Zodiac - A Foreshadow of Maloria

[Draenin]

Originally Posted by Xenoith

Then you suggest something, since it seems what I say doesn't exactly "appease" your ideal interest. So please come up with something.

Sure thing.


Class Improvements

First of all, if the classes and pvp stuff is so terrible, skills and stat assignments need to be adjusted for those classes. If a skill lasts too long, or is too potent, you nerf it. If it's not powerful enough, you boost it by adjusting the values it has been assigned.

This might require character stats to be reset, but it doesn't mean user accounts need to be reset. Zodiac actually has a built-in 'Character Reset' function for taking stats off of players and allowing them to re-assign them. That means that players will not lose their levels or items, and can continue playing as normal with the new changes in place.

Dungeon Improvements

As I've mentioned before in previous posts, one problem that Zodiac and many other servers have is that there's not a lot to do near the end of the game. The level cap was set at 60 when Zodiac released, and has never risen.

There are a few endgame 'raid' style dungeons that are meant for high level players, but the rewards are simply just gear. Most people will take the easy way out by just buying the set pieces they need instead. And once they're all decked out, they have no reason to revisit old locations.

One solution to this is to periodically release new dungeons and gradually raise the level cap, while providing extra incentives for revisiting old locations can help as well. For instance, Graal Kingdoms introduced its randomized 'chest' system in dungeons to make running them more worthwhile. And it has definitely paid off.

Also, if players are now 'OP' enough to farm enemies in the game's most difficult dungeons, that needs to end as well. Difficult dungeons are more engaging than easy ones, and Zodiac developers should not be afraid to fill them with monsters that can swat down even the strongest tanks in a few hits if they aren't being assisted by a healer or two. Doing so will also make it easier for developers to raise the drop rates on some items, because tougher fights mean a lower chance of success anyway.

Quests and Achievements

I am a huge fan of achievement systems, and firmly believe all servers should adopt them if they can. Achievements give players extra things to do at the end of the game, and provide the opportunity to do 'side quests' and earn bragging rights. They can be tailored toward any type of task, and give players concrete goals to strive toward.

Achievements can also be put in place for groups of people as well, like Guilds and Nations. This gives multiple people a common cause to fight for, and strengthens their ability to cooperate.

And while quests are important, the fact that most of them can only be completed once can be detrimental. Zodiac should definitely look into things like providing more randomized dailies, and reward players for completing them. This can be done either through direct rewards, or players could earn points with an NPC faction in order to purchase special items from their vendors.



These are just a few things which could be done to improve the server without needing to do anything foolishly drastic like forcibly wiping all accounts.

There are plenty of alternatives to these issues, and server-wide account resets do not solve the problems that faulty game mechanics create.

The best thing to do is to look for the source of these problems, and start there first.