System/Item to convert solo spots into group spots
Jul 27, 2023, 02:46 (UTC)
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Last Edit :
Jul 27, 2023, 02:50 (UTC)
# 1
Family Name: DeLawrence
Region (NA/EU): EU
Comments:
Context:
With the recent influx of players and the developer letter detailing plans to improve the availability of grind spots for more players(via faster respawn rates, Marni Realm improvements etc.) I can't help but wonder if the better solution for this isn't to try and steer the grinding experience towards the 2nd "M" in the MMO acronym, namely "Multiplayer".
The idea came to me upon seeing Dehkia's Lantern mechanic which was just added to the game. It's clear that these systems and items like Elvia and Dehkia were designed to to improve existing grinding spots and making the big world of BDO not feel "dead" after progressing through the early areas, or become irrelevant once the gear progression reached new milestones.
With that in mind, there was a particular reaction I've seen towards the "PVP" aspect of the grindspots. People claim that removing guild wars and making the Karma penalties even harsher will limit the "interaction" between players. I don't agree with that opinion, seeing as a lot of players(myself included) dislike the forced PVP and the unwillingness of people to compromise(like waiting a few minutes for the grinding player's buff to expire, or swapping servers etc.). DFS is also something that I don't particularily like, but I "put up with it" since it is a more honorable/respectful way to settle a grind contest.
In all this discussion though, the word "interaction" caught my eye. I would say interaction between players hasn't been that high anyway. BDO has traditionally been the "solo run in circles MMO" for quite some time before changes were made towards more group content. However, looking at the Monster Zone Info tab, there are currently 73 spots listed there, out of which only 10 are party spots.
The list becomes smaller, evidently, once we take profitability and relevance into account but still it's no secret that group content is still not as widespread as many of us would like it to be.
Proposed idea/changes:
Now, with all those points in mind, I propose a system or item(I lean towards this more) that can convert certain monster zones from solo spots to party spots(with altered monster stats and maybe some bosses only available in this system). It could even be the Dehkia's Lantern changing the spots.
The key difference here though is that the alterations would not be that harsh as to spike the AP/DP requirements and that the loot improvements should be minimal.
That way, it shouldn't feel like a requirement, but as a "nice extra" for playing with other people or for situations where someone finds the spot "occupied" by another player.
The trickiest part though is the spot alteration and balance. Remember, the idea is to conserve the economy of the spot, but once you add more players in a spot designed for solo play...you can't just leave the packs/density/monster stats unchanged.
There are two potential avenues here:
1. Increase enemy density and reduce the trash/monster to balance it out. This, however, arises the issue of random drops, more enemies meaning more "draws".
2. Make the monsters tankier, while leaving the pack placement unchanged. This requires fine balance as to make them tanky enough for all players to hit reliably to get loot, but not tanky enough to where it slows the grind too much making the spot worse.
I don't think either avenue is better or worse and it's probably something to look on a spot to spot basis.
Now, which spots should be affected by the proposed system?
The first ones that come to mind are the treasure spots(potions), which are usually very contested.
There are of course more nuanced aspects to talk about(loot distribution and quality, activation requirements, what happens when other players come into the zone etc.), but for the time being, I want to leave it at the "broad idea" stage as to guage community interest in such a change.
Thoughts?
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Lv 62
Nether_Blade
Last Edit :
Jul 27, 2023, 02:53 (UTC)
# 2
Honestly im kinda for this, id rather more group grind spots than more marni time, bring back the mmo part of the mmorpg:P
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Spellstutter
Last Edit :
Jul 27, 2023, 02:58 (UTC)
# 3
Yeah I also like this. I don't really understand why the game was so fixated on solo spots to begin with. Many of us play with a friend or a few friends or would like to make new friends at random. Fighting alone is boring, mind numbingly boring. Maybe some people like it but I'd rather take the XP hit and grind with a friend than to grind alone.
I'm glad to see people posting their alternative take on what PA has proposed doing. More ideas the better!
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Eriane_Elis
Last Edit :
Jul 27, 2023, 03:42 (UTC)
# 4
Completly against that - it will push away solo player from spots - and making another realm for that will be also against the 1vs1 Player that like to go for a bit hunting.
From my post i did today to make some spots Group + splitting 3 Spots into Group and Solo Spot
The idea i had in this was to make it possible to have Group Stuff even in Treasure Hunt as also in Low Gearscore Spots Good Spots to do
Mediah > Sausans and Bandits (For New player that want to play together already on early Leveling)
(Fix of Trash Loot in Mediah - no Trade Trash Loot anymore + reduce Trash Loot at Sausans to 1 Item)
Valencia > Gahaz and Bashim
Kamasilvia > Fadus and Ronaros
(Splitting Ronaros into a Solo Spot and into a Group Spot with the Mirrors that Spawn Mobs arround. Splitting a Spot is nothing new - we have this in Star's End - to make one of the HP and Mana Pot Piece Spots into Group Spot would be a nice Idea, but not completly - for the People that prefer to play Solo. So splitting a Grindspot to have 2 possibilities would be a nice addition for BDO.)
