Updates to Load Balancing Zones (AKA Pickzone)

Bonus exp is going to be a nightmare here in a few days.

I doubt they will change this. It has always been based on the number of killable mobs in the zone. For a zone like, Grieg's, for example, we know there are only 3 good camps: gate, south cubby, and east courtyard. That gives, what, maybe 80-90 mobs to kill in those three camps? That still leaves dozens of mobs on both sides of the zone that figure into the calculation, maybe another 100 mobs or more. Generally no one is killing those mobs or not consistently, anyway, but it skews the calculation to the high side. The only alternative I see is to set the pick threshold manually rather than based on a calculation of the number of mobs in the zone. I don't see that happening.

I think people are over reacting a bit.

It does change what most people love about Phinny for the worse... but it's not the end of the world.

It will end up pushing people to more under-utilized zones for EXP though, which isn't a bad thing, just means a little more leg work by the players to go check what zones are up. If you want to camp for a long time, make sure you're grabbing a spot in the base pick and keep as much cleared as possible.

When LDoN opens up, it won't sting as much for open-world EXP groups hopefully. But this is more like getting a couple of bee stings than getting stabbed in the back.

The only people that will quit over this are the overly dramatic who only want to be able to do things exactly the way they want without interference.

If those other mobs are being left untouched, that's because there aren't lower level zoneline groups camping there. Which means the zone can support 2 more groups. 5 groups, up to 30 players, not just 18. I've camped safe-hall, and both zonelines before and then when a group leaves, I move in further.

The real issue is that people only want the optimal spots and throw a fit when things become sub-optimal and they don't get their favorite camp spots right away.

Take Plane of Fire for example now. You've got Field 1, Field 2, Jopals, C1, C2, Tables... People will come in, and do a camp-check, but hear these are all taken, and leave. I've gone and physically checked, and half or more of Field 2 is up, or C1 is only clearing the ground floor, leaving the walls and sides open. Plenty of good exp there still to kill supporting a second group in each of those areas that is left untouched.

They either need to lower the threshold to spawn a pick in their algorithm or manually set it for each zone.

The problem with picks has ALWAYS been it takes too many to spawn one. That was alleviated because when raids would zone in or during primetime it would open up a bunch of picks that a small number could keep open throughout the day and night.

If they don't change the threshold in some way they will see attrition from this. It isn't solving the problem it was created to solve anymore, overcrowding.

So a couple of groups go to zone 'x' and spawn a pick due to population. They setup their camps and are content. X people in the original zone leave and now the groups in the pick are kicked out, with chances are they will find their camps already taken.

That's not good.

Yep the AE groups/powerlevelers just mow everyone over and pull through them. Usually tolerated by leaving them to their own pick (oh hey this isnt what dbg wants but they dont care if AE groups occupy whole base zones?)

Fixed.

Wait... you're telling me that other progression servers have high enough populations to spawn picks? ;0)

I just hope this new system is improved by the time the next real progression server hits. With no PNP it can cause some serious crying.

Does this mean we won't be losing corpses anymore when a pick closes? Rather obnoxious to get back to a zone, the pick isn't open/available, and you're corpses are completely gone..

Also related, let's say we're in Pick 2, a group member leaves, and the number loss prompts the 15 minute warning of closure. If a replacement party member enters the zone and all other number remain the same, would that stop the countdown since adequate numbers are (in this example) present for the pick to remain open?

Happened to me last night

got locked out of Fire when I zoned out to get C5 which trapped 5 players (sort of) and wouldn't let me back in. Then the zone collapsed on them.

My only worry is that when it comes setting the load balancing thresholds bad data or insufficient sample sizes are being used. For example if a dev at 10am PST on a Tuesday pops into PoFire, CoD, BoT, GE, etc. they are going to say "hey only 20 people in here and some mobs are up, looks good!" when that has nothing to do with primetime/weekend play.

So...I get a survey, and fill it out. Specifically commenting on how the changes to the picks were terribly thought out, and making recommendations to address these issues without making the game play completely terrible. I am sure nearly everyone who took the time to fill out the survey commented in a similar fashion. On the survey I was asked how likely I was to continue subscribing. I answered "Most Likely." I have decided to amend my answer to "No Chance". I also would like to amend my answer to the question "would you recommend EQ to a friend?" I will not refer a friend to EQ. I have referred many over the years. These changes to the pick system demonstrate how out of touch the dev team is with the EQ gaming community. The impact of the changes that have already taken place have resulted in 2-3 times as much AFK time waiting around doing nothing bored as hell for me. These additional changes will result in immensely more. These changes will also increase the terrible behavior of individuals in specific guilds who just run zones. Honestly, I could not care less what the reasoning is. If an update to the servers is need, or additional servers, then CHARGE MORE and maintain a good gaming experience. I would gladly pay twice as much for an enjoyable day of gaming as opposed to paying half the price to sit around waiting for a camp or pick ALL DAY. Hell, even charge station cash to keep a pick open. Literally find any solution other than creating a gaming experience that effectively makes a player so frustrated that they walk away. I will absolutely be looking into other games that offer a more consistent gaming experience. I have been an EQ player for 11 years, and have always gone through periods of frustration and taking time away from the game, but lately I just am astounded by the complete disconnect between players and development. Do not put out a survey unless you intend to spend a month or two considering the input from your customer base. If the survey hadn't have been sent out, I likely would not have been nearly as frustrated, and would have just gotten over it eventually...but it's just too much.

test patch notes. Will be interesting to see how much they lower.

- The number of characters necessary to trigger a new load balanced zone (pickzone) has been adjusted to better reflect the amount of combatable population in each zone. In the vast majority of cases, the threshold has been lowered, meaning it will be easier to trigger the new pickzone, requiring fewer characters in a zone to do so, than before the update.

It's not often I post but felt I had to throw my 2 cp into this. Like most, I only have 2-3 hours to play each night. One of the joys of TLP has been the ease of getting groups. If I've not got a group within an hour then it's time to do something else. EQ is at its best when people join together and collaborate. Anything that makes that harder is a bad thing.

I too see certain individuals treat the game as a competition or their own personal play-ground and don't care how it affects others. Some guilds encourage that behavior. This is really disruptive to those, like me, that just want to get on and get some xp without drama.

I fail to see how this change will:
a) Decrease the time to get groups. This will reduce the number of picks/camps.
b) Discourage bad behavior. In fact it's likely to encourage those who feel they can just walk into someone else's established camp - this time they have the "excuse" that they just got booted out of an pick. Less picks = more unnecessary drama.
c) Increase the fun factor. That's what ultimately it's all about.

There's been lots of suggestions thrown around and most are good ones. I hope DBG explores some more of these. My personal favorite is altering the ZEM. There were many zones in Luclin and other expansions that were hardly touched because their xp was so below other zones. Those zones were literally empty. Let's bring those up to par (still a little behind but lessen the gap) with the best zones. This will improve the play experience, lessen the number of picks needed in the "best" zones, and spread people out which will reduce disruptive play by the entitled few.

RadarX - The simple fix on this is to increase respawn rate. WoW did this during expansion launches - EQ isn't "used" to this many people on Phinny. It's a quick fix and addresses the issues both parties have.

wut

Yes when one person can box 20-30 characters, then yes.