Why are people happy over this?

[Fist de Yuma]

Turbine as posted that they are thinking of removing the level cap. The word I saw was 275. If they give us credits and other benefits to go with the level, it will unbalance the game. So I see it as just a number, a number we can all look up at Treestats.com anyway.

So we gain very little, at a possible great cost. At this time, there is an xp reduction based on level. I disagree with this because AC is not a level game, it is a skill game. My 105 mule might be great at applying steel to armor but as a fighter, he is very weak. And yet, he would have to fight monsters his own level, or higher, in order not to get the reduction.

I understand why Turbine did this. A 126 player hunting in the 60+ Tusker dungeon should not happen. Nevertheless, it does happen, and the fellows suffer for it. The reasons for this vary but it is mostly because the 126 can count on the others to give him their xp. Yes, he can kill faster, but when everyone is standing in a corner waiting for something to spawn, that does not count for much.

Unless Turbine finds a way to balance the xp drop, such as capping it at 126, I see no benefit to this, other than an EGO boost.

With luck, this is only a number, such as what Treestats plug-in gives us, and has no effect on the game otherwise. That I would support.

[ElgarL]

Turbine are looking to the longevity of the game, not to cater to whiners.

There are a LOT of dedicated players that have already reached the level cap and no longer play those characters because they see no advancement. This will encourage players to play longer, thereby paying for longer and keeping the game alive longer.

Seems good business sense to me.


BTW, we just had our first Non decal, non ANY TPA clan member hit 126 on VT.
He will benefit from this expansion so I see Turbine are catering to their loyal rule abiding players.

[MaddyFF]

Raising the level cap isn't that big of a concern to me. What is a concern is giving people more skill credits. I'm one of them that thinks we have plenty, if not too many, skill credits already. How powerful in so many different skills do we need to make our players? Do we need spec sword/melee d/life, trained item/creature/mana c /healing/lore/missile d/lockpick characters?

I rather they look at different ways to "reward" leveling. If not, I hope they really keep the number of skill credits earned under control.

[Rafein]

At first, i did not like the idea, as it just screamed of honoring those who used flaws in design to get high level.

Now, though< i don;t really mind raising the level cap. it will be a nice chain nerf, not letting level 200's swear to level 127's.

[Korrigan]

Fist,

of course this is a boon to the exploiters and cheaters of all kind. Hell, they got all their ... "hard work" ? ... rewarded. And the leaders of the cheating crowd come here and do their joy dance on your own thread.

This will bring more grief, more greed, more ebaying, more macroing to AC1. Basically, more cheating and rule breaking to reach the ultimate level 275, and less roleplaying and community feeling. We already have some people who only joined Verdantine to macro 24/7 and sell their chars (no doubt about this, they recognize it themself). What will it be with a level 275 cap ?

But hey, we all know that the only important thing for Turbine is money.

[BillBraskey]

I don't think that this will cause much more macroing than we already have. With the increased enforcement of the macro policy, I think increasing the level cap is fine. It will be nice for those that have 126 characters. I know that on mine I felt less compelled to play my 126 mage after I hit the cap. So when I come back it will be nice to actually be able to level him.

Also, they stated that they will be adjusting the #levels/credit for 126+ characters. They said something about 10 then 20 levels per credit. It will probably end up being about 10 more credits for characters at the maximum level. Looking at treestats 2, nobody has reached lvl 275. Hell there is only one person above 250.

My advice... don't get your panties in a wad over this.

[Og II]

You know for me... being able to see the level animation again is a good thing. Skill credits will be nice and I am sure they will make it so it will not be excessive. Lighten up folks :) If you consider that we could be looking at the game shutting down (ie if it had stayed with Microsoft) vs. a nice new expansion... I for one and happy as a clam.... but hey that is just me. :)

[Miriandel]

Originally posted by ElgarL
Turbine are looking to the longevity of the game, not to cater to whiners.

There are a LOT of dedicated players that have already reached the level cap and no longer play those characters because they see no advancement. This will encourage players to play longer, thereby paying for longer and keeping the game alive longer.

Seems good business sense to me.


BTW, we just had our first Non decal, non ANY TPA clan member hit 126 on VT.
He will benefit from this expansion so I see Turbine are catering to their loyal rule abiding players.

