Archived What's Wrong?

[Mecharic]

Lotta people out there saying that there are serious issues with MassiveCraft. I'm one of 'em at this point. But we don't really have a coherent list. I find that lists make things easier for others to see and understand, and it may be that a full list will show different things that are interconnected. As this thread will be inherently an Opinion Thread, I ask that all posters follow the following rules:

1. Do not Reply to posts - Make your post with your personal set of flaws, and then at most just read & rate. Don't start replying to each others posts, even if you disagree with someone elses set of flaws.
2. Provide solutions - Post what you think can be done to help fix the problem or flaw you have pointed out. You can make any suggestion, but try to keep them realistic if possible ("Delete Regalia" is unrealistic, so it's not a good suggestion).
3. Follow the Format - There's a basic format for your post, please follow it when making the list so that I can properly organize the list.

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Format:
Flaw Name: What is the flaw?
Flaw Type: Economy, Management, PvP, Roleplay, or Survival
Flaw Details: A description of the flaw. If possible keep it to a single paragraph. Why is it a flaw?
Possible Solution (Optional): A solution you think would help with the flaw you've pointed out. Please keep it to 1 paragraph.

EX:
Flaw Name: John the Pious too Poor
Flaw Type: Economy
Flaw Details: I think John the Pious should be returned to it's former 100r a day. This is because basic economics states that the more of an item there is (in this case Regals) the less value it holds. To translate, More Regals = Higher Prices. With Regals hard to get, people are less likely to spend them.
Possible Solution: Make John the Pious give out 100 regals again. It'll help the economy by putting more money in people's pockets. That will in turn allow them to spend more money rather than worry about faction taxes, Regalian rent, or 'the next auction'. More Regals = More Spending.

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List by Type:
(Alphabetical Order)
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Economy Flaws:

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Management Flaws:

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PvP Flaws:

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Roleplay Flaws:

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Survival Flaws:

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Go on and make your posts. I'll edit this one to include the flaws pointed out. Again, follow the rules of the thread. Thanks.

 

[Conflee]

Flaw Name: Players Hide Instead of Fighting off Raids
Flaw Type: PVP / Survival
Flaw Details: When a raid is happening, players simply seal themselves off in their bases or tp away, and refuse to fight. Leading to there being little to no real PvP on the server- as has been pointed out by PvPers many times.
Possible Solution: I believe there should be more consequence to Players refusing to battle and simply ignoring raids. Be it monetary loses based on the number of defenders online when a raid begins, or power loses from refusing to fight. Perhaps a system to automatically detect a "Raid", IE: If there are at least 3 Defenders online, and there are more than 3 Enemies within their land, it sends a message to the defenders alerting them. Then after 10 minutes of no PVP, it will take money from their f bank and add it to the raiders. Then after 30 more minutes it does the same- with the max money able to be robbed being 300-500 (or whatever amount is fitting). Raiders would be unable to take more than the next weeks's rent, and defenders would be unable to remove money from their bank during this. Defenders logging out will not stop the countdown either, meaning if you just log out, your still screwed.

EDIT: A faction can only initiate a maximum of say, 6 "Raids" on a single faction in 3 days, to prevent them from camping for hours and driving defenders off from pure exhaustion near the end of the day.

If the defenders and raiders engage in PVP- not counting Bows, to prevent people just bow spamming off walls to trick the system- then the countdown ends, and the Raiders would have to instigate the "Raid" 5 minutes later. Note this does not require them to be "Good" at PvP either necessarily. If they are willing to rush out one at a time to stop the raid countdown and lose gear, so be it. Or if they want to attempt to thoroughly oust the raiders, they would have to organize an actual assault and battle the Raiders.


Larger factions would inherently have a bigger buffer to work with, as their tax is much higher, while smaller factions would be protected as well. Attempting to use this to Raid Roleplay factions would still be illegal, and screenshotted evidence would have money returned and tempbans or whatever punishment is fitting issued, if the defenders wish it. RP factions could still engage in the battle if they wanted to though I suppose, and if they don't report it they can participate in the system when they like.

 

[Mecharic]

Anyone else want to try to help or no?

