11-13-2009, 10:21 AM
I don't see how changing fish is going to make heRO better in any sense. Like Ayu said, RO is an old game. People no longer care (for the most part) about the journey to end game. RO has never been and never will be about the story line, quests or even being an interesting experience in leveling up; RO vets have done it all before, multiple times. The focus is entirely on the end game content; PvP/WoE and to a lesser extent, MvPing.
Looking back on PvP/WoE, especially in heRO's case, this is most certainly heRO's weak point. While I can hardly talk about the current WoE situation, from comments I've read here on the forums and from the little remnants of LW that remain, WoE has hit a low point. Yet, the population (at least going off the CP) is still higher than it was when WoE was more fierce.
You can't expect the server to attract players with a heavy focus on PvP/WoE if the current player base shows little to no interest. End game is the motivator and if the end game (PvP/WoE in this case) is lackluster, why would any new players/guilds want to put in a few weeks/months effort to get up to a reasonable standard to be able to compete? Especially when they can go to servers with a more established PvP/WoE player base, with a potentially easier ride (see higher rates).
So getting back to how this relates to the main topic, the only way to attract more PvP/WoE minded players is to either offer a PvP/WoE environment that no other server has, while making it more interesting than any official PvP environments (see custom battlegrounds/WoE) or to have the current heRO population take a more serious approach to WoE. heRO arguably has the population to support at least a decent WoE environment; it all comes down to player mentality and general willingness to compete. The only real way to influence this is by modifying the potential rewards. I don't want to go into that here.
Let's get back to the issue of attracting new players. There are a huge number of private servers out there and having so much choice, people have a very low tolerance for "giving a server a go". They either want an easy ride to end game (once again, see high rates) or at the very least, the promise that their effort will eventually be rewarded with decent end game content. MvPing is pretty consistent across servers, unless you add MvPs that have potential rewards comparable to existing official MvPs. Since this isn't the case on heRO, the MvP scene here is about the same as any other server.
So once again we get back to PvP/WoE. New players to the server need to be able to see first hand, examples of heRO WoE. Whether it be guild created WoE videos or more commonly, open discussion about each WoE (screenshots included), new players are going to want to see some example of what they are in for/working towards, so they can see what they are in for. Otherwise, for the few players that do level just to find out, they will be disappointed. Of course, the only exposure new players can expect from WoE on the forums (at this stage) are complaints that WoE is in bad shape, which really doesn't help anything. Once again, it all comes down to changing the mentality of the current WoE player base for any improvements to be made.
The other factor that sets servers apart is the way they handle updates. There are servers that stay up to date with whatever eA releases, servers that are very careful with their updates and wait for any bugs to be ironed out (heRO) and finally servers that have the ability to pump out content before eA can (or at least pump out custom content that compares to the latest and greatest official content). I can't say that heRO's custom content compares in any way to the latest official content (I'm not referring to any update in particular). Either way, heRO has it's own method of releasing updates and I don't expect that to change. Still, it is a factor.
Custom content is a bit of a grey area. There are people that like it (as it does have the potential to add a lot to the game) but at the same time, from what I've seen on more WoE/PvP orientated servers, there are people who simply detest it (especially wings). Still, unless custom content compares directly to official content (see custom dungeons/MvPs), don't expect it to be the selling point of the server (unless everything is as up to date as possible).
Getting back to the fish discussion, buffing pots isn't the "solution". You are merely "balancing" out a concept that is conceivably "imbalanced" by imbalancing something else.
Either way, the server is now 4 years old; you should have some idea as to what works and what doesn't in terms of attracting players and just as importantly, keeping them interested. Personally, I think the community is what needs to improve/change to see any changes in the PvP/WoE situation. Good luck with that.
Looking back on PvP/WoE, especially in heRO's case, this is most certainly heRO's weak point. While I can hardly talk about the current WoE situation, from comments I've read here on the forums and from the little remnants of LW that remain, WoE has hit a low point. Yet, the population (at least going off the CP) is still higher than it was when WoE was more fierce.
You can't expect the server to attract players with a heavy focus on PvP/WoE if the current player base shows little to no interest. End game is the motivator and if the end game (PvP/WoE in this case) is lackluster, why would any new players/guilds want to put in a few weeks/months effort to get up to a reasonable standard to be able to compete? Especially when they can go to servers with a more established PvP/WoE player base, with a potentially easier ride (see higher rates).
So getting back to how this relates to the main topic, the only way to attract more PvP/WoE minded players is to either offer a PvP/WoE environment that no other server has, while making it more interesting than any official PvP environments (see custom battlegrounds/WoE) or to have the current heRO population take a more serious approach to WoE. heRO arguably has the population to support at least a decent WoE environment; it all comes down to player mentality and general willingness to compete. The only real way to influence this is by modifying the potential rewards. I don't want to go into that here.
Let's get back to the issue of attracting new players. There are a huge number of private servers out there and having so much choice, people have a very low tolerance for "giving a server a go". They either want an easy ride to end game (once again, see high rates) or at the very least, the promise that their effort will eventually be rewarded with decent end game content. MvPing is pretty consistent across servers, unless you add MvPs that have potential rewards comparable to existing official MvPs. Since this isn't the case on heRO, the MvP scene here is about the same as any other server.
So once again we get back to PvP/WoE. New players to the server need to be able to see first hand, examples of heRO WoE. Whether it be guild created WoE videos or more commonly, open discussion about each WoE (screenshots included), new players are going to want to see some example of what they are in for/working towards, so they can see what they are in for. Otherwise, for the few players that do level just to find out, they will be disappointed. Of course, the only exposure new players can expect from WoE on the forums (at this stage) are complaints that WoE is in bad shape, which really doesn't help anything. Once again, it all comes down to changing the mentality of the current WoE player base for any improvements to be made.
The other factor that sets servers apart is the way they handle updates. There are servers that stay up to date with whatever eA releases, servers that are very careful with their updates and wait for any bugs to be ironed out (heRO) and finally servers that have the ability to pump out content before eA can (or at least pump out custom content that compares to the latest and greatest official content). I can't say that heRO's custom content compares in any way to the latest official content (I'm not referring to any update in particular). Either way, heRO has it's own method of releasing updates and I don't expect that to change. Still, it is a factor.
Custom content is a bit of a grey area. There are people that like it (as it does have the potential to add a lot to the game) but at the same time, from what I've seen on more WoE/PvP orientated servers, there are people who simply detest it (especially wings). Still, unless custom content compares directly to official content (see custom dungeons/MvPs), don't expect it to be the selling point of the server (unless everything is as up to date as possible).
Getting back to the fish discussion, buffing pots isn't the "solution". You are merely "balancing" out a concept that is conceivably "imbalanced" by imbalancing something else.
Either way, the server is now 4 years old; you should have some idea as to what works and what doesn't in terms of attracting players and just as importantly, keeping them interested. Personally, I think the community is what needs to improve/change to see any changes in the PvP/WoE situation. Good luck with that.