Viralbots's Proposal for Scheduled Level Cap Increases

TL:DR - Players want FC to commit a schedule in advance so that we know what to expect while leveling, and so that we can make plans for twinks and end game goals.

I propose a schedule of Friday updates that is tight enough to give more casual (working full time) players the ability to catch up and keep at least 1 main character up-to-date while also being wide enough to give hardcore players the ability to branch out with twinks and alts. Also provides opportunity for PvP to start up sooner rather than later.

07 March 19 - Level 10 (+10) – TL 1 (Week 1)
08 March 19 - Level 20 (+10) – TL 2 (Week 1)
15 March 19 - Level 35 (+15) – TL 2 (Week 2)
22 March 19 - Level 50 (+15) – TL 3 (Week 3)
29 March 19 - Level 70 (+20) – TL 3 (Week 4)
05 April 19 - Level 90 (+20) – TL 3 (Week 5)
12 April 19 - Level 90 (+0) – TL 3 (Weak 6) <- Turn on Notum Wars here
19 April 19 - Level 115 (+25) – TL 4 (Week 7)
03 May 19 - Level 140 (+25) – TL 4 (Week 9)
24 May 19 - Level 170 (+30) – TL 5 (Week 12)
21 June 19 - Level 200 (+30) – TL 6 (Week 16)

2 month gap between RK and SL to gauge interest in whether or not the server is even interested in SL

16 Aug 19 - Level 202 (+10 eq) – TL 6 (Week 24) <- Turn on SL here
23 Aug 19 - Level 205 (+15 eq) – TL 7 (Week 25)
30 Aug 19 - Level 209 (+ 20 eq) – TL7 (Week 26)
13 Sept 19 - Level 214 (+25 eq) – TL7 (Week 28)
27 Sept 19 - Level 220 (+30 eq) – TL7 (Week 30)

Another 8 week to AI (If the community actually wants it). AI should be full throttle - just make all 30 AI levels available.

No further expansions should be added. SL totally changes the formula for AO but it was a mostly welcome addition. AI was the start of a slippery slope, but also opened up a lot of opportunities for really cool stratification within the twinking scene; the haves and the have nots is not necessarily a bad thing). Lost Eden and especially OFAB armor utterly and irreversibly destroyed the twinking scene, and created the worst cases of cookie cutter setups this game has ever seen. LE was AO on easy mode with absolutely no sense of progression or stratification.

only thing i can agree on here is that i hate evrthing after Lost Eden expansion becose the game got very unbalanced and it got worse for evry expansion.

honestly i can’t understand why people hate shadowlands so much
 I have played a lot both on rubi-ka and shadowlands, and honestly SL is my favourite (if You reply that if I want to play on SL I should go to main server: as we know, the main server is kinda dead atm)

SL was a net positive for the game. The worst things it brought - inflation via ingots, some exploits, and heckler camping were curbed quite a bit with subsequent patches. I’m all for the addition of SL at some point. Perks, Shades and Keepers brought a lot new possibilities to the game. Perks like Notum Repulser added entirely new strategies - and variety is good in a game like AO.

That said, as a Shade main – I’d love to see combined spirits, otherwise Shades are gonna be suckmode just like they were when SL first launched.

I agree about the inflation, but even without SL, the exploiters will find a way to exploit the economy on this server anyways. I would personally love to level up in SL oldschool mode (doing quests, killing hecklers as a team without pockets and NTs) and I don’t think SL would tear the community apart.
I think FC knows if they will wait too much to bring in expansions, people will eventually get bored grinding on RK, and to be honest, the subscription price is too high to wait half a year for SL to be implemented.

To be honest, i dont like that plan.

I would love to have Research and AI levels to grind as well, if you get them late you miss out so much because your level is to high. Wouldnt it be awesome to have the time to fill your research that is ment for your level and dont rush to 220 as a gimp?

Most ppl are scipping the ai levels and reseach till the end and now we have the changse to scale with the caps.

I would love to have the expansions right now!

2 Likes

Agreed. If they’d enable SL at 200 people would just run everywhere, nobody would know what to do first that would be chaos and would really tear the community apart. Also a newbie who never played AO before, would just jump straight into SL at 200 without knowing where to start
 that’s not a good idea imo.

I mean, I don’t know if many remember
but when they “turned on” SL the first time, it’s not like we were immediately in inferno. People lacked the gear (boots) etc. We farmed Adonis hecks for levels 200+ it wasn’t and won’t be that easy. We will only miss the low level content, which I am sure a lot of people will still do to level shades / keepers / alts.

That being said, I mostly agree with OP roll out dates. Though I would like to see the levels increase faster. But sit at certain caps for a little longer. I.E level 60 for a couple weeks (ToTW) 100 (Foremans) etc


Well, we would get the SL quests for keys in the intented level, we would get AI mishs (not only playfields) it would gave a level cap way more things to do since they are intended to be done in the range but are usually scipped because 2 hours later you could be 150 on the kite hill.

You see now (3 days) after the level cap increase ppl complaining they are bored, but basically the level cap would offer so much more. And this is lost if it comes later.