 

[TheLoneShepherd]

Flaw Name:Taxes
Flaw Type: Economy, Management, PvP, Survival
Flaw Details: Factions Tax is too hard for factions that do not participate in PvP because they must constantly hide inside or pay surreneder terms, which for a faction with 10-20 members might be over 1000 r which is more expensive than disbanding and making a NEW faction and moving to enother location.
Possible Solution:
I think that the FIRST thing that should be done is make factions cost 2000 r like they used to.

This will have MANY positive affects on the server such as making the average faction size larger and giving PvP factions more reason to raid them, as well as allowing Factions to build larger and nicer bases which would attract players to the server

I think that to compensate for land taxes that staff should put a sales tax where money is taken whenever a player transaction is done,for example if a fac surrenders for 1000 r it will actually cost 1025 r due to taxes

 

[Kaezir]

I honestly appreciate what you are try to do with this post. But it seems a bit redundant. Feels like this is what the forum itself is for.

I would like to offer a bit of advice on formatting. Instead of all that criteria;

Dislike/Problem:
Why it's an issue:

I believe if most people would take time to fill out a post here, they would just make a seperate thread. In this case, less is more. You can then open discussion with each seperate post. Plus in a smaller, easier to read format, we can start seeing patterns and similarities.

 

[Eucindiel]

Preface: I love this server and I loathe making what may be taken as a negative pot-shot at it... but... In the interest of feedback I offer the following. I a few ideas that I might put into practive to help it make a little more ka-ching this year so it can survive the post EULA monsoons... but it will need to its adress a few areas for that to not be wasted effort.

Flaw Name: New arrivals welcome 'lobby'

Flaw Type: Marketing/ New Player Retention

Flaw Details: In order to test the experience new arrivals receive I created an alt account @AinshunttJawa two weeks ago and did a play through of what they are greeted with. I have fond memories of the mysterious spiral staircase that was once the first point of contact. It was a wonderous intro and enveloped you in a story and built such intrigue... but I personally thought we could actually do so much better. What we have now is a backward step. We have a series of very plain 'halls' with 'rules' and 'features' on signs. These rooms are quite uneventful and don't even hint at the spectacle that lies just a few steps ahead. A new arrival would have no idea that something as amazing as Regalia city is at the other end of this mundane lackluster room of boring signs. If it was my first experience with the server I'd probably turn around again. Remember these guys may have only seen a quick 1200 pixel banner and not really know what to expect.

You can see for yourself by typing /tp lobby

Possible Solution: Lasting and truly moving experiences place the player inside of a rich story. We have such very talented world builders that this situation is crying out for something like a forested pathway or something that locks them into one direction down a path... but also gives them a glimpse of how amazing a MassiveCraft world can look. Nothing too distracting along the path (eg not cottages) as we don't want them too distracted - we want them motivated onwards or we risk them getting bored or lost... so maybe sceneray that can be seen above the tree line but not accessible.

I'm thinking the path could end in a rocky outcrop above a circular sinkhole that goes down and down and down. Think Alice in Wonderland but not hidden under a tree and much bigger/ more open at top and surrounded by bushes, trees, a mountain, a tower. Also signs telling them some sort of story that basically means they have to choose to jump.

This hole is deep, I mean so deep that you see little caves with small forests, temples, whatever in them as you fall ever further down. After what seems like a 30 seconds you fall into a portal and 'come to' in some other engaging area that allows you to choose between PVP, RP, Questing.

If they decide to move too much... sure... they land too hard and die... but they just respawn at one of the lower outcrops until they're smart enough to make sure they fall straight (signs at the respawn outcrop saying "try to fall straight next time" could help)

Obviously my idea has flaws and there are certain elements of the current system (eg the Factions Guide Book that is auto in inventory) that should stay. But the drab old halls? COME ON! A beautiful server such as ours deserves sooo much better.

 

[Mecharic]

I honestly appreciate what you are try to do with this post. But it seems a bit redundant. Feels like this is what the forum itself is for.

I would like to offer a bit of advice on formatting. Instead of all that criteria;

Dislike/Problem:
Why it's an issue:

I believe if most people would take time to fill out a post here, they would just make a seperate thread. In this case, less is more. You can then open discussion with each seperate post. Plus in a smaller, easier to read format, we can start seeing patterns and similarities.

Click to shrink...

