Auto-veteran new characters for current veterans

mrowmrif2 · March 2015

Was talking on tamrielfoundry today and thought of a suggestion for the devs that would really be game changing and enhance enjoyment for veteran content players...

Much like how when you roll a new character you are given the option to skip the coldharbour dungeon tutorial opener... Why not allow folks with current 50+ level characters be able to roll up a new one and skip to 50? Obviously you would need to complete public dungeon group challenges, collect skyshards and finish skillpoint-rewarding quests to max your skillpoints (and skill ranks, crafting and morphs aren't free)... But why not just let folks get an automatic 49 level points and skill points to allocate so they can dive right into endgame they are already involved in with guild mates and friends - but with an alternate class/build? Or better yet, why not all the way to VR14? With grinding being nerfed, it would be really difficult for folks who want to play around in endgame and compete with 100+ champion point veteran characters after completing all 3 pact stories and main story to have to do it all over again.

And there's an idea for how to make it work - require that an account achievement be earned by completing each pact, main and guild story line plus achieve VR14 on at least 1 character to unlock this feature at character creation... Or maybe make a champion point passive unlockable at 300 combined CP that allows for it. Something to that effect that is not ridiculous but is significant for folks who have gotten so far and want to just try something new without rinse/repeating.

What do people think? Is that reasonable or too big a step? I think it is more than reasonable... There is no way I will be able to spend the time to grind out one of every class to VR14 PLUS champion points just to be able to experience everything the game has to offer at the highest level...

dawnhawk · March 2015

As someone who's been in / listened to other be in (aka giggled on TS while thankful I didn't end up in) groups with people who haven't a clue how to play as it is...I think this would exasperate the problem.

You are playing a game. Play it. If you don't want to play it. Don't play it. Why create code so you don't have to play a game you don't want to play? The logic doesn't compute. There is nothing stating you MUST have a vr14 character of every class. If you don't want to put in the time...don't. I don't believe in instant rewards for the sake of "but I wanna!!".

mrowmrif2 · March 2015

And yes, champion points carry over to each character - so that makes it even more attractive. I could decide I am tired of my DK and NB and want to try out a sorc pet summoned... I could just roll up my sorc, allocate skill points and rank up my skills, then allocate CP and voila! I can run PVE dungeon end game and not spend 4 months questing.

Ballzy321 · March 2015

I needed a good laugh

UrQuan · March 2015

I have a real problem with the idea of letting people buy a level 50 character, or anything like that. This particular idea doesn't seem quite like that, though, so with some thought it could be viable.

The only real potential problem I see with it is that it potentially allows exploitation of the CP system: you create an alt that is instantly able to earn CPs, run them through the available content to get the most possible XP, rinse and repeat. Might not be a big issue, though.

mrowmrif2 · March 2015

Normally I would agree with you dawnhawk, I, too, am tired of the generation of gamers who flit from game to game when they get bored... But do you really think requiring a VR14 character plus all quest completion to be EASY enough for the newbs and lazy folk to play into that mentality? Seriously? With grinding being severely hampered?

UrQuan · March 2015

dawnhawk wrote: »

As someone who's been in / listened to other be in (aka giggled on TS while thankful I didn't end up in) groups with people who haven't a clue how to play as it is...I think this would exasperate the problem.

Would it though? Under this suggestion you would only be able to get that after you're already VR with another character, so presumably you should somewhat know how to play at that point. If you don't, then I doubt playing levels 1-50 a second time will help.

mrowmrif2 · March 2015

UrQuan you have a good point I didn't consider... It would open up all the quest XP all over again for CP earning. But is that such a bad thing? Would you like to grind your CP or earn it through questing? You are grinding either way...

Lifsteinn · March 2015

I would like some improvements of leveling curve in this game, but that is not a good idea.

Bfish22090 · March 2015

I actually agree with this, I have 2 v14s a sorc and a dk. My other 2 are a temp and a nb sitting at v1 because I can't bring myself to grind vet ranks.

I don't think it would be 1-v14 but maybe v1-v14 would work

Suru · March 2015

What about everyone who has multiple alts and rerolling, they worked for it. Stop being lazy and put in hard work, if the games not worth your hardwork don't do it.

UrQuan · March 2015

mrowmrif2 wrote: »

UrQuan you have a good point I didn't consider... It would open up all the quest XP all over again for CP earning. But is that such a bad thing? Would you like to grind your CP or earn it through questing? You are grinding either way...

I'm honestly not sure if that's a bad thing or not. My gut instinct was to reject your idea out of hand, but it might actually be worth implementing.

dawnhawk · March 2015

I couldn't care less about how easy / hard / tedious it is. I don't believe in free rides. Play or don't play. I don't see the point in coding something so you don't have to play but can still reap the benefits (granted...everytime I even attempt to imagine the backlog column of the devs kanban board I feel I may have nightmares, so I'm biased in the respect of "why can't we have random feature X just to make my life easier" requests).

tinythinker · March 2015

dawnhawk wrote: »

As someone who's been in / listened to other be in (aka giggled on TS while thankful I didn't end up in) groups with people who haven't a clue how to play as it is...I think this would exasperate the problem.

You are playing a game. Play it.

