The State Of EM Events And Item Drop System (Changes ARE Needed)

[Tangled Metal]

I started back playing in October last year after several months break. One of the main reasons I decided to come back was for EM Events. Since I came back in October I have attended approximately 45 events on 9 different shards. My experience has been, well, disappointing to say the least.

I am not sure who's bright idea it was to change item drops to Top Attackers. It seems that most all events I have gone to with drops have gone to pretty much the same people with very little variations. Sure, every now and then someone new gets a drop but it is usually because one of the normal 10 or 15 drop getters is absent that night.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think everyone should get a drop at every event. However, I do think it would be better if the drops were 100% random to whoever has looting rights. That seems to be the only fair way to distribute items. Of the 45 or so events I have attended, I have gotten looting rights on about 75%+ of the bosses with the drops. Of that 75%+ of the time I have received a total of 1 item drop and it was at an event with 30 drops. While I know of a dozen people who were at almost all of the same events who have had multiple drops.

The people that keep getting drops are the ones who have spent hundreds of millions in gold building suits and characters that guarantee them to be in the top attacker range. People with 4.5+ Greater dragons and 120 spell weaving, throwers with the best gear money can buy and create, etc. It was stated at some point that healers would get a chance at a drop, but I have yet to ever hear about anyone getting a drop from healing anything other than their GD.

I would like to see a change in the way items are given out at events. I would like to see it become random to anyone who has looting rights. At least everyone has a chance to get a drop even if they cannot afford to spend 750 million gold building a leet suit. I know it used to be items on the corpse with instanced corpse but people complained because they could not find the corpses but isn't there a way to make it random AND pop into your pack? Or just stop giving out items all together and let people show up just for fun. Sure the crowds will be smaller but that just means that the top guys won't be there for their items. The people who attend will be there for the story, the fun, the fellowship, etc.

Yes, I know some of you will flame me for this post, I expect that from some of you. I just had to say my peace about how I felt about all of this. EM Events were one of the reasons I came back I would hate for them to change to one of the reasons I would want to leave again.

 

[Mitzlplik_LS]

I don`t think EM`s should be giving out any drops or unique prizes/presents.

And I would have to question why you have attended " 45 events on 9 different shards" since October. Me thinks your a lil butthurt.

Which is exactly why EM`s need to can the pixel crack stuff.

 

[Tangled Metal]

I don`t think EM`s should be giving out any drops or unique prizes/presents.

And I would have to question why you have attended " 45 events on 9 different shards" since October. Me thinks your a lil butthurt.

Which is exactly why EM`s need to can the pixel crack stuff.

Perhaps I should say I like going to events. Actually I thought that was implied. No, I am not butthurt in the least. I enjoy the in-game fiction and the events. It isn't about getting an item for me. I am just making an observation that the same people get items all the time and everyone else doesn't. If you had actually read all of what I wrote you'd see I suggested either making it fair for all or stop giving out items. Like I also said, I expect flames from some of you. I also expect that some will add to the thread in a positive manner as well. One can always hope...

 

[Mitzlplik_LS]

Perhaps I should say I like going to events. Actually I thought that was implied. No, I am not butthurt in the least. I enjoy the in-game fiction and the events. It isn't about getting an item for me. I am just making an observation that the same people get items all the time and everyone else doesn't. If you had actually read all of what I wrote you'd see I suggested either making it fair for all or stop giving out items. Like I also said, I expect flames from some of you. I also expect that some will add to the thread in a positive manner as well. One can always hope...

Yep... I only read half of your post and I replied a lil hastily. MOST ppl are only there for a drop or a unique item they can pedal to the highest bidder. Thats why EM`s need to rethink their role in UO,on prodo anyways.

 

[kelmo]

*smiles* You should all hug your EM.

 

[DJAd]

I guess the fairest way would be to have a vendor style click-able at the end of every event for players to click on and receive a prize.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

This post should be entitled "The State of EM Items" or "The State of EM Prizes." More goes on at these events, much more, than merely the handing out of prizes, yet the poster alludes to this but once: "The people who attend will be there for the story, the fun, the fellowship, etc."

-Galen's player

 

[budman23]

Sure the crowds will be smaller

I just felt like quoting the easy to spot fail in this.

Smaller crowds are NOT what we want, ANYWHERE.

 

[Tjalle]

Or just stop giving out items all together and let people show up just for fun. Sure the crowds will be smaller but that just means that the top guys won't be there for their items. The people who attend will be there for the story, the fun, the fellowship, etc.

This is my opinion on this subject as well. I suggested the same thing in another thread in the past.

