There have been a lot of concerns and complaints that this current Halloween event has brought up, and I think that making certain items from events account transferable could solve a lot of these. Also, if this isn't possible because of coding stuff, or if there's a pre-existing rationale for not having items in general be tradeable within an account, feel free to ignore the rest of the post ===== I think the events are pretty well designed, if a bit repetitive. They force players to work for rewards while being a unique hub for socializing. Seeing guildmates and friends that I haven't seen in days/weeks because we're too busy grinding is always pleasant, and being rewarded for doing so is fine by me. However, there are a few less-than-ideal happenings that occur during events, most memorably the Halloween and Valentine's Day Events, some of which are serious problems and others which are simple annoyances. These include side effects of the prevalence of mules (slower boss killing, unnecessary slots filled up by mules) and the rewards system (chances of rare items exceedingly low, repetitive/low-reward prizes). This thread is what inspired me to write this thread because while I think the concern is legitimate and I sympathize with the problems and solution, I disagree with the focus of the thread and the solution. My personal case for writing this request is that there is so much work that goes into this event that it becomes a chore to attend. I'm forced to attend early and station my other characters/mules in the event map, hope that the lag from running multiple clients in addition to the already existing lag from the concentration of players allows me to hit the clown/slime/snowman enough times, and then proceed to log out, log back in, and maybe find another channel for other characters on the same account. It's a painful process that gives me an item I know I'm guaranteed to get, which only lowers my excitement for the cycle. The point of events is to provide something new outside of the humdrum life of grinding, leeching, and traditional methods of socializing. The events that Royals has keeps this in mind, but I think the reward system ruins the intent. It dangles prize of a shiny new chairs and cool equips that ought to be just those, but the current system that Royals has in place reduces what should be fun events into mindless grinds to get limited edition stuff. I know it sounds like I'm only ranting: "It's just another lazy bum that wants to get a great item for no work." It might seem that way, but hear me out. I think that making event items transferable has its benefits both inside and outside of events. Implementation With certain event items (such as rings and chairs) becoming account tradeable, the first big question is how do we balance the effort to reward ratio around that. I think this opens a lot of doors that are left closed with the current implementation of events. Firstly, it's absolutely necessary to increase the amount of effort to obtain a ring. The power that account-shared items hold is rather large, especially so for guaranteed items like the rings from the Halloween and Valentine's Day events. We should have to work for powerful/cool items that we want, so in the case of this boss kill -> box -> guaranteed ring type events, raising the number of boxes or requiring more effort to obtain a box would be proper. Something like 30 -> 60/70/80 boxes seems to fit. But here's where the benefits really start to shine. By allowing the ring to be shared amongst characters on the same account (a feature I'll just refer to as account sharing [AS] or account shared [AS'd]), you incentivize players to focus on a single character. This provides a lot of hidden freedom. Want to work on a new character that you'll be on constantly? Use that character. Are you trying to grind a character? Use a different character so that you can grind and participate at the event at the same time. It seem simple and obvious, but it's liberating and and a change that I think a lot of people will welcome. But that's not even the fun part. If the effort required to get a box is increased, it opens up what events can be. Events can actually be engaging and complex (they aren't either of those right now). Elaborate quest lines, interlocking events (have jq + boss for one box, etc.), and lots of other things can happen when you have an effort vacuum to fill. I personally thought that using the Haunted Mansion questline to initiate the Pierre map was clever and really cool. Maybe an extension of that could work in future events. Maybe you can have cycling event activities and split the event up into multiple parts. To continue on the idea of a questline, maybe one part of a story could be told one week, and then another part the next. This one's a bit too over the top, but seeing something like this would be by far the most amazing thing I could see the server do. We could have multiple ways to receive boxes, maybe with boss-killing being the core, last event to finalize how you receive a box. The previous Christmas event did this in a roundabout way, having the Snowman box give items that you needed to collect in order to craft the ring. Maybe we could incorporate everyday grinding into the mix (e.g. bring 200/500/1000 items from monsters in a certain level range depending on your level to get