Runes of Magic US / AU

Quoted from "Dkjester"

My issue with Rom instances is that they are designed in such a way that it is very hard to figure out a certain "strat". Lets talk about even Belathis easy. Don't get me wrong that dungeon had some good bosses, I think second boss was fun to solo (actual solo not me with x number of alts) on easy. In a lot of the newer dungeons it is a short timer 20-30 seconds before BOOM you are just dead. This is why so many just go and burn. Heck that is why I aim for just burning when farming easy modes. There is no incentive for me to even attempt to try the strat. My gf and I were getting to the point of duoing Normal modes this way too.

The instances have been designed that there is a burn chance from the beginning- problem number one. If you make it so that the timing of the boss battle and the flow of the fight doesn't allow for a buff up time, burning is harder. I think Grotto 3rd had a mechanism where you had to do something before you could do dmg, so a burn was harder since you only had so much time (Those are pretty good strats). Bela 4th had the bubbles you had to get into, which was a good change too. My problem with Bela was how hard everything hit and that it was required for a quest. Personally I had a blast trying to figure it out, I just didn't like dieing in half a second without learning anything new to help develop a better strat.

This is the issue I have with the game and with the instances. You aren't required to learn strats in a lot of cases and you are doing just a burn or die in a lot of cases. Which to me, I don't have fun if I go in, buff to the hilt, alt debuff/buff to the hilt, and then get a 15 second fight. I feel an accomplishment at succeeding but was it really FUN? Weeks of gearing for a 20 second fight.... nope I am sorry, now I just don't enjoy it. Then you add in mechanics that are designed to make it harder to burn/etc when all it really is meant as a time limit or a serenstrum/tart opportunity. I just think they are stuck in a cycle of make it bigger, hit harder and at the 30 second mark put in a huge hit cycle.

It just isn't fun anymore, which is a shame because I remember the fun I had trying to figure out Hoto, KS, IDK, Bela, etc. I just haven't had that fun in a while. Easy modes have been pretty easy (for me) and Normal is a fun challenge but not when it is burn or die. Id like to have more than 30 seconds to do a boss.... and NOT because of a DPS check, but because of a mechanic.

Quoted from "gigilomann"

Why is RoM not massive? well the state of the current game, the game doesn't meet this criteria b/c too many people have left, via the server merge. The game isn't growing. Heck there's no promotions and when you have videos on youtube on how to hack with well known players who i won't call out commenting on these videos... you know the game has dwindled.

Multiplayer: Why isn't RoM Multiplayer? Well, who needs multiple people when you can solo endgame content as a wd/w with buff alts.

or duo, or trio.

This game has fallen so far that it's rediculous. People say this people say that. let me tell you the Reality of this, at least on Palenque.

Players rather invite their own alts over player buff alts. This may not be the case for your server or guild. But I can assure you, it is for some. Why? Well, why invite someone else when they can keep the loot for themselves? Borella mentioned in a previous post about how they invite reall player buff alts, well this isnt the case for some and players are getting left out for alts, and not progressing

Quoted from "aardvark3"

Then a few elite players started complaining and strategies were inserted into the instances, some reasonable some just silly like jumping from one different color block to another when the color of the boss changed, Some fool had tried to change the game into a Super Mario Brothers clone and people just got disgusted and quit.
This is suppose to be a game the more fun it is to play and quite often the easier it is to play the more people will play it. This game has become a job and hard work at that grinding is a good description of the game.
While some people want something very complex and hard to beat where a hundred deaths may be necessary to finish an instance, their numbers are very few. As the instances became more complex the number of people doing them became far fewer, More people want something simpler where they can win on a regular basis.

Quoted from "radeon"

The other thing, of course, is that this game is just too much of a grind. Every task in this game just takes way too long. How many people have enough time in a day to do all these dailies and minis and then spam all day and night for gear and stats? Not many. Then you add in the cost and that's enough to make one feel like a masochist with deep subconcious issues. RoM has gone way off the path and totally forgotten that a "game" is supposed to be fun and entertaining, not like a second job after you come home from your real job. I'm talking about the normal "masses" here, not the hardcore hangers-on that still play this game.

