I think removing artifact breakthrough probability would drastically increase player retention.

and much more.
let's go through the process here shall we? I paid for a month membership before so I know how fast leveling arts can be as a member vs as a free player...but the problem isn't speed, it's suitability.

Art XP, Art catalysts are fine as is, it's the breakthrough chances and seals that are hindering players.
as a free player, you need at least a few months to get seals of preservation and protection, granted you don't already waste the fate tokens on a style that you wanted. and more than a year to get to each rank. for one artifact.

it's completely unrealistic expectations and would actually deter away players from ever leveling arts beyond 120, now I'm not saying that there aren't dedicated players there is for sure, but really you'd want everyone to spend more time on the game by letting them know that their investment doesn't mean they have to spend an arm and a knee just for the Breakthrough to fail and waste your hard earned seals or catalysts.

now compared to leveling OP gear, I actually find myself spending MORE time playing, grinding for OP items than artifacts, because OP gear don't have breakthrough RNG they allow me to trust my time investment, and come back for more, it's a lot more comforting and enjoyable than leveling arts.

so yeah, I push for completely removing Breakthrough RNG from arts and augments, the grind is hard enough as is, and players are required to have good arts, don't make it harder on the player.

It’ll never happen but I’m in full support of it lol.

Except that OP gear will get phased out in 2-3 dlcs. A maxed art with have a longer use time that op gear by quite a long time.

On top of that you’re comparing this off a free to play players ability to level arts up? Isn’t that why paid membership have all the extra goodies? To get players to want to sub without actually needing to sub to play the game. If someone’s primary goal is to level arts then a membership is far more valuable than the cost.

Why should dcuo as a company designed to make money desensitize players to either sub or spend money.

Removing breakthrough won’t magically make players spend more time on the game since players can’t actually get seals in game. With op gear players can spend more time on alts to farm either drops or marks for catalyst for the gear. Players can’t do anything to farm seals because the tokens are static and only require logging in.

What we should be rallying for is a way to get gold seals within the game.
I wouldn’t care if they were 1000 schematics from bounties or something,
Any route to get them beyond mp or fate would be greatly appreciated

there are plenty of benefits from being a member other than the ability to buy seals to level arts...as member leveling arts is twice as easy and twice as fast as a free member, along with all the other things you get.
I don't understand why paying real money to get rid of RNG is a good game design, especially that some players get kicked for their arts. why is such a core mechanic in the game that can make or break a dps or support role locked behind payment is beyond me.
it's not like I am asking for much anyway you still need hundreds of catalysts and millions of XP to level just a single art, it's already a chore, Why do I have to wait every month to get 1 fate seal that can guarantee one breakthrough? or 10 seals that will get consumed in one breakthrough too anyway

One month for 1 token or 4 if you’re a member.

Also, people don’t just kick others for having low arts. This is an exaggeration. I have baby toons that for most of the time had arts from r80-120. I random qued everything with them and never got kicked at all. I also pugged a lot in general and I have never seen anyone inspect everyone and then start a vote to kick just for having low arts.

I’ve seen players get kicked from lfg group for lying about having something the group lead asked for. I’ve seen players get kicked for having low damage raids that had dps check points or players getting kicked for ignoring mechanics and causing issues in said raid (eye beam in sw(r/e)). Or healers/tanks/trolls for not actually being the roll and just dpsing in the support role because they wanted to Que to pop faster.

Groups don’t normally start kicking until things start going south. Noting saying it never happens, but to claim it always happens because you (you in general not you specifically) have low arts is just not true. Heck I’ve seen players with max arts get kicked over player with lower arts because that player just didn’t help.

If you look at Allies you can see how Artifacts would work if they removed breakthroughs. They would significantly reduce the amount of Nth Metal you get from playing, they would remove the feature to feed one artifact into another and say goodbye to bonus artifact XP weeks. You will be spending money one way or another.

Shrug. Tie it DIRECTLY to sub. Not half-connected "O U Can Getz Seals" tied, like, directly - you sub? No more 2% breakthroughs.

Problem solved.

Members get a 80% boost to all break throughs sort of thing? That’s brilliant.

Exactly. The only thing I'd change is the percentage change of breakthrough which would be visible to the player...
40% chance...Didn't work...42% chance...Didn't work...44% chance...etc., etc....
You get an extra 2% chance every time it fails.

