New Instance Threshold

Can we talk about this DBG? there are currently over 30 players each in 4 UR instances. This is unsustainable. I've seen the same thing in LGuk.

Please reduce the new instance threshold by 30-50%

Good chat. Thanks.

This is something I noticed on RF too. Another improvement would be to base the instances based on the total number of people in the picks rather than the individual picks. this would make it easier to get new. Picks spawned rather than everyone having to be distributed perfectly.

I wouldn't mind a change on this in Seb on ragefire. Since most people have moved past 55, the top part of the zone is virtually empty(save for crypt always camped and occasionally disco). While Seb can hold 40+ the basement really can't, especially when king is never camped.

Pickzone caps are fine. They are there to ensure that it's possible to level 1-50 without 100 people fighting over 20 mobs.

They aren't designed to ensure every group gets access to whatever camp they want for optimal exp/loot. If you can't pop any more unrest zones and competing for mobs against a couple other groups isn't what you want to do, try one of the other zones for that exp range.

4 Unrests is 3 more than we ever had in classic or Fippy/Vulak and we somehow survived.

Ah yes, the ol' "my parents had to walk uphill both ways 5 miles in the snow so you shouldn't have a problem with it" argument.

The thing is, I think we've come a long way since classic. I would think DGB has learned enough to realize that it's not fun for players to sit around with little to no activity. I would think DGB realizes it's not healthy for a fanbase that is constantly fighting over mobs, thereby encouraging bad sport behavior (training, breaking mez, dispelling charm, 'stealing' mobs). I would think DGB would expect frustrated subscribers to quickly turn into ex-subscribers.

Am I asking for personal instances? NO! A little healthy competition is good, and encourages group play. But when you are spending more than 2 minutes looking for something to pull when everyone is FoM, it gets old quickly.

I think reducing the cap by 30-50% would keep healthy competition in the game while minimizing bad sport behavior. It would also help compensate for the low xp rates on phinny many are unhappy with.

Unrest cannot support 40 players. Lguk cannot support 60 players. It needs to be changed.

Pick change time needs to also be raised, being able to change picks every 5 mins is a joke. The amount of times I've had clowns constantly pop up in front of you at a camp needs to change. The only real reason to change picks is to find a camp spot that's free, NOT to pick hop to take out named after named.

Change it before so many people get pissed off and end up leaving which they will. My suggestion would be at least 30 mins.

This is a slippery slope - but one that could be at least partially accommodated in my opinion. I think 20-30% reduction in threshold seems reasonable to me. 50 is a bit much. But it's hard to say. I don't know how the code is written. Is it dependent on zone or is the algorithm the same server wide? It might not be feasible, especially considering that the problem lies in a few particular zones. There are still many other not-quite-as-popular camps open all the time.

Realistically, the zone you are complaining about in particular with this change is Unrest. Unrest can support 4 groups per pick, realistically. FP, MR, Yard, and Basement. That's 24 people. This zone is somewhat unique because IF you have one of those camps, it's very solid exp.

If you don't want to have your leveling experience be contingent on getting one of those camps, there are PLENTY of other areas that are less congested for leveling from 8-25+. Upper guk has several spots open for groups of most levels, and several picks up. Lavastorm is also solid as well. If you don't want to compete for mobs, be intelligent and pick one of the MANY places where you can level.

This is one of the few MMOs that is not a themepark, so you have many options. Use them if you don't want to sit around and do nothing. If you need more suggestions...

Aviaks in SK, lower level gobs in OOT, Najena, lavastorm, Crocs, runnyeye, etc.

Can you make it so that I can spawn my own instance? This whole running into people thing is really annoying in the game. *

* Note, Extreme Sarcasm.

The only zone that I've seen an issue with is HHK. And that's due to there being like 2 camps for goblins. The zone rarely gets a pickzone because its based on all of the NPCs in the zone, but many of them carry faction hits (that can affect you elsewhere) where zones like Unrest don't. One could say Lower Guk does.. but I don't think the 2 live frogs there count.

Unrest has many many camps. You've got two in the main courtyard. One on the main level. One on the fireplace. And possibly two in the basement. That easily accommodates 36 players.. possibly 42 if you count the main entrance (not a bad spot for a level 10 grp).

