149730-rune-bands-promoting-alt-friendliness-through-streamlined-gear-progression

== Content ==
			
Runes, AMPs and ATPs are the biggest contributor to alt-unfriendliness in Wildstar despite often not being direct contributors to the active functionality of LAS abilities.  The ideas below help put the emphasis back on players learning how to play a class by allowing them to more naturally reach community-established gear thresholds through means of general game-play activity.  In this way, players can more quickly move on to learning how to complete content effectively without having to slog through passive restrictions imposed by arbitrary stat walls.
 
The basic idea behind Rune Bands is to promote more open-ended i-level growth independent of the process of equipping and re-equipping runes by making the rune process something more of a stepping stone between hitting level 50 and entering Datascape.  This is accomplished primarily by separating runes from the bulk of the current armor slots and accommodating those runes with their own separate equipment slots.  This system's properties of facilitating the gearing process would also very cleanly carry over to PvP armor (except that PvP should really be separately instanced content with uniform stats and instantly available equipment stat options, no exceptions—but that's another topic).
 
 
 
General AMP changes
 
- The Level 50 version of the Protostar Revolutionary Rucksack now also drops 2 AMPs (soulbound).
- The price of AMPs provided by the Elder Gem vendor has been lowered from 320 EG to 150 EG.
 
 
 
General ATP changes
 
- The level 50 version of the Protostar Revolutionary Rucksack now also drops 1 ATP (soulbound).
- The price of ATPs provided by the Elder Gem vendor has been lowered from 400 EG to 200 EG.
 
 
 
Rune Band Slots
 
- Rune slots removed from all gear and weapons
- Weapon and gear items (not shields) now each carry a single “Primal Fusion Slot.” These slots will only slot Fusion runes; current item level restrictions still apply.
- The player now has 4 more equipment slots on the character panel called Rune Band slots into which players equip items called Rune Bands. Current rune stats will be rebalanced to accommodate the lower total number of slotted runes. Current item level restrictions still apply.
- In addition to the many Basic Rune Bands (which accommodate basic/set runes), there will also be 2 Class Rune Bands (which accommodate not only basic/set runes but also class-specific runes).
 
 
 
Rune Band Characteristics
 
- Each Rune Band is a row of 1-5 slots into which basic/set runes can be slotted in the same manner how players slot runes into armor now.
- Rune Bands have randomized rune element slots and become soulbound on acquire but do not have hidden extra rune slots to unlock via gold/platinum or service tokens. Fusion slots do not appear in Rune Bands as they have been fixed into the weapon and gear items.
- Rune Bands are now be the objects to use with the “Equip Runes” Runecrafting panel.
 
 
 
Rune Band Acquisition
 
3 SLOT BASIC (ilvl 70; no lvl req)
- First one acquired from the early quest which gives the player a shoulder piece with a life slot along with a lesser life rune.
- Capital city Renown vendor: 1000 Renown (unlimited purchases)
 
 
4 SLOT BASIC (ilvl 80; req lvl 50)
- Dungeon vendor: 500 glory (only 1 purchase per character)
- Dungeon vendor: 500 glory (only 1 purchase per character)
- Elder Gem vendor: 50 EG (only 1 purchase per character; earn a silver medal in any veteran dungeon to unlock purchase)
- Elder Gem vendor: 50 EG (only 1 purchase per character; kill a world boss to unlock purchase)
 
 
5 SLOT BASIC (ilvl 90; req lvl 50)
- Elder Gem vendor: 100 EG (only 1 purchase per character; complete a Genesis Key to unlock purchase; Item Imbuement:  Kill System Daemons (adds 20 levels))
- Dungeon vendor: 1000 glory (only 1 purchase per character; kill Kuralak the Defiler to unlock purchase; Item Imbuement:  Kill System Daemons (adds 20 levels))
 
 
5 SLOT CLASS (1) (ilvl 90; req lvl 50)
- Dungeon vendor: 1000 glory (only 1 purchase per character; kill X-89 to unlock purchase; Item Imbuement:  Kill System Daemons (adds 20 levels))
 
 
5 SLOT CLASS (2) (ilvl 110; req lvl 50)
- Elder Gem vendor: 150 EG (only 1 purchase per character; kill System Daemons to unlock purchase)
 
 
NOTE
- In order to circumvent the “only 1 purchase per character” clause, it would be possible to make replace each Rune Band of this nature with an item for sale by the vendor which can be purchased an unlimited number of times BUT ONLY USED ONCE (akin to many current AMP and ATP upgrades scattered across various vendors). The item's usage would simply spawn a related Rune Band in the player's inventory in the same manner as any sort of world boss or contract cache/case.
- All Rune Bands and items associated with them would be soulbound on acquire.
- If possible, it would be best to somehow prevent any given Rune Bands' respective i-level from contributing to the player's calculated average i-level (no need for a level 4 player to suddenly jump like 20 i-level because he/she equipped a Rune Band from an early-game quest).  Alternatively, just lock Rune Bands entirely until the player reaches level 50, because honestly, who actually suggests to anyone the idea of making/equipping/worrying about runes prior to level 50 anymore?  I understand that it would effectively delete a whole crop of the rune tree, but the question stands:  What is actually the point of runes prior to level 50 given the total stats they provide compared to post-50 runes coupled with how a leveling player is basically a walking changing room regarding armor, weapons and overall i-level?
			
