Bell Choir Suggestions

[pholtos.9751]

So I enjoy the Bell Choir, quite a bit. I do find a few problems with it, mostly time-wise but also reward-wise.

 

To start with a tangent, I have mastered the Jumping Puzzle of Wintersday, I can do the hard path around 12~14 times in 30 minutes, and that means I gain 15 or so personalized gifts and 180~210 wintersday gifts per 30 minutes.

Comparing to Bell Choir, every 10 minutes you can earn a maximum of 1,1,3,3,5,5 gifts. So that's 18 gifts in around 10 minutes, I won't get too specific, the timing varies based on the in-between song segments. Then you have the infinite achievement of 3 Personalized Gifts every 20 songs. So that'd be... 6,12,18,24. 30-40 minutes or so to get 3 personalized gifts.

(I honestly think the JP grants way more than any of the other events, and would suggest all the other events get a boost to at least be a bit better all around.)

 

So with that out there, I'd like to get into some suggestions. Let's start with the timewise aspect:

Remove the freeplay segment. - This will cause some backlash from a minimum, but it's fairly easy to acquire a choir bell or magnanimous choir bell outside the bell choir. This would cut out a good 1-2 minutes of time.

Decrease the time between rounds. - This one might actually be a bad thing, I'm sort of mixed but I'm adding it regardless as a possible suggestion.

 

Now onto the rewards aspect:

Increase the Base Present Rewards from 1,3,5 to 2,6,10.

Add difficulties like with the jumping puzzle, each difficulty increasing the damage taken for missed or extra notes. On the flipside, results in more gifts. (x2,x3)

Getting a perfect 100 in a song nets you 1,3,5 personalized gifts, depending on the song difficulty.

Getting a perfect 600 for the entire thing nets you 10 personalized gifts.

Reduce the amount needed for the infinite achievement from 20 songs to 12 (or 18) and increase the personalized gifts for the rewards from 3 to 5 to match the jumping puzzle.

 

I'd also suggest increasing the damage taken for a missed or extra note regardless, I find the current damage taken to be fairly insignificant when playing.

 

Just felt like putting this out there, I'd love for changes to be made to this and the other Wintersday activities, as I think they all deserve plenty of attention to improve them.

[Ayakaru.6583]

My biggest problems with the choir instance are:

1. Upon entering, you’revalways put in a 500-600 instance.

2. After finishing, you have to wait three hours (play whatever you like) for the next match to begin, or leave the instance, re-enter, and induce problem 1. (Hyperbole complaint)

[lokh.2695]

I really like this minigame a lot, but the "play whateverr you like" part seems pointless. PPl who want to play whatever they like are free to buy a bell for a few coppers and spam the open world, ppl who don't want to play whatever they like have to wait for the game to end and mostly likely either won't play anything or mash some buttons then go afk. If the section would count as a song played for the achi and reward something, I might see a point in staying and playing, but like this it's just a waste of time.

[LONGA.1652]

Just need a new track on the game really.

[Danikat.8537]

I doubt anyone would object to the free play section being removed. I've never seen anyone say they like it and almost never seen anyone attempt to play actual songs during that bit.

 

Removing the wait between songs might be more problematic however, because that only happens if there's someone on the map who isn't in position - it's time for them to find a space and get ready to start, so whilst it would be great for the people who are already in position to wait less time for the next song for anyone who just joined or dropped out on the last song cutting it short could make it impossible (or at least extremely difficult) to get a spot in time.

 

Also I tend to go for bell choir when I don't want to feel under pressure to rush through the jumping puzzle or I'm tired or otherwise not up to completing it reliably, so I appreciate those pauses as time to rest my hands, have a drink (since bell choir takes 2 hands I can't do anything else during a song) or check my inventory and time left on my karma booster. I might not need it every time, but I often appreciate the more relaxed pace even if I know it means I'm getting less gifts and karma per minute.

[Bridget Morrigan.1752]

The free play section needs to go.

You need to not be brought into any maps that are in the middle of their last round of actual songs or after.

You should select what part you want to play before entering, so it will take you directly to a map with that part available and put you right on the stage.

