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An interaction I had today in KF caused me to post this request.
As it currently stands, bandits are by far the easiest mechanism in the normal game to get experience and bounty points. With bounty points being the only way to recharge enhancives outside of the cash shop and with the AG tasks being the only non-gated pathway to saturation experience (all other ways either require a silver buy in like OSA, paid quests or equivalent, bandits also control this aspect of progression as well.
The fact that KF has devolved (yes, I say devolved) into a non-stop bandit express was not something I fully appreciated the impact of until I went there today and tried it myself. In all other areas of the game, I have spent all of my bounty boosts to avoid 15 minute timers on otherwise outrageously over-the-top adventurer guild requests just so I could get tasks I can actually complete in a single hunt.
It might be the case that the AG tasks were never meant to be completed in a single hunt...but here were are. Bandits are completed in a manner of minutes. Some tasks might take hours. And in the time you are taking finding your 27th Ithzir Adept or your 27th Vvreal anything (when you are a pure), you could have done 3 or more bandit tasks.
The main culprit in the guild, imo, is the cull tasks. Almost all capped hunting grounds contain a wide variety of foes. When you are given a cull task to kill 20+ of a single creature type, you are asking that player to effectively kill that many number of creatures, multiplied by the number of creatures types in the zone (assuming all creatures in a zone have equal chances of spawning).
Lets take a look at how bad this can get.
In Sanctum, I could fight monstrosities, fanatics, shapers, lurks and sentinels. I assume sidewinders are also a AG cull possibility? I don't know. I'll leave them out for now.
If you tell me I have a choice of joining up with 10 other players, running over to the Outlands on a shared use of a boost bounty, killing bandits with such a low risk of danger that we are encouraged to hold back in combat OR ..... take a cull task to kill 27 lurks, which task do you think most players are incentivized to pick.
Mind you, this is in the context of the vast majority of the player base being grown adults now, with limited game time. The idea that most players can just hunt for 3-5 hours a day and clear any and all guild tasks is simply not reality.
Former and current staff spent incredible amounts of time painting hunting grounds, designing the monsters, balancing the combat and creating lore behind these creatures. ALL of that is being exchanged, with the game directly encouraging it through the guild system, for generic enemies who's maximum charm is call you a pantaloon before they (also) attempt an ambush from hiding.
I'm sure some players prefer bandits as their favorite thing to hunt. Great. I'm also sure there is no chance at this point in the game's history that bandits are going to be reduced down from being the freight train of experience and efficiency that it is. Its trade off is that its boring. Maybe the game's single most boring combat option.
Can we PLEASE get the AG tasks that put you INTO the hunting grounds that staff and players enjoy the most to actually bear some sort of equity to what a bandit task offers?
Cull tasks should either
A) be focused on the area, not the monsters. You want me to kill 27 of ANYTHING in Sanctum/OTF/Whatever, fine. I can do that. Don't ask me to kill 27 lava elementals. Ask me to kill 27 of anything in the Confluence.
Or
B) should reduce the count of necessary kills SUBSTANTIALLY. I'm talking like 1/3 of current totals. 10 of a single monster should be an absolute maximum in areas where there are a half-dozen different creature types.
Please consider this QoL change. It hurts no one, reduces frustration and lets players like me avoid the auto-bot scripting affairs I ran into today.
Thank you for your consideration.
Just tie the rewards to the number of critters killed for culling. The game was designed this way until someone thought it would be a great idea to give out huge, flat experience awards for bounties. Kill however many you want to, and the guild gives you some kind of extra reward for it, maybe up to a more reasonable maximum. Frankly, most bounties could work this way.
When I returned to the game a few years ago I was astounded the guild gave away combat rewards for finding a few weeds or rocks -- more than most people could learn on a full hunt. At least the herb bounties need to be collected from a specific area. Gems and skins can be collected until needed. The early-game concept of "hunting" was deprecated.
Regarding bandits, I agree they are too easily gamed with the right training and gear. The crit divisor is exceptional here because all (?) their attacks are physical, and all the heavily padded armor floating around really isn't helping. Try hunting bandits after level 50 or so with 4x soft leather, without a lot of dodging or light armor mastery, and see how easy it is. Try it again around 80, then at cap. Try it as a smaller race with fewer health points. PSM did make them more dangerous, but moreso to the professions that were already weak to them.
If I wanted to make bandits really dangerous without adding spellcasters I'd allow them to waylay.
When I returned to the game a few years ago I was astounded the guild gave away combat rewards for finding a few weeds or rocks -- more than most people could learn on a full hunt. At least the herb bounties need to be collected from a specific area. Gems and skins can be collected until needed. The early-game concept of "hunting" was deprecated.
Regarding bandits, I agree they are too easily gamed with the right training and gear. The crit divisor is exceptional here because all (?) their attacks are physical, and all the heavily padded armor floating around really isn't helping. Try hunting bandits after level 50 or so with 4x soft leather, without a lot of dodging or light armor mastery, and see how easy it is. Try it again around 80, then at cap. Try it as a smaller race with fewer health points. PSM did make them more dangerous, but moreso to the professions that were already weak to them.
