Excaliber's List of Much Needed Fixes

[leonidastran]

Okay, I've been playing for a bit and can't help but notice many things that are in desperate need of a fix. I know this is still open beta, and so that is exactly why I'm trying to contribute and make this game better. Before we let this game go any further (like a full release) we need to really address these issues. Not only do some of these issues provide frustration for the player, they can hinder the progress of the game.

Below is a list of what I think are things that need to be fixed:

1. The Auction House -
   1. Search function: I seriously cannot stress how frustrating it is for me to search for an item and then have no returns when I KNOW for a fact that those items are in the AH. Also, when I search for bows, I'll get staves. This simply shouldn't happen. The general player should not have to go through such loops and hoops just to find an item in the AH.
   2. Diamonds: Diamonds in the Auction House will completely destroy this game's economy. They are not meant to be used as a form of currency and mixed with gold. Leave the Diamonds to be used on cash shop items only. Right now everything seems to be okay. But, if you look closely, players are already charging Diamonds for a lot of items and the cash shop isn't even out yet! Imagine when the cash shop gets released: Most people would want something from the cash shop. They will then price their rares in the AH as Diamonds. Why doubt this? It's already happening. This will then cause the value of gold to drop drastically. New players will not have enough gold to buy anything decent or be forced to pay for diamonds if they want to compete. This is quite easy to understand.
   3. Mail Returns: When an item successfully sells, I want to know what sold. Right now, I'm only getting the gold back with an empty mail letter in my inbox. I know I should remember what I priced, but when I'm pricing over 10 items at different prices, it gets difficult to remember which is which. This fix would help to allow players to gain insight on what items are fast and good sellers.
2. Graphics and Sound -
   1. Graphics:
      1. Riding a horse will sometimes cause it to loop infinitely in certain areas. These areas aren't rare, however, as this is a very common occurrence. It seems like the game can't keep up with the mount if it runs over certain areas, and so it would reset the horse back to it's original position. This will happen infinitely until players decide to change the mount's position. This can be very annoying when you're auto running or when you're doing a "Move-To" command.
      2. I've seen very strange things with equipment on a character. Sometimes an item on my back will spin like a broken clock. Also, equipment shouldn't be going through other equipment. My sword will often times go through my shield when I'm on a mount. While gathering herbs, I stand about five feet away and fiddle with my hands. Shouldn't I be kneeling on the ground? I know that these problems are minuscule, but they do take away from the immersion of the game.
      3. Buff and debuff icons need to be enlarged. I play on a 1280x800 resolution with maxed graphical settings yet I can't make out what's going on with the buffs and debuffs. It took me awhile to differentiate between the different debuff icons used by the knight class. They're simply too small and too similar. "Well, why don't you just lower your resolution?", you may ask. I don't have to sacrifice my resolution to be able to see what's going on while I'm attacking an enemy or what spells are being put on me.
   2. Sound :
      1. I love the background music of this game. The sad thing is I don't get to hear it very often! I know that it annoys some players, but they always have the option of turning the BGM down. I know of many other players who would appreciate epic music while in an instance or even during something normal and routine such as gathering herbs. There just simply isn't enough sound in the game.
      2. Also, horses right now seem like clouds with legs as they do not make any noises when they gallop. Footsteps sound the same everywhere I walk. Walking on grass should sound different than walking on wood. More sound effects will add to the atmosphere of the game and make it a more pleasing game to play.
3. The Lag, Oh the Horrible Lag -
   1. Lag Kills: I play many games and my average in those games are around 60ms. In this game, I'm often spiking for over 300ms. Is it the fact that the server just can't handle such a large load? Bad hardware? I don't know, but the lag has gotten me killed a lot of times in an instance. Instances are already tricky as is with the strong mobs; lag should be the last thing players have to worry about. This is not an isolated case where it only happens to a few players, either. Everyone I've talked to including guildies have felt the consistent lag. Fix it, please.
4. Class Balance -
   1. Knights: Knights right now are suffering from a predicament. They have the equipment. They have the buffs to tank. However, holding aggro seems extremely difficult! A damage dealer or healer in a group shouldn't have to worry about a mob going after them even when the tank is releasing all sorts of crowd control skills on it. Knights are meant as tanks, and so should be given that opportunity. Mobs will ignore the tanks and often go for a priest or mage and kill them fast. This results in a quick wipe of the party as the tanks loses their healers. This is especially true in instances where mobs are much harder. Fix the aggro and make it so that knights with hate accumulation skills are the first target of a mob. Note that I do play a knight, but I am in no way biased because of that reason. This will not bring any advantage to the knight in a pvp aspect. It just helps the entire party while in pve.
   2. Scouts: Scouts are currently notorious for their damage. A class shouldn't be able to kite and deal copious amounts of damage at the same time. Right now, scouts are out damaging mages and so what is a mage to do? Mages are primarily damage dealers and once the scout takes that role, mages only becomes a gimped class. (FIXED: Scouts' damage have been nerfed due to a bug.)
   3. (I have limited experience with other classes so please post suggestions for classes that you currently play. I will read through them and decide which ones are worthy of a fix.)
5. Cash Shop -
   
