FUN FACTOR NEEDS TO BE BACK
I dont want to feel that I need to work, like in a job, I want to play a game to forget about work!
the only thing i will see that could fix this is a reversion of the module upgrade system. but with experimentals you can actually buy.
this system just takes too much work to keep track of which upgrades you have/need, and their Marks… ridiculous… already have to spend enough time in UI deciding on builds and reading descriptions to have to deal with keeping track of a virtual spreadsheet of upgrades in my head…
the only other thing i see is more game modes (which they said they’re working on).
plus, you know… the usual tweaks… fixes to the MM, balance (less rock-paper scissors easy buttons), less missile spam, etc…
i’m probably forgetting the most important things, but that’s what happens when you lose interest for 3 months :\
plus, do you know how hard it would be to calculate probability statistics for this new upgrade loot drop system? i don’t even want to fathom it… they just added like 3 layers of complexity, since you need all previous upgrades to get to Mk4. ;o
not to mention removing any strategic choices that need to be made when levelling faction rank… you no longer need to plan out your levelling… you simply level the faction for the single item you need (Mk2/3 upgrades, forget which one requires faction). less strategic, but more time-consuming… since you need to keep track of each individual item you want to upgrade…
Squads going into MM should take into consideration the person with the highest stats and put into the Queue accordingly.
If the entire squad is geared up for T3, they go into a T3/4 according to the person with the highest stats as if his squad mates were tagging along with his normal queue.
That should make me, and everyone else happy. And it will be fair because then it cannot be abused cause, if you have good stats, then you will be going up, if not, down.
i believe i originally said that squads with a high rating should be pushed up a tier. i don’t recall saying 2 tiers tho ;p if you’re mixing tiers in your squad though, then you have other issues i cannot solve ;o
problem is, i don’t think the current MM system has a method to push you up a single tier, it will push you up into the next queue, which technically means 2 tier possibilities. or maybe it does… by adjusting the rating, but i think they went off the deep end on that one, and it’s too harsh.
although, you may want to consider changing it for tier 1. and possibly tier 2 (altho prob not necessary). skill at a low level cannot overcome some of the equipment differences later on.
there’s also the question of it matching high skilled players from a lower tier, into a higher tier, but not taking into account the skill of the higher tier, which might also be high, hence basically a 1-tier disadvantage for nothing, prob especially evident in t4 vs t5.
“This is not a bug in SAO, This is a design feature.” - Kayaba Akihiko, or something to that effect ;\