If I wanted to make bandits really dangerous without adding spellcasters I'd allow them to waylay.
> I assume sidewinders are also a AG cull possibility?
Probably not. They are summoned critters by ... I forget which usual Sanctum denizen.
--
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Probably not. They are summoned critters by ... I forget which usual Sanctum denizen.
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I was one of those new players who thought the Adventurer's Guild existed only to kill me, and all the folks giving me advice were nuts.
Here's my Adventurer's Guild Story.
I came back to GS fall of 2014. Before F2P got introduced, and, frankly, at a time when there were very VERY few new characters.
Everyone kept raving about adventure guild bounties and how awesome they were.
So I went to see.
Rhet kept asking to go/do things that would get the little bardess KILLED. Places I already knew better than to go to.
There was no BOUNTY BOOST at the time.
So I ignored bounties for the first ... 30 levels.
I hunted alone, but for a few notable exceptions, and I <3 you all for including me sometimes, or taking me out hunting over my head, you know who you are.
When Aetheri finally talked me into trusting the Adventurer's Guild system, I quickly learned that when I was hunting alone, some of those bounties were going to be FAR easier than others.
And to never, EVER do bandits on my own.
As my hunting grounds changed, I learned exactly what a part of PTOLEMY's post described.
If I accepted a bounty for creature 1 in an area of 2 creatures, the bounty was quite doable in one hunt, barring some catastrophe. But if I accepted a bounty for creature 1 in an area of 4 creatures .... wow, that took a BUNCH longer.
And so I got even pickier about my bounties.
I still never EVER hunt bandits on my own at 15m exp. They're every bit as deadly to me now when alone as they were when I was level 36. I have been working very hard on training up 3 skills since February's SMRV2 changes that will, hopefully, allow me to hunt the Sanctum again. Next year sometime... I hope. That training may change my opinion on solo bandits, too. We shall see.
So I admire folks who are able to train whatever it is that lets people hunt bandits solo ... but I do wonder about the crazy system that makes all of this SO oddly unbalanced.
/signed,
She who is the soul of Luxie
--
ESP TUNE TOWNCRIER or ;tune towncrier
Web: http://gstowncrier.com/
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gstowncrier.com/where-to-find-the-towncrier/
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Here's my Adventurer's Guild Story.
I came back to GS fall of 2014. Before F2P got introduced, and, frankly, at a time when there were very VERY few new characters.
Everyone kept raving about adventure guild bounties and how awesome they were.
So I went to see.
Rhet kept asking to go/do things that would get the little bardess KILLED. Places I already knew better than to go to.
There was no BOUNTY BOOST at the time.
So I ignored bounties for the first ... 30 levels.
I hunted alone, but for a few notable exceptions, and I <3 you all for including me sometimes, or taking me out hunting over my head, you know who you are.
When Aetheri finally talked me into trusting the Adventurer's Guild system, I quickly learned that when I was hunting alone, some of those bounties were going to be FAR easier than others.
And to never, EVER do bandits on my own.
As my hunting grounds changed, I learned exactly what a part of PTOLEMY's post described.
If I accepted a bounty for creature 1 in an area of 2 creatures, the bounty was quite doable in one hunt, barring some catastrophe. But if I accepted a bounty for creature 1 in an area of 4 creatures .... wow, that took a BUNCH longer.
And so I got even pickier about my bounties.
I still never EVER hunt bandits on my own at 15m exp. They're every bit as deadly to me now when alone as they were when I was level 36. I have been working very hard on training up 3 skills since February's SMRV2 changes that will, hopefully, allow me to hunt the Sanctum again. Next year sometime... I hope. That training may change my opinion on solo bandits, too. We shall see.
So I admire folks who are able to train whatever it is that lets people hunt bandits solo ... but I do wonder about the crazy system that makes all of this SO oddly unbalanced.
/signed,
She who is the soul of Luxie
--
ESP TUNE TOWNCRIER or ;tune towncrier
Web: http://gstowncrier.com/
Daily Email: gstowncrier.com/subscribe/
gstowncrier.com/where-to-find-the-towncrier/
Send in news: https://bit.ly/2ISsz2l
P.S. Help Wanted, Inquire Within
>If you tell me I have a choice of joining up with 10 other players, running over to the Outlands on a shared use of a boost bounty, killing bandits with such a low risk of danger that we are encouraged to hold back in combat OR ..... take a cull task to kill 27 lurks, which task do you think most players are incentivized to pick.
I don't mind the kill X number of creatures, but when they exceed 18 of them I turn in the bounty. Usually around 15 is pretty easily doable, for the most part. But I swear when I get a bounty for a creature to cull everyone else and their grandma are after the same creature so I could run around a hunting ground for 15-20 minutes before I get half of what I need to kill. Then, after I finally do finish the bounty and when I head back out, no one is after that creature anymore and they're all after the next creature type I'm in need of and it's a vicious cycle.
