Permanent Item Damage and Death Penalty changes

[ccheath776]

why do you think they merged the servers this past summer?

why do you think all of those players on those deceased servers left?

only the diehards are left, along with whatever random newbs are joining (& with no advertising, probably pretty insignificant numbers IMO)

keep it up, Turbine & there will be another server merge

I invited 5 RL friends over the past 6 months to join.
All joined, 1 stayed the rest left because of the xp penalty and a few other things.

I have one coming back this week and 3 others that will come back for a few months to check it out.

Maybe its just my small circle of the world but thats 3 more DDO players that want to play now.
I'm sure I will bring more when I tell them we are getting the begginings of crafting.

But it can't be just me it has to be everyone as well.
If people dont like this system and want to leave. Begging your pardon but then go ahead and leave, what else can be said to you honestly? Thats not a mean statement its just that there is no more constructive conversation that can be had with that. Your not adding to the game by leaving so there is little else to be said.
If you like this game, but dont like the new system, inpart some constructive criticism and give some ideas while also continuing to promote and market this game. Tell your friends, tell others.
"I play DDO, and you should to.."

I know many say "But the xp debt system was fine, its been working all along..." Well obviously it hasn't has it? Has it brought in new players, increased the population? No.
Has it chased away potential players? Yes
There's many other things that go along with it but lets at least eliminate one aspect of new player frustration and maybe gain new players because of it.
Then we can begin to work on other issues that are causing player loss.

Maybe we will lose people, maybe so. But if this game is to survive we have to get new players in and keep that influx greater than the departure rate. This is one step toward that.
Some people say it can't happen. Wrong.
Eve online was waining in the 25k sub range at one point and had a resurgence because they began to implement new aspects of the game. There are many examples of games rebounding and making massive comebacks in the subscription area.
But its not going to happen if people continue to constantly bash the game into extinction.

Fact 1 -
The xp penalty system is gone. It aint coming back. So any argument that includes "I liked the old system better.." is irrelevant. Its not coming back.
Fact2 -
This is only the first itteration of this change. It doesn't mean its set in stone.

Maybe you dont like this new system. Fine, then impart some ideas on what you would like to see. What way would be better?

Some things that can't happen.
- Bound items becoming unbound is not going to happen.
- Perm damage being eliminated without making all items bind on aquire. Eladrin put it best. Its one way or the other. You have to keep a steady flow of items in and out of the marketplace. Either their is perm damage and we have the option to bind or all things bind and there is no perm damage. Take your pick. There's no basis in "I dont like either.." because unfortunatly thats just silly to say that. Its one way or the other in this case, make a choice or turn away and leave. What else can be said?
- Any system or suggeston with XP loss is not going to happen. As I said. That mechanic is gone, never to be seen again.

I dont mean to be direct or tell people to leave but at some point what more can be said? The same way a mcdonalds can't give you the money out of their cash registers, turbine can't give away their company or destroy the game just because one partucular loyalist group wants the game to be a certain way.
Turbine has been doing this for a long time, they know what they are doing. They knew the xp penalty system represented a growing issue that had to be addressed. XP loss had to go and they needed to find a way to replace it. They did. Some people disagree with that, that is fine, but impart some wisdom as to why not start a back and forth about bringing back the old system or threatening to leave. Such arguments are sure to be ignored.

[Ron]

What would be your tactic for Velah then? On elite there is not 12 L14's in the game that can stand more than 30 seconds with her. I would like to see how anyone could beat her any other way. Pre-mod 5 we ran in on normal and just mass healed (with a few people dieing) until she was dead. We cannot do that now because she is for some reason or another more difficult.

And you've just proven the point of everyone in this thread who's been saying death needs to matter more. This is called "using death as a tactic", and it's cheese.

