ExistingRug61 wrote: »I think this all somewhat depends on how you look at it.
What if instead of the change to the cap curve ZOS instead simply said that they were going to just over double all xp gained by level 50 characters from this point on, like extra enlightenment. Or added another easily available 2.5 xp buff that is multiplicative with all the current ones.
This is functionally the same as what they have done (barring exact multiplier and some slight non-linearities in the xp curve).
But if they made the change in this manner instead, would players ask for for their previously earned xp to be doubled? Saying that “but that’s how much xp I would have earned if you had made this change at the start of the game”. Seems somewhat unreasonable in that context.
Did everyone ask for retroactive xp to be granted when ambrosia and it’s more powerful variant were added? Or when ZOS started giving away all the free xp scrolls as daily rewards? If these had existed in such availability when I started playing I would have earned way more xp than I have. Should I be given free xp as if I had been using them for the entire time I have been playing, simply because they exist now? Doesn’t sound right. And is directly analogous to this change.
So I guess looking at it in this way it makes sense to me that our cp would stay the same. I don’t see why a change in the rate of CP gain should be retro-active.
Although it’s not like I would be upset if they did rescale, I just don’t see why it’s necessary.
So in your eyes it's perfectly OK that players like me, who it took roughly 2.5K hours to reach parity in CP enabled PvP, will now have that parity taken away from us and will have to put in another 2-3k hours of XP grind just to regain the parity we already had earned under the original system? If the cap was raised by 30, or hell even 300, this wouldn't be as bad, but when the effective raise in CP cap is 1000, all in 1 go, and the "conversion" effectively removes earned XP from the vast majority of the players, then clearly they havn't thought things through.
So 5k+ hours playtime needed to reach parity with people that have played longer than you is acceptable?
How on earth is that supposed to lure new players in? in 6-7 year i've only put in 3.5k hours....
@KittytravelKittytravel wrote: »I said yes; I'll outline some of the reasons below in the form of counter-points to a few arguments for the other side. I'll spoiler my answers because I'd rather it not look like a massive wall of text and be a little easier to read.
1. "No, because the EXP Curve is being adjusted to allow new players to catch up to old ones."The problem with this is sure it's a good argument if you are looking at only the now and not the future. In another year everyone who is a 'long time' player of varying degrees will be CP 1600+ and new players will, guess what? Still have to catch up. The curve has NOTHING to do with newer players catching up to old ones. You know what does have everything to do with that? Enlightenment.
2. "No, because any other time they've raised the cap the curve wasn't adjusted."This point doesn't stand because the increase before was 30, not 2790. It's pretty easy to grasp that the 'CP ups' that were received in the past were paltry compared to this. Months would go by before the cap was raised by 30 again and again, all the way from 570 to 810. You had months to catch up or exceed the cap and it was plenty of time to be ready for the next cap-raise.3. "No, because you aren't actually losing out on any time spent enjoying the game."
In addition to this, it's actually just entirely wrong. When the CP 1.0 system was first introduced they actually did implement a carry-over method so that players time wasn't entirely wasted. It was also done with extreme forewarning and preparation for the player base to reach a point where they were comfortable. People of corresponding VR ranks were given an incremental boost in compensation for the systems transition. In addition CP itself was added in March 3 2015 and the full transition didn't occur until May 31 2016 giving players a full year to reach the appropriate CP cap.
Source: http://esoacademy.com/faq/veteran-rank-champion-rank-conversion/That's your opinion, straight and simple. To anyone who has accumulated the billions of EXP necessary to reach their current CP level they would lose out on a whole lot of EXP to reach that point, somewhere it was averaged to be about a 40% EXP loss of everything you've ever acquired EXP for switching from Live to PTS though we cannot of course test this accurately without getting the curve formula.
4. "No, because it only helps old players maintain their gap."Not true either, because when you change a curve the values within also go higher or lower depending on the adjustments made to your equation. In this case everyones levels, yes even that CP 110, will be adjusted higher because they have more value per EXP point.
5. "No, because seeing people start at 1600 will discourage new players from wanting to continue playing seeing such a huge level to get to."And... 810 isn't? Do you know how crazy most MMO players think ESO is when we tell them "Oh yeah level cap is only 810." They think we are literally insane. If this is the hill you want to die on you really should be petitioning to ask them to lower the CP cap entirely and increasing the value of every single CP point.
