Arena Credits

A Compromise between Paul and the Community?






Preface:

The removal of the Arena from Ladder Slasher has had the biggest single (negative) impact on this game since the removal of the old muting system. Although I see the reasoning and agree with the muting nerf, I am completely against the removal of the Arena. The Arena was a place for slashers to enjoy climbing and prof building when working around a busy schedule, restricted by available playing time, and/or when there is no groups up to cata with. Since the removal of the Arena, we have been given the option to "solo" via the catacombs as a one man group. This has been proven ineffective when comparing it to Arena. Many common complaints are: the leveling is too slow, the prof gain is too small, the need to drive yourself is a hassle, and all this button mashing of several different keys to solo is unnecessary. It is an accepted generalized feeling throughout the LS community that solo is no longer a viable, worthwhile investment and way to play LS. So what can we do? What can be done that would be a compromise and satisfy both parties? That is the question.

Well, I have an idea/suggestion that I have put a lot of thought in and contemplated every possibly scenario to make it work.....



The Idea: Arena Credits!

After some thought on the whole subject, I came up with the idea of something called Arena Credits. It is exactly how it sounds. Basically the idea behind Arena Credits is to achieve a certain amount of MQ's (which would obviously be Cata climbs) to unlock an Arena Credit. This Arena Credit would than be available to unlock an Arena climb at any time of your choosing. The more MQ's (Cata Climbs) you do, the more Arena Credits you unlock and collect.

So, you ask how many MQ's (Cata climbs) would it take to unlock an Arena Credit? Well, I'm glad you asked! I thought this over putting myself in the shoes of a independent party, not on Pauls side and not on the communities side, but rather able to see and understand both sides of the issue. And the fairest quantity of climbs I believe would satisfy both sides, and taking into account current climb speeds as well, it would be the fairest at 10 MQ's per Arena Credit.

Let's take a closer look at the numbers here. I will use UA and more specifically myself as an example of a extremely active climber and MQ'er. On an average week, with nothing else going on, I will do 15 climbs in a 7 day period. That would break down to being 2 on Mon-Sat and 3 on Sunday. I do 15 climbs a week, so at my intense climbing pace in 1 week of climbing I will unlock only 1 Arena credit. After two weeks though, at my pace, I will unlock 3 Arena Credits. Now say I did 200 climbs in a season, which is an incredibly large amount of climbs, it will only unlock 20 Arena Credits. So it would not be overpowered to those who climb a lot.

The idea is based on the premise of satisfying Paul's wants in a way that would also create a compromise to satisfy the communities wants. Paul wanted the Arena removed, the community wanted the Arena to stay. Instead of crying and complaining, I think it is about time we suggest a compromise.



What does Arena Credits accomplish to be considered a Compromise?

Why was the Arena removed in the first place? What about this idea/suggestion would be considered a compromise? Through actual statements Paul has said, and also my own explanations and reasoning's trying to justify the removal Arena, five (5) major points stand out to me. So using these 5 major reasons why the Arena was removed (there may be more, that only Paul knows), I am going to use them as a basis for my argument of using Arena Credits as a compromise to re-introduce a reward based Arena system. I am going to take these 5 reasons, and am going to negate them by using Arena credits.

Reason #1: The game is focused on becoming a Multiplayer game, not a single player game. The Arena was removed to take a major step towards this vision.
How Arena Credit's Compromise: Adding a "Reward" for multiplayer gaming will certainly not tarnish or derail Paul's vision to create Ladder Slasher as a multiplayer game. The idea here is not to shift the balance to single player, it is simply to add a reward for all those individuals who do a lot of multiplayer climbing! And, would in fact actually increase the amount of catacomb players looking for games as now there is more of an incentive to MQ instead of a GP. More people climbing would than in turn equal more of a multiplayer experience, which is exactly what Paul envisions. So this reason would not be in jeopardy.