I still don't bother with bandits unless it's with a warrior. Like level creatures and bandits having a 35+% chance to hit my pures with a cman due to the SMR defense tanking from PSM3, it sucks when bandits always get the first strike because it usually means death or needing to break a stun with one of my 2 or 3 uses of 550. Watch my warrior go in, laugh at the hits and paltry SMR chance to be hit by a maneuver, kills things and moves on - of on the odd chance he gets stunned, he just berserks out of it, gets up and beats the bandits to death.
Here are my takes on the bounties.
Anyway, it would be nice of the cull the creature was adjusted to limit it from 10-15 for 1 creature type or upwards of 20-30 for multiple creature types in a specific hunting area, as long as you can learn from the creature. An example would be if you're level 18 and told to kill 25 creatures in the Pine Forest in Solhaven, that area has mongrel trolls (16), forest trolls (14), greater orcs (8) and coyotes (5). If you killed any coyotes you wouldn't progress your guild bounty task and even some greater orcs might not count if they spawned under level 8.
I don't mind the kill X number of creatures, but when they exceed 18 of them I turn in the bounty. Usually around 15 is pretty easily doable, for the most part. But I swear when I get a bounty for a creature to cull everyone else and their grandma are after the same creature so I could run around a hunting ground for 15-20 minutes before I get half of what I need to kill. Then, after I finally do finish the bounty and when I head back out, no one is after that creature anymore and they're all after the next creature type I'm in need of and it's a vicious cycle.
I still don't bother with bandits unless it's with a warrior. Like level creatures and bandits having a 35+% chance to hit my pures with a cman due to the SMR defense tanking from PSM3, it sucks when bandits always get the first strike because it usually means death or needing to break a stun with one of my 2 or 3 uses of 550. Watch my warrior go in, laugh at the hits and paltry SMR chance to be hit by a maneuver, kills things and moves on - of on the odd chance he gets stunned, he just berserks out of it, gets up and beats the bandits to death.
Here are my takes on the bounties.
| * Herb bounties: Go out and forage for some herbs - maybe takes 5-10 minutes to run to some locations, forage for all herbs and to turn them in. Not terribly difficult to do in a short amount of time. |
| * Gem bounties: I keep uncut diamonds, emeralds and rubies on hand to easily turn in gem bounties that ask for them, any other gem bounties I don't do. |
| * Bandits - already explained above, only with my warriors. |
| * Find the kid - these are just stupid. They can take a long time depending on how many creatures you need to kill and then the slow trek back to town....where the kid can be killed by creatures....yeah, stupid. (none of my characters care enough about the stupid kids that ran away from home, you couldn't pay them enough to track them down) |
| * Find the heirloom (kill and search) - these are hit and miss. Sometimes you get lucky and get the item in the first couple of kills/searches, other times you have to hunt down 30 creatures or search 30 rooms. |
| * Cull the creature - Any amount under 18 is great, all others I turn in. |
| * Kill the big mean creature - these usually aren't too bad, generally doable in under 10 minutes, unless you're unlucky and have to kill 20some normal creatures to get it to appear. |
| * Skinning - these can be easy for anyone with halfway decent first aid/survival skill |
| * Escort - these used to be fun, but they're too tedious with the bandit changes that happened 8-10 years ago (use of maneuvers). |
| - They were fun, for me (years ago before bandits were given CMANs), to do when going from Solhaven to Landing/Icemule or when going from Landing to Solhaven/Icemule or going from Icemule to Landing/Solhaven. You could do the walks in about 10-12 minutes, get a new escort bounty back and keep going. I'd do 4 or 5 a day. I found the best return for bounty points, exp and gold was doing these escorts. If you took a longer escort, the time involved walking to Zul (roughly 20 minutes, depending on ferry and cart ride) or EN location (roughly 35-45 minutes) took up too much time and the rewards for time spent doing the task was less than doing two short walks between Sol/Land/IMT. |
Anyway, it would be nice of the cull the creature was adjusted to limit it from 10-15 for 1 creature type or upwards of 20-30 for multiple creature types in a specific hunting area, as long as you can learn from the creature. An example would be if you're level 18 and told to kill 25 creatures in the Pine Forest in Solhaven, that area has mongrel trolls (16), forest trolls (14), greater orcs (8) and coyotes (5). If you killed any coyotes you wouldn't progress your guild bounty task and even some greater orcs might not count if they spawned under level 8.
I sure could use with fewer cull 30 seer tasks. On the other hand, I love me some champion culls. Not really sure how you improve that situation, maybe allow the level range to be more finely tuned by talking to the taskmaster, removing things 5 levels below.
Gem tasks are the ones I really hate, because I do not stockpile and the boost to finding them is never enough to actually get all the ones they ask for. I always end up one short for like 3 hunts with loot boosts and then I am just angry.