6. "No, because Enlightenment isn't factored in and you could actually see your level go down."Why would Enlightenment, a buff given to every player fairly, be a consideration in changing the XP curve? Whether or not someone earned EXP at a 4x rate for one level per day every day for six years or someone earned 900,000,000 EXP farming Skyreach for a week is completely irrelevant. The only thing that actually matters is their total XP amount. With that terrible logic you might as well also throw in "Well what about EXP Scrolls, Ambrosia Potions, Event EXP Buffs" so on and so forth; it's truly an irrelevant point.
7. "No, because ZOS can't see the total EXP players have earned."If that's the case, if they really do run a value that isn't just a numerical explanation of EXP = CP level+overflow amount of EXP then honestly they should just scrap the entire game. You are free to see a guesstimated value of your EXP here.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VPInJPxegaowYUym-vGQ6_so07gPFI1NnQ-v4O-f7mM/edit#gid=0
Credit for the doc is not mine and the name is in the doc.
8. "No, because you were already awarded the benefit of being able to go above the cap which no other MMO does."Yeah very few MMO's also scale the world down to everyone, not raise gear cap, not constantly re-balance their entire game via gear every expansion, and not constantly remove player progress by doing so. If you wanna compare ESO to other MMOs go for it but then you can't just compare one feature in this regard, you have to compare the entire progression system of every MMO against ESOs. And I think we all know that ESO is by far and wide more generous to their casual player base than most others.
If any of this, literally any of it, was about 'allowing new players to catch up', then what ZOS would do very easily is implement a better Enlightenment System. My suggestion? You receive a 10x EXP gain for the first 100 CP, 9x for the next 100, 8x for the next 100, etc etc. This power levels someone (in the new system) to a baseline 1k CP points before they run into the 'actual' curve. After that normal 'daily' Enlightenment can be active but this does a far better job of actually helping new players along than any of this mish-mash bullcrap about the curve being adjusted for new players. Adjusting the curve now does nothing for new players who will join next month, six months, a year away. People will still be far ahead of them and it will still take them an unreasonable amount of time to reach an 'enjoyable' level of CP. All this does is temporarily sedates the player CP gap for two months at best.
Joy_Division wrote: »This wouldn't be an issue if they designed the CP system as Brian introduced it on the Stream.
If there wasn;t much vertical progression and if we actually had to make choices what to slot, then I wouldn't care how ZOS transferred my CP because it wouldn't make any or much difference. I simply would have more options than lesser CP players, not necessary more raw power. Which sounds reasonable to me.
ExistingRug61 wrote: »Regarding #1:
The new curve is most definitely a catch up mechanic (although a weak one).
It does mean that newer players close the CP gap to longer term players faster than they would under the old curve.
Consider several players at this point in time, at 0CP, 400CP, 800CP, 1200CP, 1600CP for instance. So everyone starts 400CP apart.
Lets say that all players play and gain xp at the same rate over the next unspecified period, and they all gain 50mil XP.
So under the new xp curve, all of the gaps are smaller in terms of CP than they would have been under the old curve.
Thus it would appear to me that the change in xp curve will function as a catch up mechanic, albeit not actually a very big one, and certainly nothing to the degree of your last suggestion.
(Note: there are some specific CP ranges where the gap doesn’t always get smaller in CP2.0 for the same xp due the point the 1.5 multiplier starts applying being in a different place under the two curves, but this corrects back to smaller gains eventually as more xp/cp is gained)
Now, on to your last suggestion. Beyond being a much stronger catch up mechanic, how is this any different than simply lowering the xp required for those first however many hundred xp?
Its basically like lowering the requirement for all CP under CP1000 by whatever amount the multiple is. So its basically the equivalent of changing the curve, just in a different way.
It would however be a change that is more targeted towards the front end of CP, so in that sense it would be a better catch up mechanic than the current way the curve has been changed.
And, in terms of the context of the primary question of this thread - whether CP should be adjusted to fit the new xp curve – the exact same argument to adjust existing players CP could be made under your suggested enlightenment change.
Consider:
I am going to use a simplified version to make this a bit simpler for me to calculate, sp lets say players under CP1000 get an extra 4x XP boost at all times, as some form of extra enlightenment, but the xp curve remains unchanged.
So instead of requiring 336,628,454 XP to get to CP1000 (CP1.0 xp value), it would now effectively only take 336,628,454/4 = 84,157,113 XP of XP rewards, ie: the first 84,157,113 XP a player earns gets multiplied by 4.
But what if I was already CP1000. I could say:
I have already earned 336,628,454 XP.
But, if the new enlightenment change existed when I earned that, the first 84,157,113 XP of it would have been multiplied by 4.
So I should actually have and extra 3*84,157,113 = 252,471,339 XP
So I should actually have 336,628,454 + 252,471,339 = 589,099,793 XP which would mean I should actually be CP1273 under the old curve.
