As a user of the ring it saddens me that it has come down to this. The ring is exceptionally rare in this current game with very few veteran players in possession of it and all you (Nexon) are doing is making your most loyal players question whether or not it is still worth being so loyal. Up until this point I tried to play the fair game and considered the pros and cons of changes, trying to see both sides and assessing those changes in a level headed manner. But this change does rub me the wrong way.
The best rings in the game nowadays are able to be potentialed, scrolled and enhanced. In no way is the Explorers cruel ring an overpowered ring. At best, it is able to contend with the current best rings. The ring itself was a legacy item from an era where level 50 was a big achievement and as such was the reward for reaching that level in a short time period. The current event rings which offer similar bonuses (in terms of offering critical rate and critical damage) are far easier to acquire compared to this old ring. Rather than making a positive action in defence of your more loyal players, you decide to alienate them and render their efforts mute. If you (Nexon) ever wonder why players have such disdain for you (Nexon) as a company, these little (yet significant) decisions are the cause.
I will reserve my suspicions as to the motives of this change until a time I can confirm the change in game.
I hope that whoever decided to push the change reads this, and understand that actions like this will drive more players from the game. Drive more potential revenue from the game, and make more players less inclined to complete content in fear of being shafted like this.
I am against this change and suggest you reciprocate some of the loyalty offered by the players and revert this change. And one day, when a shiny, new, better ring is released players will remain inclined to pursue them of their own volition rather than feel forced to obtain them due to their equipment being rendered obsolete overnight.
Are there talks in introducing the CAPTCHA text verification system back into GMS that is currently present in the other versions of the game (KMS, MSEA) ? As far as I am aware they were removed because players used the "Lie Detector" USE item to pester players.
Isn't it possible to implement the system while withholding the Lie detector item from use?
I feel this system could help lighten the load with respect to in-game investigations. While it may be somewhat of a nuisance to players, I feel as though this system would be more effective than the "Anti-AFK" mobs in the higher level areas.
Wouldn't this be another feasible method to help thin the numbers of botters/afk trainers in the game?
This thread may have been revived by a few individuals, but I think it is due time for a reassessment on the stance of the players as well as a re-evaluation of the Flame and 25 Star systems. Nebulites are have been around for an exceptionally long time and in the past their stats (as well as some other content like Gollux) have allowed players to tackle the same content as KMS to similar levels of success.
However, with the introduction of 5th job and Arcane river content, the disparity between the strongest KMS players and the strongest GMS players is becoming more and more clear, keep in mind that their potentials are of the same quality (5-6 suitable lines). This suggests that even with content such as nebulites, gollux, totems, crusader codex and badges with potential stats we may not be able to reach the same heights as the KMS players. I think it will be appropriate to wait and observe how the Lucid teams in GMS NA and LUNA (the Europe server with carried over flame stats on some equipment) tackle Hard Lucid in the coming months. (OR better yet, invite the strongest GMS LUNA and GMS NA players to have a crack at Hard Lucid in a test server)
As of current, GMS Luna is the server with the most potential (and stats) to take down Hard Lucid, having a fusion of both Nebulites and Flames (additional options) on gear made prior to the merge. I have doubts that the North America based servers will be able to. If Luna is able to succeed where NA has failed, it may be appropriate to adopt a hybrid approach wherein both nebulites and flames (additional options can coexist) . As I am aware, the previous EMS (LUNA) flames were not as strong as their KMS counterparts and thus Nebulites can retain relevancy in the GMS environment (making up the status gap between KMS and former EMS flames in the form of primarily paid content. )
With respect to early and mid game progression, I remember fondly of a time when items would drop with an extra amount of stats (and sometimes less stats). I.e. I would find a dagger with an additional 4 atk and 3 Luk. There was an allure to hunting for dropped equips and checking each and every one of their stats. Flames/Additional options appear to have been the descendent of this system. The system has a lot of promise, it keeps gearing progression a lot fresher than it is right now and it may serve to attract and keep players hooked for longer.
As of right now:
1) Cubing is relatively inaccessible for newer and casual players (for the sake of argument, Reboot meso farming is outside of this definition), and the odd 1-2 master craftsman cubes you may get from elite boss rare chests will not yield any major results given their low (but fair) rates. Purchase of cubes via NX is the paid option but you would be hard pressed to find many new casual players spending upwards of 50 dollars rolling cubes especially when that's almost the price of a full AAA title game on an item that they aren't really invested in.
2) Nebulites that give meaningful stat increases are quite expensive and in high demand which serves to drive that price up. They are also relatively short in supply as a significant portion come from paid content such as Marvel Machine, Gachapon and Philosopher books. Again not many new casual players will fork out upwards of 50 dollars for a chance at the nebulites with meaningful stats.
3) Spell tracing equips require some resource collection (in the form of mesos to buy spell traces or the traces themselves)
Flames/Additional options can serve as a catalyst to convincing players to invest into certain equips over others. This is because these equips don't come "just like any other", they have their own value and uniqueness to them upon first encountering them. Once a player has found a particular flamed equip they like, be it having extra weapon atk/magic atk or primary stats, there is greater fixation for investing in that particular equip. There is a better connection between the player and the equip (I admit this, I can't let go or abandon some gear that has been with me for a long time and I still to this day upgrade them when I feel they need one) . When it comes to making gear today, since all the equips come exactly the same, they are not as "special" and can be easily replaced prior to any significant investment. Equipment is made special via the usage of cubes, nebulites and scrolling but this is too much of an investment for the casual starting out.
By having flames/additional options, equips can be their own kind of special prior to cubes, nebulites and scrolling. And can serve as a little kick for newer players to pursue the newer advertised content. A core problem that a number of friends who tried returning to the game during the 5th Job patch was that none of them got to experience this "new awesome content" soon enough. By the time they reached 5th job, their numbers had thinned and those that remained were so focused on how to make their next meso pay cheque that the 5th Job hype was swept completely under the rug. If they had access to additional options/flames, their progress would have been more enjoyable.
Tradeable flames can also serve as another commodity in the marketplace which players can buy and sell to fuel their progression in the game.
Pardon the incoherence/repetition in some parts, what I'm trying to get at is the hype and lure from patches such as V and Override are good for pulling players in, but player retention from the hype could be improved and I think Additional Options/ Flames can help with this. I.e the bait looks good, the hook is somewhat rusted.
I look forward to see what other comments and perspectives have to offer on this topic. And hope to reach a resolution that is both favourable to the players as well as the state of the game and company.