				
	Edited February 17, 2016 by haymakerr	
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I agree with the changes on eg cost for amps and aps, but i think adding them to the glory vendor would eliminate this need and be a much better alternative imo.  then no need to adjust eg costs.
 
i do not think a whole rework of the rune system is in order, and runes really do not inhibit alt play, you can pass along runes freely.  even crafted runes are not soulbound.  the issue is easily fixed by adjusting drop rates for runes in end game raids and in the glory rune sacks.  superb runes are easy to get from vet dungeons even on alts and are good enough until you get into raids, and at that point your alt is pretty viable.  got an alt raid ready on the opposite faction, so no help from my main, in a weekend fully runed with +2 class sets.  now amps and aps are not maxxed, aps are but need a few amps, which is the real pain for alts.  but that is the point we both agree on.
 
I am not quite following the rune band thing.  how does this add to the rune system?  in fact this is the same rune system except you have to buy a band now instead of just adding slots right?  i think a better course is to adjust gold costs for rune slot additions and rune slot changes.  this would lower the cost and be more alt friendly if that is the goal.
 
But maybe i am missing the key factor that makes this suggestion great.  If i missed this please elaborate.  otherwise the changes i propose are easier to implement and do not require a huge rework of the rune system.  are you saying these rune bands are static so if i switch a chest piece it wont matter because the runes are on a different item so they do not need to be removed and replaced?  would not lower costs to change runes and slots and increased foci drop rates ultimately solve the issue without adding another piece.  if this is the intent though its not half bad, but i think it is a much bigger change than adjusting some costs and drop rates.	
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All they have to do to make people happy with alts is make faction contributions account wide. Even makes sense from a roleplaying perspective also " Hey this is my new son the medic " blah blah. Why do I have to grind out faction rep again when each character I play is pretty much the same person.. ME they should know me by now LOL. I dont care much for anything else but making an alt and having to grind out faction rep all over again really sucks, especially with how slowly you gain it currently. Grinding rep wouldnt be so bad if there were two ways to do it ..mobs and quests but Wildstar only has one boring way.
 
Runes I have no issue with I have enough on my main I just mail them over. Same with rune slots I have enough money on my main to transfer that over and omnibits and service tokens are also account wide.
 
They can easily make it once you max out all your rep you unlock max rep for all your other characters so it isnt easy to get but it would help those who put in the effort to max out all the reps to get amp points etc. Especially when there is nothing to do and they want to create an alt thus increase play time for the game.
 
What do you think @TimeTravel
			
				
	Edited February 17, 2016 by Jorn	
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Similar to what Jorn stated above:
 
Reputation earned on one character is applied to all characters. This way daily zone and faction rep carries over. to a player's alts. This would lower the cost of Commodities Exchange items like AMP and Ability unlocks, but won't overly devalue them like what would happen with the original post. 	
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All they have to do to make people happy with alts is make faction contributions account wide. Even makes sense from a roleplaying perspective also " Hey this is my new son the medic " blah blah. Why do I have to grind out faction rep again when each character I play is pretty much the same person.. ME they should know me by now LOL. I dont care much for anything else but making an alt and having to grind out faction rep all over again really sucks, especially with how slowly you gain it currently. Grinding rep wouldnt be so bad if there were two ways to do it ..mobs and quests but Wildstar only has one boring way.
 
Runes I have no issue with I have enough on my main I just mail them over. Same with rune slots I have enough money on my main to transfer that over and omnibits and service tokens are also account wide.
 
They can easily make it once you max out all your rep you unlock max rep for all your other characters so it isnt easy to get but it would help those who put in the effort to max out all the reps to get amp points etc. Especially when there is nothing to do and they want to create an alt thus increase play time for the game.
 
