EZ Server

I propose adding a rot bot in Qvic and Tacvi. However, I think that it should cost about 20k per transaction.

I figure if you have a price per turn in - it wont be used to speed through the progression for people who are just starting to get to this level as most people at this point dont have 100K+ to drop on a rot bot.

Instead it could be a way to alleviate the issue of having to go back for that one piece that seems like it will never drop - meanwhile your group has progressed well beyong one of these zones.

I have a few characters that are holding tacvi/T1/T2 molds because I cant get the Qvic peice to drop for me.

What are your guys' thoughts? Should the price be a little higher maybe 50k?

+1

I AGREEE

it isnt the "hassle" of getting a full toon fully geared, its really just that last piece or two (usually legs or BP) that just take hours of farming of not getting the one item you need.

I agree.  It holds quite a bit of people back just having to farm these zones over and over again.  At least with a Rot Bot it would clear the zone up for other people and maybe have less instances open of these particular zones.

I kinda disagree with this because I do realize it is called the EZ server but farming that one drop is a lot more like the original EQ that I am used to even paying for it I believe this would just be way too easy and a lot more like wow.. But that's just IMO if  people want it more power to this topic :-)

I agree. whiles Tacvi isn't all that bad, Qvic can be super annoying, i.e. worst place I had to farm on EZ so far!

I actually agree with you to a point. I enjoy EZ server so much because there are aspects of it that do remind me of Classic EQ. However, speaking as someone who only gets about 10 hours a week and with all my chars finishing T2 I hate that i have to spend many hours going back to get that one missing piece.

To be honest this suggestion would just turn extreme bad luck into purchasable good luck. In order to utilize this Rot bot you would still have to spend enough time farming Qvic to get 2 other pieces of the same slot.

Ya know, that double loot weekend did help out a lot for gearing up people.  Maybe having "events" like that more often would be more supplemental.  It could go either way, that would make it almost too easy.  Anyone care to help elaborate?

I disagree. 

As a newbie coming into this zone I have found it incredibly difficult to get groups going in QVIC in general.  A rot bot would make this worse.  Let me explain.  Last night I spent 40 mins in OOC calling to start a group (I ended up needing to box and only got one other person to come with me).  When we got going we found other people who were in the zone and not interested in grouping (they weren't interested in any sort of share arrangement with the loot).  Let me add here that personally I prefer game play with real live people as opposed to a boxed army (I will always replace a boxed toon with a person if I can). It seems to me that a lot of people are seeing both QVIC and TACVI as "inconvenience" zones and are looking for ways to speed through this game content.  The cumulative result is that the social aspect of game play (ie. grouping with new people; making new friends; helping one another; etc) is being lost in favour of getting to T1-4 zones ASAP. 

The times I have played in this zone where groups were working have been the most reminiscent of old school EQ.  And to date - the most fun. 

If you add a rot drop bot you're going to simply promote people plat farming and buying the equipment as opposed to actually playing the zone as it was intended.   

My thoughts anyway.
Strix

Yea I agree with this. Would be kinda bad for those people who do only want to play 1 character.

sorry to say this man, but this server is not for you. I tried the single char route and it's just not going to happen. You can get someone to group with you every here and there-but when it is its like someone just running you through something.

Most of the people asking for rot bots are ALREADY IN T1-T4 but a simply missing one or two Qvic/Tacvi pieces on one (or a few) of their 6-24 toons.

So you're effectively saying that EZ Server is a solo server?  Hmm.  That raises a whole bunch of questions around the game content.  Specifically:
1.  Why bother with guilds if it's a solo server? 
2.  Why allow a chat feature for players to interact?
3.  Why does Hunter have welcoming text in zones like QVIC telling you to group with multiple players to survive?  Should he just tell you start boxing?
4.  Why isn't scripting allowed for boxing on this server (if as you suggest - this is a solo server).

Actually - if it's going to be a solo server why not just start putting rot bots up in every zone? 

Sohami - you're right about a LOT of people having this attitude on the server.  That doesn't mean that there isn't room for the social player.  Perhaps in the early days of the server (when the numbers were smaller) it was mandatory to box and play solo.  In recent times, I've seen a lot more groups forming with newer players and people becoming a lot more soical in this game.  Really - it's not like most of us haven't already seen end content when we played on the live.  I personally didn't come back to this game because of it's great ability to captivate as a solo style game (you're quite nuts if you think the narrative is actually that engaging). 