Sweet is the sound of the pouring rain,
And the stream that falls from the hill to plain.
Better than rain or rippling brook,
Is a mug of beer inside this Took.
Gem tasks are the ones I really hate, because I do not stockpile and the boost to finding them is never enough to actually get all the ones they ask for. I always end up one short for like 3 hunts with loot boosts and then I am just angry.
Sweet is the sound of the pouring rain,
And the stream that falls from the hill to plain.
Better than rain or rippling brook,
Is a mug of beer inside this Took.
Honest questions to your suggestions:
>> Gems for gem bounties should have to be found after the task is assigned.
Why would the gem shop owner care when the gems were found? It's not like they will be more 'fresh' or something.
>> This would have a side benefit of encouraging less hoarding of gems.
Why is this a benefit?
-- Robert
From the pitch of the vibration you determine that the purpose of the shield is as a shield.
>> Gems for gem bounties should have to be found after the task is assigned.
Why would the gem shop owner care when the gems were found? It's not like they will be more 'fresh' or something.
>> This would have a side benefit of encouraging less hoarding of gems.
Why is this a benefit?
-- Robert
From the pitch of the vibration you determine that the purpose of the shield is as a shield.
I won't do bandit, escort, or rescue tasks at all. I used to do the rescue ones, but as I gained levels and started hunting in places that were further away from town and sometimes difficult to get out of without a teleport ability they became too tedious.
Herb tasks I'll only do if it's for the Citadel area in RR or I'm playing my empath/cleric/ranger. It's prolly the easiest EXP to be had in the game if you can cast 213 or reliably forage while standing with a shield in yer hand.
The rest of the tasks I'll do as long as it's in an area I'll be hunting in anyway or isn't TOO dangerous for the character I'm playing. Though, I won't do the gem bounties for the cheapest gems like clear topazes, zircons, etc, cause they drop so rarely I can hunt for days without finding a single one and the reward is so small.
It's not really important to me if I complete them in a single hunt or if it takes me 4-5 hunts to complete so long as I feel like I'm making progress. Heirloom and dangerous critter tasks rarely take me more then one or two hunts, when they do it's usually cause I had bad luck and had to leave early. Culling and gem tasks can take longer then any of the others depending on the area, hunting pressure, etc. Skinning tasks depend on the character I'm playing, my ranger can almost always get them done in a single hunt but my cleric and empath often take 2-3 hunts just cause the value of their skins varies a lot more.
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
Herb tasks I'll only do if it's for the Citadel area in RR or I'm playing my empath/cleric/ranger. It's prolly the easiest EXP to be had in the game if you can cast 213 or reliably forage while standing with a shield in yer hand.
The rest of the tasks I'll do as long as it's in an area I'll be hunting in anyway or isn't TOO dangerous for the character I'm playing. Though, I won't do the gem bounties for the cheapest gems like clear topazes, zircons, etc, cause they drop so rarely I can hunt for days without finding a single one and the reward is so small.
It's not really important to me if I complete them in a single hunt or if it takes me 4-5 hunts to complete so long as I feel like I'm making progress. Heirloom and dangerous critter tasks rarely take me more then one or two hunts, when they do it's usually cause I had bad luck and had to leave early. Culling and gem tasks can take longer then any of the others depending on the area, hunting pressure, etc. Skinning tasks depend on the character I'm playing, my ranger can almost always get them done in a single hunt but my cleric and empath often take 2-3 hunts just cause the value of their skins varies a lot more.
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
>>Why would the gem shop owner care when the gems were found? It's not like they will be more 'fresh' or something.
The shop owner doesn't. The idea is about balancing time vs rewards in the AG tasks. Having to actually go find them after they task has been issued prevents the "instant" finishing of tasks just because gems have been hoarded.
As to why less hoarding of gems is a benefit... Large inventories are problematic. Game resources (though I can't say how much of an actual impact it has of course), characters that literally just hold gems for others, inventory management issues. Gem bounties are a main (if not really the only) reason we started seeing character corruption due to too much in inventory.
- Andreas
The shop owner doesn't. The idea is about balancing time vs rewards in the AG tasks. Having to actually go find them after they task has been issued prevents the "instant" finishing of tasks just because gems have been hoarded.
As to why less hoarding of gems is a benefit... Large inventories are problematic. Game resources (though I can't say how much of an actual impact it has of course), characters that literally just hold gems for others, inventory management issues. Gem bounties are a main (if not really the only) reason we started seeing character corruption due to too much in inventory.
- Andreas
My take is that your proposal around only accepting 'fresh' gems is that it kills a secondary player market - something I feel Gemstone needs more, not less of. A number of characters hold gems and sell them to others for gem tasks. Additionally, gem hoarding also supports alchemy and warrior sheath making to a lesser extent.
>> The idea is about balancing time vs rewards in the AG tasks.
