Wish theyd revamp and combine PQs
TL;DR at the bottom!
After leaving Maple a long time ago, it's nice to see the game doing so much better than it was a couple years ago. At this point, all I wish they'd do is rework all of the PQ's and model all the instance-based bosses to be more like Ursus or the FFXIV party-matching so that it brings the community back together because training and most bossing is still solo work.
Just an idea here, but here's what I'd like to see them (hopefully) do with PQs and all instance bosses.
-PQ's require 4 people, and auto-put people into parties like Ursus does.
-Bosses require parties of 6 people, automatic party matchmaking as well. Solo can be done, but at nerfed exp/drop rates.
-PQ/Instances have a maximum combined range of all it's party members and limits/rebalances everyone accordingly so that bosses stay fun and not just 1-shot steamroll content. (similar to ursus, but lower leveled areas have lower damage instead of 1.5m ranges lol)
-For each job tier (Lvls 1-30, 30-60, 60-100, etc) you get certain PQs and Instances you can quick join to from anywhere, to help streamline people together instead of spamming "JQP@@@@@@@" all over the place. And with each instance tier, you get one competitive (party vs party) instance like Monster Carnival for levels 30-60, or Ghost Park for 60-100, PVP for 100+, etc.
-PQ instances are random for your levels so that not everyone just funnels into one PQ and make things boring.
-Boss instances can be Random (more exp/mesos so that you wind up helping people who actually NEED the boss clear) or selective (standard rewards).
-Old party content and instances can be worked in as well. For example, CWKPQ can be auto-matched as a rare PQ instance. Personally, I think it'd be a fantastic feeling of getting your party made up and everyone winding up in CWK PQ and not expecting it. Maybe make up some Theme Dungeon PQ's like a Mushroom Kingdom PQ where you jump on mobs to kill them (like a mario game, since that's the theme for the dungeon).
-Exp and rewards would obviously be majorly buffed while having a limit to PQ entries (or at least buffed rewards entries) like Ursus and Monster Park
-Last but not least, I'd also like to see most (the vast majority) of Boss/PQ to be revamped to be more interesting and unique like Root Abyss, Ursus, Black Heaven, and Hero's of Maple. Each instance with their own unique gimmicks and mechanics for players to learn and not just the typical "Spawn in, kill all the mobs, pick up items, kill boss, get rewards". Maybe let Orbis PQ involve some of the ship-flying you got in Black Heaven, or Kenta PQ requiring you to dive down deep underwater and explore and having to get fresh air periodically or risk enevitable KO.
I think this would be a huge improvement for the social experience of the game. Bringing players in to work together and play together is what the game needs in my opinion. It's not that the game is funner playing solo, it's just that the game currently is so damn inconvenient having to manually find players, set up a party, making sure everyone has their boss entry tokens and prequests done, etc. that it's less hassle to play solo than it is to play with the community. I'd imagine that this way would make things social again, while making the game work and play far smoother and convenient than it currently is.
TL;DR
I think Nexon should rework all bosses and pq's to being more modern and fun, and use the new Ursus-style of matchmaking to bring the community back together for bossing and training to keeping each PQ/Boss fresh and different. Also revive competitive PQ/Instances like Monster Carnival and PvP back from the dead.
Do you guys think PQ's need a big revamp? And what would be good ways to make the game more social to build up a good community like it used to have?
7 Comments • Newest first
I like the buffing PQs up idea but soloing shouldn't be nerfed.
@modsaredumb: I don't think you understood my point - in fact you seem to be arguing about things that I'm not arguing about.
I'm not critiquing the aspect of the party search being automatic. I know of its existence in many games and in fact it is a useful feature. I'm critiquing the aspect of you making PQs the primary focus, instead of soloing. It should be balanced and not one way or the other.
I have no issue with people helping each other out and being involved as part of the team - but only if I feel that I want to be. From the way you set it up by nerfing soloing and boosting PQs, now all of a sudden I am forced to do PQs - but what if I don't want to do that all of the time? What if I get a bad party and am just fed up with it and want to do something else in the game - or what if I just want to be alone and not play with other people? What if I'm just tired of doing PQs? Yet I have no other option to gain EXP quickly but to do PQs. That's not fair? From what you've said already, I can only say that that's only half the experience - the other half of the experience of training and doing other things besides PQing is missing.
I agree that PQs should be more emphasized upon and that they are lacking in the game. Solo experiences definitely are the thing right now. What I do not agree with, is you spinning it the other way around to focus too much on the PQ aspect while neglecting the other aspects of the game that make MapleStory MapleStory. The social experience is not just PQs, which I think is what you're also neglecting. There are plenty of bosses in MapleStory that have the teamwork aspect, like Ursus (as you said) and many other late-game bosses.
