overequipping

[Soltrix]

To whom it may concern,

I am aware of the changes Funcom wants to make in the 14.2 patch and I am most surprised that they are putting a ban on over-equipping. First of all without over-equipping a trader will be nothing more then a guy that sells some useless nano's that you will never need. Second asking for buffs has always been a great way to find friends in the game but with no more over-equipping what is the use of asking for a buff??
Then, the in game economy. Without over-equipping why buy stuff from other people if you can get it in missions that you can actually do?? Paying a lot of money for a high QL weapon will be useless because you will not be able to use it to its fullest potential (in other words you are wasting your money). Missions will soon become a kind of shopping in which you pick a low level mission (we won't be able to do higher level missions because the chance of us getting killed with our low QL weapons when we get attacked by two mobs at the same level with similar weapons will be to great) and search for a nice weapon you can wear for that will be all that you can use. So most of the sales on weapons and buffs will collapse, then the few things that should still be sold over the shopping channel will not be bought because everyone is doing missions to get good weapons and will find most of the items they need.
Many professions will be useless. In the buffing field all profession will be useless as you have to renew your buff every 30 minutes. Many professions that are build around using higher level weapons, including enforcers and traders, will get a huge disadvantage. MA’s who do not need any weapons and can buff the MA skill themselves will gain a huge advantage over the rest of the players. They will become kings in PvP. All the other professions though will become too predictable in any PvP fight. Not a single team will want any profession that has always been superior by getting higher Ql weapons. MP, Eng, Enf, anyone that uses some sort of a skill required object to fight will be useless.
In conclusion I agree that over-equipping makes most of the PVP battle’s unfair and that people that know another people will have an advantage but they also have an advantage in the knowledge on how to use your IP. Are you going to give people that have another character less IP because they know how to use it?? There will always be things in this world, which are unfair and fair and there will also always be experts in area’s and beginners, but instead of taking away from the experts why not give the beginners?? Start some sort of a tutorial on what to do and how to do things in Rubi-Ka.

DirX a.k.a. SavageDirX

[Affairz]

hey..

im a lvl 82 ENF. Selfbuffed i got 655 2hb. Now i dont know if the patch will allow us to wear highql implants..
Anyway if i can keep those nice implants i can still wear a hammer requiring 779 2hb without having that 25% loss..
I dont know for sure but since a ql200 hammer requires 807 in 2hb.. that means i can still get a ql190 hammer after 100 get a ql200.. So if i havent misunderstood all this it isnt THAT bad (except the armour )

[Darkbane]

They don't appear to be doing anything about OE on implants and NCU, which reduces the effectiveness of the OE fixes somewhat. Other wise, they seem fine, though time on test will tell...

[Godkill]

Im a 112 enfo. As far as my math takes me, I will still be able to use my premium beam at maximun skull opener effect

I could be wrong tho - I'm 'trox

[_____________Debitte]

A common theme in this game is the concept of the "reroll"

You play a character withour sufficient knowledge - your first or second and they end up gimped - because you didnt understand the game properly.

For my third character I created a Trader. I did this because the game had taught me how to play. I love my Trader. This game is hard - its not EQ or AC - your have to think before you play. You have to learn before you become "powerful".

The 14.2 "Lowest Common Denomnator" ("LCD") patch; I dont know. Will it make the game more accessible, yes! Will it make it better? I really dont know. I do know this.... After the patch as stated so far... Traders will be the most powerful profession in the game. Not the most influential, as it is at the moment. I guess what I need for comfort is some statement that - YES - we understand that after 14.2 Traders will be the undisputed kings of PVP. Far beyond their already substantial power. Is this what you intend? Or will we be nerfed to compensate.

I love this game tremendously. I run a substantial RK2 guild. But if you are telling me that such a massive change will make my character worthless. I really dont know what I will do.

Take your time before you do this. Consider the consequences deeply! If you destroy the Trader class AND the concept of superiority - you will cause yourselves substantial damage! I really do trust your best intentions - you want to make the game better. Please make sure those intentions are not pavement to to inferno.