I do think it's the exact opposite.
Who still plays AC ?
Old players and ebay bought characters.
The expansion will be a disaster if Turbine can't realize that no new player will buy a game to be a second class citizen forever.
If people do not stand a chance to have a fully developped character in a reasonable amount of time (that doesn't mean play 8 hours a day six days a week), new players will play EQII, WoW or even worse other titles, because they will start with the same chances as everybody else (which is false, but that's how customers act).

More, skills are too important in AC. With a skill of 380 you wouldn't scratch a monster that a skill of 400 would kill in timely fashion.
So, there actually is a huge difference between a player with 1 billion XPs or 2 billions : hit or don't hit. Don't event think about players with 4, 6 or maybe 10 billions XPs !
There will never be any RvR in AC when such differences between characters are allowed.

The only wise move is to lower the level cap.
And lower it much.
Otherwise, the expansion will just come in time to bury the game.

[Yinchi]

Mirandel, my thoughts exactly. I made a post on another thread, I will post it here also.

For my two py, AC is going about trying to revive their game the wrong way. They should encourage rerolls and/or new players or I feel the game will die. High levels really mean nothing, you are only slightly better at 220 than you are at 170. At high levels, you have everything, your weapons are imbued, you have uber armor, soon you have done all the quests for higher levels, what else is left as a challenge? People become bored and leave the game.

People became energized by a new server. If they loved the high level content on other servers, why did so many leave? Because they needed that challenge again. Whether it was to become that high level again or simply to start over, it was a new challenge.

[Mildly amused]

Originally posted by ElgarL
He will benefit from this expansion so I see Turbine are catering to their loyal rule abiding players.

This -sorry- is a travesty. With the same effort invested, the macroers will have significantly more xp points than your 'loyal rule abiding players'. The higher in -currently virtual- level you go the higher is the percentage of players who got their but flaunting and breaking the rules, approaching 100% as you reach level '200' or '210'. And those are the people who get exclusive dungeons/skills/items/whatever with the xp pack.

[XerxesTD]

Will the skill caps be raised?
Answer: Skill and attribute caps will not be raised with the expansion. They will still cap out at around 4.2 billion XP.

Will there be an increase in the specialization credit cap?
Answer: There are no plans to increase the specialization limit in this expansion.

Will we see new skills with the expansion?
Answer: There are no new skills planned for the expansion. Read into that what you will…

Hmm, I'm capped at TreeStats level 241. If I can't increase attributes and can't increase current skills, how will I ever get to 275?

Only way is to train more skills, thus the need for more skill credits. So I get to max out bow/fletching, I guess -- still not sure how folks will get to level 275 unless attribute/skill caps are raised.

If they don't add skill credits, folks that are capped now will still be capped and Level 275 will be impossible to attain. I think the max now is level 260 -- that's taking all the lowest cost skills and specing nothing. (see High Tinks in TreeStats).

PS -- I have never combat macroed. Most of my XP came from old XP Chains and sustained hunting of VoD...

[EvilElvis]

I give up. If Turbine wants me to macro, I'll macro. They've broken my will.

Starting now, I'm going to UCM my *** off.

[Vlad Morbius]

Oh yeh that's right ...now they are forcing you to macro, what a crock of **** This whole change is necessary just as the change of logging in and linking accounts to players so those who UCM and those who brag about doing so get caught and banned.
This removal of the cap is whats needed so that the game can exists for a few years longer, withought the dulldrums of sitting your characters on the shelf and rerolling every few months.

I for one am looking forward to the whole thing, and make no mistake there will be those who exploit, there always are and always will be. I won't be one of them and I don't play with them. I'll be enjoying a much needed boost to my favourite game :D

[Zero_Washu]

Originally posted by ElgarL
Turbine are looking to the longevity of the game, not to cater to whiners.

There are a LOT of dedicated players that have already reached the level cap and no longer play those characters because they see no advancement. This will encourage players to play longer, thereby paying for longer and keeping the game alive longer.

Seems good business sense to me.


BTW, we just had our first Non decal, non ANY TPA clan member hit 126 on VT.
He will benefit from this expansion so I see Turbine are catering to their loyal rule abiding players.


Actually you are wrong. Sony proved it with EQ. The level cap encouraged people to play OTHER character to the cap. The opened experimentation and prolonged the life of accounts in EQ. Perhaps one major reason they retain their population better that AC. They understood one of the biggest contributors to bad play was to leave a system open ended.

