J
jfkeach
Guest
First, I think that the goals set out by the dev team when they looked at GGS were admirable. Here they are as a reference point for the rest of this post.
Desired elements for UO skill gain system
Gains through "normal" game play
Support for some power gaming
Reasonably long total time investment to "max" a character
Actions performed to gain skill must be reasonably achievable at the player's current skill level
I think that this system works with a few exceptions. The promise of Gains through "Normal" game play, is one that for the most part, works, but for certain skills, is sorely broken. Primarily Tamers and Bards have to powergame to work these skills to be effective in the field.
We have had blackrock events where we could train skills like mad, and yes, SoT's, Scrolls of Alacrity, Jewels, Power Scrolls, and soul stones have done a lot to help players become effective in their chosen proffession.
Taming, well, we all know its a beast to train. For the most part, the Ranger is a hunter, using beasts in battle to fight the peerless, Mobs, and higher level monsters. That is our profession. Not TAMING per say for the most part. How many players do nothing but tame beasts for library contributions or to sell to other players? Very few tamers do that as a profession. So the goal for a tamer is to tame and control a beast in battle. (For the most part)
I have several tamers. (4 accounts) All can jewel up to 120 taming. To me, the promise to gain through normal game play for tamers is a broken one. I left the game for 14 months, and distinctly remember the promise being made by a dev team member that they were looking at ways for a tamer to gain skill in taming through not only actively taming a pet, but by controlling their pets. I have been back for over a year, and that promise is still like a whisper in the wind. My main char, the one I play most, is a Chiv Pally Archer Tamer. One of the first on atlantic 4 years ago. King Sidhe. If you do spawns, you know of him and have seen him.
He is over 2 years old. His Taming is just now getting over GM and that is because i have been buying SoT's for a bunch of gold. 30 mil for a 3.0 SoT. I have spent countless hours taming for skill gain, and used animals that were in his skill range. Im sick of taming for gain. Sick of it in the worse way. Yes, he is jewelled up to 120 taming, and he is naturally 120 Lore, Vet, Med, Chiv, Archery. Yes, I have spent several hundreds of millions of gold to build this char for the scrolls, jewels, and armor. Yes, he can do any of the spawns, and any of the peerless. But can he gain skill through normal gain play? NO!!!
Ok, lets talk about bards. Whew.
I started playing on PAC when i lived out west. Pied Piper was a 7xGM Provo Bard before AOS. That was tough. But with the hacks that came in, bards were nerfed to the point, I quit playing them a long time ago.
However, I find a need now to have a Disco and a provo bard. So here I am training these skills on two chars. I am sitting for hours on end, training disco to get to the point I can use this char in champ spawns and peerless, and I tell you, I would rather have all of my teeth pulled with no painkillers than do this. I get my tamer to go get a bunch of animals that are appropriate for my skill level. I discord each of them, then invis, and start over. Rinse and repeat for hours and hours on end. I gain slowly but surely, just to get to GM it will take me about 2 weeks of hours a day doing this. Ill have to jewel up to 120 so I can start PLAYING again.
The whole purpose of this post, is I think that the DEV TEAM REALLY needs to look at the skill gain vs normal game play. We should not have to POWERGAME skill training to be effective. I am retired, I have the time to do this, and I do. I hate it, but I do it. I have the resources Most players don't have. If i didnt, I would not be playing this game for as long as I have. If you want to lure newer players into the game, make it possible for them to gain skill by playing the game, not training for hours and hours on end, day after day.
I can Max out a warrior, mage, even a mule in no time at all. I can have 7xgm mage in 2-3 days. Going legendary takes a little longer, but only by a day or two. A warrior I can make Maxed out in less than a week. Why does it take YEARS to max out my tamer?
Desired elements for UO skill gain system
Gains through "normal" game play
Support for some power gaming
Reasonably long total time investment to "max" a character
Actions performed to gain skill must be reasonably achievable at the player's current skill level
I think that this system works with a few exceptions. The promise of Gains through "Normal" game play, is one that for the most part, works, but for certain skills, is sorely broken. Primarily Tamers and Bards have to powergame to work these skills to be effective in the field.
We have had blackrock events where we could train skills like mad, and yes, SoT's, Scrolls of Alacrity, Jewels, Power Scrolls, and soul stones have done a lot to help players become effective in their chosen proffession.
Taming, well, we all know its a beast to train. For the most part, the Ranger is a hunter, using beasts in battle to fight the peerless, Mobs, and higher level monsters. That is our profession. Not TAMING per say for the most part. How many players do nothing but tame beasts for library contributions or to sell to other players? Very few tamers do that as a profession. So the goal for a tamer is to tame and control a beast in battle. (For the most part)
I have several tamers. (4 accounts) All can jewel up to 120 taming. To me, the promise to gain through normal game play for tamers is a broken one. I left the game for 14 months, and distinctly remember the promise being made by a dev team member that they were looking at ways for a tamer to gain skill in taming through not only actively taming a pet, but by controlling their pets. I have been back for over a year, and that promise is still like a whisper in the wind. My main char, the one I play most, is a Chiv Pally Archer Tamer. One of the first on atlantic 4 years ago. King Sidhe. If you do spawns, you know of him and have seen him.
He is over 2 years old. His Taming is just now getting over GM and that is because i have been buying SoT's for a bunch of gold. 30 mil for a 3.0 SoT. I have spent countless hours taming for skill gain, and used animals that were in his skill range. Im sick of taming for gain. Sick of it in the worse way. Yes, he is jewelled up to 120 taming, and he is naturally 120 Lore, Vet, Med, Chiv, Archery. Yes, I have spent several hundreds of millions of gold to build this char for the scrolls, jewels, and armor. Yes, he can do any of the spawns, and any of the peerless. But can he gain skill through normal gain play? NO!!!
Ok, lets talk about bards. Whew.
I started playing on PAC when i lived out west. Pied Piper was a 7xGM Provo Bard before AOS. That was tough. But with the hacks that came in, bards were nerfed to the point, I quit playing them a long time ago.
However, I find a need now to have a Disco and a provo bard. So here I am training these skills on two chars. I am sitting for hours on end, training disco to get to the point I can use this char in champ spawns and peerless, and I tell you, I would rather have all of my teeth pulled with no painkillers than do this. I get my tamer to go get a bunch of animals that are appropriate for my skill level. I discord each of them, then invis, and start over. Rinse and repeat for hours and hours on end. I gain slowly but surely, just to get to GM it will take me about 2 weeks of hours a day doing this. Ill have to jewel up to 120 so I can start PLAYING again.
The whole purpose of this post, is I think that the DEV TEAM REALLY needs to look at the skill gain vs normal game play. We should not have to POWERGAME skill training to be effective. I am retired, I have the time to do this, and I do. I hate it, but I do it. I have the resources Most players don't have. If i didnt, I would not be playing this game for as long as I have. If you want to lure newer players into the game, make it possible for them to gain skill by playing the game, not training for hours and hours on end, day after day.
I can Max out a warrior, mage, even a mule in no time at all. I can have 7xgm mage in 2-3 days. Going legendary takes a little longer, but only by a day or two. A warrior I can make Maxed out in less than a week. Why does it take YEARS to max out my tamer?