Pet Pathing Thoughts for Next Patch

[________jdiobwanknby]

By the way thank you for actually being interested in us Engies I do REALLY and SINCERELY appreciate that and I hope my thought s have helped. However Pet PAthing should be fixed not only for our profession but all pet professions we all deserve that right as gamers.

[Lunayu]

Hey now! I see alot of reference to Engineers here! Not just at this post but many others. They aren't the only ones with pets they have to deal with. Try to keep an open mind. Every pet has it's problems. Though robots of varies shapes and sizes may may get stuck behind walls it should be well known that MP's have that problem too. Not only that but have you ever tried to get a floating pet off a table top?

I see MP problems that are shared by other Professions.

1. Pet pathing. What can I say that hasn't been said a thousand times before?

2. Blackholes. I've fallen in love with the MP Ice and Mind attacks, but more and more I find that when I cast that desperately needed, life saving nano program... it fails to function at all.

3. Creation Weapons. Let me hit you with a fake snake. Does it hurt? I invest time and money into getting the program to create this weapon and then to use it I get all the life and nano sucked out of my body. Not only that but the little weapon only lasts for about 2 hours. And all this gives me a weapon that does squat for damage. Other weapons that do much more damage are easier to get. Doesn't seem quite balanced right away does it?

OK, so here we have weapons that don't do much damage. It's probably assumed that the pets we manifest can take care of that problem, they are supposed to be the major damage dealers right? Oh, but wait! One of my pets is trapped behind a table 2 rooms back and my other is... I don't know, but he's not close enough to terminate so I can summon a new one. (Let us terminate our pets no matter what room or floor they are on!) That's ok though, this mobs about to be an icicle, all I need to do is blast it with this program... ah crud, my program ends up being the thing that's frozen. That leaves me standing there with my snake stick. So I start to fight the overwhelming horde of mobs when suddenly I notice that I'm... kicking? What are you kidding me?! A quick check in my 'Weapons' section reveals my horror come to life. Indeed I am holding no weapons, they timed out a little bit ago, but my screen still shows me flailing away with the imaginary items. (Give us a countdown for the Creation Weapons or get rid of the time limit! A normal program runs in your NCU and you can check to see if it's about to run out. With these weapons we have no way of checking on how much longer they are going to last!) Before I can begin to wonder if this can get any worse I see a flash of white and find myself in front of a Reclaim Terminal. That was fun huh? Want to do it again? And again...

This was a walk in the solo life of an MP. If it were a team view than that pet that was lost in the great unknown was most likely the heal pet. Here's a clip. "I tried to heal you but my pet wouldn't listen!" Why is it so hard to get it to stop following one person and start patching up someone else?

So here's the deal. I play a Meta-Physicist because I want to play a Meta-Physicst. I don't want to play an Enforcer or Soldier or Doctor or whatever role all the other MP's have been forced to turn into. Fix the pet pathing, it'll be a good start. ...start.
Not just for MP's, not just for Engi's or Crat's either, but for all those who have been faithful to their pet profession.

[___________Stercoral]

Originally posted by jdiobwanknby
Ok, obviously you dont have a clue so I will go into detail for you.

First answer 3 questions (if u can honestly please)

1) What are engineers better at than any other profession in the game?

2) What can engineers do that no other profession can do that is really worth anything?

3) If all engies died on Rubi Ka would they be missed


After answering all of those questions u will see we are the most gimped profession hands down. Engies can't PvP, solo very well, run missions very well, our pets wont hold aggro or do much damage in comparison to damage other professions deal out (especially after lvl 125), our pets wont listen, our pet pathing sucks, our choice of weapons sucks (how bout it MA engies - you know what its liked to be gimped right), our trimmers suck are basically useless, our damage shields suck pretty much considering we cant heal ourselves, our AC shields are a joke, all othe rnanos except beacon warp are pretty much a joke, need I go on anymore STERCORAL? I challenge you to start an engie and last till lvl 200 then u will see how gimped we are, unfortunately. I do believe other professions have serious problems, I do believe nanothechs could use some work, but i have seen high lvl nanotechs calm a whole area and kick butt on monster and human mobs one at a time. At least u can do that, at least u are more wanted on a team. Us engies really have nothing to look forward too.

Alright... and thank you for the reply, a bit aggro, but we now all have a summary of your problems. Hmmm, where did you see a NT calming an area ? NT have only single calms, the area calms are restricted to bureaucrat and traders I think.


