Seasonal Ironman Mode

Hello everyone.

I have been playing Legends since 2017. Back then, leveling was still somewhat relevant. There were level 200s around, but not all that many. Now it's not at all uncommon to see level 200s and many players have multiple 200s. With the exception of the massive influx of players in 2020, most of the lower level content has seen limited use. I am thinking of PQs especially. These places are ghost towns.

At the same time, there has been renewed interest in region-locked and ironman type of challenges. Communities have formed around stuff like Viclock, OSSlock, oddjobs, and Maple Island.

I would like to propose an optional new system be added into the game: a group ironman mode separated into seasons.

Here's how it would work: before you leave the training camp and head to Maple Island proper, you are presented with the option to opt into a seasonal ironman mode. If you opt in, you cannot trade, party, or enter instances (bosses) with anyone who isn't in the same ironman season. You cannot use the FM or the storage system or transfer gachapon tickets via the cash shop. You can trade and party with other players who opted in, but not with the general playerbase. However, as a trade off, you get a 50% EXP buff. At the end of the season, which I imagine lasting either three or four months, your character becomes a normal character and you can party and trade with all the normal characters on the server.

50% EXP buff sounds like a lot. This is by design. Consider this: new players and returning players to the server are currently faced with the reality that many of their guildies have multiple accounts, multiple 200s, lots of gear and mesos to move between characters, whole infrastructure systems of mules, and so on. It is not enough anymore to get one character to level 180, which is itself a big task: to participate at an endgame level, you need multiple characters. With the challenge system released, the only "time gate" in the game is (mostly) gone. You can create a viable character in just a few months if you have the infrastructure to do so.

EXP and levels are just not as important as they once were. People are not racing for first to 200. The integrity of the game is not hurt by giving people an EXP buff.

In addition, consider the leech situation. Very few people would be capable of selling high level leech until well into the season. Leech would be expensive, and without access to the FM, mesos would be in short supply.

Of course there are more established players creating new characters all the time. They have little incentive, however, to really start fresh. Self-leech is almost a given at this point. In order to take advantage of a massive 50% EXP buff, they would have to forgo the advantages of self-leech, self-buffs, and the ability to freely transfer mesos and equips to new characters.

Making this mode time-gated and shared would lead to that new server/wipe-hype feeling where everyone is doing the same content at the same time. The first week, people would be doing stuff like KPQ and LPQ. A month later, most players would be in third job and doing stuff like PPQ and maybe some early bossing. By the third month I assume many players would be struggling through bosses like Zakum with limited gear and levels to do it. It would revitalize these lower levels, areas, and PQs, lead to new ways of engaging with the game, and give new players an easy way to get to know the community and get up to speed with more established players.

In addition, time-gating this system would give established players a reason to slow down and maybe do stuff like quests and PQs instead of power-leveling. You would not be able to opt out once locked into the mode, so they would have to wait for the season to end. There is no reason to rush ahead of the other players in the season.

As part of the goal of this system would be introducing new players to the community, I do not think this should be done on a new world. I do not want to split the playerbase on a social level. New players should be able to join established guilds and make friends with the community.

After the season ends, seasonal characters would be totally released from the constraints of the mode (they would be able to trade and party with anyone and use the FM and storage) and would lose the EXP buff. Then a new season would begin, open only to totally new characters.

Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think!