Monthly Development Update - January 2016 (Getting Rekt)

[Footer]

I'm not saying it's perfect. And it's OK to make tweaks and minor changes. But you can't complain about something as broad as changing notum wars bonuses, timers, basically the whole thing. If you don't like the game you don't play it, not try and tailor it to your own personal liking. I'm not disputing that another form of pvp would be good and potentionally bring new players. All I'm saying is we don't need huge changes to notum wars. Keep that system the same.

[Eedesti]

We need changes in the Game - How many People doing real PvP nowadays? 20% of all Players?! You can count the Players on one hand who makes Duells in the game... I think 80-90% of each Battlestation Round are fullcaps... 20-30% are interessted in Towers and their Boni - 70-80% give a fu.. of it... And the balancing in AO is now one of the worst in the Gaming World... AO dont have many real PvPler at the Moment...

The biggest reason why I sometimes cap the fourth spot is if not the BS round takes 40minutes. Which is boring if its to few people or to long for intense combat, and commiting for 40minutes at a time 3 times each day to the computer isn't doable. I enjoy the PvP, but in smaller dosages (than 40min).

[Psikie]

Which is different from awakening, Eye of predator how.... ?

The difference should be obvious... but I'll enlighten you since you seem to be struggling here.

Oh-Kay...

Well for starters awakening, eye of predator are pvm buffs, meaning anyone can get them at anytime. Your suggestion only rewards the stronger toons/players and actually rewards that imbalance and helps keep it in place. It is the absolute opposite of balance.

Although that difference should be obvious hopefully that enlightens you.

Just a few weeks ago you posted this..

Brute force removes grace, removes subtlety, removes fun.

Until NW mechanics change, MB's, exploits, and force multipliers will continue to be the norm.

What you are suggesting is ANOTHER example of a brute force multiplier! Come on man.

[McKnuckleSamwich]

Oh-Kay...

Well for starters awakening, eye of predator are pvm buffs, meaning anyone can get them at anytime. Your suggestion only rewards the stronger toons/players and actually rewards that imbalance and helps keep it in place. It is the absolute opposite of balance.

Although that difference should be obvious hopefully that enlightens you.

Just a few weeks ago you posted this..



What you are suggesting is ANOTHER example of a brute force multiplier! Come on man.

Come where?

You haven't suggested anything other than that you dislike AO currently and are jaded by it's lack of attraction.

You want me to come there with you, so I can be jaded too?


Look, on topic, there's a gulf as wide as the pacific between maintaining or inheriting OP bonuses which arrived some time last year and all you have to do is go buy a presence and ransacking tower to be godly in PVP, AND the alternative, which is that you have to win three rounds of BS in 5 hours to maintain the buff which gives you approximately the same boost.

Why is it different?

Because:

1. you don't need a multibox to win a round of BS
2. you can win a round of BS with 3 random strangers
3. it doesn't take 3 months of griefing followed by a week of 4AM starts to acquire the bonuses
4. The buff fades with inactivity
5. the buff is universal which means EVERYONE can get it.

If you're hung up on the fact that someone who's been doing BS for the last 2 hours is going to be stronger than you... dude, please; if you're that hung up on it, do a few rounds of BS before you log off so you come back with buffs.

But I also hope you noticed the magnitude of buffs of the 3 stackable BS buffs I proposed pale in comparison to the static personal modifiers on 275 towers.

300 AR/def differentials are gamebreaking. 120 is not (1 swapped item).

[Psikie]

Come where?

You haven't suggested anything other than that you dislike AO currently and are jaded by it's lack of attraction.

You want me to come there with you, so I can be jaded too?

Come to the side of common sense. I am not jaded by any means, I log on almost daily on AO. What I don't like is hypocrisy. On one thread you complain about force multipliers and static ql300 tower buffs making things unbalanced. Then turn around and make a suggestion that does the exact same thing. This pvp reward buff will only keep the winning side, (which will be composed of the ql300 tower toons) winning.

You are trying to side step the advantage of ql300 towers with a battle station buff, or increase that advantage. I suppose that depends on if you have towers or not which of those 2 is more accurate. Or let me say thats the way it appears to me.

Either way I dont think BS buffs for 2-3 people farming their own MB is a good idea.

[McKnuckleSamwich]

Come to the side of common sense. I am not jaded by any means, I log on almost daily on AO. What I don't like is hypocrisy. On one thread you complain about force multipliers and static ql300 tower buffs making things unbalanced. Then turn around and make a suggestion that does the exact same thing. This pvp reward buff will only keep the winning side, (which will be composed of the ql300 tower toons) winning.

You are trying to side step the advantage of ql300 towers with a battle station buff, or increase that advantage. I suppose that depends on if you have towers or not which of those 2 is more accurate. Or let me say thats the way it appears to me.