a fragment of a box, which you need 10/20 of to turn into a real box, limited to once/twice a day). There are so many new opportunities to pursue that could expand events in a way we've never seen before if AS'd items are implemented. Benefits There are a few benefits to AS. Most immediately, the vast majority of mules and inactive players in event maps disappear. The absence of mules comes with a couple benefits. Firstly, event maps become what they were supposed to be -- a place where people gather to participate in events -- as opposed to what they are now, another map for grinding open only at certain times. It makes the event more interactive and positive, things that can only benefit participation and community excitement. In addition, It makes boss-killing move faster so people can enjoy other parts of the event or go back to doing what they were faster. The inefficiency of inactive players filling event space isn't something we have to tolerate; it's not a necessary evil. One cool potential side effect is the consolidation of characters and accounts. I know many people make multiple accounts; some of my friends make an account per character. This, however, makes account sharing an issue because the cost of losing a single account should one get caught is relatively low (excluding getting IP banned, of course ). Should event items become AS'd, it would incentivize people to push more of their future characters onto less accounts. Having all your eggs in one basket is a lot riskier; now, getting caught for account sharing entails getting more than just a single character banned. Lastly, it makes event items objects of value that you can feel good about investing time in. The thing about Royals is that after you're done with a character, it's over. All the time and effort you expend on that character is gone. If items are AS'd, then you can reap the benefits of events after the events are over. A cool chair or unique equip/equip skin becomes a status symbol, a badge for the player who endeavored against the ticking clock to earn that nifty accessory. Future characters can showcase your efforts, and I think recognizing the dedication players have to the server is a cool perk that comes with all the other practical benefits that event AS items provide. Flaws I just wanted to take some time to acknowledge some flaws that exist within my proposal that I think some people may have questions about. People will still share accounts. Yeah. But it might dissuade those who are on the border of sharing accounts or are doing it reluctantly. People will still use mules. This is true, but I know for a fact that the sheer number of mules and inactive players will go down by a significant number. The problem with mules at events stems is systemic in its origin, so by changing the system, the issue should be severely lessened. This is how events have always been. While I understand that Royals is a nostalgia server, it still aims to make the old experience as best as it can possibly be. I don't think that improving on events will necessarily erase the nostalgia factor because it doesn't change core gameplay. ===== Edit: The Conversation There's some really good discussion down below, and it's a fair bit to digest so I'll leave them here. Account shareable? It might not be clear yet, but it's the idea to make items be shared by characters on the same account, NOT tradeable with other people. The lag from the rooms come from player's attacking, not from inactive players and mules taking up space. This is true, and maybe a way to counteract that would be to lower room size. Later rooms already have low participation, if people go at all. There's plenty of space to utilize. This would also help those who aren't able to camp in channels 1-3 to get into a channel that that isn't super slow. The point of mules is to provide resources and services that benefit your own play, so people will still use mules anyways. People are lazy, so they'll be inactive anyways. This is true, and I'm not going to promise that all mules and inactive players will disappear. But I think that making an account shareable item immensely relieves the pressure of having to do event stuff multiple times for the same account, and that relief will also mitigate the pressure to have multiple characters be on the same channel, since you can just attend a other channels without having to rush on to other characters on the same account. Another way to fix the problem of afkers in general is change the qualifications for receiving a prize to "X number of hits" to "1 hit every Y seconds", with every time cycle missed causing an ejection from event. This might still be inefficient, considering it could be potentially unfair if the time limit were too low, but it also might keep everyone on their toes and continuously hit in the fear of losing their prize. Just a though. Forcing more time and effort-intensive requirements is unfair to people who don't have time. It wouldn't make sense then to reward people who don't put in effort to get prizes anyways. My goal here isn't to reduce the amount of effort it takes to get a ring, only to make it more convenient and less painful than it should be. However, it would be pretty cool to see a tiering system (maybe?). Have the base requirement to get a ring what it is right now, then plan something more