As someone that does collect and save gems for bounty purposes, I would argue that I simply put my time in up front by taking the time to sort out and store the gems that I want to keep vs. having to hunt them down 'in the moment'. Honestly I probably wouldn't bother to do any gem tasks (other than ones that increase my chances for acquiring specific alchemy use gems) if they had to all be gathered after the task was assigned. As evidence of this I already turn in shell tasks because these cannot be placed into gem jars.
>> As to why less hoarding of gems is a benefit... Large inventories are problematic.
Gem jars should have addressed the inventory issue around gems in general.
>> Gem bounties are a main (if not really the only) reason we started seeing character corruption due to too much in inventory.
From personal experience, alchemy is definitely the culprit here (hoarding of alchemy ingredients that are required in the hundreds).
Thanks for sharing your perspective in further detail.
-- Robert
From the pitch of the vibration you determine that the purpose of the shield is as a shield.
>> The idea is about balancing time vs rewards in the AG tasks.
As someone that does collect and save gems for bounty purposes, I would argue that I simply put my time in up front by taking the time to sort out and store the gems that I want to keep vs. having to hunt them down 'in the moment'. Honestly I probably wouldn't bother to do any gem tasks (other than ones that increase my chances for acquiring specific alchemy use gems) if they had to all be gathered after the task was assigned. As evidence of this I already turn in shell tasks because these cannot be placed into gem jars.
>> As to why less hoarding of gems is a benefit... Large inventories are problematic.
Gem jars should have addressed the inventory issue around gems in general.
>> Gem bounties are a main (if not really the only) reason we started seeing character corruption due to too much in inventory.
From personal experience, alchemy is definitely the culprit here (hoarding of alchemy ingredients that are required in the hundreds).
Thanks for sharing your perspective in further detail.
-- Robert
From the pitch of the vibration you determine that the purpose of the shield is as a shield.
I don't disagree with you in most things, really. I would like to see more of a player market, but I've mostly given up on that at this point.
>>As someone that does collect and save gems for bounty purposes, I would argue that I simply put my time in up front by taking the time to sort out and store the gems that I want to keep vs. having to hunt them down 'in the moment'.
You haven't really spent the time on the task though, you just hedged on needing things that you found while doing other things.
>>From personal experience, alchemy is definitely the culprit here (hoarding of alchemy ingredients that are required in the hundreds).
There are certainly other things that encourage hoarding that should also be addressed in my opinion, but I'm fairly certain alchemy came after all that was already settled (of course, past timing isn't really a strong point for me so I could be wrong here).
A final thing re: gem jars... only kinda. 20 count is the only thing that is frequently available, and even then not commonly available. Anything above that tends to be difficult or quite expensive to get ahold of.
- Andreas
>>As someone that does collect and save gems for bounty purposes, I would argue that I simply put my time in up front by taking the time to sort out and store the gems that I want to keep vs. having to hunt them down 'in the moment'.
You haven't really spent the time on the task though, you just hedged on needing things that you found while doing other things.
>>From personal experience, alchemy is definitely the culprit here (hoarding of alchemy ingredients that are required in the hundreds).
There are certainly other things that encourage hoarding that should also be addressed in my opinion, but I'm fairly certain alchemy came after all that was already settled (of course, past timing isn't really a strong point for me so I could be wrong here).
A final thing re: gem jars... only kinda. 20 count is the only thing that is frequently available, and even then not commonly available. Anything above that tends to be difficult or quite expensive to get ahold of.
- Andreas
<A final thing re: gem jars... only kinda. 20 count is the only thing that is frequently available, and even then not commonly available. Anything above that tends to be difficult or quite expensive to get ahold of.>
I dunno how they're not commonly available.... 20 count jars can be bought in the alchemist shop in any town for about 500 silvers, 100 count jars are available for 250 BS at every DR (which you can get in a single Arena match)
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
I dunno how they're not commonly available.... 20 count jars can be bought in the alchemist shop in any town for about 500 silvers, 100 count jars are available for 250 BS at every DR (which you can get in a single Arena match)
Starchitin, the OG
A severed gnomish hand crawls in on its fingertips and makes a rude gesture before quickly decaying and rotting into dust. A gust of wind quickly scatters the dust.
I apparently butchered that in editing... It should read:
A final thing re: gem jars... only kinda. 20 count is the only thing that is frequently available, and even then ones that hold a significant amount (50+) are not commonly available. Anything above that tends to be difficult or quite expensive to get ahold of.
Re: DR availability... Sure, a single Arena match if you have the right character at the right level and spend $$ for them... I generally don't consider spending real money (beyond subscription) in availability and pricing measurements...
The other alternative fix for quick bounties would be to restrict all versions of the "get a bounty faster" to only exchanges and not finishes.
- Andreas
A final thing re: gem jars... only kinda. 20 count is the only thing that is frequently available, and even then ones that hold a significant amount (50+) are not commonly available. Anything above that tends to be difficult or quite expensive to get ahold of.
Re: DR availability... Sure, a single Arena match if you have the right character at the right level and spend $$ for them... I generally don't consider spending real money (beyond subscription) in availability and pricing measurements...