Drieghan > Tshira Sidespot of the Keeper - Make them to mobs that summon smaller mobs for group grinding - Same idea like for Ronaros
Winter > Fossils as group spot in both difficulties - Remove Energy Costs
Ocean > Protty Cave to Split it also in a Group Area and Solo Area like Tshira and Ronaros
https://www.naeu.playblackdesert.com/en-US/Forum/ForumTopic/Detail?_topicNo=36885&_opinionNo=0
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Lv 64
ChuckyMaus
Last Edit :
Jul 27, 2023, 03:44 (UTC)
# 5
You're right, I didn't think about it that way. There is a kink in the idea. Your improvements may actually be better. Ugh, it's crazy how hard this is to solve >.<
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Eriane_Elis
Last Edit :
Jul 27, 2023, 03:55 (UTC)
# 6
What if, Marni's realm could be entered in a group? Maybe not at all locations, perhaps just at very specific ones? And it could only be entered as a group? Random thought but the ball is in the court if anyone wants to play with the idea lol
The main takeaway is that I like OP's idea of fostering positive interactions between players.
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Eriane_Elis
Last Edit :
Jul 27, 2023, 05:31 (UTC)
# 7
It would be nice to make group content available in many places without taking away the solo content..... everyone can win that way.
Last Edit :
Jul 27, 2023, 05:48 (UTC)
# 8
On: Jul 27, 2023, 03:42 (UTC), Written by PortgasDAce
Completly against that - it will push away solo player from spots - and making another realm for that will be also against the 1vs1 Player that like to go for a bit hunting.
From my post i did today to make some spots Group + splitting 3 Spots into Group and Solo Spot
The idea i had in this was to make it possible to have Group Stuff even in Treasure Hunt as also in Low Gearscore Spots Good Spots to do
Mediah > Sausans and Bandits (For New player that want to play together already on early Leveling)
(Fix of Trash Loot in Mediah - no Trade Trash Loot anymore + reduce Trash Loot at Sausans to 1 Item)
Valencia > Gahaz and Bashim
Kamasilvia > Fadus and Ronaros
(Splitting Ronaros into a Solo Spot and into a Group Spot with the Mirrors that Spawn Mobs arround. Splitting a Spot is nothing new - we have this in Star's End - to make one of the HP and Mana Pot Piece Spots into Group Spot would be a nice Idea, but not completly - for the People that prefer to play Solo. So splitting a Grindspot to have 2 possibilities would be a nice addition for BDO.)
Drieghan > Tshira Sidespot of the Keeper - Make them to mobs that summon smaller mobs for group grinding - Same idea like for Ronaros
Winter > Fossils as group spot in both difficulties - Remove Energy Costs
Ocean > Protty Cave to Split it also in a Group Area and Solo Area like Tshira and Ronaros
https://www.naeu.playblackdesert.com/en-US/Forum/ForumTopic/Detail?_topicNo=36885&_opinionNo=0
Your idea is worse by making the group/solo spots static. Their idea is to make them dynamic using the lantern system. Take any single group of enemies or small cluster and turn them into a 3-5 party spot while leaving the surrounding area untouched, by significantly buffing them, their drops, and continually respawning them at higher numbers.
This could turn a place like swamp fogans into a group grind for lvl16 players and actually reward them for playing together, rather than punishing them. What's more, it just in the southern most pond alone you could have a dozen groups, whereas before you could have 2 solo players. Now, swamp fogans is outleveled in like 5 minutes at current rates, but that was just an example. Could be soldiers grave, polly, ronaros, etc.
This has the potential to reduce available rotations for solo players, but that's literally no different than it is now, except their system let's 10x as many people use a single rotation, as opposed to only 1.
Last Edit :
Jul 27, 2023, 06:12 (UTC)
# 9
The lantern Idea is a good one and anonther possibility is to make use of Elvia. Transitioning to Elvia transitions multiple grind spots to higher geared grind spots, some solo, some group. It also is an instanced area separate from the general server. I think adding more Elvia spots as group spots would foster more group interaction, and while they're at it rebuff Castle Ruins. When Castle Ruins first came out me and my guildies were there all of the time and it was so much fun. We even had to defend our spot a few times and ended up in some really fun GvGs. But then they nerfed it and made an Elvia spot worse than a base Upper Gyfins. That was a real feelsbadman moment.
Last Edit :
Jul 27, 2023, 16:10 (UTC)
# 10
And make group spots solo too, i wanna grind olun piece but alone pls
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