r/RotMG • u/TheBestOfMe_SoFar • 13h ago
[Discussion] A great way to fix realm!
Tldr, a new core gamemode is needed to tackle three problems, lack of economy, lack of a learning curve, and no intrinsically rewarding endgame.
The current complaint by a lot of people right now is that once you hit endgame its kinda over. Before there was always a parabola of a learning curve. New players feed endlessly into the abyss' while endgame players never even touch them. That's why there was an economy before. There was a separation of dungeons and resources, and one class needed something from the other. Endgame players would rather pay 4 life pots for 32 speed. Could you imagine maxing a character out in that little time, the price of a tomb and a half? On the other hand, someone's a lowly trickster or knight, well hell. They've never done anything but snakepits so any chance at a life pot they'll take it, could you imagine if they had a 1 in 8 chance to drop a life?
Now though power creep has caught up to both ends of the game. And the addition of greater pots and potion storage has made the issue worse, however, it was necessary due to the foreseen collapse. If you can't pay someone for 40 speed then you might as well just horde enough just in case. Besides half the dungeons you do have them. And if you're a new player suddenly something strange happens. No one can sell to you anymore and now people's inventories are filling up. Someone from your guild maxes you out on dex because they're farming a ut, and suddenly someone randomly gives you def pots in the nexus. Then you're finally doing the abyss you were dying to so so often and once you get to the boss you finally get to practice and realize it's not that hard to dodge anymore. Then what do you do with the def pots.... you're shit so once you have 16..... You might just give them away. Then players give more away, then it becomes easier to survive, which turns into more survival, which turns into being able to do WLabs without effort. After all, you just back up and don't stay still and wait it out.
So now the learning curve is a line, which is intended. When people are forced to do Pirate Cove every other day, it's hard to convince someone's girlfriend to drop 20 bucks. However, now pro players are experiencing something unexpected, there is no longer a barrier to entry... at all... with even a little experience and a single UT and maybe an enchant they can immediately start doing lost halls again. We've all seen that level one sorcerer with a tophat kill oryx3. And so what does endgame content come to when there's no skill check on how you can progress or a real limiter? What do you do when every reset just brings you back to exactly where you were? It's why people complain about seasonal. We've hit a ceiling of sorts.
***What I'm going to present is going to sound strange, bizarre, and some would even say a genre break. However from what I understand it's everything the game wants and needs.***
The three core problems
We long for the iconic trading economy, something natural based on supply and demand. Something that players need from each other that has a progression curve that follows and can be manipulated by game design, something that affects players unequally.
Something with a learning curve, something that keeps new players scratching at the wall desperately, while players with a little bit of sauce get their hands in the mountain and climb. This has to be done with everything that we've talked about, how resetting isn't a challenge for old players while it's the only challenge for new players.
Something with an expanding endgame, something that only goes as infinite as it is expressive. Something that doesn't feel like a grind, because it felt like the game. The game that's still alive. Doing shit with people, having close calls, all of the roguelike elements. something cute and cool and maybe just maybe really fucking hard, while also having resources and game knowledge.
My solution.
Defend the nexus.
Imagine something like the guild, the tinker, and the forge. Imagine they're all brought into the nexus. And now imagine all the things you like about the nexus. It's a safe bubble, it's sensitive but strong. It's the last safe hold with infinite power, and that's symbolized by everyone being there. They've decided that they no longer want P2W taking up the lobby. And people want more power, expression, and challenge.
Let's make them able to build in the nexus.
Let us be able to collect resources, let only specific classes be able to collect resources. Archers collect wood, knights collect stone, wizards collect mushrooms, priests collect water, rogue collects gems. Make different tiers, make your character only able to hold a limited amount somehow. Don't create a separate inventory, and don't force yourself to pick it up, it should feel easy and natural. It should happen passively like fame. Maybe you collect it on death, maybe you can cash out at any time but you get a multiplier when you hold on to it. Maybe you get one resource slot so when you get better stuff it's either drop a stack of sticks for a couple of logs. This is where they can paint their own game design but it combines two layers of defense.
The defense that teir loot always had, being character specific, but instead of being on the demand side it's on the supply side. Newer players only have so many slots so they'll be reliant on other, just like how stashing potions were. And Pro players might have one of every class maxed out, but now they can trade 1 Diamonds for 100 pebbles if they don't want to farm for low-tier resources. WHATEVER YOU DO JUST DON'T MAKE HIGHER DUNGEONS DROP LOWER RESOURCES, and your second layer of defense is Implement.
Then you should have an economy running. Implement a trading system and then suddenly speed pots are important because you need your little shit ninjas to collect lotus flowers. So maybe you hang on to those greater speed pots. And then suddenly giving away pots is important because you NEED people again. There's something you CAN'T do without making a new character. And now there are REASONS to play new characters, there are reasons to try other character. And if you don't want to then there are reasons to trade. Maybe make the crucible give you a 10% chance to get another resource, but just one. So wizard can collect gems Or mushrooms. Seasonal maybe has a 1% chance. Either way it's up for design and creativity.
So what was all that talk about progression?
*tower defense*......
It has to be done. The players yearn for permanent progression, yet they hate the feeling of completing something. Maybe it would have to be a separate realm. And maybe it wouldn't be permanent. But having the nexus expand, block by block into the realm. Maybe it would be single player, everyone having a personalized attack realm. Maybe it's like minesweeper where every block you branch out you have a chance you uncover a permanent portal and then that goes into an Attack realm. Maybe enemies attack at the walls, and every (100k×resource quality) hp they do destroys a wall reversing progress. Meaning you have to set up turrets yourself, but every block you build you have a chance for your own chance at an attack portal. Maybe guilds share attack portals!!! Then once you find, attack portal, you get 3×3 with no walls, and you've gotta build yourself. Set up walls set up towers. But if you get forced out, it's gone, your character doesn't die, you just get nexus. You spend all those resources in a gamble, every dungeon you carry with you for another chance at attacking oryx at home! Enemies charge at your walls but your turrets and gadgets fight back, maybe some of them you can arm yourself, maybe some use ammo, maybe you need some to collect loot, maybe some heal your walls.
The enemies charge at you, you start boxing them in, they follow hallways, some parts of the map can't be built over, maybe some parts have nerfs or buffs. Bosses will come rarely, and once defeated has a chance to give loot. But the dungeon never gets harder. So you get to keep it. Only having a chance of a chance to get loot from it. It might only "loops" after you complete a dungeon, possibly of the same type. So it's just like a .1% permanent loot chance after defeating a dungeon. Maybe you can double down, two bosses for two chances, but can you also survive the bosses buffing each other?
A lot of design choices. You can reuse almost all the assets. You can re-balance everything, low risk, low reward. An enjoyable and slow midgame, an exciting and rewarding early game, and an intriguing end game that you can offer something other than exaltations. You finally have the breathing room you desperately need. You can design the rewards however you want, but now there's finally a reason for 8/8 perma insane players to rip through dungeons, and reasons for them to bring along newbies. Every little guy expanding the nexus gets you further and further out. People building the nexus to goals in the millions of blocks, phycisl reminders for how skilled the players are, every block represents someone doing something. Maybe I'm the buidling mode you can hover over someone's block to see who placed it!