What do you think @TimeTravel
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Regarding reputation: Maybe instead of just giving the rep to every alt, alts with less rep could just earn rep faster until they match the highest rep level of all your alts - kind of like the Rest XP that increases the rate at which you earn actual XP. That would improve the game's alt-friendliness, but would maintain the relationship between an alt's rep and things actually done with that alt.
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I agree with the changes on eg cost for amps and aps, but i think adding them to the glory vendor would eliminate this need and be a much better alternative imo.  then no need to adjust eg costs.
That's not a bad idea, but I think glory is already plenty spread with pure/divine runes being there in addition to the welfare armor for raids.  If EG costs went down, it would just mean a speedier development all around for characters.
 
i do not think a whole rework of the rune system is in order, and runes really do not inhibit alt play, you can pass along runes freely.  even crafted runes are not soulbound.  the issue is easily fixed by adjusting drop rates for runes in end game raids and in the glory rune sacks.  superb runes are easy to get from vet dungeons even on alts and are good enough until you get into raids, and at that point your alt is pretty viable.  got an alt raid ready on the opposite faction, so no help from my main, in a weekend fully runed with +2 class sets.
I guess that's just my personal bias in the idea.  I don't have a lot of time for this game despite sort of enjoying it, and I've always found fundamental, objective flaw with stat-based progression.  If a player is already heavily invested into the game (fully geared main and a wide web of contacts), then you're right, it's probably pretty easy to gear up an alt quickly in this game.  At the end of the day, gear stats are just fluff--especially with how relatively easily gear is earned tied in with the natural RNG tendencies of gear drops in content.  I just wanted to streamline the process of making a character ready for all forms of content in the game so... you know... that character can participate freely and worry more about player performance rather than gear stat thresholds.
 
 now amps and aps are not maxxed, aps are but need a few amps, which is the real pain for alts.  but that is the point we both agree on.
Yeah, I'd honestly prefer than we just have maxed AMPs and ATPs upon hitting 50.  It honestly makes no sense to deny players that when everyone in the game already knows what skills they're going to use.  It's basically forcing a player to window shop when he/she has money to spend.  We know which skills we're going to take, we just aren't allowed to use them at an optimal level for no reason other than some arbitrary decision made by some dev(s) 3 years ago for the sake of drawing out character "progression."
 
I am not quite following the rune band thing.  how does this add to the rune system?  
It doesn't.  The point was to glean the fat from the progression process by allowing alts (or even new players) to take a more natural, longer stride through gear stat tedium.  I'm not worried about how this will inevitably effect the AH price of runes, I'm worried about actually playing the video game with the stats that everyone assumes that anyone will have at any given point in time.  The content isn't changing.  Runes are just an unnecessary wall.  I know it's an MMORPG, but stat-based progression is just unnecessary tedium.  Wildstar's content is engaging and challenging enough on its own.  It doesn't need help in the artificial difficulty department by adding stat thresholds achievable only by specific rune sets.  By cutting that fat, it just gets players to the action faster.
 
in fact this is the same rune system except you have to buy a band now instead of just adding slots right?
Yes, the bands would have maxed slots on purchase, and players could purchase them by just playing through the game's content in a rather natural pace (level 50 -> dungeons/world bosses -> genesis key completion -> GA -> System Daemons kill and your slots are now maxed and ready to accommodate the DS class set).
 
 i think a better course is to adjust gold costs for rune slot additions and rune slot changes.  this would lower the cost and be more alt friendly if that is the goal.
This wouldn't be a bad idea either, honestly, but it would have to come down somewhat dramatically if it's really going to be worthwhile.  The benefit from the rune bands is that the player can set up optimal runes and then change them when necessary while still being able to creep i-level up and up as drops come in or runs hit certain kill thresholds (i.e. X-89 or SD) without having to wait for an opportune time to justify the i-level boost weighed against the general cost of runing new armor (especially once everything is orange).
 
But maybe i am missing the key factor that makes this suggestion great.  If i missed this please elaborate.  otherwise the changes i propose are easier to implement and do not require a huge rework of the rune system.  are you saying these rune bands are static so if i switch a chest piece it wont matter because the runes are on a different item so they do not need to be removed and replaced?  
Yes, that was the intent.  It makes i-level progression far more open-ended because it's mostly now treated as gear items are now:  equip it and immediately feel the benefits while your runes remain in effect from a different slot entirely.
 
if this is the intent though its not half bad, but i think it is a much bigger change than adjusting some costs and drop rates.
You're not wrong.  I just wanted a cleaner solution than moving some numbers down.  By freeing armor and weapons from the burden of runes, it makes i-level progression much more free-flowing for players as they just come across random drops at any time post-50.  I suppose I would settle for lower rune slot customization prices, but my point still stands about how separating runes from armor would make both i-level progression and maintaining rune stat thresholds much less tedious for players.
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			Also the reputation idea is sound.  If the whole thing just pooled together across an account, it would actually really open up the housing decor, gear and stat options to fresh 50s.	
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