2 replies to this topic

[WowRefugee]

I was about to post a suggestion about ways to mitigate the crafting grind, while still making special items harder to get, when I realized that I might be wasting my time. Not because suggestions here are ignored by HCS (they aren't), but because I didn't have a clear idea why HCS increased the crafting grinds so much for release, and therefore if any particular suggestion I made would fit into the overall vision that HCS has of how the game should be (and therefore have a chance to be implemented in some fashion by HCS).  I realized that this lack of understanding drives a lot of the discussion (and confusion) on this forum, especially when newer people come on, play a little, and then start making suggestions based on other similar games they have played and liked.  Often, the beta founding players will then respond in various dismissive ways because they have been around and seen (or read in beta forum posts now hidden) what kind of changes HCS will, are planning, or won't ever do.  But the beta players don't know everything (as if!), there are still many gray areas.

 

So what I am suggesting is an effort by someone on the HCS team to make this more transparent.  To describe their design goals for various aspects of the game, the constraints and and the pitfalls they are trying to avoid.  Other games that various members of the team have played and the various aspects in those games that they like or dislike.  Lessons learned from the other games that they developed, and how that affects their design ideas.

 

This would include posting responses to suggestions, giving informative feedback on ones that are interesting and on those that are clear misses.  This is to assist the community in making better suggestions.

 

[rowbet]

Nice idea.

 

There were a number of sudden and drastic grind-inducing increases at the end of the beta (slower progression through gathering (11->16 levels), more resources per crafted item and crafted XP, drastic increase in cost of spells after level 14, decrease in quest experience leading to long levels of mindless critter killing...), none of which have increased my desire to keep playing. But your question of why HCS made these changes, and how it has helped to create the game-shape they wanted, is probably the best question to start with.  

[Kedyn]

I'd love to see this explanation as well - as I played during Beta, but still didn't follow the forums as much as others. I'd like to see what forced them to make changes, and how they want to shape the game so that we can suggest ways to help shape it around their vision while still making newer players want to 1) start playing, 2) continue playing and 3) tell their friends to start playing.