Dev Notes, March 10 2017

[poulter]

Further feedback on GK:

6 vs 7 man groups:
Note: Most of the members of these groups were experienced players with level 70 skills and a mixture of level 70 /60 high end gear. Everyone had run GK multiple times before. 4 of the 6 /7 took part in each run

6 people: Challenging run. Difficult with several wipes. Had to focus all the time
7 people: Challenging, but almost felt it was a ‘farming’ run

The differences between 6 or 7 people in the group was highly noticeable
Note: Even for this group, equipped with current top-level gear, GK was no pushover

Bosses:
Whether with 6 or 7 people, they were downable. Major difference was it took longer with 6 people

Elites:
Using pull and hook tactics, no real issues if people stayed back and didn’t rush in
Major issues were encountered with rapid re-spawn rate and multiple packs of elites suddenly aggroing from other rooms (for no apparent reason)

Inconsistent elite pack behavior:
As previously posted, packs can behave differently on runs – sometimes they (seem to) respawn quicker or attack without (apparent) cause – guess some orcs have better hearing?
e.g. one area (by the tavern) that on an earlier run had been cleared without incident in a group of 4, resulted in 4 consecutive party wipes with a party of 6. We had double spawns and circa 3 packs of elites attacking us – on each attempt. We ran the same area next day in a group of 6 with no issues

AOE behavior: Raised as a bug
Relating to the inconsistent pack behavior at the tavern, on one occasion it was noticed by several players that Heavy Multi-shot (archery) shot through walls plus hit non-engaged elites. This was unexpected as previous testing suggested that AOE only affected already aggroed monsters



Feedback: GK - A tale of ‘Hack and Slash’ with a ‘Monty-Haul’ reward system

Accessing GK:
Unless you can fly into the keep, getting through the multiple monsters roaming outside it is a pain. There are too many for most single players to survive their onslaughts.
The problem can be avoided by assembling as a group outside GK and clearing the orcs
Suggestion: Reduce the number of orcs who patrol /attack outside GK

Screen loading times (entering and leaving GK):
Since last patch, these have significantly lengthened (for me at least). On leaving GK (e.g. to help clear orcs outside), it is not uncommon to be at half-health and under attack from 6 orcs before the screen clears and you can act
Suggestion: Remove /reduce the number of orcs by the GK entrance

Frame rates:
These are very poor - some times as low as 10, but more often around 20. Could it be caused by the amount of items people leave lying around due to the large amount of loot drops and available inventory space?
Suggestion: Optimise GK code /reduce number of drops

Chest keys:
1 key /chest: Most people had an over-abundance of keys
3 keys /chest: Most people are short on keys and unable to open all the chests /run
Suggestion: Set to 2 keys /chest and review

Loot drops:
It feels that loot drops in GK are too random in relation to skills used and skills dropped-items have, e.g. archer /druid can receive deer /druid etc.
It is recognized that by design skill drops have a small % of being random, but in GK, non-applicable skill drops seem to be common, rather than rare

The impact of this is made worse by the number of single skill set combined with Generic drops that are received
Suggestion: Review code and reduce the occurrence of non-relevant skill drops

Loot quantity /disposal:
Currently, GK is a loot-fest where you get so many drops, that you spend a large amount of time managing your inventory and phloging. Several players (including myself) only pick-up pinks and golds now – due to there being so many drops
Suggestion: Review amount of loot dropping. Reduce /change?

Vendors: Spoiler
Although, there appears to be an embryonic vendor in GK, it is not active now. The nearest vendor is half a map away (& doesn’t pay full value?)
Currently, people suicide in the start area in GK, enter the light, sell to vendors in Serbule, teleport back to Gazluk, re-enter GK – rinse and repeat. The amount of loot drops makes this worthwhile and presumably has a knock-on effect on the economy
Suggestion: Add a black-market vendor e/g/ 'shady orc' to Entry area

Augmentation:
Current skill limits result in < 20% of augmentation attempts being successful i.e. your new level 70 gear is very difficult and expensive to augment. If your current level 60 gear is max. crafted and augmented, the level 70 gear gets left in the bank
Suggestion: Raise skill levels cap by 10

Crafting max. level 70 gear
Without Vervadium (i.e. a Lab. run), you cannot craft several level 70 recipes (e.g. tailoring and leatherwork)
Suggestion: Give each GK boss a chance to drop Vervadium

Comparing Lab to GK: My personal comments
It may be nostalgia, but I prefer Lab to GK – despite having run Lab dozens of times and for many months
Lab has variability, a start and an end (loot the chests on the way to killing Asterion and then Claudia). It is unforgiving, but rewarding. It has stood the test of time

GK by comparison feels linear, repetitive and mechanical – with no natural ending (i.e. story line). The loot rewards are greater in quantity, but it feels like an old-style Hack & Slash dungeon (with excessive loot i.e. ‘Monty-haul). Technically, it is ‘better’ than Lab, but after doing many runs, it feels emotionally unrewarding.
I can run Lab 2 or 3 times /day and enjoy each run. GK, I go for the loot and mechanically kill monsters – at the end of several hours, my enjoyment level is way below that of a Lab run.
Suggestion: Raise Lab to level 70 difficulty or Add ‘immersion’ content into GK