Seriously - Do you really want to be the little boy sitting alone in the dark playing with himself?

Rystan

 

This is most commonly 2-10 people in a guild that box several, several characters to do content above what they could with their solo box army. So, its like grouping^2. Know what im saying? You would have a point here (and i wish you did honestly) but guilds will rarely take a solo toon. Because there are a lot more uses for someone who can box 2 wars, a cleric and a couple rangers.


Interacting is different than grouping. Dont get me wrong, the server is very "social friendly" but when it comes to content its just rarely the case.


intent doesn't always mean reality. I read it as "group with multiple boxes to survive here"


Not sure what you mean by this one

In conclusion, I would be on your team if you caught me when I started here. I tried the solo route and it's just not realistic to get a couple buddies and take on a zone. It just isnt. 95% of people here have their own army, and their "group" is their guild.

To address the connection some people have made with Rot Bots alienating single box play I dont believe you have me convinced that it will really do so.

By adding a rot bot - I dont believe any single boxers are going to go out and create a bunch of boxes because there is now a rot bot. Nor do I believe anyone who wishes to group with others will stop grouping with others just because they are going to want to loot the rot.

I would go so far as to say people may be more encouraged to group together if there is a rot bot because now two plate classes looking for the same piece wont have to worry as much about losing the roll if their piece drops.

Rystan - Most boxers are little boys sitting in a dark room playing with 1-3 of their friends.

To be honest I was put off by your entire post. It is always unfortunate when someone comes to a thread and posts a bunch of non-sense that adds little to no value to the discussion at hand. Just because someone's playstyle and process of enjoying a game isnt the same as yours - doesnt make it any less legitimate or worthy of a reason to play.

+1 Mayo, Sohami

I deleted my Post that was in response to him yesterday cause I couldn't covey it well enough. Because you hit it right on the head.. Not everyone's play style is the same period.

Hi Sohami - Thanks for the frank reply.  Really, your answers to those questions actually mirror my own experiences with the reality of this server.  With that said – I think we can both agree that this is NOT a solo server (Solo by definition means alone).  Groups of 2 – 10 players working together on content (regardless of boxing) make this a social game (and a social sever).  We use the chat feature to allow us to make those connections (and for other purposes).  Please correct me if I’m wrong here but I suspect you actually met those players (that you play with regularly) in lower levels of the game by grouping with them (and being social).   

Where am I going with this?

To clarify, Stix's original point (as quoted by Sohami) was this:
“I prefer game play with real live people as opposed to a boxed army”

To which Sohami responded:
 “sorry to say this man, but this server is not for you. I tried the single char route and it's just not going to happen. You can get someone to group with you every here and there-but when it is its like someone just running you through something.”

The corollary of all this is that I'm confused about the following:
Why is Sohami telling a new player that they are not suited to this sever when suggesting that they prefer to play with humans - especially when he appears to clearly agree that:
a.    it's not a solo sever, and;
b.   is (presumably) in a guild where he groups with 2- 10 other boxers to do higher end content every time he plays? 
Strix states in his post that he ended up boxing to get through QVIC with another person.  Given Sohami's responses above – I fail to see how the two are actually any different. 

Perhaps the only difference is that Strix appears to be calling for people in OOC whilst Sohami only helps guild members?

It seems like a slippery slope to me when established (well-connected) players on the server start suggesting to newer players that they play elsewhere and try to justify it with ill-considered gobbledegook.  If Sohami actually had a point to make to Strix its lost in the apparent nastiness of the sentiment. 


Rystan

Mayo - We really need to separate the issue.  Personal sentiment aside - the issue is NOT "alienating single box players".  Not sure how you got that idea.

As I see it - the issue is that the rot bot will support single box play OVER grouping and playing the zone (see Strix's quote above).  Perhaps its the 20k price tag per item that's the issue?  Really - there would be nothing stopping a single box player from farming FG/CG items to gain enough plat to simply skip that zone (or any other zone that you put a bot up in).  I've been able to sell full sets of that stuff for 400k and it only took me 6 hours to farm.  Do we really want to put more pressure on those items?  

