iProtect

I don't believe an entire new server is needed given the way level capped zones are handled in the game. I'm looking at this as the most simple way possible where the GM's/Vivi doesn't have to break their backs trying to do these things. The majority of what I suggest is largely either player run, or GS ran ( events here on forums ) that wouldn't need much help on the technical side other than the basics that you would semi-expect from something like this. Things that would funnel player to say, CG or Vile for awhile on new toons. Oh sweet. Glad to see it's already something that's being tossed around at ya'lls level.

With so much discussion lately about lower level zones, and concern for new players, I thought I'd try and get the communities take on seasonal leagues. For those that aren't familiar with the concept, basically, each month or couple of months there would be a reset of participating players characters, and they'd be forced to start over if they were interested in the next league. Typically, it's seen as a fresh start with new prizes, titles, economy, etc. Games like Path of Exile has similar events such as this. Obviously this isn't quite possible in Scarlet Blade in the traditional sense. However, I believe with how level caps work within the game, it'd be a pretty cool gig to funnel players into older zones again for whatever rewards are offered and for actual new players to play with. So I'm going to go ahead and get this out of the way, two major things have to be possible for this to work: 1. Being able to 100% "fix" the Guild Hall glitch or any way someone can just boost someone to the leagues current level cap. Without this it's pointless to even talk about it. 2. The GM's being able to look at a players account and determine the age of the character down to fairly exact details. I'm aware of total playtime, but that can kind of be fudged to where minutes and hours matter. The reasons for this should be obvious, mainly because I would assume there would be small events hosted here on the forums for the top X number of players to hit the level cap of the zone we'd be playing in for the season. Assuming they can do the above, we're ripe for leagues. Yes, it's not a complete wipe, and not completely fair in the sense that everyone's on 100% even playing fields. Someone who has +12 Delta gear already can just shift it to the participating toon. But the biggest thing will be dealt with ( and a source of monetization from those actively engaging in the season(s) ) which are pets. We'd have to buy new pets, and chips if we wanted to be competitive. Plus the hacks and boosters. I guess that's the gist of it. I know they'd have to have their rewards on point for most to do this ( Titles, forum events, unique drops, skins, etc. ) but hey, you'd get to come play with me in CG for a season! Or maybe they'd make me go play with you in a higher cap for the first time!

Just to be clear, I'm not wagging my finger at you guys. Not that type of person. However, I think there's plenty of little contests that can be advertised here on the forums, and in-game whether through the little hourly forum advertisement message, or someone Shouting about it. Plus, if it's genuinely good/rewards that motivate people to participate, people will talk about it too. Advance notice is also a big plus. I think the biggest thing though, is if you have the support of those above you. Whether or not they'll spring some VGN on you to host small events yourself and hand over some items typically not 100% available to players all the time ( like costumes, bikes, skins, etc. ). If not, yeah that stinks. No doubt they're busy, but given what I've seen just in my limited time playing on the server, and from what people post about here, maybe now's the time to start setting aside some time for such things on a weekly basis for small events, and monthly events where the GM's might need to be involved. Also, it's always great to see GM's in game chatting up the community. Doing things, meet and greets, etc.

And I 100% knew that would be the case. Completely respect the decision as I'm sure it would be a headache and a half to allay those who've had their gear reverted. I'm guessing this also would be the case for lowering Pet Exp given in VIP/lvl Cap some of the Pet Boosters as a soft nerf. Those of us who have them at 40 already you'd have to turn a blind eye to amidst all those that are having to wait months to get theirs to 40. Updated drop tables: That's amazing. Please be Titan, please be Titan, please be Titan. lol I love him. It. Whatever. Accessories: Amazing again. This one change right here will do a lot for newer players. 3 of the new players I have in my Guild completely lack left side accessories. Even beyond 29 cap, I see players with their lvl 17 stuff all the time, when they're in there 30's. Glad to see this is being tested. Thanks for the responses, Vivi.