   1. Inventory Space: This is a free to play game. Players should not have to buy items from the cash shop just to improve upon their inventory space. As far as I know, buying from the cash shop is the only way to improve upon inventory space. Further more, this game likes to give players lots of items to hold. You're basically filled to the brim after daily quest drops, general quest items, blue bag gift items (this accounts for a lot) and items that you find on the ground. It would be helpful if players can expand on their inventory via bags from quests or from even crafting.
   2. Permanent Mounts: Some would dispute that not having the ability to get a permanent mount is frustrating, but I think that is alright. I understand that RoM and the people behind it have to receive money in some way. How else are they going to keep this excellent game going? However, it would be nice if they gave longer times for renting horses. The max is two hours, and that can go by quickly.
   3. Unfair Items: Game changing items should not be in the cash shop. For instance, in a game where leveling is quite important, players shouldn't have an advantage over other players via extreme exp boosters or other imbalanced items just because they have the extra money to blow on it. This creates an unfair playing field for players that might not wish to spend money on experience potions. They may just want to spend money on more customization, and that is okay.

I know that this is a lot, but these are just things from about three or four days of playing. I love this game and want to improve upon it, so the improvement upon these things in the game will make it a better experience for everyone.

Note that this list will go through continuous changes.

[mrfoxx]

Since when is it the law that mage has to be the strongest range dps class, where did you get that from?

And even though i dont plan on using the cash shop at all, exp potions are expected, if they dont sell that, what will people buy? As long as they dont sell armor and weapons then its fine.

I mostly agree with everything else, especially the bag thing, the lack of space is getting rididuclous. And the item mall bags arent even perminent, i dont plan on renting a bag every 6 months that would be ridiculous.

For the Mail, i also believe a Mail notice should be on the UI somewhere when you have mail, as it stands unless you check constantly you wont know.

I also belive all the classes need to be looked into, rogue and warrior especially. Rogue is ridiculously powerful, so is mage and scout, and warrior has ALOT of broken skills.

[tro44]

The Combat feels sluggish and slow at times.

Many people are having problems with the Clicking. Having to Double Click things, in order to (Target or activate a Button on Screen) is a no no.

Cant Right click names in the chat to invite.

Also Macros for equipping Shield and Main Hand weapons, dont work

[zapleaf]

Well for starters i agree with your frame of mind. Cash Shops are a horrible thing, BUT! i like this one. They do not exploit us in a way many, many other games try to. Diamonds as a form of game currency are unbalanced big time, but the word on the street is, there looking into removing that feature. (I still love the idea of buying diamonds though, in the auction It gives balance to the diamond idea).
As for the exp boosts. No they are just fine.

You really need to stop and put yourself in there shoes. This little project of theirs costs a lot of money to keep going, they need money from us players to help them. An online virtual economy is a VERY fragile thing at times, and some times game makers will push it to far, however, this one seems ok.