Debitte
Director - Internal Audit
RK2

[______annoyeduser101]

I must strongly agree with the person who started this post. A lot of classess will become utterly useless and levelling will be made more of a hell than it already is. Engineers with gimp guardbots that con green to you wont do too much good against that cyborg that comes around every 20 seconds. Agents with gimpy lvl 80 guns at lvl 80 will be more than useless with their crappy 200 damage hits against that Dune Demon. My point is that over-equipping is an essential part of the game that most people need for survival. lets face it, some people at lvl 110+ cant solo 50% missions with guns 50 lvls higher than them, how will they do so with a gun their lvl? I have enjoyed playing AO and overequipping was one of the biggest fun factors. I bet a lot of people will leave after 14.2 comes. think bout that for a sec funcom

[Soltrix]

Canaco - Please do understand that for me as a lvl 36 enf it is hard to even survive with a Ql 100 hammer. Any situation in which i encounter two equal level or higher then that mobs, think of the first rooms in misions, i need to run out of the mission else i'll die. If i get implants it might be easier but at my lvl it is hard to get them that do it for over 50 skill points. So for a person like me it would mean that i have to start taking really low lvl missions, something i do not want to do, or stop playing........

and to all i made one mistake in my article about forgetting that traders will be able to wrangle themselves but do realize it is not more then 3 minutes and to do it after every single fight seems to me to be undoable.

[_______Revolutionary]

Originally posted by DirX
Canaco - Please do understand that for me as a lvl 36 enf it is hard to even survive with a Ql 100 hammer. Any situation in which i encounter two equal level or higher then that mobs, think of the first rooms in misions, i need to run out of the mission else i'll die. If i get implants it might be easier but at my lvl it is hard to get them that do it for over 50 skill points. So for a person like me it would mean that i have to start taking really low lvl missions, something i do not want to do, or stop playing........

and to all i made one mistake in my article about forgetting that traders will be able to wrangle themselves but do realize it is not more then 3 minutes and to do it after every single fight seems to me to be undoable.

First of all, let me start by saying that this is no way intended to be a flame.....

Up until my enforcer was around lvl 55, she (being a solitus female) was able to solo 60-65% missions, including clearing the first room of multiple mobs. I took her the route of dual Rider Executioners (never more than just a few lvls above, at lvl 55 had ql 78 riders), so she wasn't even as strong as she could have been with a hammer or beam (if she had been atrox). I'm not sure what the problem is that you're having surviving. I was always within the 20% until the last 2-3 lvls.

That being said, I have also started a trader. Not to be uber in PVP, but to be...well, a trader. First thing to say about traders, wrangling themselves is useless. When you cast a wrangle, it raises the skills of your target, but lowers your skills by 2x as much. So that means that if I wrangle you for +32, my skills are decreased by -74. The one advantage traders will have in PVP is being able to Ransack/Deprive/Divest/Plunder their opponents skills (putting them into the OE area above 20% with any luck). Thats all well and good, but what about those of us (like me) who don't PVP?

Currently, I run my missions with my Ransack/Deprives on to keep my attack skills up and its not that hard. But what I would like to see is an increase in wrangle/deprive/ransack nano's duration, in order to make traders more desireable in teams.

Before its all said and done, I expect that traders will get nerfed because of PVP and it will be a sad day, but until then I don't see traders being hurt that badly especially if their nano's durations are increased to a decent time, about 15-20 minutes (but 30-45 would be preferred).

As far as I have read (and as I a trader, I've read everything I could on OE) implants and NCU will not be effected by 14.2. Which is how it should be, the people that exploited to get those ql 200 ncu at lvl 10, they should be banned and then there wouldn't be any need to mess with/nerf implants or ncu.

And annoyeduser101, if you are not able to equip a gun/weapon above your lvl....

quote:
Agents with gimpy lvl 80 guns at lvl 80 will be more useless....


