Posted by Croaker on 06/29
First of all, please don't level personal insults at other players or
at the imms in public forums such as this. Your posts may be removed
if you do. It is fine to argue with other players or imms, but not
to cross the line into OOC harassment by publicly posting your
feelings about another player or imm.
As far as the XP scale is concerned, I believe it has been a very
positive step for the mud as a whole. Yes, leveling is harder than
before, but this was a necessary adjustment back from the extreme
where leveling was a joke before the change. I doubt further
complaints or debate is going to be very productive in getting either
the current xp scale as a system or the current system of increasing
difficulty to level as you progress removed.
However, the complaints that 'leveling is boring' may have some merit
and are a separate issue from how hard it is to level or what system
of leveling we are using. If you want to help either illuminate or
contribute to a solution to this perceived problem, please feel free to
discuss it either on this board or with imms personally.
I would suggest:
1) Alter the areas where you level. Although there may be one place
where you are most comfortable, or where you can level the 'fastest,'
you would undoubtedly derive more fun from the game if you pick
a new place to play, particularly one where scads of other people
aren't levelling at the same time. I have found this approach very
rewarding lately with my own morts, and have even discovered some
very good and currently 'unknown' xp mobs, gold mobs, fun acts, etc.
2) Make a contribution. If you think a particular area, mob, level is
boring, then come up with some suggestions/alternatives/constructive
suggestions for the builder who maintains the area. This
type of feedback is, in general, very well received by the builder staff
and may result in upgrades to areas that make them a more positive
experience. And remember, balance is an important key here. As Wraith
pointed out above, simply whining for more xp, more gold, more
easily accessible easily killable mobs is unlikely to get you anywhere.
Helping us identify mobs that are too hard, mobs that are too easy,
mobs that could have minor alterations made to make them more
entertaining is more likely to get your voice heard.
3) Employ courtesy and good manners. We're human up here, and
I can guarantee that you'll get a better response if you reason with us
in a courteous and articulate manner than the current whining and
imm-bashing which sems to get so much attention.
Croaker
From: Collins
Thursday, June 17, 10:36PM
I think its fairly safe to say that most people who have levelled
to 50th level in this system, be it 1 or 10 times, didn't find it a
challange. Perhaps if it was their first character here, but I certainly
wouldn't use the word challange. Face it, its downright tedious and
boring to kill XX same level mobs (ad naseum), with no risk of death. The
solution in my eyes is not to make mobs harder. Its fairly simple I
think, but I could be overlooking something, or many things. If I could
kill 5 (for instance) 50th level mobs at level 35, and level off of those
5 mobs, while running the risk of dying each time, it would not be
boring. It would not be tedious. It would add excitement to levelling
that is only found (for me) in areas like SL, PD, and in pkill. (well, not
as much as in pkill, but you get the idea I hope)
Its nice to see some imm feedback, it would be nice to see more. But
the line has to be drawn more clearly it seems, between imm feedback from
the particular person, and from the staff. Wraith's previous thoughts
appear to be those from his own head. Good. More imms should voice
opinions on this board. BUT, it would be nice once in a while, (Rufus
is probably the one imm that does this most often) to have an
official staff response to some of these thoughts.
"As a group we have decided that raising all mobs xp by X% would be
detrimental because...." Etc.
`nuff said
Lieutenant Collins
From: Brew
Friday, June 18, 01:17AM
I for one find just plain old leveling to be extremely boring.
Like wandering around a mob-rich area (or using hunt) to
find all the mobs of a certain type to get the most xp for your
buck has really no appeal to me.
I would rather amass my XP in groups of people, where you can
learn new ways to kill mobs, or atleast share your thoughts of a mob
and more importantly carry on a conversation.
Money Runs are best for me when I'm alone (cuz I get to keep it all)
But I tend to get bored with this after a time (which is why I don't have
a house or real nice EQ (I DT'd oh...atleast 2-3 months ago and
I still have 5k rent free. I'm too lazy to seek out gear, I wait for it
to appear on auction or on one of the "Sell Mobs"
But you people who complain about the XP scale are a mystery to me.
