Back to the roots
 

Zones return to the origin, a prestidigitation, manual-skill based shoot 'em up

Over the past zone turned from a once manual-skill based game into a sort of grinding game. Many additions to the game seem to be added without a steady concept or a second thought what those changes would determine for the commend gameplay to it.

A grinding game and a manual-skill based game are totally different styles in game genres, those semi grinding game aspects lead zone to what it is today, a dead server butchered to minced meat.

To understand what happened there, it is very important to understand the main differences between grinding games, and manual-skill based games. The origin concept of zone is the reason for the success of the server in its early days, it was never intended to be a grinding game, nor a semi grinding game.

Main aspects on a grinding game, determining the gameplay:

• Invested time
• Characters abilities
• Money invested
• Equipment

These mainly predict the effectiveness of the ingame file in grinding games

Main aspects on a manual-skill based game, as zone was origin before it got butchered

• prestidigitation
• game knowledge
• manual-skill training
• teamplay abilities

Means the effectiveness of a player is ONLY predicted on his own, and doesn't rely only on outstanding factors, or grinding game aspects. Everyone has the same possibility given by his ingame file.

A short rewiev over zones history, how it lost its manual-skill style to the greed and injudiciousness

• Introduction of event weaps Reapers, BPs, RPs, Lavagun
• Trials -20 hp penalty
• Removal of trials guild tags
• Intruduction of JP, BR, RR, Stormriffle etc.

These already cause a lot troubles within the balance and gameplay on zone, event weapons aren't bad in general, but they are a symbol of manual-skill and prestidigitation, and so they are a showpiece, and only a showpiece. As example BPs and RPs as equivalent to apps and rippers, nothing against a different showpiece look, but why they dont act exactly as their equivalent, double sized bullet racks and alike just screw the balance. The trial penaltys where a continued first step to force the people to pay, and those changes where tolerable, it was stiill playable for trials, and so the playerbase kept been steady.

But anything afterwards, with the comming "additions" the game was completely spoiled

• Introduction of Gelat shop
• Introduction of... sorry... more idiotic event weaps to top the gelat shop
• Removal of short time payment
• Cakes, cookies, crackers and other garbage
• Denied classes for trials which made the game complety uninteresting for half the playerbase
• A lot more of screwing content, that I don't have present in my mind right now

With those changes, the step to turn the once manual-skill based game, where everyone has had the same posibilities, into a semi gringding game, determined by the invested time, characters abilities, money invested and equipment was completed. And if the game has the appearance of a grinding game, it is played as a grinding game. The problem is just, that this game was originally never intended to be a semi grinding game, there is even the second gold server as been graal kingdoms, which IS a grinding game, and does its job as grinding game 10x better than the new semi grinding zone. That there are plenty grinding games all over the web, that do their job 10x better than GK is a different story. Fact is, zone reached its dead point.
This happens if you rather butcher the cow, instead of milking it, and sell the burgers for quick income.

Suggestion:

• Return to the origin
• Remove of the grinding game aspects
• Event weapons are supposed to be showpieces, nothing more, nothing less
• Prestidigitation and manual-skill based zone revival
• Reintroduction of short time payment (daily, weekly, or weekend gold)
• Playable game for trials, they are not just only pesky non payers
  They are a big part of the playerbase, and how interesting a game without players is, can be experienced on zone right now

Edit: The large majority doesn't even know the manual-skill based old-zone before it got spoiled. They know the new-zone and won't understand most of it. Gambet is one of the few that know the old zone, so I count on him that he might get this dead piece back on track.

Lol What?

Yeah, I can't say I have noticed any real changes in gameplay since Zone went gold. I know they chased off their trial base though

I like this part.

Nothing like murder and beef. Nope.

Zone's only changed in the sense that you can buy weapons now.

Is this actually happening or do you want to have it happening? ;o

I will try to change it when I have time :P

Zone when I first played it was (insert massive number here) times better than it was now. Not just because it was just my first time playing it and all, but because of pretty much everything Dennis said..

No

This is what should happen to increase players:

Make trials health 100.

Make all grelat guns buyable in zone cash.

Make life-time classic members able to play without observer mode while trials do have it.

Make rank actually mean something by getting special weapons/looks when you are lets say a general opposed to a Veteran.

Get rid of all of the annoying guns/ leave only the basics. This means almost everyone is equal in terms of power but the "few rare weapons"

Easy.

Wouldn't they just have the same as gold again >.<, they bought classic back then, because they didn't necisseraly want to play the gold servers, then why let them now.

:o!

Rid Jesse's post?