Feature Request: Visible Experience Bonus/Rate

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post a request like this but I don't know where else to do so. I have one request but two issues it can help address.

My request is to have a character's current experience rate displayed, as a %, somewhere visible to us. Most preferably on the main stat window, around the current exp bars. This would help with quick verification of buffs, group, and event bonuses. Since we have something as trivial as velocity showing on our sheets, I can't see an exp % rate being a big issue.

I was curious about the rate of experience with a full group a remembered it was changed a while back. I googled for the info, (this information should already be stickied or displayed in game with tips/loading screen at bare minimum) and found a post (#1) regarding the changes from 2003 or so. Digging a little deeper I found a post (#2) on reddit about changes to PC and merc contributions to group exp, and even further yet, (#3) a post about additional patch notes regarding an increase for all numbers of PC grouping.

Searching for details regarding calculations is something that can be quite tedious, especially with all the changes throughout the years. It becomes hard to know what is or is not accurate but more importantly, in my opinion, detracts from the overall experience, especially for newer or returning players. Without any easy indicators that grouping with players is beneficial for exp. gain, more so than mercenaries, it gets easier to say "I'll just molo because adding this guy might decrease my exp gain".

I run a custom UI that has AA and Normal XP displayed on the character window down to 3 decimal places. This info should be displayed above your xp bar on the default UI as well. Is that what you are asking for?

That display is for one's current experience, relative to the next level, i.e. 34.567% of the way to level 101 from level 100.

What I am asking for is the current multiplier of experience gain to show. Under normal circumstances a person gains 100% exp from a source. That number should be displayed all the time and should change based on what modifiers you are affected by. As an example, when someone uses Lesson of the Devoted, the display should read 200%. Under the latest information I have seen, an example of 3 people in group would be something like:

3 players 1.92 / 3 = 0.64 exp for a 36% reduction

The if the only modifier being utilized is the group modifier then the display should say 192%. The experience gained is still being split 3 ways ( ^ example) among other factors, so you'll end up with less exp. per kill, obviously, but you'll know that you are gaining a benefit by just being in the group. It should work with hot zone modifiers and world events as well.

Don't take away my immersion.

Then don't look.

I agree with OP, it's something I'd like to see.

Ah, thanks for explaining what you meant. I wouldn't be opposed to this but I am the type that likes more and more data. I'd also love if the compass could display live /loc and if there was a way to see how far away from a target you are. Seeing "You gain experience! (with a bonus)" improved to "You gain experience! (1.25x)" or just a stat like you say in your character sheet that active xp gain is 125% or something would be neat.

They would need to be careful about how they went about this as there would be confusion as the per kill xp went down as you formed a group even if overall xp rate goes up due to killing faster.

I'm not opposed to the display showing a number less than 100% either. In the message box that pops up when you highlight something it could explain the bonuses and why the number is what it is. For example:

Display shows 200% and upon hovering over the number, the blue message box says something like:

Your experience per kill is:
100% - Normal exp.
100% - Lesson of the Devoted

Your experience per kill is:
Display shows 150%;
100% -Normal exp.
50% - Bottle of shared adventure

This one gets a little tricky and will need smarter people than I to explain it right.

Your experience per kill is:
Display shows 64%
100% - Normal exp.
92% - Group bonus (3 players)
-----------
3 player group split 192%/3 =64% (not a fan of showing a reduced number because it will confuse some players, as you mentioned, not sure how to necessarily get around it)

Will it take into account the zem for that zone?
Will it take into account RAF?
Will it take into account weak mobs with reduced exp?

My thoughts are that the ZEM (if it even stills exists) and RAF (not sure how this works, assume it's like another LoTD) should be included in the calculation. Weak mobs would not change the calculation as they just give less experience vs. a standard mob and would receive the same changes.

Account bonuses such as RAF would make it even more confusing as it would be hard to understand why someone was getting more xp for a kill due to bonuses like that especially if you can no longer get them.

The bottom line is that all of these numbers are already calculated behind the scenes, displaying them in a simple format for us to see and understand should (in my uneducated opinion) be relatively easy. The other bottom line is that most people will only usually have 0,1, or 2 modifiers at a time. Explaining something like RAF should in theory be no more difficult than LotD.

Reducing an already stat-heavy game to the game of Spreadsheets D&D that it really is behind the scenes is not the direction I think we should be wanting this game to go in, and this would do exactly that.

To paraphrase something a dev once said:

"There are numbers used by the game it absolutely makes sense to let players have and there are numbers which if given to players reduce the sense of being part of a living world, that rob them of some of the magic of playing"

- a fancy way of saying

It's the gaming equivalent of what movies term "suspension of disbelief".

bleh

People already spreadsheet the crap out of this game, they're not going to do it more so because they know what exp rate they have. Before mounts came out, people always wanted the fastest movement speed they could get, they (maybe) tested it by racing against other people with different buffs, then mounts came out and people wanted the fastest mount they could get, same testing (probably). If they eventually decided to characterize the speed of the mount in its item description (I don't think this was always the case, almost 100% sure about that) and even later added the velocity to stats tab then I see no reason why they shouldn't add the exp rate to the tab. It's essentially the same thing.

Have you seriously never heard the phrase min/maxer?

Yeah people will absolutely min/max the crap out of this and not see they are further demystifying the game at a cost to their enjoyment of it.

Letting players figure out some stuff for themselves approximately (theory-crafting) & handing them the data on a plate are 2 entirely different things.

And the devs do elaborate quite a bit on some topics, like Dzarn showed us on the forum how AC was calculated etc. but even that isn't as bad as this is.

What will people be min/maxing in this scenario? To use LotD or not? To use an exp potion? I'm not asking for the amount of experience that each mob is giving. Having this information won't change how people play. I'm not understanding why you think this alters game play on any level.

Also, what is demystifying about showing the number 200% vs. having a buff icon that says your experience is doubled for the next 30 minutes? It's the same information but displayed in a different way.

Also, since the devs have already given the information out in other posts, regarding AC, why do they need to display it? Shouldn't people have to calculate that out so they can be mystified again? What about this, you know all of your damage modifiers because they're listed on your items and in your AA window, so why is it all calculated out for you and displayed in a combat window? That's essentially what you're comparing this small exp. display to.

What is so wrong about it being displayed in game? It's like 5 or so possible lines of info that could be displayed in a text message box and 1 number displayed overall.

Like the example I gave before;

Display shows XXX%
100% normal
100% holiday bonus
100% lesson or 50% potion, because these effects don't stack, already theorycrafted.
XXX% RAF bonus
XXX% ZEM bonus (if these even still exist, especially in any relevant zones)
92% group bonus
-------
divided by group number of players

The whole point was to help show that grouping with other players, especially over mercenaries, is beneficial to ones experience gain.

whoosh!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingchi

You didn't answer any of the questions I posed. I'm asking for clarification so I can better understand your point.

If you haven't understood by now you are purposely being obtuse.