Progression System Poll for July 6th, 2015

tinythinker

The progression discussions, debates, and arguments are currently revolving around three things which people have been talking about for a long time: veteran ranks, content for progression, and championship system. This poll surveys all three to get a bigger picture of player perspective on these issues by looking at them together. Just three letters, one for each issue. Pick the three that *best* fit what you want to see or that you would "settle for" if given these options by ZOS.

Veteran Ranks

With the next major update they will take less experience to attain, the second major reduction since launch, but some aren’t worried about the XP. They are worried about losing their gold gear when the cap increases or about lack of content options to reach max level. I personally like Cadwell’s silver and gold but I agree more options would be good for those who don’t.

Maybe if there new content or meaningful rewards tied to silver and gold they could be popular options for progression. I’ve suggested that new skill lines or new adventures in old alliance zones might be nice unlocks, or maybe it could unlock options in a revised championship system.

So “A” for keeping Vet Ranks with alternatives to Cadwell’s Almanac/better rewards or “B” for getting rid of Vet Ranks all together.

Content for Progression

Regardless of the fate of veteran ranks, what about new content for progression? I know ZOS needs to sell DLC, but adding in some base content would be very helpful as well, especially if a new or two had a few repeatable daily quests like Cyrodiil and Craglorn do. Maybe a zone for VR1-5 (or whatever the equivalent would be if VR is removed) and one for VR6-10). Even as cheaper DLC these might be very welcome.

So “C” for a couple new PvE zones for VR1-10 (even if they have a price tag attached) or “D” for focusing on other creating/fixing other content only (such as Cyrodiil and VR14+ PvE zones/dungeons)

Championship System

There have been calls to scrap it, calls to limit how quickly people advance/help other catch up, or alter how it works. I disagree with the first option as being a real option at this point, partially agree with the second option, and like the third option. For the second option, it’s a nice idea to have limiters and boosters but that will not close the gap. Grinders will always find a way. So the second option needs help from the third.

In the spoiler tags below (to try to save at least some space here) is my favorite idea so far, although the details can be debated. It still allows people a chance to get bigger bonuses for advancing further into the system but it does limit how powerful more advanced CP characters can be at any given time.

washlov wrote: »

here are some ideas for a fair CP system

Rune_Relic wrote: »

They don't need to remove it and replace it with something else with 6 months of work.
All they need to do is add a CHAMPION BAR with 3 slots.
1 Warrior passive can be loaded.
1 Thief passive can be loaded.
1 Mage passive can be loaded.

Now it doesn't matter how many CP you have as you can only use 3 passive out of the 36.

People can grind away to their hearts content.
Someone with 300 CP will be just as powerful as anyone with 3600 CP..except they wont have 36 passive skills to choose from.

The stam/mag/health from each CP has to be nerfed though.

No power creep.
No power gap.
No gated content.
Endless progression
No gated endgame
Forced Build diversity.

sample

Warrior/The Lord/Heavy Armor Focus: Increases your Armor by 13% while wearing 5 or more pieces of heavy armor.

Thief/The Lover/Mooncalf: Increases your Stamina Recovery by 25%.

Mage/The Ritual/Piercing: Increases the amount of Armor your physical attacks ignore by 25%.


sample 2

Warrior/The Steed/Medium Armor Focus: Increases your Armor by 13% when a Medium Armor set of 5 or more pieces is equipped.

Thief/The Tower/Warlord: Reduces the Stamina cost of spells and abilities by 15.8%.

Mage/The Ritual/Precise Strikes: Increases the critical damage of your physical attacks by 25%.


these are two stamina builds but completely different
it would make the CS experimental and make the chars different
it would make the boring linear system where everybody get the same passives interesting and would make it meaningful

Faulgor wrote: »

How would you handle the perks that unlock automatically, like Precise Strike? Would I have to slot those as well, or are they always active?

may than put the Warrior/Mage/Thief restriction away

if you take one perk get the one with the 10 points
if you take two perks get also the one with the 30 points
if you take three perks from one line get all four the fourth is a bonus cause you are a specialist now


sample

Warrior/The Steed/Passive Buffs

one perk:

Invigorating Bash
Gives you a 20% chance to restore 5 Health when you bash an enemy.

two perks:

Phase
After roll dodging, your Armor and Spell Resistance is increased by 1000 for 3 seconds.

three perks(the steed master):

Shield Expert
Increases the Armor and Spell Resistance of equipped Shields by 75%.

Reinforced
When activating block gain a damage shield for 1900 every 10 seconds.


alternative idea

if you take one perk get the one with the 10 points
if you take two perks get the one with the 30 points
if you take three perks get the one with the 75 points

the 120 point perks could be specialist perks which one can be chosen if you have 3 perks of one guardian constellation

so if you have 3 perks choosen from Warrior you would be a specialist and can choose one from:


Reinforced: When activating block gain a damage shield for 1900 every 10 seconds.

