Greetings,

I have been near the gear cap for quite a while now and only thing I really could upgrade with significantly would be a Splendid or Shining Alchemy stone. Unfortunately, the method to obtain is extremely prohibitive due to lack of Resplendent Stones selling to us on MP. Even if I am someone who grinded a lot in the past it's just not possible to brute force grind out one of these stones. Most people bought them off MP in past from people who obtained them via questionable methods. Some people also obtained them from a RNG box or getting really lucky gambling with bought Resplendents off MP (when they used to sell). I personally spent likely 150 billion in silver clicking those Resplendent Stones to hopefully get a Splendid Stone but it never happened and I continue to play less so will likely never get it. That's a lot wasted and it could easily go up to 300-400 billion silver wasted with nothing gained but players aren't even selling resplendents that I can buy off MPdue to bad in-game economy/no supply. It would be nice if there was a quest people could do to obtain one or just let us grind one out like the Cups in Elvia to encourage playing the end game more/giving us more things to do. 

Solution 1: Please add new items for the existing gear slots, particularly Alchemy Stones. About 99.9% of the end game players use a Vell Heart and then there's the lucky few who got a Splendid Stone from a RNG box or enhanced a resplendent or got it a long time ago who knows how. The players with the Splendid Stone have an edge because they would have similar AP to a Vells character SINCE bonus AP falls off at high AP but the Splendid Stone people get an extra 3% attack speed, 3% more ignore resist, more accuracy, etc. This isn't gamebreaking but it is a significant advantage and it really feels bad to have played so much and not be able to progress further without insane luck with a pre-order or a RNG box event. In a worst case scenario, please give us a way to grind out a Resplendent Stone in 10 hrs or so even if the grind spot doesn't give silver so we can at least gamble for a Splendid Stone. Even if it took 10 hrs to grind one out, that would still mean 300 hrs of playtime or so to get one on average since a Resplendent being upgraded to Splendid is like a 3% chance or something ridiculously low. Again, it just feels bad to not be able to buy an item that used to be widely available because everyone else is also geared up and has the same plan as me but there's no supply of Resplendents now.

Solution 2: Give us more AP bonus for reaching higher AP so there is incentive to obtain more AP and value items like Vells Heart and Deboreka Belt more highly. I'll explain it simply. Once you are over 309 AP (309 ap bracket gives 4 ap) it takes 7 more sheet AP to get a bracket and the brackets only give 2 or 3 bonus AP. I am DR for example and I don't feel it is worth to grind Crypt of Resting Thoughts and enhance for a PEN Deboreka Belt (24 ap) when I already got a PEN Tungrad Belt (21 ap + 20% BSR). At the bracket I'm at, the PEN Deboreka would give me 5 more AP total (counting the bracket) but I'd lose 20% BSR.  To me that isn't worth 100s of hours of grinding and maybe getting and maybe not if I'm unlucky. If it gave me like 10 AP for example, like if the 330 bracket was 7 bonus AP instead of 2 bonus AP and added to 10 d/t belt having 3 more AP, I'd probably be going for it.

Can anyone else see how the lack of upgrades and small bonuses for high AP deter end game players from continuing to grind/play the game long hours for more gear? I just want it for uncapped Node Wars, Siege or PVPs. I understand gear should be equalized for fairness in competitive PVP but there's already emphasis on balance with Solare and capped NW which I play. However, a MMO should encourage players to continually make their character more powerful by grinding, playing the game, etc. If someone hits 10 ap harder than you because they grinded Crypt for 200-300 hours and make a PEN Debo belt I think that's acceptable. They put the time in while the other player didn't.

Please consider the above recommendations to improve the end game. Please make changes that better reward putting play time into the game. Thank you!

Yeah AP brackets definetly needs rework, lower ones give too much damage, while brackets at 300+ doesn't matter.

it will be useless
1: you earn as much money in low lvl spots with free equipment with a valk awak spam space+right click
that a 3xxpa person who has spent 4/5 years optimizing his gear and who has to throw 12 elixirs, a combo of 12 skills, while risking dying and losing billions in crystals...
2: the spots are capped in AP....... and that Pearl Abyss never said so..
and this is probably the real reason why they refuse to display the damage on the live server
fortunately players were able to do their tests on the global lab
I have never in my life seen a company disregard the investment of its veterants players so much..

Why ?

Season player = guarantee battle pass 35$, most likely follow up spending ~15$,  most likely 35$ for daily special pass = aprox 100$ from season player with zero effort - copy past class and its assets, not complain at all.