You need to go back to the drawing board. With just implants and self buffs you should be able to equip a higher lvl gun than your own lvl. 14.2 will not stop you from equiping guns/weapons above your level, it will just limit the damage if the weapons skill requirments are 20% above the skills that you posess.

Well, looks like some flames inadvertantly creeped in there...oh well....lookes like I need to get the marshmellows for when I get roasted.

[_____________Cloudeh]

People in IRC and even the moedrators keep telling me mobs will be made easier.

I for one am pissed off at this tho but hey.
****ing A!

Wasting more time, wah wah grrrr all that hard work for nothing ;/

[Darkbane]

Originally posted by Cloudeh
People in IRC and even the moedrators keep telling me mobs will be made easier.

I for one am pissed off at this tho but hey.
****ing A!

Wasting more time, wah wah grrrr all that hard work for nothing ;/

Hmm, as long as its only a bit easier (at least at lower levels, up to 75 at least) - MOBs are not far off being right as it is, about a 5% reduction in HP should see them perfect. This may be different at higher levels of course, and as usual, YMMV :-)

[_______________Skara]

Several people have posted that this patch will lead to cookie cutter syndrome. What do we have now?

I am always open to the possibility that I could be wrong, but I think this patch will make some of the other classes more important (by other classes I mean the ones that aren't the flavor of the month including some that never have been .

Go to the forums and read posts where newbies are looking for advice about starting a character. If the game were balanced, the answer would be "read the descriptions, read the forums for a few classes you like, then start a character of the one you like the best". Currently the answer to that question is a small handful of classes. If implemented properly and tested thoroughly, this patch would help balance the classes. Not make them boringly equal, balanced.

If you were playing monopoly and the person with the car always got an extra $100 when they passed GO, how many people are going to want to be the dog or the ship? If you like the ship, there shouldn't be any penalties to playing the ship, but under that rule there is. Since certain classes are currently much easier to OE, that is exactly where Anarchy Online is currently.

By implementing these changes before they balance any other classes, hopefully they can prevent the trend where people run to the class of the month because they are now overly powerful. Engineers and MP's are a perfect example. How many are running around now who wouldn't be if they weren't as powerful as they are?

When Aimed Shot owned, how many Agent twinks were running around, not because they liked the description of the class, but because it was so easy to gank?

Since the games inception, certain classes have been easier to overequip, which has nothing to do with knowing more about the game or willingness to work harder than others. It has to do with knowing which classes are easier to "uber" and that makes other classes worth less, this patch will be a step in the right direction toward fixing that syndrome.

Good example of the above, if you have room for one more in your group and you see Fixer lfg, Adventurer lfg, and Engineer lfg, who are you going to take? With the game more balanced the decision should require some thought based on the other members in your team.

People keep claiming they should be uber because they have more experience than newbies. That is valid to a point. The problem is the application of that experience is more a matter of knowing which class is the easiest to uber, getting a guild mate to wrangle you, muling some items and creds to the new character, and knowing to use nano nanny for implants.

Traders will need additional balancing. The whole game will need additional balancing, but fixing this issue must be handled first. A good look at weapons needs to happen soon as an example.

Yes Funcom made the game so people could overequip. Apparently the mechanics weren't thoroughly tested and people are able to OE more than Funcom had intended (Ex. apparently no one thought people would go through the trouble to step implants to get that extra boost), thus the balancing changes (the Frequent Customer change to self only was one of those changes).

The bottom line, this patch will help the Role-Play aspect of the game because people will start playing a class that fits the role they would like to assume, not play one of the characters that are the easiest to twink. At the same time, the game will still allow people to work hard at optimizing their character.


Skara

[Crazin_Azin]

Originally posted by Darkbane
They don't appear to be doing anything about OE on implants and NCU, which reduces the effectiveness of the OE fixes somewhat. Other wise, they seem fine, though time on test will tell...

You'd think that time on test would tell, but they dont listen to anybody on the test server. They come up with an idea, and then implement it. Test is just there to look like they try.( its a P.R. thing.)