Poster: Lumburg at 2006-10-31 15:29:48
Subject: Please explain why respec'ing is so expensive |
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I really dont understand why players are punished for wanting to try new builds and the costs associated with it. If anything this should be something thats dirt cheap in order to make the best possible build for your character, but sadly, this price actually INCREASES the more you respec your character. Who thought of this system?
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=42674720&pageNo=1&sid=1#0 | | |
Poster: Tseric at 2006-10-31 15:53:30
Subject: Re: Please explain why respec'ing is so expen |
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The basic idea is about consequence through cost. Decisions carry weight because of costs or consequence behind them. In trying to estimate these costs beforehand and make a decision, this idea makes something carry more weight and be more meaningful for players.
It's sort of like why the only real way to play poker is with real money. Sure, you could use chips with no value attached, but the betting is less meaningful. People will bet differently with real money because there is more consequence to it and more repercussions from the action. This is what gives the game of poker its real value. The exchange between players and the betting becomes the real game, rather than simply having three-of-a-kind or fulfilling some basic game requirement.
When there are too many reset buttons and decisions can be easily overturned, boredom shortly follows because things then have no meaning.
Having players get upset or emotional about respec'cing costs only speaks to its function and the fact that it does what it does well. If nobody cared, it wouldn't be a big deal and we might even change it. However, it was designed to make choices significant and that is demonstrated by how players react and behave in relation to it.
Don't get your nether in a twist.
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=42674720&pageNo=1&sid=1#3 |
Poster: Tseric at 2006-10-31 15:56:49
Subject: Re: Please explain why respec'ing is so expen |
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Q u o t e:
You've been watching too much World Series of Poker Tseric :)
Still, it was a darn good analogy. ;)
Don't get your nether in a twist.
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=42674720&pageNo=1&sid=1#9 |
Poster: Tseric at 2006-10-31 17:20:50
Subject: Re: Please explain why respec'ing is so expen |
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Q u o t e:
Acually Tseric, you should know better than this by now. Players getting "emotional" or complaining about the cost of respec'ing doesn't indicate anything besides the fact that players dislike the system.
Simply because players do not enjoy an aspect of the game does not necessarily indicate that part of the gaming system "does what it does well" or that we feel more invested in it. To logically conclude otherwise is extremely short sighted - especially for someone as yourself who should be familiar with game design mechanics or at least simple logic by now.
To recap: High respec costs don't force players to feel their spec is special or feel more emotionally invested in their spec, just literally more gold invested in their spec. Ultimately it means it's even more annoying when you misclick and players are having less fun with their characters feeling they can only focus on one aspect of the game without signifigant time needed to farm additional gold to try out other playstyles ie. pvp vs. pve.
The honest answer from you would have been: as a company, it boils down to the fact that we earn more money the longer players play. Thus, we cause players to play longer by preventing them from trying out all aspects of their class without a signifigant time investment farmin gold. Short and sweet, see how easy that was Tseric?
I spend a lot of time on these forums. More than most. You're going to have to have a little trust in my word when I say that players can complain about anything. And when I say anything, I do, in fact, mean anything. When emotional responses are part and parcel on these forums, you do come to understand certain distinctions as it pertains to game design decisions and player reaction/behavior.
I simply said that the bad reaction speaks to the idea, not encompasses it completely. The inverse of your reasoning is that everything should be change due to negative player reaction.
So, by your line of reasoning, we should dispose of, change or minimize all aspects of the game that might hint at frustration, right?
People complain about it for similar reasons they complain about bag space. It is a limitation in the game which then affects their decisions. In a game world, the rules appear to be arbitrary, so nobody sees the reason why you can't make change X to system Y. They look at it as 'it's just a few lines of code, there is no reason not to do it.'
All you are presenting is the negative aspects of the matter. It's a money sink, I don't like it.
Yes, it's a money sink, and a darn good one, too. It does, however, have a lot of other necessary effects which we like.
You forgot this part in your reasoning. If we allowed easy and cheap access (if not free, then very close) to every single talent for your class, why wouldn't we just make them all trainable abilities and trash the idea of talent trees to begin with? I mean, if it's just a money sink, that would indicate that we were somehow doing this out of some malicious personal motivation, right?
Fact is, if you treated them as trained abilities, they would have the same value. Which is to say, players would value them less because they are expected.
Don't get your nether in a twist.
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| | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=42674720&pageNo=5&sid=1#92 |
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