Look I know most people here will likely laugh and point. I know that some people will insult me because they are bored. Here's the problem. The cave of trials would normally be a hard, but accomplishable event by most people. It's already extremely difficult in some regards, which is fine if you want difficulty. The timer, like a timer in most mabinogi elements needs to go.
Why a timer?
Well if you're pressured you are stressed and have a bigger chance to make mistakes.
So I have to ask. This is how you want to treat your player base?
This is by far the cheapest tactic any game developer can use. I can say that with all honesty. Look at Mega Man games with timed sections. Sure you get a rush when you beat it, and that's probably the reason here. However, there's a negative side as well. Look I used to consider myself a gamer, but years of abuse of game developers have fragged my nervous system. Loads of Caffeine, lack of sleep for events, afk fishing events, running missions at ungodly hours just to try to have hope. It is that hope that is most infectious. We are risking our health and wellness, relationships, and in an already crazy world for what?
Look let me detail the current Cave of Trials;
You have a nearly insane difficulty curve. Going from a giant spider to the Succubus Queen in less then 10 minutes. Or rather you should if you hope to have enough time to fight her. Bosses in this Trial often exhibit the following behaviors;
Ultra Aggressive Ai designed to utilize your keyboard strokes to provide the perfect counter.
Ultra Aggressive Ai that chase providing little time to change equipment, drink potions, use buffs, or cast skills to deal damage.
Spam Skills that either cause extreme damage, debuff your damage, or risk killing you outright.
Multi-Use skills that allow them to use a one hit combo, making it difficult to counter. Examples, Succubus Queen - Chain Thunder from Across the Room, which she immediately follows up with Meteor (while you're taking the hits from Thunder), and then teleports to you doing her spin fireball attack. She often follows this combo up with her creating a clone of you to restore her health, debuff your damage, and deal heavy damage.
Enemies that perfectly teleport or use skills to maximize their advantage of the rather small field. Succubus Queen is a prime example, though the reaper and the Duke also use this tactic.
Lack of Pets, Multiple Players, and Revives.
Yet for as all of these terrible elements of this quest, it is the Timer that the npcs use to their advantage, or have been programmed to do such. Many times they will use skills that render them unhittable or out of range, or use their skills specifically to make you use up the already limited timer. It's set at one half hour. Which if you do the math requires you to defeat each boss in less then 3 minutes. Great on lower bosses, terrible on higher ones.
Duke is a prime example of this. You try to kill the early bosses with enough time to use time to range the Duke. Why? Well because at close range he likes to teleport in and spam his 1 & 2 skill to instant kill you.
Succubus Queen - She KNOWS you only have a half hour to beat her. And honestly I don't know why she wasn't higher ranked in the trials then she was. Maybe just to be a speedbump to pressure you at further trials. She uses every combination she can to apply that damn debuff, which from full to zero takes 3 minutes to remove. Sure you can apply wounds, but once you do her ultra aggro turns into Dinner Time Aggro. She will relentlessly spam Thunder, Meteor, and other Skills in an order to give you almost no time to attack.
So, here I am. I am asking as nicely as I possibly can. For myself and the community, for our health, wellbeing, and sanity. If you have any consideration at all for your player base, or have any respect for them, then consider and remove the Timer from the Cave of Trials. You maintain your difficulty, but level the playing field just the smallest bit.
Because if you in good conscious read this, and decide "Naw, I don't care. Let them rot" then it becomes apparent to I and the rest of the community. And the sentiment is mirrored back from the players. I am only one voice, one post, one request. After years of playing I doubt anyone from Nexon will even consider this post, let alone read it. That is not a challenge. I speak to my own and likely community deteriorating health and wellness during these events. I fully understand if it is not achievable in this event period, or even with mabinogi in general.
Timers that exist just to add difficulty, shows lack of imagination of the game developers. Show that you can remove the crutch of timers, and show your own creativity and imagination for the product we love. Or don't. In which case the player base knows what you're capable of.
