If you hate reading then just skip past the paragraph and read the summary.
So when I was growing up from my proto gear for the second time (Old account had issues on it, had to restart.) I found it extremely easy. I don't know if I just got godlike RNG or I farmed too hard. All the things I wanted were in a building in Haven, the Hall of Heroes. We've all been there one time or another. I didn't have to do any arcade runs at all for anything because you could go through the entire game, quit, forget about it's existing and still not need to go into the arcade. Unless of course you do a Shadow Lair, in which case is still only Tier 3 and a few levels that seem similar to the missions you've had to do in order to get there. I've reached the point of 5* in about 5 or 6 days. Now, as I've previously stated, this was a second character so I DID have experience on the game beforehand such as Shield Cancelling and Bumping and Block Charging, etc. So that probably sped it up a bit. But that is still outrageously fast. The first character took me about a month and a half to complete. I enjoyed it both times I played, though. The first one constantly threw new stuff at me from the arcade since it was randomized gates and not missions where Basil pretty much told you what you were fighting. Especially since my first time was 3 or 4 years ago, so no missions to guide you along. Just a short and to-the-point tutorial and the clockworks/arcade. You had no idea what to do unless you experimented or checked the wiki. With the latter, there's no feeling of exploration of anything really. With the former, it's tons of fun because new things keep appearing in Basil's trade posts in the clockworks. And keep in mind you were stuck with that proto gear until you either bought gear from the Auction House or did alchemy for it. With the new Missions system, it's too linear. It quite literally GIVES you gear for missions. You get a free set of Cobalt Armor, a Defender, a Blaster, a Calibur, and a Blast Bomb. All default stuff, but people follow through with those, and that's ok. But people who wanted to explore and find everything out and do alchemy on their complete own? Their chance is ruined now, because they just go to the HoH and buy their recipes. Except for a few recipes out there that had to be found in the clockworks/arcade (Great weapons, by the way.) But what I'm suggesting solves both the interests of explorers, and those of whom who prefer guidance along the way so they don't lose interest. I've heard of people talking about an Arcade Redux or Reboot. I'm not sure if you guys are actually working on that or if it's a rumor, but what I'm suggesting here could fit right into that, as it makes people do the arcade again for those who want exploration.
Paragraph Summary: People like pre and post mission update.
Step one: After the tutorial and going into the Rescue Camp, before loading it, have a pop-up saying the following;
"Here is where you choose your journey. Do you wish to have a guide along-side you to help you along the way? Or do you wish to trek alone on the journey and discover your own path to the end?"
Under this is two buttons, one says "Guided" the other says "Unguided."
Step two: If they select "Guided" send them to the Rescue Camp and into the game as is. However, if they select Unguided they will be sent into the sprite missions in order. Once finished, they could be taken to a terminal looking place with several sprite cages. Four piles of them, one has a Drakon, one a Seraphynx, and one a Maskeraith. And one with nothing. If they activate one, it will show a confirmation message of their choice. (The one with nothing will give them no sprite and the confirmation message will need to state that they must buy one if they desire one in the future.)
Step three: They go to haven with nothing but proto armor, shield, gun, sword, and bomb.
Notes: If they hit the Mission Menu Key (Default M I believe.) It only shows the Prestige, Warmaster, and Arcade Categories. The actual missions tab will not be there. If they go to the Garrison section of Haven, the Hall of Heroes WILL be there, it will just send them to a DIFFERENT one. Knights could go there OR the T2/T3 gate for clearance and must be equipped with complete 2/4* gear to gain clearance. The Recipe Vendors of the original HoH Will NOT be there! If they want recipes, they could buy them from other players, the AH, or Basil. That is up to them. If another player invites them to a mission from the Missions tab, it will notify them of their beginning choice. If they desire to enter the core, they must defeat one of the variants of Vanaduke. (I suggest Darkfire so people spend money on keys. I am aware of financial problems.) After they defeat him, they just need to get to the core from any gate and they will be taken to the mission where you're inside it. After that, they win. Throughout their journey they must find their own way without guidance.
I can't say I fully agree with this plan. I agree that we do need a an arcade redux, but splitting the community to where one gets guide, free gear, and exact price recipes really makes it unfair to the other player who chose unguided when they receive no benefit for that choice. So unless the arcade redux re-evaluates the process of how a player progresses and puts in REAL Exploration, where the player actually has to look for the treasure and the minerals and some of the rare monsters and the things he came for in that level were not just sitting there waiting for the player to pick it up, then this game will remain super linear and not much will change.
Cause now and before the missions, exploration was almost a non-existent part of the game. The one thing that gave the feeling of exploration was the ever changing levels in the arcade. When it came to level design, almost everything was just sitting there for the player to just come and grab after they have gotten through the monsters which sometimes prove little opposition. Only rarely did some levels require the player to use their brain to actually solve a puzzle in order to get the treasure. Most of the time the player would come to an area, attack with his/her weapon, and collect the treasure. That is NOT exploration. That is basically running an errand to grind enough to collect gear and grind again to collect more gear. What the game Needs is actual exploration where the player has to actually look behind a waterfall, dig under the earth, break a flimsy wall, cut away some vegetation, use a special item, step on a special symbol (Like the apocrean levels) and many more ways to unlock the treasure or that hidden rare monster. The apocrean levels are a perfect example of Real exploration where the map is taken out and the player has to map out the area in their heads and where special areas have unique symbols that a player can solve to unlock the reward. Like how we had to walk of the path of the symbol which unlock a few fiends which after we killed them gave us the treasure. That was a very unique level, and that is what real exploration is about. Encountering something unknown and solving that unknown Or unlocking something unknown by searching every nook and cranny of an area and pressing every switch that is found Or using a magnifying glass to inspect and take notes for something else found down the path of exploration that needed the player to repeat those special words/actions. That is what Exploration is in my opinion. Not going to a specific area and picking up loot that is just waiting there saying pick me up. That is what you call running an errand cause you already know where everything is and that is just completely boring (and rarely does monsters ambush us on this errand area).