Re: Dev Diary: Ratbeard's Crit/Block Stat Rebalancing
This was an extremely informative article. I was pleasantly surprised that you took the path of explaining what WILL happen versus what DID happen. I for one, approve this approach, and while I won't say you added this because of my suggestion, I am glad you're being more transparent. It is VERY nice to see a company change their tack and become actionary instead of reactionary. Kudos to you! I look forward to the changes.
Re: Dev Diary: Ratbeard's Crit/Block Stat Rebalancing
Love the Dev Diary! All the changes that are coming up sound amazing and I'm glad that fairness and school identity is coming back to the way it was back when the game first came out!
It'll be very refreshing to have distinct school identities that all have the same chance at winning as it depends on their skill rather than their stats and rng. Especially with TC being removed from pvp in the future, im excited to see these new changes and love the developments!
Having the dev diaries before test realm is also amazing because it allows the community to form a collective opinion and constructively help you guys out to balance the game. I think the path of increasing variability with gear sets is a great idea and as i said a lot in this post I cannot wait to have my school identity back with riveting pvp games!
After reading the latest Dev Diary, I have a couple of questions.
How is the Crit/Block going to affect gear that is not top notch in PvE? Not all of us grind for hours, weeks on end to gain that top gear and I for one don't plan to change that. I play for fun not to grind.
As for the Shadow gauge, I don't get Shadow pips now as quick as I did before that last update and I have a 100 shadow pip rating on both my main wizards. In fact, there are a lot of times I don't get one before the battle is over but the enemy will usually have gotten 2 or more during the course of the battle. I think this might need to be tweaked a bit. I am not the only one that has this problem.
But for the overall scope of proposed updates, I will wait to see how it comes through in Test Realm.
A very big THANK YOU for bringing this information out BEFORE Test Realm. It does give us a bit of a heads up knowing what we are looking.
Re: Dev Diary: Ratbeard's Crit/Block Stat Rebalancing
I feel these changes give all stats the opportunity to be relevant yet returns a past sense of stat specialization that was partially lost. I am immensely excited for these changes to arrive!
Not going to lie, I don't quite understand all the functions that are going on here. But I do understand that these changes are beneficial to the longevity of the game; by balancing critical and critical block, this will ensure that gear can be both balanced and progressive in Karamelle and beyond.
Dayerider is correct. I appreciate that we are being made aware of these changes before their actual implementation. This allows for us, the community, to prepare for these changes and respond to them, as well as providing feedback that allows for possible adjustment/correction of the system. This is a positive approach that I would highly encourage seeing more of in the future.
Re: Dev Diary: Ratbeard's Crit/Block Stat Rebalancing
I don't know, maybe I misunderstood the article, but it seems like an underhanded way to add a "double block" feature AND reduce the amount of damage a critical hit does. Almost like how they reduced critical damage for pvp.
How come it always seems pvp stuff leaks into pve?
I spent a lot of time and crowns honing my character gear to have large amounts of critical at the cost of no block and lower damage. My theory was that if I my damage amount was for example 75%, (instead of possibly 120% based on available gear at that level), and I would critical 90 - 95% of the time (which I could with my gear setup), I could potentially do double damage 150% or 1.5 x damage most of the time. Sure sometimes the opponents block, but except for Empyrea battles, it was generally not much of an issue in most worlds.
So I thus sacrificed higher gear based damage (which would in turn have a lower critical chance of maybe 10 - 20% but doing 120% or 1.2x damage every time) for the chance to do 1.5x damage (75% double damage) almost all the time.
So if I understand the article, now they plan to make critical hits only do 1.2 to 1.4 x damage max. So that means my critical damage drops. 1.4x basically means its only going to add 40% more damage to the critical hit instead of 100% or double damage to the critical hit. So, now I have to go back and re-evaluate my gear and possibly forget critical and instead opt for that 120% max damage out, because in almost all cases, its going to do the same damage as almost any critical hit I would achieve with my critical gear if I properly understand the 1.2 to 1.4x critical damage changes you are proposing.
I spent a long time balancing my gear setups (literally days of work and in some cases weeks of farming and crafting) and sacrificing some stats to focus on critical damage. It sounds to me like you are going to take us all a big step backwards.