Unchained:Reduces the Stamina cost of abilities by 80% for 3 seconds after breaking free of a stun, knockdown, fear, disorient, or stagger.

Determination:Absorbs 1950 damage for 15 seconds after drinking a potion.

you would be a Master Warrior

So “E” for going strictly with limiters/boosters to earn CP, or “F” for changing how CS is used on a character like the idea in the spoiler tags.

Tandor

I can't speak about veteran levels and champion points from personal experience as I'm still leveling my characters to 50, and one of the main reasons I've taken things so slowly since PC launch is because I hate the whole concept of cross-alliance content and intend to see all the content in each alliance area with characters from the appropriate alliance before deciding whether to do Cadwell's at all - in the hope that by that stage there will be additional content allowing other means of PvE leveling beyond 50.

The provision of additional content is therefore the main thing I feel strongly about in this poll, and I would want that additional content to be based on the same principles as the existing content from 1-50, i.e. it should be based on the character's own alliance areas unless new zones are opened up that are open to all, and it should be include solo open world content (PvE only, I'm wholly against open world PvP) as well as group dungeons so that both solo and group playstyles are fully catered for.

tinythinker

Tandor wrote: »

I can't speak about veteran levels and champion points from personal experience as I'm still leveling my characters to 50, and one of the main reasons I've taken things so slowly since PC launch is because I hate the whole concept of cross-alliance content and intend to see all the content in each alliance area with characters from the appropriate alliance before deciding whether to do Cadwell's at all - in the hope that by that stage there will be additional content allowing other means of PvE leveling beyond 50.

The provision of additional content is therefore the main thing I feel strongly about in this poll, and I would want that additional content to be based on the same principles as the existing content from 1-50, i.e. it should be based on the character's own alliance areas unless new zones are opened up that are open to all, and it should be include solo open world content (PvE only, I'm wholly against open world PvP) as well as group dungeons so that both solo and group playstyles are fully catered for.

My preference is that after completing each Alliance there is a new set of adventures in the same Alliance zones that are unlocked, possibly as part of a new storyline. They could "add" new areas to those zones with doors, portals, etc that are only accessible to those who have finished a particular Alliance.

This recycling lets you see favorite NPCs again (major or minor) in a new context and is easier on devs because not everything is from scratch. This is especially fun if there are twists where you aren't sure if some old friends are still allies or where you may need the help of a former foe. Gives more of an incentive to complete Silver and Gold, especially if there are better gear rewards for both (someone suggested unique sets) and also decent rewards for completing the new storyline. This shouldn't be DLC or fairly cheap DLC.

Also, after hitting VR1, having the option to go to a VR1-5 (and then VR 6-10) version of Craglorn (hey, what did they ever do with Murkmire? Is it available for this kind of thing?). Not exactly like Craglorn, but having new content, group challenges, repeatable dailies, etc. I can see the work needed to go into this requiring it to be fully regular priced DLC, but I also see it as a popular alternative for those who don't like Cadwell's Gold/Silver, or who like it but have already done it 2-6 times.

tinythinker

Fewer "get rid of VR" than I expected for the first view votes, but that's cool. What do the rest of you think?

TheBull

I PvP sooo.. CS is fine.

phairdon

Do not see an option to leave CP as it is now. Like A & C options.

ch.ris317b14_ESO

New zones...

New World Skill lines....

New Story....

Do those things right and with enough quantity and you don't need either VR or CP.

ch.ris317b14_ESO

I bet if ZOS announced they were working on being able to let players swim under water .... they could get 6 months ofbrage free forums about 'boredom'

Variety is the spice of life... NOT powercreep

tinythinker

phairdon wrote: »

Do not see an option to leave CP as it is now. Like A & C options.

Yeah the number of choice slots is limited, that's why I went with the idea of best fit. I also like A&C, I simply add F

tinythinker

ch.ris317b14_ESO wrote: »

I bet if ZOS announced they were working on being able to let players swim under water .... they could get 6 months ofbrage free forums about 'boredom'

Variety is the spice of life... NOT powercreep

Noooo. They tried announcing cool stuff that kept being delayed or that was never mentioned again (spellcrafting, for example), disappointment and rage didn't subside. And some folks do like a sense of progression, they just disagree on how it should be implemented.

djnapstyb14_ESO

Too many changes already. Lets just move forward and focus on new content. More zones, more dungeons, more raids, more story. No more back to the drawing board on basic game systems. No more changing all the rules every few months.