Remove level requirements for zone mid points

I think the first zone should have no level requirement. If you do it the other way you potentially hurt players who don't understand the level progression system very well or the game for that matter. It's really just learning to level smart like doing side quests and doing your daily repeatables for relevant districts. I do understand where you're coming from since there are times when side quests and main story are locked behind a few other zones and they give quite a bit of EXP, but when it's the main story they normally have everything at the same level so that you can climb there without having to hit roadblocks.

I personally don't see a problem with the level designing for SW, although you might've muddle your thought process from your previous experiences with Elsword.

From what I can tell, typically dungeon crawler games are meant for people who are interested in pacing themselves out for endgame content, thus by actually immerse themselves into the story line, character development, etc. Most dungeon crawlers aren't meant for players that wishes to rush through the leveling, and that's pretty much the players' own fault for setting themselves up to burn out very quickly and get bored.

Also based on your suggestions, it would create a mess in the current quest distribution, meaning the developers would have to move out of their way to re-aligned with the changes on the level requirements to fully cater it.

Keep in mind too, most of these level designs in MMOs are based in Korea and they're infamously known for its grind and stretching themselves out for endgame content. Your suggestions of changing the leveling requirements would actually end up discouraging more players than benefiting it otherwise.

I have no problem with how levels and access to areas is laid out either. I even prefer this so you have something to look forward to. Otherwise I would have to spend 2-3 levels before anything new happens.

I rather would like a manic daily quest for every dungeon instead. Not just a selected few.

Oh and let met tell you giving the developers work is the first reason something will not happen. Developers are extremely expensiv.

The restrictions should be turned into recommendations (Initial restrictions on zones are fine). Players should know what they're getting themselves into but shouldn't be restricted from trying harder things if they'd like to. Being relegated to the game's route progression just feels like another attempt to extend the grind time which the stamina system does just fine on its own. Having both forced inefficient grinding and a stamina cap that belongs somewhere in the past decade or on a mobile game just feels lazy. Maximizing your playerbase's time spent is something that should be done through value, not by stymieing them wherever you can.

Quote from Geis

This has nothing to do with rushing so i am not sure why this is being brought up. The amount of time it takes to level would not change since you will still need to reach specific level to enter the next zone. You would however be able to do the most recent and relevant episode 4 to reach that requirement instead of moving to previous zones episode 4 half way through your current zone.

It is relevant mainly because again, dungeon crawlers aren't typically built to rush everyone to level otherwise unlike open world MMOs. Even if we were to change the level requirements, people would still end up getting stuck mid way to level unless they miraculously farmed enough dungeons to get the amount of Dzenai or spending soulcash to get exp books. It doesn't solve with the current issue on inflation, however, as we already been giving half ep events every weekend now.

Quote from Geis

Giving a developer more work should never be a reason to not do something. Also i am fully aware that some quests will need level requirements changed and no it would not need to be ALL quests. It would only need to be the Main story quest that are associated with each mid episode which is not a lot. Nor should it be a lot of work.

They have main priorities right now through KR SW Magazine featuring the major updates. If we were to give developers more work assuming we somehow convince Gameforge to suggest and present the said idea, it will cause a delay on providing actual content from the developers, thus us NA/EU players would get even more disgruntled with the delay even more so as.

Quote from Geis

Yes you are right that Koreans love their grind but like i said this would not change the grind. You would just be grinding more relevant content for your level instead of older zones that are not relevant to your current level progression. So i don't see how people would be discouraged since it would not make anything easier or harder it would just make the progression flow better. Also who cares what Koreans like this is the NA version of the game why would our suggestions take korean players into consideration?

If you haven't noticed, NA SW leveling curve is already been extremely forgiving in terms of progression since Day 1 of soft launch in comparison to JP and KR servers. It's already easier to level in NA more so than in KR/JP with dungeon progress by farming for Akasha cards by doubling the multiplier from the original database.

Lion Games have already catered to the NA/EU audience by making such changes before giving Gameforge the OK to localize it based on the Korean server thus I don't see any reason for them to again, move out of their way from their content pumping schedule to do the work that may be redundant to them. Plus, making such changes might violate the contractual agreement between the publisher and developer.