I think you are confusing cause and effect. I would argue the REASON Velah is practically impossible to beat on elite without using this tactic is because that tactic is there, and the devs had to design the encounter taking that into account. Now, I'm not saying with the new system people still won't use death as a tactic, they may very well, but it's going to hurt more, so they'll be more inclined to play the encounter in a more "normal" fasion (and yes, like it or not, they are designed to be run in a particular way. It's all fine and well to use unorthidox methods to defeat a foe, but death (just like "safe spots") was never meant to be among those methods). And perhaps because of that, the devs can relax some of these absurd difficulty encounters to be more reasonable in the future.

Two points that I use to support this:

1) If players stop using death as a cheese tactic, the devs can bring some of the encounters down to reasonable levels based on their actual CR value.

2) Of course the other effect inflating encouters is the massive item inflation we have in the game. El's proposed system may even help with this as well (some people will bind items). It's not a complete solution by any means, but at this piont there IS no total solution, beyond a total game revamp (and you think people are up in arms in this thread, think what would happen if they really did try to acutally fix the economy, heh).

Now, since 1 won't *completely* stop cheese death tactics, and 2 is only a baby step, I think encounters will still be designed above their actual CR value, but perhaps not as much as they were. Perhaps Velah on Elite can be toned down a little, or the Abbot, or what have you. Ideally we want to keep the challenge the same but eliminate the questionable tactics used to beat them currently.

The rest of your post is opinion. And you are entitled to it to be sure, but it's been gone over on both sides again and again, so I won't go back through it, heh. Except for this part which I want to comment on, since it keeps coming up over and over again.

I wish they would just stop fixing things that are not broken, add new content, and only fix the real things that need to be fixed (ranged combat, lag issues, Abbott, etc.). No fixation without representation!

This has been gone over by El and others several times. The XP debt system IS broken. The "feedback" El mentions (by which I'm going to presume he means the exit interview thing) specifically says the major reason trial players leave is because of this system. It also has no effect on capped characters, which compound several issues this game has related to the economy. It's unsustainable as the cap gets increased. How many more times do you need to be given these explanations?

[Kerr]

Under the new system, raid items are immune to permanent dammage

As I read, they weren't and you still had to 'bind' them even though they were bound. So they'd be bound bound before they stop taking permanent damage.

[ccheath776]

as i said before, DONT TWIST MY ORIGINAL THOUGHTS INTO SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT AND BAD! GOSH!! why are you flaming me? just drop it please. you have no argument here you are flaming me and twisting my words.

change to death penalty is bad

1. how many willing to risk 'pug'ing when theres a chance of dying because 'pugs' would run ahead an draw too much agro that the group isnt strong to handle? this will destroy the lfm system.

2. why should items be damaged if: stuck in a place(buggy town locations) where gm is hard to reach and you have to /death to get out? killed by a spell i.e. pk fod destruction...etc. died by falling into death water(abbot raid).

3. whats left on ah to buy/sell? everything is going to be bound because no one wants their items to be perm damaged

4. what did you expect? every new players to this game are top players of ddo? they never die in lowbie quests?

1. It can be argued that the xp loss system was also hindering PUG groups. I know that I did not join some LFM's because I did not wish to die and ruin my progress toward the next level.

2. Because thats the way it is. Now it can be adjusted, so can you give us some ideas on how you would handle this?

3. So bind everything or bind nothing. I know people are attached to their loot, but honestly there's more loot to be had. Just because one weapon becomes unusable, doesn't mean there is not another to be picked up. Or do what I plan on doing, once my weapon becomes close to being unrepairable, I will bind it.

4. I expect that new players will feel welcome and willing to play more. Not overwhelmed or frustrated at attaining levels. The new people that walk in the door should feel welcome enough to want to stay. If they do not, they will leave.

[ccheath776]

I also think they should keep the XP loss for death.

Its not coming back. What system would you like to see in its place?

[Ron]

As I read, they weren't and you still had to 'bind' them even though they were bound. So they'd be bound bound before they stop taking permanent damage.

Really? I don't think that was the intent. I thought bound items (no matter if you bound them or they were BoA or BoE) were supposed to be immune. At least that's what I thought. Could be wrong.

