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Northlite on Dec 7, 2012 wrote:

This is exactly what I want to know also - am I a minority or a majority? Am I the only one saddened by my game going hard core?

I can only say from my experience, of course but I constantly make myself available to help others in the game. I enjoy the game and I want everyone else to too. I always have and probably always will. I linger at dungeon entrances in case some one comes along etc. If someone asks a question I never belittle so they aren't embarrassed to ask me anything.

I have been asked the simplest questions to a few complex ones. Example: Someone in the Commons asked me yesterday "How do I get wood". I replied mist wood, they said "yes". I explained where it can be found, they wanted me to take them so I did to Unicorn way. I don't think they knew it was along the ground. Then they wanted to know how to craft now that they got the mist wood for the table. I explained that also in simple but in order instructions about first buying the recipe and then finding the items needed to craft it on the table she would place in her dorm room or castle. She was so happy and thanked me very much for helping.

In my travels of the Spiral I have met more players that just get by then ones who have nailed the game. By helping them I am probably not helping them "learn" the game because I play very aggressively but I just can't resist helping.

Mary

Exactly right Br. I want everyone to enjoy this game also so it stays around longer and so everyone is having a good time.
Myself i feel im a hardcore player but im a casual gamer if that makes any sense lol. I say it like that because i play hard an aggressive while on but im not on that often. 6-8 hours a week if im lucky or if i have some downtime i will play more often.
It would really be nice to find out the majority an minority on this game to see just how bad something really is in game. Whether it be anything from difficulty of the game to problems people have with unwanted guests in your battle ring.
I dont see a way to find out which side is the majority though but it would be very nice to find out.

Even though I have been able to get through Azteca with few problems and I do solo a lot, I think the game is too challenging for the majority of players. I agree that our wizards are not improving as we level to match the strength and health of the enemies and I don't mean just the bosses. I think the main problem is that the fights are just taking too long. You can set your deck to build up for your spells and make sure you have plenty of healing spells to keep alive until you have blades, etc. on you and enemies to make spells really count. But when each fight takes 30 to 40 minutes it is like being in a dungeon when you have to defeat six or more enemies to move on or even more if you are trying to collect something. This makes the game move very slow. I know I get tired of defeating six marmosets (or whatever they call them), and then having to defeat more to collect six of something which may mean defeating 12 of the little monkeys and on and on. I am not sure if the answer is more health, better gear, or just fewer points of health to defeat enemies. I just feel it is taking too much time on every single fight and it gets boring. I also agree that it being a family game that the younger folks need a break! If that makes it less challenging for the adults who want a hard game, let them go find a game that is not for all ages. I can afford crown gear and still find the gear is not good enough compared to the enemies. Not to mention all enemies almost always block the critical hits that we worked hard to add to our stats. I even buy henchmen when a fight goes on and on and I eventually need a break. Not to keep me alive, but just to get the fight over. Not everyone can do that. In spite of the fact I am rarely ever defeated, I think the game is too hard and fights too long for the majority of players. You can't jump on for a free hour and get much done. I love the game but know a lot of players that don't want to quit but just cannot do it anymore.

Eric Stormbringer on Nov 26, 2012 wrote:

I would like to thank KI for the new world of Azteca. Despite its early release and a plethora of minor bugs I must say that Azteca is by far my favorite world. The challenge posed by the monsters is refreshing and enjoyable. Never before have I had to use a PvP mindset when facing mobs but with this world I do. Pip counting, health buffering, expected spell output and even deck manipulation all play a key role in fights. Boss fights present an excellent challenge and the lvl 88 storm spell quest was the first time in a long time that it has taken me three tries to beat a boss. I also love the fact that monsters use spells that would typically only be seen in the arena. Mana Burn, Enfeeble, Virulent Plague and shields such as Glacial, Volcanic and Tower all add to the unique Azteca experience. I am absolutely loving it.