Like others have said.. I think the pickzone population balance is working well.

I guess that depends on your group make-up. With a good group(good makeup, etc), you can clear the entire basement and still have down time. Expecting to share that camp is a tad ridiculous(As is Fireplace).

But, then again, can always go to other places. SolA is good exp until 32-34, and then can just pop over to SolB and do Window camp, that is never camped it seems. Basing the entire "pick instances" argument on a single zone that is wildly popular is probably not the best way to go about it. Go explore some other places, who knows, you may find that you enjoy them more.

SolA is pretty damn disgusting exp in a good way. Little dangerous at times, but the risk is worth it.

Yep, I've used it since original Classic. Also teaches you that sometimes just running to zone is better option than hoping you will live!

Its a shame it isn't used more.

SolA is good exp up to level 30. I was there at 31 last night and nearly everything was blue or lower except gnomes (yikes faction). Yes, it can still be done, but killing blues for exp seems to yield drastically lower exp on average, despite being able to kill more of them in a similar time frame. We bailed on SolA and went to CT which was also camped to capacity (except greys and greens) with 0 instances available. After having mezzed mobs stolen right out of our camp and being threatened with a pain train from "my level 50 bard" we just disbanded.

If you think places like CT sewers, and UR basement can support more than one group, I'm sorry but you must have had some terrible groups.

That said, I do generally agree that people could look elsewhere for exp. The problem with that theory is zone exp modifiers. There's a reason why Guk and Unrest are so packed. Exp elsewhere pales in comparison. Why would I want to fight aviaks in SK where the ZEM is terrible when even with competing for mobs with train conductors and bad sport players in Unrest I can level faster?

It's just going to get worse too. Can you imagine KC, Kurn's, and CoM? Oh the humanity! I understand DBG's "hands off" approach. I really do--they have limited resources and it's a smart move to save money. But this unfettered competition for mobs is turning even upstanding players into a toxic community.

HHK can be a serious pain. There are, at most, four goblin camps - Raider Room, Warrior Room, Guard Room, Lookout Room. Generally WR/RR are a camp and LR/GR are a camp. A group in the mid/late 20s can very easily pull from all four camps since the respawn rate is so low, especially if they're supported by a boxed healer or buffer. In effect, the threshold for the zone is one group. Any more than that and there's nothing for non-evil characters to kill.

Instances are about ensuring you have *something* to kill. They were not created to ensure you will have *optimal* exp earnings.

6 groups of 6 in Unrest is reasonable. Ideal? No. But instances were never designed to lead to the ideal.

25% downtime due to nothing to kill is better than no camp at all...

I remember being able to navigate that zone alot better back in the day. Like without a map navigate it flawlessly. Dunno why I can't do that now lol.

That's true, but very few zones actually support six camps. The ones that do, great! The instancing thresholds are fine. Some zones simply can't hold than many people. HHK is probably the best example, where you can have basically one person doing Bards, two-three doing guards and a group of six doing goblins. Highpass generally supports one gnoll group and one orc group with not enough mobs for multiple groups on either side. Those zones need lower instancing thresholds to compensate for smaller numbers of camps.

I don't understand this argument at all. Essentially you're saying "it could and has been worse, so be happy with only 25% downtime."

15 minutes of every hour should be spent not doing anything because it has been worse in the past? I take that back because I'm not actually doing "nothing." As a puller I should run around the zone searching for mobs to pull without success for 15 minutes out of every hour?

I have a vision my friends. You are locked into thinking the old ways are satisfactory. You are eating vanilla icecream and are satisfird because you have never tasted chocolate. I'm here to tell you that chocolate icecream not only exists, but is a real possibility.

We have the technology. It just needs to be tweaked. I WANT to like my fellow EQ players as we are a rare breed. Currently though, rage festers unbridled.

Many of us are on this server to recreate an experience that is very nostalgic. What you misconstrue as downtime is actually socializing time. People used to talk in these games. People used to try to figure out lore. I am not a Luddite, but changing things because they are convenient to the min-maxing approach of exp-per-minute statistic people takes away some of what made this game nostalgic in the first place. I am fine with having lists t certain camps. This /pick your way to uncontested loot thinking is a ruin to the spirit of original EQ.