But then again this is why we're not employees of Nexon, so it's up to them and not us. But from what I can recall, the social experience extends more than just PQs. There's a sense of feeling in the old MapleStory in which people are not moving around quickly from place to place and where things are at a much slower pace in terms of transportation from one area to another, in terms of the slower pace of leveling up and training, in the sense that the peak time of this game coincided with a period when most people were young teenagers/adults who are now grown up and have responsibilities and there simply wasn't a future generation of players that replaced the old generation. There's also way more maps, so the population of current players is a lot more spread out. Nowadays the only gathering spot for people to be social with is Henesys, and that only works if you've got lots of NX and can be a Hene hoe. So I don't think the reinstatement of PQs will bring everything back to the way it was, but I do think it's part of the picture.
Note: There is a patch in KMS that gives an additional +50% EXP boosts to all PQs, but that may not come here for another several months. More information can be found [url=https://orangemushroom.net/2016/07/28/kms-ver-1-2-262-maplestory-v-chew-chew-island/]here.[/url]
They need better rewards from the PQ coin shop. Like all the scrolls in there are worse than spell traces, which is the easiest thing in the game to get.
@siggy: Well then, small change to the overall idea here: What if they kept the same current boss drops/rewards for soloers, but parties get buffed drop rates according to their party score (just like ursus has). That way current soloers are not effected.
@readers: Well I take it you probably haven't played games with automatic party searches like FFXIV. Actually it encourages being more productive. While you're waiting to be matched up for a PQ (I imagine it wouldn't take too long if the rewards/exp is really good, same with bosses since everyone ALWAYS runs their daily bosses like ursus) the matchmaker would always be going strong. And even if it wasn't, you could still be out grinding solo at Oblivions or Scrapyard or Sandrats or whatever while it's matching up your party. It's not stopping you from playing solo as it runs in the background while you do what you want/need to like grind or cube.
I agree the J>PQ@@@@ thing is a part of the experience but it's a pretty unpleasant one for a lot of people who don't like having their chats exploded and people with lower end computers have lag issues (remember when the FM would be laggy as all hell because of dozens of spammers?).
Also it would add to a social experience for those who want teamworks since the PQ's (according to my ideal) would require teamwork and cooperation to complete. Ever play any other dungeon/raid based games before? You'll find loads of people chatting away and helping each other out. And even if, for whatever reason, someone absolutely hates the pq social experience they still have their solo field grind/bossing that they can do (but maybe instead of nerfing solo boss rewards, keep them the same and let party play have the buffed rewards)
Nexon catered to the solo players and that's what nearly killed the game. They got rid of the forced social experiences such as boat rides, party play encouragements, party quest usefulness, and hindered players in bosses by locking bosses behind minimum player counts and only being for the ultra-funded (the minority). The game turned pure solo-based and it nearly collapsed. Community is what holds a game together and the pre-reboot game didn't have hardly any of a community left.
As stated above: why nerf soloing? Why not just do it like how it was when PQs were still popular? The best case example I can think of isn't that long ago, when RJPQ was an option from levels 70 - 120 (preferably 90+ if you want more of a chance for people to invite you to their party). Especially in a more populated server, it was quite easy to find a party. This also allows for people to choose soloing if they want to, without nerfing soloing.
A huge issue with what you're suggesting is how much the dynamics of the game has changed, plus how popular and active the game is today - some servers don't have that many players, period. To funnel everyone into so many PQs doesn't mean that everyone will be accounted for, nor does it mean that it will add to any kind of social experience for everyone.
I know what you're suggesting may just force people into it, making this issue solved - but I don't want to be forced to socialize, I want to have the option. I don't want to have to do PvP at level 100+. This is not RuneScape. Your suggestions simply go the other way around - now, instead of fewer people doing PQs, now there are fewer players doing soloing. It doesn't in any way recreate whatever social experience that is to be had during the old MapleStory (and I know, because I was there too).
Speaking of that, maybe it's just me, but I found the "J>PQ HAVE TRACK@@@@@@" aspect of PQing to be part of the social experience, so you're not helping there either.
How can you come close to replicating that experience? Talk to people when you're training. Make parties. Plenty of the popular training spots you see in up-to-date guides have a lot of people in them. Join guilds. Be involved, rather than being part of the problem.
Shouldnt punish soloers, that would just be counter intuitive to their f2p formula
Don't nerf me for soloing