Welcome to Project: Gorgon!


Project: Gorgon is a 3D fantasy MMORPG (massively-multiplayer online role-playing game) that features an immersive experience that allows the player to forge their own path through exploration and discovery. We won't be guiding you through a world on rails, and as a result there are many hidden secrets awaiting discovery. Project: Gorgon also features an ambitious skill based leveling system that bucks the current trend of pre-determined classes, thus allowing the player to combine skills in order to create a truly unique playing experience.

The Project: Gorgon development team is led by industry veteran Eric Heimburg. Eric has over a decade of experience working as a Senior and Lead Engineer, Developer, Designer and Producer on successful games such as Asheron’s Call 1 and 2, Star Trek Online and other successful Massively Multiplayer Online Games.



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  1. #1
    Member Clip's Avatar
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    Some Meaningful Level 70 Solo Content, Please?

    This topic is hard to broach without being flamebait, but I'll try.

    There's a "run GK or GTFO" feel to Project Gorgon when you get to level 70. It's the main reason I play the game less.

    Part of it is kind-hearted practical advice, because there is no good alternate source of ring/amulet/main hand/offhand slot items. There's also an abrupt transition from 65, where a patient solo player can reasonably accumulate yellow items in every slot by adventuring, to level 70, where it's crafted or GK only for the worn slots.

    Part of it is less benign. Some players like GK a lot and view any other options as a threat that could draw players away from their groups. Or maybe they have some (false) idea that letting other players have fun will somehow detract from their experience, and they argue that level 70 solo rewards, if added, should be nerfed relative to GK.

    I know that to make that area an effective test bed for group combat, the game experience has to be tuned to challenge a geared group, and that the respawns have to be fast enough for force groups to keep moving. But for me, that's not fun at all, and for every level except 70, I was able to find other, slower paced, fun content, that still had a good enough chance for the RNG to give a yellow item that it felt worthwhile.

    The War Caches proved that PG can deliver great content for all play styles, and you might get a yellow once every few dungeons. I know that we're only in a temporary period where 70 is the max, and new higher levels will have new zones, but that's a long time (possibly years) away.

    When I come home, tired and already near my stress limit, committing to the mandatory time investment of a GK run usually isn't an option. (Even if I get lucky and one's even forming and they're willing to take me. It's not like I'm enough of a regular to get invites.) And since that's really the only place I can get a RNG roll for any top level gear, I just don't log into PG.

    There's a lot more to it, like not wanting to be "carried" by much more powerful geared players. It was a harsh awakening when my first GK run (where I was useless relative to the others), resulted in half my gear being replaced. There's a huge power gap between geared/ungeared at 70, and few options to work through it without accepting charity.

    Is there much hope for a player like me to build a set of gear? It's been ... 7 months of trying and failing at it now, because of the above challenges. I know I can get the worn slots with leatherworking, but that's only half a set.

    (I waited a long time to post this. By now I've run all the dungeons during events, killed just about everything in the game, and put in 50-100 hours of farming the few pockets of level 70 solo-able mobs, including that corner of Windy Cave. I feel pretty certain that there's no secret I'm missing.)

  2. #2
    Member Silkt's Avatar
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    This post / sentiment has been expressed each time the game plateaus' out, it happened at 50 again at 60. I think its more a reflection of the painfully slow progress being made towards development of the game being zone and feature complete, armour and weapon smithing being 2 vitally lacking trades.

    My personal solution has been to either play different skills or take a break from the game and play something different for a bit and come back refreshed when there is something new or the urge to play cow, bat or something different draws you back feeling refreshed.

  3. #3
    Member ErDrick's Avatar
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    This is part of the reason I have made several comments in the past about rahu plateau and how frustrating it is. This is one of the spots you can potentially solo for level 70 items, it's obviously slower then a lvl 70 dungeon and that's to be expected, but it's also extremely punishing to the point where even geared optimally unless you are using certain god builds, you will die every 2 minutes due to the insane amount of adds you get and the extremely punishing and unnecessary cc the mobs unleash upon you. The 90% movement speed reductions stacking on you to the point where there is literally nothing you can do to avoid the adds unless you are using bard or priest for instance. I should note however that if these mobs were considered elite it would help a lot, because then you could duo / trio and it would be worth it.