Reduce time between songs.

Give more songs per match.

Improve rewards.

[mtpelion.4562]

1. Remove the Free Play. It is unnecessary and no one enjoys it.

 

This will fix all the other issues with Bell Choir.

 

It's also a suggestion that has been made every year since the first one, so I doubt they have any intention of doing it.

[Willhart.8230]

I would like to hear a new son or two. I learned the current ones last year. Maybe some randomization on which song plays to still keep the amount of songs played in the round the same? It'd add replay value too.

[Kal Spiro.9745]

> @"pholtos.9751" said:

> So I enjoy the Bell Choir, quite a bit. I do find a few problems with it, mostly time-wise but also reward-wise.

>

> To start with a tangent, I have mastered the Jumping Puzzle of Wintersday, I can do the hard path around 12~14 times in 30 minutes, and that means I gain 15 or so personalized gifts and 180~210 wintersday gifts per 30 minutes.

> Comparing to Bell Choir, every 10 minutes you can earn a maximum of 1,1,3,3,5,5 gifts. So that's 18 gifts in around 10 minutes, I won't get too specific, the timing varies based on the in-between song segments. Then you have the infinite achievement of 3 Personalized Gifts every 20 songs. So that'd be... 6,12,18,24. 30-40 minutes or so to get 3 personalized gifts.

> (I honestly think the JP grants way more than any of the other events, and would suggest all the other events get a boost to at least be a bit better all around.)

This is true, but only to those that are good at it. This seems like a large group, and those of us that can farm gingerbread appear to be numerous, but still a small subset of the population. The rest are getting 5 or 10 per finish, and only finishing the whole thing maybe 9 times each run.

 

That said, you're still entirely correct about the disparity

 

> So with that out there, I'd like to get into some suggestions. Let's start with the timewise aspect:

> Remove the freeplay segment. - This will cause some backlash from a minimum, but it's fairly easy to acquire a choir bell or magnanimous choir bell outside the bell choir. This would cut out a good 1-2 minutes of time.

> Decrease the time between rounds. - This one might actually be a bad thing, I'm sort of mixed but I'm adding it regardless as a possible suggestion.

Yes, kill free play. This has never made sense. I don't understand why it exists at all. It's as bad as having to wait out the timer in Clocktower despite there being no time for another run. Just cut it out and let us get on to the next match

 

Decreasing time, I'm not sure. There is only a delay between matches if all four choirs are not full, which means we're giving people time to find an open choir or join the match to fill a spot.

 

> Now onto the rewards aspect:

> Increase the Base Present Rewards from 1,3,5 to 2,6,10.

> Add difficulties like with the jumping puzzle, each difficulty increasing the damage taken for missed or extra notes. On the flipside, results in more gifts. (x2,x3)

> Getting a perfect 100 in a song nets you 1,3,5 personalized gifts, depending on the song difficulty.

> Getting a perfect 600 for the entire thing nets you 10 personalized gifts.

> Reduce the amount needed for the infinite achievement from 20 songs to 12 (or 18) and increase the personalized gifts for the rewards from 3 to 5 to match the jumping puzzle.

This is entirely too many personalized gifts. You're offering 28 personalized gifts every 10 minutes if you're really good. That is such an absurd value it's nuts. what I would like to see if, instead of 20 songs lands you 3 personalized gifts. 300 notes lands you 3 personalized gifts. 300 notes is a score of 600 at the end of 6 songs. It means you could get 3 personalized gifts every 10 minutes, if you're good enough. I would even say bumping it up to 5 wouldn't be unfair. That would be directly equivalent to the JP with 15 in 30 minutes, if you're good enough. Of course, I think many would argue that the JP is harder than the bells, so maybe 3 is fine.

 

I do agree that an increase in value of songs would be nice, but I'm uncertain if this buff is appropriate.

I think I'd rather see something more akin to toypocolypse, where you get a bonus for finishing the set. 10 presents at the end of the match for being there seems fair.

[Ayumi Spender.1082]

I just have one suggestion.

Give us a choice on difficulty.

I want an all hard or harder difficulty for every song played.