Does that sound right? Should I be “given” that extra 252 mil xp, because that’s what I would have if the new xp boon system existed when I earned my xp?
Considered like this, it doesn’t seem to me to make sense to be added. And yet, this is exactly the same thing that asking for a CP conversion to the new xp/cp curve is asking for.
Generally speaking though, I think this actually identifies the true problem going on here:Joy_Division wrote: »This wouldn't be an issue if they designed the CP system as Brian introduced it on the Stream.
If there wasn;t much vertical progression and if we actually had to make choices what to slot, then I wouldn't care how ZOS transferred my CP because it wouldn't make any or much difference. I simply would have more options than lesser CP players, not necessary more raw power. Which sounds reasonable to me.
Kittytravel wrote: »ExistingRug61 wrote: »Regarding #1:
The new curve is most definitely a catch up mechanic (although a weak one).
It does mean that newer players close the CP gap to longer term players faster than they would under the old curve.
Consider several players at this point in time, at 0CP, 400CP, 800CP, 1200CP, 1600CP for instance. So everyone starts 400CP apart.
Lets say that all players play and gain xp at the same rate over the next unspecified period, and they all gain 50mil XP.
So under the new xp curve, all of the gaps are smaller in terms of CP than they would have been under the old curve.
Thus it would appear to me that the change in xp curve will function as a catch up mechanic, albeit not actually a very big one, and certainly nothing to the degree of your last suggestion.
(Note: there are some specific CP ranges where the gap doesn’t always get smaller in CP2.0 for the same xp due the point the 1.5 multiplier starts applying being in a different place under the two curves, but this corrects back to smaller gains eventually as more xp/cp is gained)
I'll start off with thanks for such a detailed reply! It's something the devs would probably want to see instead of having to mull it over themselves.
So while it's true that the gaps are smaller the catch up mechanic doesn't work as well here due to the integral difference in active-useful level.
In the current system that is considered to be CP810; in the new system after their most recent changes to stars it's CP 1750. So from those who have attempted to test (which is hard to do since they won't provide a max-level template) they have averaged that the DPS you can get now at CP810 is equivalent to what you could get at CP1750. These are very rough averages from what I have read so take them lightly but I think we all know that we are losing power since the system itself is changing and climbing higher.
So while the curve does shrink the effective level of 150 million EXP does not; in the current system that's capped while in the new system (assuming XP carryover) an 810 would be moved to CP1006 (using your table). This is better for them because it does put them closer to their original level of power but they are still 744 CP from where they were.
So despite being a 'catchup' you end up needing 250 million EXP to get around CP1719 and your finally back where you essentially already were before the change happened. Now I'm not asking to be moved for free to where my DPS, Stats, and Capabilities won't change. That's part of the game, stuff gets nerfed. That's an MMO.
But the EXP values I earned shouldn't be diluted as it's time I spent that is accurately recorded within the game, to disregard that (to me) is to disregard my time spent playing your game for the past few years.
ExistingRug61 wrote: »Now, on to your last suggestion. Beyond being a much stronger catch up mechanic, how is this any different than simply lowering the xp required for those first however many hundred xp?
Its basically like lowering the requirement for all CP under CP1000 by whatever amount the multiple is. So its basically the equivalent of changing the curve, just in a different way.
It would however be a change that is more targeted towards the front end of CP, so in that sense it would be a better catch up mechanic than the current way the curve has been changed.
Because you didn't lower the XP required; you upped Enlightenment for lower level CP players which is an true catch-up mechanic. I'm not losing on any XP I've acquired. I'm not being told "Hey, Timmy just joined the game so since he's behind you we are gonna shrink your XP pool from the 150 million you've accumulated to 50 million so it's easier for him to catch up and also you need to level up 800 more times."
There are two parts to this analogyThat's the difference to me; one is a targeted move to actually address the issue at the root which is older players being so far ahead of newer ones. The change doesn't actually affect older players at all since they aren't having their total XP diluted nor are they losing power; newer players are gaining power at an exponentially faster rate but at the same measurements that the veterans had to do so. This is a very loose and poor analogy I shall preface with that.
Xanathar has 60,000 Gold. This is considered the 'average' amount of gold in his game for a veteran player to have.
Jones just joined the game and he has 1,000 Gold.