You have to admit that the opened ended system has led to some of the worst players in any MMORPG let alone behaviour. Turbine screwed up big time by not capping experience and now they will compound the issue. If AC wasn't already know as cheater/exploit heaven this will simple make it even more obvious.

Welcome to Asheron's Call : Nearly as many bots as NPCs!

[Zero_Washu]

Fist,

Why are they happy?


simple, most are selfish, that is why. The game be damned, this is all about be the biggest, baddest, most maxxed, ubarest d00dz in all of AC.

Lore? Thats okay, provided it doesn't stop the gain of experience points.


Turbine has confirmed that the only future in AC is to gain experience points. There is nothing else to do. They are totally out of ideas. When their less than thought out land control ideas got slapped down they just totally caved in.

Asherson's Call. Throes of Desperation.

[Unicron]

People became energized by a new server. If they loved the high level content on other servers, why did so many leave? Because they needed that challenge again. Whether it was to become that high level again or simply to start over, it was a new challenge.

EXACTLY!

Which server has the highest population #s THATS VERDANTINE and its because people wanted to experience the NEWBIE feeling again not the high levels...

Sitting in a dungeon all day till you hit the new cap is NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT a new challenge...it's boring...hunting is boring and its the reason people run ELtank/combat macros.

[Vlad Morbius]

Nobody forces you to sit in a dungeon and try and cap, those who want to will regardless. My God, what the He** do you want from an expansion pack!! It isn't a whole new game, if thats what you're looking for go , and don't let the door hit you in the a** on the way out.
There are dozens of new dungeons and quests coming, new monsters, crafts methods, items,skills, etc.. I'd like to see one of the resident posting geniuses come up with something other then a whining rant for a change lol! Now that would be original indeed!

[meridian59gar]

We seek fun. We pay $13 a month to have fun. In order to get to that fun,

YES WE ARE FORCED TO SIT IN A DUNGEON LEVELLING ALL DAY.

YES IT DOES AFFECT US.

YES IT WILL CAUSE PROBLEMS.

There is no way around it. This is going to be one of the worst mistakes in AC history, second only to choosing this particular physics engine that has been our curse for four years.

[Lunchbox_VN]

What elgarL said is totally true.

[Ghetteran]

I am a casual player, and a role player.
I do enjoy going on quests when my work permits me enough time ( weeknights usually have me too tired to play much, ( no time to quest )
I have played since AC was released. my highest character in 5 years is 91st level.
I remember when the cap was raised before, it 'pushed' me back down into a newbie status back then too.

I dont powerlevel, I dont macro, I dont have xp chain vassals.

Me finally getting 91st last week, had me thinking ' hey I might just reach level cap some day!' sorta gave me a good feeling just to think about it, then I read the expansion news , and the level cap change, doesnt make me entirely happy.

Last year, our Monarch got ill, and had barely been in game, she was 75th level then last year.
one of our vassals, for about a year, quit our allegiance just to join a xp chain, he got 126+ in the chain, then his monarch/friend in that chain quit, so he asked to come back, well he was too high to swear to anyone, we are a small bunch and casual players.
Well our monarch, she logged in and swore to him, saying he could co-monarch until she was 126th.
I am directly sworn to her, so I have been trying my best, raising my loyalty etc to get her to 126th so our friend coudl swear in, and our monarch can be back leading, where she should be.

When the expansion come out, our friend will be close to level 200.
So I dont see us getting her high enough :/

okay, that is my main reason I dont care for the cap change, the second, is because I wont get the fireworks when I get 126 hehe :)

Sure the second reason is selfish. but oh well, arent we all?? *looks around at the posts and nods to himself :P *

I suppose the cap change is good in the long run, but, it initially will hurt my small allegiance.

*shrugs* oh well..............

[sublimaze]

YES! Raise the level cap. Not sure about the skill credits, but I personally want more to look forward to for leveling my 126 guy. This will definitely add to the game.

[Alissa]

Personally I think removing the level cap and some of the other ideas so far put forward are quite nonesense.

These are ideas with not much thought put behind them. As so eloquently stated before my post many see the age old problem of those who followed the mantra "exploit early exploit often" winning out.

I am not going to go forward into that debate as it has been run to ground and both sides will argue until blue in the face. Though I do find the "reformed" Elgar's response quite humorous.

I would think there are better ways to use up skills and experience points.

Make a tier of skill above specialized, such as Mastery. Want that uber War DoT/damage become a MASTER War mage. Want to hit those impossible melee targets become a MASTER Melee. Where those who expend the experience and Skill credits get the AR/CS/CB bonus because of their abilities, not the uber tinked weapon or quest item.

