Instead of replying individually to the many points that I found disturbing it seemed to make more sense to simply do it all in one thread. So here goes
I think this would be a very good idea, as knowledge is power.
That is not true. If it were true people would not constantly talk about needing vets to go on runs to help educate the new players, and help them survive.
This is not fair. I agree. However there are some aspects of the servers game play that do not make sense. For example. Having the amount of loot that drops actually increase in relation to party size when doing something in a small party is actually harder. That to me should mean that more loot should drop. Not less. I realize this is a ploy to try and get people to party together more. However, all it actually does is encourages people to create bots, and raid oinos with those same bots, or do hells with their bots while playing all alone. That is why I keep hearing people talking about how they soloed this, or soloed that. Pal, you didn't solo anything. You had one you and half a dozen bots under your control, so please enough with the tooting of your own horn.
By the way it would be nice if some of these things such as loot scaling to actual difficulty, and not party size were actually addressed before making greater efforts that actually ended up yielding little if any in regards to the expected result. That said I agree. If the run is harder you should be getting more, not less loot. Having large parties is not easier then having small ones, or actual solo runs.
Another good idea.
First off meager is relative, and most players don’t have a lot of cash. Only those who run around with 5 bots doing POM, or 5 to 10 bots doing Limo, or soloing hell runs with bots year in and year out instead of being team players have the kind of resources to not care if they are losing gear that costs anywhere from 60 to 100 mil to replace. Some of us have lives, and don’t want to spend all of our time playing a game. Also some of us don’t have the time because of those lives, and our careers. Yes, that is right. Some of us have careers. Not just jobs, but actual careers. We don't have the time, and honestly it is this fact alone that has diminished the server so much that virtually no one players anymore. It requires too much time. This would not matter when speaking of any other online game, as there are always people on to party with, or a lot of the things you must do don't even require parties. Hence you can play whenever you want, and are rewarded based on the the over all time you put in. Not whether or not you happen to get on at the right time, or can get a party going. This server is too reliant on needing more people than it actually has. The recent bot epidemic that no one wants to face is proof of that.
Nor should it. In truth this never made sense to me. Rewarding people by giving more loot for larger parties makes no sense. While on the surface it might seem intuitive that offering people rewards for large parties would make them more inclined to form large parties and run together, but reality that just isn't the case. Why? Because this reasoning doesn't take into account some key factors. First it takes into account a scenario without any bots. Second it takes into account a scenario without any greed. If you combine bots, and simple human nature, why on earth would you assume that offering more loot if a party is larger would lead to anything other than people in large part simply botting it up? The reality is often not what people expect when they are “imagining” the outcome they desire. That is usually because they either failed to take into account every contributing factor to the possible outcome, or they were just naive in the first place.
The outcome is the actual end result, not the ideal outcome that you wanted. That is nothing more than wishful thinking. And I think we have enough experience with the outcome to say that rewarding people for what is essentially an easier task isn’t working at all. Half the time I check out webdash I see people saying parties are full when half that party or more are bots. Just as common are the same people running 3,4,5 or more bots to do an endgame run that was intended to be done by actual parties with no bots, and there is only 1 real player in that party "botting" the entire run. Some people are even calling this "soloing" a run. Please.
If you want to stop this what you do is take away the reward that gives more to large parties. Then people will run together because they want to, or not, and they won’t be getting rewarded for running 10 bots solo, or however many they want to run so that they can both avoid others they may not like, or because they simply want to keep all the extra loot they will get for running their "bots." If you won't reward smaller parties for the harder task, then remove all loot scaling. Now that would be fair, and would actually work to achieve something positive.
Your attitude is an elitist one, but you are not wrong. An elitist, but not wrong. The population dropped, and to think that you will get some of it back by opening ever harder areas to tempt back long lost players is a pipe dream. Nostalgia is great, but you cannot go back in time, nor can you tempt most old players back for long. Something we have seen very clearly. Yes, for a very brief time some old players did come back to try things out, and then poof were gone just as quickly as they came. You see people move on, and those old players had a reason for leaving. Reasons that keep them away now. You can't change those things. They can’t go back in time, and neither can all of you.