Instead of adding a catchup mechanic for Jones to make the other 59,000 Gold we decide that 1,000 is the new standard and Xanathars gold is now only worth 5,000 gold while also adding a mechanic that will make Jones get 4,000 more gold as he levels to max cap but we didn't change any of the store prices. That's roughly what is happening here; the gold is XP and is being removed from the game because it's deemed problematic for players to catch up to. The CP points however still cost the same amount, 1 level, but now the guy who could have bought anything he wanted with 60k has to pick and choose while new players haven't actually gained or lost anything. Xanathar will still continue earning gold at his higher level at a faster rate due to more play options. Jones will still never catch up unless Xanathar stops playing for a long haitus.
By frontloading the earliest CP levels Xanathar doesn't lose anything, he doesn't care if Jones is given a new system that will give him 59,000 Gold as he levels up. By the time Jones gets to Xanathars level Xanathar will have made another 120,000. But that type of catch up system doesn't inconveniance or take away from anyone; it only helps the new player reach a baseline state that will allow him to join Xanathar as a fellow player.
This is the same issue as above - CP points not providing the same power/effect as before.ExistingRug61 wrote: »And, in terms of the context of the primary question of this thread - whether CP should be adjusted to fit the new xp curve – the exact same argument to adjust existing players CP could be made under your suggested enlightenment change.
Consider:
I am going to use a simplified version to make this a bit simpler for me to calculate, sp lets say players under CP1000 get an extra 4x XP boost at all times, as some form of extra enlightenment, but the xp curve remains unchanged.
So instead of requiring 336,628,454 XP to get to CP1000 (CP1.0 xp value), it would now effectively only take 336,628,454/4 = 84,157,113 XP of XP rewards, ie: the first 84,157,113 XP a player earns gets multiplied by 4.
But what if I was already CP1000. I could say:
I have already earned 336,628,454 XP.
But, if the new enlightenment change existed when I earned that, the first 84,157,113 XP of it would have been multiplied by 4.
So I should actually have and extra 3*84,157,113 = 252,471,339 XP
So I should actually have 336,628,454 + 252,471,339 = 589,099,793 XP which would mean I should actually be CP1273 under the old curve.
Does that sound right? Should I be “given” that extra 252 mil xp, because that’s what I would have if the new xp boon system existed when I earned my xp?
Considered like this, it doesn’t seem to me to make sense to be added. And yet, this is exactly the same thing that asking for a CP conversion to the new xp/cp curve is asking for.
I don't agree with calling the CP conversion the same thing as a catch up mechanic. Games introduce catch up mechanics to new players all the time but the older players never receive compensation; and that is exactly my issue here. If this was a catch up mechanic targeting new players I'd be perfectly fine. If they told me "Hey we are only shrinking the first 800 levels" I'd say "Well I already spent my 8 months at level 800 and I'm not losing any of my power."
In this scenario though I am losing power; as many parses have attested from PTS to live you do not acquire the same amount of power as currently exists at 810. This is why I view it as a 'punishment' to players who have already hit the original cap and their banked XP is essentially being wiped. Yes we can climb another 400-600 levels to get where we were but it doesn't change that we essentially were shirked time getting there without a good valid reason (and yes that is all I want; a good and valid reason for why it's necessary to not carry over XP values. And the 'catch-up' reason isn't a good or valid one.)
Merlin13KAGL wrote: »The complaint isn't that it took longer to get to X CP's, it's that it won't take someone else as long, which is childish and asinine. Them leveling faster won't somehow make you less strong.
Kittytravel wrote: »I said yes; I'll outline some of the reasons below in the form of counter-points to a few arguments for the other side. I'll spoiler my answers because I'd rather it not look like a massive wall of text and be a little easier to read.
2. "No, because any other time they've raised the cap the curve wasn't adjusted."This point doesn't stand because the increase before was 30, not 2790. It's pretty easy to grasp that the 'CP ups' that were received in the past were paltry compared to this. Months would go by before the cap was raised by 30 again and again, all the way from 570 to 810. You had months to catch up or exceed the cap and it was plenty of time to be ready for the next cap-raise.
In addition to this, it's actually just entirely wrong. When the CP 1.0 system was first introduced they actually did implement a carry-over method so that players time wasn't entirely wasted. It was also done with extreme forewarning and preparation for the player base to reach a point where they were comfortable. People of corresponding VR ranks were given an incremental boost in compensation for the systems transition. In addition CP itself was added in March 3 2015 and the full transition didn't occur until May 31 2016 giving players a full year to reach the appropriate CP cap.
Source: http://esoacademy.com/faq/veteran-rank-champion-rank-conversion/
7. "No, because ZOS can't see the total EXP players have earned."If that's the case, if they really do run a value that isn't just a numerical explanation of EXP = CP level+overflow amount of EXP then honestly they should just scrap the entire game. You are free to see a guesstimated value of your EXP here.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VPInJPxegaowYUym-vGQ6_so07gPFI1NnQ-v4O-f7mM/edit#gid=0
Credit for the doc is not mine and the name is in the doc.
