metaprogression problems

[HondorDrache]

 

1) Rooms:
The game features two types of rooms with metaprogression, which can sometimes replace regular rooms, leaving no option to choose an alternative in the form of a run enhancement. This forces the player to choose: to make subsequent runs better by lowering the chances of victory in the current one, or to try to complete the run with the current level of equipment. As I've said before, sometimes there is no choice, and there's a certain chance that a particular run may worsen due to mandatory meta. In cases where a player wants to intentionally farm metaprogression, they may not encounter a single room with the necessary resources, for example, for upgrading equipment, throughout the entire run.

Why not remove these rooms and introduce a metaprogression reward at the end of the run? For instance, you could add a chest with resources after defeating the boss or give a certain amount of resources depending on how far the player has progressed.

2) Shop:
The shop sells only one stone for a whole 200 tephra. I have only one question: why? It's the same story as with the rooms, and in this case, it looks like mockery. I had to make empty runs to the shop to buy new equipment and finish the run. The situation is the same as with the rooms: exchange your upgraded equipment for new, unupgraded ones. If you've arrived at a new location, the characteristics of the new equipment will be higher, but you must replace your equipment, which the build was based on, with new ones with a different effect, which can spoil the run, especially with weapons.

In cooperative play, the problem is that players only go to the shop because that's where new equipment is purchased, and because of this, in co-op, most of the time with random people, the function of choosing another room disappears.

Why can't equipment be unlocked with resources, achievements, or by defeating the boss? Why specifically a shop?

3) Difficulty Level:
We have two extremes: either you have fully upgraded equipment, and you feel good at the last location, but the first one stops being a challenge and the game becomes a clicker; or you get killed in a couple of hits at the fourth location, but you can play normally at the first. If you join a newbie, you'll be destroying enemies with one hit, and they'll just watch. Each new location increasingly inflates the health and damage numbers of enemies, and when the winter location is released, the first one will finally turn into a clicker. If future difficulty levels equalize the numbers across all locations, then what's the point of it all? Upgrade your equipment to nullify the current difficulty, to unlock a new difficulty, which nullifies your equipment?

New locations shouldn't have increased numbers, and difficulty levels should complicate the location with features other than huge number inflation. Wouldn't this simplify development? in terms of making the game easier to balance, and not having to use team resources on things like the Equipment Fortification System. Let the damage/defense of equipment depend only on their weight.

4) Equipment Fortification System:
If we keep the current system, let's talk about upgrading equipment with ingots. For the equipment numbers to match the last location, you must grind the past for upgrades. This could be an incentive to go through all locations and difficulty levels a second time, but with different equipment. But it's more rational to go through the maximum difficulty of past locations with already fully upgraded equipment—it's much faster and easier. The game does not motivate to farm ingots otherwise. I suggest making equipment upgrades for completing locations in it, not for ingots. Instead of farming ingots for armor to play in it for one or two runs in the last location, you would have the motivation to go through all locations with a different build.

In conclusion:
Metaprogression, in my opinion, brings a lot of problems to both developers and players. Although I understand that developers are unlikely to remake the game as I suggested in the third and fourth points, because of a random person on a forum, especially at such a stage of development when we have a whole Equipment Fortification System. But I hope the developers will read this post and at least solve the problem with the rooms from the first point. It will only make the game better, and it doesn't even require mobilizing the full force of the development team. 

[Sasza22]

I kinda agree with the fact that upgrading equipment is a mistake. The weapons should have similar damage and just get better via their effects. Similarly armor should just give you a boost for the area or a general one fitting your build. This way you could just use the one you like instead of having to grind resources to keep it upgraded.

But this causes a problem. The story requires us to rescue 2 characters who specialize in upgrading our weapons and armor. If we can`t do that they are pointless. Actually they already feel inferior to the shopkeeper. They are like jus t there waiting for you to bring something to upgrade.

It`s not easy to fix but personally i think the shopkeeper shouldn`t be selling equipment at all. Instead he could double down on the fact you can ship bought stuff to the village instead of having to use it right now. Maybe he could enable you to swap your equipment (at a teffra cost) so you could use something different for a boss or miniboss.

The corestone gathering is tedious as well but if your not beating the boss first try i guess you can get a few of them. Imo there needs to be a way to make the loot more consistent as sometimes you don`t even get the stuff you need after a whole run. I`d like if making equipment should be done in the village and be a sort of quest like kill 5 yammo with hammer for a yammo hammer and then cost corestones to actually make one.

[Wormboi]

Quote

It`s not easy to fix but personally i think the shopkeeper shouldn`t be selling equipment at all.

It was like this in the playtest were, the blacksmith would be the one making new weapons instead of the shopkeeper selling you them. I want this back not only it makes sense but it gives the blacksmith something to do rather than just stand there and upgrade your weapons.