IMO the reward should be the memory of having attended said event(s). Of having a good time playing together with other people who are there to enjoy the story/event for what it is. Some might say they need a token to remind them of the event. I say, take and save screenshots if you want stuff to remind you of the hopefully good time you had there.
Or better yet, write about it in a book, seal it with a red leaf and save the book.

Also with no drops, like you said, it´s more likely that the people who attend are the people who are there because they enjoy stuff like that, not to make easy money by getting a drop only to sell it 5 mins later. Which then would hopefully cut down on the griefing and complaining from people who only want stuff. "Do we get stuff?" No, you don´t.

As it is now, it seems like a farce.

The way I see it, there´s three groups in this. The EMs, the people who attend the event cuz they like the story/lore behind it and the people who are only there for the items. As it is now, from what I´ve read and heard, it seems as if the third group are kinda ruining it for the second group and probably also the first, the EMs, even if they might not show it ingame. Cuz let´s be honest, what EM enjoy having annoying people pissing on their work? I´m not saying all of the "item" people are like that but I´m sure there´s one too many at every event.
So if the giveaway items goes away, the third group would most likely go away too which would make the two other groups a lot happier and allow them to have fun making and experiencing the events.

Simple mathematics really. It´s better to have two groups happy than one.

Sometimes you have to remove some branches to save the tree...

 

[budman23]

Honestly i find most the roleplayers to be blatant liars (take that as you will), we are pretty much all there for an item, and i could sure not count on that
roleplayer attendance to be so often as when items were not given out.

I remember when i would go to an event and loot 2 of my own items and 2 of someone elses, but people complained.
Now i get 1 item and they are still complaining because i spent more on my character than they did...o boo hoo.

A game that doesnt reward players for spending more time on it isnt worth playing.

And please before you comment remind yourself of every roleplayer with an event item museum, but they dont care...right? Yea right.

 

[NuSair]

EM events should be done like it was when they restarted the program. The EMs are not allowed create anything. While everyone can go, they don't want everyone to go because of the lag it creates. The problem is now that pretty much 75% of the people that do events are the same 75% that do them across all shards, who don't care for the story and are there just hoping to win the lottery.

 

[Gheed]

There really isnt any one system where an experienced event attendee won't figure out how to stack the odds in their favor. I would suggest blitzing events with several different systems where not all can be mastered. Say you had a 10 item drop. Each mob would randomly choose which system to use from a selection of several different systems and drop their single item to 1 of:

1. top 20 attacker
2. top 20 healer
3. top 20 damage taker
5. drop on corpse
6. drop a clicky w/a 15 sec timer
7. distribute on a points system saved from different events
8. first 20 attackers
9. last 20 attackers
10. first 20 dead
11. last 20 dead
12. first 20 to take damage
13. last 20 to take damage
14. random to all attackers
15. random to all healers
16. random to all pet owners that do damage
17. random to all non pet owners that do damage
18. top 20 non-pet melee
19. top 20 magic damage
20. random character withing a random tile range.

I know the list is a bit wierd but you get the point. Each of these systems by themselves could be easily exploited. But each mob randomly chosing (no EM control) which system to use out of a plethora of...

El Guapo: Would you say I have a plethora systems?
Jefe: Oh yes, you have a plethora.
El Guapo: Jefe, what is a plethora?
Jefe: Why, El Guapo?
El Guapo: Well, you told me I have a plethora. And I just would like to know if you know what a plethora is. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has *no idea* what it means to have a plethora.

Ok I lost my train of thought. Im off to youtube for a bit.

 

[Mitzlplik_LS]

EM events should be done like it was when they restarted the program. The EMs are not allowed create anything. While everyone can go, they don't want everyone to go because of the lag it creates. The problem is now that pretty much 75% of the people that do events are the same 75% that do them across all shards, who don't care for the story and are there just hoping to win the lottery.

%90 of the people on prodo are not there for the story, Only for the resale.

That alone should tell any EM what is what.

Any EM reading this needs to SERIOUSLY reconsider giving out items that equate to a winning mega millions lottery ticket.

Geeeee... I wonder where the problem lies?

 

[Cyrah]

Thursday nights on UO used to be the best for me. EM event! Back when the drops could be anyplace really. On the grass, on a corpse, hidden. I never got any but sometimes remembered to look. It was just fun is all, pure fun! Sure sometimes I was sad when I saw the items others found... but I knew in time that a wonderful thing called a clicky would magically appear! I had hope!

