Ridiculously easy mod10

[Vile]

Is it mod10? Whatever it is, the Rugged Plateau, Red Granite Mesa etc.  areas are ridiculously easy and completely unbalanced. Mystics are making 5mil/h solo, parties of level 30 backstabbers are making 1.2mil/h each and never getting hit. These areas have been tailor made for scripting with regen rooms every second room and single mobs per room.... .... . .. Why has this game turned into an even bigger script (and dupe) fest?

[Greater]

Is it mod10? Whatever it is, the Rugged Plateau, Red Granite Mesa etc.  areas are ridiculously easy and completely unbalanced. Mystics are making 5mil/h solo, parties of level 30 backstabbers are making 1.2mil/h each and never getting hit. These areas have been tailor made for scripting with regen rooms every second room and single mobs per room.... .... . .. Why has this game turned into an even bigger script (and dupe) fest?

I could make every lair doubles and triples and eliminate singles...but who would use it? This reads more like a whining post because you didn't put the effort in to research and explore new locations. Somehow I doubt this post would happen if it was you who found some overly-juiced areas. The mystic rate is excessive, but a level 30 backstabber can generate similar exp solo with quality gear and some skill the same as a tank can and a caster can. Don't expect stock rates on a realm where the scale is 1-100+ vs effectively being 1-50.

That being said, adjustments will be made as they always are. For the record, I don't think you and many others understand how difficult it can be to get accuracy, lair timer, monster hp, etc 100% perfect on the first pass when setting initial values amounts more to guesswork than science. There WILL be more unknowns this push with so many new and improved areas. I would suggest taking advantage of them by researching and exploring and in time they will be brought into a more reasonable range.

Happy hunting.

[Kakashi]

Hmm.. interesting read.  While I agree that Mod10 is a little "easy," my opinions of Mod 10 have a little bit of a different perspective.

Firstly, i'd like to say that I appreciate all of the work that was put into updating the game. So for those who contributed - thanks!

I do agree that there are certainly a few areas that provide TOO much exp (greater wyverns & grizzlies) for their difficulty. A level 45 mystic should not be able to crush 4M exp solo. Conversely, there are areas that provide far too little experience for how hard they are to get to like the sea gulls, gull hawks, and walrus. Walrus seems like a decent area for lower levels, but there is no damn way to get there at low level.

My 2nd criticism is that Mod10 is too damn big and it seems that it is just a spattering of rooms. I'd like to see some more structure to it instead of a giant mess of rooms with a billion spawns.

My last constructive criticism is the bosses.. well i only have 1 example really. The Matriarch. She seems wicked hard for a boss that gives nothing. Almost not worth killing because if you do die, you gotta run back there which is about 600 rooms from TS.

Regarding the low level access to the area - i am on the fence. I sorta like how we are try out new things quickly, but it also makes a lot of other areas obsolete.

bottom line - i think mod10 could be much more interesting if it were a more manageable size and had some of the lower areas closer to DTH.

[Vile]

I could make every lair doubles and triples and eliminate singles...but who would use it? This reads more like a whining post because you didn't put the effort in to research and explore new locations.

Our gang is abusing and benefiting from these areas just like everyone else but this isn't a whining post. I just want to see a balanced and fun game and these new areas, 700+ rooms from town and too easy for their experience and difficulty is the opposite of fun and balanced, in my opinion of course.

[Greater]

Firstly, i'd like to say that I appreciate all of the work that was put into updating the game. So for those who contributed - thanks!

You're quite welcome!

While I agree that Mod10 is a little "easy," my opinions of Mod 10 have a little bit of a different perspective.

I'll begin here by just noting that the Black Foothills and Rugged Plateau are really just bridge areas. True Mod 10 begins beyond Port Blackwater, so I wouldn't worry too much about this area being what the entire mod will be. More info below on Plateau.

I do agree that there are certainly a few areas that provide TOO much exp (greater wyverns & grizzlies) for their difficulty. A level 45 mystic should not be able to crush 4M exp solo. Conversely, there are areas that provide far too little experience for how hard they are to get to like the sea gulls, gull hawks, and walrus. Walrus seems like a decent area for lower levels, but there is no damn way to get there at low level.

We had the beta realm open for weeks and people chose to use their time being level 130 and screwing off rather than testing some of these new areas and providing feedback. Winter and I and the team do 
our best to test areas (especially to ensure that they mechanically work), but in reality there is no way we can be expected to spend 1000s of hours tuning every room in the game before release. That's why
some areas may be excessive or may be low for the time being. I wouldn't consider them to be in their final forms but rather initial forms, and in that regard this feedback is valuable to help tune them.

We were faced with a dilemma given the scope of our Mod 10 project and the very limited dev crew that we have: Do we release what is closest to complete given that it adds so much more space to the
realm, or do we totally cut out all of the content originally to be packaged in Mod 10? We chose to let people use the space if they wanted to.

Areas like the walrus or seagull spots are intended to be exactly what they appear to be: they're much lower level areas within a higher difficulty zone. Areas like this give people opportunities to push the 
limits if they're able to reach them; This is not really any different than the golden age of MajorMUD in Mod 6 and 7, where you could for example get a solo leather char into Small Pyramid by the end of day
one if you were a skilled player. There must be room for skilled players to push their limits and separate themselves from the pack and this is at least an attempt at giving that opportunity to those interested. One may also note that given their aura of impossibility, they'd also make for exceptional early hideouts for pvp players under a lot of heat and with the guts to reach them.

Matriarch's the only boss in Plateau right now because we simply ran out of time. There are additional layers of that zone that have yet to be completed, but as I mentioned above we decided to that it was
better to just let players use the space this push than lock them out. This is also why Port Blackwater doesn't have a ton of items in stock yet. As far as the specific tuning of the boss, it's closer in line with
where dire grizzlies should've been accuracy/damage-wise. If you have a 45 mystic-which also is being highly scrutinized by the way-in grizzlies, then of course the matriarch would appear far too difficult
because the accuracy tuning is wrong and you're simply in the area way earlier than intended.

bottom line - i think mod10 could be much more interesting if it were a more manageable size and had some of the lower areas closer to DTH.

Distance. This seems to be a popular topic on both realms, so I'll begin by saying that much of the distance is a balancing factor for the content west of DTH. It seems fairly obvious that the distance has not
been enough to discourage most people from venturing west as those areas have been popular on both realms. The ease of access to Port Blackwater is not going to be shortened in any way, and in light of
all the issues with people being able to do a bit too well out there, I've also been considering options to limit travel beyond the Foothills by level.

[Greater]

Our gang is abusing and benefiting from these areas just like everyone else but this isn't a whining post. I just want to see a balanced and fun game and these new areas, 700+ rooms from town and too easy for their experience and difficulty is the opposite of fun and balanced, in my opinion of course.

700 is a bit of a stretch, given that Blackwater is 550 rooms from the western slum gate and is the most distant point in the Plateau, but point taken. I've addressed this in my followup to another's response in this thread.