The other alternative fix for quick bounties would be to restrict all versions of the "get a bounty faster" to only exchanges and not finishes.
- Andreas
This is pretty far off the OP's request to reduce the numbers for culling bounties. That said, procuring gems offers one of the best rewards for no risk and no time investment. My opinion is of all the Procure tasks, gems should offer the least experience.
And while I appreciate the value of the secondary market, the market for gems seems to be pretty well botted now.
And while I appreciate the value of the secondary market, the market for gems seems to be pretty well botted now.
I agree with the title of this thread... "Please adjust AG tasks so that so many of them aren't a poor game experience" ...and with everything said in the OP about culling tasks, but honestly, to me it's not just those.
The team could work wonders with escort bounties (and child bounties, for that matter) if they could get the NPCs to use whatever code allowed the Ebon Gate warden boxes to follow through multiple rooms in one movement. That would clear up a lot of the current issue where escorts are some combination of dull, time-consuming, and too low payoff. They're also lonely, for that matter--making them shareable would be a big QoL boon.
Child bounties would be fixed somewhat by the same thing of movement through multiple rooms, but for different reasons--that could clear up the way that they're not even viable for some professions in some hunting grounds if the area is swarmy enough and the profession doesn't have a protection method (213, 1011, 1608, GUARD).
There's been a lot of back and forth here about gem bounties, but skinning bounties haven't gotten anywhere near that level of discussion even though you can accomplish similar things to gem bounties by hoarding everything within your level range. They probably get less praise/criticism because they give less exp and require training First Aid and/or Survival. Unlike gems, you actually have to train skills before you can even get the bounties in the first place--then train those skills further before the guild starts to possibly require higher quality skins that give more experience points.
For me, I think there are two ways to make skinning bounties more appealing:
A) Adjust the experience benefits so that they're based on the quality turned in instead of the quality initially requested.
B) After getting a skinning bounty, allow players to basically increase the quality request to whatever the game would estimate is their maximum ability for that creature. (Therefore increasing the exp benefits in the end.)
The bounty point gain and silver gain being based on the silver value of the skin is also sort of problematic in both directions, but that's more an issue with how loot pressure works and probably beyond the scope of this thread.
The team could work wonders with escort bounties (and child bounties, for that matter) if they could get the NPCs to use whatever code allowed the Ebon Gate warden boxes to follow through multiple rooms in one movement. That would clear up a lot of the current issue where escorts are some combination of dull, time-consuming, and too low payoff. They're also lonely, for that matter--making them shareable would be a big QoL boon.
Child bounties would be fixed somewhat by the same thing of movement through multiple rooms, but for different reasons--that could clear up the way that they're not even viable for some professions in some hunting grounds if the area is swarmy enough and the profession doesn't have a protection method (213, 1011, 1608, GUARD).
There's been a lot of back and forth here about gem bounties, but skinning bounties haven't gotten anywhere near that level of discussion even though you can accomplish similar things to gem bounties by hoarding everything within your level range. They probably get less praise/criticism because they give less exp and require training First Aid and/or Survival. Unlike gems, you actually have to train skills before you can even get the bounties in the first place--then train those skills further before the guild starts to possibly require higher quality skins that give more experience points.
For me, I think there are two ways to make skinning bounties more appealing:
A) Adjust the experience benefits so that they're based on the quality turned in instead of the quality initially requested.
B) After getting a skinning bounty, allow players to basically increase the quality request to whatever the game would estimate is their maximum ability for that creature. (Therefore increasing the exp benefits in the end.)
The bounty point gain and silver gain being based on the silver value of the skin is also sort of problematic in both directions, but that's more an issue with how loot pressure works and probably beyond the scope of this thread.
All the procurement bounties need some reviewing. It is good that they are limited to 10 items, but they can't be shared and pose very little risk compared to the other bounties. Skinning and herbs require some training. Gems require none.
Maybe we can try to normalize the risks and rewards for these, and consider making them sharable. I understand requiring them to be found on a like-level critter, or be found by the character with the bounty, would eliminate the secondary market. Maybe there's a better way to do it.
Finding gems in a hunting area with a bounty is really a weird system, anyway. They have to gen on a critter, yet chances are someone else is going to kill it and get the gem, unless you're the only one hunting there. And they can be very random. Getting skins or herbs makes a lot more sense, in comparison.
Maybe we can try to normalize the risks and rewards for these, and consider making them sharable. I understand requiring them to be found on a like-level critter, or be found by the character with the bounty, would eliminate the secondary market. Maybe there's a better way to do it.
Finding gems in a hunting area with a bounty is really a weird system, anyway. They have to gen on a critter, yet chances are someone else is going to kill it and get the gem, unless you're the only one hunting there. And they can be very random. Getting skins or herbs makes a lot more sense, in comparison.
This is why I hate hunting bandits as a pure, even with my reduxmage:
+10 CER crit padding in scale armor (studded leather) and that initial ambush to the eye did a rank 3 wound.
