The title pretty much says it all. Shroud NPCs are currently missing from PoK on Test. Not sure if this is deliberate as some kind of misguided way of stopping people farming lower level shards and shrouding to turn them in, or whether there is just a bug right now. Either way, I thought I should post that they are currently M.I.A. I am fairly sure it is deliberate, making the lives of those people who play non-HS/swarming characters fairly dull due to the hideously low droprate on shards still. Whilst shrouding down may have not been intended in order to faction for RoF, It reduced the disparity on farming between classes. It was not ideal, but it balanced it out a little better. Anyway, shroud NPCs missing on Test. I think a lot of people would like them back, if it is not intentional.
Should just remove them from the game. Compare the amount of people who actually use shrouds as intended vs. the amount of people who use shrouds to exploit loopholes. Not gonna lie, I've taken advantage of them for years and even used them for the recent shard turn-ins, but years ago I still said they should've been fixed/removed.
I still use them to work Lxp. I once used a fully evolved one for a GM event but they kicked me out because it came with a weapon. The guy who was 3 boxing "won" the event and I have never entered a shrouded event since.
Support forums already have posts from a couple people that are stuck in shroud and can't return to normal.
Recnarp, you are greatly underestimating the number of people who regularly use shrouds for a number of different reasons. Just because you don't think they do does not mean that is a fact. I will say though, that shrouds would be used exponetially more if they added 16 that were straight up PC classes at the various levels currently in existance.
What are the number of different reasons people use them for? I'm sure the list is debatable if shrouds are intended to be used that way or not.
I am not personally aware of anyone that has ever used a shroud to drop down to an appropriate level in order to group with low level friends. While I concede some might indeed do that, I have never met anyone who has. Shrouds are perhaps EQs greatest exploit vehicle ever. I am amazed they have been allowed to persist for so long.
This does not appear to be limited to the test server. It appears to also be the case on the live servers.
/raises hand. Well, random pick up groups doing ldons mostly. Was great fun. I liked shrouds, think half the problem was they weren't given any care after release, and any system in EQ that's left alone becomes unworkable very quickly.
I leveled up some of my shrouds, but I agree they were next to useless for their purpose. Feels like they were put in and abandoned before defiant armor dropped, because player level vs. shroud level was a huge difference. Saw a few posts quickly deleted for mentioning shrouds and shards, but players have been saying that since the day shards dropped. But still, I kinda liked waddling around really low to the ground as a basilisk. lol
There's an motd that they are aware of the shroud issue. However, are they taking shrouds out of the game or not? I wish they'd announce this kind of stuff.
Aware of the shroud issue? lulz. Of course they are aware of the issue -- all those shroud NPCs serverwide didn't up and despawn of their own accord.
... and with a level cap increase expansion just around the corner... yeah I doubt it was any coincidence.
