The old, old, OLD Ultima Online BBEG forumla

[Prince Caspian]

It doesn't matter if its a demon/vampire/lich emperor/Avon Lady/dragon/morlock/demonspawn/el pollo diabolo....

...the devs use the SAME formula EVERY time....

1. Set hitpoints to an INSANE number, usually +50% or so of the top BBEG in the game.
2. Set the damage of this guy to SMITE levels and set his Health Regen to X-Mens Wolverine level.
3. Publish to all shards.

Devs, it's REALLY time to change this formula. There are other ways a monster can be challenging. In a world where we cannot have more than 200 hitpoints, why are we up against monsters (and minor ones like PIRATES???? Normal mortal men, like the brigands we one-hit???) who have hitpoints that require over two commas to list?

 

[Kiminality]

It doesn't matter if its a demon/vampire/lich emperor/Avon Lady/dragon/morlock/demonspawn/el pollo diabolo....

That's just terrifying...
Door-to-door peerless?

 

[Llewen]

It doesn't matter if its a demon/vampire/lich emperor/Avon Lady/dragon/morlock/demonspawn/el pollo diabolo....

That's just terrifying...
Door-to-door peerless?

 

[Apetul]

Yeah, this game needs more creatures like the new changeling from lvl7 maps on Ilshenar. I dont remember the name, but its like a enhanced changeling that will target chars near her at random.

 

[Sevin0oo0]

considering most can be solo'd, I don't get it

 

[Merion]

considering most can be solo'd, I don't get it

It doesn't matter if you can solo it or not - well a bit, you shouldn't be able to, but the real point is: it's boring! Corgul is soo damn boring! Sick a few dragon on them or use some x-healing dexxers, have a few mystics heal them and that's it. It simply takes ages ages to remove his HP with his high resist, but there no twist to it. Most bosses just hit you for massive amounts and have enormous hp.

And to conclude not only with criticism but an alternative: How about a boss that changes forms randomly and each form can only be harmed by a certain type of attack (melee, ranged, magic)? That would require mixed groups and would force players to pay attention and shift their tactic accordingly instead of just spamming their heal macro while watching tv...

 

[Ahuaeyjnkxs]

You could as well ask for the moon lol.

Every major contributor to UO has been savagely driven away like I was in the day (around 1999-2000) when I was supposed to program AI's like that.

Beleive it or not its pretty simple to script a monster AI in UO, it's all made so its instinctual.

But no, they fired us, and everyone who tried to make it something more than it is, because it simply means alot more than what it is ; and the guardian *cough* makes it so you never learn about it.

 

[Harlequin]

Cool, first time I've seen people use the term BBEG in UO heh.

 

[G.v.P]

It doesn't matter if its a demon/vampire/lich emperor/Avon Lady/dragon/morlock/demonspawn/el pollo diabolo....

Are you referring to the Hell Hounds? Which have firebreath, cacophony, dismount, reveal, and other tactics outside of melee hits?

Devs, it's REALLY time to change this formula. There are other ways a monster can be challenging. In a world where we cannot have more than 200 hitpoints, why are we up against monsters (and minor ones like PIRATES???? Normal mortal men, like the brigands we one-hit???) who have hitpoints that require over two commas to list?

There are four factors to deal with when trying to take down a creature: their HP, their resists, their offense ability, and their defense ability. However, one reason to up HP is to allow more people a chance to add their name to the loot list. I agree something like a changeling is more fun to fight than say a paragon cu sidhe, but then both serve different functions. The paragon status makes rare colored cu sidhes rarer, while changelings make for a difficult journey through the desert in which you have to plan a strategy in order to make it through alive.

In the case of the super monsters, the devs want to design something that is very hard, that will kill people, so that you have to use a whole group of people to take it down and get the rewards. It may not be community building at its finest, but having everyone out trying to accomplish the task is what live content is supposed to be about.

 

[Ahuaeyjnkxs]

Exept when like me on the supposedly most populated servers I spent days "playing" the "role" that I was supposed to find 2 other ppl to go do a cool quest...

But to find two people that will actually speak to you was a challenge of epic proportions more than the quest itself.