Hello Ratbeard!

I was hoping to get your take on something I often wondered about. I thought it may be best to post here, seeing that the whole Spiral is, & justifiably so, in full-throttle PvP mode. I thought I may have a better chance of nudging some insight outta ya, in this way. But it is kind of PvP related, & PvE.

My only max is a Buck & I do enjoy the fun that Reckless Frenzy brings. But, I was curious as to whether you & the developers designed RF pretty much primarily with PvP in mind-- or perhaps just future content & enemies in mind. I inquire because it seems that it wasn't really much of a 'necessity' in PvE, like so many of the other classes 'go to powers'-- but yet it's rather valuable in PvP. In PvE, most battles when you finally get RF at LVL 65, were over in just 3-4 rounds, so that left either charging into battle, with 'reckless & frenzied abandon' & quite possibly lose a decent chunk of health..or..shield for a couple rounds & then go reckless, while still losing a little bit of health. With most PvE battles it didn't seem advantageous to even use RF, aside from the havoc-reeking fun-factor, because w/out using it, after throwing out a couple Strength Buffs in Rd 1, the battles were pretty easy, over in a 3-4 rounds & all done w/ little-to-no health lost. Yet if you charged in w/ RF, you would lose a lot of health, or would have to add some time to the battle by shielding first, while possibly passing on buffing STR & then still losing health to boot (or one boot, in RB's case). It seems that waiting to give it to Buck's at LVL 65 kind of made it not that necessary in PvE, since by then we could easily handle any battle. Do you think it could have been more beneficial to those Bucks not picking up SQ's & entering AQ around level 55-60? Or that may have made it too strong in PvP, perhaps?

So, & this is coming from simply a- 'I would really enjoy knowing & hearing how it all went down' type of interest...was the concept behind RF & the thought process behind it, designed to be more of a tool to use in PvP & the future? Well & to also provide a 'cool factor' to both Pv platforms. Honestly, I did find myself moving it towards the bottom of my powers for PvE, just to speed up battle, avoid lost health & to use the relentless Buff-N-Crit-N-BS tactic. I understand that it's an entirely different beast in PvP battles, which can rage on for many more turns & prompt the 'use-every-tool-&-power-at-your-disposal' type of strategies. But it seems that Black Fog for Bucklers (again, PvE) was a no-brainer, 'heck yeah, I'm gonna use it' power, while RF, a Buck could surely do w/out, & pretty much never lose any companions or health w/out using it. I'm just very interested to hear what your thoughts on RF are, in regards to whether it was primarily 'designed' for PvP.

I know you're extremely busy w/ all the Ranked PvP 'tweaking' & feedback, but if you got a moment, I'd surely appreciate any 'good stuff' you may have to offer up.

Thank you.

Short version Ratbeard: Valkoor wants to know how you came up with the idea for reckless frenzy and what battle scenarios you had in mind that would optimize its use.

Virtuous Dante Ramsey

Ratbeard on Aug 13, 2015 wrote:

• "Is this fun, cool, and thematically appropriate for the class?"

and,

• "Does this address a perceived need?"

They can happen in either order.

IIRC, Reckless Frenzy began with a request to beef up Buc damage and aggro. Dishing out lots of damage while simultaneously making yourself a more attractive (ie, killable) target for the A.I.? Yes!

The AI assesses things like, "Hey, how much health does that guy have?" and tends to "play dumb" with things like, "Is he armored? Is Turn the Tide active? Is he shielded? Is he going to Vengeance Strike me to death?"

But if you're shielding yourself so you don't lose the Frenzy health, you're only getting half the benefit-- which is fine, btw, if you have the time and don't need the aggro.

(...continual)

So, from a PvE perspective, it seems that having access to RF at a lower level, would be more beneficial to Buck's, because they may actually have a little more trouble with those higher level enemies-- thus making the"Dishing out lots of damage while simultaneously making yourself a more attractive (ie, killable) target" a much more desirable & obtainable option....& make hitting that below 50% health threshold (for the TtT & RF combo) very doable, with or without intentions. Bucklers get BF at 55 & they can make use of it for those last 10 levels. It's a go-to power that defines the class, & is really needed against those 'late' level mobs/bosses. While gaining RF until level 65 doesn't seem to take advantage of the 'complimentary powers/talents', in a PvE perspective. As all the things you mentioned & those defining features of a Buck, surely compliment a Buck in PvP.