When players from every shard would also show up to get a treasure it did not matter because it was my turn too Then it changed. I have no idea why. Word was that a big boss might appear and all who damaged it would get a treasure. Not so for me. No matter how many times I hit it or how many times I died trying I got nothing. That is when I learned something about myself. Just having fun was not really enough for me. I had to at least have the hope that one day I too would get a treasure.

I honor the Ems. I think they have a terribly beautiful job that must cause them great pain and great joy. I just wish I had my hope back.

If you ever saw bandages, petals and potions appear on the ground at your event, it might have been me. The medic llama.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

Me thinks your a lil butthurt.

Which is exactly why EM`s need to can the pixel crack stuff.

I'm sorry... which person is "butthurt." Seems to me it must be you if your response is that the "EM's need to can the pixel crack stuff."

Truthfully, they need to come up with a better distribution system. The one in place is severely broken. But mostly, that's a direct function of looting rights being broken. Which may be the result of certain classes being fundamentally broken. As a mage, it's a huge pain in the ass to get damage results that are on par with anything, and even then, you do thousands of points of damage and you don't outdamage certain class combinations. But, then, as I've said elsewhere... "Whatever." It would be nice to have it fixed, but it's sort of separate from the items anyway. The item distribution would then hopefully function better, but I don't go for items.

However, the solution is not to do away with little bits and pieces that are given out from time to time. It's nice to have a piece of history occasionally land in your backpack.

As far as the OP goes, I personally think that "for the items" is the wrong reason to attend. It is what encourages the behaviorally challenged element to disrupt some events, but that could be easily handled by cracking down on the behaviorally challenged. The technical looting system can be repaired; it just needs some tweaking.

 

[Mitzlplik_LS]

*smiles* You should all hug your EM.

I`ll hug the hell out of EM Troubadour because this is SP and we don`t cower down to some pixel crap BS nonsense.
OK.....MOST of us won`t...the rest of you can go str8 to the...... just follow your prodo cohorts and shadup.

EM of SP?!..... Please for the love of all things holy...... just think about the impact unique items bring to this game.



STOP IT!!!!!

Ppl would be just as happy with a check.................

Anyone who wants more should be suspect and killed with a dull spoon.

 

[budman23]

I will never understand why the roleplayer community thinks they have some kind of ownership of events, especially if 90% of the people attending dont roleplay.

Honestly you are in the minority trying to change something for the majority who dont want it.

 

[Mitzlplik_LS]

I'm sorry... which person is "butthurt." Seems to me it must be you if your response is that the "EM's need to can the pixel crack stuff."

Truthfully, they need to come up with a better distribution system. The one in place is severely broken. But mostly, that's a direct function of looting rights being broken. Which may be the result of certain classes being fundamentally broken. As a mage, it's a huge pain in the ass to get damage results that are on par with anything, and even then, you do thousands of points of damage and you don't outdamage certain class combinations. But, then, as I've said elsewhere... "Whatever." It would be nice to have it fixed, but it's sort of separate from the items anyway. The item distribution would then hopefully function better, but I don't go for items.

However, the solution is not to do away with little bits and pieces that are given out from time to time. It's nice to have a piece of history occasionally land in your backpack.

As far as the OP goes, I personally think that "for the items" is the wrong reason to attend. It is what encourages the behaviorally challenged element to disrupt some events, but that could be easily handled by cracking down on the behaviorally challenged. The technical looting system can be repaired; it just needs some tweaking.

LOL I`m the last person who could/would be butthurt. I find most of what gets posted on Uhall amusing.
I think its just straight up stupid for EM`s to even have the ability to create items that can be given out to other players.

Wow! What could possibly be wrong with that!

EM`s need to run scenario`s...... not lotteries.






PERIOD.

 

[Eärendil]

I said this many times in different posts in the last months: The drop-system is bad. VERY VERY BAD... I decided not to go there anymore. The top-damager-logic is BAD! Make it RNG again - and I will come back. Otherwise: Have fun. I have enough other nice things to do ingame and outside. And it is not that these events are entertaining like hell... NOT AT ALL!

Listen to a story, run through a gate, kill first level mobs, wait for the boss, kill boss... Thanks. Had enough of this.... No offense, but:



I like those guys, they are having alot of work with designing the events... But they are nothing for me...

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Honestly i find most the roleplayers to be blatant liars (take that as you will), we are pretty much all there for an item, and i could sure not count on that
roleplayer attendance to be so often as when items were not given out.

Demonstrably false, given the high RolePlayer attendance for Great Lakes' events when there were no items.

I do understand, however, that there's a deeply-felt need among some players, the more competitive ones in particular, to assume that RolePlayers actually fit their own paradigm. That deeply-felt need, however, does not make it accurate.

