User:FlashbackJon/Suggestions

Just a collection of my thoughts for my own edification, open to the opinions of others. In wake of the substantial changes introduced by the recent patches, Nick let us all in on a few of their design goals, including the desire to increase item rarity, coolness factor, and sense of accomplishment. I personally approve of this goal, so here are some suggestions I've come up with. They are not wholly original and borrow heavily from other peoples' ideas.

Feel free to discuss or edit as you see fit.

Not interested in suggestions that only change crafting price or merely revert the patch's changes. The devs are moving in a direction they believe is good for the game, and I want to support that. This page is for suggestions that build on what they've done instead of tearing it down.

Item Rarity

Basic Rarity

1. Material drop rates decreased.

BONUS: Works with many other solutions.

DRAWBACK: Decreased rate of reward has an adverse effect on player interest level.

Token Method 1

1. Substantially decrease the rate of material drops across the board.
2. Give them to all players in the level (account for this increased output in the decreased drop rate).

BONUS: This also resolves the solo vs. group materials disparity.

Token Method 2

1. Slightly decrease the rate of material drops across the board.
2. Give them to all players in the level (account for this increased output in the decreased drop rate).
3. Increase the materials cost in recipes.

BONUS: Finding stuff is fun and hauling off bags of loot is more fun than a handful of rolls on the RNG. As compared to method 1, players find more materials, but recipes require more.

Crafted Token Items

1. Brinks sells recipes instead of items.
2. "Rare item" recipes require rare ingredients, including:
   1. rare dropped ingredients
   2. expensive ingredients sold for tokens

BONUS: This also opens up the "token items" for UVs.

Achievement-based Material Rewards

1. Set up "challenges" in certain levels:
   1. Heroic Mode: players make a decision of some sort (switch, mutually exclusive gates, etc) that increases the difficulty of a level, area, or boss.
   2. Time Trial: players complete a fairly regimented level, area, or boss within a specific time.
   3. Quest Objectives: players complete a series of smaller challenges in a specific order or with a series of alternate conditions. (Optionally: meta-Achievements)
2. Completing a challenge rewards specific rare materials (perhaps the single method for acquiring those materials).

BONUS: Similar to "boss drop" solutions, but less random and more (hopefully) skill-based.

BONUS: Achievement tracking and comparison opens up some interesting doors for some players.

DRAWBACK: This likely requires new content, although Danger Rooms, Arenas, and Graveyards are ripe locations for such challenges.

Crafting Improvement

Craft-for-Friends

Allow crafters to perform crafting on items (bound items included)/crowns/energy that players have put in the trading window. This essentially reverts it to the old method, but eliminates two things: scammers running off with items, and the whole "level this item for me" weirdness. Options for enforcing rarity might be to make the crafter match or supply certain materials (presumably supplied by the person buying the item), or perhaps a "crafting permit" (either a 30-day item like the weapon/trinket slots, or a per-use fee).

Unbinding = Improvement

Allow crafters to add something to a piece of equipment as part of the unbinding process. This adds value to the unbound weapon (which is substantially more expensive than those self-crafted), allows crafters to provide a service that renders added value, and provides a potential avenue for equipment customization.

"Disenchanting"

Allow crafters to disassemble bound equipment and get a portion of their materials back.