Current thread: Mythic forums > Strategy & Advice > New stat on beastiary: KIA
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| Author | Message |
Legion
1/17/2010 9:54:15 PM | I've added a stat on the bottom of the beastiary page for character deaths over the previous 3 months and the % of them that are level 2+. This data is only visible to players who have lost at least 100 characters over that period. As the note there says, its not super meaningful as a success indicator since anyone who hasn't died yet isn't counted.
For example in Legion, I'm seeing I have a 15.65% survival rate. Doing my own calculation to include an approximate 60-character increase to my clan over the last 3 months, my true success rate for getting new characters to level 2+ is right around 25%. That is much lower than I'd thought ... I'd been guessing I was getting at least a third of each recruiting class to second level (I'd been hoping for 40%), so the figure is a bit sobering.
Looking at other players, there is a wide range. There are a few regulars with a displayed value over 10%, but most are less, and in fact about half the players with enough data are under 5%.
I think for the most part different play styles account for the variation. I try hard to keep every single character alive and view it as a personal failing when anyone dies. A lot of players are more ruthless, even going so far as to kill off sub-par characters intentionally. I'm not advocating any one style over any other ... I think it all depends on what individual players find enjoyable. (Personally, I like trying to herd along rag-tag groups of losers ... but I know a lot of people prefer setting up bands of heros).
But I am taking away two things from this. First, there needs to be more information available to help players keep more guys alive. I'm working on that, with things like the help section and spell list.
Second, the early stages of the game are still too hard. I never want to see people approaching a 100% survival rate, but if the most careful players (such as myself) were around 50% it probably wouldn't be the end of the world, and thats fully double where it is currently. I'm not looking to make a change to jump straight to double-the-survival-rates, but I will continue to bias new features and updates toward making things easier at the low end and not harder. I feel like its actually easier than ever to get started (the staging area update today for instance I think will add a few percentage points to survival rates), but easier than ever is clearly not easy and I will make an effort to continue to move in that direction.
Thank you all for remembering and recognizing that this is a work-in-progress and for your patience with the sometimes slow pace of development. |