Reason #2: Climbing in the Catacombs for the masses of the LS community is severely restricted because so many people solo instead. The Arena was removed to provide more slashers to Catacomb with.
How Arena Credit's Compromise: The Arena and arena soloing will not be as frequent or as dominating as it was before it was removed. Catacombs will still be the primary source of climbing literally 90% of the time. In fact more people would be climbing and climbing more often to unlock Arena Credits. 10 MQ's (Cata climbs) for every Arena Credit. More people playing equals more people to catacomb with. So this reason would not be in jeopardy.

Reason #3: As an Anti-Bot measure, the Arena was removed to cut the legs out from underneath of potential Botters.
How Arena Credit's Compromise: You are still forcing the players to cata and MQ 10 times for 1 Arena climb. This in no way would be a win for botters or make it easier for botters. In fact, it really changes nothing at all with how the current system is set up. Allowing/Rewarding an arena climb after 10 cata climbs still cuts the legs out from underneath botters and does not help them at all. It does not make it worth it, it does not benefit them at all. Getting just 1 Arena climb for every 10 MQ's (Catacomb climbs) is absolutely no incentive to run a bot. So this reason would not be in jeopardy.

Reason #4: The Prof gain in the Arena was too quick and unbalanced when compared to Catacombs. The Arena was removed to even the playing field for all when it comes to prof building.
How Arena Credit's Compromise: Prof Gain would be and is the greatest single reward (besides passing) a slasher can achieve. A reward system should be based on receiving rewards for doing work, correct? The Arena, in addition to providing a relaxed, your own pace, escape to slashing, was also a great place to work on Profs. Though I never seen it publicly stated by Paul, I believe the pace and speed at which people like McClain and xRainbow were gaining prof in the Arena, certainly influenced his decision to remove it from the game. It created an imbalance within the game and within the slasher community. Re-introducing the Arena as a "Reward" would be the ultimate compromise between Paul and the arena longing slashing community. Prof would still work and be gained at the same rate as the Arena that was removed, except that in now takes 10 MQ's via the catacombs to achieve 1 Arena climb. This acts as a compromise to Paul where not as much Prof is being gained, and the community who again can work towards getting into the Arena and earning some prof again. Doing 200 Catacomb climbs to unlock 20 Arena climbs, is hardly going to break the game, or create an unfair balance like it did before in terms of Prof. You still will not gain prof at the speed as you did before, but all of a sudden working towards a goal, and working towards possibly earning that next prof point with the help again of the Arena, becomes much more satisfying and overall do-able. So this reason would not be in jeopardy.

Reason #5: The catacombs is a beginner friendly venue, allowing for more success of new players. The Arena was removed to force catacombs, and increase players for newbs to game with and become attached to the game.
How Arena Credit's Compromise: Nothing changes here. The catacombs is still the primary source of gaming, and the foundation this game is built on and around, which is as intended. Adding this meaningful rewards system will only increase the amount of players, increase the amount of cata climbs, and increase the amount of possibilities a newb can join a game, receive help and knowledge, and become the next resetter.


The above 5 reasons, to me, seem to be the top 5 most logical and reasonable reasons as why the Arena was removed from the game. With my idea of adding Arena Credit's, none of the reasons are in jeopardy, and none of the reasons would be in danger of becoming a reason again. With my idea, it is all negated and canceled out. Which is a good thing.



Mechanics behind the Idea of Arena Credits:

There will be certain things you can and cannot do with Arena Credits, and also plenty of questions. I will post and clarify a lot of the questions and mechanics that were brought up through my brainstorming, and also the discussions I had with a couple guildies of mine about this idea, through a FAQ posting style:

Q: Can you stack Arena Credits?
A: Yes, Arena Credits can be stacked and saved for future use when you are ready to use them.

Q: Are Arena Credits character based or account based?
A: Arena Credits are Account - Core based. There is no need to negate the efforts of those who climb multiple characters. However, SC credits & HC Credits will be counted separately.

