I’m making this post as an invitation for a sorely-needed idea for the game. As of now, there are only three main areas of progression in the game: gaining levels, maxing stats, and exalting stats. I’m not counting the unlocking of classes since they’re more of an overall game progression system as opposed to something you’re supposed to try and complete in the span of a character’s lifetime. I’ll briefly break down these three progression systems, but you can skip ahead if you want.
Gaining Levels
The basic (and typically only) form of progression for most RPG’s. Kill enemies to gain XP in order to gain levels. Quest monsters and bosses generally give more XP, making dungeons a more efficient way to gain levels. Levels cap at 20, with XP instead converting into fame that can be used as currency on death. The area of leveling is pretty short, if somewhat tedious, so you’re probably not going to spend much time here unless you’re a new player.
Maxing Stats
Basically the largest and most substantial area of RotMG’s progression. After reaching level 20, obtain stat pots from midgame+ dungeon bosses and rarely from Gods in order to increase your stats further than you could have with levelling. Even after the planned changes to the system after the Realm Rework, I’m confident that this part of the system will still take quite a while to progress through.
Exaltations
Arguably the longest area of progression that only has some substance. After maxing every single stat on a character, completing endgame dungeons eventually unlocks permanent additions to stats to your character, along with other side benefits. Although the rewards are more tangible and lasting than maxing stats, they are also much more tedious to go through and are best treated as a small bonus to your existing characters rather than something to grind for.
The Problem
If you take a closer look at the progression system, at least on a character-by-character basis, it feels somewhat incomplete. You start off typical with leveling through XP, then you get something more unique with farming potions that increase specific stats rather than across the board. Afterwards, you’re thrown into a long, monotonous grind doing the hardest dungeons in the game for somewhat minuscule permanent stat boosts to classes. I did just say that you’re not really meant to grind for exalts, but then that brings me to the crux of the issue: after maxing your stats, what’s left to do? Yeah, meta-game progression in the form of permanent unlocks such as classes an exalts are fine, but classes are finite and exalts aren’t really fun to do in the long-term. Leveling hooks players in with much more rapid progression where you can clearly notice yourself becoming stronger in a short span of time. Maxing through stat pots extends this duration but at least makes it more engaging by having you aim for certain potions from certain dungeons. Exalting is maxing through stat pots, but without any change in the formula beyond the removal of a consumable item, which is in-fact worse considering that you could at least trade stat pots for others so you could focus on other stats first.
I know that I mentioned this in a previous post, but RotMG is missing something in its progression system. My previous post on the changes to maxing stats focused more on the impact of those potential changes, but here I want to focus more on the issue that it revealed. It’s always been there, and it may have been covered up by the padding that maxing stats has. We need to add something new to the current progression system. Additional content in the form of dungeons is fine and adds variety to how you can tackle leveling, maxing, and exalting, but they aren’t true solutions to this problem. It’s the same thing with additional classes; they aren’t bad and they make the progression of unlocking classes more interesting and varied, but they don’t add a substantial branch of progression to the game.
A Solution(?)
One of my own ideas going into this post was something resembling Crucible Trials. After maxing 8/8, you unlock a set of special trials that are not tied to the game’s events, but to your current character’s stats. The actual trials I have in mind are somewhat vague, but the main idea is to test the player’s capabilities to the extreme and reward them accordingly. These aren’t all necessarily good ideas, and you can criticize them all you want, but their focus is on pushing the player to their limit. After confirming your willingness to complete these trials, you are teleported to their specific dungeons alone. Failing any trial prompts you to either retry, which resets the dungeon, or leave to the Nexus.
The prerequisites for entering these trials are:
- Have every single stat maxed
- Have absolutely no items in your inventory, equipment slots, or quick-slots, meaning no consumables or gear going into the trials
- Have no pet following you
Trial of the Marksman
This trial will test the player’s ability to aim. Regardless of your class, the weapon you use will always have a consistent range, a consistent rate of fire, and the property of piercing multiple targets. The trial consists of aiming your weapon at targets from afar under a time-limit, with occasional switch-ups. The first sets of targets will remain stationary, the second set will have a couple moving targets, the third will have targets lined up in certain positions for you to aim, and so forth. If you manage to hit all of the targets under the time limit, you are rewarded with a permanent buff to your character’s weapons’ rate of fire and projectile size. These buffs only apply to your character until death, and will not apply to said weapons if they are used on any other character. For proving your accuracy with your weapon, it is only right that your weapon is easier to aim with.
Trial of the Bullet Bracer
This trial will test the player’s ability to dodge. You are thrown into a lone room and several turrets lined along the walls will create several different bullet formations that you must endure. However, unlike something like Moonlight Village or The Shatters’ patience phase, this trial will test you on surviving many different types of bullet formations. Some will carry over from late to endgame dungeons such as an attack resembling Changellor Dammah’s knife wall or another attack The Bridge Sentinel’s giant sword swipes. Others may be unique, such as a somewhat tight gap between two streams of shots with occasional laser attacks firing across the gap to keep you from staying in one row the whole time. If you endure the long survival phase, you are rewarded with a permanent 35% damage reduction to all shots until death. This works differently from DEF since it doesn’t have diminishing returns on any single shot’s damage. For braving this bullet hell, it is only right that you gain more protection against it.
Trial of the Explorer
This trial will test the player’s exploration skills. You’re dropped into an empty dungeon, and your goal is to find the Realm Portal under a time limit. The layout will resemble one of several randomly chosen layouts from lategame dungeons, excluding layouts that are predetermined such as the Cave of a Thousand Treasures. Layouts such as the Cursed Library, Puppet Master’s Theatre, etc. are to be expected. Environmental threats, enemies, and even breakable walls will be removed, since the focus is on the player’s ability to explore and find the exit without any other distractions. If you manage to find the exit in time, you will now be able to teleport anywhere on your mini-map in an area without needing another player or a beacon. This feature is still unusable in dungeons where teleportation is disabled, such as the Nexus, most endgame dungeons, etc. For exploring the area down to a single tile, it is only right that you are able to instantly travel to those tiles at any time.
These are just some ideas I have, and they probably have a lot of problems, which is why I invite you guys to give as much feedback as possible, or give your own ideas. I see a lot of potential in having these ultra-specific trials after 8/8 that reward the player appropriately, but I can also see a lot of balancing issues, such as its impacts on a multiplayer environment, its loss after death, etc. Just give feedback or new ideas if you can. I find this a really huge issue in the game’s progression that needs to be solved lest it continue to stagnate and feel stale.