Zelrius here on another account. (Zelrius account is banned, am allowed to use others)
As a player who is bordering 4 years on the site, I've seen it grow and die, much like a wildfire. To touch on what @Oikawa has said here before; The switch to numbers is, in my opinion, what did it in for most. Myself included. Near the end of my character's life, My activity cut down significantly; It was no longer about role playing the implications of my character and his situation, Instead, @Vale and I would spend hours pouring over numbers and stats, trying to exploit and gain even more of an edge than we had. That became boring to me very quickly, and while a good number of the exploits have been cleared up, As @Shield has just mentioned here, those who used such exploits (Intentionally or not so) are now leagues ahead, making the new comers feel the ever increasing pressure to disregard Character and Story, and focus on Gear, Stats and SP in order to remain completely relevant. This, like Oikawa, in my opinion, is what is draining the site of its activity.
In solution, I have a few ideas. One of my top arguments, especially during the Tristan and Zero era, was this; Stop scaling Bosses to be a challenge to the players just because. Let the stronger players clear up to their level, they will hit a wall one way or another. To better word it; Of course our Level 60s are going to shitstomp Floor 20 bosses, or atleast they should be. I can see how that can be completely unappealing to staff, which leads to my next proposal; The Timeskip. I am personally not of the school that it is a Cop out. This idea can go great with the minimum level cap that Shield had mentioned above. Give newer players a Kick to a Higher level when they start, Change nothing about current higher levelled players, since they already have the inheirt advantage, and it allows staff to make actually decently strong bosses without extremely slowing down progress. I say, Timeskip with the Low-Level Advantage, Along with instituting a plethora of overhauled systems and Level caps. That combination, atleast way I see it, will boost New-Comer activity, taking pressure off their need to feel relevant and focusing on their character development, Solve the age-old Roleplay problem that new comers have where they basically have to say they've sat around on the first floor for 4 years, and will give the Veterans something to do, while the level cap makes it so that the new comers have a chance to catch up.
To finalize, I am in agreeance with Shield on the matters presented above. Boost lower levels, Change nothing for higher levels, Add in Level Caps and Overhaul some systems, such as; Scouting of Bosses, Boss fights themselves, Adding more quests and doing more events. On that last note, I think having more events that allow for any and every player to go at their own pace and still get high-end rewards is an extremely good idea for boosting activity. So; focus on lower levels, and keep higher levels occupied while limiting their progress to allow others to play catch-up and focus on more story-based RP.
State of the Site Discussion
in Sword Art Online (OOC)
Posted
Zelrius here on another account. (Zelrius account is banned, am allowed to use others)
As a player who is bordering 4 years on the site, I've seen it grow and die, much like a wildfire. To touch on what @Oikawa has said here before; The switch to numbers is, in my opinion, what did it in for most. Myself included. Near the end of my character's life, My activity cut down significantly; It was no longer about role playing the implications of my character and his situation, Instead, @Vale and I would spend hours pouring over numbers and stats, trying to exploit and gain even more of an edge than we had. That became boring to me very quickly, and while a good number of the exploits have been cleared up, As @Shield has just mentioned here, those who used such exploits (Intentionally or not so) are now leagues ahead, making the new comers feel the ever increasing pressure to disregard Character and Story, and focus on Gear, Stats and SP in order to remain completely relevant. This, like Oikawa, in my opinion, is what is draining the site of its activity.
In solution, I have a few ideas. One of my top arguments, especially during the Tristan and Zero era, was this; Stop scaling Bosses to be a challenge to the players just because. Let the stronger players clear up to their level, they will hit a wall one way or another. To better word it; Of course our Level 60s are going to shitstomp Floor 20 bosses, or atleast they should be. I can see how that can be completely unappealing to staff, which leads to my next proposal; The Timeskip. I am personally not of the school that it is a Cop out. This idea can go great with the minimum level cap that Shield had mentioned above. Give newer players a Kick to a Higher level when they start, Change nothing about current higher levelled players, since they already have the inheirt advantage, and it allows staff to make actually decently strong bosses without extremely slowing down progress. I say, Timeskip with the Low-Level Advantage, Along with instituting a plethora of overhauled systems and Level caps. That combination, atleast way I see it, will boost New-Comer activity, taking pressure off their need to feel relevant and focusing on their character development, Solve the age-old Roleplay problem that new comers have where they basically have to say they've sat around on the first floor for 4 years, and will give the Veterans something to do, while the level cap makes it so that the new comers have a chance to catch up.
To finalize, I am in agreeance with Shield on the matters presented above. Boost lower levels, Change nothing for higher levels, Add in Level Caps and Overhaul some systems, such as; Scouting of Bosses, Boss fights themselves, Adding more quests and doing more events. On that last note, I think having more events that allow for any and every player to go at their own pace and still get high-end rewards is an extremely good idea for boosting activity. So; focus on lower levels, and keep higher levels occupied while limiting their progress to allow others to play catch-up and focus on more story-based RP.