He's designed to take hits, but after a single encounter he has to run off because he can't cast. I can swing a weapon all day long with a missing eye, rank 3 head wound or broken arms, but I can't cast with the same wounds.....what a load of horse crap.
One last complaint. Could this maneuver that did 2...2 tiny little damage not cause a broken leg?
| A halfling outlaw leaps out of her hiding place! |
| A halfling outlaw swings a mace at you! |
| AS: +304 vs DS: +261 with AvD: +31 + d100 roll: +66 = +140 |
| ... and hits for 6 points of damage! |
| Smack to the eye bursts blood vessels. |
| You are stunned for 3 rounds! |
| > |
| A human thief leaps out of his hiding place! |
| A human thief swings a short sword at you! |
| The energy surrounding you condenses into hard stone, softening the blow! |
| AS: +290 vs DS: +224 with AvD: +26 + d100 roll: +52 = +144 |
| ... and hits for 11 points of damage! |
| Hesitant slash to your upper right arm! |
| Just a scratch. |
| > |
| An erithian brigand stumbles slightly as he leaps from hiding, revealing himself in the process. |
| An erithian brigand springs upon you from behind and aims a blow to your head! |
| [SMR result: 103 (Open d100: 35, Bonus: 35)] |
| You feel dazed! |
| > |
| A halfling outlaw swings a mace at you! |
| The energy surrounding you condenses into hard stone, softening the blow! |
| AS: +304 vs DS: +260 with AvD: +31 + d100 roll: +99 = +174 |
| ... and hits for 7 points of damage! |
| Torn muscle in your left leg! |
| > |
| An erithian brigand swings a handaxe at you! |
| AS: +289 vs DS: +233 with AvD: +34 + d100 roll: +6 = +96 |
| A clean miss. |
| > |
| A human thief swings a short sword at you! |
| The energy surrounding you condenses into hard stone, softening the blow! |
| AS: +290 vs DS: +233 with AvD: +26 + d100 roll: +65 = +148 |
| ... and hits for 5 points of damage! |
| Near-miss! |
| Knuckles kissed but little damage. |
| A halfling outlaw swings a mace at you! |
| The energy surrounding you condenses into hard stone, softening the blow! |
| AS: +304 vs DS: +233 with AvD: +31 + d100 roll: +39 = +141 |
| ... and hits for 6 points of damage! |
| Stomach shot lands with a hollow thump. |
| > |
| A human thief swings a short sword at you! |
| The energy surrounding you condenses into hard stone, softening the blow! |
| AS: +290 vs DS: +233 with AvD: +26 + d100 roll: +94 = +177 |
| ... and hits for 11 points of damage! |
| Minor puncture to the chest. |
| >stance d |
| An erithian brigand swings a handaxe at you! |
| The energy surrounding you condenses into hard stone, softening the blow! |
| AS: +289 vs DS: +233 with AvD: +34 + d100 roll: +85 = +175 |
| ... and hits for 12 points of damage! |
| Jarring blow to your back. |
| > |
| You are still stunned. |
| >stance d |
| You are still stunned. |
| >stance d |
| You are still stunned. |
| > |
| A halfling outlaw swings a mace at you! |
| The energy surrounding you condenses into hard stone, softening the blow! |
| AS: +304 vs DS: +230 with AvD: +31 + d100 roll: +30 = +135 |
| ... and hits for 6 points of damage! |
| Blow raises a welt on your left arm. |
| >stance d |
| You are still stunned. |
| >stance d |
| You are still stunned. |
| > |
| A human thief swings a short sword at you! |
| The energy surrounding you condenses into hard stone, softening the blow! |
| AS: +290 vs DS: +230 with AvD: +26 + d100 roll: +31 = +117 |
| ... and hits for 1 point of damage! |
| Thrust catches your chin. |
| Leaves an impression but no cut. |
| >stance d |
| You are still stunned. |
| >stance d |
| You are still stunned. |
| >stance d |
| You are still stunned. |
| >stance d |
| You are still stunned. |
| > |
| An erithian brigand swings a handaxe at you! |
| The energy surrounding you condenses into hard stone, softening the blow! |
| AS: +289 vs DS: +230 with AvD: +34 + d100 roll: +43 = +136 |
| ... and hits for 7 points of damage! |
| Blow raises a welt on your left arm. |
| >stance d |
| You are still stunned. |
| >stance d |
| > |
| You are now in a defensive stance. |
| > |
| A halfling outlaw raises her heel high, attempting to footstomp you! |
| [SMR result: 169 (Open d100: 91, Bonus: 22)] |
| A halfling outlaw brings her foot down solidly on you! |
| You bounce around distracted by the pain! |
| Roundtime: 11 sec. |
| >stance d |
| ...wait 11 seconds. |
| > |
| A human thief swings a short sword at you! |
| AS: +290 vs DS: +293 with AvD: +26 + d100 roll: +15 = +38 |
| A clean miss. |
| >stance d |
| ...wait 10 seconds. |
| > |
| A halfling outlaw swings a mace at you! |
| AS: +304 vs DS: +293 with AvD: +31 + d100 roll: +34 = +76 |