Quote from Shogie

If you haven't noticed, NA SW leveling curve is already been extremely forgiving in terms of progression since Day 1 of soft launch in comparison to JP and KR servers. It's already easier to level in NA more so than in KR/JP with dungeon progress by farming for Akasha cards by doubling the multiplier from the original database.

Lion Games have already catered to the NA/EU audience by making such changes before giving Gameforge the OK to localize it based on the Korean server thus I don't see any reason for them to again, move out of their way from their content pumping schedule to do the work that may be redundant to them. Plus, making such changes might violate the contractual agreement between the publisher and developer.

Two things:
This is not a "MAKE LEVELING EASIER ARGHHHH" suggestion. This is a quality of life suggestion that specifically looks at how the leveling progression flows rather than the speed at which it flows. All of this is noted in Geis' initial post. What is being discussed is specifically the arbitrary bars on stages 3/4 of a zone, not the current difficulty of leveling.

Second, if their development would be significantly halted by such a minor QoL change then we're doomed, the dev team must literally be a pile of potatoes. It is also doubtful that any contractual violations would come from such a minor change.

Quote from Fest

Two things:
This is not a "MAKE LEVELING EASIER ARGHHHH" suggestion. This is a quality of life suggestion that specifically looks at how the leveling progression flows rather than the speed at which it flows. All of this is noted in Geis' initial post. What is being discussed is specifically the arbitrary bars on stages 3/4 of a zone, not the current difficulty of leveling.

Second, if their development would be significantly halted by such a minor QoL change then we're doomed, the dev team must literally be a pile of potatoes. It is also doubtful that any contractual violations would come from such a minor change.

And two things:

It took the developers approximately 4 years to develop the whole game from start to finish. Given with Lion Games first ever game title (and respectfully, they treat their first live product as their baby), we assumed they themselves must've thought of all sorts of possibilities, theories, and prototypes to come up with the system based on the collective data they had gathered to make the game happen. Was it successful? I'd say was. It thrived in Japan, now currently thriving in KR, same story with Taiwan, and now there's NA coming along with the open beta.

Second, we are just simply speculating as we have zero idea on the exact terms of conditions that were on the contractual agreement between them and Gameforge. Whatever the decision making are lies within the said contract, and therefore us players will never know about it.

Quote from Shogie

And two things:

(snip) Given with Lion Games first ever game title (and respectfully, they treat their first live product as their baby), we assumed they themselves must've thought of all sorts of possibilities, theories, and prototypes to come up with the system based on the collective data they had gathered to make the game happen. Was it successful? I'd say was. It thrived in Japan, now currently thriving in KR, same story with Taiwan, and now there's NA coming along with the open beta.

Second, we are just simply speculating as we have zero idea on the exact terms of conditions that were on the contractual agreement between them and Gameforge. Whatever the decision making are lies within the said contract, and therefore us players will never know about it.

I have no doubt that great care went into developing this game but that doesn't make suggestions irrelevant or incorrect. This section is here for a reason and there can be no doubt that despite the time and care that went into this game, improvements can always be made. Too often suggestion boxes end up abandoned because of the prevailing sentiment that nothing will change and even good ideas end up shut down. This is a suggestion that I found myself desiring during my own leveling experience and warrants at least a look, even if nothing ultimately changes.

Also I agree that we shouldn't debate what is or isn't in their contract as a publisher.

Quote from Fest

Quote from Shogie

If you haven't noticed, NA SW leveling curve is already been extremely forgiving in terms of progression since Day 1 of soft launch in comparison to JP and KR servers. It's already easier to level in NA more so than in KR/JP with dungeon progress by farming for Akasha cards by doubling the multiplier from the original database.

Lion Games have already catered to the NA/EU audience by making such changes before giving Gameforge the OK to localize it based on the Korean server thus I don't see any reason for them to again, move out of their way from their content pumping schedule to do the work that may be redundant to them. Plus, making such changes might violate the contractual agreement between the publisher and developer.