.
Pink_Pixie wrote: »So er, the arguments are....my time is worth less than a new player, because they need to catch up?
I'm all for people catching up, in a way that makes sense. Not penalizing veteran players for having a play time of 3000 hours plus. Using myself as an example, I've done nearly every quest, and there is no way I can recoup the "lost" experience that I've already earned. And yes, it'll be lost, I've spent hours upon hours on the game, like many others have.
I'm not even asking for a freebie, I'm asking for what I am owed, just like my subscription demands I pay it each month or I'll lose the ESO bag. Earning all that experience and losing it, is like being told you've worked for 100 hours this month on some job and we're not getting paid.
In the end people will catch up as our progression will slow down.
Leveling to the new cap from old one in wow takes around 12h. In eso it will take years. It is the only mmo with such ridiculous changesIt doesn't gimp anyone. This is the only MMO that has ever let you bank XP past cap.
Except you don't have to be anywhere near the cap to be "maxed out for your role".... you need like 1/3rd of the cap. Which is less than 1/10th of the XP.
Except you don't have to be anywhere near the cap to be "maxed out for your role".... you need like 1/3rd of the cap. Which is less than 1/10th of the XP.
To be maxed out as dd you need around 1700 cp in new system (to got all purple stars and slotables without respecting to mag/stam on one char). For someone on 1200cp it will be around 170mil xp. For many, months of grinding. My point is still valid, this change is ridiculous. Zos many tmies showed us that they dont value the time of their playerbase. This change is no different
I value my time that I've put into this game (something like 200 total days so far), and I'm well aware you've put far more into it than I have. What I'm not happy with is that I could essentially start playing the game as of when this patch goes live and have the same amount of champion points with about 50-60% of the game time (roughly compensating for the fact that it took me longer to level when I was an inexperienced player/raider and likely earning less experience per hour/day of playing).The time arguments are flawed as well.
If it took you 1000 hours to get to CP 1000 on the old system, but it takes a new player 500 hours to reach the same place due to a shift in XP curve/enlightenment/whatever. Have you still "lost" your 500 hours?
The quest argument is flawed as well.
If it took you 1000 quests to get to CP 1000 on the old system, but it takes a new player 500 quests to reach the same place due to a shift in the XP curve/enlightenment/whatever. Have you still "lost" those 500 quests you could do for bonus XP?
If your answers to the above match what you said before. Then you just need to admit that you want your XP added, so you're further ahead, and you want every new player to have to play as much as you did to get to that level.
Can I ask how many champion points you have?Merlin13KAGL wrote: »It's not even so amazing that people don't get it. It's not even that people are really concerned about the "time they lost" or lost power due to 'lost CP's."
If they had started us on the new system with 80% of the CP's, you'd have room to ***. They're not doing that.
You're not losting anything.
The complaint isn't that it took longer to get to X CP's, it's that it won't take someone else as long, which is childish and asinine. Them leveling faster won't somehow make you less strong.
It's not worth less in terms of placement value. It's worth the same.
Someone that made $100k in 1980 vs someone that made $100k in 2020 both have $100K. 1980 guy doesn't get to demand $300k more because it was harder to earn. Every dollar both make in 2020 from that point on is worth the same.
Here's another way to look at it, since people are so scared to death of someone else actually being allowed to have a capable character without putting 8000 hours into the game:
If you at your current CP's and Frickin' New Guy at 10 CP's play enough to earn the same number of XP's per day, FNG is always going to be behind you, right up until you're both finally at cap.
Be glad they reduced the curve at all, or worse, made it even harder to grind above XXX level.
You don't complain about "lost XP" during a 2X XP event if you don't get to play for one day, vs the people that do. This is NO different.
[snip]
The time arguments are flawed as well.
If it took you 1000 hours to get to CP 1000 on the old system, but it takes a new player 500 hours to reach the same place due to a shift in XP curve/enlightenment/whatever. Have you still "lost" your 500 hours?
The quest argument is flawed as well.
If it took you 1000 quests to get to CP 1000 on the old system, but it takes a new player 500 quests to reach the same place due to a shift in the XP curve/enlightenment/whatever. Have you still "lost" those 500 quests you could do for bonus XP?
If your answers to the above match what you said before. Then you just need to admit that you want your XP added, so you're further ahead, and you want every new player to have to play as much as you did to get to that level.