Veteran player = 0$ from battle pass (its give nothing), 0$ from follow up spending ( already own everything), 0$ from daily special pass (why would you even buy it?) , consistently complain about balance and bugs, use silver to  tag new FOTM - another 0$ = aprox 0$  while demand costly content that  99.9% of season players will never reach.

Best you can do as veteran player is log out so PA won't fake online numbers, pay them respect they give to you.

If they read the feedback and put in new gear/alchemy stones in then I will certainly play this game more to grind for it. My post is essentially asking for content or changes that balances the alchemy stone disparity and buffs AP brackets so higher AP feels more rewarding. I feel this is a basic request that should be easy to do. The best geared characters shouldn't be determined by if they got lucky and have a Splendid Stone but that's the way it is now. It's true that the current state makes me not want to log on. Yet I don't want it to be this way because I've been playing this game for so very long.

It's not true that veteran players give nothing as well. Many of us have spent and continue to buy pearl items, even if we don't need silver we could buy new costumes or pets aka cosmetics. However, if the content only caters to newer players/seasons players coming and going it doesn't sound sustainable. I would think bringing in end game content and new gear is important and keeping the veterans should be important. Veterans also help newer players learn the game. I've made a friends who were newer players and they keep in touch. It all started with meeting them while grinding Hystria when I played more and teaching them some simple PVE and PVP stuff. Not every geared player immediately thinks of griefing when they see a new player. This community has a lot of potential but it got to keep the veterans happy. I really want to keep grinding on BDO but only if I see achievable and reasonable-for-the-time-invested gains for my end game character. I'm hopeful PA will listen.

Too bad they don't. Not even a single meaningful suggestion got implemented since they do this PR stunt feedback board or what.

Try suggesting more alpaka instead, they might even add that, but balance related lol no...

point of AP when every spot is ap capped?

The alchemy stone system needs to have a complete overhaul. And there is no point to gear if they continue the trend of capping BOTH PvE and PvP. 

At least, before, when PvP was all uncapped it offered aspirational motivation for players to gear up to compete in PvP. Now people dont even both to grind when they just sit in T1 node guilds. Terrible design that is not sustainable. I understand wanting to make the game feel accessible to new players/guilds, but the cap system is not doing the job as, in my opinion, it has a larger negative impact than it nets positively. 

There's just a feeling that you've reached near the end of the line, and that going any further just doesn't matter anymore. I'd like it if Splendid Alchemy Stones felt more worth pursuing. I'd like it if PvE AP caps and low AP bracket bonuses changed, so that a Deboreka accessory felt worth pursuing, too. I'd like it if the Nesser subweapon wasn't competitive with a PEN Blackstar. I'd like a lot of things...  
  
People are out there concerned about the loss of their Revered Fox Spirit +1 AP buff -- but even if you lost your 323 or 316 bracket, does it impact your performance in game in any measurable or detectable way at all? I doubt it. If you're at the 720+ point, the state of the game right now is telling us to just relax and not worry about pushing anymore. 

I basically failed enhancing another 200b in crons and degraded accessories going for PEN Deboreka Belt (I already had neck) and other accessories. Normally I wouldn't give up due to a 200b loss although it is a lot to lose even if you still enjoy the game. I obviously don't enjoy it like I used to. Anyway, I've been through enough and it was time for me to go. If you are comfortable playing a game where you basically grind in a circle for 100-200 hrs with no gains due to bad enhancing or little gains if you get lucky because end game gear is unrewarding then this is the game for you. I just can't do it anymore.

Yes, considering the lack of enjoyment I'm getting out of BDO I've decided I will quit the game. I just hope they impliment some of the changes we suggested. I hope they listen to their community and end game players. Others may be in the same boat as I was. So my post and regarding being done with the game, read it or delete it, either way is fine. I've decided my time is better spent elsewhere. If they read feedback though and wondering why end game players leave I think my sentiments are a good example for them.

A good band-aid I thought of is maybe they should put in a 50-100 hr grind in the new areas where you can craft your own Alchemy Stone that is as good or better than Splendid Stone and of course better than Vells. Even if the game gave me that PEN Deboreka Belt easily I would have felt uneasy not having a solid way to obtain a better Alchemy Stone because some players got carried by getting Splendid luckily or some even have a Shining Stone which was probably made by a hacker. In a way though I'm glad I lost something big in-game to make me say "yep, this isn't worth it or fun anymore". I was envious of players who roulette quit. I had so much gear I couldn't really lose much b/c of so few upgrades left. 

Some will say BDO defeated me or I was weak, but trust me, it takes a lot of strength to quit something you played for about 5 years hardcore. The big enhancing losses and poor end game content made it a lot easier on me. May luck and peace be with you all! Be happy.