    The other alternative is gazluk itself, and personally I say screw dealing with that (the cold effect is also overly punishing, I don't want easy mode but I don't want to feel like I'm playing ninja gaiden for nes either, aka wanting to throw a controller at the screen after a while).

    Generally when I level up a new skill to 70 I try both of these places for a few hours then say screw this, and just craft some gear then do gk for the other slots, I completely get what you are trying to say here. A solo option shouldn't be as rewarding as a group option, but it shouldn't be as ridiculously deadly either.

    The same is true for lvl 60 gear because your options are basically run around ilmari hoping when you attack that drakeworm there isn't actually 3 of them in that spot instead of the 1 you think you see, or rahu open fields where you get zero seconds to breathe or recover because the mobs are so densely packed.. although war caches have alleviated this to a huge extent ( good addition there).

    I think toning down the environmental effects in gazluk ( and kur for that matter), and toning down the density and cc on the rahu plateau (or leaving them as is but tagging them as elites) would go a long way towards alleviating this issue for a lot of players. Also remove that stacking snare ability completely from general prask, why does he even have it? The one mob you absolutely have to run away from unless you have a group has an ability that makes it almost impossible to do so, alternately make him a static spawn on the side of the plateau that has almost no other mobs instead of a wandering "Surprise butt sex!" mob.

    In all these example spots for gearing btw, the speed is already reduced because getting the top level drops from these mobs is already rare, you get like 10 level 60-65 drops to 1 lvl 70 drop on the plateau for instance, or thereabouts.

    To some extent this is all still a function / extension of combat being too fast and furious (deadly) overall. I know I keep using this line but you kill and die as fast as in a twitch combat game where you are actually able to DODGE stuff to reduce the damage you are taking, except this is a tab-target game and those options are non-existant. On top of that the game doesn't really allow you to kite ( moving costs power) root rot, snare kite ( power and mobs gain immunity after the first root or snare) or pet tank ( pet tanking is still buggy as hell aggro wise, sometimes they don't follow your commands at all, and assist still doesn't work as it should work, aka your pet will guard you in assist mode instead of --waiting-- for you to attack, to assist you). These are traditional examples of how you can deal with this problem in other similar style games but not here, just more examples of why you shouldn't be potentially 4 shotted btw, because there are no tools to deal with that except for "4 shot the mobs yourself", aka "kill them before they kill you" aka what I have been saying for a few years now like a broken record or a parrot.

    Not trying to be a complaining dick here btw, just trying to explain the situation as I see it! I am both a solo and group enthusiast so I know a little about both sets of issues.
    Last edited by ErDrick; 06-23-2019 at 11:36 AM.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Niph's Avatar
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    If you're looking for a solo way to gear up to 70, crafted gear is the way to go. What you get with it will make you strong enough to fight everywhere but inside GK. But then, if you're inside, you get this group gear, so...

  5. #5
    Member Clip's Avatar
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    Thanks all!

    So, assuming I like the game, the community, the admin events, and don't want to
    Quote Originally Posted by Silkt View Post
    take a break from the game
    , and I've realized that
    Quote Originally Posted by Niph View Post
    crafted gear
    can only get you half a set (or 5/8 for staff users), and I also am
    Quote Originally Posted by ErDrick View Post
    Not trying to be a complaining dick here
    , and I don't want the dev team to delay their awesome progress for this issue, here are some concrete suggestions for improvement that don't require new zones or major changes to existing mechanics.

    Success criteria for easy-win changes:
    • not require new zones or mechanics
    • not take away from levels that are lacking in content
    • not create new elite level 70 mobs that need tuning for groups
    • let level 70 solo players get gear as good as groups at a reasonable pace, if slower.