The vocal minority is complaining that they are bored. (I am bored, but recognize I am the minority)

SL is a weird thing. I think the main problem design-wise, was that it created an entirely separate game. You can completely ignore RK and level through the SL zones. (and vice versa someone could completely ignore SL up to a certain point)

If we were to just wait until level 200 to turn on all of SL at once, we lose out on the opportunity (at least for the people who enjoyed SL) to revisit Nasc, Ely, etc. as a community.

To use Viralbot’s schedule, maybe that two month gap can be a slow unlock of SL content. People who want to do that can roll new characters and slowly progress through SL. A new zone can be unlocked every couple weeks. Everyone on RK can have two months of tower wars while SL gear slowly trickles into the economy.

Another option would be to unlock SL content sooner, but lag behind the RK content by a couple weeks. (ie. unlock Nasc a week or two after a TL3 level cap is set) That way, people can use the ‘frowned upon’ methods of SL camping to catch up to everyone else, instead of it being required to reach the level cap first.

As someone who mainly played Shade from SL’s launch through when I quit around 2008, I would very much like to revisit that SL content the same way RK content is being revisited now.

I really like this “slow unlock” idea. Time gating the zones so people can’t just rush to inferno.

2 Likes

If there are no outdoor city plots, I don’t think AI is worth it. All that expansion ever did was begin the power creep that led to Lost Eden. It did not enhance any of the SL or RK content, it only made the content easier because players had access to better gear and more perks. I would rather Funcom keep the power creep away this time around

I’m just really hoping for nothing past Notum Wars. SL kinda ruined it for myself and many others, and we’ve been waiting for a sequel or a classic server for years now. This would also justify keeping this server open along side the main server.

But I’ll probably just end up quitting again once they open up SL again. I have no interest in it at all.

1 Like

AI ended the fun for many. It was cool, but the time investment for full ai armor is impossible with adult responsibilities in a short time frame.

Lots left around then. Expecting the same again.

Yeah
just no. The level rollout is fine I guess, if that’s what people would want but I would suggest larger level gaps with longer times. For example, bring us to level 30 for 2 weeks, then level 60 for a month. Then maybe 75 for a couple weeks, and 100 for a month, 125 for a couple weeks, 150 for a month, 175 a couple weeks, 200 for a month, 210 for a couple weeks, then 215 for a week, then 220. This encourages people to do content that isn’t normally done, like Foremans and COH as a team. But this schedule doesn’t even include a level 60 cap? This is one of the caps people want the most.

The expansions rollout schedule also makes no sense imo. NW should be turned on around level 50, SL no later than 100, AI no later than 150, LE 175-200, and xan at 215. Those levels coincide with not only reasonable play times for each level range, they also highlight specific content from those expansions. NW at level 50 will immediately kickstart low level PVP and keep tower wars going throughout the leveling experience, SL before 100 encourages content BEFORE ely hecks, encourages nasc quests and progression questing, while also encouraging progressing throughout the playfields at a reasonable rate, AI at 150 encourages S10 teams, general killing, etc. as well as AI City raids at 150 which are fun and go great in a solid 6 man team. LE at 175-200 will give people something to work towards in ado/pen missions as well as keep RK content going from people still wanting creds with their XP, and lox at 215
well there is no content there before 215 so it wouldn’t benefit us to release it any time before then. This level plan I just laid out goes for about 7 months of time, then we have plenty of time to play the server at 220 while encouraging FC to keep it up or allowing them to shut it down before we get to their 12 month endgame.

3 Likes

This is a trade-off though. If SL is released later, it will encourage high level RK content such as mercenaries, hollow island, notum soldier, etc. Releasing SL early invalidates this option for everyone because the loot is going to be largely obsolete. Releasing SL later means newly rolled alts can still go through this content at a level of their choosing.

My suggestion would be to not release SL after at least several months of having a lvl 200 cap.

kinda weird comment since if that is true, game probably would’ve not been around for so many years.

I don’t really see the need to rush level caps on a weekly basis. There are multiple dungeons at various level ranges, that are have a lot to offer.
Further, I know I will run to the next cap, do the content fast, do it on alts, etc. But I also know and understand that there are people who does not have the time to do the same. Or simply don’t share my play style.
Lets not forget that we have a unique experience at our hands, let’s try and give everyone the chance to experience it.
What I am saying I guess is that by having weekly level cap raises, there will be a large portion of the playerbase left behind. I’d rather wait a couple of weeks for the next cap, if it means I can see dungeon X full, lft full, and everyone getting their stuff.

1 Like

Definitely agree on keeping a slow level cap raise. it gives you time to actually go stuff and anticipate for future content.
staying now in 19/20 pooling xp/blitzing stuff i think is way better than rushing to ToTW in squishy mode (and everybody knows that ToTW comes with it’s best attraction: Trains).

There are still great content for 20 level teams: Great Dynacamps in Newland Desert and in Aegan.

also would love if Funcom launch SL midway, it is too bad if people miss Ely and Ado areas (that i find very beautifuly designed).

Now i’m enjoying AO, this RK2019 server actually helped me to stay sober.