Ketchup Mechanics

[the_portals]

A few years ago, Old School Runescape released a new gamemode: deadman mode, where pvp was enabled for the entire world, minus a few safe zones. Whoever killed you would get to keep whatever you had on you, (plus several items in your bank, but that's not really applicable to this game,) and you would lose well over half of your stats. The reason people stuck with it is because xp rates were raised drastically from the base game, meaning building accounts was much faster, and deaths weren't as devastating. XP rates alone weren't enough to keep many players hooked, though, so after a few weeks/months after the new season of deadman mode when the servers reset, there were only a handful of players online. With the most recent season, they introduced two aspects that kept the players online for much longer: daily xp limits and catch-up rates.

Depending on how long the season was running for, players could only gain a certain amount of experience, shared among their combat-related skills. For instance, they could earn up to 1 million experience between all of their skills on the first day, 2 million on the second, and so on. If players joined 3 days into the season, they could still reach 3 million xp despite having a late start. This meant that the players who could play the game 24/7 could still progress, and still had incentive to, while the more casual players could still get to the same level. They also introduced a mechanic where, if the player died, they would have a large modifier to their xp gain until they reached their original stats. The season that implemented these changes kept players hooked for much longer, and every season since has kept this change.

What I would propose is the same kind of system, where your characters are limited to an ever-increasing cap depending on how long the server's been running for. Something like 100/200 stats per week would still keep high-end players striving to be the best, but still let slower players get to the same kind of level. Also, when you inevitably die, I would propose a temporary increase to your character development rate, but rather than giving you a boost until you get back to your original stats, the boost would last until closer to 80-90% of your original stats, possibly dependent on how your ancestor's remains were handled.

[MrPunchers]

No. These kinds of "catch up" threads need to be added to the things not to post about list, along with more weapons and every piece of (censored by Granger) food/feasting overhaul that slips in from people enjoying the sweet taste of their antique toy cars too much.

[Tanchist]

I think the only reason for people to grind stats like crazy day after day, month after month, while in real they are sometimes healthy, sometimes sick, sometimes busy, sometimes free, is because every one of them wants to be the best of this world. If your main rival gets sick or has no connection for 2 days, you can be THE BEST, THE ONE. (Until your own connection fails, lol!) This requires a lot of dedication, time, real money and patience, no matter if one uses bots or real players as part of a village or kingdom.

Well, if we get limits to the stats they used to strive for, limits that even late starters, hermits and late start hermits like me can reach, who will strive then and for what, since 80-90 % of the world will be just like them anyway? What is the purpose to even play, after you made your huge claim, built your Great Hall and your Knarr and got your best craftable gear? It only takes a few months to achieve these if you play hermit 2-3 hours a day on average.

[blank]

No. These kinds of "catch up" threads need to be added to the things not to post about list, along with more weapons and every piece of (censored by Granger) food/feasting overhaul that slips in from people enjoying the sweet taste of their antique toy cars too much.

whats wrong with more weapons?

[Granger]

whats wrong with more weapons?

Has been requested nearly as much as 'bridges'.

Good suggestion though, will think about enlarging that list.

[blank]

whats wrong with more weapons?

Has been requested nearly as much as 'bridges'.

Good suggestion though, will think about enlarging that list.

haven has like 2 weapons.. a sword and an axe.. we have more kinds of birds in this game than we do weapons.. Combat is at least 40% of this game.. content is important, Weapons are important.. kinda like hats.

but yes i agree. i'm sure devs are working on weapons or atleast have a plan to add more sometime.

world resets should be number one on that list though.

[Granger]

haven has like 2 weapons.. a sword and an axe.. we have more kinds of birds in this game than we do weapons.. Combat is at least 40% of this game.. content is important, Weapons are important.. kinda like hats.

I think 'more' dosn't cut it as long as it's completely irrelevant what kind weapon you wield (sword, b12, rubber chicken) - as long as there is an optimal build that provides the highest DPS possible everyone will run around with the same stuff.

Back to the topic, I think any kind of catch-up mechanic is pointless (in view of the developers aspiration for the world to be eternal) as long as the numbers just keep climbing - which at some point turns into just being shit for the ones that just start when the 'old' ones then can only measure their numbers with K or M SI prefixes as everything isn't that readable anymore.

Possibly a leader board - showing you your place in the world (not who the others are above or below you) could satisfy the ones who need to get off by being ontop - would help to transition to a system where there is a ceiling (that you can push, temporary) so you can put yourself over others with some effort to feel better.

Please try to envision a world that is running for 10 RL years and imagine the effects what you're about to suggest would have in that scenario and at how and why your suggestion would fail. Simply said: please get the word 'wipe' out of your head to come up with something that will work without it.

Also please keep in mind that PvE will always be boring unless it can be made sure that you're not guaranteed to overpower mob-x at some point, something that currently is guaranteed to eventually happen as long as the numbers can keep climbing limitless.

[the_portals]

Well, if we get limits to the stats they used to strive for, limits that even late starters, hermits and late start hermits like me can reach, who will strive then and for what, since 80-90 % of the world will be just like them anyway? What is the purpose to even play, after you made your huge claim, built your Great Hall and your Knarr and got your best craftable gear? It only takes a few months to achieve these if you play hermit 2-3 hours a day on average.

The point to keep playing is the fact that the cap would increase daily. So yes, you would be one of the best, but then you would have to log on tomorrow to make sure you stay in that top tier. And I’m not suggesting hermits be able to get thousands of stats and catch up to top-tier players in a matter of days, rather to make it so, if you missed the first few days of the new world, you wouldn’t be completely left in the dust. You probably wouldn’t be able to be the best at that point, but you would still be able to compete.

[Zampfeo]

Please try to envision a world that is running for 10 RL years and imagine the effects what you're about to suggest would have in that scenario and at how and why your suggestion would fail. Simply said: please get the word 'wipe' out of your head to come up with something that will work without it.

Eve is a good case study. Nearly 15 years old now. As you may know, all skills have their own individual caps at level 5 that on an individual level are relatively easy to attain taking typically 1 to 7 days, but it would take 25 years to max ALL skills. This means that older players don't get an unreachable advantage, they can just be more diverse. In Haven terms, a month old farmer could be just as good at farming as a 1 year old character, but that 1 year old character can do everything else better.

It works pretty well, I think. Maybe stat caps are what Haven needs.

I think the only reason for people to grind stats like crazy day after day, month after month, while in real they are sometimes healthy, sometimes sick, sometimes busy, sometimes free, is because every one of them wants to be the best of this world. If your main rival gets sick or has no connection for 2 days, you can be THE BEST, THE ONE. (Until your own connection fails, lol!) This requires a lot of dedication, time, real money and patience, no matter if one uses bots or real players as part of a village or kingdom.

To me, being "the best" in Haven has never had anything to do with stats, but with influence and control. It doesn't matter if someone has shit stats if they control the largest faction in the game. HnH has always been about politics for me. Again, same thing goes for Eve, The Mittani is a mysterious character that barely logs in yet he controls a coalition consisting of nearly 50,000 people. Same goes for more CEOs in the game, famous bankers, spies, scammers, etc. If only that game was more than just spreadsheets on a space background.