The further flaw in this argument is the fact that it is inconsistent with other game content that functions the same way. These keys are essentially a consumable resource, just like ingots, wood, regs, scrolls, etc. Those items have been around since the beginning without the need for timers, yet people still mine, chop trees, buy up vendors... I'm not sure how removing the timers on keys would somehow produce a drastically different result.The dev argument against removing the timers on keys is that it somehow "invalidates the content," regardless of the fact that someone would still have to farm the keys.
Sure, it would allow a group to skip a chunk of "content," but then that's being done right now with the current 5-day timers...mainly because gathering keys is insanely BORING. So...yeah...their argument is fairly weak and ignores the reality of how UO is actually played.
+1Timers on keys need to go completely and they need to be vendorable. There's just no sane reason for the timers to exist.
I did it for a week, then stopped. I hoarded keys and just did the war when I wanted to go down there again. It got boring quickly and I stopped after about a week, although I did make a decent amount of gold off of all the Moonstone Crystals I sold.Also regarding the keys... some of the new hunts in Eodon need to be made easier to key. Keying for Zippy is a real burden that makes it almost not worth doing. I bet most people haven't even attempted to do it since it first came out. The final boss is a good fight, so it's a shame that the process is such a grind.
Just remove the need for keys entirely. I find with most of these encounters it takes longer to farm the keys than the actual boss fight itself.
No keys (should) mean more people doing the peerless encounters =This sounds even better.
And then you will get the people who say "The encounter isn't WORTH doing because of difficulty" and around and around we go.The level of difficulty on all Peerless encounters are in need of a significant boost.
This. Problem is that many things in the game are soloable or have a habit of 1 hit killing anything that fights them including GD's being torn to shreds in no time at all... so even with a mass mob of people the encounter is NOT FUN.I'd say leave most encounters the way they are, thus allowing a progression of sorts for the fabled "new player."
Most new bosses they just crank up the HP to ridiculous levels and give them annoying specials which they use far too often. Yes, I know this is to theoretically combat player power creep, but I just don't want to see EM event-type boss mobs become a regular thing.
Eh, that sounds good on paper, but in practice you're not going to sink a meaningful amount of gold out of this inflated economy without making the keys too expensive for "regular" people. Add in the fact that 99% of boss runs in this game seem to end with the player leaving empty-handed and I think most players would just decide they were losing more gold than they were making and giving up.Or, it would make a beautiful gold sink if there were NPC vendors you could buy keys from. Especially for all of the mondain legacy peerless encounters.
I see it the other way around: they're already not worth doing because they're too easy and the loot they drop is outdated. Over the years, as gear and templates got stronger and stronger, most of these bosses stayed the same and are now a cake walk even to do it solo, let alone in a group. I'm not saying all of them, but quite a few of them are virtually no challenge in a group as small as 2 or 3 people, let alone if you play in a bigger group the rolls out with 10+ people.And then you will get the people who say "The encounter isn't WORTH doing because of difficulty" and around and around we go.
This I certainly agree with. Keying for the quests should still be apart of the equation. I'm not a fan of the notion of NPCs selling keys or being able to go right to the boss encounter without atleast one person having had to put in the effort to gather the keys. Having to spend atleast a little time questing is not unreasonable.I enjoy the adventure and fights along the way. I think collecting the keys are no problem at all and just part of the quest.
The timers and requirements to get certain keys help limit artifacts that would otherwise flood UO markets.
Last few trips for Exodus have been duds.Also need a loot bump for all these bosses, except Exodus.
If I'm not mistaken, the amount of spawn the "war" produces is based on the amount of people with you. So doing it in a big group was a nice challenge. However.. having to key for each item individually in ways that were absolutely painful just made it too much of a grind to continue on with it after just about everyone got their moonstones.I did it for a week, then stopped. I hoarded keys and just did the war when I wanted to go down there again. It got boring quickly and I stopped after about a week, although I did make a decent amount of gold off of all the Moonstone Crystals I sold.
Yeah looking over the rewards the only thing I wanted was the moonstone thing, so I pickked it up for cheap on Vendor search and said screw this mess.I didn't even bother with that zippy / pit thing. I knew it would be a painful grind and the rewards looked pretty bad. I just got the moonstone I wanted from vendor search.