So, do you think that giving RF to a Buck at a lower level, would have helped players get the most out of being a Buck and experiencing more of what the class is all about, aside from PvP where every power/talent/facet of being a Buck is surely going to come into play?

Hmmm....so maybe I should just PvP to get more out of being a Buck. Nevermind...I answered my own question(s).

I know I have stated this before, but I truly enjoy getting the 'developers' side of the story'. I like reading the PvP threads & posts for the great strategies & info. But what interests me & fascinates me even more, is hearing about what goes into the making of the powers, epics, talents & systems. Sure you can learn the strategies, but I want to also read of the thought processes & reasoning behind all of the good stuff. The technical, programming side of it & how the pieces of the puzzle all fit, is just as neat to me-- & how you go about cutting those pieces in the first place!

Thanks again for taking the time to reply!

And yeah, Dante, theres' absolutely no short version with me...it's just who I am.

Ratbeard on Aug 13, 2015 wrote:

It is possible, but not desirable, to go back and retroactively change the levels at which powers are granted. (We did it for both PRV and MSK with their early level powers, back during 'the big tweak'.)

But RF didn't exist when the level cap was 50. It was created when the level cap went to 65. That's why it is where it is (and it is at level 65 because, in the analysis of all the things added between 50 and 65, that seemed the best place for it).

Surely as more powers are added to the game, there's always room to argue that something cool and useful would be even more cool and more useful if it were granted at a lower level, but I don't see much upside in retconnning the entire skill tree every time something new is added.

Couldn't you argue that every new power added to any skill tree would be more useful to low level pirates than their low level stuff?

Wouldn't Black Fog be super useful at 1st level?

Great points.

I wasn't even taking into account when RF was added. With that, it makes perfect sense, & makes my queries a bit of a moot point. I joined the Spiral after lifting that lvl 50 cap, so I admit to being a bit ignorant to the 'pre-big tweaks' days.

I certainly don't think any retconning is needed-- that's not the reason behind my question(s). I just wanted to get your thoughts on it. I'm not questioning or arguing any skill tree designs, just seeking wisdom in regards to how everything 'plays out'. Which you surely provided.

I guess a difference in RF at 65 vs. RF at, say 50, is that at 50 there's room to level up & potential to face higher level enemies, but not at 65 (in PvE & when RF added). At 50 there may be PvE enemies above your level, where RF may come in handy. With gaining RF at lvl 65, there were no enemies that would be of higher level(s), so our pirates already had it easy. I do understand why it was added at 65 & think that, of course, any & every new power would be useful at lower levels, but I was just curious about RF.

AQ was pretty easy w/out RF & w/out shielding (2 class defining characteristics), so I just preferred not using it. Using RF & ending a battle w/ < 50% health, wasn't as desirable as buffing STR in rd.1 & ending the battle by round 3 or 4, & instantly being ready for the next battle. Because of long chains, those STR-buffed attacks produced 'mini-RFs' w/ harder hitting Crits, so it kind of took RF's place, w/out the health loss 'side effect'. I guess it seemed that at 65, I would have used RF more, if I felt it was more of a necessity. But, on the downside, I wasn't getting to fully experience the class. Maybe that's were PvP comes in!?!

With new & powerful goodies always being mulled over, I imagine it's difficult to predict a 'yet thought of' future & how it will all play out.

And why of course Black Fog would be useful at LVL 1...& for all classes too-- so retconning just may work after all! BF for everyone!

Ratbeard on Aug 13, 2015 wrote:

Everything in the mainline PvE is easy enough for everyone, young and old, to win.

Whenever I add a new power, there's always the question of whether or not it needs to be cool immediately (meaning you can use it right away in the new content) or whether it can be dangled as a "capstone" at the end of the level cap. I hate putting the best stuff at the end, but something has to be first, and something has to be last.

Ok, thank you for your time Ratbeard...I do appreciate it.

Just out of curiosity, I would enjoy knowing how you played through the latter stages of the game, as a Buccaneer. As in, did you take full advantage of your TtT(s) kicking in, using RF, shielding, STR buffing and other class-specific skills...or did you play more with 'whatever gets the job done', type of play style? PvE is pretty easy (and it shouldn't be overly difficult, from an enjoyment perspective) and foregoing the skill set approach for the 'what works faster approach', can be even easier but leaves a lot of class-specific fun out of the picture. In PvP the class characterizing stuff seems to come into play a whole lot more or at least is needed a whole lot more-- by design I'm sure.

So, did you go more for the fun or for the fast. Again, just with respect to PvE.

And I promise that will be the last question for ya...(at least about this).