Altered it to make the Solution part Optional. I still want to be able to order them by type, so Flaw Name, Flaw Type, and Flaw Details (including why it's a flaw) are kept. Thanks for the advice - I do want players to still be able to post how they think it can be fixed, since many players have such ideas in their heads. I do plan to make threads for each of the overlying issues to discuss ways to fix them or otherwise counter them if possible.

 

[Eucindiel]

Flaw Name: Regal drops from mob kills seems nerfed?
Flaw Type: Economy
Flaw Details: I just killed 35 Guardians and only one gave me +1 regal. If the reduced rate from Pious John is supposed to encourage us to go out and make money this needs to be tweaked.
Possible Solution (Optional): Increase the rate of Regal drops for mob kills.

 

[Zacatero]

Preface: I love this server and I loathe making what may be taken as a negative pot-shot at it... but... In the interest of feedback I offer the following. I a few ideas that I might put into practive to help it make a little more ka-ching this year so it can survive the post EULA monsoons... but it will need to its adress a few areas for that to not be wasted effort.

Flaw Name: New arrivals welcome 'lobby'

Flaw Type: Marketing/ New Player Retention

Flaw Details: In order to test the experience new arrivals receive I created an alt account @AinshunttJawa two weeks ago and did a play through of what they are greeted with. I have fond memories of the mysterious spiral staircase that was once the first point of contact. It was a wonderous intro and enveloped you in a story and built such intrigue... but I personally thought we could actually do so much better. What we have now is a backward step. We have a series of very plain 'halls' with 'rules' and 'features' on signs. These rooms are quite uneventful and don't even hint at the spectacle that lies just a few steps ahead. A new arrival would have no idea that something as amazing as Regalia city is at the other end of this mundane lackluster room of boring signs. If it was my first experience with the server I'd probably turn around again. Remember these guys may have only seen a quick 1200 pixel banner and not really know what to expect.

You can see for yourself by typing /tp lobby

Possible Solution: Lasting and truly moving experiences place the player inside of a rich story. We have such very talented world builders that this situation is crying out for something like a forested pathway or something that locks them into one direction down a path... but also gives them a glimpse of how amazing a MassiveCraft world can look. Nothing too distracting along the path (eg not cottages) as we don't want them too distracted - we want them motivated onwards or we risk them getting bored or lost... so maybe sceneray that can be seen above the tree line but not accessible.

I'm thinking the path could end in a rocky outcrop above a circular sinkhole that goes down and down and down. Think Alice in Wonderland but not hidden under a tree and much bigger/ more open at top and surrounded by bushes, trees, a mountain, a tower. Also signs telling them some sort of story that basically means they have to choose to jump.

This hole is deep, I mean so deep that you see little caves with small forests, temples, whatever in them as you fall ever further down. After what seems like a 30 seconds you fall into a portal and 'come to' in some other engaging area that allows you to choose between PVP, RP, Questing.

If they decide to move too much... sure... they land too hard and die... but they just respawn at one of the lower outcrops until they're smart enough to make sure they fall straight (signs at the respawn outcrop saying "try to fall straight next time" could help)

Obviously my idea has flaws and there are certain elements of the current system (eg the Factions Guide Book that is auto in inventory) that should stay. But the drab old halls? COME ON! A beautiful server such as ours deserves sooo much better.

Click to shrink...

@Eucindiel i dont want to derail mecharic's thread too much but i really encourage you to make this idea its own feature idea thread. Its excellent.

 

[LadyToxicScythe]

Flaw Name: Vanilla PVP, no traits in combat

Flaw Type: PVP, survival, roleplay

Flaw Details: massive craft has gone back to mostly vanilla mechanics, traits are no longer viable in combat making mob fighting, quests, and pvp really... not fun. i already do vanilla pvp on every other server... why do i have to do it in massive as well? also, have you fought massive mobs with no traits? it was hard before but now its just a punishing chore, it takes so many hits to kill simple (and overspawned) enemies even in god gear! its also an issue because just a few minutes in the darkroom and your armor is toast... /fix isnt going to help you when you maybe make 10 regals an hour, your armor is messed up in 10 mins, and the fix costs 300R or more. and new player startup is so difficult new players do not stay on the server long. this is a major issue and has stiffed most of my game play on this server.

Possible Solution (Optional): reinstate traits the way they were before they were removed from combat, taking time to really try to balance it at least against massive mobs. as far as pvp goes its a okay idea to disable them only then, but i prefer to keep them for that too.