I think people know enough about me by now in-game and here to know I'm all about that CG life; dead or not. So here's my take. Please note, the parts I bold are not me being sarcastic or "yelling" at you lol. Just the key points for those who skim through the post(s). Pets: Are they imbalanced in 29 cap? Absolutely. But nerfing them to that of Madfly removes any incentive into either buying them straight off the AP store, rolling for an Achievement Pet in the Mystery Boxes, or farming gold in Bitterstone and Drasil to buy one from an AP buyer. I don't think there's a way around this with how the game is now compared to ASB. However, one surefire way of at least soft nerfing it, is by reverting VIP back to how it was on ASB. This would significantly slow down how fast 29'ers can level their pets. I've played 1 month now. Bags expired yesterday. I have a level 40 pet. On ASB, in that video I posted from 2013 or 2014, I had spent thousands of dollars on that ME, and played for much, much, much longer. My pet was around level 24 or so. You could take this a step further, and level cap some of the boosters as well. Pet Chips: They're fine in my honest opinion. I have 2 LV2 Chips on my Derpy right now. HP, which gives me a flat 400 HP ( is not multiplied by gear % ), and Resist which gives me 1000 Resist across the board, minus Gravity which is 700. That's not exactly OP by any means in my book. And people who really want to go after LV2 Chips should have that choice. Sure, you could argue that we don't need CRIT-VOID, or CRIT-EVA etc. But again, that takes away from player choice and in my opinion, offers little in the way of balancing 29 cap. Jewels: Pretty much same opinion on them as Pet Chips. If players want to stick around in 29 cap for a lengthy amount of time they should have something to go after. Unique Costumes: I disagree due to being of the opinion that there should be more Unique Costumes, and CG ( and all zones for that matter ) should have a set that drops from the World Boss. These right here are excellent "chase items" that could factor into that exclusivity deal you were talking about in your posts. Plain Jane costumes aren't enough in my opinion. Accessories: Need to be fixed ASAP. 4k for one Scout Ring. 1k for a Seer. 0 Vets. I made a WH and have done around 30 full clears since yesterday ( pulling mobs to each boss one-by-one ). While not a great sample size by any means, I think not getting at least one Ring out of all the mobs that drop it ( 28's and above if I'm not mistaken, along with Harbinger ) is pretty telling of my next 30. Meanwhile, the drop rate for Necklaces seems to be pretty good. I've got 4 so far of different flavors. Earrings on the otherhand, I've picked up a couple of Vets from Drasil. I haven't farmed it as much as BC, though. If there's an influx of players at 29 cap though, Earrings would ( like they were on ASB ) be nothing, anyways since you can get them from Rank Points. Exclusive Items: 1000% agree. It's a given, no matter the arguments for or against it. Whether we're talking about 29 cap, 39 cap, 49 cap, or 800 cap; it's a given and there should be exclusive items in each one for players to chase after. There's been thousands of MMO's released over the past 19-years, and most of the successful ones have exclusive gear, items, cosmetics, etc. locked behind specific content that you have to do if you want the items. We should emulate something like this, hands down. Specically for 29 cap as you said, a Titan Pet Skin would be a huge draw to higher cap players to make an alt and try and get it. Could also go beyond that and make Strider/Lector Skin. A unique costume set on Titan or put in the chests. SAFEGUARDS? Accessories besides Trinkets. There's a million things that could be added to entice players to participate in the older zones whether they're Caerbears, Vilebears, or whatever. You start putting in good, exclusive items, and update the drop tables to reflect the current state of the game, and they WILL come. All content should be relevant; not just endgame. +12 Gear and Safeguards: One or the other needs to happen in my opinion. A. Cap 29 and below gear to +10 as it was in ASB. Or B. Add Safeguards to the zones that lack them. Specifically for CG since we're talking about balance, either they need to be accessible to all to get to +12, or gear needs to be capped again like it was in ASB at +10. As someone who has +12 gear, and a level 40 pet, it's just God Mode for new players to try and go against me. Not only that, but it cost me about 100 bucks alone on Safeguards to get to +12, as I don't have characters in higher caps to enhance my 29'ers gear. Good for Vendetta, bad for me and bad for new players who stick around in lower caps wanting to take things slow versus rushing to the nearest Guild Hall for a quick sit. I think when combined with lower exp rate for Pets, a cap of +10 would be better overall in CG as it cuts out a large portion of our stats and large HP pools quickly. That said, this is the trickier option, and would require Vivi to mash some buttons not just for this, but there's going to be quite a number of players seeking compensation for their +12 gears being downgraded. Game Sages? Where art thou?: Yo bros. Where's the events? Why haven't you folks hit up Vivi for a small loan of 60k AP and do some contests since...checking Events tab...JULY 25th? Best picture taken for the week, highest number of kills, best contribution in BG's, get in game and do some LORE related trivia eh? Have players bring you X amount of some item dropped by trash mobs etc. etc. etc. Done for now. Too tired.

The amount of entitlement from FK’s here is strong. I’m sorry, but y’all need to suck it up and roll Medics if this is such an issue. If y’all Faction is absolutely as crippled as you make it sound because you lack Medics, then a FC isn’t going to help you; making ME’s would. What’s Serah going to do there? And WHY would any RG Medics who have put all their time, energy, gold, friends, and Guilds here just say “Meh, screw it. I’ll go to the whiny side and hate my life there because balance!” So suck it up, make an ME. Stop trying to swing the pendulum. Edit: The idea to put a cap on Medics just because your side is selfish enough not to have any, is stupid. Let’s completely alienate an entire Factions support class because mine won’t bite the bullet and play one. Sounds legit. About as much as a FC is.

What exp changes?

