Mercs haven't ruined the game its the 4-5 boxers you know the the Guildies I'm grouping with that all are on auto-follow and I'm the only one moving or a new trick put your boxed alts in another guild. anyway don't get me started Mercs are good they don't just stand there and go afk come back just in time to loot then go afk again Run up and die because they been pled so much things like that we all have grouped with people like that
... I was going to post at length about the difference between "good" and "bad" boxers, PL'd toons, etc. Then I realised it's Friday and it's beer o'clock
I don't buy it. The Clerics and Warriors that play in raids don't just vanish out of existance when they stop raiding. They exist, and if people felt they'd been replaced by knights and other priests in the group game due to higher utility then surely there should be loads of clerics and warriors struggling to find groups? It just doesn't happen though. So again, where do they all go? Do they stop playing at all outside of raids, or do they do something solo and not look for groups? In my last guild it was simply that pretty much every single tank also had a priest and dps alt and they boxed. Having a raid gearred tank meant that it took very little additional support to box their way through any content, and that by and large was the reason they weren't LFG. That's just a small sample of course, but it was true for that guild and to some degree is still true in my current guild (but it's a bit more inclusive which is a good thing).
Everyone can 96 rez with their healer merc, so what difference does it make whether druids or shamen can cast it? If that's the only thing that set your Cleric apart from the rest so you could get groups, I'm not surprised you're having difficulty. Zero AA almost doesn't exist in EQ. You turn on AA XP and sneeze, and you have a few hundred AAs, so why be concerned whether pre-sneeze is balanced? The mercenaries are well-balanced (with the exception that the DPS mercs don't do about the same DPS as each other). They minimally fill a spot as needed, and are not as good as real players. I pick players over mercs, and often have full groups of 6 with no mercs, so no, it's not a solo game for me. In fact, I don't solo at all, nor do I box or molo.
who said people that raid are any good after raiding for years there are some warriors and clerics that SHOULD NOT be raiding.... and the ones that do raid they log right after raids.. there are good things about mercs and there are bad nothing you can do about it except quit.
Well I don't think a warrior merc is better than me.. nor is it close to me. Group geared tank. I can out tank them and out dps them. I know the wizard im with easily does 3x the dps as a melee dps merc in none burn situations. and if the wizard burns its like more than 6x dps mercs. I am pretty sure any healer worth their weight is as good as two cleric mercs. Pluse those healers can also add dps to the group.
This game has never really been that balanced. I don't know why people expect anything different after 15 years.
No other class should be able to port or TL other than wizard and Druid too. ohh and remove PoK and Hall teleported too. You know cause porting and stuff was a class specific thing at one time. BFD about 96% rez. hell they should just give 100% rez potions for 1kpp. or better yet just get rid of the death penalty..
Been saying it for years. Mercenaries vastly outperformed what they were marketed for. They were marketed to be a temporary fill if you have a player LD or log. Something to keep a group going for 30 minutes until they can find a replacement. What ended up happening was they became permanent staple in boxers groups (3 toons 3 mercs) and often times people won't invite others because that means having to deal with someone else who may be less skilled/AA'd/geared or someone who is annoying/can't get anywhere without invis etc. Also it's less sharing of loot. PS just because YOU would invite someone over your merc cleric doesn't mean everyone or even most do. You may (and are) be the exception. Mercenary AAs/gear further this "permanent staple" effect. What needs to happen is grouping needs to provide more benefits than mercing. A group with multiple players and no mercenary should gain vastly more experience than one with a mercenary or two. Keep exp as it is now, but increase the modifier to be: 2 Characters - 1.5x base 3 Characters - 2x base 4 Characters - 2.5x base 5 Characters - 3x base Full Group - 4x base This way it promotes grouping/inviting people to join you, returns mercenaries to their intended purpose (for old content you can't get others to do and to fill a slot in a pinch), also it would decrease soloing strategies that disrupt zones and get people class envy, if group play was so rewarding exp wise. To the point that you are earning more exp helping out an under AAd DPS class due to exp increase as opposed to using a DPS merc which would handily outparsed and increase your kill rate.
Groups with multiple players and no mercenaries get significantly more experience than groups with mercenaries. The way the math works extra players are rarely a detriment to experience unless they provide a negligible or negative contribution through getting people killed. What mercenaries did was make not having other players mandatory.Yes, on my cleric I don't have 6 group invites anymore within 30 seconds of logging in. On the other hand that's because those 6 groups of people are able to play the game. I can still get a group, I just don't have hostages waiting for me. That's ok. And anyone who takes mercs over real players either has a specific reason (and yes, there can be reasons sometimes), or is missing out on all the many benefits from playing with real players. I'm glad other classes got a 96% rez. Less clicking for me when I play my cleric. It's the hostage thing again; I want to be picked because of my contributions to the group and my cheery disposition*. I don't want any group picking me because players feel forced to have a 96% rez on hand. And with mercenaries it just meant that the group would have to do invite gymnastics The game evolves over time. That's the nature of an MMO. Mercenaries are part of the game now, and if you'd like to see changes to them you should suggest what you want to see (not just that you don't like them). Then we can consider you ideas and add them to the internal discussion. *Note: I don't actually have a cheery disposition. So it's mostly just the contributions to the group.