| A clean miss. |
| > |
| An erithian brigand swings a handaxe at you! |
| AS: +289 vs DS: +293 with AvD: +34 + d100 roll: +78 = +108 |
| ... and hits for 1 point of damage! |
| A feeble blow to your left arm! |
| > |
| A human thief crouches and sweeps a leg at you! |
| [SMR result: 101 (Open d100: 39, Bonus: 22)] |
| You fall to the ground! A human thief deftly regains his footing. |
| You are struck by an acute sense of vulnerability. |
| > |
| A halfling outlaw swings a mace at you! |
| AS: +304 vs DS: +243 with AvD: +31 + d100 roll: +33 = +125 |
| ... and hits for 1 point of damage! |
| A nice bruise on your neck! |
| > |
| A human thief swings a short sword at you! |
| AS: +290 vs DS: +243 with AvD: +26 + d100 roll: +81 = +154 |
| ... and hits for 7 points of damage! |
| Glancing strike to the head! |
| >st |
| ...wait 4 seconds. |
| >st |
| ...wait 3 seconds. |
| >st |
| ...wait 3 seconds. |
| > |
| An erithian brigand slips into hiding. |
| >st |
| ...wait 2 seconds. |
| > |
| A halfling outlaw pulls out a white crystal and rubs it! |
| A halfling outlaw looks considerably more imposing. |
| >st |
| ...wait 1 seconds. |
| >st |
| ...wait 1 seconds. |
| > |
| A human thief swings a short sword at you! |
| AS: +290 vs DS: +243 with AvD: +26 + d100 roll: +10 = +83 |
| A clean miss. |
| >st |
| You stand back up. |
| >stance d |
| You are now in a defensive stance. |
| > |
| A halfling outlaw swings a mace at you! |
| You barely dodge the attack! |
| > |
| A faint silvery light flickers from the shadows. |
| >stomp |
| As you stomp your foot sharply, the dirt shakes wildly! |
| The ground begins to shake violently, making it hard to stand. |
| A human thief loses his balance and falls over. |
| A halfling outlaw loses her balance and falls over. |
| > |
| A human thief stands up with a grunt. |
| > |
| You suddenly feel less light-footed. |
| > |
| [902]>exp |
| > |
| Level: 59 Fame: 9,789,118 |
| Experience: 3,431,110 Field Exp: 580/968 |
| Ascension Exp: 385,317 Recent Deaths: 0 |
| Total Exp: 3,816,427 Death's Sting: None |
| Long-Term Exp: 0 Deeds: 0 |
| Exp until lvl: 31,390 Exp to next ATP: 14,683 |
| PTPs/MTPs: 0/100 ATPs: 0 |
| Your mind is muddled. |
| You feel a strange sense of serenity and find that you are able to reflect on recent events with uncommon clarity and understanding. |
| Your recent adventures echo powerfully in your mind. |
| > |
| [902]>incant 506 |
| You can't make that dextrous of a move! |
+10 CER crit padding in scale armor (studded leather) and that initial ambush to the eye did a rank 3 wound.
He's designed to take hits, but after a single encounter he has to run off because he can't cast. I can swing a weapon all day long with a missing eye, rank 3 head wound or broken arms, but I can't cast with the same wounds.....what a load of horse crap.
One last complaint. Could this maneuver that did 2...2 tiny little damage not cause a broken leg?
| With a quick lunge, a human robber tries to hamstring you with her with her bastard sword! |
| [SMR result: 104 (Open d100: 79, Bonus: 7)] |
| Your size contributes slightly to your defense! |
| With a vicious strike a human robber slashes at your right leg! |
| ... 1 point of damage! |
| Light, bruising slash to your left thigh. |
| Blood sprays from your right leg in a crimson arc! |
| ... 1 point of damage! |
As a counterpoint to all of this, my suggestion is to leave the AG alone. Contrary to popular belief, it's OK if you don't complete an AG task every 15 minutes. The people that are regularly doing this now invest a lot of time and/or money into the game. You are never going to catch up to them without putting in an equal amount of some combination of those resources. In my opinion, some of the suggestions in this thread are decent, while others are not so good. But I think the end result of any changes made would be not what you (the general you) intended. And what tends to happen is everybody loses, but disproportionately. The changes will slow down the min-maxer by 10%, but the casual player by 50%.
Also, a quick take on gem bounties. The 20 count jars should be sufficient for most casual players that want to try and keep a stock of gems. The 50/100 count jars are really only needed by min-maxers that run multiple account and/or are doing only gem bounties.
Also, a quick take on gem bounties. The 20 count jars should be sufficient for most casual players that want to try and keep a stock of gems. The 50/100 count jars are really only needed by min-maxers that run multiple account and/or are doing only gem bounties.