[nephili]

First of all, very well constructed post, it's nice to see people taking a bit of time and putting together a well thought out argument... that said, my thoughts on some of thi

Originally Posted by leonidastran

[*]The Auction House -

1. Search function: I seriously cannot stress how frustrating it is for me to search for an item and then have no returns when I KNOW for a fact that those items are in the AH. Also, when I search for bows, I'll get staves. This simply shouldn't happen. The general player should not have to go through such loops and hoops just to find an item in the AH.
2. Diamonds: Diamonds in the Auction House will completely destroy this game's economy. They are not meant to be used as a form of currency and mixed with gold. Leave the Diamonds to be used on cash shop items only. Right now everything seems to be okay. But, if you look closely, players are already charging Diamonds for a lot of items and the cash shop isn't even out yet! Imagine when the cash shop gets released: Most people would want something from the cash shop. They will then price their rares in the AH as Diamonds. Why doubt this? It's already happening. This will then cause the value of gold to drop drastically. New players will not have enough gold to buy anything decent or be forced to pay for diamonds if they want to compete. This is quite easy to understand.
3. Mail Returns: When an item successfully sells, I want to know what sold. Right now, I'm only getting the gold back with an empty mail letter in my inbox. I know I should remember what I priced, but when I'm pricing over 10 items at different prices, it gets difficult to remember which is which. This fix would help to allow players to gain insight on what items are fast and good sellers.

Search function: Agreed, needs fixing.
Diamonds: Disagree, the problem is an issue of player choice, and the restriction thereof. If you don't allow diamonds on the AH, we'll just have the most expensive items being sold by people spamming them in general. To avoid that, you would have to disallow trading diamonds COMPLETELY, which to me is just wrong... I guess the root of it is, if I buy diamonds, I want to be able to do whatever I want with them... if I want to give them to a friend, or use them to buy something from another player, that shouldn't be restricted.
Mail Return: Agreed

[*]Graphics and Sound -[*]Graphics:

1. Riding a horse will sometimes cause it to loop infinitely in certain areas. These areas aren't rare, however, as this is a very common occurrence. It seems like the game can't keep up with the mount if it runs over certain areas, and so it would reset the horse back to it's original position. This will happen infinitely until players decide to change the mount's position. This can be very annoying when you're auto running or when you're doing a "Move-To" command.
2. I've seen very strange things with equipment on a character. Sometimes an item on my back will spin like a broken clock. Also, equipment shouldn't be going through other equipment. My sword will often times go through my shield when I'm on a mount. While gathering herbs, I stand about five feet away and fiddle with my hands. Shouldn't I be kneeling on the ground? I know that these problems are minuscule, but they do take away from the immersion of the game.
3. Buff and debuff icons need to be enlarged. I play on a 1280x800 resolution with maxed graphical settings yet I can't make out what's going on with the buffs and debuffs. It took me awhile to differentiate between the different debuff icons used by the knight class. They're simply too small and too similar. "Well, why don't you just lower your resolution?", you may ask. I don't have to sacrifice my resolution to be able to see what's going on while I'm attacking an enemy or what spells are being put on me.

Horses: Agreed
Swords/items clipping: Would be nice, but I imagine that without placing severe limits on item size/shape, or greatly restricting the animations in the game, it would be all but impossible to do.
Buff/Debuff icons: Agreed. Ideally, I'd like to see separate sliders for different parts of the UI, rather then just the one that resizes EVERYTHING.

[*]Sound :

1. I love the background music of this game. The sad thing is I don't get to hear it very often! I know that it annoys some players, but they always have the option of turning the BGM down. I know of many other players who would appreciate epic music while in an instance or even during something normal and routine such as gathering herbs. There just simply isn't enough sound in the game.
2. Also, horses right now seem like clouds with legs as they do not make any noises when they gallop. Footsteps sound the same everywhere I walk. Walking on grass should sound different than walking on wood. More sound effects will add to the atmosphere of the game and make it a more pleasing game to play.

