Bag RNG System: Aging Poorly

I've said this a few times in the thread already, but a short rehash won't hurt a thing, I don't think!

The medals are a way for the quest to count progress that -does not- add any new programming requirement to the game. It would be a simple scripting job that even a low-level designer could do, possibly even in a single day's work, that would create incentive to both act like their class is designed to act (by making tanks protect, healers heal, or DPS hand out unholy beatdowns) and also incentivize performing objectives as well.

Notice that objectives are the highest numerical requirement! This is partially due to the fact that they have no limit. I'm using Medals because you can only get so many of each in a round; by making a requirement for DPS medals, you make it so that you can't cheese your way through by passing a zillion Huttballs. No way to cheese yourself into 16 DPS medals in one match; you can only get 3, max. That's why I'm using them.

Well, it might be more -complex- than it seems in terms of creating reasonable goals for each class, including those who can spec either heal or DPS.

That said, its complexity doesn't make it hard to -script-, which is where the real problem steps in when it comes to MMO teams. Even if this system is complex, it can be worked out on a whiteboard by a few folks, but more importantly, it does not require real coders to do; a low-level designer can make a quest, while changing the way Medals work or making other serious system editions can require the input of several branches of the MMO team.

And yes, as above, tank missions would be mostly about absorbing damage and protecting ball runners, DPS/Heal missions would have two separate missions they could pick up which are mutually exclusive and reward gear appropriate for the DPS or healing side, whether by set bonuses or through heavier emphasis on power or survivability, and suchlike.

The whole thing would take time to make and design, yes, but its implementation is extremely simple in comparison to an overhaul of how Medals or PvP objective XP/Valor work, or even a bugfix release involving making wins count for your dailies and weeklies 100% of the time.

Yes, but it's a grind for a CHANCE to get gear... and not even a good chance.

It's a grind so that at the end of the grind you -may- get (assuming you turn in both daily and weekly quests) four pieces of gear in one day! You may also get **** and shoved in it. My roomie has a pair of pants for every day of the week and still has never seen a weapon drop.

RNG bags are a bad design. If you want to make it a grind, fine, whatever, but instead of making the progress points along your grind curve a -chance- to get stuff like some insane Asian F2P, make the progress points along your grind curve have verifiable, viable, -useful- gear at every step. Know you're getting closer and closer to gear instead of doing your daily, getting a bag, and pulling your eighth pair of gloves or your tenth implant.

It is not progression if your progression is based on gambling for items. It's just gambling. You need to give people -real incentive- to do these things or else some will get decked, bored, and quit, and some will get screwed, get pissed, and quit.

The current system rewards luck of the draw. My system rewards making specific efforts and spending a very easily editable amount of time per gear piece (via using medals that can only be achieved so often in games, unlike some games whose only quest point is 'pass the ball X times' and have players do nothing but pass back and forth until they get their quest tick) in games, doing what you're supposed to do.

Bumping for points. Since last night I completed two daily's a weekly and purchased a bag... I got.... one more implant... I think I'm up to 5 or 6 implants now?

While the system you have suggested may not be perfect, and def needs polishing, it is better than the pure *random* they have now and better than most idea's that have been put forward. Point in case I have a companion that is nearly as geared out as I am..... Y.A.Y.

I am not all that high in the valor rank, I am only rank 39, but I have opened numerous bags (going on three weeks of 90% pvp for 4-5 hours a night) and don't have a main hand, chest or head piece, centurion boots/offhand/legs, but boy buddy I have a seletion of implants/earpieces!!!! The low tier pvp gear is a joke, I took the only two low level pvp pieces that were even a lateral improvement that I could, I lost 16 endurance and gained 3 will.

Now for another suggestion that I think has merit that was mentioned.

Put in a vendor to exchange your centurion or champ commendations for the next tier higher, they can even keep the same ratio as merc... 3 to 1 or whatever they feel is appropriate.

At least then I would be able to make progression towards the gear that would help me to improve. It would still be a grind fest, people can keep their oh so happy joy joy random drop bags, but I would have a quantifiable progression towards my next piece of gear. And you had mentioned coding time.... This isn't even a day or an afternoon, this a couple of hours for a competent coder to add to an existing vendor.

Just food for thought, I do think that class based objectives would assist in improving the game and players overall understanding of their class, but at this point I would settle for a means to have progression.

I really dig the suggestions you've made here.

The vendor idea isn't a bad thing, but it's a case of treating the symptom before the cause. The reason why you'd have gear to trade in for tokens is because you have a system that rewards people at random rather than intelligently doling out progression based on time spent, appropriate effort made, or both.

That said, this is once again a system that will solve those gear progression issues -without- requiring that even so much as a new vendor or a new item be added to the game. It's a straight-up script that uses systems already in place and will help do a little social engineering as well as give you neat pieces of loot. Low impact, high speed, and low cost to the developers are the reason I suggested what I did, rather than suggest an entirely new PvP gear progression (which would greatly benefit the game) or add a new Medal system or edit the token currency or any number of other great changes.

Those are all good, as would be adding a swap vendor, but dropping the quest system on top of all the already-in-place systems would, I believe, be the best bang for BioWare's developer buck.

'Add Skaven' was a neat suggestion and all, but creating art and areas and quests and cities and all the things a new side in the Warhammer Online ware would entail would be an astronomical cost to developers.

This would be miniscule. A day's work from a small team could easily put this into place.

So! That's why the suggestion I posted instead of any number of other additions or changes; I don't know how hard it is to dig into the codebits that make it work, or add new items, or create new NPCs with dialogue requirements. I do know how easy it is to make a quest.

Thank you! I think it's a quick, easy, realistic fix for a problem that's really rearing its head among my friends and the folks that I know.

These ideas are great. I haven't experienced this terrible system as much as others have yet (only dinged 50 yesterday) however I've already gotten 3 unassembled tech jackets. 2 in a row today. The second one I just bought a chest piece and pulled the mods out, but I don't even know what to do with the third one. Needless to say, I'd take 3x Centurtion commendations over duplicate items.

I've experienced those same frustrations on both my 50's. RNG really stinks when you put in the kind of time and effort it takes to get to the higher ranks. I actually stopped PvP'ing for a bit on my main healer because I was getting way, way too frustrated watching my guildies get gear (that they could actually use) while I got nothing but commendations that would buy gear that was a side-grade at best, downgrade at worst, or getting tokens for gear I already had. I still don't have all my champion pieces, still have some level 50 quest reward gear - it's a good time!

I took a week off, distanced myself from it and am now back at the grind.

Starting from Tuesday I have opened 22 bags this week. 0 non-repeats - and by the way I only have 3 pieces of champion gear to begin with. **** this system of gearing RNG garbage.