Two things:
This is not a "MAKE LEVELING EASIER ARGHHHH" suggestion. This is a quality of life suggestion that specifically looks at how the leveling progression flows rather than the speed at which it flows. All of this is noted in Geis' initial post. What is being discussed is specifically the arbitrary bars on stages 3/4 of a zone, not the current difficulty of leveling.

Second, if their development would be significantly halted by such a minor QoL change then we're doomed, the dev team must literally be a pile of potatoes. It is also doubtful that any contractual violations would come from such a minor change.

Quote from Geis

The core issue i have with leveling currently is how progression through the cities is currently handled, it has nothing to do with how much EXP i get or anything like that. Currently as you progress you normally run into two road blocks in progression the first is the level requirement to enter a new zone and the level requirement for the 3rd and sometimes 4th episode within the zone. The second level requirements is where i feel like the progression is ruined and is one of my main reasons for hating the leveling process so much, it forces you to leave a zone and farm episode 4 of the previous one.

It's not about making leveling easier?

What?

I feel if we just had 1 level requirement then it would like pressing the easy button every time you hit a certain level. "oh, gotta do all THESE missions now even though I don't really need to care about them." It makes doing the missions feel more tedious since you know you don't actually need to care about your level and just do whatever is easiest to grind. There is no pacing for the rate at which you go through the dungeons and just makes the game more unappealing since you're not getting the proper experience (not EXP, btw). I'm speaking from a player who has experienced many different approaches at dungeon pacing and leveling. It's not a quality of life change it's just making it easier for you to do what you want, which is not their philosophy. If you're having such a hard time progressing do side quests and FINISH your green quests. You hit a roadblock in your progression? Welcome to typical leveling, keep at that dungeon until you can continue. You don't like it? Big deal! World doesn't revolve around you.

Quote from Alzii

It's not about making leveling easier?

What?

I feel if we just had 1 level requirement then it would like pressing the easy button every time you hit a certain level. "oh, gotta do all THESE missions now even though I don't really need to care about them." It makes doing the missions feel more tedious since you know you don't actually need to care about your level and just do whatever is easiest to grind. There is no pacing for the rate at which you go through the dungeons and just makes the game more unappealing since you're not getting the proper experience (not EXP, btw). I'm speaking from a player who has experienced many different approaches at dungeon pacing and leveling. It's not a quality of life change it's just making it easier for you to do what you want, which is not their philosophy. If you're having such a hard time progressing do side quests and FINISH your green quests. You hit a roadblock in your progression? Welcome to typical leveling, keep at that dungeon until you can continue. You don't like it? Big deal! World doesn't revolve around you.

As someone with insight into the "philosophy" here, care to explain it? I mean I would appreciate some sort of constructive reason for this aside from "This is the way it is, the world doesn't revolve around you". As far as design stuff goes are you suggesting that the mid-zone requirements somehow enhance your experience? They're restrictive in nature and I find it hard to believe that they do anything to enhance anything aside from amount of time spent. Most of the time when you hit a roadblock you have to (Read: should) backtrack to a previous zone rather than stay where you are if you want any sort of efficiency.

Daily Manic quests are a nice way to cushion that process of backtracking to make forward progress but it shouldn't be the only way. I agree that the world shouldn't revolve around the vocal few but trying to quell discussions by demeaning or insulting people isn't a good look.

Also I really don't understand the "easy button" comment at the beginning of your post, the suggestion was that the mid level ones be removed while keeping the initial ones. Meaning essentially players gain access to a zone, progress through it sequentially and adjust accordingly if they encounter something too difficult to handle at their current level/gear/skill. The minimum doesn't change so I fail to see how it makes anything easier, or harder for that matter.

And to be extra clear here, I think natural roadblocks are fine. Grinding isn't a bad thing when it comes up naturally, this feels more like an intentional one to extend grind time/EP consumption by forcing less efficient leveling than a player would be capable of. It causes hiccups in everything from leveling to story progression and that bothers some players. It's fine if you don't feel the same way or it didn't bother you, but reflect on whether or not you'd have asked for them if they weren't there to begin with.