[ORCRiST]

I just don't uderstand what the overall goal for the Devs are...

The loot tables are absolute SH*T now. Turbine has had a couple of +1 loot weekends to make up for mistakes on their end, and now have to nerf the tables to try and reign in the economy. I mean do you REALLY NEED to add any more useless prefixes or suffixes to loot to make them MORE worthless than they already are? As it stands now, in the 1 in 1,000,000 chance you get a randomly generated magic item you can actually want (much less use) now Turbine has decided that it either breaks constantly, or its never used on another character again if you decide to bind it. Niiiice.

This item damage BS and death penalty effects are just the last blind dart thrown at the 'suggested solutions' board in the Dev office someone put up. Sorry, I don't ever recall death by Block of C4, so why the hell should ALL of my (equipped or not) items take damage when I die? If I died by fireball, falling in an acid pool, or swimming in lava - sure. But then how hard would it be to write code for those specific instances?

Why not just remove permenant item damage completely and triple or quadruple repair costs? Or... GASP... give us the option to do either?

I will not be binding any item, I have enough bound items forced on me by Turbine the way it is.

Gaining XP has NEVER been an issue, make the XP penalties HIGHER not lower if you want to discourage zerging, asinine play, or whatnot. BUT YOU HAVE TO FIX THE QUESTS! That won't fly if people are dying arbitrarily because of your inept adventure/quest design or BUGS. Anyone who's played DDO for any length of time has several capped characters = gaining/retaining XP is a non-issue. YES, Turbine tried this a few modules ago - but were to heavy handed on the penalty's, as I recall the level cap back then was 10 or 12. Simple scaling and/or penalty progression should fix that. The fact that players regain XP while off-line is also a step in the right direction.

There are MANY aspects (read: glaring bugs, broken adventures, etc.) of DDO that need to be fixed FIRST before resources are thrown at BS like this. How about fixing the AH for one? How many times have people bid on X item with "1 hour left" only to have the auction end in 30 seconds or 5 hours later? Or gee wiz, how about fixing the Abbot Raid so its beatable (never mind enjoyable)?

Someone over at Turbine needs to pull their head out. If the server merges weren't enough of an indication, then you need to do some serious market analysis of your business and where it stands. What are you doing to get NEW customers? Do you have a marketing department? Do they understand the concept of Advertising? What are you doing to KEEP customers comming back? What are you doing to give your customers value for their money? What are you doing to insure your customers ENJOY spending hard earned money and time playing your product?

I love DDO. It was the first MMO I've ever played (as I swore to myself before hand I'd never pay a monthly fee for a game), but when the Dungeons & Dragons MMO was introduced I had to give it a shot because it WAS D&D after all. I was, and still am, very apprehensive about the transition of my beloved PnP D&D to a video game.

My frustrations (along with many people here) are not with the game itself, or Turbine per sa, but how great of a game it COULD be.
I can see SOOOO much potential to make something good even better if Turbine would listen to its customer base and FIX the things that NEED fixing, before moving on to other issues.

ORCRiST

[Mercules]

I can see SOOOO much potential to make something good even better if Turbine would listen to its customer base and FIX the things that NEED fixing, before moving on to other issues.

Eladrin claims this change was "due to feedback". So I would say that they are listening to the customer base or potential customer base... maybe not you.

I am sure they will take not of all the feedback they have received in this thread and hopefully come up with some workable form.

I for one don't like the amount of damage items are taking on Risia and they are changing that. I'm not sure I like how much damage items are going to take, but I can see the need. I am hoping we modify the proposed system with reasonable arguments and feedback not saying, "...needs to pull their head out."

[roggane]

I wish they would just stop fixing things that are not broken, add new content, and only fix the real things that need to be fixed (ranged combat, lag issues, Abbott, etc.). No fixation without representation!

QFT.

All that time spent on this new item binding system could have been spent on more new content and the myriad issues that have affected this game forever.