Make it where the uber patron can reward vassals out of their xp pool. Why not? The vassals have sent millions up, why not reward them or help them when they are down? Your sitting their trying to figure out how to use it.

Make activation of items require use of some of those xp points. Want that uber spell negating affect on your weapon/casting item. It can do it but you have to dump experience into it. Kinda like a lifestone, you put a little of yourself into it to get the benefit.

There are more people just need to use imagination instead of the dullwitted extra pack space gem, which I think Turbine steaked from one of Hisba's delusions.

As for the Viamonters....here I digress to lore and the problems with them.

The Viamonters and Aluvians since the fall of the Roulean Empire have been at war. The Viamonters are cruel and rapacious. A perfect Enemy race bound to be sucked into the crazy renegades/shadow/virindi alliances.

Will Viamonters and Aluvians KoS each other? Will they show as pink or red dots to each other? I mean they straddle the hills eye to eye always ready to fight upon Ispar.

I think adding the Viamont, while logical since the portals pop up on Ispar randomly, will actually be adding more to the percieved enemy side. Coupled with the intense hatred between them and the Aluvians it could be quite a problem. Historically since the fall of the Roulean Empire the Aluvian, Gharun and Sho people have gotten along pretty well, with just little flare ups now and again.

So unless there is some special purpose or reasoning behind the Viamont being included I think it is another uninspired thought to just add something to say we did.

Those are all of my thoughts and ideas for now. I am sure as I read more I will think of alternative things.

[Frax]

Originally posted by ElgarL
Turbine are looking to the longevity of the game, not to cater to whiners.

There are a LOT of dedicated players that have already reached the level cap and no longer play those characters because they see no advancement. This will encourage players to play longer, thereby paying for longer and keeping the game alive longer.

Seems good business sense to me.


BTW, we just had our first Non decal, non ANY TPA clan member hit 126 on VT.
He will benefit from this expansion so I see Turbine are catering to their loyal rule abiding players.

They didn't reach the level cap. Your plugin reached the level cap, you prick.

[ApolloAce]

Excuse me Frax,

There are several folks on multiple worls that have reached the level cap.

Some of us multiple times.

Another thing,

Without vassal passup, without using any program whatsoever.

In a 4 to 6 man fellow playing 28 hours a week(4 hours a day), in multiple areas (thereby learning multiple creatures weakness and strengths).

None of the areas in popular dungeons.

As a matter a fact short of selling/buying in town you might see half a dozen folks while leveling.

It is possible to reach level 126 in 9 weeks.

5 years ago doing exactly the same thing (mind you different areas as most of the areas today didn't exist) it was possible to reach 126 in 9 to 12 months.

How do I know?

Because I did it.

I gained the experience and learned the knowledge.

Will I sit here and explain the details?

Not a chance because if I do my hunting grounds will get over run by the same people that claim their not in it for the levels.

As far as casual players expecting to reach and attain the same level as folks that spend 2 to 10 times the time playing and leveling expecting to gain the same thing, thats just not reality.

As far as the level grind, it's only a grind if you make it that way.

You don't have to be a certain level.

There is plenty of content for everyone.

I have spent 5 years leveling characters in one fashion or another.

I reach the cap or just below it, get bored erase the character and start again.

That might seem odd to some folks.

Just as powerleveling does to some, or questing, or loot hunting.

I can explain me in a sentance.

I'm in it for the journey, not the destination.

Any fool with the time can reach the top and spend the rest of his life trying to be better than the next guy.

Guess what...no matter what you do eventually someone better, faster, and smarter will beat you...fair and square no less because the are better fit for the job.

To quote a movie.

"An interesting game. The only way to win is not to play."

I don't compete with others because if you do...you chances of losing eventually is 100%...no matter what you do it will happen, it's the nature of competition.

Compete with yourself and your chances of winnin are 100%...because no matter what happens...your a better person for it.

Sure :) it's metaphysical double talk...but this old man will die happy one day knowing he is the best possible him he is. :)

And no one...no one...can ever take that away...no matter what level thier AC character is. :p

[Gouru]

Originally posted by EvilElvis
I give up. If Turbine wants me to macro, I'll macro. They've broken my will.

Starting now, I'm going to UCM my *** off.

Sorry to see you go. See you after your ban.