Quoted

Quoted from "bleedingblak"





easy strat:



needs 12 players. boss gets 12 buffs. while any buffs on him are
active, he can't be attacked or use attacks. each buff is different
name / color. When buffs are active, a colored debuff is put on player
to find that color in the room and click it, removing that color buff
from the boss. After one minute, the boss heals 25%. Boss has 700m hp,
7k crit resist, but only 200k mdef/pdef. Rage timer is 15 minutes.
(debuffs cause 1% + 10k HP tick every 2s?)



The strat could take 10s, but the easy factor is that you have one
minute. The alt removing factor is that you have 12 debuffs to deal
with. The non-op, youre going to just die part, is that the boss isn't
hurting anyone, and you cannot burn.



That's just one thought that would mend alts in instances.


There is already a game that uses that same strategy it is called SUPER MARIO BROTHERS if I wanted to play a game like that I would get a Nintendo and joystick, Zelda and Castlevania also used strats like that but eventually gave up on them and moved on. If you want a puzzle game I suggest Myst and its successors. This game lost its soul when you couldn't burn bosses. The height of the population of the game was when Spank and Tank were popular and everyone was doing them playing and enjoying the game every area had people in it at all times. Then came the strats and silliness and since then the games population crashed.
While you may enjoy the strats and very hard boss fights that require immense time and many deaths, most people do not and will quit the game because of them. That is exactly what happened here people need to succeed and win a lot to keep playing the game and investing their money. The more complicated and difficult you make a game the less people will play it. It may be a big ego boost for some to say they can play the hardest game at the highest level but not enough people will play the game to keep it alive. The loss of population the closing of servers is to a great extent due to the constantly increasing difficulty factor of this game. It is not the only reason but a major one ignoring that is what caused our current problems.

Quoted from "MODRUNE01"

Who to cater design for...
- The heavy DPS players. "I like tank n spank bosses only."
OR
- The strat capable players. "I like reasonable strat bosses only."

Umn...why not provide both? When one enters an instance on mode, they first enter a meeting room with some locked door and a relevant NPC. The NPC then gives two options which unlocks the door and allows players to start.
1) Tank N Spank Boss Mode
2) Strat Boss Mode

The instance will pretty much be the same for either choice except for the boss. In #1 option, the boss will have mechanics and stats that suits a tank n spank group appropriately for that mode. In #2 option, the boss will have mechanics and stats that suits a group that can tolerate reasonable strats for that mode.

E.G.
Instance Hard Mode using option #1:
- Boss has 200M HP, 200k PDEF, 200k MDEF, etc.
- Boss enrages after 30 seconds.
- 2 players needs to go to a specific color to be able to hit boss. Repeat after 30 sec.

Instance Hard Mode using option #2:
- Boss has 150M HP, 150k PDEF, 150k MDEF, etc.
- Boss enrages after 5 minutes.
- 10 players need to go to specific colors to be able to hit boss. Repeat after 30 sec.

Suddenly, you open up instances to all kinds of different players that want to: 1) Get the latest gear. 2) Have fun their way.

Do I think they (the developers) could pull something like this off with appropriate modifications? Nope, but one can only dream..

Would this solve the alt 'problem'? Nope, as the relevant group that uses alts could still go with option #1. However, if those players are having fun their way, all the more power to them. Move along to another guild that coincides with your playing style..

Quoted from "ruisen2000"

I don't think they necessarily have to make new modes just to divide strats. Even in game with good instance design, some bosses are strat, while others are mix strat/DPS race. Also, normal mode is a nice place for less strat heavy boss fights. Hardmode bosses would have additional mechanics that are not in normal mode, or modified normal mode mechanics that makes it more difficult. basically, normal mode is easier both in gear requirement and strat requirement, and if you mess up strat in normal, you're punished less compared to HM.

Quoted from "MODRUNE01"

Quoted from "ruisen2000"

I don't think they necessarily have to make new modes just to divide strats. Even in game with good instance design, some bosses are strat, while others are mix strat/DPS race. Also, normal mode is a nice place for less strat heavy boss fights. Hardmode bosses would have additional mechanics that are not in normal mode, or modified normal mode mechanics that makes it more difficult. basically, normal mode is easier both in gear requirement and strat requirement, and if you mess up strat in normal, you're punished less compared to HM.

Not sure you understood the post. It was so that different group playing styles can be considered within the same mode (be it easy, norm, or hard).

One certainly can't get the latest hardmode gear in normal mode nor can one even bring in the same amount of players in normal mode to play with.

"Suddenly, you open up instances to all kinds of different players that want to: 1) Get the latest gear. 2) Have fun their way. "