Do I want every new player to have to play as much as I did to get to this level? I thought about this for a while, thinking of both sides. I feel for a new player that has to come and play as much as I have to earn the same amount of experience points that I have accumulated. It took a long time, but that is the nature of an MMO game, the long game days, the grind for experience and gear, it's how they keep us playing the same content over and over, and so I don't believe new players should be able to do some percentage of the work I have done to accumulate the same amount of champion points, although given what I have said, I do not in any way object to increasing the rate at which they can level so that the time at which they reach an optimum amount of champion points to max their build is reduced. I agree adjusting the curve to something like you have seen in this post is a reasonable solution to this - keeps the grind going for more veteran players, but helps newer players get moving in the game faster, however if something like this was done, then I would definitely want to see cumulative experienced retained between CP 1.0 and CP 2.0, as the cap at 3600 would require the same amount of cumulative experience to reach it.
Interesting that 80% of voters want their accumulated XP to contribute to CP2 earnt and yet this thread seems to be dominated by posters arguing the opposite from the 20% group.
Merlin13KAGL wrote: »It's not even so amazing that people don't get it. It's not even that people are really concerned about the "time they lost" or lost power due to 'lost CP's."
If they had started us on the new system with 80% of the CP's, you'd have room to ***. They're not doing that.
You're not losting anything.
The complaint isn't that it took longer to get to X CP's, it's that it won't take someone else as long, which is childish and asinine. Them leveling faster won't somehow make you less strong.
It's not worth less in terms of placement value. It's worth the same.
Someone that made $100k in 1980 vs someone that made $100k in 2020 both have $100K. 1980 guy doesn't get to demand $300k more because it was harder to earn. Every dollar both make in 2020 from that point on is worth the same.
Here's another way to look at it, since people are so scared to death of someone else actually being allowed to have a capable character without putting 8000 hours into the game:
If you at your current CP's and Frickin' New Guy at 10 CP's play enough to earn the same number of XP's per day, FNG is always going to be behind you, right up until you're both finally at cap.
Be glad they reduced the curve at all, or worse, made it even harder to grind above XXX level.
You don't complain about "lost XP" during a 2X XP event if you don't get to play for one day, vs the people that do. This is NO different.
[snip]
ExistingRug61 wrote: »Kittytravel wrote: »ExistingRug61 wrote: »Regarding #1:
The new curve is most definitely a catch up mechanic (although a weak one).
It does mean that newer players close the CP gap to longer term players faster than they would under the old curve.
Consider several players at this point in time, at 0CP, 400CP, 800CP, 1200CP, 1600CP for instance. So everyone starts 400CP apart.
Lets say that all players play and gain xp at the same rate over the next unspecified period, and they all gain 50mil XP.
So under the new xp curve, all of the gaps are smaller in terms of CP than they would have been under the old curve.
Thus it would appear to me that the change in xp curve will function as a catch up mechanic, albeit not actually a very big one, and certainly nothing to the degree of your last suggestion.
(Note: there are some specific CP ranges where the gap doesn’t always get smaller in CP2.0 for the same xp due the point the 1.5 multiplier starts applying being in a different place under the two curves, but this corrects back to smaller gains eventually as more xp/cp is gained)
I'll start off with thanks for such a detailed reply! It's something the devs would probably want to see instead of having to mull it over themselves.
So while it's true that the gaps are smaller the catch up mechanic doesn't work as well here due to the integral difference in active-useful level.
In the current system that is considered to be CP810; in the new system after their most recent changes to stars it's CP 1750. So from those who have attempted to test (which is hard to do since they won't provide a max-level template) they have averaged that the DPS you can get now at CP810 is equivalent to what you could get at CP1750. These are very rough averages from what I have read so take them lightly but I think we all know that we are losing power since the system itself is changing and climbing higher.
So while the curve does shrink the effective level of 150 million EXP does not; in the current system that's capped while in the new system (assuming XP carryover) an 810 would be moved to CP1006 (using your table). This is better for them because it does put them closer to their original level of power but they are still 744 CP from where they were.
So despite being a 'catchup' you end up needing 250 million EXP to get around CP1719 and your finally back where you essentially already were before the change happened. Now I'm not asking to be moved for free to where my DPS, Stats, and Capabilities won't change. That's part of the game, stuff gets nerfed. That's an MMO.
But the EXP values I earned shouldn't be diluted as it's time I spent that is accurately recorded within the game, to disregard that (to me) is to disregard my time spent playing your game for the past few years.
Firstly, thanks, I enjoy having these sort of discussions and seeing the thoughts of others like yourself, especially when they also give well presented or detailed replies so I do try to do the same when I provide my own. Leads to walls of text though...