Seriously though, is this a big problem? I have lots of saved up Fate Tokens so I've literally not paid for anything for Artifacts for some time now. Or maybe I'm just more selective and don't need the latest-greatest until Obsidian Chill convinces me otherwise.

i have nine characters, four of which I run as main or near main alts for gear and setup.

I'm already throwing enough money at artifact XP.

i was thinking do away with it entirely,. but 80% flat rate seems good too, Daybreak still gets their piece from Preservation seals but I'm not coughing up an extra 20 for seals every six months.

But you don’t have to cough up for 20 extra every 6 months unless you’re constantly switching arts every double marks. I have not spent a penny on arts in so long and have gotten to the point of leveling alt arts because I have all arts I want on my top 3 toons. I had enough stuff that I had 5 farmer toons that were only ever meant for seasonals and now all have 2 arts at 160 and 1 at 159. They are only 159 because I ran out of seals. The only reason I ran out of seals was because I redid that arts. I redid them because they were never meant to have 160 arts. They had arts that were ok at r80. But now they then got 120 arts. And when I realized I had enough to get them to 160 I decided to just get them better arts.

Arts have become extremely easy to level with all the changes made. There is no reason to make it so all breakthroughs have an 80% breakthrough. With 80% there isn’t even a reason to get seals of preservation.

80 fails often enough for me to want to make sure I'm keeping my stuff, so I do use Preservations for that.

The other side of the coin is this: Breakthroughs are basically just an arbitrary cash ask at this point in discussion. It's an extra hoop to jump through that mandates payment.

If I'm already paying - and I'm already paying, I buy the yearly sub and I still participate in Time Capsules and all that crap - I like a little more back for my dollar. I don't think we need to keep defending Daybreak's right to tax Everything in the discussion for its actual, core loyal subscriber base, especially not considering how much money I have spent at this point in time.

So yeah, I like the idea of an easier breakthrough, and if you still insist that it's a good idea to paywall the breakthrough system - that's on you - but this suggestion seems like a friendlier way to do the same thing.

Couple things.

Yes it’s a cash grab. That part is obvious. You think this is a charity? It’s a company first. If the game stops being profitable do you think they will keep the game going? No. The game shuts down. So as a company they try to find ways to make money.

Secondly, no it does not mandate players pay. It used to be that’s at when the only way you could get seals were through money. But now you get one free just by logging in or 4 by having membership and logging in. You want more for your money? Then actually utilize what the game gives you and stop spending money unless it’s a wise move. Like buying seals during a sell and only using nth during double week. Leveling arts has never been this easy and has never been this cheap.

Yes I will defend the system in place now because I for one understand how business works. If they a form of income in one part of the game they will then HAVE to implant other areas to make money. Again. It’s a business. I’d rather they keep the current system BECAUSE it’s easy to not spend a penny if you actually use the system to your advantage. I’d rather have the current system that gives us this option then them adding a new form of monetization that we WILL have to spend money on.

And finally it is a good idea because it is NOT a paywall. A paywall is a forced stop in gameplay that players can not pass without spending money. There is no such thing in dcuo. Not having max arts does not stop you from playing. And there is no paywall in arts either. Why? BECAUSE YOU CAN GET MAX ARTS WITHOUT SPENDING A PENNY.

Tbh I don't mind the last two, feeding artifacts into another is a bad idea anyway. and bonus art XP week came only once in a year, so It's really not guaranteed.

Bonus artifact XP weeks are almost guaranteed before a new episode or survival mode goes live so on average three times a year. A lot of people depend on those bonus weeks. Leveling allies is an awful experience in my opinion and I wouldn't want artifacts to fall the same way.

Today thanks to login rewards players can get that 200 art level withou paying for seals, just need a bit more of patience.

Been playing around on a separate account and can say, as a premium player the process is pretty rough. As a member though thanks to Fate rewards there's a fairly decent balance as far as seals go. I would like to see some flawless Nth metal in the caches though, or at least a chance for some. Detectors aren't really worth it otherwise. Don't know why they were discontinued but I'm sure someone will enlighten me lol.

What's wrong with the free Completion rune? I found I don't even need it, I get a stack of 10 Preservation, and find it works out to about two completions. Of all the things you think would improve the attrition rate, you think this is the one?