Things the event could do without ALL of

[Jhym]

I think for most events they need to take out the "ridiculous hitpoints" and the "specially annoying abilities". For some reason a few of the devs have got it in their heads that they must have monsters stamp on players, kick them in the butt, then grind them into the ground and spit on them before lighting them on fire.


I honestly haven't done many of the events because of this -- I don't WANT to do peerless events. I LIKE fighting monsters and situations where I can handle myself as long as I'm paying attention and know my skills and equipment well.

I do NOT like situations where the dev's answer is to make the monsters incredibly hard for ANYONE, just to try to force us to group. I like events and situations where every single level of skill (not just skill points, but actual player skill) is useful, and where thinking through a problem can be just as helpful as whacking daemons on the head and screaming.

I realize there are those out there whose sole purpose in game life is to beat harder and harder things until they... win, I suppose... but I find it far more satisfying to deal with situations that are challenging but not overwhelming, and to solve problems that lead to a comfortable reward for the effort.

A good example of something that worked event-wise is the progressive battles for the Ophidian war. You could work them up and the first few levels were doable for most folks, until you got to the bigger generals and berserkers. You could get some rewards along the way, with better chances as the bigger stuff was introduced. The cursed artifacts later on were a good addition to rewarding people for effort without making them die 80 times in a row.

I honestly think sometimes they don't sit down and fully analyze risk vs reward on their events, but I try not to judge too harshly. I've forgiven the devs a lot in 13 years, it takes major screwups before I get angry with them (like -- don't mess up my Barding, I will REALLY get ticked.)

 

[Metalstorm]

What Jhym said.
That pretty much covered everything I would contribute so I'll just say "Ditto"

 

[Squeax]

These devs don't play and don't really have any clue beyond "Give it a billion hit points and make sure nobody can melee it because f**k melee!"

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

I agree with GalenKnighthawke, In general the event is no fun.

So you agree with me except you say the exact opposite of what I said?

-Galen's player

 

[Smoot]

Overall the only thing i would change about the quest (i wouldnt call this an "event") would be the drop rate. Yes they are hard to kill. Comparable to the blackrock elementals (still wondering if there will ever be a use for that armor)
Given the difficulty, id say it should be one scroll or book per kill.

I still say this quest should last only a month max, since it appears to be the first part in a chain. It would be nice if the content progressed at a decent pace, so that people might actually remember Why they killed a bunch of demons.

A quest like this Shouldn't be completable by all. Like in other games, certain content should only be completable to those who put that little extra into the game. Since imbuing came out, armor and weapons needed to effectively kill these in 10-15 mins solo is easily obtainable. Again, like i previously complained about, a ranged can basically just stand there in certain spots and not even get hit with the fire breath.

So, to me its little more than a difficult quest. Its similar to a few of the abyss quests, basic "go kill this and collect these." A bit more story / parts of a questchain would be nice, but thats why i said this should only run a few weeks - because its only one part of a much longer overall questchain. Or, at least release the next part of the chain in the next few weeks, leaving up the daemon spawn for those who are a bit slower.

 

[Ahuaeyjnkxs]

You guys are priceless... I'd subscribe to your feed over any magazine out there...

 

[Barok]

... and the final reward for the entire quest chain is going to be a recipe for gargoyle stew ...

 

[Nimuaq]

I don't think it is fair to say that the devs only designed mobs with high hit points in the events. Let us check the previous event cycle:

It started with the Ranger and the Warden of the Abyss quests. The focus of these quests was to build two outposts inside the Stygian Abyss dungeon, one for the Britannian forces and the other for the Gargoyles. In the first part, A Light in the Darkness, we searched for the ingredients to create a Lamp of Spirituality. In the second part, Seeds of Virtue, using the lamp, we searched for the virtue nodes inside the dungeon, a different one each day, to find the perfect plot to build the outposts. In the final part, The Ink is Mighty, we've tested Dexter the Royal Mage's formulas and the players who successfully tested the formula won the plots.

