Okay, I played this for a day or so (and got a friend playing it) -- grinding from 1 to 42, then 60 potioning and grinding to mid-60's. What I've concluded is that there are certain aspects of Windictus that MUST change for me (us) to bother with this game again (and, indeed, spread the word of its existence) -- after having played the NexCON version on and off for years:
- EITHER PROVIDE UNLIMITED, FREE, EMPTY DYE AMPULES; A DYE AMPULE SYSTEM THAT LETS PLAYERS CHOOSE THE COLOURS THAT THEY WANT ; OR INFINITE, RANDOM DYE SPINS IN THE AVATAR SHOP DYE MACHINE. The dye system is one of the most loathed, Jewy aspects of NexCON games, and it simply has to be redressed--now that it is [seemingly] possible to do so. 1500AP/G750K for one empty ampule is almost NexCON tier in its miserliness.
- THE ABILITY TO CHOOSE ANY MISSION FROM ANY MISSION BOARD. Having to travel back and forth from Colhen in order to grind dungeons, lost its novelty... awww... about 5 minutes after NexCON "thought" it was good game design. At the absolute least, the travel costs and time delay should be reduced to 0.
- ALL WEAPON AND ARMOUR DROPS FROM BOSSES / RAIDS. With the game having such litte marketplace activity, every piece of gear has to be ground and crafted -- far too onerous a proposition for a game that's been played to death by most playing this version. (*non enhanced/enchanted equipment only -- not the +10 give-away crap that the official game has been doing for the last year)
- ALL INVENTORY BOXES UNLOCKED. Self explanatory... Even NexCON offer more than three for free.
- REMOVAL OF ALL NON SEQUITUR MARKETPLACE SALES AND SHARED INV. BOX RELATED RESTRICTIONS. None of that garbage makes any sense without NexCON's penny-pinching presence in the game.
- 'FRIENDS' FUNCTIONALITY. The game needs to allow players to add each other, for easy boating.
- REDUCED AP REQUIREMENTS FOR SKILL UPGRADING. It's a real and unnecessary chore to have to grind, not only for XP, but also AP, to the degree required to unlock the latter skill ranks. The game does not rely on this aspect of progression to maintain its end-game balance -- everyone's skills are max'd at that point anyway and, thus, the progression does not need to turn as hyperbolic as it infamously does (1,000+++ AP for a single rank-up).
Frankly, the only reason to play this game again (for non-end-game / Raid obsessed players) is for the pre-"Rise" Malina dungeon structure -- where the game became more like an adventure game and less like the monotonous MMO the official game is now. However, if much of the nauseating grinding remains intact -- compounded by the limitations that a minuscule player base brings with it -- the 'cons' outweigh the 'proes' too heavily to bother. Life's too short and there are a million other games to play... ¯\_(v_v)_/¯
- EITHER PROVIDE UNLIMITED, FREE, EMPTY DYE AMPULES; A DYE AMPULE SYSTEM THAT LETS PLAYERS CHOOSE THE COLOURS THAT THEY WANT ; OR INFINITE, RANDOM DYE SPINS IN THE AVATAR SHOP DYE MACHINE. The dye system is one of the most loathed, Jewy aspects of NexCON games, and it simply has to be redressed--now that it is [seemingly] possible to do so. 1500AP/G750K for one empty ampule is almost NexCON tier in its miserliness.
- THE ABILITY TO CHOOSE ANY MISSION FROM ANY MISSION BOARD. Having to travel back and forth from Colhen in order to grind dungeons, lost its novelty... awww... about 5 minutes after NexCON "thought" it was good game design. At the absolute least, the travel costs and time delay should be reduced to 0.
- ALL WEAPON AND ARMOUR DROPS FROM BOSSES / RAIDS. With the game having such litte marketplace activity, every piece of gear has to be ground and crafted -- far too onerous a proposition for a game that's been played to death by most playing this version. (*non enhanced/enchanted equipment only -- not the +10 give-away crap that the official game has been doing for the last year)
- ALL INVENTORY BOXES UNLOCKED. Self explanatory... Even NexCON offer more than three for free.
- REMOVAL OF ALL NON SEQUITUR MARKETPLACE SALES AND SHARED INV. BOX RELATED RESTRICTIONS. None of that garbage makes any sense without NexCON's penny-pinching presence in the game.
- 'FRIENDS' FUNCTIONALITY. The game needs to allow players to add each other, for easy boating.
- REDUCED AP REQUIREMENTS FOR SKILL UPGRADING. It's a real and unnecessary chore to have to grind, not only for XP, but also AP, to the degree required to unlock the latter skill ranks. The game does not rely on this aspect of progression to maintain its end-game balance -- everyone's skills are max'd at that point anyway and, thus, the progression does not need to turn as hyperbolic as it infamously does (1,000+++ AP for a single rank-up).
Frankly, the only reason to play this game again (for non-end-game / Raid obsessed players) is for the pre-"Rise" Malina dungeon structure -- where the game became more like an adventure game and less like the monotonous MMO the official game is now. However, if much of the nauseating grinding remains intact -- compounded by the limitations that a minuscule player base brings with it -- the 'cons' outweigh the 'proes' too heavily to bother. Life's too short and there are a million other games to play... ¯\_(v_v)_/¯