-Galen's player

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

I said this many times in different posts in the last months: The drop-system is bad. VERY VERY BAD... I decided not to go there anymore. The top-damager-logic is BAD! Make it RNG again - and I will come back. Otherwise: Have fun. I have enough other nice things to do ingame and outside. And it is not that these events are entertaining like hell... NOT AT ALL!

Listen to a story, run through a gate, kill first level mobs, wait for the boss, kill boss... Thanks. Had enough of this.... No offense, but:



I like those guys, they are having alot of work with designing the events... But they are nothing for me...

So.....You don't like the events, find them boring, but would go if you felt you had a better chance at an item. Again, then, it comes down to items. You have specifically stated that you do not like the actual events yet do not come to them not because you do not like them, but because of the items. You would, in other words, do something you do not like for phat lewts. A more-efficient use of your time, and a better way to make money, is by chaining Medusas and/or going for the guaranteed rewards that are Fel Champion Spawns.

I'll not defend the new drop system, but then again I wouldn't defend the older system either because it, too, had not dissimilar detriments and led to very similar complaints.

-Galen's player

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

LOL I`m the last person who could/would be butthurt. I find most of what gets posted on Uhall amusing.
I think its just straight up stupid for EM`s to even have the ability to create items that can be given out to other players.

The items rather plainly are not "given out" by the EMs. This post:

http://stratics.com/community/threads/bennus-event-item-reward-list.286805/#post-2218870

on the Atlantic board suggests rather strongly that it's actually Mesanna that makes both the boss monsters, and the associated reward. Nu'Sair also pointed out something similar in this very thread.

-Galen's player

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

As I have previously stated, this thread is actually about EM Event Rewards or EM Event Items.

Its title should be changed to reflect such.

A thread actually about EM Events would say the following: EM Events are great things that are ruined, or come close to being ruined, by players who are only there for items and/or to extend PvP competition into a non-PvP setting.

-Galen's player

 

[Krinkle]

Pay to play. What else is new?

 

[Tangled Metal]

As I have previously stated, this thread is actually about EM Event Rewards or EM Event Items.

Its title should be changed to reflect such.

A thread actually about EM Events would say the following: EM Events are great things that are ruined, or come close to being ruined, by players who are only there for items and/or to extend PvP competition into a non-PvP setting.

-Galen's player

I changed the title just for you, mate.

I see that some people just do not get my point at all. My point is this:

The system that distributes the EM Event Items is not a fair system. The system was changed because people complained about not being able to find corpses of fallen bosses to check for items. In my opinion the change is very much a slap in the face. If there isn't a way to give EVERYONE who gets looting rights or X amount of healing a fair chance at getting an Item stop giving them out. Plain and simple, fix the problem or remove the issue. To me, that is a no brainer. To leave a flawed system where certain people benefit while others never get a chance to benefit is another slap in the face.

I enjoy many of the events I go to. The events where the EM DOES NOT just open a gate and say "Kill that" are my favorite. Some EMs require you to solve puzzles and find the info on your own. While others hold your hand and say "Here is your gate to the monster with the items for the top 10 attackers."

There is a lot wrong with UO in general and the EM program in general. I chose to bring up one small aspect of the problem I see with the EM program.

BTW- I have literally seen someone ask at the beginning of an event if there will be a drop and the EM say no and 1/3+ of the group assembled for the event leave.

 

[Mapper]

BTW- I have literally seen someone ask at the beginning of an event if there will be a drop and the EM say no and 1/3+ of the group assembled for the event leave.

It shouldn't have been answered, now they'll ask it every event.

 

[Adol]

This debate comes up time and time again, so I will repeat the problem once more; unique EM event items are the only way a newbie can hope to gain enough money to catch up with nearing 16 years now of duping and inflation. Resources are either scripted or open ended enough for them to never be worth enough to allow a newbie to realistically hope to break into the top end of the market. Removing EM items entirely would thus leave them with nothing they could potentially get that someone would want to exchange their castles full of cheques for. Whether a newbie can get the item is the main question.

And as one of the mentioned "Roleplayers with a museum", let me just say that although the EMs try and put a copy of their items in their own museum on Europa, one main reason we maintain them is not just to be looked at, but to take the sting out of the greedy re-sellers who leech events and then take them off to "So and So Rare Festival", thus engendering bitterness at the event with the idea that someone who plays the shard can never hope to own that shard's items. When it was possible to get multiple event items, we'd simply swap them amongst each other... single drops in this sense have actually made the community element somewhat harder, as no one is getting duplicates. Of course, there was always the risk the cross sharders would get the lot even when it wasn't limited, but where they didn't, we could sit on the spares and direct them away from those where were greedy or hoping to convert them into real life currency. Does it sound elitist? Understandably so, but either way, people prefer to hear that the people who love the shard, and keep the items on it get it, be they rich or not already, because they at least have the community spirit in mind...

