Disclaimer: I have not done a single LPQ on Phoenix and the EXP numbers I used were entirely from research.
LPQ requires 6 players between level 35 and 50 in order to participate.
The current total LPQ EXP gains from completing 9 stages assuming the player does not kill a single mob during the PQ: 30,300 EXP.
An LPQ run ranges in time taken, and can take anywhere between 20-45 minutes depending on party composition and individual party members’ proficiency and experience in running the PQ. Taking the average time to complete an LPQ run (32.5 minutes), the average EXP/minute from doing a single LPQ run is 932.30 EXP.
*Note that this does not include downtime from things such as needing to look for a party, replacing party members that left and replenishing potions.
CPQ requires 2-6 players between level 30 and 50 in order to participate. Coincidentally, CPQ fills the level 30-35 gap that is absent before LPQ (this is assuming the player goes the route of reaching level 30 through KPQ and intends to continue levelling up through PQs).
The EXP gain from CPQ varies, depending on the amount of Carnival Points (CP) the team accumulates over the course of a run and on whether the team wins or loses the “match.”
Each CPQ run takes 10 minutes. Not accounting for EXP gained from killing mobs during a run, the EXP rewarded from each run is as follows:
WIN
-500+ CP (Rank A) : 30,000 EXP (3,000 EPM)
-300-499 CP (Rank B) : 25,500 EXP (2,550 EPM)
-100-299 CP (Rank C) : 15,000 EXP (1,500 EPM)
-1-99 CP (Rank D) : 7,500 EXP (750 EPM)
LOSE
-500+ CP (Rank A) : 10,000 EXP (1,000 EPM)
-300-499 CP (Rank B) : 8,500 EXP (850 EPM)
-100-299 CP (Rank C) : 7,500 EXP (750 EPM)
-1-99 CP (Rank D) : 1,000 EXP (100 EPM)
*EPM - EXP/minute
Notice that should a party win a single CPQ match with Rank A, even after disregarding the EXP gained from killing mobs during a match (it’s a ridiculously high amount), it easily trumps over the EPM from LPQ. Not to mention that it takes half, if not less of the time it takes to complete an LPQ run. It is only when the player loses a match with Rank B that the EPM from LPQ even comes close to being comparable. Again, this does not take into consideration the copious amounts of EXP gained from killing the mobs during a CPQ run.
One of the biggest concerns for the addition of CPQ into Phoenix is the potential emergence of hard leeching. This is due to how the maps in CPQ are designed to facilitate players AFK-ing and the fact that CPQ can be done with only 4 people (2v2) instead of 6 for LPQ.
Another concern is that the addition of CPQ back in live MapleStory servers killed the viability of LPQ.
In order to prevent LPQ from being obsolete, I would like to propose the following adjustments for CPQ:
-Remove EXP gains from killing mobs
-Reward EXP only based on accumulated team CP
-Adjust the EXP rewards from CPQ to be significantly less than LPQ
The Spiegelmann’s Necklace in and of itself is enough incentive for players to participate in CPQ. With the release of CPQ, it will be the only obtainable pendant for players up to obtaining a Horntail Pendant.
In many cases, the EXP gained from killing mobs can be more than the EXP gained from winning a CPQ match, thus why win trading was rampant back in live MapleStory. Winning was simply seen as a nice bonus. The caveat here being that the EXP gained from mobs have many variables tied to it such as the types of mob summoned, the time it takes to summon the mobs, buffs/debuffs and the players’ speed in killing the mobs.
By removing EXP gains from killing mobs, it will encourage all players to participate as only winning with Rank A would make a CPQ run worth the while compared to LPQ.
One could argue that high-level or well-funded players will consistently beat low-level or lower-funded players. A system could be implemented by the developers to level the playing field and make it so that damage in CPQ scales only with level and not items. This way, a player in CPQ can only gain an advantage over others through levelling up. I am unsure as to the technical difficulty of achieving this, but this is the only viable solution I can come up with at the time of writing this post.
I read in one of his replies to this thread that Arnah had an idea on rewarding EXP based on individual CP and not team CP in order to discourage AFK-ing players and mules. I reckon with appropriate adjustments made to the EXP rewards, it could be enough of a deterrent for players looking towards CPQ to gain EXP while idling.
My proposed EXP adjustments is as follows:
WIN
-500+ CP (Rank A) : 7,500 EXP (750 EPM)
-300-499 CP (Rank B) : 6,375 EXP (637.5 EPM)
-100-299 CP (Rank C) : 3,750 EXP (375 EPM)
-1-99 CP (Rank D) : 1,875 EXP (187.5 EPM)
LOSE
-500+ CP (Rank A) : 2,500 EXP (250 EPM)
-300-499 CP (Rank B) : 2,125 EXP (212.5 EPM)
-100-299 CP (Rank C) : 1,875 EXP (187.5 EPM)
-1-99 CP (Rank D) : 250 EXP (25 EPM)
*EPM - EXP/minute
These EXP adjustments will ensure that LPQ is still superior to CPQ in terms of EXP rewards. This way, the main incentive players have to participate in CPQ would be to obtain the Spiegelmann’s Necklace and/or other rewards. These adjustments would still provide a viable avenue for players to level up between level 30 and 35. LPQ will still be the premier PQ for EXP gains in the level 35-50 bracket.
Furthermore, with these adjustments win trading will carry significantly less EPM than LPQ (750 EPM from winning CPQ with Rank A vs 932.3 EPM from LPQ).
In summary, with these changes, CPQ’s main purpose in the game would be to provide more valuable rewards while also providing a viable EXP avenue to players in the level 30-35 bracket. LPQ will still be the go-to PQ when it comes to levelling up between level 35 and 50.