Update Discussion: November 18, 2021

The update notes are here: https://forum.projectgorgon.com/show...vember-18-2021

Discussion is in this thread! But please remember to report any bugs through the in-game reporting system so we can track them.

So since I got a chance to play a bit more recently I thought I'd make some comments about some of the changes and some of the changes I'd like to see.

First off, being slowed down when doing attacks is WAY better than being rooted completely, even if you're slowed down quite a lot, so I'm thankful for that change. That said I'm still not a fan of the players being slowed down so much when trying to attack and I think it's honestly quite detrimental to the game as it makes combat a lot less fun for me. I noticed the slowdown being completely removed from certain moves like Bulwark mode which is definitely a step in the right direction, but I still don't feel like it should be on buffing/self survival moves like reinforce or a lot of weaker melee attacks. With the number of ranged enemies in the game and how important positioning is for melee characters it's both really annoying and detrimental to be slowed down so much while fighting, although of course it's a lot better than being locked in place.

With the initial hype around Povus dying out, the zone is becoming a lot less populated, and I think this is a pretty big problem considering the town system there. I had a discussion about it with some others and I think a very large issue with Povus is that the location is simply too inhospitable. What I mean by that is that there is very little reason to be in the zone unless if you need something exclusive to the zone and there are several things that constantly usher players to leave. For example, when I was hanging out with friends we didn't want to stay in Povus unless if strictly necessary because just trying to relax in town resulted in us getting tons of stacks of ticks. This annoyed us into leaving the zone because even though we were interested in staying for the night raid, we didn't want to stand around wasting our resources curing ticks while waiting.
This along with many other fairly minor inconveniences make it feel like if a player doesn't have a very explicit reason to do something in Povus that can only be done in Povus, they'd rather just leave and go somewhere else where they have access to basic amenities and aren't wasting money by simply existing. I believe that this is one of the biggest reasons why people are feeling less enthusiastic about the zone and fewer people are available to keep the town level up. Many people leave because the zone isn't pleasant to be inside and then don't want to bother traveling back just to do the night raid.

The first change I would suggest is removing the chance players will get ticks or leeches around the town area, so players can wait in the town without coming back to being covered in parasites. If ticks are the "Environmental hazard" of the zone is like the cold is in Kur, then players should have locations safe from ticks the same way you won't freeze if you're in a house in Kur.
The second change I would suggest is creating a "Safe area" in the town with basic amenities where players won't get attacked so they can safely regroup and afk. I know that players respawn in a place without mobs outside of town upon death, but there's 0 reason to stay there unless if you want to be eaten to death by ticks, so it hardly counts as a place you'd want to stay long. My suggestion would be to keep the area around the town board free of spawns so people have access to storage, the town board (Which would be a good place to organize groups if you weren't getting attacked constantly) and some npcs. Some of the events have enemies entering the town from that immediate entrance which makes it impossible to keep safe, so I would ask that either the geography of the town or enemy pathing be changed to keep one area monster free or creating a second floor to the big restaurant building where enemies won't travel to which can act as the safe zone (Maybe it can be a cozy lounge, that'd be fun). It would also definitely help if the teleport circle was inside of the town in this safe zone rather than way out of town to make it easier to exit/enter based on the night event, and access to council/guild storage would make the location a lot more appealing too so players can manage their items (Especially considering how many different items you need to craft basically any recipe you get in Povus). Lastly, I think that the NPCs in town should flee to this safe area when night comes so players can still use the town for NPC business if they just want to talk to them and not deal with monsters breathing down their back. Plus, it makes a lot more sense that they would try to find a place to bunker down rather than just chilling in their open house with two ratkin warriors and a Kuvou.

On a related note, I also feel like a big problem with Povus and the Fae Realm are just how few "Safe" locations there are around the map. It feels like these new locations just have monsters just about everywhere and you can't stand still for 30 seconds without the risk of something aggroing on you. The Fae Realm's town is thankfully very safe, but Povus doesn't even have that going for it because of the night raids. I think something that makes a zone a lot more reasonable to stay inside for long periods of time is the ability to go from fighting mobs to hiding in a safe location. Players have a lot of reasons to try and get somewhere safe, from managing their items and skills to taking a break or to regroup with other players. Povus has very few locations like this scattered around the map so it feels like a big commitment to non-stop fighting just to farm anything. Even things like the portals have enemies spawning around them. If you want to stop fighting for whatever reason you might have to run across the whole map or log out and risk being camped when you log in again. Some of the best grinding locations aren't just good because they're efficient, but also because players can easily duck out and stop because there's safe areas nearby where they can take a breather, letting them control whether they want to casually grind for a few minutes at a time or farm for hours straight. For that reason I think the inclusion of more monster-free safe zones would make the area a lot more hospitable and more likely players will hang around and consequently more likely to help during the night raids.

One last note, the change to the food buffs is really nice and I like the idea a lot! There was very little reason not to only eat cheese previously, so having food give different buffs is definitely a great idea to try and encourage players to not devolve into cheese-ivores. Right now the numbers are pretty well balanced I think. I would love to see the effect of food items vary a lot more as a way of encouraging different meal types, such as hot dishes giving cold resistance or cold dishes giving fire resistances since that would add a fun layer of planning to any trip. The idea of preparing a set of spicy porcini bites and a hot orcish soup so my friends and I can travel through Gazluk more safely sounds rewarding, flavorful (no pun intended) and fun.

if you wear metal shoes, you wont get ticks. I have been wearing metal shoes now for over a week and havent gotten 1 tick. The zoning in tips told me about it, the tips also said that kelp or ri-shin leggings prevent leaches from getting on you.

There have been times where using the portal from Rahu to Povus and there being 6 Ratkins waiting to slaughter me before I zone in completely. Also I died during the Povus night event and respawned in that house and guess what, there were many Ratkin there waiting to kill me and others too that had died. I think there should be a forcefield making zone it and respawn points safe from this happening.