engaging and time-intensive to upgrade it to an account shareable one. ===== As with my previous post, I'm a bit rambly, so here's a nicer list for y'all to look at in case you're confused. Problems Mules take up space Less space for active players to participate in events Unnecessary extra time to kill Pierre Value of prizes is deflated, both intrinsically (innate value) and instrumentally (as status symbol). Events aren't fun or engaging Mule problems Repetitive Guaranteed reward = just another grindfest to get the reward Implementation Make certain event items such as chairs, rings, and other equips tradeable within characters in the same account Increase the amount of effort required to receive said items. Increase the number of boxes required to get ring (30 -> 60+) Increase the number of ways to get ring (bring in event etc. items to exchange for a box fragment -> 20x for a box) Have complex and engaging ways to get ring (long questlines, stories, etc.) Increase rarity of rare items (chairs, equips). Mix and match the above Benefits Mules at events become a nonfactor Faster boss-killing = more time for other stuff, whether its event activities or other everyday stuff There's more space for people who are actually participating No chaotic channel switching shenanigans Events can become engaging sources of interaction. Since people are actually active, it becomes a platform for socializing. Fun events = actual breaks from grinding; not another place to grind more (for items). Time invested into events show beyond the time of the event. Future characters benefit from your efforts, both in style and stats. Possible chance of reduced account sharing That's all I have to say for now. A lot of the threads that I see complaining about events are sincere, but they aren't productive. I hope that by taking the time to articulate the problems, solutions, and benefits of changing events, people can chime in and it can be more than a simple complainfest. Thanks!
As a sidemotenote, i always wonder with complaints like this, who is forcing you to do what? As far as i'm concerned there's no one putting a gun to your head forcing you to do stuff. The whole point of this game is doing whatever you like. Anyway, by account shareable do you mean within the account or to other accounts as well? There's something to say for the first one, but to make it tradeable in general would defeat the whole point of the event.
I don't want to go through all of the points you mentioned OP but most people do one character per account not so that they can get event items on each but rather so they can have multiple clients open (mainly for SE/SI/HS mules). Allowing event items to be traded between chars on a single account wouldn't affect this, the main benefit to different accounts for each character would still be there.
Since you have brought up many suggestions I split them up on what I thought to be your key arguments. Account Sharing FIRST AND FOREMOST ACCOUNT SHARING IS A BAN-ABLE OFFENSE I would like for you to elaborate on what you mean about account sharing. The way I am reading your post in account sharing is characters unique in different accounts not a since account due to your opening statement. But here You are stating to share the unique event items within an account which is not account sharing at all. So clearly define what you mean by account sharing as in within one account or sharing amongst multiple accounts? In addition the sharing of unique event items through multiple accounts is not account sharing. The way you are describing account sharing sounds like through multiple accounts which means that the unique item received from events like rings and chairs become meaningless since the unique item then becomes a regular tradeable item since the is no way to distinguish one's multiple accounts from another. This is just a ban-able offense and should not even be listed as a flaw. Event Cycle This idea of having an event as a cycle does sound interesting, but it is not practical. The inclusion of a jump quest creates a huge disadvantage to those who are terrible at jump quests. Second given the situation the event is a preformed cycle, there are players that already have a disadvantage due to time restriction thus being unable to constantly logged in throughout the entire event. Furthermore what if an individual is to miss a cycle does this mean the individual is now unable to complete the cycle of events in order to receive the prize at the end? If the individual does not get punished but can continue the on with the event cycle then what is stopping others from not participating in the event till the last questline when the event prize is given. Inactives and Mules You have not provided a solid argument that will deter mules and inactives to attend Pierre. You have stated yourself that you have multiple accounts that attend Pierre at the same time thus implying you have also afked on multiple accounts. The inclusion of having inactive players/mules is actually beneficial to the event since the most lag occurs around Pierre duo to the vast amount of attacks issued in a small frame and by implementing a system where one cannot afk but allow more attackers would increase lag and cause more people to dc. No idea how this will eliminate the mules and inactive players since one can still farm up the