The following quest was Lost and Found Part 3, which we first sought clues by talking to Avery and Ricardo, then we used Ricardo's Ancient Lamp to find his research on the Lord British's Vault and the Crystal of Duplicity. Ricardo gave one clue each day on where the next piece of his diary can be found and we searched all Sosaria (including Ilshenar and Tokuno Islands) based on that day's clue.

Then we saw the Rise of the Bane Chosen: The first Rise of the Bane Chosen event was basically a war system in Lost Lands which you could either help Ophidians or Bane Chosen to help them advance their front line on the field. The creatures were not difficult to kill and there was also loyalty system and the reward of being on the winning side was a simple magic item most of the time, if not a relic fragment or one of the artifacts like warded daemon bone bracers. The leaders of these sides were giving additional quests and the creatures were dropping crystalline blackrock, so while they were not too difficult, killing them was rewarding.

On the second part of the Rise of the Bane Chosen, Bane forces were supposed to attack Meers, but the developers were working on the High Seas so this part was just some Bane soldiers you can kill in Ilshenar.

After that, Virtuebane set foot to Sosaria and killed Queen Dawn. Bane Chosen forces started to invade towns and cities on Trammel and Felucca with the help of Bane Chosen guards and they attacked a different town on every two days. We've seen more than fifteen attacks where some of the towns fell to Bane Chosen on some shards.

As part of the Halloween 2010 event, we've seen Ancient Hellhounds, but they were not directly related to any quest or event. We also started to see Blackrock Golems in Magincia. They were again not part of any quest yet they were dropping epiphany armor set pieces. Adding Virtuebane duplicates on the final event to these two monsters, we find the difficult creatures of the previous event cycle. None of these creatures were part of any quest and they were intended to be killed by a group (Halloween 2010, Final event, etc). Thus, "all the developers do in events is to create impossible mobs" is not a fair thing to say if we look at the previous event cycle.

Journey to the Athenaeum Isle should not be seen as an event but rather a prelude to the event designed as a quest to give the whole story behind the Void Plague in Ter Mur. So the event is in fact designed to learn the story and establish the background, not only to kill the daemons. The text on the documents and the reward book is quite interesting to read and I think it is a solid background for any future event (check this document for example, imagine a future event based on that). When you combine all of the texts, it provides the much needed history of the events that led to Zhah's ascension to the throne.

The daemons are hard to kill, but so were Blackrock Golems, yet we all have a lot of epiphany armor set pieces around. I can kill a daemon in sixteen minutes with my archer and if there is a bard, mystic or tamer around, the time it takes to kill decreases dramatically. I agree that making the documents a guaranteed drop will be an improvement but I first need to see how they will employ this history to the future events before I can grade it.

 

[Squeax]

This even was so awesome that everyone quit talking about it completely in like four days.

 

[MalagAste]

This even was so awesome that everyone quit talking about it completely in like four days.

A bunch of the people I've spoken to in-game either still didn't know about as of yesterday...

Or they fought the things for 3 days straight decided it was an enormous pain in the *** and they were never getting the "prize"... or they had a big guild who all worked together and they finished it already.

I've still got only 3 scrolls... My chances of finishing are pretty slim.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

What I had hoped to avoid, the frustration overwhelming the fun, has set in.

*sighs* Oh well.

Nice attempt. I had fun with it for awhile but, being a warrior, it's too difficult to choose between "frustrated" or "do it in a group where your presence will screw up the group because you have to be up close."

Oh well. I'll still try my best to finish, for in-character reasons, and I'm sure I'll have some fun along the way.

I've gotten 5 or 6 documents and long-held the required 10 kills.

-Galen's player

 

[Pfloyd]

A disco/provo mage and mystic archer or thrower can take 2 down in under 15 min. Also for sampires, add healing. 2 sampire cross healing can take one down in under 10 minutes. Feint works the best when using a sampire.

Sampires die faster than anyone. If you mean Warriors with wasted skill points in Necro and SS then maybe but you might as well be in Wraith form.

 

[DarkScripture]

I think there should a change.. Start the quest.. get looting rights. each looter collects a quest item from the body by double clicking just ike the gold skull works. trade those items in to get the reward. Take away the randomness and the whole thing could work as is.

 

[Pfloyd]

Sorry for the awkward phrasing of the subject line.