Let's go:

1) I don't know, but I like their warping, their tough pets (and the damage they deal), their nanoprogramming (and other tradeskills to build various things, like nanocrystals). You may not agree, but I also like the AC shields.

2) I don't know.

3) I will miss them, for various reasons, including the reasons in "1)" and also because I know some nice engineers.

I still believe that the words "most gimped" are too strong, otherwise you couldn't level at all. It's stupid but the words you use disturb me.

As we are on this discussion, and as you look experienced, tell me one by one, what are the answers of your questions for all other professions. It may be too long to do, but you get the point, to be the most "gimped" you need to be the worst in PvP + solo + tradeskills + ? + ? + and have constantly problems to survive, don't you think ?

Just a thought: afterall, do all professions need to be the best in one skill ? It may sound logical but I do think some will prefer average skills for everyskills. And even if AO is sometimes more like a Diablo-MMORPG, there are (or there should be) others interesting skills than combat skills.

This discussion may become boring, but possibly I will learn more of AO here. And others too.

On a side note, I haven't fight an engie in PvP, but I'm sure that if I cannot stay away of the pet (ex: indoor), I'm right dead in 30 sec. Again, and on another side note, against mobs, all engies I saw were really good, sometimes dealing more damage than enforcers, especially if they use at the same time a good gun.


To all engineers*: I love you. Your pets needs some oiling, and other problems need some fixing too, I'm sure, but the fact remains that I love to team with you.

*+ MP + bureaucrats.

[___________Stercoral]

Don't forget to look here too, in the first two posts there are two opposite points of view:
http://forums.anarchy-online.com/sho...threadid=61281

[Razaphysics]

Any thread that suggests a fix (not an enhancement) that affects like 50% of a profession's in mission capability should be bumped by everybody.

Bump!

[___________Stercoral]

Yes, BUMP !

[Warlock]

Originally posted by Stercoral
1) I don't know, but I like their warping, their tough pets (and the damage they deal), their nanoprogramming (and other tradeskills to build various things, like nanocrystals). You may not agree, but I also like the AC shields.

The first Eng warping nanos is QL90 ish, the second one is rarer than Grid Armour and doesnt always work (read: Bugged). Its generally used on team mates that die in a mission/hunting and the general consensus is that most people dont die once you reach that level for one reason or another (read: experience, docs etc)

Tough Pets? Well lots of HP, but pathetic damage and attack rating. Why do you think most Engineers go MA when they get Slayer Transference and ditch the bot completely? (This may change after the FFoK and LLTS nerfs in the next patch though) and I havent even mentioned pathing (mainly because its not Eng specific)

Traders are better at tradeskills than Engineers and MP's (and soon NT's I hear) are be better at nano programing

AC shields take up far too many NCU, and arent that useful due to MOB minimum damage (which is the smallest amount of damage a MOB can inflict regardless of your AC), all of our other buffs are either curious one offs (read: crowbar, philosophers etc), the same as another profs but worse (read: Reflect and damage shields) or pretty useless (read: energy damage buffs when our bot only does melee damage, and there appear to be only 2 pure pistols in the game that do energy damage (if your a 'template' Eng) and one of those is boss loot only)

[Darkbane]

Originally posted by tallistro

This idea has been brought up in the engy forum several times, and was ignored ( not that anyone from fc would show up in the engy forum anyway). the only thing that kept many high lvl engies playing is the transference, but since scopes and FFoK are/will be nerfed, ma isnt a viable way nemore either. so at least the engy problem will be solved soon..noone left above lvl 75 or so.

And FC are on record as stating that this isn't possible with the current game engine.

Pathing is communities #1 issue. Now all we need is the devs to actually make it better...

[________Applemonster]

STOP SCREWING ENGINEERS OVER WTF.

[balir1]

Pathing is horrible.

It's worse for specific rooms in missions that look like conference rooms. All that has to be done is remove the clipping on the tables and chairs. That's it.

I can deal with doorways. 9 out of 10 times I hit a room with the conference room look or the small room with the big round arm loading tapes in it; and my pets run the other way.

This happens to my MP, my Crat and my Eng.

And yes, I am worthless without my pets. My 91 crat can't tank; without the bot, I'm just exp buff and breakin mezzer. The rest of the mission is spent trying to locate my assistant as the group moves through the mission. Solo? Ha. No way.

Outside? Cake. I love being outside. But you can't get tokens or cash quite as easy.

