2012-06-25, 11:50 PM
Actually, I'm going to go crazy with the ideas since I need to vent some text out of my system ;o.
Mystery Mastery Books gone:
Change it so that every 4th job skill has a questline for you to complete. There will be a quest to unlock lvl10, a quest to unlock lvl20, and a quest to unlock the final lvl30. This storyline would promote people sticking to one class as it introduces a certain commitment; on the flipside, the different sorts of quests would promote people to actually making new classes just to see these quests.
Get rid of touch damage and invincibility on hit:
Only monster's attacks, spells, and hazards can hit you... but without limit. The reason this is a much needed change is that there is no difference between fighting a single monster vs fighting a mob of 15. The 1 second invincibility on hit does the following:
Add a potion cooldown:
The reasoning behind this isn't to just make the game harder just for the sake of it... it's to add another factor of awareness and urgency. If you have a 100% heal sitting next to you but it only activates every 5-10 seconds, there comes some decision making: do I want to play it safe and pot now or risk it to be efficient and pot later. This means it's not a mindless potfest during bosses. Also, I would change it so that you cannot pot during stun, thus making stun a much deadlier status that it should be. If you add potion cooldown, the reasonable thing to do is to limit those "fake difficulty" mechanics like 1/1. IMO, the only reason 1/1 exists is because of 1 second invincibility on hit (my second point) and if there wasn't 1 second invincibility, it would make very little sense to have bosses spam the hell out of it. It can still exist as a telegraphed boss mechanic that would require a strategy or preparation to get around it, but it isn't the main threat.
Make mobility a feature and not a gimmick...:
As much as I love double jump and Slipstream, it makes little to no sense to have mobility on these classes that were traditionally supposed to be slow. Thieves set the mobility standard because that was their class... a fast/mobile class. I don't want flying Paladin fortresses sweeping across the map... With FJs, what's the point of mounts... or move speed... or jump stats...
Most/All spells have a charge up:
This is essentially "casting" time. Like, when you use Chain Lightning, holding onto it will give you the gauge you fill up similar to Big Bang; the longer you hold it, the more damage it does. This system still allows you to spam it repeatedly but it also allows you to hold onto it for a better effect. Those increased effects could be instead of 3hits-2targets with zero charge, full charge would be 6hits-8targets (the way it is now). Ultimates can be done the same way except with range and debuffs can be done in the same way (holding Dispel, Threaten, Poison for increased effects). Also, you can't pot during charge up (like Big Bang). But the thing is, the casting time would be like... 10 seconds long or something. Something really long. Something that requires precise placement and timing. Something that isn't spamming a single key only to witness the same effect over and over again. There could be a basic attack like Thunder Spear is a spammable attack, but have Chain Lightning as a spell that requires awareness.
You can only fully max out half of your skills
This is a bit of pre-BB, but having it so that you can only max a certain amount of skills would bring a new level of individuality and utility. Imagine that a Paladin can max out ACB, Blast, Heaven's Hammer, but had to sacrifice Guardian, Achilles, and Divine Shield. Or a White Knight maxing Ice Charge, but cannot max Fire Charge. It's this decision making that confines you to a playstyle and in a way, gives you an identity I feel... There will have to be some huge revamps though because there are a lot of pretty garbage 4th job skills that no one would max first... And because I'm so sadistic, if you SP reset your character, you have to complete all the skill quests (from point #1) all over again. As an unintended feature, Phantom would have a much more difficult time to find skills if a person doesn't have it.
Bring back weapon diversity What's the difference between a sword and an axe? Nothing. What's the difference between 1h and 2h? Well, you can wear a shield with one and the weapon multiplier is higher on the other. Anything else? Nope. So, what's the point in having these different weapons? What's the point in getting an Axe instead of a Sword? What's the point of going 2H when there's almost no difference than going 1H? What's the difference between staff and wand? What's the difference between Spear and Polearm?
-This problems is even worse for Paladins: What's the difference between a sword and a BW? Nothing. What's the difference between 1h and 2h? Well, you can use all your skills with one and you can't with the other. So what's the point in going 2H? What's the point in going 2H BW? There is none!
-There really needs to be some weapon diversity like... going Sword gives you faster strikes but going Axe gives you higher numbers. Using a Sword with Blast gives you 6 hits 0%PDR ignore but using a BW gives you 1 single strong hit with 100%PDR ignore. Using Panic with a sword does more damage but hits 1 but using Panic with an axe does less damage but mobs. It's these types of differences I want to see...
Pre-BB DKs had to deal with this kind of decision making: do I want to use a Spear and do more with Buster or do I want to use a Polearm and do more with Fury?
Bleh, that's my text vent for today. :/
Mystery Mastery Books gone:
Change it so that every 4th job skill has a questline for you to complete. There will be a quest to unlock lvl10, a quest to unlock lvl20, and a quest to unlock the final lvl30. This storyline would promote people sticking to one class as it introduces a certain commitment; on the flipside, the different sorts of quests would promote people to actually making new classes just to see these quests.
