[2020] Item Rewards - Official discussion thread

I actually don't like disciplines being gated behind random drops, either. I feel like they are too critical to creating builds. I'll talk to the design team about this one.

Todd

Agreed, we can't chase every rabbit down every rabbit hole. And we aren't. We don't make these decisions blindly; we can look at the data we collect . We can look through the logs and see how far players get into the experience, and what state they are in when they stop playing. We can also then reach out to them and ask them for reasons why they quit -- which is important qualitative data to add on top of the quantitative because often people don't "quit", they were just logging in to check our progress and intend to come back when the game is more complete. I also read these forums and social media for at least 2-3 hours a day, to get feedback from you guys. We don't make changes in a vacuum, even if it appears that way from the outside.

To reiterate my previous post: we can tell from the data that there is a significant issue in the gameplay loop where players find they cannot move forward, and they quit. While a thriving player economy will (hopefully) alleviate a large percentage of these issues, there is no guarantee of that, and since there is no guarantee we need failsafe mechanics. I'm happy to discuss the reasons why players might hit the point where they can't move forward, and brainstorm ideas to resolve those issues -- and we should, because the less it happens, the better.

But regardless of the reason why, we shouldn't build a system with no failsafe mechanic, where a player can find themselves literally gated with no alternatives. I understand and agree with the desire to protect the crafting profession, and I will absolutely endeavor to do so, but we have other design goals that also have to be considered and accommodated as well.

Todd

You'll be able to craft better gear across the entire progression of the game and, on top of that, still have exclusivity over the best gear in the game. Your gear will be far more durable, have better stats, and the item effects will be bespoke.

Todd

As I said, this is a valid problem and one that we will have to solve before launch.

Todd