unique event items on multiple accounts. The idea of account sharing will not stop the inactives nor the mules in any way. Plus the increased level cap allowed more freedom for more players to enter a Pierre map instead of being dominated by a few players who camped channels with multiple mules. Furthermore your previous statement would suggest that a player attending the event would eventually become afk in order to train on his or her other character. Event prizes There are new event items that are already tradeable like the Veritable Pandemonium, the Ghost Ship Chair, Ghost Balloon, Pumpkin Bat Outfit, Zombie Hunter Mask, Halloween Leopard Umbrella. The only 2 items which are untradeable are the Alluring Nine-Tailed Fox and the Zombie Army Ring. The Zombie Army Ring is not too difficult to receive even if you can participate in Pierre only 1 time per day. The one item most people want would be the Alluring Nine-Tailed Fox, but the rarity of the chair is the reason most people attend the event. And by increasing the rarity of chair drops would negativity affect the community since it is already has a small drop rate compared to every other item. Like I have stated before increasing the number of boxes required is not fair to those who can only play for a limited time each day. The ability to get the Zombie Army Ring by attending Pierre at least once a day is fine as it is. Please clarify your argument on exactly what you want to be changed since you are touching multiple subjects with very weak arguments LAST BUT NOT LEAST This statement just makes you sound lazy and greedy. It sounds like you want to be able to attend the event while not losing the map you are training at the same time.
I guess what I mean is that I'm feeling a negative pressure to do certain things that should otherwise be less negative. We should definitely have to work and grind for special event items, but there shouldn't be any reason that the system should incentivizes the negative atmosphere that exists. And yeah, definitely not make them tradeable, just shareable on between characters on the same account. @sbFlash hoooo boy. I like discussion though This one's my bad, I should've chosen a term to describe what I meant other than account sharing since that term already carries heavy connotations in this community. I don't doubt this, but the amount of lag I get from multiclienting is far more severe than the lag I get from people attacking. Then again, I don't think I've actually been in a full room with everyone attacking, so it's an irrelevant point at best. Then might it be better if room limits were lowered? This might make it so that even the last few straggler channels get decent attendance and there's less lag per room. Just figured I'd mention it. Who knows, someone might have brought it up. I'm neither a game dev nor a programmer, so any specifics are just examples. I think that having a jump quest be necessary is also a terrible idea, but there's nothing else in this current event to compare it to. Maybe bring candies? As for the cycling events, in my head, missing the previous cycle wouldn't necessarily exclude players that couldn't attend. It'd be the same prizes and process, just under a different mask. You'd just miss part of the story if you weren't able to attend the first week, using a storyline quest as an example. As for the time restriction, we already have a generous time restricted system in place. People could just do what they could and finish, only to start again when they wanted. They'd only be able to get one prize per time section (once every four hours if we're using this current time cycle). The convenience of making items shareable between characters of the same account is that you don't have to do the same things over and over again on different characters, so your experience on one character can be made more interesting and intensive. I think that could be fixed by decreasing max room size like I mentioned above. There are a few channels that get almost no attendance nowadays, and even when the events starts, there are a scant number of people in channels 12, 13, and 14. The idea behind this one is that by eliminating the need for multiple characters to have event items within the same account. I think most of the need for having inactive characters fill up event space is due to the pressure of having the next character on an account participate in the next channel as fast as possible. Having a mule character in the same channel, then, is the most efficient way to get rings/prizes on all of your characters. Account shareable prizes eliminates that need and also allows you to reasonably get prizes without having to multiclient. You can simply log off an account and log into the next one. I don't think there won't be ANY inactive players or multiclienters, but I do think that a large majority of them will disappear. I think the level cap idea was splendid, and I think that my idea with the level cap would work even more towards having a more positive event experience. That wasn't quite the intent; it was supposed to be the opposite. You can grind a character while working on a different character without losing your map. Sure, you might have to switch every once in a while to ward off potential map stealers, but the mapowner system is pretty convenient in that you only need to attack