Get rid of touch damage and invincibility on hit:
Only monster's attacks, spells, and hazards can hit you... but without limit. The reason this is a much needed change is that there is no difference between fighting a single monster vs fighting a mob of 15. The 1 second invincibility on hit does the following:
- Makes no one care about mobs: if mob attacks stacked, there will be MUCH less mobbing to ridiculous extremes (lvl110 DB/Mercedes rushing 15 crockies up against the wall) and it promotes pinning bosses/high level mobs only to warrior classes (like it should be).
- Gives defense/HP less importance: as long as you can survive a single hit, there is no reason you should die at all. As long as you have auto pot and you're on top of potting every 1 second, you're pretty much unkillable. This makes defense/HP completely useless past a certain point.
- Gives the "There is no such thing as 'tanking' hits" mentality: if you can take more than 1 hit from a mob, you're pretty much able to tank it. The only difference between a HP washed lvl200 Paladin and a lvl110 naked Mercedes is that one of them is spending a little bit more money... and it's not even that much.
- Makes summons a joke: with 1 second invincibility, I LOVE summons! Let me take that 14 damage touch damage so I can dodge that 1/1 that's about to pop. What a stupid mechanic... In typical MMORPGs, summons are there to create more targets, thus making the task of attacking the actual boss a lot harder. Also, they ADD to the boss' DPS rather than SUBTRACT it. Maple Story is like one of the only RPG games where seeing the boss summon monsters is a GOOD thing.
Add a potion cooldown:
The reasoning behind this isn't to just make the game harder just for the sake of it... it's to add another factor of awareness and urgency. If you have a 100% heal sitting next to you but it only activates every 5-10 seconds, there comes some decision making: do I want to play it safe and pot now or risk it to be efficient and pot later. This means it's not a mindless potfest during bosses. Also, I would change it so that you cannot pot during stun, thus making stun a much deadlier status that it should be. If you add potion cooldown, the reasonable thing to do is to limit those "fake difficulty" mechanics like 1/1. IMO, the only reason 1/1 exists is because of 1 second invincibility on hit (my second point) and if there wasn't 1 second invincibility, it would make very little sense to have bosses spam the hell out of it. It can still exist as a telegraphed boss mechanic that would require a strategy or preparation to get around it, but it isn't the main threat.
Make mobility a feature and not a gimmick...:
As much as I love double jump and Slipstream, it makes little to no sense to have mobility on these classes that were traditionally supposed to be slow. Thieves set the mobility standard because that was their class... a fast/mobile class. I don't want flying Paladin fortresses sweeping across the map... With FJs, what's the point of mounts... or move speed... or jump stats...
Most/All spells have a charge up:
This is essentially "casting" time. Like, when you use Chain Lightning, holding onto it will give you the gauge you fill up similar to Big Bang; the longer you hold it, the more damage it does. This system still allows you to spam it repeatedly but it also allows you to hold onto it for a better effect. Those increased effects could be instead of 3hits-2targets with zero charge, full charge would be 6hits-8targets (the way it is now). Ultimates can be done the same way except with range and debuffs can be done in the same way (holding Dispel, Threaten, Poison for increased effects). Also, you can't pot during charge up (like Big Bang). But the thing is, the casting time would be like... 10 seconds long or something. Something really long. Something that requires precise placement and timing. Something that isn't spamming a single key only to witness the same effect over and over again. There could be a basic attack like Thunder Spear is a spammable attack, but have Chain Lightning as a spell that requires awareness.
You can only fully max out half of your skills
This is a bit of pre-BB, but having it so that you can only max a certain amount of skills would bring a new level of individuality and utility. Imagine that a Paladin can max out ACB, Blast, Heaven's Hammer, but had to sacrifice Guardian, Achilles, and Divine Shield. Or a White Knight maxing Ice Charge, but cannot max Fire Charge. It's this decision making that confines you to a playstyle and in a way, gives you an identity I feel... There will have to be some huge revamps though because there are a lot of pretty garbage 4th job skills that no one would max first... And because I'm so sadistic, if you SP reset your character, you have to complete all the skill quests (from point #1) all over again. As an unintended feature, Phantom would have a much more difficult time to find skills if a person doesn't have it.
Bring back weapon diversity What's the difference between a sword and an axe? Nothing. What's the difference between 1h and 2h? Well, you can wear a shield with one and the weapon multiplier is higher on the other. Anything else? Nope. So, what's the point in having these different weapons? What's the point in getting an Axe instead of a Sword? What's the point of going 2H when there's almost no difference than going 1H? What's the difference between staff and wand? What's the difference between Spear and Polearm?
-This problems is even worse for Paladins: What's the difference between a sword and a BW? Nothing. What's the difference between 1h and 2h? Well, you can use all your skills with one and you can't with the other. So what's the point in going 2H? What's the point in going 2H BW? There is none!
-There really needs to be some weapon diversity like... going Sword gives you faster strikes but going Axe gives you higher numbers. Using a Sword with Blast gives you 6 hits 0%PDR ignore but using a BW gives you 1 single strong hit with 100%PDR ignore. Using Panic with a sword does more damage but hits 1 but using Panic with an axe does less damage but mobs. It's these types of differences I want to see...
Pre-BB DKs had to deal with this kind of decision making: do I want to use a Spear and do more with Buster or do I want to use a Polearm and do more with Fury?
Bleh, that's my text vent for today. :/