I mean, it's a pretty much foreign concept to me (I don't know much about
the coding behind a mud, I just play) But it doesn't seem to make a
difference what the scale is, people aren't going to be fully happy.
You can't please all of the people all of the time (or however that goes)
Yes, you can't get to level 50 in a week (well..I suppose you could)
and you can't level a lowbie 16 times on the rhinocerous (or so I hear)
but get over it and play. Make some new friends and quit crossplaying
your characters by calling upon other characters friends.
If you ask me, you must be a pretty bad player if you feel the need
to call upon others to do it all for you.
"Level me up so I can get all my spells and skills and enable"
Blah,
Brew
From: Wraith
Friday, June 18, 11:10AM
http://mud.sig.net/xpscale.html
Add up the numbers... The total number of same level kills to
advance under the new system is lower at each level from level
4 to 50...
The total number of same level kills to reach level 50 is about 550
_lower_ under the current xp scale. If you choose to kill many
lower level mobs, that's your choice. If it's more rewarding to do
it that way, perhaps it's because those mobs are too easy or the xp
adjustment for killing below your level is too small...
Pro's and con's for each scale are mentioned along with the
expected perception that some players will feel they are being
cheated by the reduced xp of higher level mobs...
- Wraith
From: Zandy
Friday, June 18, 02:22PM
One imm's perspective... and simply that, do not interpret as
official or anything.
A) The increased time to level 50 is not a bad thing. Take pleasure
in the journey as well as the destination. This isn't, however, to
say that I feel the current system is flawless.
B) Lower levels can level faster under this system. I don't think
many people would dispute this, and I find that to be a great
thing. You can build to the skills necessary to define your RP and
your character roles quicker.
C) There are really two things about the xp scale that I'm willing
to say that I think are problems. First, the reward and the risk
of killing mobs above your level are not equivalent. We've
discussed this off and on, and it is somewhere on the list to
re-evaluate. You SHOULD be able to level faster if you're willing
to risk dying more. Additionally, group xp is skewed. (Again, my
opinion.) As someone who likes to have healers without weapons,
I think the split needs to be re-evaluated. Again, I believe this
is on the list to be looked at, though I can't guarantee a change.
Look at it this way, please... The goal here is to balance the
number of mobs killed to level, the amount of time it takes to level,
find a fair way to split xp among groups that rewards each for their
input and won't allow power-levelling or the feeding of xp, add the
risks associated with a higher level mob and balance that with
the potential value of the eq the mob may have, and provide a
solid foundation of mobs at every level. This is an equation with
an absurd number of variables, and it's going to take a lot of time and
effort to get it where it works. If someone has the equation
written out such that we coud plug it in, I'd love to see it.
I can't, of course, guarantee that we'll use it, but if you've got
suggestions, hammer them out and show them to me. Be sure to account
for levels of all group members involved, and add the risk/penalty
associated with level differences.... Let me know what you can cime
up with.
-Zandy
From: Collins
Friday, June 18, 08:23PM
Ok, to Wraith's post a moment. Well, Zandy summed up my point pretty
well. It may take considerably less same level mobs to raise in
levels under this system, but most people aren't having a problem with
that part. Its the risk vs. reward for high level mobs as Zandy says. Its
simply not worthwhile to TRY to kill mobs 15 levels or more, higher than
you.
I agree, to level 20 this system is way easier than the old. From 20 - 35
its not too bad, but not as easy as the old. (and that is good in my
opinion) But from 35+, when you start killing level 50 mobs and losing
a large portion of your mana, and hitpoints, the reward isn't great at
all. (neither is the xp room or quest xp)
From: Croaker
Saturday, June 19, 09:04PM
As to the quest and explore xp part...they are pretty nice, actually.
Just for fun I took a character from 42 to 50 on explore xp and
quests alone last month (took about 4 hours) and could probably
have started at 40 and not had trouble.
Croaker
From: Deicide
Tuesday, June 29, 12:55PM
Leveling isn't challenging.. its easy but its the most tediously boring
experience i've ever had to go through in life.
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