once to refresh your ownership. I never doubted the ease with which to get these items, nor did I really question their rarity personally. In fact, I mentioned that the ring specifically is a guaranteed prize. This is convenient for the purposes of fairness, but it also makes the event stale and quite boring, particularly if you want the ring on all your characters (which I've done. It was a pain ;-. But more importantly, it begs the question: should someone who doesn't dedicate their time to obtaining special items earn them? The Pierre only takes >10 minutes to kill. I s a questline that requires 20 or 30 minutes any less fair, particularly since it benefits all characters you make on your account? Your idea does bring up a point though, and how about having the ring in its current state be obtainable by the means we have today, with further effort required to make it account tradable? I think this would be cool since it caters to all the people who might want the ring for just one characters like mule accounts. I see straight benefits for this. What's the downside? In addition, the first part of that you quote allows you to enjoy the event on the character you want to enjoy it on. Isn't the point of an event to have fun? Thanks for your comments! I mentioned this above when discussing sbFlash's points, but I could imagine there would still be mules. The pressure to do things in the chaotic and hectic manner that it is now is off though, so you can still get your ring/prizes without having to resort to camping your mule 15,30 minutes early or multiclienting to guarantee that you're not stuck with a super slow room. I hope someone reads through all this o_o
You still have not provided a solid example on what First I would suggest is to stop multiclienting since this is a personal issue not a general issue since I have a friend who runs Pierre on multiple accounts (from what I know at least 5 at once on the same computer). No one told you that you need to run Pierre on all your characters or accounts. Next is why lower the room requirements when the original complaint was that there was not enough room for people to enter Pierre. I am still confused why having a few straggler channels is wrong since not everyone can attended Pierre at spawn. In addition whenever there is a server check, reseting the Pierre timers, having open channels is helpful for those who can only play Royals on a time restraint. If you feel like Pierre is dying too slowing in the channel you have chosen then I suggest to move to a channel that is full. Once again lag is not factored due to the amount of people in the room but the amount of activity that is being issued. For example people are most likely to dc in a map where mages are spamming Genesis, Meteor, or Blizzard than in a room full of players who are afk. This sounds amazing on paper but once it is implemented then does this mean the quest is repeatable? Can one complete the quest in one go? If not, what is the time frame in-between each quest? How do the prizes work out? Does everyone get a random prize at the end of the event or the same prize? After the quests are complete what now? Does this mean the Halloween event is over after finishing this one questline? What if one wants to get the full story but is not able to play Royals for a length of time thus missing out in part of the story? The questions goes on and on. Also this is how it was done in MapleStory and I see no reason why there needs to be change. To implement a cooldown to be every four hours, is it based of the uptime of the server or one's own private cooldown? Also making a questline does not bring players together during this event rather the opposite. SO you state here that there are more empty channels now but you contradict yourself int the next statement saying So I ask you which is it? Is there too much room or not enough? I still do not see what the problem of having multiple characters is? I personally find it a lot easier to have all my characters to obtain the ring so that I do not have to continually trade equipment back and forth. Also you still have not suggested a way to stop afkers at Pierre since one can still attack Pierre 10 times then afk. What I am reading is you are training multiple characters while maintaining mapownership on a map with a different character you are currently not even using. Also there is no such thing as stealing maps. Either you are using the map or you have afked for at least 3 minutes thus the map you were using is open for grabs. I believe you need to explain more since I do not understand what you are trying to say here. If the event is getting stale, boring, and you also have the rings on all your character I do not see why you are arguing for change. It is your choice whether or not you want to attend Pierre. Also your idea of a questline is still redundant if the item in question is tradable within the same account. Also making a questline that is only 20 - 30 minutes long makes obtaining the ring to easy. Still it sounds like you are being lazy and greedy wanting the best of everything. The reason for an event is to take one out of their normal maple grinding and have fun, but if losing a map is that important to you then you do not need to participate in the event since you already seem to have a ring. No one is making you attend Pierre.
