Increased Rates

[Plant]

I'll take the first bite and give a non-meme reply then. Reminder that what I write below is a suggestion and therefore up for debate.

I think a base card rate of 0.1% is a good start. I'm not sure if my maths is right but this should mean an average of 1 card for every 1000 kill or about 33% chance to get exactly 1 card out of 1000 kills.

No card should drop at a lower rate than this base card rate.

The way I word the above sentence is because not all cards are equal. Some other cards should be higher instead due to possibility of needing more than one, or being less useful when compared to other cards. Maybe a maximum of 0.25%-0.5% rate in normal, non-holiday seasons?

About 1,000 kills for the lowest rate cards that you'll probably only need one of shouldn't be too grindy I hope, and we should definitely move away from the way-too-grindy gameplay as our population is decreasing and our economy becoming arguably stagnant.

This suggestion might surprise people but I think MVP cards should be affected by this rate increase as well. I believe that the largest factor of why MVP cards are 'OP' is because of their low availability when combined with their 'imbalance'. If we think MVP cards are OP and we don't want to have to deal with it, then 0.03% isn't the right solution because some lucky person can still get the card and be 'OP'; 0% chance and removal from all players is the better solution. Being 'imbalanced' combined with low availability, in my opinion, is what makes this imbalance a much bigger problem than just being imbalanced while having high availability.

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Counterarguments in case someone bring up these topics:

1. But increasing card rates will hurt the economy!

Not necessarily. Having high amount of cards in the market doesn't mean it's bad. I mean look at how much cards that OCA/DCA pump into the market, but still almost no one buys them because of their stagnant pricing due to their poor availability. I bet a lot of people aren't even confident in selling good cards, with the fear that it'll be impossible to get the card back in the future. More cards resulting in lower prices for cards doesn't mean hurting economy. Hell, it might even improve the economy, because then people can afford to sell their cards and be more competitive about the price, without worrying that they'll never get the card again if they don't spend days hunting in this game.

Even if this, by some chance, "hurts the economy", I'd say increasing the card rate to make the gameplay (which has been hurt for so long) hurts less is still a higher priority. If we ever come to a situation where we have to choose one over the other then:

Gameplay > economy.


2. This will open the flood gate to hatter hats and mids[1]!

Yes. But in my opinion, this is also a non-issue. This change might actually make hunting monsters for hatter cards viable. Giving chances for the community to finally be able to try some Hatter quest while they are naturally progressing levels and gears through hunting or partying is actually good, especially when the 'reliable' alternative is to join events spammed by people with event bags.

As for having more mids[1] circulating the server, wouldn't that be a good thing since a lot of parties rely on heavily geared champs? Almost no one new these days will stay in this server long enough to see their champ gears complete.


3. People will have too many cards!

I fail to see how this would not be a better alternative to spending months and still not being able to complete your 4-carded weapon. This might even promote parties as well because now people can finally gain quicker access to cards that are crucial for certain places such as Pasana, Bathory, etc.

Only concern for people having too many cards is whether or not they're actually spending healthy amount of gameplay hours in RO. If it ever comes to the point that even casual players who spend 1 hour per week in this game have 'too many cards', then we can still adjust the card rates.


4. The server have survived 12 years with 3x card rate. It doesn't need a rate increase.

And it most likely won't survive for another 12 years.

heRO hasn't aged well at all. heRO didn't survive 12 years unscathed. And it is sure not a 2002 game like most people like to imply. It is a current year game due to its online service and continued patching. With no enhancements in even its engine and having almost no core changes to gameplay in the past few years, heRO will continue to age much worse.

heRO isn't just competing with other better servers right now. It is competing with the snowballing game industry as well. With the wake of much better MMORPGs and fun genres like the Battle Royale and MOBA, heRO will continue to lose players. No one these days quit gaming just because they quit heRO; they will most likely quit heRO and play other games that provide better player experience.

Staying at 0.03% is, in my honest opinion, not an option for the longevity of this server. It is definitely in no way healthy nor rewarding for anyone to spend a gargantuan amount of gameplay time in the purest, most despicable tedium in order to obtain just a piece of card.

However, I'm not saying increasing card rate will solve the issue entirely but it is definitely a good step in a hopefully right direction.


5. Varying rates depending on each individual card is just too much unnecessary developer work!

I can't say for sure but I honestly think it's unfair and awkward for a Wootan Shooter card to drop at the same rate of something like an Imp card. Since chances are no one wants a Wootan Shooter card for gearing purposes and people may want more Imp cards than Wootan Shooter cards.

If the concern is on the amount of developer work then maybe I suggest that the base card rate is released first, followed by each individual card being tweaked depending on area on a timely basis. This follows almost the same practice as a previous trend that heRO server introduced called the Low Drop Rate Retouch. I think this can even be integrated into that same series.

Should there be no choice but to accept a same rate for all cards, then I think it's fair to suggest a much higher base rate than the 0.1% chance that I've suggested.