Gameplay
The gameplay for this game is actually really nice. I haven't been this interested in an instance based MMO(Somewhat) in a long time. It does a good job with making the game feel fairly open world while keeping the instance style. There are a few things however that should be changed.
- 1.) As has been suggested probably hundreds or thousands of time, and I know it's already being looked into, but Guilds, and many other common MMO features should really be made available here. Trade feature, chat channels, etc.
- 2.) The log in buff. Simply put, 1 hour, which starts immediately upon logging in isn't exactly very useful for me, at all. I'm sure many others may feel the same as well, but I don't immediately jump into the action when I first log in for the day. I check the player shops, figure out what I need to do, where I need to go, what I want to do first, etc. I have like a million quests I keep in my log. Not to mention the time it takes just to run to each place. This bonus should be extended greatly. Hell, because the boost is so low, I wouldn't mind seeing it permanent so long as you keep your login streak going. Perhaps remake it so that if you miss a day, you drop down a rank, and another for each day you did not log in. That way those rare events such as blackouts, etc. don't completely screw someone out of bonus Exp and such.
- 3.) Either certain bosses should really be reworked, or blocking/dodging should be reworked. All bosses are still possible to beat, yes, but many of them are completely Anti-Melee to the point where it's simply ridiculous. For example, I'll use that giant eyeball boss you fight when you save Kaguya I believe it was. When you get close to it, it uses a 360 degree lighting attack that will pretty much hit you no matter what unless you're already on the move creating distance from him. And then we have the stone golem boss at the end of Oonaobi Shrine outside of Izumo. His basic sword slash attack is nearly impossible to dodge unless you're moving ahead of time. Now I know, if you cant dodge, why not try blocking instead? I use an Oodachi. Now why that is a problem will be explained in the next suggestion. But putting it simply, a few bosses should be reworked to either be a little more Melee friendly, get a damage reduction, I don't know, anything to make it for fair for Melee, especially slower weapon users who have to get basic attacks in to replenish SP.
- 4.) The next suggestion, weapons. Or rather, just 1 weapon type because well, it's the only weapon I really know. This is just my opinion of course, and I have no idea how other weapon types have it, so bear with me here. Oodachi's, I love them, but I couldn't count how many times I've been screwed over because I simply cannot regenerate enough SP to use skills, or even dodge or block in prolonged fights. Even with a combo card on my weapon, I often find myself sitting at less than 1/5th my total SP because I have to repeatedly block/dodge, and spot strike to rebuild SP, hoping to hell I don't suddenly take a hit which usually 1 shots me. Now what is my suggestion? Increase the amount of SP regenerated per auto attack for slower weapon users. I suppose this could also apply to axes. But honestly, the way things are currently, it's far too risky to finish a basic attack chain, hell sometimes even do 2 attacks out of 3 for my combo just to get more SP. This isn't too big an issue, but it would be nice for slightly heightened survivability for slower weapon users.
- 5.) Redo enemy attack mapping. They should really be made far, far, far more precise to their animation. I'll bring up a great example, a type of enemy I literally just cannot stand because no matter what, unless I react ahead of time, I always, always get hit. Flies. Those things of which are melee users BANE. They spam their dash which not only puts them out of range of your attacks immediately, it hits you so long as you're in their path the moment the animation begins. That being when they fly back to dash forward. Countless times I have dodged, been completely out of their path, and was still hit. It's annoying. A lot of enemies are like this.
- 6.) Exp rates. I don't necessarily mind the lowered rates for this version, but the grind really, really, really becomes a snooze fest after a while. As explained somewhere else on this forum, the most efficient way to level up is to go into a Hell mode instance with a full group, and just hog all of the kills before anyone else gets any. This of course is made a bit more tolerable with Exp boosts, but those boosts are far too short in duration in my opinion. The ones obtainable in game should be made 1 hour in duration, and the ones obtained from the Item Mall, such as 200%/400% ones, should be 2 hours in duration. Especially if you're going to charge as much as you already do for them. That will be in a later suggestion though.
- 7.) Player Bazaar's. Please change it so that things can be sold using Ryou. Allow people to have the choice on what currency they want for what items they sell. because right now, nothing is worth buying because you have to spend a currency that can only be obtained using real world money. Not only that, but everything is completely obtainable in game fairly easily excluding certain rare world drops such as the black glass marble Magatama. This completely gimps the value of anything being sold at all. If people could sell/buy for Ryou, it would allow people who are sitting on a million or more Ryou because they have nothing to spend it on to get things they want easier, as long as it's being sold by someone.
- 8.) Up the amount of Exp you get from side quests. They do not feel like they're worth doing at all over mindless grinding. The only reason they're even remotely worth doing half the time is for the item reward, which is rare.
Item Mall
- 1.) The prices are just too much. Far, far too much. That, or the coin to dollar ratio is far, far too little. I know you guys are a business, I've worked for MMO hosting companies before and I know how things can be when it comes to marketing, but really, this is not the way to do it. All it's doing is repulsing people from even buying anything to begin with. Hell, even making the game repulsive, as there is a slight bit of pay2win mixed into the cash shop. (I cant imagine what PvP will be like if it ever comes out, honestly) Whatever the appropriate thing may be for this, something really needs to be done to the prices, or the amount of coins you get per dollar spent. Something like increasing it to 20 coins per dollar, or even throw an even dollar to coin ratio out the window and put some attractive total values in. Whatever it takes to make the item mall feel like less of a scam.