Personally, I think you have more players leaving b/c of no new content and nothing to do when capped, (and these players are the diehards of this game, who love it but get bored)........ not xp loss at death.

[MysticTheurge]

As I read, they weren't and you still had to 'bind' them even though they were bound. So they'd be bound bound before they stop taking permanent damage.

According to Eladrin, this is a bug on Risia and does not reflect what should actually happen once Mod 6 gets released.

[Emili]

1. It can be argued that the xp loss system was also hindering PUG groups. I know that I did not join some LFM's because I did not wish to die and ruin my progress toward the next level.

2. Because thats the way it is. Now it can be adjusted, so can you give us some ideas on how you would handle this?

3. So bind everything or bind nothing. I know people are attached to their loot, but honestly there's more loot to be had. Just because one weapon becomes unusable, doesn't mean there is not another to be picked up. Or do what I plan on doing, once my weapon becomes close to being unrepairable, I will bind it.

4. I expect that new players will feel welcome and willing to play more. Not overwhelmed or frustrated at attaining levels. The new people that walk in the door should feel welcome enough to want to stay. If they do not, they will leave.

So lets say? you've a melee who is proficient with an exotic weapon... and collect them and bind them. Then one day you decide, hey I want to drop that exoctic weapon feat? What do you do? Sell them all as trash? You cannot give them away, nor place them on the AH. This change actually hurts you in respec... say one day one decide to respec to slashing from piercing or vice-versa... it becomes more painful now does it not? How about respecing from sword and board to 2HF to TWF, should you have the stats for it? Can it be done easily? This change with binding brings up a lot of considerations outside the scope of damage vs binding. You'll see less greater banes on the AH after this change and less epics ... less higher plus stat items. They'll be bound to someone starting with +5 up and when they get an upgrade will be sold off at the local general vendor. How many khopeshes of greater undead bane have you pulled lately? bet you bind yours and when you get a Holy khopesh of greater undead bane - you'll bind that too and scrap the other in the general vendor... +5 mith FP? Well if you get a +5 mith FP of axeblock you'd wear that now also will you not? Your old +5 mith fp is now general vendor foder for what 3k plat at most - compared to selling it for what 300k plat on the AH or giving it to your best friend in the game?

What about that new player? Hey nice to meet you... I'd give you an nice item I'm not using much anymore for when you're higher level but hey I can't since I bound it when I thought I'd keep it around forver. Go loot run till you get you're own vorpal, etc... the proposed system is bad system for the new player, xp debt was easy to overcome - just a learning curve - items being bound discourages generosity outside showing a new player the ropes. It promotes greed not sharing.

People leave this game because they're bored with it not because of xp debt. XP is the easiest thing to get in the game. Capped characters run for loot to improve thier character - at cap it's the only way you can - finding the rare perfect item for a build is not an quick task at all and you go thru multiple combinations in doing so... my stat items on every character switched from item slot to item slot on each and every capped character over the past 2 and a half years... my weapons and casting items were upgraded many more times and still nowhere near what they'll be next year... the old items were passed onto others or to alts or sold at the ah or specialized vendors where other people could benefit from them - now they take that idea of sharing away.

[Mercules]

So lets say? you've a melee who is proficient with an exotic weapon... and collect them and bind them. Then one day you decide, hey I want to drop that exoctic weapon feat? What do you do? Sell them all as trash? You cannot give them away, nor place them on the AH. This change actually hurts you in respec... say one day one decide to respec to slashing from piercing or vice-versa... it becomes more painful now does it not? How about respecing from sword and board to 2HF to TWF, should you have the stats for it? Can it be done easily? This change with binding brings up a lot of considerations outside the scope of damage vs binding. You'll see less greater banes on the AH after this change and less epics ... less higher plus stat items. They'll be bound to someone starting with +5 up and when they get an upgrade will be sold off at the local general vendor. How many khopeshes of greater undead bane have you pulled lately? bet you bind yours and when you get a Holy khopesh of greater undead bane - you'll bind that too and scrap the other in the general vendor... +5 mith FP? Well if you get a +5 mith FP of axeblock you'd wear that now also will you not? Your old +5 mith fp is now general vendor foder for what 3k plat at most - compared to selling it for what 300k plat on the AH or giving it to your best friend in the game?

