Hamlet Defense System Reform Proposal...

[Ravidrath]

When I first saw this thread I was like "Oh boy, here we go again...", but these are actually some good points. Usually when people make these threads they suggest redoing the whole thing how they want it and don't really think about how long it would take to do a complete overhaul (and their ideas usually aren't very good lol). But these are nice, small ideas that would greatly improve HD. I especially like the currency idea and being able to trade it for gear or seals.

Thanks!

Like I said in the top, I actually enjoyed the battles once I got an understanding of how they worked, and don't really want to see that changed. The problems I see are mostly with the lacking incentive structure around them.

I think most of this would be pretty easy to implement under the current system, but I say this without really knowing how their tools, etc. work. But based on recent additions, it seems like they have a pretty flexible "store" system, and most of this would revolve around that.

The hardest part of my suggestions would likely be balancing the growth and decay rates and making them feel good.

I also forgot about the content finder, which makes the idea of the server collaborating together pretty mushy. But perhaps this just means that Hamlet Defense is a cross-server effort, and the levels are determined by all players' input, rather than just those from your server...?

[ZiZ]

wow, those are very well thought out ideas.
The changes are tiny but they would make HD much better. I hope they actually reach the devs.

[Aegishjalmr]

I agree with rav on this there doesnt seem to be a point to doing the hamlets since you can easily do it all day for weeks or even months and not really end up with anything usefull much less anything you want

[Golnan]

I've won Hamlet Defense a few times now, and while I have enjoyed it, it's not really the ongoing "activity" like FFXI's Campaign Battle I hoped it would be. This is mostly due to a lacking incentive structure - there is neither a self-contained upward spiral nor is there a strong benefit for the rest of the game.

When you say there is no benefit for the rest of the game, are you ignoring the anima replenishment and the gear/seal drops that better your character?

1. There should be a scaled down version for 4 players, with appropriately adjusted rewards.

Why?

2. Right now it doesn't feel like you're helping the war effort by actually playing, which… is really bad, and fundamentally undermines the point of the effort. To remedy this, I think the Hamlets should level up based on completed battle "contributions," as well as supply contributions. This would probably need to be at a lower rate than supplies to keep it from growing out of control, but I'll leave that up to them.

Just about the only thing I agree with. Besides points three and four, which encourages players to press forward in the face of RNG violating you every time you loot the chest.

5. Level 1 HDs should be easier than they are now, because it's different enough from regular play that it's confusing at first and losses are discouraging players from digging deeper into the content. This is also how people can start learning, get a foothold, and start earning Militia Credits.

Why? If it was any easier how can people learn the correct way to do things? If it was so easy they could mess up to their hearts content they'd never get any better.

6. Not sure if this is the case now or not, but, similar to Besieged, the supply level should stay through HD cycles so it's constantly building if people are winning and contributing. Perhaps the battle contributions portion should drop X% every hour (higher levels drop higher percentages) during the supply phase so it's not permanently pegged to Level 5 without a lot of player effort.

So people in other time zones should be punished for not logging on the hour the hamlet went into battle phase? Okay, cool...

Each battle lost should subtract from the Hamlet's point total, just as winning adds to it. But how the relationship between points lost and gained per battle should shift as the hamlet levels up: for example, at Level 1, winning gets you 50% more points than you would lose if you lost, while at Level 5 you'd lose 50% more points than you'd gain if you'd won.

Now you're saying I should be punished for the failures of other player's groups? How about no. I deal with enough players coming into my group and missing the mage because they were being sent porn from a co-worker, I don't need a whole server of morons messing up the hard work I might have put into getting the hamlet up to level 5.

7. In keeping with the "upward spiral" theme, wearing Militia gear should… 1) Give you the bonuses the NPCs get from DoH tasks, 2) Enhance the debuff effect from DoL classes, and 3) Reduce the impact of player debuffs from Supply losses. The more pieces of Militia gear you have, the stronger these effects should be, and these bonuses should play an important role in beating the Level 5 boss.

But what about all the hard work I put into getting good gear from OTHER content? Why should I be forced into wearing militia gear just for hamlet defense?

So there is my (hopefully) comprehensive plan to make this a fun activity for one and all.

Sounds like you hate fun to me.