And with that in mind, let me point out the problems with going too far down that route; let's say the randomness is taken out entirely, and there's a system of judging who actually "deserves" the item put into place. But how.. by who roleplayed the most? Who was seen ressurecting the most people? By... all possible forms of judgement risk accusations of bias. This is, I am afraid, simply an issue that's too complex to easily solve...

 

[Tangled Metal]

This debate comes up time and time again, so I will repeat the problem once more; unique EM event items are the only way a newbie can hope to gain enough money to catch up with nearing 16 years now of duping and inflation.

I have never seen a newbie who has a suit and skills anywhere close enough to become one of the Top Attackers, have you?

"This is, I am afraid, simply an issue that's too complex to easily solve.."
I disagree with this statement. It should be a relatively easy code to make a random drop for anyone that has rights to the boss. Put the items back on the corpses if it can't be done and teach people about how to use CTL+SHIFT to see the corpses.



Doesn't doom use a point accumulation system now? Perhaps that could be the answer. People who regularly attend events build up points and the rewards are randomly distributed to those who have built up points?

 

[NuSair]

There was an idea floated about having the items character or account bound, but that might have prevented people from displaying them in like a museum.

I had great hopes for the EMs coming back and the possibility of some pretty good fiction. And all that became of it is an unbalanced lotto system, a bunch of treasure seekers and lame stories that invariably lead to fighting things that kill characters several times- because the EMs believe that is what makes a good event, how many death robes they generate.

 

[Felonious Monk]

Perhaps I should say I like going to events. Actually I thought that was implied. No, I am not butthurt in the least. I enjoy the in-game fiction and the events. It isn't about getting an item for me. I am just making an observation that the same people get items all the time and everyone else doesn't. If you had actually read all of what I wrote you'd see I suggested either making it fair for all or stop giving out items. Like I also said, I expect flames from some of you. I also expect that some will add to the thread in a positive manner as well. One can always hope...

I think your beyond "liking" events. Seems to be a bit more to it. I'd like to see em drops eliminated.

 

[Tangled Metal]

I think your beyond "liking" events. Seems to be a bit more to it. I'd like to see em drops eliminated.

Did you mean "you're"? It is nothing beyond liking something other than the standard grind. One can only solo so many creatures so many times before it becomes boring. At least events have something different involved. Is there a bit more to it? Not really.

 

[Lady Storm]

Your not alone kiddo........

In my opinion, Many of the "Regulars" who attend the events are set up so perfectly for success, the average player will never get any item.

Copys of characters stationed on every shard worth going to for the Events is a must these days and top fighting templates and gear is standard..

They are set up to grab the loot and ship off the minute they get it.

Its become a multi Billion gold/dollar enterprise and I would not put it past one of the gold selling places to have many of their people doing this for the gold extraction from UO.

Just wait on Atlantic for 30 minutes after an event.

If a major gift is given out you can bet it will be on a vendor there and for hundreds of millions.

The story lines are cute and have been nice to go for the story alone... but those who show up are for 1 thing and one thing only....... the toy prize that will sell.

Its become a big business.
I cant say I blame the EM's..... they try to be fair.

If they made the gift system "click on statue" as it has been on some Events... yes all who attend will get one... there is a down side, because its not as rare an item as would be if it were a few major gifts, it might put people off.
Also if you totaly remove the gifts and drops it too will end the EM events as we know it.
Very few will attend.
You cant win.

 

[Eärendil]

So.....You don't like the events, find them boring, but would go if you felt you had a better chance at an item. Again, then, it comes down to items. You have specifically stated that you do not like the actual events yet do not come to them not because you do not like them, but because of the items. You would, in other words, do something you do not like for phat lewts. A more-efficient use of your time, and a better way to make money, is by chaining Medusas and/or going for the guaranteed rewards that are Fel Champion Spawns.

Galen, you are misunderstanding me. You are implying a causality which isn´t there... I dislike them because of the drop-system AND their design (Storyline, whatever...). I would go to events which have better stories, are more entertaining, more fun - I don´t need a reward or a drop. But if they are dull as hell, I might be lured in because of a drop-chance. And if they have a bad drop-system - what are these events then? Neither entertaining, nor rewarding. Think there is no need to beat me for this - I have better things to do in my free time...