What about that new player? Hey nice to meet you... I'd give you an nice item I'm not using much anymore for when you're higher level but hey I can't since I bound it when I thought I'd keep it around forver. Go loot run till you get you're own vorpal, etc...

Other than the new player example(which is more likely to be a non-issue since I don't see too many people binding all their ML 2 - ML 8 gear) you see this as a BAD thing? I've been saying for most of this year the game is loot glutted, and I know at least a few people agree with me. Yes I know others don't, but I would say enough do that this isn't all bad.

Instead of dumping the +5 Mith FP and binding the +5 Mith FP of Axeblock, why not give one of your other characters the +5 Mith FP of Axeblock and sticking with the +5 Mith FP? Is the very minor upgrade worth dumping an otherwise good piece of equipment?

[tekn0mage]

And you've just proven the point of everyone in this thread who's been saying death needs to matter more. This is called "using death as a tactic", and it's cheese.

I think you are confusing cause and effect. I would argue the REASON Velah is practically impossible to beat on elite without using this tactic is because that tactic is there, and the devs had to design the encounter taking that into account. Now, I'm not saying with the new system people still won't use death as a tactic, they may very well, but it's going to hurt more, so they'll be more inclined to play the encounter in a more "normal" fasion (and yes, like it or not, they are designed to be run in a particular way. It's all fine and well to use unorthidox methods to defeat a foe, but death (just like "safe spots") was never meant to be among those methods). And perhaps because of that, the devs can relax some of these absurd difficulty encounters to be more reasonable in the future.

Two points that I use to support this:

1) If players stop using death as a cheese tactic, the devs can bring some of the encounters down to reasonable levels based on their actual CR value.

2) Of course the other effect inflating encouters is the massive item inflation we have in the game. El's proposed system may even help with this as well (some people will bind items). It's not a complete solution by any means, but at this piont there IS no total solution, beyond a total game revamp (and you think people are up in arms in this thread, think what would happen if they really did try to acutally fix the economy, heh).

Now, since 1 won't *completely* stop cheese death tactics, and 2 is only a baby step, I think encounters will still be designed above their actual CR value, but perhaps not as much as they were. Perhaps Velah on Elite can be toned down a little, or the Abbot, or what have you. Ideally we want to keep the challenge the same but eliminate the questionable tactics used to beat them currently.

The rest of your post is opinion. And you are entitled to it to be sure, but it's been gone over on both sides again and again, so I won't go back through it, heh. Except for this part which I want to comment on, since it keeps coming up over and over again.



This has been gone over by El and others several times. The XP debt system IS broken. The "feedback" El mentions (by which I'm going to presume he means the exit interview thing) specifically says the major reason trial players leave is because of this system. It also has no effect on capped characters, which compound several issues this game has related to the economy. It's unsustainable as the cap gets increased. How many more times do you need to be given these explanations?

Dude stop... just stop. The guy didn't say he uses "cheese" to get around the fact that Velah is very difficult on elite, he's just saying that's the case. Don't jump on the guy for using cheese when clearly he did not say anything along those lines.

The rest of your rant is just.... pointless.

[tekn0mage]

The simple answer to the XP debt whiners is to "don't die".

Not just that, but "play more".

[Emili]

Other than the new player example(which is more likely to be a non-issue since I don't see too many people binding all their ML 2 - ML 8 gear) you see this as a BAD thing? I've been saying for most of this year the game is loot glutted, and I know at least a few people agree with me. Yes I know others don't, but I would say enough do that this isn't all bad.

Instead of dumping the +5 Mith FP and binding the +5 Mith FP of Axeblock, why not give one of your other characters the +5 Mith FP of Axeblock and sticking with the +5 Mith FP? Is the very minor upgrade worth dumping an otherwise good piece of equipment?

