Alliance SoMI
Scout
Now that we're about mid-season we wanted to revisit those LCO Rules we implemented at the start of the season and get feedback.
We've put together a Google Form to accomplish this:
Aura and Threshold Removal Feedback
We've put together a Google Form to accomplish this:
Aura and Threshold Removal Feedback
We know this has been a heated issue with lots of emotional investment, which is why our open-ended form questions focus on specific feedback.
You'll notice that there are more LCO Rules than questions pertaining to LCO Rules, the banning "Love 9", "Love", and related effects is not on the table and will remain in place; we feel these effects have vast potential to cause harm and do little to enrich the game.
As for the other more evocative rules changes, please let us know what you think!
As for plot's answer's to these questions:
What have you noticed in the game that was positive about the switch of Protection Aura (threshold) to Resist Physical?
Plot was able to use a lot more low swinging carrier attacks to much greater effect. There has been a wide array of monsters that swing 3-4's that we were previously unable to use. This has allowed more new Player engagement and also more slow burning threats.
Generally speaking we couldn't put out a lot of monsters swinging less then 5's because of the threshold situation. Because of this, Protection Auras and Thresholds didn't get used much. The item was ultimately self defeating. We believe the alternative effect we've used to be aggressively less situationally useful and but way more usable in all scenarios. Most things swing damage and being able to block that in a pinch is a great Player power boost.
What have you noticed in the game that was negative about the switch of Protection Aura (threshold) to Resist Physical?
We haven't been seeing a lot of Player's calling the Cloak Physical. To us this means that the change was either confusing or people weren't using the Cloaks out of protest. Either way this isn't good. While we did modify this item we were hoping the Players did not feel we were just punishing them for no reason. But, that hope may have been ill placed.
What have you noticed in the game that was positive about the changes to Elemental, Magic and Healing/Chaos Aura?
Not being able to switch auras meant that Elementals typically could have their body lowered, or we could add special weaknesses based on their opposite Element. While this may have not been noticeable to Players we're pretty happy with the scenarios where Players accidentally ended "boss fights" early. Or stumbled upon these weaknesses with out realizing it. Not everyone was capable of exploiting them but, when they were exploited it quickly ended the fights. This has been especially true of Earth Aura, where not a lot of Players have committed to having an Earth Aura blade. When Undead did come around, those Players were able to pretty quickly clean them up . We've also seen a huge increase in the use of Elemental Blade. While we still consider Evocation aggressively under-powered these changes have nudged stuff along in the right direction.
What have you noticed in the game that was negative about the changes to Elemental, Magic and Healing/Chaos Aura?
No one has really committed to specific Elements. A bunch of Players choose just to pull their auras all together. Only one Player has an Earth Aura they regularly use. So it's clear to us that Players don't see value in having Auras and it's easier to get a hold of Elemental Blades when the situation arises. We knew this would be contentious but, we were hoping that players would see upside (as well as downside) in having a blade that is aligned one way. It's pretty clear Players are only seeing downside, which can't be a good feeling for them.