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Labor points - They have grown on me.
For those who aren't familiar, labor points are a resource you use to craft, mine, farm, and some other things. They are like mana in that you have to use them in order to perform these activities and they slowly build back up over time. (probably not the best description, but it gives the general idea for those not familiar with them)
Initially, they are a pain in the but. They limit how much you can do, and the build up is to slow (slower for non patrons). I chaffed under this sort of system. I've never been limited like this that I can remember. I like to mine and build up resources, and I am constantly short of labor points. It breaks my heart when I have to pass a node because I don't have enough.
So with the limiting affect they have, why have they grown on me? The short of it is the economy. This is one of the few games, that I feel your efforts in producing and selling things actually have a value that reflects the effort you have to put into it. People put things on the AH as cheaply as they can, like every other game, but there is the sense that the valuation is more accurate. It also means that not everybody is flooding the AH, with cheap goods, just to muck things up. To me, it gives the dedicated crafters and gatherers a higher status than in many games.
Of course this is only my opinion, but I thought I would share and would definitely like to hear your thoughts.
I
I self identify as a monkey.
Comments
You guys also must have thought farmville was brilliant then?
Ridiculous system.
People who like farming in this game would love farmville too. There is this trend where everyone has to trash talk Farmville but ultimately crafting and gathering in this game feels a lot like farmville. As someone in my guild put it, it's shameful for a guy to say that he likes Farmville to his friends but it's okay if he likes Archeage cause it fills that farmville void
I was okay with the labour system but I really couldn't stomach the grind! Crafting in this game is very grindy and takes ages. I wouldn't mind it taking it long but this is boring too. THe actual gameplay of the game was boring. And I am not talknig about the questing here. Although somehow they did manage to come up with the WORST questing experience I have ever had to endure in an MMO.
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That isn't an issue. Problem is, labor system absurdly affects nearly everyone, regardless of what they are doing, not just people who like farmville style game play.
It is just another asian game with poor design. It isn't bad if you do not have too high expectations or just love farmville.
Labor Points reminds me of Fallen Earth's crafting time -- another way to force crafting to take more time, hinder your crafting. Fallen Earth is even more cumbersome because 95% of the gear in that game is crafted, with some items literally taking 24 hours to make...
But why not just use item decay? Is the LP system a better way for Trion/XL to monetize?
Honestly crafting in MMOs generally boils down to something as simple as "click on resource, click on item you want to make". Adding LP to it is just trying to add another illusion of complexity to something that was an illusion in the first place. (which is why "Archeage's crafting is just farmville, but prettier" is a pretty valid point sometimes. But I suppose as pointed out, some people enjoy that. Farmville was POPULAR, you know)
The item decay was removed in Korean CBT5 or so.
People do not like item decay in general and it does not go well with vertical progression games and heavy grind - something XLGames were aiming for.
The only thing it does not fit is the bank account of TRION and XLGames. Labor Points are a monetization function and have NOTHING to do with balance or whatever idiotic excuse people come up with. They are in the game to make money nothing else.
As I stated above, the LP system itself is not an issue. The problem is, it affects way too much in the game.
I have edited my post to make my point more clear.
No idea if farmville is brilliant or not but i like the idea of in my mmorpg i can produce a big part of necessary materials for whatever i need insted of running around on territorys looking to gather them.
If it is farmville inside my mmorpg, so be it.
means youre good at making 5 additional characters to drink labour potions and multiple accounts to gather and other random bullshit.
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Never played famville, sorry. However, without stating reasons for why you think it is ridiculous, you aren't really contibuting to the discussion.
I self identify as a monkey.
Being a dedicated crafter doesn't mean that's all you do. It just means you try to craft as much as possible and that you enjoy it. It is about using your labor efficiently. You balance out questing with crafting.
I self identify as a monkey.
I would have to think about whether item decay or labor points is a better system. Not sure atm. However, the monetization piece is a wash really. If they didn't get some money from labor, they would get it somewhere else. Either way, we wouldn't be happy about it.
I self identify as a monkey.
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In that regard, it has the opposite effect actually.
Labor system is easiest to beat with alts, multiple accounts and bots, so "normal" players get hurt the most.
It is really nothing more than layer of game monetization.
The reason it is so all pervasive is because it is part of the monetisation system. If LP's did not affect so many activities in game, then players would be less likely to;
1. Buy items from the cash shop to replenish LP pool
2. Purchase Patron status.
as a corollary, Patrons are more likely to log out once LP's are exhausted so that they can regenerate the LP pool, however, because F2P don't have this option a lot of F2P players are trying to remain online in the game while AFK, which does cause problems, how Trion deal with them should be interesting.
Yes, very likely. I was just talking strictly from design point of view.
But then again, it is almost essential "feature" of asian developers to sacrify the game for monetization, even if it means the risk it will fail. They can always make 3 new ones to replace 1 failed game
Taken from:
http://www.reddit.com/r/archeage/comments/2fs3wu/300000_dusts_for_1_piece_of_bis_gear_warning_math/
P.S. 4,8mln LPs assuming 1LP regen per minute = 3,385 days. So either 1 player will "work" 10 years for it solo, or 10 players after 1 year pooling resources together will have chance of getting Single Ayanad Weapon. Neat.
Is it Trion's or XL Games' responsibility to deal with bots/exploiters/cheaters/spammers, etc.?
Alyn
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
John Lennon
Fascinating and rather eye-opening table Theutus. The time required as shown is disturbing ...
Alyn
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
John Lennon
Sometimes the best things in game aren't easily attainable... it's why they are the best. If you consider someone has played WoW for 10 years now... imagine if now, he finally could craft his ultimate weapon... and that no one else in game had one. That's what this system is about... making you work for something, not just have it handed to you... and damn if wanting it doesn't mean you'll have to keep playing it. The "I want it all now" crowd has no place in AA. The game isn't designed that way no matter how hard you try to change it.