That being said, many casual players are not having as grand a time. Players without the best pets or gear are struggling to get by in this world. Even those with the waterworks gear often find themselves waylaid by an extremely high mob and boss critical rate. There is quite a steep learning curve in this world and as a result many casual players are being turned away. Something needs to be done. This game should not only be enjoyable to players like me but also to a younger or more casual audience. While a general game difficulty nerf has been proposed I believe that there are other options that would make Azteca more enjoyable to casual players without a corresponding nerf. A large part of the issue is not simply the world difficulty but also the gear that is being dropped and the pets that are available. Gear dropped in Azteca is nowhere near the level needed to compete with the monsters and bosses that players face. I propose adding easily accessible dropped gear to the game that emphasizes universal resist and block without completely neutering other stats. An additional option is simply to have help tutorials available at the respective class trainers. Azteca requires extensive knowledge to play effectively. I think that simple tutorials on pip management, effective convert use and even health management would be of great help. Finally an improvement in pet talent manifestation is in order. Already, most pets come with built in spritely at teen and I commend you on such. However perhaps it is time for pets with built in spritely at teen and spell proof (or even defy) at adult so that players can have a helpful talent set without the gargantuan effort that a mega pet requires. With these 2 changes I think it would be entirely possible to make Azteca enjoyable to casual players without detracting from the challenge that other players and I so enjoy.

Fateskin, Nice to see you and thank you. You have made some interesting suggestions.

The one thing I want to hit on is the Pet Talents. I don't know if you have noticed but some of the dropped pets are actually manifesting "Common" talents in slots that are marked as "Rare". I was surprised to find this after receiving a "Burning Pixie" as a drop in ZF. Then I went back and looked at a couple of other dropped pets and discovered the same thing with a few of those. I am not talking about the early pets, but those that came out in the last 2 to 3 worlds. Thankfully, I am not one that farms for pets in general but, I would like to see this changed due to the fact that a lot of players do farm for them. If the talents were improved to be more useful, I might actually be interested in taking one to mega, but not the way the talents are now.

Megan Frostriver on Dec 5, 2012 wrote:

Thanks Eric (FatesKin) you have some wonderful ideas that would help. As DarthJT has on other threads.
You both have empathy and understanding that there are many different play styles. You both are trying to make it so people can play how they are comfortable playing. You understand people are not lazy, whiny, juvenile, quitters or so many other names people threw out on these boards at folks with a different view. You both also firmly grasp this game is for EVERYONE. Azteca as it is now does not allow EVERYONE to play it.

I have the skills needed to go to Azteca. I don't have the desire. Real life is stressful and I don't want my "down" time being stressful. I play to have fun. I don't play to work. After all, this is a game not real life or a job.

Hope to see you soon in game.

Nicely put mom2mydidzcrcj.

As I have continued to progress through Azteca, since my last comment, I am even more concerned and upset that this world is not a "challenge" but is hard, tedious, unbalanced, and each battle drawn out. I find the bosses with 20,000+ points easier to fight than the mobs.

When fighting fire and storm mobs who start out with five power pips it is not always easy to just stay alive. When two wizards are fighting three storm enemies who start out with at least one doing the storm "mermaid" (?) spell first round and the other two using the same spell in the first or second round, it really throws you so far into health debt that you can't always recover. They use spells in those two rounds that put a -50% accuracy on you (remember there are three doing this to each of you). In the first two rounds they take away anything you have used on yourself to increase your damage. Fire uses big damage spells that that not only hit you over and over, they also put three fire traps on you in one spell. Face it, we are over powered by them from the get go! They can take over 1000 health from you per spell per enemy, keep you from casting a spell for three rounds, take away anything you use to make your spells stronger and it is not fair. Yes I know better than to use anything on myself in at least the first two rounds.

My family has three accounts and we have lots of experience. We have money to buy higher gear. We know how to stack our decks. (it takes so long to have to change decks and gear every time the enemy school changes, but we do) However we all carry health spells and have to use so many of our pips on them so the fights take forever to complete. We also use elixirs and henchmen, which so many cannot afford, and still it is a difficult "challenge". We have younger kids and adults that have to have our constant help because they just can't figure it out and keep it all straight. There is so much to deal with just to begin a battle.

Why do we have critical for our spells? It is so very rare for an enemy to NOT block a critical spell.

Perhaps this is fun for some, but my guess is that it is just too much work, trouble, and time consuming for the majority. Perhaps the way to fix this is as some have suggested, make a hard version and a less hard, (not way easy) version of this world. I know KI could do this. They are amazing. But I bet they are making a lot of crown sales because of this world.

Another point is that people will get discouraged and not do Azteca and then a new world will come out that they can't do unless they have completed Azteca and it will be harder and people are going to get upset that their game has to end in Avalon. They need to power us up or power the enemies down. This is a family game folks. Kids advertise the game! Yep! It should be fun, not stressful, not work.