I believe the game has a problem in that it becomes boring or agonizing regarding certain content. I'd like to share my principle of a fun game: "If I've done it once, don't make me do it again. If I must do it again, then make it easier"
Examples that already exist
This principle can be seen in action today in Maplestory. If you have completed the Explorer storyline, you can skip it on alts. If you have completed the Vanishing Journey quests, then you can skip it on alts. Burning events apply the principle to leveling. I've already leveled to 250, but now i get to hyper burn a 2nd character to 250 and it's way easier. Even though this can be seen as a catch-up mechanic for new-players, it's also a mechanic used to help ease things you've done before. The recent star-force change so that stars up to 15 will no longer drop and no longer destroy the item is another application of the principle. If I get to 13 stars, I don't want to go back down to 10, then try to get back to 13 again. For all of these, the principle applies: "I did it once, don't make me do it again. If I must do it again, then make it easier"
I would like this principle to be expanded to more facets of the game.
Star Force Downgrades
One such possibility is to full removal of star force downgrades and item destruction. By removing these, players will no longer experience the very toxic occurrence of losing their gear, their progress, by a random 5% or less chance of destruction. They will no longer have to go back down to 15 stars when they have made it to 16. They got to 16 once, don't make them do it again. This causes issues though with mesos. The removal of these means less overall mesos will be removed from the economy. To offset this for the lower stars, the prices for star force attempts were increased. I believe applying this to all star force levels will also be feasible. This will be bad for some players. The top % of lucky players who get above average success will now be dragged down, as the deviation between upgrades will now be much more limited. But what will be bad for some players, will be really good for others, who get the below average success. My guess is that players who lose the higher average success rate will not quit if this change is implemented, but the players with lower average success rate will if this isn't implemented. Losing progress is not fun. I don't want to re-tread the same ground that I've already done before. This does cause problems with market though, as there would be essentially never-ending boss equips since no booms would take place anymore. One possibility to offset this problem is to lower the drop-rates, though I can't say that's the most enjoyable experience to endure as a player. I haven't thought of a better solution, so I apologize for that.
Arcane Symbols
Another is with Symbols. Once you've maxed a symbol once, you've probably spent several months doing daily missions to just max them on one character. In order to obtain it on an alt, I have to subject myself to the dailies once again. If I've done it once, I don't want to do it again. This will limit players from experiencing higher end content with more characters. This post is being made when a change in the korean test server is attempting to solve this by applying the principle. Arcane River symbols and Grandis symbols being dropped by all mobs is a method of speedup for symbols for newer players and for alt characters. Players can use these symbols on alts just as the principle states, or even sell them to other players to help them speed up their characters. While I might think this method is insufficient, it's only in the test server. It might end up way better, or worse. The point is that the principle is being applied, and that's what I hope more for.
Final Thoughts
Overall, there could be more places where this principle applies. I believe that this principle will not only lift the spirits of the defeated players, but also make players feel more able to play alt characters. Ultimately, I want this to just be a though to be held whilst building the systems within the game. Whether that means adjusting current systems, or building new systems.
"If I've done it once, don't make me do it again. If I must do it again, then make it easier"
Comments
I believe one way of handling this is to make "Chance" on starforcing permanent.
Let's say you're at 19 and you drop down to 17, you get a free upgrade back to 18.
This change would make it so that if you drop down to 17 you don't have to drop to 16 before you get another free upgrade.
You would simply be locked at 17+ until it either boomed or hit 20*. There's still the potential for dropping, yes. But it's far less vicious.
This would also assure that not all insanely funded people are running around in full 25*. The risk is still there, just less annoying to deal with.
I think Nexon could handle this one by giving all characters on your account the highest value of Arcane Force and Sacred Force on your account, but not the stats related to it.
If you have a character that maxed all their symbols all your characters can just fight all the way up to black mage with no damage lost.
There would still be incentive to do your dailies since you would gain stat from the levels on droplets, but you're not completely screwed if you decide you only want to do them once in awhile and just focus on weekly grind sessions.
Personal growth allows previously completed content to be even easier on separate characters and on future runs.
I think the game reflecting this growth across your entire account is an excellent idea.
In my personal opinion your main character is your account, not whichever class you main.