I have enough Gold to buy everything I want. I would love some nice stories: Stealing Events are fun, there have been others... but those mass-bashing-events are no fun... And even less without RNG...

 

[Adol]

I have never seen a newbie who has a suit and skills anywhere close enough to become one of the Top Attackers, have you?

"This is, I am afraid, simply an issue that's too complex to easily solve.."
I disagree with this statement. It should be a relatively easy code to make a random drop for anyone that has rights to the boss. Put the items back on the corpses if it can't be done and teach people about how to use CTL+SHIFT to see the corpses.



Doesn't doom use a point accumulation system now? Perhaps that could be the answer. People who regularly attend events build up points and the rewards are randomly distributed to those who have built up points?

That you quote loot rights as a way to do it shows how difficult it is to solve; You do realise that even with a 4.3 rated GD and 120 Mage/Eval Int/Meditation and permanent mana, on top of 3 years of attending events, that even I don't get looting rights for the final monster for some events? I don't just mean the ones I'm slow getting too, due to resurrecting people which is my normal play style, but being there right from the start; Sampires or Throwers can out-damage even me, and looting rights are based on top damage dealers still too. So how is a newbie going to get a chance at it if done the combat way then?

The second quote again shows how people don't seem to understand how EM events actually work; At least on Europa, and I've heard on other shards too, that system is already in place. Attending "Royal Investigator" events and writing reports etc gives you points towards unique sashes with your name and rank on it;

http://europa.uoem.net/royal-investigator-points/

There's me in 9th place, nowhere near the top but I don't tend to do more than write up the ones I've attended... the competition quests are won by the dedicated roleplayers, and quite rightly so.

The EM system already encourages a wide variety of reward mechanisms; Everyone clicks and gets, top 10 damage/healing, roleplay focused league tables, simple competitions like barstool races and hide and seek... What people really mean is that they hate the combat heavy ones where the mob is buried underneath a pile of dragons (which visually I hate too, even as I prefer to play as non-melee characters) and then someone who just offshards the item gets it. But how do you fix that and leave it fair with the code as it currently is?

 

[Viper09]

I wouldn't want them to stop giving out items, sometimes it's just neat to get a piece that commemorates the event. I love the little trinkets that I have managed to save from past events, particularly the really old ones from the original EMs. I can never understand why people have some a huge issue with those who want to sell what they collect. Why should we stop the drops because it bothers a handful of people? If it is such a huge outcry I would suggest that instead of restricting any kind of drops at EM events we simply give everyone a drop. I like the statue idea proposed briefly by Lady Storm.

 

[Cerwin Vega]

I heard that a EM can give out 2 items a month, i dont know if thats true but lets pretend it is. If at one event they gave the item to the damagers or whatever and another event they had a clicky vending machine then you would get a item at least once a month.. if you show up. I know people would cry about the time schedule but with 12 a year im sure they could be at a vending machine event once and awhile.

 

[neptune1369]

There is only one problem here . Its Mesanna. She is the one who make's the mob's for the event's.She is the one who PUSHED the new loot system threw.She is the one who has said since day one that the new loot system works even after many post that the new loot system is messed up or need's looked at. Until she get it that this NEED'S to be looked at all we can do is

 

[Tangled Metal]

Mesanna is the best and worst thing to ever happen to UO.

 

[budman23]

I have never seen a newbie who has a suit and skills anywhere close enough to become one of the Top Attackers, have you?

"This is, I am afraid, simply an issue that's too complex to easily solve.."
I disagree with this statement. It should be a relatively easy code to make a random drop for anyone that has rights to the boss. Put the items back on the corpses if it can't be done and teach people about how to use CTL+SHIFT to see the corpses.



Doesn't doom use a point accumulation system now? Perhaps that could be the answer. People who regularly attend events build up points and the rewards are randomly distributed to those who have built up points?

I saw a player at an event before come naked with a sword, who i witnessed get an event item. Hard to say he didnt get it when he showed me afterwards.

It was sickening to know i had spent so much effort on that champion just to see some newbie get it. But thats what you want, someone else to do all the work so you can gain. No thanks

 

[Tangled Metal]

I saw a player at an event before come naked with a sword, who i witnessed get an event item. Hard to say he didnt get it when he showed me afterwards.

It was sickening to know i had spent so much effort on that champion just to see some newbie get it. But thats what you want, someone else to do all the work so you can gain. No thanks

That must have been the old system because the current system is Top Attacker. This has been verified by several EMs. There is no way a naked player with a sword could get looting rights the way it is set up, let alone be one of the top attackers. So, the case you mention was probably someone with multi client and handed the item off to their other character to pretend.