Music: Agreed, a simple "Loop Music" check box would solve the problem, letting music lovers like us enjoy it all day, while keeping it as is for those who don't like it.
Sound effects: Also agreed.

[*]The Lag, Oh the Horrible Lag -

1. Lag Kills: I play many games and my average in those games are around 60ms. In this game, I'm often spiking for over 300ms. Is it the fact that the server just can't handle such a large load? Bad hardware? I don't know, but the lag has gotten me killed a lot of times in an instance. Instances are already tricky as is with the strong mobs; lag should be the last thing players have to worry about. This is not an isolated case where it only happens to a few players, either. Everyone I've talked to including guildies have felt the consistent lag. Fix it, please.

I havn't had any lag issues myself, but I'm not going to say it's not happening... hopefully as the open beta progresses, they will take server load into account and upgrade their equipment accordingly

[*]Class Balance -

1. Knights: Knights right now are suffering from a predicament. They have the equipment. They have the buffs to tank. However, holding aggro seems extremely difficult! A damage dealer or healer in a group shouldn't have to worry about a mob going after them even when the tank is releasing all sorts of crowd control skills on it. Knights are meant as tanks, and so should be given that opportunity. Mobs will ignore the tanks and often go for a priest or mage and kill them fast. This results in a quick wipe of the party as the tanks loses their healers. This is especially true in instances where mobs are much harder. Fix the aggro and make it so that knights with hate accumulation skills are the first target of a mob. Note that I do play a knight, but I am in no way biased because of that reason. This will not bring any advantage to the knight in a pvp aspect. It just helps the entire party while in pve.
2. Scouts: Scouts are currently notorious for their damage. A class shouldn't be able to kite and deal copious amounts of damage at the same time. Right now, scouts are out damaging mages and so what is a mage to do? Mages are primarily damage dealers and once the scout takes that role, mages only becomes a gimped class.
3. (I have limited experience with other classes so please post suggestions for classes that you currently play. I will read through them and decide which ones are worthy of a fix.)

Knights: Agree, from what I've seen, threat generation needs to be increased for them, or decreased for other class.
Mages/Scouts: Disagree. Mages can't kite as well as scouts from what I've seen, but it's doable. More importantly, once Knights get their threat fixed, if Mages are the top DPS, why would anyone bring anything else? Kiting is primarily a solo mechanic... once you get into group play, both mages and scouts seem to be positioned as a damage dealer, they should both be able to perform the role with roughly equal levels of competence.

[*]Cash Shop -
[/LIST]

I'm not going to respond to every point here, but for the most part, I disagree. Nothing in the cash shop is game breaking. Yes, you can level more quickly with it, but at the end of the day, a level 50 who got there for free is just as strong as a level 50 who bought xp boosters. I would love it if everything was free, but they need to pay for things somehow, and developing new content costs money. Gimping the cash shop will decrease the desirability of it, and, in the end, lead to less improvements to the game.

[leonidastran]

I'm glad most of agree with the majority of what I have to say. I feel that the fixture of these things is crucial in maintaining a fun, balanced game. Let's hope the RoM Developers and GMs will hear what I have to say.

[Endemic]

Agree with everything except scouts. Scouts die alot cause they have very low HP and Defense. The added damage is necessary. And they already cut the Scouts best skill by 50%.

[leonidastran]

Originally Posted by Endemic

Agree with everything except scouts. Scouts die alot cause they have very low HP and Defense. The added damage is necessary. And they already cut the Scouts best skill by 50%.

I just edited this section to reflect the change. Thanks for the reminder.

[Greyfeld]

As far as scouts are concerned, I've seen this class be problematic for many games, when the question comes up, "how much damage should they be doing?"

Ultimately, I think that scouts should be doing damage on par with mages when they're standing still... but if they're moving (meaning they're probably kiting), their damage should drop a bit. Which means perhaps cutting some of the instant cast parts out of a couple shots. But that's just my opinion.