Yes to this, no to the proposal in the original post.

mrowmrif2 · March 2015

Suru, and whoever else has the same opinion - understood. I came from another MMO where max level was 99 and I had to earn my 12 level 99 chars. Guess how long I played that for - 8 years. Do you really care that much if someone who earned their way to end game is playing on a NB or a sorc? "work for it" is a concept I generally agree with, which is why I was brainstorming a "sufficient/appropriate" threshold that isn't TOO easy. It isn't like I want newbs ruining my PVP and PVE runs. I'm talking about making it easier for vets to hop to a new class.
It is a game.

ElliottXO · March 2015

They just need to make it less tedious. If 1 hour of mob grinding brings 400k XP, why can't other activities during VR levels?

mrowmrif2 · March 2015

Would you say no to the suggestion a year from now? Will you be playing this a year from now? I most likely will be regardless if this goes live. When you've exhausted the content on your alts, will you ride it out til they turn the servers off? Do you even pay a sub now that it is free?

dawnhawk · March 2015

I would still say no. I still no to the same change in WoW with the current expansion (one of the reasons I left and have no intention of going back...among others). And I fully intend to still be playing (and subbed - and yes still am and have been since live) a year from now. If this went live...then likely not so much.

Kildayen · March 2015

I don't think that having a Vet 14 character should grant you a free upgrade for other characters. What I do feel strongly about though is not being able to earn Champion points if you are not on at least a Vet level character. I don't want to play my level 21 character because I won't be earning Champion points while on them. I think it would be awesome if they allowed you to earn Champion points on any character in your account as long as you have a Vet 14 character. They could maybe make it so any pre Vet level character doesn't get the enlightenment bonus. Or you could only earn Champion experience on your pre Vet characters if you have a certain amount of Achivement points.

mrowmrif2 · March 2015

Playing the game to me is not grinding mobs for a week. Playing is exploring, questing, dungeons and pvp... They changed the game, so my suggestion is to complement it. Frankly, if this was how the game was back in April 2014, how much would you have cared? This does not take away from anything achieved thus far, you get your kudos for the effort and have the experience and skill to back it up most likely (hopefully). It isn't like a new account will skip to VR14 and ask how to research an armor trait.

Psychobunni · March 2015

Being that I have to stay within one faction to run with my guild, I would pay for this as a "convenience", for no reason other than to avoid repeating the same quests....again.

Athas24 · March 2015

worst idea ever.

Heruthema · March 2015

ZOS I really need the LOL button back please.

Gilvoth · March 2015

Ballzy321 wrote: »

I needed a good laugh

yes i agree with you completely this is a halarious thread. i worked hard to get 3 characters to vet1

and btw, we were lied to also when we were told by dev. that any characters made PRE 1.6 would recieve shared champion points. and that NO new characters or characters made after 1.6 would get the shared champion points. but i just checked this today and i see that we do infact get shared champion points if you make a new character.
i dont like being lied to.

Dekkameron · March 2015

Athas24 wrote: »

worst idea ever.

Indeed, that's why Blizzard implemented it in WoW: WoD

xMovingTarget · March 2015

Psychobunni wrote: »

Being that I have to stay within one faction to run with my guild, I would pay for this as a "convenience", for no reason other than to avoid repeating the same quests....again.

Just join the Dark Side already bunni. Kappa

I agree with this though.

dawnhawk · March 2015

mrowmrif2 wrote: »

Playing the game to me is not grinding mobs for a week. Playing is exploring, questing, dungeons and pvp... They changed the game, so my suggestion is to complement it. Frankly, if this was how the game was back in April 2014, how much would you have cared? This does not take away from anything achieved thus far, you get your kudos for the effort and have the experience and skill to back it up most likely (hopefully). It isn't like a new account will skip to VR14 and ask how to research an armor trait.

I have 12 toons on two servers...and have never grinded mobs for a week. So I can't say that's playing the game for me either. As it is I get annoyed when I level out of zones without completing content now because 1-50 levels so bloody fast. If this had been in the game since live (actually it would have had to have been there since Beta in order to go live in which case I'd have experienced it in Beta) - in which case I likely wouldn't have bothered to buy the game. The playability factor of the game goes down at that point. I replay final fantasy 6 for kicks (and because my saved games invariably end up with me standing in a desert with no clue what in the heck I was doing 8 months ago). I don't sell games once I'm "done with them", I also reread books I love and rewatch movies that I adored the first time.

AlnilamE · March 2015

Getting the skyshards and doing the quests in the starter zones with a level 50 character would be pretty boring, though.

I'm slowly leveling up my alts and will eventually have a V14 of each class (or whatever the max level is when they get there).

mrowmrif2 · March 2015

All the opinions are valid. The question was asked as a random idea to gauge community interest... I had no idea WoW did that... Never played that game. That said, strong arguments for both sides. Maybe there's a compromise in there somewhere - maybe some new vet only zones with more quests.

UrQuan · March 2015

dwemer_paleologist wrote: »

and btw, we were lied to also when we were told by dev. that any characters made PRE 1.6 would recieve shared champion points. and that NO new characters or characters made after 1.6 would get the shared champion points. but i just checked this today and i see that we do infact get shared champion points if you make a new character.
i dont like being lied to.

Um, what? I remember them saying the opposite... Got a source?

mrowmrif2 · March 2015

And @dawnhawk nice. Love me my ff1, 4, 6 and 8. Those are different though... I think nostalgia and story quality play a massive role in replayability. Unfortunately, MMOs dont always follow that model. I know there are few NPCs in ESO - maybe Shalidor, Titanborn or Merric - that have any sort of robust character development enough to write home about.

MMOs are about group activities or they wouldn't bother hosting it as an MMO. And there are sure some player characters out there I could do without