Labyrinth Changes

[Bobster]

I only modified about 7-8 nameds in Laby, and they were mostly in the lower sections. I did change one around, but just made him patrol around a room. Really, it isn't nearly as bad as it's made out to be at the moment. If you find a boss on the upper levels that is too hard for a solo, please /report it and give a loc, and I'll look into it.

I think that the Laby should have some solo content, but it should be in the early parts of the dungeon. We can't reward the soloist with the best gear, but we can't ignore him either. I'll discuss a few ideas with other team members and get some input.

[PhantomBuddha]

I'll chime in, since I've been pretty active on the board and very active playing lately.

I am similar to Conners up there, i LOVE PvE and the more the merrier I say for that. In terms of what kinds, I would love to do both, anything I can solo and bot my way through is great, and small group stuff would be worthwhile as well. I think I also would like to see larger end game grade stuff in there for the smaller, but well geared/skilled group to take down.

I've never focused on RVR of any sort in this game, so my oppinion there is not real significant. I have a lot of intermixed AFK as well due to a small child in the home, but if 'end game' PVE is not hard to accomplish(re: hours of developer time) then that would be an interesting addition too that will only enhance the community and support for the server.

Unless things get super retarded here, in terms of a inconsiderate community, server stability, or some kind of game-ruining changes, I don't see myself leaving anytime soon. This is THE BEST free shard due to caring administrators and a commited dev team. Regardless of the focus of the content, there is just so much this server has to offer players.

That is a long winded way of saying I want it all, and I want it now! But there you go. Maybe a way to develop a more concise development plan is to poll the server community as a whole, and see where they would like to see the dev focus going on a given period of time. Maybe put a top 10 list of upcoming 'things' and let the communities vote decide which is next. We know tons of time is spent on break-fix type corrections, and devoting devs fulltime to adding more content would hurt the quality that is happening there, but it may be at least worth the quick effort to see where the community would like to go next?

Now having all that said, I may represent a minority in terms of DOAC exposure, I left shortly after SI came out and have not seen the game since. I took my first trip into trollhiem 2 nights ago.....I am loving all of the old content experiences I'm getting just messing around solo+bot...others may be more or completely focused on RVR or something else, I'm just loving seeing the whole game finally....I haven't bothered researching the ML or CL fun that is yet to come=)

[Tolakram]

For now they should focus on fixing bugs, a no brainer, and adding content that will draw in more population so that enhanced group encounters are more feasible.

Different people do different things. This is a volunteer project. People writing encounter scripts aren't the same people that fix core bugs. Even then, if a volunteer wants to take a break and add content they do because this isn't a job. Some of the seemingly basic bugs are deep in the core of the server software where only a few people can wander. That's why we have this server, to help ferret out those problems.

And concerning Named mobs, I really think there should be some sort of guaranteed unique or special items being dropped from each kill. They're named mobs for crying out loud. I watched someone in broadcast chat who'd been farming Named mobs in labyrinth for, he said, hours and not getting any of the good drops that the mobs were supposed to drop. That was pretty much my own experience from farming Named mobs in Dartmoor. That's just wrong.

And just on my own personal wish list. I'd like to see more Glowing, Proccing and Buff Charged items dropping. Greater Staff of Storm should have a Mana Regen buff on it and currently mine does not. Face it. ROG items are ok, if you're leveling, but once you're level 50. You want/need items that make your character uniquely your own with some fine stats and special effects on them.

So should they drop 100% of the time? 50%, or what? You can't be unique if something is easy to obtain. As far as drops, we're working on them but it takes time and effort. You can use the item builder, build items, and submit them if you like. Just make sure you can prove they drop on live.

We're an RvR server so we can't just add cool overpowered items without upsetting the balance. This might be a good time to discuss PVE only bonuses though, like those found in catacombs. By obtaining PVE gear you could progress to tougher and tougher mobs solo. While a group could take it on right away you could to but would have to spend time farming for PVE gear.

In case you haven't played cats, PVE bonuses are
% chance to block
% chance to parry
% chance to evade
Bonus to style damage
Bonus to reactionary style damage

Would leveling the PVE field this way interest you? I'm going to add this to the feature discussion board.

[Graveen]

About this, i have the following opinion: a great challenge for a ridiculous - but real - bonus.

it means i consider the best gear is on toughest mobs, the very high quality on hard mobs, high quality on normal mobs.
Thus, it do not denaturate the game as difference between best and high quality are nearly imperceptible, and it gives a sense on every named killed.

On others sides of discussions, i join Tolakram: community projects are not jobs, so every contributor is free to work on - most often - things he likes.

[WisdomConners]

And concerning Named mobs, I really think there should be some sort of guaranteed unique or special items being dropped from each kill. They're named mobs for crying out loud. I watched someone in broadcast chat who'd been farming Named mobs in labyrinth for, he said, hours and not getting any of the good drops that the mobs were supposed to drop. That was pretty much my own experience from farming Named mobs in Dartmoor. That's just wrong.

And just on my own personal wish list. I'd like to see more Glowing, Proccing and Buff Charged items dropping. Greater Staff of Storm should have a Mana Regen buff on it and currently mine does not. Face it. ROG items are ok, if you're leveling, but once you're level 50. You want/need items that make your character uniquely your own with some fine stats and special effects on them.

So should they drop 100% of the time? 50%, or what? You can't be unique if something is easy to obtain. As far as drops, we're working on them but it takes time and effort. You can use the item builder, build items, and submit them if you like. Just make sure you can prove they drop on live.

I don't mean to sound like I'm telling anyone what to do. Maybe my writing style is coming off as demanding and I don't mean to be. I know the work is being done by volunteers and I appreciate that. I don't see, however, what would be so hard in upping the percentage of chances on good drops off named mobs to a fairly high percentage. Surely the percentage is a number that can be plugged in easily enough and it can be lowered again as population rises to encourage grouping if you want.

We're an RvR server so we can't just add cool overpowered items without upsetting the balance.

Actually the server is listed as a PVE/RVR server which is what brought me here. If it were strictly an RvR server I'd go back to playing GuildWars or Dungeon Runners for free.

This might be a good time to discuss PVE only bonuses though, like those found in catacombs. By obtaining PVE gear you could progress to tougher and tougher mobs solo. While a group could take it on right away you could to but would have to spend time farming for PVE gear.

In case you haven't played cats, PVE bonuses are
% chance to block
% chance to parry
% chance to evade
Bonus to style damage
Bonus to reactionary style damage

Would leveling the PVE field this way interest you? I'm going to add this to the feature discussion board.

I've actually mentioned making PVE alternatives for gaining RP/RA's to Istandalone while online a while back and he thought it was a good idea. I don't mind working my way up to better and better PvE gear. That would have thrilled me to no end on Live servers. If one could work their way up to a point PvE wise where they could Solo/Duo the Dragon by getting the appropriate gear that would be fantastic to me. That's what burned me out on DAoC Live pretty much. The focus on catering to RvR endgame left me feeling bored because RvR stopped being about RvR years ago and became just a mass of PvP/RP farming in the frontiers.

In the end, please, don't see my posts as demands. I'm just voicing my opinions on what I'd enjoy. I'm not making demands of the programmer/volunteers in any way. How could I? It's not like anyone's forcing me to play or taking my money for the privilege of playing here. I have no leverage to demand anything. I just know what I'd like to see so I'm saying so. Take it all with a grain of salt. Maybe it'll help flavor the game.

[Tolakram]

In the end, please, don't see my posts as demands.

Not a problem. I saw this as a good discussion.