Hello Grey Havens and players,
I am a long time player for Spiral Knights, and there are a few things I would like to discuss in this thread.
With the removal of steam trade, many old merchants have left due to the huge reduction of trading availability. The reason steam trade was removed was due to reported scams. However, in Spiral Knights, the unbind system itself is open for scam, as the seller for a 5 star item does not want to spend 4,000 energy unbinding something that may not be sold, and the buyer does not want to trust the seller with 4,000 energy as there have been scams in the past.
Other issues include the heating system. In older times, the heating system involved each leveling progressing as heat was attained without the need for forge. This new system is ok, however radiant fire crystals are too rare for newer players to farm and they end up quitting once hitting 5 star gear due to the massive grinding necessary to level a single item let alone a set. If the heating system was reverted, or if the current system was balanced it would help newer players progress the game. An example of balancing the newer system involves making a set destination for each star orb/crystal to be found in the clockworks. E.g:
Depths 0-4 you can find 0 star orbs and crystals.
Depths 5-8 you can find 1 star orbs and crystals.
Depths 9-13 you can find 2 star orbs and crystals.
Depths 14-18 you can find 3 star orbs and crystals.
Depths 19-23 you can find 4 star orbs and crystals.
Depths 24 onward you can find 5 star orbs and crystals.
This method would allow people to choose another farming strategy other than Lord Vanaduke for farming specific orbs and crystals. This would also improve the orb system as we would not need to increase the rate of orb drops, as the old energy craft system is still in place and orbs are a rarity.
Another method that could be implemented into the game is the reduction of unbind costs on equipment. With reducing the cost of 5 star unbinds to 1,000 energy, and other equipment being reduced in accordance with that, the reduction of scams can be easily seen. The market price for each item will also drop, allowing more items to be attainable while adding profit for the sellers. Example: Right now, an attack speed medium Combuster is worth around 6,000 energy. 4,000 energy is needed to unbind this weapon, which means the seller only makes 2,000 energy. If unbinds were 1,000 energy and the price of Combuster drops to 4,000 energy, the seller makes more profit and the buyer spend considerably less money. This would also be seen in more expensive items that are released and exist within the market, meaning selling existing weapons means more than it does now, providing newer players with more accessibility to good weapons while profit exists for current merchants.
A method talked about within many discords that I'm apart of involves either the removal or reduction of Lockdown signup fee, or the increase of profit/reward in crowns for winning a game of Lockdown. Lockdown is a much favoured PvP mode which has died down to only pro players and the odd few who want Krogmo Coins. Creating more profit gives people an extra push to revive Lockdown and generate more players who can play Lockdown more than just for Krogmo coins.
Lastly, relating to the unbinding of equipment, the same should be implemented to recovering bound accessories. Right now, recovering an aura costs 10,000 energy, which is ridiculous for anyone to pay if it's not an extremely high-end aura. Most bound auras have lost all their worth and no seller wants to use most of their profit to simply unbinding it and giving it away. Reducing the cost of aura unbind to 1,000 - 2,000 energy, as well as other recover items will allow more merchants to sell items that they wouldn't originally, growing the market even more than it is now.
Spiral Knights is dying. I'm a player that loves this game and has thought hard about how we can improve the game to the point where everyone can see Spiral Knights in a more favourable way. I would like to hear both Grey Havens thoughts and the Spiral Knights community my ideas. If Grey Havens supports my ideas, I would be happy to assist in the revival of Spiral Knights in any way I can. Feel free to contact me on this forum or in-game.
Thank you for taking the time to read this message,
Funnybunnys.
A lot of what you said is great, but if I were to make one change, it'd be to just remove the fire crystal system entirely, but increase the heat needed to level up by a reasonable amount. Even if fire crystals were made more fair in accessibility, I still find them to just be a pain to deal with. If you manage to heat up a piece of gear midway through a vanaduke run or something, you'd have to quit the run just to go level it up and, correct me if I'm wrong, risk losing a share of your tokens. Plus you have to get re-invited. Of course most floors have an arse box at the beginning, but we all know this isn't the case for boss missions and Vana just so happens to be great for heating and crown grinding...