 

[Alouenikah]

I wish people would focus less on the rewards from events and more on the content and quality of events. I don't give a good goddamn who gets items, although I like it when it happens to me, but it's clear that EA is scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to the ability of some of the EMs to do their job. The result is that there's been a massive migration from shards with a subpar EM to shards that are actually decently staffed, which is doing a lot of damage to communities that needed all the help they can get.

Look at this. This is Oceania's EM site. It is barely coherent. This person is being paid to do this, and EA is willing to let them be professionally associated with their product. Coincidentally, Oceania's population has dwindled almost to nothing as people leave for American shards, despite the connection and timezone issues. At the start of the program, Oceania had some of the best EMs around, and its population was small but healthy. Now it is effectively dead. If you think your shard is deserted, go visit it and see what a real ghost town looks like (camp Luna at 6pm on a Saturday AEST to get the full effect.) It's obvious that the number of EMs have been slashed (it used to be two per shard and a number of floaters, now it's one per most shards and I think a few are spread out across a couple), but it is incredibly unfair for people to have to watch their shard die away to nothing because, among other things, there isn't basic standardisation and quality control of the event system. Either hire better EMs, or sack the dregs, pay the best ones more, and have them manage more than one shard. The current system makes for a wildly uneven player experience, and considering that we're all paying the same amount of money, that is terrible business practice.

Also! EM items are not a get-rich-quick ticket, despite what people think. Yes, they can be sold for obscene amounts of money, but there is also a huge amount of competition and the opportunity to get an item only comes along a few times per month. Grinding for a few hours each day in the same timespan would get similar results. The number one meal ticket in this game is IDOC camping, and that takes hours of time and boredom. The players who get rich off EM items are the same type of players who get rich off IDOCs, spawns, or simple resource grinding: obsessive, mechanics-savvy, and with loads of free time. Is it unfair? Yes. Is it something that the devs have the power to fix? No.

PS - My Sudiva statue is locked down in my best UO friend's house where everyone can see it. No money has been exchanged for it and I trust her not to sell it to Manticore while my back is turned. It will remain on Baja for the rest of Baja's life and will never be bought or sold, so help me God. The only EM item I ever got was a tapestry from EM Godiva (an example of an excellent EM) which I did sell, as I was wildly broke at the time. She quit about a month later (not because of that) and I regret having sold that tapestry more than anything else I've ever done on UO. And believe me, I have a regrettable history. My old main had a blond mullet and he used to ride an ostard around, naked except for a bright pink kilt and thigh boots.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Our focus on items is the driver of all the other problems highlighted in this thread.

I will never argue that the item distribution system does not matter.

But it will matter a lot less if we are not there for the items exclusively or primarily.

-Galen's player

 

[flappy6]

didnt you know you had to be in the EM circle? if you want an item you better not go, ( ya i only go to get items not to hear a stupid bedtime story)

 

[KLOMP]

Having the EM program be a way for the same handful of cross-sharders to pay their rent is pretty damn stupid. Flat out.

 

[Andrasta]

Having the EM program be a way for the same handful of cross-sharders to pay their rent is pretty damn stupid. Flat out.

This...

 

[Cetric]

I don`t think EM`s should be giving out any drops or unique prizes/presents.

And I would have to question why you have attended " 45 events on 9 different shards" since October. Me thinks your a lil butthurt.

Which is exactly why EM`s need to can the pixel crack stuff.

Sadly, MANY MANY people seem to do this, spread out and do every event on every shard thing, since the em rare market is so profitable for some reason.

I personally think it is a bad way of doing things as well.

 

[Cetric]

It seems one of the best item dropping style events i can remember was where they had the cloak of humility quests, giving everyone a chance to get said item if they were on that week.

Bad sadly, things aren't done like that anymore.

 

[Andrasta]

I've suggested this before and even Mesanna mentioned it on Atlantic a while back while she was present at the end of an event and people were complaining about drops. Unfortunately, she never followed through with it.
The best and simplest solution to this is to just have only the final boss at the end of event chains / story lines give out items. When the boss dies, however, it should give out one to every person who did over a certain threshold of damage/healing... say 1,000 dmg.
It's not a clicky so all the gold farmers won't be able to gate 100's of newb characters in, Mesanna is happy.
The role players who never get items gets one to remember the event, they are happy.
The event farmer/cross sharder gets an item to sell, they are happy.
There are enough items in existence that they don't sell for billions, making events not-so lucrative, the average player is happy.
Everyone wins.