The server is caught in a bit of a time warp, with most of you living in the past, and unable to move on, adapt, or change. That is mostly why the server is close to death. That, and all the others things I’ve spoken of. Status quo equals stagnation.
If you want to improve the game I gave you all a list prior, and you trolled, or ignored it like the typical progressives that you really are not. Progressives rarely like real, practical solutions. Pie in the sky that will never happen so as to keep things from changing, or change that works in their favor and fits their ideology is all they really want. Simple changes would help attract, and keep new players, yet I have not seen one of these simple changes implemented. However, creating new areas that are ever more difficult to run does get implemented. Status quo is all I see in regards to what most want. I go by actions, so saying "No, that isn't the case," won't do any good here.
This strikes me as nonsense talk, not to mention disingenuous. Like when you hear Christians talking about how they are feeling persecuted these days. A relatively new phenomenon that is occurring because they are no longer as influential in American life as they used to be. They are getting a tiny dose of the very intolerance they themselves have dished out for ages upon ages.
You sound to me like a used car salesman trying to sell a beat up old yellow Geo. Whatever you say about the car it won’t change the fact that it is a beat up old geo. Just like making an area that is not easy, or in any way accessible to anyone save you, and a few others, with the hopes that it will save the server by bringing back old players who will then continue playing once they have returned. Not realistic. Some people might have put a lot of time, and effort into making this area, but they could have accomplished a lot more with a lot less work by instead making the server more suitable for new players, instead of for old ones. This has been proven out by reality, and that server population has in no way increased, ans has in fact decreased, so spare us the hard sell eh.
Precisely. Cost benefit analysis. Effort expended is not worth the reward gained. If you think regular players do not see this you are mistaken. Games are not fun when they are “that” much of a grind. Only a handful of you like this kind of hard grind, or have the resources to make it not such a hard grind so that it is actually enjoyable. The rest of us know this. Don’t kid yourselves.
It is good that you admit this, but you do it in a laughing manner. Do not think that people don’t notice how you run half a dozen bots or more on a regular bases without ever inviting anyone else to join you. To say that you are elite would be correct. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Being elitist is a bad thing, and you are, and you show it here when you speak.
Yes. Of course you won’t hand out information for free. You need to be paid because as you said. You are an elitist douchebag. We all know this about you. Enough said.
That any of you would ask people not to be flamed is such amusing hypocrisy that I laughed by butt off when I read this. Made my night. ;D
Spare me the virtue signaling, and the tooting your own horn BS. Hard work my aching a**. You are playing a game pal. Working a job, and producing stuff is real work, and can be really, really hard. If you think playing a game is hard, well then maybe you should investigate crab fishing in Alaska, or being a cop, or a school teacher, or any other actual job. However please, do not use the words “hard work” when talking about an online computer game! You are no working class hero, so spare us eh.
And it is this type of attitude that has killed the game. I've add this persons attitude to the “failed” list. The reason? Because it clearly doesn’t work. Next.
Ah right. Because people like yourself worked so hard to get this information. Give me a break.
You must be playing in an alternate reality. One which has a server bursting with people. Because the one I am playing on currently has so few players that a party with 4 players and 6 bots is being called a “full” party. If the only word you can use as response to your own question to yourself is “kinda” then I think there really is nothing more to say to you on this subject.
Wait a second. You are OK with giving out information about the server that you acquired through some kind of hard work I am not aware of, but you won’t give it out about this high level, elitist run that garners the choicest, and juiciest of loot? Hmm. Inconsistent much?
I thought you said that the population was sorta, kinda, maybe smaller then it should be. Yes, you used the word "kinda," so as to not have to commit yourself to a solid opinion on the subject. Now you say it too small to find enough people to do a run? Semi contradictory much?
Neither do I. I have a real job, and a real life. As do most people. That is why so many people moved on, and you won’t be getting those old players back. Best to be practical, and embrace advice on attracting new players. Not hoping on longshots that will bring old players, and the good old days back. Those days are gone for good. Hence the 9 bot parties, and 1 actual player on the run controlling them all. Next