Re: Dev Diary: Ratbeard's Crit/Block Stat Rebalancing
Heya! Wanted to clear up some confusion I've been seeing here and there about the intentions and outcome of the crit/block rebalance.
As stated in the Dev Notes, we can tune PvP and PvE independently. There should be very little change in PvE, depending on how we tweak the combat parameters. At the moment it looks like top crit multiplier might come down slightly, but still in the x1.8 to x2.0 range.
We're committed to making sure the PVE experience stays largely unchanged in difficulty, and are carefully considering all aspects of the game while making this in depth balancing pass.
“If the Mind is like a candle, the Heart is like the sun.”
Professor Falmea
Re: Dev Diary: Ratbeard's Crit/Block Stat Rebalancing
This dev diary makes me sick I have been playing since 2012 and to think that by making critical based off of the block of the enemy is just completely insane to me. Bosses block like 95 percent of the time so even if we get lucky and critical through now that critical is going to do like 1.05 multiplier instead of 2 why punish your community of wizard101 gamers. No one wants power pips lowered we already can go through a entire battle and never see a shadow pip but a boss can get four in the matter of five rounds. Now we have to worry about going multiple rounds cuz were not getting power pips? I love my storm and I love wizard101 but this update is my make or break of whether I hang up my wizard robe forever or keep playing. Accuracy and damage is storms lifeline to attack this and critical on top of that while storm already has low hp resist and pierce you completely kill off storm as a viable playable PVE class. Yes I play PVE i also play PVP when bored but I only care about PVE you know what I do when im maxed I help others in boss fights. And all these nerfs make those fights take longer and longer. Thanks had to speak my peace or explode in frustration. Kyle ThunderStaff 130
Re: Dev Diary: Ratbeard's Crit/Block Stat Rebalancing
DragonLady1818 on Oct 14, 2020 wrote:
After reading the latest Dev Diary, I have a couple of questions.
How is the Crit/Block going to affect gear that is not top notch in PvE? Not all of us grind for hours, weeks on end to gain that top gear and I for one don't plan to change that. I play for fun not to grind.
As for the Shadow gauge, I don't get Shadow pips now as quick as I did before that last update and I have a 100 shadow pip rating on both my main wizards. In fact, there are a lot of times I don't get one before the battle is over but the enemy will usually have gotten 2 or more during the course of the battle. I think this might need to be tweaked a bit. I am not the only one that has this problem.
But for the overall scope of proposed updates, I will wait to see how it comes through in Test Realm.
A very big THANK YOU for bringing this information out BEFORE Test Realm. It does give us a bit of a heads up knowing what we are looking.
I loved the diary as well. I have always disliked the way critical has been. It just feels cheap when you have a 100% crit rating to almost always get crits. I found that whenever I made sets, I'd always try to go more for crit rather than damage since if I would get more of a consistent crit, then I would be getting 2x the damage.
I do have a question though that relates to this quote. What do the numbers for shadow pip rating mean? The old percents never made much sense and now we have some numbers. With the shadow gauge at least, it does look like we get some sort of boost from shadow rating boosted gear. Also, what is the base shadow pip rating? I'm fine with not getting an answer on the message boards but I would love to see some Dev Diary about this someday.
Re: Dev Diary: Ratbeard's Crit/Block Stat Rebalancing
What about resist though?
10 years ago I started playing, and I chose Ice because I figured that a wizard with 100% resist would always beat a wizard with +100% damage. Ever since I've been playing Tank/Support; I've been trying to get my resist as high as possible (I'm at 98%, I wanted to have Unicorn on my pet), I play traps, blade other people, cast utility spells... But most importantly, when we are up against a though boss and he casts that massive kill all spell, I'm still standing and we're still in the game. Playing a tank has value, it adds something to the combat.
For many years now the max theoretical universal resist has been 99%. In the same time, the pierce for both players and enemies has gone up dramatically. Shane von Shane for instance, has a pierce of 55%, making a high resist/low HP pretty much useless. In PvP, any level 130 player has pierce in one form of another, whether by gear, jewels, Shrike, etc.
