Hey Sandstorm, I've been playing Velheim for about 4 months or so and I love what you've made, it's clear that you have strong ambition to create great content unlike any RSPS so I just want to praise you on that first and foremost.
I also wanted to say that I'm loving the discussion around PVM and Money Sinks, Skilling, New game modes etc. and think the ideas being posted are well thought out by players and are coming from a truly passionate place.
Since PVM and Skilling aren't my strong suit I will brush over what I generally think needs to be fixed as a Novice PVMER/Skiller at first glance; And then get to the recurring theme that keeps popping up to rejuvinate player base: PVP/Wilderness Content.
For PVM, Gear Gaps between bosses and the accessibility of high level bosses with low level gear I think should be addressed. I grinded out full sirenic, eof, flarefrosts, rod lotd sgb thinking I would need it to kill Telos as I thought he'd be hard to kill, soon to find out i can basically kill anythng with an armadyl set, souls and hex bow.
(IF I'm wrong about anything mentioned just dismiss it as I am only a novice in this aspect of the game and more experienced PVMers should be talked to about these things).
For Skilling, I think the idea mentioned by someone above about increasing the rewards (GP/XP) for skillers who have higher engagement through clicks and efficiency is an amazing idea and will really encourage players to become more efficient while also learning the mechanics of the game.
PVP RELATED
Now as a RS3 player who participated in Legacy PVP in the peak periods from 2016-2018ish I became a pker through that content as it was a very fun and new sytem of combat that no one had tried before; and I think it has lots of potential to be amazing through a few combat system balances.
These balances might not encourage people to start PVPing because I know a lot of PVMers that are as stuck in their ways of PVM; as I was with PVP, but I do know that it will actually allow for people who do come into the wilderness to enjoy new content fairly and actually have a more balanced risk to reward ratio to not die to a 8k Dbow spec (yes we all know its Lush) through prayer. Through experiencing a more balanced combat system in the wilderness, people will feel much more safe to come in and do what they need to do, which would then passively increase the pk base.
I would be more than glad to talk with you to brainstorm ideas to help rejuvinate the wilderness and create a whole different player demorgraphic, creating a whole new path and stream of income for old/new players to come but most importantly, creating an INTERMINGLING OF BOTH PVMERS AND PVPERS. This is just so these parts of the game become interconnected and all flourish at the same time, not having one side of the game that is literally dead area.
For the non-PVP Wilderness content, I think it is crucial to create some sort of risk/reward system for skilling that would truly encourage people to continuously go back to the wilderness, whether it be for good XP gains or item drops, you name it. It just has to be something that is WORTH coming back to unlike the CST mentioned many times. A boss that spawns in varying locations or some sort of NPC to kill is also a nice base idea that can be built upon to be made unique and fun to visit every time you go back to it.
To address the people that passionately hate Wilderness related/PVP content and the people who do it, I just want to say that when this thread was first posted I didn't want to comment anything as I agreed with all the ideas being said in the comments related to PVM and the other things I mentioned in the second paragraph. Though, since then many reccomendations for Wilderness/PVP content additions were made by players who dislike wilderness/PVP, I thought I'd volunteer everything I know to help this aspect of the game as I haven't seen many consistent PVPer's on this server who might be able to provide help in this area.
I also always think that things should be done with prioritisation in mind so with this said, I advise you to talk to players that are the true backbone to your server base and discuss with them, what specific content would help encourage players like themselves to come back NOW.
Lastly Sand, just wanted to say that everything I mentioned above is for helping the server base flourish. I want to help you improve your masterpiece. If the way I typed something isn't gramatically correct and came across as rude or anything, I do apologise as I am just trying to best express my self and not force them onto you, as I said, prioritisation is key.
Edit: P.S. I'm Diamond rank IDK why I have the ruby title still on forums lel
