#29
by Solid
Been on and off since 2011 Yuletide, still have the Christmas hat that takes up the headgear space from back then.
Bounty is definitely a good step towards the ideal free to play model, but how the pet system currently works in my opinion is a little step backwards (assuming you start from zero and don't buy plat it's probably going to take you years to upgrade your pet to level 6).
I'm a little ambivalent about chests, while they are a great addition to OTM's profit, which could help OTM ease up a bit on the f2p players, it is quite frankly gambling, and gambling has been a topic of controversy in the mobile gaming sphere. But it's a risk I'm willing to embrace if that means OTM could make the life of f2p players less miserable.
Leveling used to be fairly reasonable since there weren't so many levels, but now with over 200 levels the amount of grinding required to level is starting to get a little overboard for the more casual players.
If there's something I want OTM to improve on after seeing the game's direction, it would be
- Reduce xp requirement for leveling. I get that CH is in this unique genre of mobile games for hardcore gamers but grinding for 10 hours straight with active xp elixer just to level up once is a little too much in my opinion. Theoretically anyone could reach endgame without relying on xp elixers, if you are willing to grind for 40 hours straight, but I have yet to hear of someone who has accomplished this feat. 5 hours per level is still quite ridiculous for mobile gaming standards, but that sounds a bit more reasonable than 10 with xp elixers.
- Speed up regeneration, most mmos I've played has drastically increased regen rate out of combat, if not your character might even simply return to full health, or if pots are a must they are ridiculously cheap to the point you never have to worry about running out. CH is once again in a unique position in which it takes forever to regenerate health and energy without sigils or lux, with relatively expensive pots (a resto is usually 200g, you get 10g from killing a mob). The biggest problem with this is dramatically slowing the rhythm of gameplay, having to rest several minutes between mobs breaks the pace and slows gameplay down to a halt, making it very frustrating for f2p players. Making restos easier to obtain or increasing the natural regen rate scaling with a character's total hp/energy or vit/focus can help with this problem.
I know that theoretically anyone could reach endgame without paying a single cent if they grind hard, but I feel 40 hours per level and having no to rest for several minutes between every mob is stretching it a bit too far. Then again, I have yet to hear about anyone who was able to do so.
I understand OTM's concern that being too lenient with f2p players may cause them to loose profit, but forcing users to pay out of frustration is simply not how the free to play system work. Making gameplay reliant on microtransaction usually results in a negative cycle in which the devs have to rush contents in order to retain the "whales" who could very much be moving into games of other competitors, Players should feel happy to purchase plat instead of being forced to do so out of frustration. Mounts, fashions, pets, they are great potential sources of profit for OTM and satisfaction for players without upsetting the gameplay balance and keeping progression at a reasonable pace.
I know these suggestions probably have been made several times before, and that OTM probably wouldn't listen given how they are seemingly doing well (according to sensortower OTM is making around $70k per month), but that's exactly how this common f2p trap is deadly. It may seem to work because out of frustration players do end up paying, but retaining them and preventing them from moving to games of other competitors or competing for new players should competition in the mobile mmo genre gets fierce would be a nightmare later on.