So my question is, could you please make it possible for a level 140 player to have 100+ universal resist? In PvE, any max level Storm can easily first turn kill any fight in the first how many worlds, I feel a max level Ice should be completely immune in those same worlds, and very hard to kill in later ones. I understand that you want to avoid PvP fights that take forever because one player is virtually indestructible, but that can easily be solved by adding more pierce to the new level 140 player's gear.
You talked about the dissolution of school identity, please bring back the (Ice) tank as a playable option in PvE.
I will admit, some of this is a bit confusing right now. But I will hang in for the ride!
This looks promising for this game! About seven years ago, I was having concerning thoughts about Wizard101. Everything from the story to the mechanics was reaching very high limits. It made me feel that this game was on its way to extinction. I also thought level 100 was the end - and by the way things looked, I'm almost positive that the design team (at the time) thought that too.
Ratbeard, I value you and your team's commitment to the extension of the life of Wizard101. As long as you continue to listen to feedback and take things slow (like you have been), I trust your judgment and decisions for the critical system. Everything will be an adjustment for a while, and I may even have some constructive criticism along the way. But keep this effort coming; it is the only way this game will still exist in years to come.
Re: Dev Diary: Ratbeard's Crit/Block Stat Rebalancing
Professor Falmea on Oct 15, 2020 wrote:
Heya! Wanted to clear up some confusion I've been seeing here and there about the intentions and outcome of the crit/block rebalance.
As stated in the Dev Notes, we can tune PvP and PvE independently. There should be very little change in PvE, depending on how we tweak the combat parameters. At the moment it looks like top crit multiplier might come down slightly, but still in the x1.8 to x2.0 range.
We're committed to making sure the PVE experience stays largely unchanged in difficulty, and are carefully considering all aspects of the game while making this in depth balancing pass.
Will the changes that were made a few years ago to the crit/block system be fixed. As it is, many of us that don't use top gear but do have gear that should give us at least a 50% or better chance of doing a crit hit or heal, lost those percentages as time and levels went by. It would be nice to see it restored to make it a viable system even for players without the top gear.
Re: Dev Diary: Ratbeard's Crit/Block Stat Rebalancing
Speaking of new updates and changes i've tried to download the test realm i've been playing wiz since 2012 october and i've playedin the test realm many times
but i have a new computer and each time i download the test realm client and try to install it it says
Re: Dev Diary: Ratbeard's Crit/Block Stat Rebalancing
masterj1428581 on Oct 20, 2020 wrote:
Speaking of new updates and changes i've tried to download the test realm i've been playing wiz since 2012 october and i've playedin the test realm many times
but i have a new computer and each time i download the test realm client and try to install it it says
unable to launch game what do i do?
btw i'm also new to the forums thx for any help
Hello! The Test Realm is not yet online, so you won't be able to connect. Please wait for our announcement on when it's due to come online for Karamelle.
Re: Dev Diary: Ratbeard's Crit/Block Stat Rebalancing
I understand feeling backed into a corner, but please dont nerf crit again. Most of my friends quit playing when the polaris update released as a result of that critical change. Most of us players dont want our crit nerfed after spending a pretty penny and DAYS of farming to get where we are.
Re: Dev Diary: Ratbeard's Crit/Block Stat Rebalancing
Sparck. on Oct 20, 2020 wrote:
Hello! The Test Realm is not yet online, so you won't be able to connect. Please wait for our announcement on when it's due to come online for Karamelle.
All good thank you
I was able to fix the problem Apparently some of my pirate101 and wizard101 test realm files got mixed so i just uninstalled both and reinstalled them
Re: Dev Diary: Ratbeard's Crit/Block Stat Rebalancing
DragonLady1818 on Oct 14, 2020 wrote:
After reading the latest Dev Diary, I have a couple of questions.
How is the Crit/Block going to affect gear that is not top notch in PvE? Not all of us grind for hours, weeks on end to gain that top gear and I for one don't plan to change that. I play for fun not to grind.
As for the Shadow gauge, I don't get Shadow pips now as quick as I did before that last update and I have a 100 shadow pip rating on both my main wizards. In fact, there are a lot of times I don't get one before the battle is over but the enemy will usually have gotten 2 or more during the course of the battle. I think this might need to be tweaked a bit. I am not the only one that has this problem.
