Suggestions

I'm totally in love with this idea for the most part. I like the idea of a long and tough time consuming quest since even now it's tough and long and time consuming, heck even as a player who was here before the first festival (my FR anniversary was yesterday) getting the familiars was a quest, not quite as time consuming but still difficult since the coli wasn't stable at allll (and straight up didn't work for me) and the main way to get currency was through gathering and that meant that sometimes you just didn't have enough to get everything (i have all the sprites and armbands but am missing a few of the large apparel). If newer people can have a chance at the older items that would be great, I know I've been on a few sites where the old things were just straight up unattainable and it was disheartening.

I do want to say that I like the idea of randomization at the end and a weighted randomization at that but only if items were removed from the pool as they are acquired. That way if sprites were weighted low with newer things being weighted higher you might get a sprite on your first go or maybe you get it on your last, but at the end you still get nice things so \o/. Maybe include one familiar per region that can only be obtained through the quests that way older players like me that have most of the festival stuff can have something new to work for as well.

However I absolutely do not think anything should be account locked. If you can only get one of an item anyway there's a) not much of a point of account locking and b) would suck for people like me who would want to keep their original copies and sell the new ones. And for some it might defeat the purpose if they can't sell.

I'm not too fond of having to get a boss itself (as opposed to items it drops) like someone proposed because their drop rates are so low. I've been working pretty hard in the ghostlight ruins (since that's where I train fodder) and have fought the spirits a ton of times (So. Many. Times.) and have yet to have one drop for me. Like it just wouldn't be possible for casual players or even semi-serious ones like myself.

Something to maybe level the playing field a little w/r/t the coli is maybe if you have to work through all the levels defeating all the opponents you have to start with a whole level 1 team. That way people like me with a team of 3 25s can't just power through super quick.

IDK those are just some of my thoughts. I really like this idea and it would add a fun and engaging aspect to the site.

I was thinking that maybe the more you complete the quest the most trust you are getting with the deity, and the more trust the more likely it is to get one of the sprites.

Also, if you had more chance of getting the sprite of flight you are, I probably leave the shadow for the last one I would get.

[quote name="scheherezhad" date=2016-06-17 12:14:31] Love, love, love this idea. It would be a real incentive for players to come to the site often and for long periods of time, something which I am currently lacking. I don't really have any current dragon or crafting/swap projects (except those darned skinks and sneks), so I only do very basic daily maintenance these days, sometimes dipping into the marketplace to see if I can scoop up some of the newer apparel that I want, and almost never coli grinding (I am one of the people who experiences physical pain from using it) unless it's a festival week. A series of long-term quests would keep me engaged instead of just going, "oh, I guess I should do the feed-bond-gather-trade circuit for today." Support! [/quote] (I'm stalking this thread now btw) This. Even DURING festivals, I can get enough currency through gathering and occasionally Baldwin that I don't have to log in more than once a day. I feed dragons, age nests, sell fodder, gather items, do the trading post sometimes, and if I'm bored at work, I get on the suggestions forum or FRD... that's WITH a current gene project. FR simply isn't engaging enough for most people, and that's a problem at its core

@MissRaven @scheherezhad

One of the problems with Flight Rising is that there is no "hook". There's not much to keep players coming back, which is why the "Online Users" tab very rarely goes above 3k. Even with a reg window, the number rises for a short time before dropping right back down. So either we're bleeding old players at the same rate of gaining new ones, or new players aren't staying. I'm willing to guess it's the latter.

I wasn't even thinking about attempting to create something that would give people more incentive to visit FR daily, but I think you guys are right and this would certainly help!

Thank you both for your feedback. :)

I support the idea, but not with sprites. This setup for questing would be wonderful, but id prefer it have its own set of unique rewards.

I'm of the mind that retired means retired and that the staff shouldn't go back on their word over entirely non-essential items that don't effect general gameplay. Sprites are a non essential item and the beastiary is a non essential, optional side quest that doesn't affect the general gameplay or any of its other features. Even if its made difficult or expensive to get them, its still breaking a promise the staff have made to their players, and still undermines the fact that people have spent long hours scraping and saving for their coveted sprites, and even some have spent their real, hard-earned money to obtain these things because they were promised that they would never be released again. If id told you you could spend 10 bucks on gems and get it now, or wait a year and theyd be back again, you'd probably think twice before investing in the site. It's a slap in the face to those that have used their own money to support this site in their pursuit of these retired items.

The staff has made their point firm on that on at least a few occasions, and I agree with their decision.

