(Dev Stream) Seasonal Wipes - Please don't go that route.

[e1337]

I sincerely hope the developers can find a balance that rewards both competitive play and the dedication of fans willing to invest a significant amount of time in your game.

Ever since Legacy: Steel and Sorcery launched, I've been all in investing my time and energy because the game truly resonates with me. I've loved every moment of the journey, grinding for cool unlocks and steadily building up my progress.

I understand that this isn’t an MMORPG, and that resetting leader boards for prestige makes sense. But when my store/vendor progress, items, and countless hours of hard work are erased every season, it feels like my dedication and time investment means nothing.

What I have enjoyed the most has been about unlocking new content, feeling a sense of advancement, and reaping the benefits of investment in the game by hitting the quests on cycle.

TLDR: While seasonal resets might level the competitive playing field in some sense, they risk undermining the very essence of the grind. When hours of hard-earned progress is erased, the journey and every incremental reward/upgrade along the way loses its meaning and enjoyment, it's no longer an investment, it becomes a repetitive chore.

I believe that there’s a way to maintain a competitive spirit without devaluing our long-term efforts. Keep the extractions fresh and challenging, but let our accumulated progress, unlocked items, and overall growth remain intact.

If my time and effort are nullified season after season, I see little reason for me to continue personally.

[Vilidius]

I understand your point, but the whole illusion rests of the word "investment." Your progress in this game is an investment in...what, exactly? Are you going to leave it to your children in their inheritance? Is it transferable to the next game that you'll inevitably be playing sooner or later? The idea that game progress is an "investment" in anything is a gross illusion, and you either learn to live without that illusion or, as you suggest, as soon as that illusion is punctured you leave for another game where you can successfully maintain that absurd lie for a little while until you can't anymore and leave for another game. Etc.

The only way this "investment" makes sense within the game, and within it's transitory nature, is as a long-term promise that you'll stay better, stronger, and ahead of new players pretty much permanently. That promise, made to you and other founders, may help keep you in the game. But it will destroy the ability of the game to draw new players to a PvP environment in which they feel like your fodder - which they would be.

It's a PvP competitive game. Of COURSE it can't allow you to bank your progress as a permanent advantage over newer players if it ever wants to survive. Accept that, or move on now.

[e1337]

The game is hardcore from the get-go.

When you jump in, you're naturally at a disadvantage because you don't have the hours of gameplay or the deep knowledge that seasoned players have built up. That gap is part of the challenge and the thrill, it rewards dedication and skill.

Rather than wiping everyone's progress, It would be just as eas to introduce smart mechanisms to balance things out.

For example, we could have separate maps or game modes that match players based on their current character level and gear.

This way, new players get a fair shot without stripping away the hard-earned achievements of seasoned players.

Ultimately, the game’s inherent difficulty is what makes every achievement meaningful, and smart design choices can bridge the gap without needing a full reset.

Lastly, your remarks about the use of the word "investment" are rather petty, so I won't waste too much time on it, but seeing your account improve, upgrade, and maintain prestige is a feature that many games offer, and players enjoy. Me having to farm for basic resources to make bandages or potions, for hours upon hours every season isn't something that "makes me better" at the game.

The games hardcore nature can result in you losing a full set of gear by an empty player camping at certain point and area, with the right amount of luck and timing anyway.

[e1337]

Plus, the routine wipe design can actually discourage new players.

If the game forces you to start from day one every season to be truly competitive, someone on the edge of trying it might never pick it up, feeling perpetually time-gated. Rather than letting newcomers gradually build up their progress, the system makes it seem like you have to be there on day one of each season to get the full benefit.

So the idea behind wipes in and of itself has potential drawbacks as well. It's not even a net benefit for the point you're trying to make.

[Vilidius]

Originally posted by e1337:

Plus, the routine wipe design can actually discourage new players.

If the game forces you to start from day one every season to be truly competitive, someone on the edge of trying it might never pick it up, feeling perpetually time-gated. Rather than letting newcomers gradually build up their progress, the system makes it seem like you have to be there on day one of each season to get the full benefit.

So the idea behind wipes in and of itself has potential drawbacks as well. It's not even a net benefit for the point you're trying to make.

I'm sorry, while some of your previous points at least hold internal logic, here you've just articulated the philosophy of pyramid schemes. "Even though you'll be perpetually behind players who started long before you did, you should actually be encouraged by this dynamic because it guarantees you'll forever be ahead of anyone who starts after right now." I won't disagree there may be a few people who think that way, but for every player who gets excited about getting some advantage out of that dynamic, there will be twenty more turned off by it - both because they see how grossly disadvantaged they really are by it, and because it's just ugly.

Speaking as one of the earliest players of the game, who stands to win the most by this philosophy, even I find it ugly. I can only imagine how much more I'd be discouraged by it if I wanted to try this game in a year.

[Balmung]

we don't need seasonal wipes, we need gear score lobby, then weaker players with bad items can fight against each other and not be farmed by blue players.
white vs white green vs green and blue vs blue/violet

[TokusatsuTV]

Originally posted by e1337:

I sincerely hope the developers can find a balance that rewards both competitive play and the dedication of fans willing to invest a significant amount of time in your game.

Ever since Legacy: Steel and Sorcery launched, I've been all in investing my time and energy because the game truly resonates with me. I've loved every moment of the journey, grinding for cool unlocks and steadily building up my progress.

I understand that this isn’t an MMORPG, and that resetting leader boards for prestige makes sense. But when my store/vendor progress, items, and countless hours of hard work are erased every season, it feels like my dedication and time investment means nothing.

What I have enjoyed the most has been about unlocking new content, feeling a sense of advancement, and reaping the benefits of investment in the game by hitting the quests on cycle.

TLDR: While seasonal resets might level the competitive playing field in some sense, they risk undermining the very essence of the grind. When hours of hard-earned progress is erased, the journey and every incremental reward/upgrade along the way loses its meaning and enjoyment, it's no longer an investment, it becomes a repetitive chore.

I believe that there’s a way to maintain a competitive spirit without devaluing our long-term efforts. Keep the extractions fresh and challenging, but let our accumulated progress, unlocked items, and overall growth remain intact.

If my time and effort are nullified season after season, I see little reason for me to continue personally.

Originally posted by Vilidius:

I understand your point, but the whole illusion rests of the word "investment." Your progress in this game is an investment in...what, exactly? Are you going to leave it to your children in their inheritance? Is it transferable to the next game that you'll inevitably be playing sooner or later? The idea that game progress is an "investment" in anything is a gross illusion, and you either learn to live without that illusion or, as you suggest, as soon as that illusion is punctured you leave for another game where you can successfully maintain that absurd lie for a little while until you can't anymore and leave for another game. Etc.

The only way this "investment" makes sense within the game, and within it's transitory nature, is as a long-term promise that you'll stay better, stronger, and ahead of new players pretty much permanently. That promise, made to you and other founders, may help keep you in the game. But it will destroy the ability of the game to draw new players to a PvP environment in which they feel like your fodder - which they would be.

It's a PvP competitive game. Of COURSE it can't allow you to bank your progress as a permanent advantage over newer players if it ever wants to survive. Accept that, or move on now.

makes sense to me. yes, i also would want to avoid a dark and darker scenario, where at least this time, my city vendors reputation and my lodge are still leveled while everything else is taken away. alot of people stepped away from that game when they learned rep would get wiped. wiping your items is one thing, but wiping your proverbial playtime away seems to get under peoples skin, you know?