Anyway, to me the fundamental problem here is that our 810CP is now not the same power level as 810Cp will be in the new system leading to players at this level (810CP) feeling a power loss, but this is a separate issue to the perceived xp loss or dilution. However, this problem causes players to seek out ways that they could be back closer to their original power, and the idea of carrying over xp is something that will bring them back closer. Which I understand, but to me its not a "good" fix and is just masking the actual cause of the issue - the sudden shift in how much power we get from our CP and over what range we obtain that power ie: power gained over 0-810CP is now instead gained over 0 - ~1750/2000CP)
(also FYI my table isn't the carryover equivalents, rather its the CP players would get to if there was no carryover and then they gained xp from that point under either of the two systems, as a comparison)ExistingRug61 wrote: »Now, on to your last suggestion. Beyond being a much stronger catch up mechanic, how is this any different than simply lowering the xp required for those first however many hundred xp?
Its basically like lowering the requirement for all CP under CP1000 by whatever amount the multiple is. So its basically the equivalent of changing the curve, just in a different way.
It would however be a change that is more targeted towards the front end of CP, so in that sense it would be a better catch up mechanic than the current way the curve has been changed.
Because you didn't lower the XP required; you upped Enlightenment for lower level CP players which is an true catch-up mechanic. I'm not losing on any XP I've acquired. I'm not being told "Hey, Timmy just joined the game so since he's behind you we are gonna shrink your XP pool from the 150 million you've accumulated to 50 million so it's easier for him to catch up and also you need to level up 800 more times."
But adding extra enlightenment for those under CP is functionally the same as lowering the requirement to get that CP.
ie:
If we keep the curve unchanged (ie as per CP1.0) but add an extra always on enlightenment multiplier of say 2x for while under CP1000.
Under CP1.0 a player needs ~ 336mil xp to reach CP1000
Lets say for examples sake under these conditions a player does say some group of a quests, with a total nominal total xp reward of 118mil xp gained in doing so. The enlightenment causes this to be doubled to 336mil xp, so the player is now CP1000.
Alternatively, we don't add enlightenment and instead change the xp requirements to get to CP1000, halving the required xp to reach CP1000 (like lowering the curve for a section of CP). So the xp required to reach CP1000 is lowered to 118mil.
Again, lets say under these conditions a player does the exact same set of quests as above, so they earn 118mil xp.
They are now CP1000.
So both cases give the same resulting CP for the same set of gameplay performed. Sure the total xp gained isn't the same but thats just a means to an end - which is CP. This is what I mean by using enlightenment as an extra factor is functionally identical to lower the xp curve by the same proportion in terms of the resulting CP gain.
The only difference is a perception difference of how much total xp was "earned". The relationship between CP earned, and hence power, to gameplay time/effort etc is the same.
The difference in this example here in comparison to what has actually been implemented, is that ZOS have lowered the xp requirement across the entire CP range, not just the first part.
This could effectively be viewed as adding extra enlightenment for all players that is on at all times (with the amount varying somewhat depending on your current CP amount). This is why even though I said it is technically a catch up mechanic, I agree it isn't actually a very strong one.There are two parts to this analogyThat's the difference to me; one is a targeted move to actually address the issue at the root which is older players being so far ahead of newer ones. The change doesn't actually affect older players at all since they aren't having their total XP diluted nor are they losing power; newer players are gaining power at an exponentially faster rate but at the same measurements that the veterans had to do so. This is a very loose and poor analogy I shall preface with that.
Xanathar has 60,000 Gold. This is considered the 'average' amount of gold in his game for a veteran player to have.
Jones just joined the game and he has 1,000 Gold.
Instead of adding a catchup mechanic for Jones to make the other 59,000 Gold we decide that 1,000 is the new standard and Xanathars gold is now only worth 5,000 gold while also adding a mechanic that will make Jones get 4,000 more gold as he levels to max cap but we didn't change any of the store prices. That's roughly what is happening here; the gold is XP and is being removed from the game because it's deemed problematic for players to catch up to. The CP points however still cost the same amount, 1 level, but now the guy who could have bought anything he wanted with 60k has to pick and choose while new players haven't actually gained or lost anything. Xanathar will still continue earning gold at his higher level at a faster rate due to more play options. Jones will still never catch up unless Xanathar stops playing for a long haitus.
By frontloading the earliest CP levels Xanathar doesn't lose anything, he doesn't care if Jones is given a new system that will give him 59,000 Gold as he levels up. By the time Jones gets to Xanathars level Xanathar will have made another 120,000. But that type of catch up system doesn't inconveniance or take away from anyone; it only helps the new player reach a baseline state that will allow him to join Xanathar as a fellow player.