I'd love to agree with this, but real players AFK, a lot. They often don't react well, get lost, or need a detailed explanation of simple tasks. Mercs do not. Not to mention, my mercs are level 100.. I don't know where you play EQ, but if you think that picking up a random dude you've never heard of is a good idea vs. a caster merc on burn? You might want to think again. I could have 2 monks with 5000 AA and the awful excuse for group weapons they have now, and they wont keep up unless they both blow crane stance every fight. The group game truly is suffering. Don't even get me started on how laughable the situation is for tanks. 10,000 AA paladin with COTF group gear, getting absolutely wasted by trash in Heroic Adventures unless Steadfast stance, Shining Bastion, Aura of Divinity, Demand AND a mitigation disc are running? No thanks. And that's by no means an "Average" player. But if we manage to kill one, we get 1% more exp. so there's that, right?
This is partially why I use a cleric merc and molo a lot of the time. I need to frequently afk so that would be extremely unfair to any group I'd get in. With a merc/box situation there is no worry about inconveniencing anyone with lengthy afks or sudden needs to log off. On the flip side I also don't have to worry about them afking/logging suddenly or often if I happen to be using an exp pot or something myself. I'd rather play with a group of players for sure, the kills are faster and having a conversation while grinding makes things much more enjoyable though.
There is nothing wrong with this. However, unless you tell me this in advance (which is unlikely), I have no way to tell you do it... In the past, I've wasted a click of a Shared adventure III potion on a necromancer to replace a dps merc on burn once. Granted it was great when they were there, but talk about a pain in the neck when 1/3 of the group's dps thinks its perfectly normal to afk for "just a minute" (more like 60 minutes or so) to walk their dog when you just wasted a 45 dollar potion with the intention of getting as much exp as possible out of it. That's kind of an extreme example, but the point stands
Well here's something we can all agree on, mercs didn't kill the game, I did. That's right, it was me! Sheesh! I take full responsibility! It was all my fault! Me and other old timers like me who constantly asked for changes, <cough improvements> to the game. For some reason any discussion about how mercs killed the game leaves out how NPC Wizard mercs killed off PC Wizards and NPC Rogue mercs killed off PC Rogues. Walter is a Wizard of sorts. Nobody wanted him in a group before NPC damage dealing Wizards mercs and nobody wants him in a group now. There is a certain beauty in the symmetry. Heck, with boxing I can make a group and let him tag along. Boxing saved Walter! I think we need more mercs because I hate bards! I even hate my own bard! We need bard mercs to kill off bards. Why did mercs and boxing save Walter and will kill off my Bard? Well, it is because I like Walter and I hate my Bard. It is a matter of faith. If I believe the same exact action will produce two completely different outcomes, who are you to judge? http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/something-is-wrong-on-the-internet/
2 real life friends i group with daily, a monk/rogue group geared have never been out sustained by a.wizard merc on burn. I have a hard time believing decently skilled dps is that outclassed by mercs. As fer the healer/tank situation with appropriate macros/keybinds and attention to detail a BOX healer or tank (even in group gear!) far surpass their merc counterparts by a significant margin. a non boxed healer/tank by even more. Hell my paladin or SK boxes can outheal/outtank mercs. if anyrhing tank mercs and rogue mercs need a boost! and i am saying that as a tank main.
My point was to suggest we revisit the exp bonuses provided by increased group size. Originally it was something like: 1 member - 100% / 1 = 100% 2 members - 120% / 2 = 60% 3 members - 140% / 3 = 46.7% 4 members - 220% / 4 = 55% 5 members - 260% / 5 = 52% 6 members - 260% / 5 = 52% --- essentially the 6th member is free and it continues to split by 5. My suggestion is to apply those modifiers to exp so that people are getting MORE exp the more people they group with. And to completely kill that bonus if you are grouped with a merc (to incentivize searching LFG/friend list/guild to fill that slot and to incentive group play over solo play) My suggestion would be something like this. 1 member - 100% / 1 = 100% 2 members - 180% / 2 = 90% 3 members - 280% / 3 = 93.33% 4 members - 500% / 4 = 125% 5 members - 650% / 5 = 130% 6 members - 800% / 5 = 160% This way people want to group as the exp split between a group even in a duo or trio is pretty near what a solo player would get. And then if you join even more toons, you get exp even faster. Combined with both the increased kill rate and the modifier. Helping people climb the AA/Level mountain through cooperation and grouping.
All people are going to do then is get 6 boxes and leave'em afk for bonus exp while they solo. Great way to level up 6 boxes to level 100 max AA at the same time ez mode.
And normal regular players will group and kill more mobs faster and get more exp. If boxers want to 6 box, more money for SOE, cool.