Idk 10$ isn't that much money and I'm impatient, I'd probably get it now. On the other hand, if you told me I could spend 400$ and get the sprites now, or 0$ and get them never, I wouldn't invest in the site. That's a ridiculous amount of money (and the REAL VALUE of a light sprite). The option in reality is: you can spent 400$ and get the light sprite now (which won't happen in many cases, and that's even IF light sprites continue to sell. How many light sprites do you think sold this year? Two?) Or you can spend 30$ and 100 hours and MAYBE get them in a year. All you need is 20 people who take that chance and suddenly you've already increased your revenue by 200$. Not counting ad revenue gained from people actually becoming invested in the site where things aren't just going to become fictional because a couple people who found the site first want to be super rich with all the status.

*Shrug* having people make multiple small purchases is a very common marketing tactic and results in a much higher pay load

Love this idea as someone who is also working to acquire sprites! But to play the devil's advocate, wouldn't this upset the sprite market severely? This suggestion, as you said, is mainly aimed towards helping out collectors who wish to complete their bestiaries. But aren't these collectors the main demographic of sprite buyers? Unless someone is unable/unwilling to complete the deity quests, I feel as though most hardcore collectors will happily grind away at the quests for months if that's what it takes and with them goes the buying power of sprites. As for @LadyKiba's suggestion of a new familiar to encourage older players to participate as well... I suggest living deity dolls! You know, these guys, but with cute eyes (maybe Marva's eyes?). Because button eyes have been ruined for me via Coraline... [item=sopping tidelord sackdoll][item=rotting plaguebringer effigy]

@DrowsyPanda

Affecting the Sprite market is kind of an unavoidable side affect. However, I truly believe that there are more people who want to buy Sprites than people who are actually willing to sell Sprites, especially if they're on the older side of the year. And eventually they're all going to fall into the hands of someone who refuses to sell them, even for outrageous prices.

And, as said previously, the current value of a Light Sprite is the equivalent of 400USD. That price is only going to climb. It's barely attainable now, and for new players coming in next year -- the year after? It's going to be impossible. These items will be locked off to people who were lucky enough to be here from the beginning.

Allowing players, especially with the constantly influx of new players, access to these items but making them difficult to work towards seems like a fair trade -- as people who have already worked hard for their Sprites aren't locked off from obtaining another through the Quest, and have the added benefit of possible access to other Retired Items from the Quest too. I think there are going to be people who will be up for buying things regardless of the existence of the Deity Quest -- and even if it brings the Sprite market down a bit, if the Sprites are one of the most uncommon of the rewards from each Deity, then the trickle should prevent a crash.

I do like the idea of adding new familiars and items unique to the Quest, and living dolls of the Deities seems like a cute idea!

@McAlli
I understand what you're saying and do agree that there are definitely more people who want to buy than sell (because watch those AH prices soar), but if the majority of the people who want to buy disappear off the market to participate in the Deity Quests, then the market may very well crash regardless of how small the trickle is. Because hope springs eternal and I feel people would likely ignore AH sprites if there was the smallest chance that they can obtain the sprite themselves. It'll take lots of time and effort (and varying amounts of treasure depending on the sink), but who cares when you could earn a sprite with your own hands?

That's all I want to point out. I completely agree with you otherwise! Prices are bad now and will probably be impossible within the next year... When I joined, Wind Sprites were in the ballpark of 1-2 mil, but I'm just watching that price tag climb up and up with dismay. To say the least of everything above that. I'm up for anything that will at least prevent sprites from disappearing from the market entirely. :)

Edit to elaborate on a thought.

@DrowsyPanda This may seem rude to say but, at the core of my idea, I'm less concerned about a crash in the market and more about happy players. Of course, a crash in the market would make some people unhappy but I think current and new players would appreciate the opportunity to work hard for retired stuff. The market might crash, yeah, but with a slow trickle of items, it might stabilize after enough people list up comfortable prices. Sure, someone won't be able to sell a Sprite for the equivalent of $400, but I don't think that's such a bad thing. >.> Edit: [quote]Because hope springs eternal and I feel people would likely ignore AH sprites if there was the smallest chance that they can obtain the sprite themselves[/quote] True, but if there's a wider item pool and the Sprites are not obtainable on the first try (unless you're super lucky), people may still end up just taking the purchasing route so that they don't have to play through the Quest numerous times. (The quest is kind of supposed to be on the more tedious and challenging side lol so if people are like "ugh forget it" and end up buying something instead, I think it's doing it's job. ) Thanks so much for your feedback, btw. :)