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The bonus route sets most characters on single leveling path these days. I've noticed that a lot in the community seem to be coming round to the idea things may be time for a change.

I'm of the opinion that it's well overdue and that any mob you hunt should give you this bonus by default regardless of how much strength or int you are above the monster. Just think of the benefit :-

- Players will to be able to hunt any mob without fear of ending up with inferior stats
- Players are able to gain faster stats as you can hunt mobs you are actually supposed to at your level (do more damage and hit more often)
- Soma will be more fun!
- Casual players which are aware of the bonus route's existence stand a better chance of competing (less time to level)
- It could encourage players to come back who have been put off by this
- Anyone currently lvling a new character on this bonus route will be unaffected and can choose to continue if they wish to do so.

I have created a poll please vote here - http://www.strawpoll.me/18440499

Comments and opinions appreciated from the community.

and every1 will end up with the same stats .. except the ppl who havent done the +50 route .. so theyll have to re-roll a character.. not the best idea.. but i see ur point..

you can't take the eggs out of a baked cake.. just get a new box of eggs.. and i dont think many ppl will want to do that.. especially the part timers

"AMOEBA"and every1 will end up with the same stats .. except the ppl who havent done the +50 route .. so theyll have to re-roll a character.. not the best idea.. but i see ur point..

you can't take the eggs out of a baked cake.. just get a new box of eggs.. and i dont think many ppl will want to do that.. especially the part timers

Any one who uses the bonus route is already ending up with the same stats, the only difference will be the build (where you put the stats). I would wager that only a small percentage aren't using the bonus route and if they aren't surely this is in their benefit (as long as they are still leveling)?

To be honest a lot of people have already made new characters (if not multiple) anyway because of this or because their build is no longer relevant or have made mistakes along the way. The old generation of characters are already at a disadvantage anyway - you never know this may even encourage more players to make new characters and liven the server up a bit more.

Welcome to the home of Soma you start at level 1 and that is where your journey begins.....

Brics
Wolfs
Leos
Orcs
Swampys
Kobs
Raps
Trolls
Dw
Desert scorps
Sand valks
Warban
Warmess
Palus
Df
Akah
Apus
Shanis
Blg
Boars
Htrolls

And many more mobs in between, now that's a journey packed with fun ;)

Welcome to the mythofclones
Bugs
Cyclone shanis
Blg
Boars
Htrolls

Seems more like a job than something that's meant to be for fun.

I know which journey would bring more fun, do you?

Time and effort should be put into end game content not things that will only be relevant in the first week

Plus how many new players actually are there? 1/2 a month if that

This would probably be a couple lines of basic SQL code.

While I agree end game content should be the focus that's going to take hours/weeks/months.

Even if this encourages 2 extra players a month, that's 24 players in a year, better than 0.

I would say the first week is the most important time, it's that time that will determine if they stay or leave.

Make soma more accessible to the casual player and more fun and players will stick it out.

As it stands at the moment level 120 is the end game........

If the beginning is tiresome players won't stay, level 120 is a long way off when starting out.

I don't know how much of a difference +30str vs +50str mob lvling is but IMO any mob that gives you exp should also give you great stats but not as good as +50str/+30int route.

Allowing new players to just log and level on brics, wolfs, leos, etc without having a massive stats difference between +50str would be a great addition.

We may not get great amount of new players to soma but the once who do will not quit due to the impossible leveling route.

A little off topic but there should also be nice low level mob gear that can be obtained from quests - 3% eva and accuracy set for example should be something you can obtain around level 30 if you spend a week or 2 questing.

Worst idea ever.
Give all new players 30 con/kill any mob gives top bonus/blah blah blah
Hey let's reward the lazy ones who want it all on a plate at lvl 1 with no hard work
Better idea, everyone starts lvl 120 capped with a wonderful +8 Nega bow and +5/8 gear capped of your choice acc and armour. Oh let's not forget, all have 200 weap/acc/arm/skill as well.
Top idea +1

I like the basic idea of acc or eva item from quests as that would actually help new players maybe non tradeable.Could even up Medusa top things like that. A quest that would make actual new players learn all the areas of Soma to get them into the game early.

Let's be honest there is nothing hard about the +50 route, everyone uses a tank, the only difference is time
And if a new system came in then everyone could enjoy mob variety, I dont see how it's a bad thing tbh, people who cant take advantage of it are already past it anyway so its irrelevant

Voted no.

While I think mob variety is hugely lacking (although the game has plenty mobs and could easily re-use these same assets) and loot tables cause imbalances in the economy between different level ranges etc. While improvements could be made in that regard... you're ultimately dispersing the few players there are in hunting areas throughout the entire game world. Meaning you'd barely see anyone or be around other players, this causes a lot of immediate problems in itself:

- I might not be a PvP player, but a lot of people enjoy that, and so part of their tactic is to hunt lower leveled players while they're hunting in the popular hunting zones. Scouring an entire map would be bothersome.

- People are encouraged by activity. One of the reasons you see so many people log on during XP events isn't just because of the more enjoyable gains, but because they know the game will be bust and seeing that activity is encouraging for long-time players and even more so for new players. The one day hunting you did during a 3x XP event, could otherwise be done in 3 days, you'll log in and play your heart out during an event, but then log off for the next week or two and potentially not level at all during this time.

- If all mobs give the same stats then you're also faced with the problem of the respective mobs' loot table. Some loot tables make little sense with regard to economy balance. Take Hoarde Shanis for example, they're really bad and don't help prepare players for the next phase of their character progression, which will lead into things like upgrades (especially for new players). If I had an alternative mob around this stat range, I would completely bypass Hoarde Shanis due to its loot table, and this is specifically what players do when they're able to kill BLG instead.

So, no. Unless you can find a means to filter players into certain zones and rebalance loot tables across multiple mobs, it's not going to work as intended.

and the +50 route is something yo do on the 2nd char you make as you use the first to tank.

This is what everyone else did, and its a good incentive to make another char.

Keep it as it is.

Focus on end game content. Players who are capped give them a reason to go hunting that isnt just loot.

PRESTIGE !!!

Startcraft 2 has a very cool prestige function if anyone has every done the online team play thing, once you hit the max level which i think is 15, you have unlocked everything but then you can prestige literally for years to slightiny improve things like cooldown time, dmg, health etc.

SOmething like this would be cool.

The only people that will say keep it as it is are the people who wasted 400 extra hours doing the +50.

If you want the game to be busy and people to return then the +50 needs to go and exp upped.

Subxero you're on about prestige but want the +50 to stay surely if the rates are upped and +50 is gone then adding prestige levels makes more sense as more people will be capped? The prestige level is what gives you a bit of an edge over others.

This means the tryhards can still do there thing and the casuals can enjoy all the pvp and endgame content..... I can't understand how people who love this game can think leveling with a 2nd char with a tank for 1000 odd hours is the way to engage new and old players and boost the user count?

The leveling experience in soma is less engaging than most Sega mega drive games. The engaging bit is farming, hunting bosses but mostly pvp.

+1 to removing +50 and faster rates.

+1 to prestige content if the +50 is gone and rates upped.

-1, the game is fine as it is. You can still end up with a perfectly good char doing +10 str. Barely any difference to a +50 char.

End game content is where the work needs to be done

Not for the 1-2 players that never played soma for there first weeks

Add auction house
Add prestige
More rvr events
More pvp events

Watch the UC grow