    Here are some low-cost rebalances that fix this issue in the short term:

    1. Make Gaz City a Level 70 Area

    This is an outdoor area, but has enough random fires to not be absurdly hostile like the rest of Gaz, as ErDrick noted. The mobs are a bit weaker than they should be at level 70, but rebalance them as non-elite L70 solo mobs, and you have a nice little area for fighting Orcs, with GK being the elite-for-groups area and the city being the solo-friendly non-elite area. Just don't make it an obnoxious mix of 65 and 70 like Rahu Plateau or Windy View Cave, and it'd work great. Just tune the difficulty and drop rate so that a low- to moderately- geared solo player can use it to build up a set of yellows or farm prisms and phlogiston to work on a build.

    This has the added bonus of giving Level 70 players a reason to hang around Gaz in case a group needs them, or bump into each other naturally, form a group, and head into GK proper.

    2. Make Windy View Cave Consistently Level 70

    Windy View Cave, with its continual conga line of adds, is already plenty difficult to be level 70, but inexplicably, nearly all the mobs are 65. (Other than two heavily farmed corners.) The mummy section, with roots, disease infliction, and lamias, is absurdly over-difficult for 65. The whole cave should be consistently 70. There's a small number of chests to find, that should also be Level 70 to match the difficulty of the zone. (And because there's no solo-reachable level 70 chests in the game.)

    3. Make No-Name Cave a Level 70 Area

    No-Name cave is notable because many sections don't have ridiculous numbers of pathing mobs. (I know, no constant adds so you can actually get up and get a drink from the fridge. Crazy, right?) It needs a little bit more difficulty to justify being Level 70, but if tuned to that level, could give you a less frenetic alternative to Windy Cave. It also has four chests that would become relevant if increased to L70.


    Areas to Not Change:

    Amaluk Valley Cave: This area is already thick with players hunting for skins. No need to add to the crowds by also making it where you go for rings and amulets. Let the non-humanoid in No-Name cave serve that purpose.

    Snowblood Shadow Cave: This zone already has a special purpose in being the home of the teleportation trainer. It shouldn't be made harder.

    Rahu Plateau: Hear me out. ErDrick points out correctly that Rahu Plateau's mix of 65 and 70 makes it an utter waste of time to farm for gear. (And believe me, I've put in my hours single pulling there. It sucks.) But it is one of the few good places to try to get tattered books and magic sand. Given that, I think the absence of Level 70 areas is better served by rebalancing the ones listed above.


    All told, those are pretty small changes to make the game playable solo. The Rahu Sewers and War Caches have been awesome additions for the 50-69 grind, and I think they take the pressure off the current level 65 areas, making them great choices to bump up to 70 and fill the void.

    Thanks for reading!

  6. #6
    Senior Member Coglin's Avatar
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    Personally, I don't think solo play should allow you to ever acquire gear remotely near the value of the gear you would get from group play. in my opinion there are solo play games out there made for that. I personally always dislike the notion that there should be some path for solo players in games designed around community and group play to allow players to solo and even come close to acquiring the same value in gear.

  7.   Click here to go to the next staff post in this thread.   #7
    Administrator Citan's Avatar
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    I actually thought most of those Gazluk caves were full of level 70 monsters already. It's unfortunately too late to adjust much for tomorrow's update, but I'll plan on making some changes there for the update after.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Niph's Avatar
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    We can't speak about their level, but iirc they drop level 65 gear.

  9. #9
    Senior Member Mbaums's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Niph View Post
    We can't speak about their level, but iirc they drop level 65 gear.
    I think the wolf one used to be 70 then it got toned down to 65 along with the chests. The large undead-filled cave has a 60-half and a 65/70 half.
    *edit*
    checked some old patch notes, I think it was around the time of July 2017, but I cant find it mentioned. This would put it around the time they added Snow Oxen to outside in Gazluk.
    Last edited by Mbaums; 06-25-2019 at 09:44 AM.

  10. #10
    Senior Member Niph's Avatar
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    I haven't adventured much in that 65/70 undead area (if it's the one I think it is), but I wouldn't recommend it as a solo experience.



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