110797-broad-feedback-from-a-filthy-casual

== Content ==
			
Sup Devs and fellow players, 
 
I bit the bullet recently and got the game and got a good taste of how the design goals have been implemented.  I wholly approve of delayed content until you got the basics done (espcially since raid progress has been slow). 
 
 
The main pro of this game is that it is hardcore.  What does that mean?  Skill > all.  Time =/= gainz.  Simple and wonderful. 
In application, this resulted in the telegraph system and paths, both which are the big selling points of the game as they reflect the hardcore philosophy very well.  So why are players leaving the game?  I believe the root cause is the lack of casuals such as myself. 
 
Why?  Because we are the world.  Most of us are not elite hardcore players, but we can appreciate the philosophy and enjoy it.  Some (like me) used to be serious raiders until real life got in the way and play for nostalgia.  Some enjoy the community feeling of playing with friends and guildmates.  Some just like to sit in chat and...chat.  Without us, who will the hardcore people talk down to?  Kill in wpvp? sell the leet BoE to? Applaud when a world boss is killed?  Maintain the subscriber base?  Give us a reason to log in, but that doesn't mean make the game easy or 100% "available".   
 
How to get casuals to play while keeping the game hardcore has been the eternal question, but you guys have already solved it, but havent seen it through. 
Take the paths to the logical conclusion:
 
1]  Force players to choose which kind of player they want to be [CD for slection 1 week].  Choose one:
- Raider?  +10% dmg that works in raids and heroics only. 
- PVPer?  Only selected people can arena, but +5% dmg in battlegrounds.
- Trader?  Can list items cross realm.  Can purchase extra bank slots.  Can recieve items easily/free from alts. 
-  Crafter?  Special items obtained by path based dailies.  Play in 3 battlegrounds/dungeons.  Swim to the edge of the map and race a npc or each other.  Take off 10% hp of a world boss.  5x settles of a beginner zone.  They should all take approx. the same amount of time and get people running around the world playing the game.
- Minor community suggested roles:  Loremaster/Explorer: Aggregates all map and lore data from all alts.  Mentat-or: +10% movespeed while mentoring.  Broker:  Can create simple quests and postings to bring people together (like craigslist, to do old content, get specific items, world pvp bounties, etc).  The possibilities are endless!
 
2]  Overall storyline that players can affect through their path.  This is a war, every server will have Exiles or Dommies winning (easiest is to base it on raid progression).  This should affect the world around us, like more frequent enemy attacks on towns, shift resource spawn frequency in zones to push players into closer proximity (server annoucement that zones x,y, and z will have increased resources for 2 hours).  The opening of the AQ gates come to mind.  The raid unlock should be tied to the server, so servers can race each other for a headstart in raiding, in order to get the benefits.  The average player in the city should know who the raid baddies are, why we are fighting them, and who is winning. 
 
3]  Gearing gateway.  When the game is this difficult, the usability of rewards should never be in question.  Easiest solution is similar to the crafting system.  Individual roll on a item, but can select the primary stat (off stat can be rerolled by "enchanter role"?).  The previous tier should always be craftable (but look less cool, possibly uniform look, based on lowbie gear), but unlocked by pattern drops in the actual raid (raiders should have the increased income based on this). 
 
 
Technical List and quality of life improvements:  
-  PVP:   World pvp zones should scale to the highest intended level in the zone or highest level in the zone, whichever is lower.  If you are at 50, you still have your extra skills and gear, but give the lowbie a chance, they already have fewer skills, but they should be rewarded for outplaying.  Skill should matter.  This should solve the pvp/pve gear complaints. 
 
-  Server Load and faction balance:  You need to combine servers anyways, so while you're at it, write an algorhythm to balance servers.  1 accout goes exile and is locked until an account goes Dommie.  Difficult to consider alts and such, but as long as factions are balanced to +/-5%, it should be fine.  We just want each side to have a chance. 
 
-  General:  NPC text boxes obscure health bars in combat.
 
-  Training:  Dummies are so last decade.  How about leashed and phased (tie to housing?) 1atk, infinte health regen mobs that the player has to "herd" to a location to practice tanking (possibly roll it into a lowbie questline for tanking clases.  For healing it can be the opposite, randomly running around mobs (in a bordered arena). that constantly drop health.  Make it a communal raid group (auto when you walk into the area). 
 
-  Better Tooltips for: AH, CX, etc. 
 
-  Raiding:  Consider tying new PVE content drops to raid progress (per server).  If people cant beat current content, why give them more?  I think it's a fun experiment to see how hardcore people really are!  lol
 
Many more.  I want you guys to keep with the design philosophy and make Wildstar the next decade spanning MMO that I know it can be! 	
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Hey everyone,
 
Thanks for taking the time to write out thoughtful feedback. It's so much better for the Community and for our dev teams if you break up each suggestion/feedback item and post it in the relevant forum section instead of trying to cram multiple suggestions into one thread.
 
That said, I've locked this thread. If you have suggestions, please make more smaller and granular threads. Of course, please make sure that someone else hasn't already posted it before you start a new thread. :)Thanks,Team WildStar	
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