Runes of Magic US / AU

One possible way to fix the "expensive" part of the game, could be do implement the following:

Rather then having +'ing gems based on level, Starsplinter vs faith vs older versions, have them based on "quality" of an item. For example, Star Jewel Highest Quality is for hard mode gear, or pom gear, etc. of any level. Then have similar mid, and low end version of the gems. One of the major advantages of this is that they would be useful regardless of new content. A large complaint many players have is "our old upgrade jewels are useless, we'd like some form of compensation or trade-up". This would prevent such a need.

How could the game implement this? Simple -- make use of an already present mechanic -- the "Star rating" system. Go through the database and adjust the ratings of just the most commonly used items, and possible quest reward items. After that is complete, any new item entered in to the database can have its "star rating" evaluated and adjusted before its release. Not changing all the items is meant to save money on the implementation of the system.

What would this accomplish? Well players can choose to spend more or less money to make equipment. For example, a new player wouldn't need to spend as much money to + a quest reward item or Phirius shell item in order for it to become stronger. This in turn would allow newer players to get involved in more content, and at the same time encourage some diamond spending.

What does this do for endgame players? Unless prices are adjusted, not much. Those looking to make the best quality items will have to pay more (or those making not-the-best items get them for cheaper), but isn't that always true in life? Gold is worth more than iron.

A similar thing could be applied to drillers, as well as perhaps tiering. The first would be slightly easier to implement -- just put quality checks on drillers, make new ones available in item shop, similar to how level checks and refinement level checks are applied on +'ing gems. I'm not sure how tiering could be applied to make it cheaper based on item quality, but perhaps it wouldn't be necessary.

Quoted from "jo7154"

plussing green gear/weapon is less expensive than plussing purple gear/weapon , right?

sort of. Take a look at various purple items available for your character -- there's hard mode instance, normal mode instance, easy mode, crafted, phirius shell, EoJ, dreamland, honor gear. Then there's blue quest gear, green items, vendor items. The idea is that it should be cheaper to upgrade items that "aren't the best" like phirius shell gear, or quest gear. That gives new players a less expensive way to make items and participate in content -- they wouldn't need to get the best item b/c they aren't paying large amounts to + the item, making the transition from new player --> mid game player --> end game player easier/cheaper.

We can rate gear such as hard mode 5 starts, normal mode/crafted/honor as 4 starts, easy mode and phirius shell/EoJ/dreamland 3 stars, quest gear 2 stars and other stuff 1 star.

Quoted from "jo7154"

plussing level 20 stuff, cost less than plussing 85 stuff?

No. I suggest replacing the levels (below 40, below 60, below 80, below 90 etc.) with quality (5 start or lower, 4 stars or lower). This means armor +'ers you buy now would work at level 100 cap because the rating system is the same.

The reason I've made it so complicated is b/c making things based on rarity (purple, vs blue, green etc) is b/c that wouldn't help new players get into instances cheaper then what it currently costs. Aside from quest reward accessories and capes, the quest armors won't get you into grotto hard, or perhaps not even grotto normal. Phirius shell gear and/or crafted gears will however. But basing the system on rarity means they aren't saving any money making such items, and so you have hoardes of people waiting to make items because they want "best in slot" to spend 1k dias on.

I've already said the accessories are good, as are the capes -- in fact I recently made some lvl 79 ones for siege war just to save myself form having to buy new gems. But the armors themselves aren't good. They give no crit to the dps chars, not enough healing bonus to healers -- only tanks could potentially make good use of an entire set. They won't get players into grotto hard.

The main difference between players doing high damage in "end game" instances is crit rate. Having a full set of quest armors means you have 2k less crit then a similarly geared p.shell player, and that crit rate results in a huge damage difference. Yes, the quest armor geared player will crit for higher amounts on any individual skill, but 2k crit rate means one person crits 15% vs another doing 50%. That more then makes up for the loss of patk (random numbers here used to illustrate my point).


This suggestion is based around the fact that too many players want to go from zero to hero. They want to buy and use and upgrade ONLY best in slot. Cases where players hand out free, old gear to newer players seem rare to me, and even when it happens it usually doesn't result in a grotto hard mode capable player. In other words, the free hand outs don't usually result in a player being able to get the best-in-slot gear that they really want. Not many players are willing to settle for second best, or to make a mediocre set knowing it will be changed once hard mode gear is obtained, for the sole reason that they can't or won't spend the money to make the gear. I've been running grotto hard mode with level 75 or under gear, with a t11 +16 bethomia axe, and I have kept up in dps with r/m's using much newer and better statted equipment -- in the cases where I did not keep up, I was still contributing a fair amount of damage on the boss. This illustrates how second best gear can make you viable in the instances that people want to run -- but again the cost of making such gear holds back many many players. I suggested this with that in mind.