Either way I dont think BS buffs for 2-3 people farming their own MB is a good idea.

Do you understand the definition of multiplier?

MULTI-box is a force MULTIplier.

A buff is an incentive for doing the content, and you'll note that the buff I'm suggesting is far more balanced (at least within the guise of balance) in opposition to 300 tower benefits which are beyond compromise.

[Psikie]

Do you understand the definition of multiplier?

MULTI-box is a force MULTIplier.

Actually... Multiplier - a number by which another is multiplied.

That definition has nothing to do with multibox. Multiplier is NOT a synonym for multi-box. You can use it as a description of the effect of a multi-box not a definition.

But before we go off on an off topic tangent let me be more clear. I do not think it is a good idea to implement a stack-able buff that will ultimately only benefit the already OP top echelon of pvp toons. It does nothing for balance imo and only increases imbalance and power creep.

Now if you really wanted to make BS more competitive you could suggest that everytime your side wins a round, they get a temporary stackable de-buff of say -100 aad/aao up to a maximum of -500 aad/aao. That would be interesting and allow the weaker side some parity for their efforts at being farmed. I doubt you will understand the psychological benefit of that.

One of the problems is most pvp toons are pretty twinked or maxed out. So you guys are always trying to find ways to one up each other on the sly. When what you should really be trying to do is make it more inclusive for casual pvp players to join in. But that probably makes little to no sense, so chive on. Let me know when you get bored fighting the same 10-20 toons everyday and want to know how to entice new players to join in.

[Saavick]

Well, today's patch brings The Reck. Also apparently the /follow on mobs fix. Also an updated default map and (what I assume to be) a stripped down version of the new post-18.7 RK map from Saavick. Seems like a good patch.

I've had several questions about this in game, so I would like to clarify; the patch contains 2 new maps.

The first one is an update to the Default Planet Map, which is a spoiler-free map with info about whompa's, grid terminals and fgrid exits only.

The second one is an update to Saavick's Map of Rubi-Ka. Compared to the previous version, which was released on aofroobs.com as a third-party map, this has been expanded with The Reck, all APF's, the Notum Mining Outpost and instanced cities. It has four zoom levels and has info on dyna's, unique bosses, quest NPC's and more

[Sleekyz]

How about remove the org benefits from Notum wars and add it as some global sided research? Ofc the research grind would have to be something Michi feels is a challenge. Could even add a few other things as well, as a possibility.

bump

[McKnuckleSamwich]

Actually... Multiplier - a number by which another is multiplied.

That definition has nothing to do with multibox. Multiplier is NOT a synonym for multi-box. You can use it as a description of the effect of a multi-box not a definition.

But before we go off on an off topic tangent let me be more clear. I do not think it is a good idea to implement a stack-able buff that will ultimately only benefit the already OP top echelon of pvp toons. It does nothing for balance imo and only increases imbalance and power creep.

Now if you really wanted to make BS more competitive you could suggest that everytime your side wins a round, they get a temporary stackable de-buff of say -100 aad/aao up to a maximum of -500 aad/aao. That would be interesting and allow the weaker side some parity for their efforts at being farmed. I doubt you will understand the psychological benefit of that.

One of the problems is most pvp toons are pretty twinked or maxed out. So you guys are always trying to find ways to one up each other on the sly. When what you should really be trying to do is make it more inclusive for casual pvp players to join in. But that probably makes little to no sense, so chive on. Let me know when you get bored fighting the same 10-20 toons everyday and want to know how to entice new players to join in.

Multiplier, is, in fact EXACTLY what a multibox does.

I have one toon logged, you have 6. I hit with 1 toon, you hit with 6. I control one, you control 6. you have 6 TIMES the power than I do.

Now, with regards to buffing one side or the other (or debuffing as you suggested)... firstly, I explained in a previous post that the point of using BS to buff the winners is logical because BS is not dominated by PVP twinks or multiboxes. If BS is not dominated by these, then one would have to assume the contrary is true: That BS is simply a venue where OTHER people are getting stuff done, like dailies.

If that's the case, then it shouldn't matter if a buff is provided or not. Finally, I'd like to straighten one thing out with you.

An INCENTIVE is something that is attractive, and inclines you to do something such that the attraction can be fulfilled. Providing a BUFF is an incentive. Providing a DEBUFF is a disincentive.

Your suggestion is absolutely non-logical and completely backwards. If people were given a DEBUFF for winning at BS, you'd see never ending matches because people would not want to cap.. No, I'm wrong, sorry, people just wouldn't even go to BS. Why go to BS? because you want to have a 5 hour traderesque debuff that you can't purge. Effing brilliant man. You really should think through what you say.