1) Using xp as a currency to obtain CP points
2) Using CP points to obtain an effect/star etc
In the first case, they have lowered the "store" price of the item Xanathar wants to buy. Sure he now only has 5000 gold, but he can obtain the same amount of CP points for that 5000 gold under the new system as he could with his 60000 gold under the old system.
The problem that makes it seem like Xanathar now has less choice comes from the second conversion of CP points into effects. He can no longer get as much "effect" for the same amount of CP points.
This is where ZOS have changed things as well. We get less effect for each CP point we earn, partially due to the vertical cap being higher, and partially due to some of our power being shifted to base stats. But this isn't a problem with the XP to CP curve, but rather this is due to the change in what value/effect/power we now get per CP point, and hence I don't think doing things like converting CP based on XP is the right place to be looking to address the issue. Rather, we need to be able to get to the same (or a similar) power level for the same amount of CP earned.This is the same issue as above - CP points not providing the same power/effect as before.ExistingRug61 wrote: »And, in terms of the context of the primary question of this thread - whether CP should be adjusted to fit the new xp curve – the exact same argument to adjust existing players CP could be made under your suggested enlightenment change.
Consider:
I am going to use a simplified version to make this a bit simpler for me to calculate, sp lets say players under CP1000 get an extra 4x XP boost at all times, as some form of extra enlightenment, but the xp curve remains unchanged.
So instead of requiring 336,628,454 XP to get to CP1000 (CP1.0 xp value), it would now effectively only take 336,628,454/4 = 84,157,113 XP of XP rewards, ie: the first 84,157,113 XP a player earns gets multiplied by 4.
But what if I was already CP1000. I could say:
I have already earned 336,628,454 XP.
But, if the new enlightenment change existed when I earned that, the first 84,157,113 XP of it would have been multiplied by 4.
So I should actually have and extra 3*84,157,113 = 252,471,339 XP
So I should actually have 336,628,454 + 252,471,339 = 589,099,793 XP which would mean I should actually be CP1273 under the old curve.
Does that sound right? Should I be “given” that extra 252 mil xp, because that’s what I would have if the new xp boon system existed when I earned my xp?
Considered like this, it doesn’t seem to me to make sense to be added. And yet, this is exactly the same thing that asking for a CP conversion to the new xp/cp curve is asking for.
I don't agree with calling the CP conversion the same thing as a catch up mechanic. Games introduce catch up mechanics to new players all the time but the older players never receive compensation; and that is exactly my issue here. If this was a catch up mechanic targeting new players I'd be perfectly fine. If they told me "Hey we are only shrinking the first 800 levels" I'd say "Well I already spent my 8 months at level 800 and I'm not losing any of my power."
In this scenario though I am losing power; as many parses have attested from PTS to live you do not acquire the same amount of power as currently exists at 810. This is why I view it as a 'punishment' to players who have already hit the original cap and their banked XP is essentially being wiped. Yes we can climb another 400-600 levels to get where we were but it doesn't change that we essentially were shirked time getting there without a good valid reason (and yes that is all I want; a good and valid reason for why it's necessary to not carry over XP values. And the 'catch-up' reason isn't a good or valid one.)
I think at its most fundamental aspect we are looking at this is slightly different ways:
We both agree that we are losing power (the effect of CP) that we had gained by spending gameplay time/effort. The difference comes from having different perceived measures of gameplay time/effort.
You are measuring your gameplay time/effort in terms of total XP earned, and under the curve change, depending on how you look at it, it can be perceived that this "total xp" number is being reduced as you are being shifted down the curve to keep CP the same, so then you come to the conclusion:
My perceived indicator of gameplay time/effort (XP) is being reduced, and my power is as well. The two are related via the CP system, so if there was a conversion to keep my perceived indicator of gameplay time/effort the same, this would give me more CP, which would restore some of my lost power.
I am measuring my gameplay time/effort in terms of CP earned, and so don't perceive that I am "losing" anything in the XP/CP regard. So I come to the conclusion:
My perceived indicator of gameplay time/effort (CP), has stayed the same but I have lost power, so the solution is that my CP points need to provide more power/effect (like they used to) as this would restore some of my lost power.
Hence why I said I think the fundamental issue is what Joy identified.
It has never before been readjusted, and shouldn't be now. The 9 or 10 times that the CP level cap has changed have always made it so that people who were not capped needed less XP to get their CP than those who did it before them. The CP XP scale has changed 9 or 10 times already with no adjustments. The reason for the cap was, and still is mind you, to allow people to catch up who have started later. If we start adjusting peoples CP by XP that catch up mechanic will basically be undone.