character's core traits after their creation.
Based on my own experience when creating Maxsuz, I believe other players have experienced similar problems before and new players will face them in the future, because the respec system in place currently is too hazardous for new players and seems to punish "newbie" errors, rather than allow them to make mistakes at the start or even incentivize experimenting with builds without creating a whole new character. With all that being said, I have a few suggestions that would help solve, or at least mitigate, the problem with the current respec system:
- Player Respec Coupon: Allow every character to have 1 (one) free respec coupon they can use to specifically change all and any of their core, optional and general Traits, their original standard techniques, their original sparking technique, their original XP and Zeni (and the transformation multipliers in the case of Aliens) once.
- Price Lowering: Lower the price of all respec items so that new players can purchase them without having to grind for months without spending their resources on anything else, or make it so the first purchase of those items have big discounts, such as 50%, or even free.
- Widening of Possibilities: Remove the restrictions of the respec items, allowing them to change everything about a technique and the core traits, or create new items that allow players to respec their core traits and the category and type of a technique.
- Non-Exclusivity: Allow respec items, such as a Fighterz Manual, for example, to be able to respec every standard technique the character has, instead of only one per use.
The first suggestion is definitely my favorite option, and would immediately fix the problem in question, while the other three are more subsidiary and would help mitigate it. Any or even all of these suggestions could be implemented at once, and I'm sure this RPG I've already grown to appreciate would benefit greatly from it.
Thank you for your time,
Gabriel de Almeida
Gabriel de Almeida
