It would be really neat for the raid leader/designee to be able to plant some sort of raid markers (colored shapes, etc) instead of relying on campfires, or the guild banner.
If enough people already own the fireworks rack, that might achieve what you are looking for in the meantime. Those things don't seem to disappear when they are spent.
Good idea. I was also thinking about small(er) flags that could be planted (red, green, blue, yellow, etc). Just an idea.
Flags / Banners would be great. But I would recommend symbols on them rather than just colors for the color blind people.
i recommend the "portable" tradeskill containers IE http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=93792. There 5 or so of them and they all look different, on seperate timers, easly rechargeable, and single person setup. I'v used them more on raids as markers than as a portable tradeskill container they were designed as (though very nice to have in the shawl lines thats about there usefullness)
Untill the person who planted them zones out + 30 min i think, never timed them but they have been up more than plenty long for any sane raid time.
http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=93793 seem to me to be very 'raid like' at least with the people i raid with. The above link is the forge, its the floor verson, the shape that everyone loves .
I would personally love a set of 10 raid flags that we can drop from within the raid window. With very specific shapes . And maybe even symbols like MA /MT/ OT/P(pile) / H(healers) / C(Casters)/M(melee) Having to use trade skill containers is lack of creativity . They are for trade skills not for team positioning. Heck I would even drop 50 bucks for a set of reusable ones .
Since shapes, symbols, and colors all have issues (I can go into detail if someone is curious), I recommend numbers. So you can tell the raid, "Ok, we tank Mob_B at flag 1, healers stand at flag 2, necros stand at flag 3, Mob_A is to be rooted at flag 4" and so on. So basically a bunch of flags like the current guild banner (perhaps a bit different and I would like to see the flag go down the pole to the ground, so you don't have to look up to see it) with a number on a contrasting background. Letters can work as well as numbers but for an international game, they may want to use numbers. Some languages do not use Latin letters but I think everyone uses Arabic numerals (except those pesky dead Romans.
Numbers are confusing, too. Once you start getting to 5+ markers, anything is going to be confusing, because your plan is getting too complex. How is using something in a novel and unintended way not creative?
Then our views differ, the ability to use something for an alterative purpose to an effective end shows creativity, not the lack of, on behalf of the people using them (i highly doubt im the only one). Sony not putting raid markers like this in doesn't show lack of creativity but either lack of care, or lack of want to make raids easyer.
by resummoning the same item once the refresh timer has refreshed i belive. I carry around all 5 or so and have had little need for more than one of each type per raid. Have little need of more than three per raid and thats for the ROF glimpse raid.
No. Although once the timers wear off new people entering the zone won't see them. People who were there when they were planted will see them until they zone. You could in theory place whole rows of them - someone with too much time on their hands could get the dz early and setup a kite racetrack for example, maybe with a pit lane for the healers to hang out in.
Maybe I used the wrong word there I meant lack of creativity of the game not the players using them trade skill containers. It makes raid leading easier not the raids themselves because they are only difficult based on the mechanics. Anything to lower the burn out of raid leaders in my opinion is a great thing for this game.
You want to fix raid leader burnout? Make the tool better. What do you mean someones invite was denied due to too many group leaders? Why is the bottom window limited to approx 6 names in it and not expandable. When people go link dead, and return, I want it to remember, if they're still in the dz, auto-add them to their group if a spot is still free. Lock/Unlock? Why. Let me shuffle people with the tool unlocked.
Why? I'm going to take a Wild Guess here and say it has to do with record locking. Are there better ways to do record locking that don't involve having the raid leader have to manually lock and unlock the raid? Yes, there are. But EQ was one of the first MMORPGs and the original coders may not have been very forward looking. Devs have mentioned in the past that the original databases for EQ are ancient Flat file. The raid tool was not part of the original EQ and was "bolted-on" later. However, it has to work with the original "group" code. The whole thing is a kluge and a mess. The best thing that can be said about it is that it works most of the time. EQ has other areas where record locking is done better, so they can do it. The question is how much programmer time do we want spent on overhauling the raid tool? Also, whenever you do this thing, you will get bugs all over the place that have to be tracked down and fixed, bugs that often affect systems that seem to be totally unrelated. I'm sure that overhauling the raid tool is on "The List" and work on it will begin in 2037 when the single part-time coder who SOE allows to work on EQ gets to it . In the meantime, they might be able to add raid markers without having to overhaul the raid code, and that would be a good start.
