Increase difficulty of mobs - reduce pressure points

Discussion in 'Time Locked Progression Servers' started by Hateseeker, Apr 14, 2015.

  1. Hateseeker Augur

    So I said this in the PvP thread but I really want people to either disagree or not, so here is its own thread.

    I was thinking that if the entire game, Classic through Luclin (and maybe PoP if necessary) could have some mixture of adding a flat, across the board hit point increase to mobs, give all mobs an ATK bonus, raise their damage caps, etc. This would apply to both regular mobs AND raid mobs.

    Here are the benefits I think would occur:

    • It would take longer for players and guilds to reach raiding capability. I believe this would spread out the points in time at which guilds reach raid capability, and would reduce pressure, at least in the initial weeks of the server. At the very least it might result in only one guild executing the first Naggy/Vox kill without a DPS race.
    • The increased danger from mobs hitting harder, the higher hit points requiring an additional nuke cast, etc, would result in more support classes being played - the need for slow, enchanter crack, and so on. Following that, DPS racing should be a less viable tactic, even if only 1% less viable.
    • On raid mobs specifically, it should take more players to win encounters (or perhaps more accurately, it would restore the numbers of players needed to somewhat closer to what it took in Classic). This could result in each individual guild taking on more members.
    Taken together, I think that this might relieve some of the pressure points the server is likely to face in a non-invasive way (i.e. people don't directly perceive that the increase difficulty is helping in this way). Could also be combined with other non-instancing solutions for intensive effect.

    I realize it might affect Live, but come on Daybreak. Most people on Live probably powerlevel, and who you gonna favor? A few random people that play Live but voluntarily restrict their progression, or an entire server of players?
  2. Jaxarale01 Augur

    Not sure how much good any of that would do... i recall several posts about raid mobs dying before they even rendered in game... adding 20% health would what? allow it to render but not even get off its first attack?
  3. Hateseeker Augur

    I know I mentioned 20% in the other thread, but it was only an example. Make it 20-30% for regular mobs and 75-100% for raid mobs? Also, if the mobs hit hard enough to have a fair chance to take out more players, it should increase the number of healers.
  4. Ducreux Augur

    It would be cool, but I think if they don't have enough dev time to create 1-3 instances every 4.5-8 months that manually altering the stats on hundreds of mobs isn't going to happen.
  5. Lron Server Legend Augur

    This takes coding...im all for it, but PvP takes nothing but flipping a switch. Im done thinking of ways that take actual resources and man hours because I think it is a dead end road.
    Ferry-Tunare likes this.
  6. Hateseeker Augur

    Surely applying a blanket % hit point increase, a blanket ATK increase, etc doesn't take much coding? I don't think there's anything that would be absolute zero coding; including simply opening the server.
  7. Numiko Augur

    Wonder if they are going to reverse the January changes to low level buffs where things like Symbol of Naltron went from adding 346 hp's at 41 to adding 931 hp's ....
  8. Hateseeker Augur

    Really? Wow....if they don't, just wow.

    Got a link on the patch notes? I've been studying Alla as I choose my classes and I thought the numbers on the spells were looking odd....
  9. Bandok Augur

    I think the spell data on Lucy got messed up a bit. Heals aren't healing for the amounts posted in January, but instead for what they were listed as before January. I haven't checked on any of the buffs, but I would guess it's the same issue.
    Numiko likes this.
  10. fazool Augur

    I agree very much! I think it would be a great idea to blanket scale up the mobs. Simply write a routine that goes into the mob database and multiplies each mobs ATK, AC, HP and DMG by 1.2

    Quick and dirty fix.

    Orc Pawns start with 12 HP instead of 10, etc.

    There will be leakage where new changes slip into the first unlocks and it will create overpowering somewhat.


    Plus, remember, back in 1999-2001 (-ish) we were all new and didn't know the tricks and strategies to kill mobs. It was scary and it was hard. We are a lot smarter now so the challenge is reduced. I think you need to make it hard again.