Q: Where would your Arena Credit be displayed?
A: IMO, no need to display it on the main LS screen, but rather inside the player stats screen. A simple counter type image identified as Arena Credit.

Q: How does the Arena Credit usage process work? How do I use it? When I use it is it gone?
A: When you gain an Arena Credit, it will be displayed on a counter within your player stats pop-up screen. At any time of your choosing, you may enter the Arena and when prompted if you would like to use your Arena Credit, you Accept or Decline. Once you Accept, your credit has been used and will be removed from your counter. The Arena is now open for you to climb in.

Q: When the Arena is activated, how long is it activated? How do I lose it?
A: The Arena will be open for your solo climb until you MQ or re-roll or Ladder Reset. Upon the occurrence of one of these events, the Arena will then be locked again.

Q: What if I unlock the Arena but end up deciding to Catacomb to 71, will I retain my Arena usage?
A: No you will not! Upon the event of a MQ or re-roll the Arena will be locked, no matter how you got to MQ. Arena or not.

Q: Does the Arena still work past 71?
A: No, once a character has reached level 71 when the Arena is active, it will then be locked. The point of Arena, as the compromise, is to get to 71 in a solo climb. After 71 would be abusing the privilege.

Q: Can I log in and out of LS after unlocking the Arena with a credit, without losing the Arena?
A: Yes, you can log in and out without losing your Arena. As stated before the only way to lose the Arena is to MQ or re-roll or Ladder Reset.

Q: Can multiple Arena Credits be used for one solo climb?
A: No, once you use up a credit, until a MQ or re-roll, your ability to use a credit will be disabled. The Arena will not ask you again to use a credit every time you enter it.

Q: Will the Arena function differently in terms of prof and leveling speed as compared to old Arena?
A: Honestly, this is completely up to Paul. BUT... the whole point of this suggestion and Idea is based on the old Arena. So for the sake of this suggestion, and if I had it my way, the Arena would function exactly how it did before it was removed.

Q: If I delete my character, will I lose my Arena Credits?
A: Yes, the Arena Credits are character based, so any Arena Credits earned on a character that has been deleted are gone and deleted as well.

Q: Will I lose my Arena Credits if Ladder is Reset?
A: Yes, upon the event of a reset, all Arena Credits will be rolled down to Zero no matter how many you had saved up.



It is pretty self explanatory on how this whole process would work. The goal would be to encourage climbing by rewarding you with our beloved Arena. Climbing in the catacombs has extra incentive now, sparking more climbing by everybody to be rewarded with the Arena. It should be a No-Brainer that more climbing would benefit everybody.



So it comes down to The Vote:

After Reading the Description above, would you support Arena Credits?
-Yes, I like this idea and would support Arena Credits!
-No, I do not like this idea.



Conclusion:

As I stated numerous times in this thread, the point of this suggestion and this idea is to bring a compromise on the table between us (the Ladder Slasher community), and Paul (the creator, developer, programmer, and designer of Ladder Slasher). It is not meant to give in to one party or the other, but simply to come together as a group of like minded individuals who all have the games best interest in mind. The re-introduction; to a reward based Arena system would certainly raise morale back up within the community, and would also ease a lot of tensions between the community and the games developer. It is a compromise after all, and compromise's are a Win-Win for everybody.

Thank you,
Please vote and feel free to add some feedback.

-Jim

[Yes] Extremely well thought out & balanced idea. This would make a great addition to the game and is a Win-Win for everyone!

This post was edited by Stok3d on May 10 2011 02:42pm

I like how in under a minute (about 30 seconds) of being posted I get a No vote by someone who obviously didn't read the post or give it a chance to understand it and take it in.
Please, if you vote No, give a reason and do not hide behind your computer.

Thank you.

This post was edited by MrMoJoRising on May 10 2011 02:43pm

NAH
I LOVE ALL THE QQ TOPICS ABOUT NO MORE ARENA AND OLD MUTING SYSTEM

It makes more sense to have a way to spawn evil presences at will, than to add something like this. (Monster bait!)