...and suppose you 1.) prefer it on your main character or 2.) have no other character to put the new +5 mith fp on? Two years ago a ml 8 item was the cream of the crop, a year ago a ml 10 item, now a ml 12 or 13... as the cap increases so do the items. Thus everything becomes sales foder at the general vender eventually under a binding system - do you not see that? Have you never given away a high level item to a friend when you found a replacement or maybe you have noone you befriended that you've given your older gear to when you found something better? I've known plenty of people who decided to re-roll or delete a character or plain just left the game and handed out items among thier friends. This system discourages that - everyone out for themselves and to hades with the rest - go loot it yourself.

[Mercules]

...and suppose you 1.) prefer it on your main character or 2.) have no other character to put the new +5 mith fp on? Two years ago a ml 8 item was the cream of the crop, a year ago a ml 10 item, now a ml 12 or 13... as the cap increases so do the items. Thus everything becomes sales foder at the general vender eventually under a binding system - do you not see that?

Of course I see that. That doesn't mean I think that is Bad(TM). I look to loose a bunch of items I cherish. I have three characters in Myth BPs and I would love to give the +4 to someone using a +3 currently if I ever do find myself a +5. Even so I like the idea I can risk the possible damage and leave it open to trade, or bind it if I want to be sure I don't loose it for that character. This is resource management decision and I find those to add depth to a game making it more interesting.

Have you never given away a high level item to a friend when you found a replacement or maybe you have noone you befriended that you've given your older gear to when you found something better? I've known plenty of people who decided to re-roll or delete a character or plain just left the game and handed out items among thier friends. This system discourages that - everyone out for themselves and to hades with the rest - go loot it yourself.

You added more.

YUP! I have helped several friends in the game with items. My +1 Adm FP has been through at least 20 characters. Guess what though... I doubt it would be destroyed even if I hadn't bound it. The Devs are also listening to feedback and thinking of a way to reduce the amount of items outright destroyed in this manner without lessening the sting so much that death again no longer matters to capped players.

[Serpent]

What would be your tactic for Velah then? On elite there is not 12 L14's in the game that can stand more than 30 seconds with her. I would like to see how anyone could beat her any other way. Pre-mod 5 we ran in on normal and just mass healed (with a few people dieing) until she was dead. We cannot do that now because she is for some reason or another more difficult.

The item damage idea is just plain silly. XP debt is the only good solution to slow level progression and keep people paying and playing longer. If they implement the neg level affect for Capped charecters with xp debt, that would be enough to deter these so called death tactics.

I could just as easily call everyone who supports this new system a zerger because this system will allow you to get your charcaters to L14 faster and you can blaze through all the content faster.

There are 78+ pages of people who have strong oposition to changing the system at all, and 3-10 say they will "deal" with it, 1-10 like it. If I were a developer, I would not change it or only slightly adjust the system if they think there needs to be a change.

I wish they would just stop fixing things that are not broken, add new content, and only fix the real things that need to be fixed (ranged combat, lag issues, Abbott, etc.). No fixation without representation!

The support arguments for the new death penalty are flawed plain and simple...Leave the system as is or adjust it, complete overhauls do not fly well with the community and subscriptions will go down if this change is implemented.

I appreciate you opinion. I remove the item damage from actual death/rez. In this plan you only suffer item damage from actually recalling to town. (stress of the trip or what have you). There is no item damage from dieing. You get a rez in quest, you get back up, deal with debuff, move on. When recalling from death. Which should not be a tactic. You then receive 5% durability in damage to equipped items, with chance for perma. Only then.

This is a strong turn from the current proposed system. Death now has a cost, but it does not disrupt any player beyond the amount of plat they have.

[Serpent]

For a minute lets pretend that the proposed Death/damage idea is not even in existence. SO therefore how do we make death more of a hinderance as well as increase the monetary costs to help give the economy a little balance.

Everyone has voiced their outrage or support at the proposed system. So lets come up with a new way.