While I am having some fun fighting these event monsters, I feel that a combination of factors add more frustration than challenge. Taking out or nerfing just a couple of these could be a welcome change.

• The Spiders.
• The fire breath.
• The way the monsters cluster.
• The dismounting.
• The extremely high hit points.

Personally I think taking out or nerfing just, say, 2 of these would make the event a lot more fun, a lot less frustrating, and wouldn't make it much easier per se.

-Galen's player

Back to the OP topic. There are ways if you run around and get to know the area long enough to bypass all of these problems except the high hit points.

 

[GalenKnighthawke]

Back to the OP topic. There are ways if you run around and get to know the area long enough to bypass all of these problems except the high hit points.

Yes.

Especially if you are an archer or mage.

I still maintain, though, that a less-frustrating experience would be good.

I, as a warrior, face a stark choice: Fight with a group, knowing that the fact that I have to stand up-close will mess up that group. Or, alternatively, I could fight them on my own and be frustrated.

I choose the latter.

And, in any case, the groups are drying up. Why? Because while people might have had some fun doing it, it's not, it would seem, something that people wish to repeat.

Contrast this with the most-recent invasion, which on GL at least folks repeated a lot.

Now it could not be drying out to the extent I think it is, I may just be missing the activity. I freely admit my perceptions and experiences may be wrong.

But all of the above that I've said is what I think based upon what I have seen, and perceived, and experience.

-Galen's player

 

[Ahuaeyjnkxs]

Now it could not be drying out to the extent I think it is, I may just be missing the activity. I freely admit my perceptions and experiences may be wrong.

But all of the above that I've said is what I think based upon what I have seen, and perceived, and experience.

-Galen's player

One day your writting style will be famous... that tops it all off :bowdown:

its just too much for my brain ! in a good way

 

[Ancient Sosarian]

Hail Sosarians,

Let me begin by stating that my ONLY (caps for emphasis not shouting) fun or enjoyment hunting these demon minions of Ter Mur for Queen Zhah has come from spending time in Sosaria with friends and folks whose company I enjoy.

It took me 100 kills to complete the Quest. The Reward was unsatisfying both in look and in content.

The drop rate was far to low. At one point I killed 20 in a row without a single drop.

Rubberbanding of the minions (bouncing back to point of spawn if wandering to far from that point) could be useful or infuriating but almost always frustrating.

Trapdoor spiders rez killing me at the Ankhs was maddening.

Looting often meant dieing in a crowd of minions. Having Minions and or trapdoor spiders loot my corpse sometimes never to be seen again was maddening.

Hitpoints of 30,000 or more on anything is nothing more than guaranteed carpal tunel causation and again maddening.

We get ZERO skill gains fighting these minions. MADDENING!!!

Despite all of this, I still perservered mainly because I have massive amounts of time to spend in Sosaria ... and I have many friends to aid my effort.

But none of this was Fun other than time spent among and amidst friends, Fun I can have anytime Im with such folks. But even this Fun was horribly diminished due to the frustration caused by the design of the area and creatures, drop rate and game mechanics.

I have heard NO ONE in game praising this Quest and almost universal disdain for it by those who have participated in it.

Developers MUST come to understand and accept almost everyone PAYING to enter Sosaria comes to have FUN. True many define their Fun differently, but almost no one pays to be frustrated, angered, and disappointed.

Our Dev Team needs to reverse course! Immediately! Please!!!

An SoS

 

[Ahuaeyjnkxs]

Just a castaway
An island lost at sea
Another lonely day
No-one here but me
More loneliness
Than any man could bear
Rescue me before I fall into despair

Ill send an sos to the world
Ill send an sos to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle

A year has passed since I wrote my note
But I should have known this right from the start
Only hope can keep me together
Love can mend your life
But love can break your heart

Ill send an sos to the world
Ill send an sos to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle
Message in a bottle

Ooh... message in a bottle
Message in a bottle

Walked out this morning
Dont believe what I saw
A hundred billion bottles
Washed up on the shore
Seems Im not alone in being alone
A hundred billion castaways
Looking for a home

Sending out an S.O.S !