But for the overall scope of proposed updates, I will wait to see how it comes through in Test Realm.
A very big THANK YOU for bringing this information out BEFORE Test Realm. It does give us a bit of a heads up knowing what we are looking.
I also am confused by this Shadow gauge change.
If it fills at a set rate, and you get a shadow pip once it's full, and shadow rating increases the speed at which the meter fills, shouldn't it be super predictable when you're going to get your shadow pip?
Because sometimes I'll START the battle with a shadow pip already. How did my gauge fill in only one turn?
Does it NOT fill at a set rate? More needs to be known about the shadow pip gauge. It also needs to be easier to see the gauge and it's empty/filled state.
Re: Dev Diary: Ratbeard's Crit/Block Stat Rebalancing
I have to agree with Lightyear here..I have spent thousands of dollars buying horrible pack after pack to chase gear. I have also farmed endless hours to craft, and to attain gear. I have setups for every occasion , i had 100% critical chance, at the cost of not as much damage, i rather the critical, than the damage, notice the word, "i" chose this, as to where once again you are doing the choosing for us.
I also can be immune when i want to tank to any 4 schools i want, why, because of the thousands of dollars that i have spent on items, IE; Pet elixirs , hatching elixirs and you more, you know what it takes to make pets like that. So i take a month off and return to the game today to farm for the Reindeer Knight Spell, and on my first attack in Loremaster, i did not CRIT, and i am Death, Level130, and my critical was at 100% at 885. The funny part was it seemed every time Loremaster went first, and we where hit with a weakness, when our turn came, that is when the game conveniently decided that i did not have to go critical. I love this game, and play it with all my children, and have been since 2010, maybe even 09, i am not exactly sure but it has been a very long time. However, if this is avenue that you are heading too, then it is time i regretfully will be calling it quits-!
It always seems as long as i have been playing this game that you cater to the PVP players, over the PVE, and for the love of me could never figure it out, as it is the PVE players whom spend the money and keep this game alive, and i am sure that all this re balancing is because of PVE.. Also i would like to know how do you plan on compensating the people whom have spend hundreds , thousands of dollars to acquire gear , that after your update is totally useless for the purpose it was intended for?
Do you intend and just making more worthless gear again over and over and hope that people do not catch on? It is simple, you want to block critical then make high critical block setups. If you want high critical and take the risk of being hit with critical and taking massive damage, that should be your choice, not the games. You guys made all the gear, not us, so why punish us if your calculations where wrong? I do not care that i am at 100% critical, i will still chase gear that will offer me more damage, we need it, because while you love to make us weaker, but the bosses sure never once ever seem to be affected by any of your changes. One last word if i may, a boss fight that can take hours to do is not fun at all for children, they have homework, sports, and other fun activities to do. To hear my children pout that they are unable to go any further because they have no friends that are allowed to stay on the computer for endless hours.. Sorry i had to vent, because i love the game, and do not want to leave it, but i will, this will finally be the straw that breaks the camels back.... Happy Holidays to you all-!
Re: Dev Diary: Ratbeard's Crit/Block Stat Rebalancing
I'm not exactly sure what the specific mechanics are making this happen, but there is not a single reason why a rank 4 mob should block my critical hits at level 100. There's just no logical reasoning for that to happen. It's making the game incredibly frustrating and I can see why so many people are planning on hangin' up the robe for good.
Re: Dev Diary: Ratbeard's Crit/Block Stat Rebalancing
I am unaware as to if it's related or not, but as of right now I am having some weird issues with critical. While questing, I have noticed that a lot of the time when I land a critical the extra damage is only applied to one enemy when using a spell that hits multiple creatures.
Re: Dev Diary: Ratbeard's Crit/Block Stat Rebalancing
I'm having a weird issue with critical. When I land a critical it appears that the enemies don't display when they block a critical. When using attacks that hit all enemies a couple will be hit with critical level of damage but some only get hit with normal damage and no critical blocked message ever appears. I'm not sure if this is because of this new critical system or just a bug that isn't displaying a critical block message when there should be one.
But I do understand that these changes are beneficial to the longevity of the game; by balancing critical and critical block, this will ensure that gear can be both balanced and progressive in Karamelle and beyond.
Kyle ThunderStaff 130