[bladman]

Totally agree. Indoor pathing is dreadful - I hate the sequence that so often goes:

1. Select mob
2. Stick anima on attack pet
3. /pet attack
4. Leg it into room after pet to keep it buffed
5. /s where the........hello? Pet?

Pet having decided all the other rooms looked *much* more exciting than the one with me and the mob in it.

Fortunately I have spent plenty in runspeed so I can get out in one piece but that ain't the point :=/


BUMPETY

[Destractor]

Pathing is certainly a major problem with all pet professions, not so much in solo play, but mainly with fast moving teams.

When soloing you have more time to move your pet(s) about, and engies certainly can solo missions quiet high compaired to them, if they get mochams and a wrangle (at least at lvl130). Missions are slow as my slayer takes an age to kill a mob, but the xp is good. If you are careful, pathing can be worked around (some mobs you won't be able to get your bot too, but most can)

Problems soloing is if you do can a pathing glitch like a rubber band fight, where the mob and bot run about like fools, you can easily get aggro, and aggro = death.

A lot of professions see the fact that engies (and crats/metas) can solo as a reason to think we are not gimped. But solo has, and always will mean slow xp compared to teams. (not to mention a little lonely)

(All that assumes the engie can get mochams and maybe a wangle)


The major problem with pathing comes with teams, where speed is needed. A team of experienced players move from mob to mob very fast. Mobs also die a lot faster than solo. This means the bot has to be fast enough to reach the mob before it dies and has to keep up with it's owner when moving from room to room.

This is a major problem, you move to the next room, but your pet is stuck in a wall behind you. The number of times I have lost my team because I have been trying to get my bot through a room is large.

This is the reason that many engies, crats and metas don't use pets in teams, and this means that they are getting rid of their major damage doer, therefore gimping themselves.

When was the last time you saw a high level crat using 3 pets in a team mission? Why? pathing!

It is mostly engies who seem to complain about this due to the lack of anything else they bring to a team, (crats can calm, metas bring mochams), but this is a problem for all 3 profs.

[_________BettiePaige]

Bump for this. It's about time FC fixed pet pathing!

[Sallust]

The developers will be revisiting pet issues after they ship Notum
Wars. Thanks for the feedback.

--
Best Regards,

Geoffrey Higgins
Funcom Support

Posted this in the MP forum once I believe. Anyways Cz's post in the Engi forum for ideas for an upcoming fix/luv patch for Engis confirms that the most hurting of the three pet professions is going to finally get some long overdue work. The Notum wars is also going to make having at least one good engi popular in every organization.

A request to find out if anything is going to be done for the MP or Crat gave me an answer that they're not announcing any plans for working on the others. I'm sincerely glad for my engi friends and wouldn't want to steal a fix from them, but why in the world doesn't it make sense to do fixes for all three pet professions at once? Some things like pathing will be solved at the same time. Other problems like the lack of attack rating on high level pets will not if the fixes are done seperately. Why can't you fix us all?

[___________Chryonics]

The is one very simple solution to pathing. All FunCom has to do is add a new pet command that is /pet warp, or something to that effect. You just make a macro, and when you hit it, your pet is instantly warped to your location in the mission. Problem solved.

Just run through the mission like you normally would, hit your macro button and your pet is standing next to you.

-Slypstream

[kyleb]

Seriously everyone, how can you expect FC to fix pathing when there are much more important things to do like remodel the character creation hall?

[Tnekor]

have to give this a ^bump^ since I feel sympathy for the pet classes... engi comes in mind first since they seem to be the most pet dependent profession.

Tried an MP a long time ago (still have it), but I've stopped playing with him since he became sick of playing "hide and seek" with his pet.

a "/pet warp" command could probably be a fast temporarly fix for the pet professions until FC takes a real good look at the Pet pathing problem, as everyone else says... it is a problem.

Happened more than 1 time that the pet profession has been a few rooms behind in team mission, just because he/she was trying to tell the pet that "you cannot go through a table, wall, <insert probably any object here>".

Pray for pet professions

[Sallust]

All bugs should be address first in my opinion. How can you tell what any profession truly needs when what it has isn't working properly?

I agree that the Engi profession needs more help than the MP profession (not to indicate we don't need it too). However we also know the Engis are going to have their issues looked at. At the end of the day will we get our non-shared issues looked at or are we to get trickle-down fixing from the Engis only?