People try to buy 1:1 ratio being 1 VGN = 1 Gold. Generally as far as I can tell, this normally pertains to what you see in the Shop. For example: A Skill Reset is 2000 VGN, so people who value it at 1:1 would typically want to buy it at 2000 gold. 1:1 is pretty much a quick sell to everyone if you're the spender. Just like was mentioned before in another post, just type in "WTS AP 1:1" or something along those lines. They'll hit you up and tell you what they want. You buy it, and then you'll meet somewhere to trade. Just be careful. I've had a few people try to lock trade with me a zero or two too short. So basically, 1:1 is what's the average/fair going rate. It's also the fastest route with getting some gold in your pocket. Can you get more? Absolutely. High ticket items in the VGN/AP store often will sell a bit higher. I've sold Skill Resets for 3k gold many a times by listing it on the Auction House instead. Pets about the same price. Same for Pet Data Chips ( drop rate ones, gold, and damage oriented ones ). EXP Boosts are popular among end-game players since I've been told 64-65 is a grind. You have some wiggle room when you list on Consignment since it sits there for all to see when they're browsing around. That person who's tight on gold might not want to spend 3500 gold on a CRIT-ATK data chip. But there's probably someone who farms a lot and doesn't mind doing so if no one's selling at 1:1 right now. When it comes to the site's Web Mall, things are different. Popular costumes, bikes, Achievement Pets ( Norb, Flek, Gruel, and Leca ) sell for more while the less popular ones sell for less. I got lucky and pulled a Leca this last Web Shop update on like, pull 3 or 4. Sold it for 5k. Just as an aside. Spending cash on Vendetta's Scarlet Blade is wayyyyy friendlier than it ever was on Aeria's. When I walked away from ASB, I remember checking my Paypal account. While it may not be much to some people, I had spent over 3 grand. I had completed a few Tiered Spenders, rolled the dice on many of their other little web events, bought things off the Item Mall, and went for things in TS that I wanted/liked/wanted to sell. I pretty much always felt like I was getting screwed even though yes, they had lots of "freebies" that you got as you paid more into their Tiers, like storage, costumes, consumables, etc. But that feeling was practically ALWAYS with me. With Vendetta I don't have that "Ugh, I just did that..." feeling when I spend. I've spent under 300 bucks here, and am completely happy I have. I may not get all the small things ( anyone else have 900+ days of storage back then? lol ) here, but I get pretty much exactly what I want without having to spend 300 bucks to get to the costume, or bike, or whatever, I had to in Tiered Spender. So uh, well, there it is.

While I'm only one person, I've been farming Harbinger and to date, 0 Rare Rings. Same goes with the lvl. 28 trash mobs. Nada. That said, again. For like the third time: No one's buying these rings at these prices. The same ones that are on the AH have been there for the past 20 days. So farming these rings for profit ( even undercutting the current suppliers ) just seems like a waste of time. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure if I got a Seer Ring, I could sell the shit out of it for 1k gold extremely fast. The problem with that is, is that it will be back on the AH in 30 seconds for twice or, even three times as much and not equipped to a new player.

And those items for the 29 cap are the EXACT same ones as the day I started 20 days ago now on this server. Yes, the Rare Vet, Seer, and Scout Rings and to a lesser extent Earrings are hard to come by because very few people get them as drops. But just because they're legit rare on our server doesn't mean they're worth 4k Gold for ONE Ring. Again, especially since they are the first Rare set of Accessories availiable in the game. And no. I'm not saying they should be given out freely, either. But added to more drop tables ( Titan, Janus/TP, CG Chest ) if possible would still make them profitable if got as a drop ( due to a low number of players at this cap ) and, attainable if someone chose to stick around for them.

It’s not okay, though. The rates for Rings and Earrings are abysmal in BC and DM. Those are the only places to get them for new players outside of one Replicube that has a chance to drop Earrings. The prices for Vet Rings are 1500g. Thousands more for Seer and Scout. Both of these dungeons are introductory in nature. People shouldn’t have to bust out a credit card for gear that will be obsolete in two hours. Edit: Yes, if the drop rate was higher or, 29 and below had a huge surge In population, the prices would drop because of the increased supply. Even on ASB, I think a set of Rings would go for 500 or so gold, depending on the set. The only reason they’re expensive here is because there’s not enough supplying them. That’s fine though, since there’s little demand. Other than 29’ers, who else is going to farm those dungeons for the Ring/Earring drop? The exact same number of Vet, Seer, and Scout Rare Rings are still on the AH except the two Vet Rings I bought for myself last week. So if no ones buying them already ( 29’ers and new players alike ), what’s the point? They aren’t reason enough to farm these areas because if they were, more people would be doing it meaning more Rings/Earrings on the AH.

I’d like to request 3 Pet skins. 1. Titan, added to Titan’s droplist with maybe a 1% chance to acquire. Exclusive to CG. Not monetized. 2. Strider. Could be both monetized and added to Strider’s drop table. 3. Lector. Could be both monetized and added to Lector’s drop table. Seriously, who doesn’t want Titan as a Pet? Strider too. They look badass. Also, all three tradeable so people can sell to those not lucky. Thank you.

Yes, please put that in the AP store! Edit: Crap, my bad. Thought I was on recently replied. Still was looking this up on my phone. Sorry about that. Still though. Premium Medallions in store when?

Hidy. I'd like to see the Golden Nighthawk thrown into a box. It's my favorite bike despite being slower. Also 50 Shades of Gold, and Sailor Schoolgirl outfit, please. Thank you. Edit: A Golden mystery box with lots of Golden skins/bikes etc? That'd be freaking amazing. Edit 2: I'd also like to see some of the original lingerie in Mystery Boxes. Things like Demon's Kiss, Seastar, Cybertronic, Fleur De Lace, and Tears of the Spider Queen. Need some variation.