  11. taliefer Augur

    this is a horrible idea. anytime in the history of eq whenever theyve tried making things more difficult, they go waaaay overboard. and i doubt we'd get the resources devoted to fix it,

    this prolly takes as much effort as instancing anyway
  12. Hateseeker Augur

    I'm not seeing any opposition to the concept here, but opposition based on the idea that they wouldn't do it right.

    I agree, but we could zoom out and apply the same philosophy to the very concept of a new TLP server. As for effort, I don't have any idea, but if it is too much, they can tell us. They're not going to even consider it for just one person suggesting it though.
  13. Lron Server Legend Augur

    I cant see a downside to making the raid mobs more difficult up to SSRA in luclin, I just don't see them doing this. This coupled with the raid mobs spawning at the exact same time twice a week = socker's nightmare.
  14. taliefer Augur


    indeed. i dont mind the idea. i just dont think theyd get it right. theyd either go way too hard, or not hard enough and itd still be faceroll easy, which wouldnt solve anything.

    i mean, if we are going to start retuning mobs, lets go all the way and get an "eq reimagined" server going ;p

    edit to clarify: im sure retuning the mobs without some sort of beta and whatnot wouldnt be easy either. itd be the devs saying "this should be make it harder!" and throwing darts at the wall essentially
    Irbax_Smoo likes this.
  15. Numiko Augur


    hopefully that is the case, i have not tested them myself just noticed the changes when I was researching focus items on Lucy and it suprised me.
  16. Bandok Augur

    I've opposed the "increase mob difficulty" idea in other threads. You're basically adding another layer of blocking out the non-uber guilds just to make events last a little longer for the uber-guilds who are, at best, DPS racing.

    Keep in mind the non-uber guilds are a bit less likely to "cheese" events by overloading on mages/SKs/OPd-class-of-the-month, and go after the event with whatever they've got. Which is also why they would tend to get blown out of the water in a "DPS race."
  17. Hateseeker Augur

    Thing is, since Classic through at least Luclin have no limits on how many players can be on a raid mob, as long as they don't go insanely far with it, it should be OK.

    Note that "retuning" implies putting a lot of thought and effort into it. I'm just saying make blanket increases without any serious thought. Keep it a little lower if necessary, something would help more than nothing,
  18. fazool Augur



    I can't even begin to fathom this dis-logic.

    If you *scale* everything evenly then everyone faces the exact same delta. It's all relative. No uber guild gets more benefit over anyone else.
  19. Darth Augur


    This is the most ignorant post I have seen today. Increasing difficulty doesn't get casuals more loot. It gets them less loot. Hardcores will still get all the raid targets. In fact it may just make their life easier. Increase difficulty and the 6 boxer can't kill them. The casual raids can't kill them. Now the hardcores can simple raid 3 hours a night, with no fear of their loot not going to them.

    Hardcores gonna win no matter what. There is no change that fixes this except instancing, token spawning, and GM forced rotations.

    PVP won't stop them.
    20/30/50/100/200/1000% buffs won't stop them
    Random spawn timers won't stop them

    You're just casual and bad in comparison; I'm sorry, Everquest is not a game meant for everyone to b equal, never was, never will be at this era. That's why most of us like it. Sure I'd rather have it with no socking, and no hacking, but doubt that happens.

    btw you do realize socking is a casual tactic yeah? The hardcore guilds didn't sock. They responded to casuals sitting on the spawn point cause they couldn't win races. It's not the other way around.
  20. Bandok Augur

    Fazool, no the hardcores don't face the same delta. They're socking with 200 people between their guild and other guilds. Unless the mob is tuned to that (which it absolutely SHOULD NOT BE), it's still going to die very rapidly as the full-on DPS burn occurs to try to win the mob.

    Darth, I don't know if you were addressing me, but I'm expressing concern even about what happens after stuff becomes not-current. In-era? Yeah, we all know the hardcores will get everything in-era, and that's just the way it's going to be unless there's some surprise change that none of us expects.

    If everything is tuned to 200 people sitting there waiting for a spawn, then it becomes impossible for a 54-player raid to come in and do it after.