Unfortunately I can't go back in time and ask them then. I'm sure there was a bunch of internal discussion and people talked about different ideas, and they settled on that one for that class in that circumstance based on that time. The Dev team makes the best decisions they can based on factors relevant at a given time. Every class is different. If we apply every same tactic to every class then there really won't be any differences and we can call everyone Necrorriormagiclerics. I'd trademark that but since it occured to me while I'm "on the clock" I believe it's SOE's IP anyways. What was done 5 or 7 years ago may or may not be relevant to current decision making, the factors that impact those choices are not necessarily identical. Taking away something because it was taken away from someone else isn't good reasoning. Magicians beam kited previous to the release of RoF. This isn't anything particularly new.
It is clear that beam kiting, swarming, HSing, etc is all okay. Otherwise they would have been nerfed a long time ago. Can we please, please get a mechanic ingame to prevent zones from becoming completely unplayable when this is done? Something that doesn't nerf anyone, but allows the rest of us customers to enjoy the content?
As stated by Piestro, all classes are not equal, they were not meant to be. That's why Warriors tank and Clerics heal.
I don't disagree with the point of the this post, that devs deal with issues the best they can, however I dislike this notion very much. Summoning mobs dramatically affect some classes while not affecting others at all. Druid's, in particular, are transformed from one of the best solo'ing classes to the worst by this mechanic alone. And summoning is a mechanic used heavily throughout the game. Would melee classes be satisfied if half the trash mobs (and all the named) in the game were immune to melee damage as long as the other half wasn't?
Doesn't matter, if melee classes can't solo most (if any..) of them anyway, (solo, no merc). I assume you're talking about xp mobs, since farming greys for ts items is probably more of a make believe argument not many actually do. Though.. you're using the word immune here, summoning mobs aren't immune to all spells, pretty big difference there. Some casters have been solo'ing summoning mobs since at least Kunark, just not large uncontrollable crowds of summoning mobs at once... In a group, immunity is still an issue, where summoning isn't.
Yes, you can! The dev in charge of spells who changed Beam of Solteris in 2007 just happpens to be the Lead Designer today. Please ask Prathun to comment on the reasons why he nerfed wiz beams in 2007 but would neither nerf mage beams nor un-nerf wiz beams in 2013. Why do the two versions of the ability (mage and wizard) differ in restrictions so dramatically?
I guess you thought wrong? Mages have ALWAYS had an AE type of spell at their disposal, if you look up you'll see throughout the level's we constantly get upgrades of it. So yes, Mages were designed with the ability to kite. It's not Mage kiting or anything to do with Mages that is the real problem and that's why they aren't nerfing Beam. It's a server side issues, so nerfing beam really doesn't stop the issue. That's why they were going to implement summoning mobs. They understand though, that creating summoning mobs would just interfere with other classes who are dependent on mobs that do not summon. If you guys give the Dev/GM team some time I'm sure they'll come up with a reasonable solution, obviously they want something done, they've trying various methods already.
I do not play a mage or a wiz., but I do have a question. Does the fact that wizard class has a snare spell and mages do not, play in the fact that wiz. beaming was nerf and doesn't appear mage class beaming hasn't been? Again, I'm just asking.
If you read the GM's response, you'll clearly see that he does not know the exact reasoning behind the nerf, only that it was decided on by the Dev/GM team at the time.
As a druid, I would trade in my kiting ability if I could "molo" as well as an equally geared melee. Mobs that summon might as well be immune to my spells. I have zero chance of soloing them. Dispersing them in the same area as non-summon mobs means I have to find a new zone to solo in.
The biggest issue I had with this nerf was the fact that animals were changed to summon. Animals are not supposed to summon, according to basically all of the past 'current style' expansions. They are a good go-to for soldiers to pick a mob type/location to kite at. The nerf itself would just mean people would be forced to avoid certain mob types if they want to kite. Generally this will lead to a situation similar to what the daily kill quests do. Everyone is after soldiers/troopers for their daily. As the day wears on, more and more of those respawns become rangers and impalers, since people avoid those mobs simply because they aren't part of their daily quest. For kiters it will be more extreme since they physically can not kill these less desirable mobs (in this metaphor, those would be the new summoners). So eventually you would get an oashim field with 90% summoners for example. Also it would be more extreme since their targets stay constant day to day and don't change mob type like dailys do.
Not to mention, I believe, that wizard beams had other side effects that mage beams did not. We would like answers. There is no logical excuse to keep us in the dark.
As a druid you have that option, tank merc. With melee immune mobs, melee won't even have the option. Not many are in favor of adding more summoning mobs, however some are in favor of people not being able to kite large groups of mobs w/out a degree of risk.
Wiz Ice Beam, large chance to root the user. Wiz Fire Beam, large chance to blind the user. When I say large, I mean it's basically 1 in 3 casts you end up blinded or rooted (they're on the same timer so you can't use both). Side effects on top of 12 second recast for a single beam of 8 targets vs mage's 1.5 sec reuse beam with endless targets and zero downside. Don't let the "oh theirs is instant" or the "oh wiz have snare" arguments fool you, they are non-factors. So...we'd be Shadow Knights? Ewww
Out of curiosity. Have you used a tank merc with a druid ( or any healer ) and molo'ed in current content?