I actually like the idea of the rot bot in PoD - that concept could work really nicely.
Rystan

So instead of buying the items with plats, have then purchased with cards or coins, LDoN style.  This way, people still need to group/play the area, but also have an alternative to farming a drop.   Seems win/win to me.

For the record I want to point out in your non-edited post what was in place of this text was something to the tune of:

If we put a rot bot in Qvic then think of the precedent that it will set of the other zones.

Ignoring that.

I would like to ask why you think a PoD rot bot doesnt affect PoD in the ways you are saying a Rot bot (that has more strings attached) would effect Qvic?

I will give you a little help as to why I think a Rot bot (And Dragon Class) in PoD is different from Qvic, since my guess is you arent in PoD yet. PoD takes more time and is much harder. The Rot bot (Dragon Class) cuts the time it takes to be in T1(T2) by an immeasurable amount. The Qvic rot bot would cut your time in Qvic by much less.

If you feel 20k is too low I wouldn't mind changing it to 50-100k personally. The only issue I see with that is that it will turn a lot of people off to using it (including the intended audience). So then why have hunter spend the time doing something that only me and two other people will use.



It wouldnt really be "skipping" the zone as they would still need to go there and get two pieces to actually use for the rot bot. (please re-read my previous post about purchasing good luck).

I also want to point out that nobody should be concerned with other people rushing through content. The Rot Bot isnt a requirement you can certainly experience all the of the zones without rot bot's by choosing not to use it.


If i were a single box player and I perceived changes to the game to be geared at making it harder for me to play as a single boxer. . .I would feel alienated.

Basically it sounds to me like, people want to force groups without the legwork of making friends, making enemies, working together. Or they are just hoping for that high level guy to come in and run the zone and letting them gingerly loot behind.(which I don't mind doing see below).


Before you flame me, ask around how many low level zones I visit and randomly group with players to give them a push forward...(daily)

People have their own play style, this is not live. People log on to do their own things, chat, raid with others, raid with selves, complain, and whatever..

People think boxing is some easy thing that makes it all better..

How many toons do you I have to level up, how many 3.0s did I have to farm, how much pp do I need to buy FG stuff or camp it for how many toons?

.. Rot Bots will not hurt groups, people that don't get out there and make friends daily hurt grouping.

What have you done today to make Norrath a better place?


PST in game if you need help with something.

I used something similar to a Rot Bot on my server.  People loved it.  You could exchange 3 pieces of dropped set gear (like cobalt) for 1 piece of your choice (same slot).

For instance: Druid, SK, and Pal legs for Warrior Legs

It helped progression BARELY and stopped people from getting burnt out doing one monster endlessly (which in turn stops lower guilds from being able to kill him and get the experience/strategy).

Rot bot would be great in both these zones.  It gives noobs a chance to catch up with everyone else faster and allows the vets to gear alts a lil quicker.

+1  
-- In addition, drop the charging out of the model as it would be clear that players have played the zone extensively enough to have just had “extreme bad luck”.  There appears to be no point in charging players for this.


You’re funny.

To be clear – I didn’t really enter this discussion as an opponent to your idea.  My post addressed to you was simply a courtesy to separate the issue of my posts with Strix’s.  It was also to clarify where the last discussion point was before it got hijacked by people trying to bully a new member off the server.  I used mainly Strix’s words in the wording – adding my own thoughts to his post (as they occurred to me) to provide you with the opportunity to address him.

My position on your issue is stated above.

Rystan

Rystan,

to me, solo still means 'solo' if you're boxing your own group.

Whether you are playing with real people or boxing your own mini army, a rot bot for qvic/tacvi would help everyone. There have been times when all I seemed to be getting was cloth or leather while trying to find plate for my pally, war or bard. Having the option to turn in X of one type for class specific stuff would have been a godsend. (We have all had days when our luck with loot is nothing short of abyssmal)

*Note*
Yes, I can vouch for Fugitive's kindness in regards to helping others. He let my bard tag along on another run he was giving just so I could get the missing patterns and gems needed.