[HP WASH] Raid Tickets

I think it's safe to say everyone agrees HP washing is a badly designed balance and game mechanic. But it is also one of the cardinal components of this server, something which cannot be so easily changed or replaced. The only way any good change can come to fruition is if, all in one, it keeps the endgame class composition balanced, keeps voting relevant to all players, keeps the old players satisfied, and is something that can be reasonably added to the v62 client. What might be appear to be a simple problem at first to a newer player like me has proved to be much more nuanced and complex. However, after a lot of careful consideration, I think I have come up with an idea that satisfies all of the conditions I set above: the raid ticket.

A raid ticket, in this context, will not be necessary in any way to challenge a boss. Instead, it is an item that players can buy for substantial vote cash that can be exchanged to temporarily buff the HP of the expedition goer. The amount of stats it gives will be dependent on the class of the wearer, and it will work parallel alongside the current HP washing. It could be introduced as a buff that is given by an NPC outside of the boss room, but I think it would be most feasible to add as a series of 6 severely time limited rings, one for each class (beginner included ). Every certain number of days, a purchased raid ticket can be exchanged for one of these rings, primarily for unwashed characters to earn the bare minimum HP to challenge the boss without dying. Since not every boss is the same, let me explain how I could see this concept coming into fruition.

Tier 1:
-Level 120 Ring, gives the minimum amount of HP for the respective class to survive Zakum-tier bosses at 120 unwashed
-Tier 1 Raid Ticket costs 11,000 NX (2 red and blue kimmys)
-Expires in 4 hours, and has a 3 day cooldown for exchange

Tier 2:
-Level 150 Ring, gives the minimum amount of HP for the respective class to survive Horntail-tier bosses at 150 unwashed
-Tier 2 Raid Ticket costs 25,000 NX (5 red kimmys)
-Expires in 3 hours, and has a 5 day cooldown for exchange

Tier 3:
-Level 180 Ring, gives the minimum amount of HP for the respective class to survive Pink Bean-tier bosses at 180 unwashed
-Tier 3 Raid Ticket costs 40,000 NX (7 red kimmys with votestreak, or 7 red and blue)
-Costs as much as getting married, better be committed to the bean
-Expires in 2 hours, and has a 7 day cooldown for exchange

After you purchase your raid ticket from the cash shop, you take it to the expedition area and exchange it for your ring just before you start. I did not list the specific amount of HP it gives because I think that is a number that should be decided upon by the developers who have a much greater knowledge of the game balance than I do. The cooldown exists to prevent players from stockpiling NX to buy tons of raid tickets and forgo the limitations the tickets impose. They are rings because they are probably easier for the developers to add into the game and they are also a slot which usually do not contribute much to the overall stats of your character. These numbers are just for concept, if the limitations need to be even more severe I am not opposed to that.

The idea is to make these tickets extremely limited and difficult to obtain. They are meant to work as an alternative to HP washing, while still keeping it relevant. Players who choose not to HP wash will have to choose what bosses they want to fight in a given week, because they do not have the NX to choose them all. Even if they decide to save all their NX, spending upwards of 60,000 a week for bossing is unsustainable in the long run and they will be punished if they choose not to use that NX for washing. Players who decide to wash will have no such limitations on them, and will be able to boss as much as they want whenever they want as normal. They can also buy and use the rings, but their limitations would discourage them from doing so as there would be little point.

I think this solves all the issues I set out to solve when thinking of this idea. Ideally HP washing is still a better alternative economically than this is, and classes with less HP washing related issues still benefit more than those who do in terms of availability. More ranged DPS will exist but they will be less available then other classes. Voting will still be relevant because you need to vote religiously to even be able to boss at all. Old players have their efforts rewarded because they don't have to engage at all with this gigantic NX sink. And as the monster book ring proves, it should not be terribly difficult for the developers to find a way to implement this.

HP washing should not be an impenetrable wall for players who want to play end game content with the class they want. Everyone who puts in the effort to get to high level deserves to experience what it is like to fight Horntail or Pink Bean at least to some degree. They shouldn't have to use 3 different clients, play classes they don't want to play, and hit like a wet noodle for months to years just to see everything the game has to offer. This system should encourage players to wash, if anything, and give them extra money players need to do it by their own means. It rebalances the game in a way that allows for less hardcore players to enjoy everything as well.

Thanks to everyone who read this far, it was a bit of a long one. I gave a lot of thought to it so I would appreciate your earnest feedback

 

Honestly I am not well versed in how much damage the bosses deal because I am still quite new to this server. The examples are more there to show the concept than anything. A zakum one might not be necessary but the specifics is something the devs can work out.

And yes, I agree this system is no less vote to win than buying ap resets already is. If the numbers I provide end up being too low there is no reason why they couldn't cost 60,000 or even 80,000 because the goal is to keep washing also relevant.

 

I think its good that it costs 80k the more I think about it, with events and all. Plus the fact that it basically means when your unwashed you still cannot do both horntail and PB regularly as a ranged class. Being limited to a single high level expedition every week/2 weeks is something that would dissuade the ticket system from being recommended especially to serious bossers so its good that you don't want to use this method. I think it should exist to give unwashed players an option versus just being screwed, rather than being something that every player want to keep up with.