Olcher is right. This is how it should be.
However they give away items and when, there should be enough of them given away so that they are not worth 100 million gold 10 minutes after the event is over.

 

[Amber Witch]

PS - My Sudiva statue is locked down in my best UO friend's house where everyone can see it. No money has been exchanged for it and I trust her not to sell it to Manticore while my back is turned. It will remain on Baja for the rest of Baja's life and will never be bought or sold, so help me God. The only EM item I ever got was a tapestry from EM Godiva (an example of an excellent EM) which I did sell, as I was wildly broke at the time. She quit about a month later (not because of that) and I regret having sold that tapestry more than anything else I've ever done on UO. And believe me, I have a regrettable history. My old main had a blond mullet and he used to ride an ostard around, naked except for a bright pink kilt and thigh boots.

Sudiva will always be there waiting for you to reclaim ownership. You won it and I appreciate the honorable way in which it was won.

 

[Alouenikah]

Sadly, MANY MANY people seem to do this, spread out and do every event on every shard thing, since the em rare market is so profitable for some reason.

Look. The problem with this is, we're playing a game. Games by their very nature have to reward people who play them more; otherwise they feel dissatisfied with the reward for their efforts, and they don't play as much, or at all.

Cross-sharding takes a lot of time and effort. I'm not a cross-sharder because taking part in even one multi-hour EM event leaves me feeling drained, I couldn't handle doing them in the numbers necessary to actually make a living off the rewards. Especially if you live in an awkward timezone, it's a hell of a job to do. Yes, the rewards are incredible, but think of the work they put in. The same goes for getting a perfect greater dragon or a thrower template. That's a lot of work right there. That's a lot of game-hours poured into UO, which signifies one addicted player, which suggests longterm loyalty to the game. They need to reward the longterm, addicted, hardcore players. They've put in the effort and they need a reward, and they need the reward to be at least semi-predictable, rather than a random drop - otherwise, why do it at all? That's how you keep them playing.

Is it fair from a real-world standpoint? Of course it's not. Some people on this game have one or more full-time IRL jobs, partners, children, stressful lives, and they can't spend the twenty hours a week necessary to build up an event template and jump from shard to shard; only the people who have time for it can do it. Is it fair from a game standpoint? Yes. Player A spends five hours a week playing UO and is rewarded with a hypothetically fun and social EM experience, player B spends forty and is rewarded with a hundred-million piece of pixel crack. It makes perfect sense by this logic to turn around and say "Well maybe if you want the same advantages as them, you should play forty hours a week too." That's not fair - you know it, I know it, Mesanna knows it - but EA's running a business here, not a sewing circle, and they have to cater toward their most hardcore players first and foremost because they're the ones (especially nowadays, with the diminished population) who are paying the server bills.

It's exactly the same principle as veteran rewards. A kid who's just started out on UO can't get a cool transparent horse that never dies, because that's the company's way of rewarding longterm players. Nobody complains, because UO has no new players anymore, we've all got all the rewards we need. But it's still a definite advantage that a veteran has over someone who hasn't been playing as long. The only reason EM items still get all this attention is because people can see other players selling them right at the event for 80mil. A longterm player with twenty accounts can turn over 80mil worth of vet rewards per year, and good for them, but that's not as visible so nobody cares.

What it comes down to is that UO players are total children who can't stand the thought that other people are getting what's rightfully theirs. If EA abolished the top-damage drop tomorrow and replaced it with an RNG system, people would complain that the EMs were somehow cheating the system and playing favourites if somebody else managed to get an item twice in a row. If they replaced everything with clicky vendors, people would complain because of the endless influx of cross-sharder traders miraculously appearing at the end of every event to get the reward without actually doing the event. If they abolished rewards from EM events altogether, nobody would come to the events, the program would have no tangible benefits, and it would be scrapped. (And yes, I am speaking from experience here. Remember right at the start of the program when there were a few months in which no event items were given out at all? You'd see EM events with three, maybe four people there. Players might get on their high horses and say "Well I'M not superficial like that it's all about the EXPERIENCE for me", but when it comes down to it, they don't back up their words.)

So there. That is why you can't have the system that you want. If it's that important to you, go out and get a greater dragon or a thrower template and start cross-sharding. You're all complaining because EA is running UO like a business. They drop the ball so often and so spectacularly that it can barely be classified as a business, but it is, and just a moment of standing back and thinking "I wonder why they insist on doing this when fully-grown adults keep throwing tantrums at them over it?" would make things come clear if there was a single person playing this game who was still capable of rational thought.