 

[Omnomivore]

@Mecharic I am going to lock this thread and mark it as "Dated" after I respond to the posts here as it will be too difficult for us to keep track of posts here and they will wind up going unseen/unheard. We prefer separate threads for individual ideas to be fleshed out rather than a bunch of different ideas on 1 thread.

Flaw Name: Players Hide Instead of Fighting off Raids
Flaw Type: PVP / Survival
Flaw Details: When a raid is happening, players simply seal themselves off in their bases or tp away, and refuse to fight. Leading to there being little to no real PvP on the server- as has been pointed out by PvPers many times.
Possible Solution: I believe there should be more consequence to Players refusing to battle and simply ignoring raids. Be it monetary loses based on the number of defenders online when a raid begins, or power loses from refusing to fight. Perhaps a system to automatically detect a "Raid", IE: If there are at least 3 Defenders online, and there are more than 3 Enemies within their land, it sends a message to the defenders alerting them. Then after 10 minutes of no PVP, it will take money from their f bank and add it to the raiders. Then after 30 more minutes it does the same- with the max money able to be robbed being 300-500 (or whatever amount is fitting). Raiders would be unable to take more than the next weeks's rent, and defenders would be unable to remove money from their bank during this. Defenders logging out will not stop the countdown either, meaning if you just log out, your still screwed.

EDIT: A faction can only initiate a maximum of say, 6 "Raids" on a single faction in 3 days, to prevent them from camping for hours and driving defenders off from pure exhaustion near the end of the day.

If the defenders and raiders engage in PVP- not counting Bows, to prevent people just bow spamming off walls to trick the system- then the countdown ends, and the Raiders would have to instigate the "Raid" 5 minutes later. Note this does not require them to be "Good" at PvP either necessarily. If they are willing to rush out one at a time to stop the raid countdown and lose gear, so be it. Or if they want to attempt to thoroughly oust the raiders, they would have to organize an actual assault and battle the Raiders.


Larger factions would inherently have a bigger buffer to work with, as their tax is much higher, while smaller factions would be protected as well. Attempting to use this to Raid Roleplay factions would still be illegal, and screenshotted evidence would have money returned and tempbans or whatever punishment is fitting issued, if the defenders wish it. RP factions could still engage in the battle if they wanted to though I suppose, and if they don't report it they can participate in the system when they like.

Click to shrink...

I generally dislike the concept of forcing people to PvP, forcing people to defend, etc. People should want to engage in survival/factions/pvp not because they HAVE to but because they want to otherwise you risk people either leaving factions to avoid it or leaving the server because the consequences are too severe if you don't want to participate in a certain gameplay mode.

Flaw Name:Taxes
Flaw Type: Economy, Management, PvP, Survival
Flaw Details: Factions Tax is too hard for factions that do not participate in PvP because they must constantly hide inside or pay surreneder terms, which for a faction with 10-20 members might be over 1000 r which is more expensive than disbanding and making a NEW faction and moving to enother location.
Possible Solution:
I think that the FIRST thing that should be done is make factions cost 2000 r like they used to.

This will have MANY positive affects on the server such as making the average faction size larger and giving PvP factions more reason to raid them, as well as allowing Factions to build larger and nicer bases which would attract players to the server

I think that to compensate for land taxes that staff should put a sales tax where money is taken whenever a player transaction is done,for example if a fac surrenders for 1000 r it will actually cost 1025 r due to taxes

Click to shrink...

These suggestions have been noted in the Factions Poll as well and have been noted among the many suggestions and features for when we are reviewing factions. Factions will be receiving some much-needed TLC and attention.

The Direction and Tech Departments have determined that our focus on the upcoming months will be devoted to the Factions Plugin and improving the Survivalist experience. At this time we cannot give any specifics on what may or may not happen. For now we are simply collecting information, data, features, suggestions, and input as it has been quite some time since the Factions plugin has received some much-needed attention.

Preface: I love this server and I loathe making what may be taken as a negative pot-shot at it... but... In the interest of feedback I offer the following. I a few ideas that I might put into practive to help it make a little more ka-ching this year so it can survive the post EULA monsoons... but it will need to its adress a few areas for that to not be wasted effort.

