Slightly decrease card / rare item drop rates for new areas temporarily?

[Own]

It was a little disappointing when I just casually cleared my way through Mt. Bloom and managed to get most of the cards effortlessly, with the rare items not taking much longer than that. The only thing that took a lot of time and felt tedious was the spinsect hat, but that was because it required so many, took so long and essentially awarded a cosmetic item at the end of it.

Considering that the newest area tends to be what we get for a couple months, it seems like we could afford to have things be rarer on release and then set to normal drop rates when the area after it comes out.

Or not, I dunno if this would be a good or bad change.

 

[Teddy]

I was actually thinking the same thing when the discussion regarding the slime hat drop rate came up

It seems a lot of players shared your experience with Mt Bloom, so most people would probably enjoy having slightly lowered drop rates in the end-beta zones! I'll set the drop rates a bit lower in Tai Ming (in relation to easiness-to-kill, of course)

 

[The G-Meister]

I wouldn't say I'd enjoy this

My counter-argument would be that Grindea isn't the only game I play. As much as other long time players might be eager to get the most out of the new area, newcomers to the game might perceive the adjusted drop rates as bugs, and my inner bug hunter says it will slow down the acquiring of the new items, meaning you can't get to the testing as quickly.

Because of this, I would prefer the area being published in the closest as reasonably achievable state to what it will be like in the final release - so, bosses without buffed health bars because they're the last boss in the current patch and item drop rates as standard so as not to artificially extend game time.

 

[Own]

People are only going to have Tai Ming available to them likely for the next 3-4 months, since the devs are (I believe) working on housing and updating arcade once Tai Ming is in. Giving them something to try and acquire that takes longer than 5-10 minutes is ideal since it prolongs testing time. There is no reason to load the game up and kill enemies once you quickly obtain everything they have to offer.

Because of this, I would prefer the area being published in the closest as reasonably achievable state to what it will be like in the final release

Except in the final release, most people are not going to linger around Tai Ming to get absolutely everything. The average player is flowing along with the plot, getting treasure and cards as they stumble across them. Circumstances are different for us in the beta because we have nowhere else to go and nothing else to do.

 

[The G-Meister]

There is no reason to load the game up and kill enemies once you quickly obtain everything they have to offer.

I never experienced the rapid drop rates like you and others did, but then if you got them that early I doubt you took the time to give the game a second chance. I have spent quite a healthy amount of time grinding in Mt. Bloom, just like all the other areas in the game. It was probably just a placebo.

Except in the final release, most people are not going to linger around Tai Ming to get absolutely everything.

I don't know how you play, but I most certainly will. Even if I'm not 100%ing the game, I'll still sit around and grind for the next set of gear upgrades and level ups to prepare me for the next area. I guess when one play's the measly, underpowered 1H then it's kinda necessary on hard mode.

And when I am 100%ing the game, I only have a limited tolerance. I haven't 100%ed the current patch on either of my eligible characters because I got bored of the game with one of them, and the other got very tedious grinding for an Autumn Knight's sword. I don't particularly want to bore myself again in Tai Ming.

By doing this we're also not giving the current average player a fair chance in drops. My friend will most likely boot up the game, complete the temple, then close it down and wait for a couple more updates. If so, he hasn't got representative drop rates for the loot in each area. If this continues for later patches, he will end up being worse and worse off because he hasn't spent the extra time required to get better gear. This may harm his view of the game in the future.

Circumstances are different for us in the beta because we have nowhere else to go and nothing else to do.

You and I are not representative of the people who play the game. This almost seems to me like you have nothing else to do. I've just bought 6 other games in the Steam Summer Sale, have university applications to start and work to do on my Extended Project qualification, as well as a driving test to practice for and normal school work on top of that. And extra 5 hours grinding for loot and cards isn't top of my priorities

 

[Greasythemattis]

I wouldn't say I'd enjoy this

My counter-argument would be that Grindea isn't the only game I play. As much as other long time players might be eager to get the most out of the new area, newcomers to the game might perceive the adjusted drop rates as bugs, and my inner bug hunter says it will slow down the acquiring of the new items, meaning you can't get to the testing as quickly.

That could easily be fixed by showing the drop rate of items after you have killed an enemy.Or items that boost your luck therefore your drop rate.

 

[The G-Meister]

I don't think luck boosting items are planned, nor would they be a good idea. Maybe once you've completed the game a slightly higher drop rate for items would be better, but this encourages people doing a second playthrough to sprint towards the end of the game if they want to 100%, before they get any gear to help them along the way. Just seems a little unfair to me.

As for showing drop rates, you still run into a similar problem. Someone kills an enemy, finds out a special item has a drop rate of 0.1%, and instead they complain or make a suggestion to change it rather than submit a bug report.