- 2.) The Gacha. Nyankapon whatever it's called. Simply put, at the moment it is a scam. There is no point in spendingany money on it what-so-ever, especially now that costumes cannot be sold in player Bazaars. Sure, there are other things you can get from it which can be pretty useful, such as a 400% exp card, but overall, it is just not worth it. And then on top of that, as crazy as it sounds, it is the only thing even worth spending points on at the same time. Compared to what else is in the Item Mall you can purchase raw, the most attractive things are in the Gacha. Everything else, personally, other than 200% exp boosts, I haven't had any interest what-so-ever in purchasing. Now I'm sure the regular item mall items are more useful to purchase later on when you wont be replacing weapons and such every few levels, but while this is true, the Gacha still needs some adjustments. No one likes RNG, especially when there is a very, very high chance they will get garbage (Basically all I've ever gotten from it). So what do I suggest?
-First, reduce the amount of coins it costs per single roll by 50% (Or even 40%), and adjust the bulk roll price to reflect.
-Second, create a point system where if you do not like the item you got from the gacha, it can be traded in for a single Gacha Point. At say 3 - 5 Gacha Points, you get 1 free roll, consuming all of those points. - 3.) Costumes. Now first thing is first, I play a male character, and I have to say, I feel as if I somewhat regret making a male. All of the male costumes are ugly. Compared to the female angel wings, cat ears, etc. the mail ones just lack in style in comparison. I find myself liking a custom mixture of basic outfits more than the premium costumes from the Gacha. Please introduce a few more cool looking male outfits.
- 4.) While on the topic of Costumes, some costumes should be available from the item mall to purchase with raw coins. Put more generic looking costumes in the item mall for purchase, and then put more unique ones with very small cosmetic and utility bonuses in the Gacha. That way people are free to get a premium costume, but those who want to look more unique and stand out from the crowd can try their chances with the Gacha.
- 5.) As explained in the Gameplay suggestions, increase the duration of the Exp boosts obtained from the item mall. it's explain in suggestion 6 with detail there.
- 6.) The Premium Boost Tickets. Putting it simple, they're just not worth it. Far too expensive for a very, very small buff. Now this could possibly change if you adjust the prices, but if you don't intend to redesign the item mall, then these should really be changed. Either buff the buffs it already has, or add something to each one that makes them far more useful for the price you're charging.
- 7.) Add a 5$ OC amount purchase option. Because why not?
- 8.) For the love of god make costumes (Avatar items) sellable again in Bazaars. There is absolutely no reason at ALL to restrict something like this. If you're worried about people obtaining them without going through the same chances as those who originally got the item, then that is your own fault for having the system set up in the way it was introduced. You don't restrict things like this as if your players are just animals who can be put on a leash. If you're worried about income because of it, sell more things, make more attractive sales, don't just flat out place retarded restrictions on everyone and limit their freedom. All that is going to do is ruin your own reputation with this game, piss people off, and kill the games population ridiculously fast. I'm sure some of your staff, be it a community manager, CM, or even the product manager himself has seen all of the complaints. I've seen games who do things like this, who have much, much, much larger income and populations, and they fell and crashed so hard because of this. I highly suggest not following that path.
If something like this keeps up, all it's going to do is completely trash your own reputation. Even if you try to fix things later on, you'll still be looked at as a money greedy company who treats it's players like cash cows. Even if that's not necessarily true, or your ways have changed. These kinds of actions can leave permanent impression on people, very, very easily.
UI. User Interface
I like the UI, but it could use some improvements.
- 1.) First things first, the chatbox. It should be more customizable in what tabs are there, and what you want displayed in each tab. While in a dungeon with a group, I have to make sure I tell everyone to talk in party chat, and then only use my party window because of the Exp/Ryou/Item spam from picking things up that floods both the All tab, and the General tab. It just really sucks not having control of something like that.
- 2.) Storage. Allow the "Deposit all materials" button to even deposit materials that stack if your storage is full. I have to drag 1 by 1 into my storage to clear my inventory space because the deposit all button wont deposit items that I already have in storage that can be stacked higher. It's annoying.
- 3.) Skill Cards. It's impossible to tell what skill card applies to what weapon type unless you have super vision. I'm playing on a 1080p resolution, and I can barely tell what card goes to what type. Put in the cards hover status what weapon type it applies too, or add an icon to the cards image, anything really that can indicate what weapon it applies to. All it says in the description is 'to a weapon'. Might want to clarify what weapon a little more.
- 4.) Make temporary buffs show up as an icon somewhere on the screen. This is something most MMO's should do, really. When I use an Exp card, I try to get the most out of it by not stopping for anything. Being able to see what it's duration is at without having to enter my status window would be incredibly helpful.
- 5.) Keybinds, though I'm fairly sure that's already being worked on.
- 6.) Idk if this would count as User Interface or not, but please for the love of god redo the 'Random' part of applying premium skill cards to weapons. Every single card I've applied to any weapon so far always consumes the first slot. Always. Meaning I cannot apply more than 1 because it will just override the one I just put on. Perhaps it really is random and I just have bad luck with always getting that first slot, but it just doesn't feel random at all.
Forums
- 1.) The forum should really, really be made a little more.. user friendly? Useful? Don't know, but it's lacking. It needs more forums for things such as suggestions and feedback, and many other forums that would make people want to visit the forum more often. Right now everything is crammed into 2 general forums. Some ideas;
-Class discussion
-Fan Art (C'mon, we all know what kind of community this game attracts)
-Guilds (For whenever the guild feature comes out, if at all. Hell, name it 'Player Groups' if you have to for now, so people have a place to recruit for their makeshift guilds and small clique groups. Dungeon run groups, anything.)
-Patch Notes & Maintenance forum
-Troubleshooting Forum
-Bugs/Glitches report forum