I get the feeling this might be a hot take, but I'm going to post it anyway. The ability to open quests on Elite shouldn't be a feature of VIP, it should be something everyone can do from the get-go. Here's some of my reasons:
1. Power creep means Elite isn't the threat it used to be
As someone who played this game back in like 2013-2014, stopped, and then came back in 2023, there's been a LOT of power creep. And not just in high-tier gear. Things have gotten easier at pretty much every level, making it so that Elite is not the threat it once was. I frankly don't agree that new players need to be "protected" from that threat by forcing them to run normal/hard first (more on this later.) Sure, maybe they'll have to run normal/hard at low levels while they're getting the hang of things, but the game mechanics aren't actually that hard to get down (at least, to get down enough that you can run elite.)
2. Forcing repeats harms new player retention
This game is best enjoyed when you can run a variety of quests. The inability to open the quest on anything but normal kills your ability to do that. Either you end up grouping for literally everything (not viable with how many people play the game), you have a friend who can open for you (which most new players won't), you play the game on easy mode by doing normal the entire time (which, for most new players, they won't have enough quests to get away with this AND they miss 50% of the favor they could've gotten), or you end up having to play every quest three times every time. Which gets very tedious very quickly.
Shoving that repetition down people's throats if they don't buy VIP might sound like it's a good way to get them to buy it, but in my honest opinion, it's an even better way to get people to quit the game.
3. VIP doesn't actually benefit much from having it
Generally speaking, the people who are most likely to want to buy VIP are the ones who are invested in the game. The conundrum here is, the people who are invested in the game are also almost always going to have at least 2 past lives on whoever they're running, which makes this perk a total non-issue for a big majority of VIP players. Not to mention, epic levels just let you open elite regardless too. This means that this perk isn't actually adding much value for a TON of people on VIP. It's honestly a lose/lose situation, where the people who actually do buy VIP often don't get any benefit from it, but new players are basically shoehorned into buying VIP or else having the game end up feeling like much more of a slog.
It's an issue with VIP all around.
Since the quest pack has been given out so many times, most experienced players have all the adventures, meaning VIP is no help there, and most have unlock via TR, meaning VIP is no help there, either. VIP needs new benefits that help both these groups of people; therefore, there's no real need to leave this benefit locked to VIP. You could say, "It'll encourage new players to buy VIP!" But I honestly think that making a frustrating experience which you have to buy your way out of is just a recipe to lose players.
4. Helps new players experiment / catch up.
Giving opening privileges will vastly improve exp gains for new first life players. Being able to open elite gives bravery bonus they wouldn't previously have access to, which is huge, and doesn't require them to run normal/hard for inferior exp. *This is a good thing.* Allowing new players quicker access to higher levels is good because higher levels are more fun. You start getting better loot, the quests get more challenging, but you also get more powerful.
And better yet, if someone's build isn't coming together, there's less punishment for having to restart. The prospect of having to run your way through the normal + hard + elite of Korthos a second time was, when I played back in 2013, enough to make me stick with a sub-par build just because I didn't want to deal with it again. This game is EXTREMELY punishing if you make build mistakes because resetting skills, stats, and class levels requires very expensive premium items. Making it less punishing for players to restart is a really good step forward.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk =D
1. Power creep means Elite isn't the threat it used to be
As someone who played this game back in like 2013-2014, stopped, and then came back in 2023, there's been a LOT of power creep. And not just in high-tier gear. Things have gotten easier at pretty much every level, making it so that Elite is not the threat it once was. I frankly don't agree that new players need to be "protected" from that threat by forcing them to run normal/hard first (more on this later.) Sure, maybe they'll have to run normal/hard at low levels while they're getting the hang of things, but the game mechanics aren't actually that hard to get down (at least, to get down enough that you can run elite.)
2. Forcing repeats harms new player retention
This game is best enjoyed when you can run a variety of quests. The inability to open the quest on anything but normal kills your ability to do that. Either you end up grouping for literally everything (not viable with how many people play the game), you have a friend who can open for you (which most new players won't), you play the game on easy mode by doing normal the entire time (which, for most new players, they won't have enough quests to get away with this AND they miss 50% of the favor they could've gotten), or you end up having to play every quest three times every time. Which gets very tedious very quickly.
Shoving that repetition down people's throats if they don't buy VIP might sound like it's a good way to get them to buy it, but in my honest opinion, it's an even better way to get people to quit the game.
3. VIP doesn't actually benefit much from having it
Generally speaking, the people who are most likely to want to buy VIP are the ones who are invested in the game. The conundrum here is, the people who are invested in the game are also almost always going to have at least 2 past lives on whoever they're running, which makes this perk a total non-issue for a big majority of VIP players. Not to mention, epic levels just let you open elite regardless too. This means that this perk isn't actually adding much value for a TON of people on VIP. It's honestly a lose/lose situation, where the people who actually do buy VIP often don't get any benefit from it, but new players are basically shoehorned into buying VIP or else having the game end up feeling like much more of a slog.
It's an issue with VIP all around.
Since the quest pack has been given out so many times, most experienced players have all the adventures, meaning VIP is no help there, and most have unlock via TR, meaning VIP is no help there, either. VIP needs new benefits that help both these groups of people; therefore, there's no real need to leave this benefit locked to VIP. You could say, "It'll encourage new players to buy VIP!" But I honestly think that making a frustrating experience which you have to buy your way out of is just a recipe to lose players.
4. Helps new players experiment / catch up.
Giving opening privileges will vastly improve exp gains for new first life players. Being able to open elite gives bravery bonus they wouldn't previously have access to, which is huge, and doesn't require them to run normal/hard for inferior exp. *This is a good thing.* Allowing new players quicker access to higher levels is good because higher levels are more fun. You start getting better loot, the quests get more challenging, but you also get more powerful.
And better yet, if someone's build isn't coming together, there's less punishment for having to restart. The prospect of having to run your way through the normal + hard + elite of Korthos a second time was, when I played back in 2013, enough to make me stick with a sub-par build just because I didn't want to deal with it again. This game is EXTREMELY punishing if you make build mistakes because resetting skills, stats, and class levels requires very expensive premium items. Making it less punishing for players to restart is a really good step forward.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk =D
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