[Edit]Removed top comment /Sancus

[Psikie]

Multiplier, is, in fact EXACTLY what a multibox does.

I have one toon logged, you have 6. I hit with 1 toon, you hit with 6. I control one, you control 6. you have 6 TIMES the power than I do.

I wont get into the semantics of multiplier. Only to say that there is a difference in using the word as a definition versus description. You originally used it as a definition which it is not.

Your suggestion is absolutely non-logical and completely backwards. If people were given a DEBUFF for winning at BS, you'd see never ending matches because people would not want to cap.. No, I'm wrong, sorry, people just wouldn't even go to BS. Why go to BS? because you want to have a 5 hour traderesque debuff that you can't purge. Effing brilliant man. You really should think through what you say.

[Edit]Removed top comment /Sancus

Now to this I will again disagree, there are only 2 types of players that go to BS.

1. farming vps for ofab or xp for lvls.
2. farming players for titles.

(i never said 5hour debuff btw 15m would be my proposal)

A debuff for the winning side would give titles farmers a steady stream of greenies winning rounds with the hope of getting some kills even after their 3 dailies are done. As opposed to them running in and NOT coming back after dailies are complete. As it is now, they dont come back because there is no incentive for them. Wow there is that word incentive. The majority of AO players by and large either totally avoid BS or only go to get 3x dailies. So instead of chasing players around or using root grafts maybe you can actually get some lowbies willing to fight. Maybe thats a crazy idea. Maybe im radical, but Im giving possible ways to make it more inclusive. Which ultimately benefits you by having more players and more attendance.

Now granted that is totally speculative. BUT the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. So try something different, instead and see if we get a different results. OR keeping promoting ideas that only make the strong that much tougher to beat and continue to see decline in BS participation. The choice is yours.

[Emma]

Is this the Monthly Update thread from Michi? Or, a thread about multiplying?

Great job on the Reck, from what I have seen so far the daily missions have nice XP even if you skip the PvP Factory mission. Lower level toons may want to only do the first 2-part daily. The bosses/CT for the next 3 Daily's would require a full team at 100 or at least a small team at 150 ... assuming over-sized toons are not camping the boss/CT. The neutral friendly token board is nice as well as the new MA items for 100ish MA/shade. You can also get a fair amount of XP killing all the minions waiting on a boss to spawn or the item you want to drop.

I have not fully explored the area yet, just Daily's and the boss that drops the MA goodies. More exploring still to do ...

Emma

[Ophiuchus]

I'm kind of hoping there's another patch to add a few more things such as more regular appropriate mob spawns, and theose open zone boundaries with Galway Shire and Broken Shores, and a grid exit, and a couple of FGrid exits I know the idea is to funnel people to the quest hubs but as long as you have a breadcrumb mission from the Agencies to the whompahs then you have that covered.

[drainbamage]

A debuff for the winning side would give titles farmers a steady stream of greenies winning rounds with the hope of getting some kills even after their 3 dailies are done.

No it wouldn't. If I'm doing BS dailies for VP/XP I don't give a rats ass about kills.

[Emma]

I've had several questions about this in game, so I would like to clarify; the patch contains 2 new maps.

The first one is an update to the Default Planet Map, which is a spoiler-free map with info about whompa's, grid terminals and fgrid exits only.

The second one is an update to Saavick's Map of Rubi-Ka. Compared to the previous version, which was released on aofroobs.com as a third-party map, this has been expanded with The Reck, all APF's, the Notum Mining Outpost and instanced cities. It has four zoom levels and has info on dyna's, unique bosses, quest NPC's and more

I really like your Saavick map ... is there any chance the control tower / notum war sites could have their level range on the map also? You have the site number already.

Thanks

Emma

[Saavick]

I really like your Saavick map ... is there any chance the control tower / notum war sites could have their level range on the map also? You have the site number already.

Thanks

Emma

Thanks, happy to hear that you like it

I read in another post from you that you specifically mean the labels with the LCA level range: I'll add those in a coming update. I feel that adding the boundaries of the fields obscures the terrain too much.

[Emma]

Thanks, happy to hear that you like it

I read in another post from you that you specifically mean the labels with the LCA level range: I'll add those in a coming update. I feel that adding the boundaries of the fields obscures the terrain too much.

Thank you I agree about leaving out the boundaries ... it is the level range that is helpful.

Emma

[Cratertina]

Great map Saavick good job.

Reck also gets my stamp of approval. Dailies I really like. Finally now 90-170 will be a pleasant experience...

What comes next pvp rebalance? Tower mechanics change? More sexy mid level weapons?

AO needs more mid level weapons that are good looking and perform well. Dog of War is a fine example of what all is needed