XP debt, lets get rid of this. It apparently too much of a deterrent to new players.

SO in exchange lets give the players a debuff, say one negative level. This level can be removed by shrining, casting restoration or what not. This will do several things.

1) it can not lower you below first level. Saves all the low level players.
2) it affects SP and cash money of clerics and other players (bards, etc), who now have to remove this debuff.
3) It would hopefully increase greater party tactics when fighting end bosses near a shrine. No more death rez, death rez.

Now what about the actual death itself.

When you die you must pay gold to the gods. In other words, to receive a raise dead it is 5000 gold, 10000 gold for a resurrection. So what would this do.

1) it would reduce cash in circulation. Help to balance the economy.
2) This is big money for every player, so death would become a concern over time.

What about recalling from quest when dead? This is were I agree with item damage. The stress on your body and soul is very great and it affects your physical being.

All items take 5% durability in damage, that must be repaired at the vendor. This only occurs when recalling from death, With the possible chance for perma damage. What does this do.

1) You still take the gold piece penalty for receiving a raise dead.
2) item damage becomes priority. so more thought would be done by players.
3) no more recalling for sp or to get rid of debuffs.
4) take an xp hit for reentry into quest.

I believe this addresses all of the concerns of all parties, from multiple threads. It removes money from the game, it promotes party cohesiveness, and it adds threat of damage for exploitive tactics.

I believe anyone and everyone can support this system.

Self bump for those who missed it.

[GrayOldDruid]

now Turbine has decided that it either breaks constantly, or its never used on another character again if you decide to bind it.

Why do you IMAGINE (because that is all you are or can do right now about this proposal) your equipment is going to break constantly? Do you use death as a play tactic? Are you so used to dying all the time that you don't even try not to?? Seriously, where and why are you dying so often?? And apparently, from tons and tons and tons of posts on here, 'uber' loot is so easy to come by its mostly all 'vendor junk' now. Just get another one. Or, instead of twinking all of your characters, have them get their own loot - OMG!!

should ALL of my (equipped or not) items take damage when I die?

JUST equipped will take damage on death. Unless its by Flame Strike or something that already damages random items - or destroys random stacks of my freakin' ammo *cough* sorry. So, No, its not going to be all of your equipment.

Gaining XP has NEVER been an issue

I am sorry, that statement is pure and utter bovine dung.

I just hit lvl 14 and I know even capped-for-months players who will just sit dead in a quest till its completed to avoid more xp loss. Everyone with an ounce of common sense likes to Gain XP from a quest, not simply make up a little bit more of the xp debt they have accumulated from dying so often (yet, somehow, never managing to consider changing their play style to try to die less often). Unless you log off and don't play for 1 hour per 100 xp of debt, then you NEVER EVER get that XP back. You may earn MORE xp and 'pay off' the debt, but you never get the xp back.

What are you doing to insure your customers ENJOY spending hard earned money and time playing your product?

Well, they got rid of that annoying xp loss on death thing, so that is a big step in the right direction. They've opened up the 12 area and have a huge, beautiful outdoors area to explore... New levels, new content, adjustments to the game system... looks like they are doing a Lot to attract and keep new players... and are certianly making MY experience more enjoyable. (not that I will ever enjoy spending money, but I enjoy the heck out of playing the game.)

[GrayOldDruid]

I appreciate you opinion. I remove the item damage from actual death/rez. In this plan you only suffer item damage from actually recalling to town. (stress of the trip or what have you). There is no item damage from dieing. You get a rez in quest, you get back up, deal with debuff, move on. When recalling from death. Which should not be a tactic. You then receive 5% durability in damage to equipped items, with chance for perma. Only then.

This is a strong turn from the current proposed system. Death now has a cost, but it does not disrupt any player beyond the amount of plat they have.

Kind of like that idea of a Resurrection or Raise Dead spell preventing or even just reducing the wear damage like it already reduces the xp penalty.

However, what about below level 7 ?? They don't have such access to Raises or Rezzes.