Flaw Name: New arrivals welcome 'lobby'

Flaw Type: Marketing/ New Player Retention

Flaw Details: In order to test the experience new arrivals receive I created an alt account @AinshunttJawa two weeks ago and did a play through of what they are greeted with. I have fond memories of the mysterious spiral staircase that was once the first point of contact. It was a wonderous intro and enveloped you in a story and built such intrigue... but I personally thought we could actually do so much better. What we have now is a backward step. We have a series of very plain 'halls' with 'rules' and 'features' on signs. These rooms are quite uneventful and don't even hint at the spectacle that lies just a few steps ahead. A new arrival would have no idea that something as amazing as Regalia city is at the other end of this mundane lackluster room of boring signs. If it was my first experience with the server I'd probably turn around again. Remember these guys may have only seen a quick 1200 pixel banner and not really know what to expect.

You can see for yourself by typing /tp lobby

Possible Solution: Lasting and truly moving experiences place the player inside of a rich story. We have such very talented world builders that this situation is crying out for something like a forested pathway or something that locks them into one direction down a path... but also gives them a glimpse of how amazing a MassiveCraft world can look. Nothing too distracting along the path (eg not cottages) as we don't want them too distracted - we want them motivated onwards or we risk them getting bored or lost... so maybe sceneray that can be seen above the tree line but not accessible.

I'm thinking the path could end in a rocky outcrop above a circular sinkhole that goes down and down and down. Think Alice in Wonderland but not hidden under a tree and much bigger/ more open at top and surrounded by bushes, trees, a mountain, a tower. Also signs telling them some sort of story that basically means they have to choose to jump.

This hole is deep, I mean so deep that you see little caves with small forests, temples, whatever in them as you fall ever further down. After what seems like a 30 seconds you fall into a portal and 'come to' in some other engaging area that allows you to choose between PVP, RP, Questing.

If they decide to move too much... sure... they land too hard and die... but they just respawn at one of the lower outcrops until they're smart enough to make sure they fall straight (signs at the respawn outcrop saying "try to fall straight next time" could help)

Obviously my idea has flaws and there are certain elements of the current system (eg the Factions Guide Book that is auto in inventory) that should stay. But the drab old halls? COME ON! A beautiful server such as ours deserves sooo much better.

Click to shrink...

Thank you for this suggestion, I would highly recommend creating a separate thread with fleshed-out concepts that you think would be more helpful for a new player orientation/lobby.

Flaw Name: Regal drops from mob kills seems nerfed?
Flaw Type: Economy
Flaw Details: I just killed 35 Guardians and only one gave me +1 regal. If the reduced rate from Pious John is supposed to encourage us to go out and make money this needs to be tweaked.
Possible Solution (Optional): Increase the rate of Regal drops for mob kills.

Click to shrink...

We will note this as a suggestion. Unfortunately our online site for data management is unable to be viewed at the moment, but as soon as it's back up we'll be able to do some economy analysis for money entering and leaving the server and their sources.

Flaw Name: Vanilla PVP, no traits in combat

Flaw Type: PVP, survival, roleplay

Flaw Details: massive craft has gone back to mostly vanilla mechanics, traits are no longer viable in combat making mob fighting, quests, and pvp really... not fun. i already do vanilla pvp on every other server... why do i have to do it in massive as well? also, have you fought massive mobs with no traits? it was hard before but now its just a punishing chore, it takes so many hits to kill simple (and overspawned) enemies even in god gear! its also an issue because just a few minutes in the darkroom and your armor is toast... /fix isnt going to help you when you maybe make 10 regals an hour, your armor is messed up in 10 mins, and the fix costs 300R or more. and new player startup is so difficult new players do not stay on the server long. this is a major issue and has stiffed most of my game play on this server.

Possible Solution (Optional): reinstate traits the way they were before they were removed from combat, taking time to really try to balance it at least against massive mobs. as far as pvp goes its a okay idea to disable them only then, but i prefer to keep them for that too.

Click to shrink...

Traits cannot be reinstated the way they were due to conflicting issues with McMMO which made balancing them nigh impossible due to the variety of trait combinations. Of course we plan on looking at traits again at some point and seeing what can be re-added (PvP disabled or no) but I can give no personal guarantees as such things require a lot of testing and balancing.