Asherons Call: Weekend Q&A

The_Durg asks: Should Turbine make Sing Caches generate low work items?
srand: Pressure all you want. We have plans to make sing loot more appealing, but we won't be doing it through workmanship.

Vellus asks: If they knew this re-balance was a 2 month thing...Why did they not take 2 months and not do the half and half thing?
Orion: The quick answer: Testing. We needed to do this in two phases because of the sheer enormity and play balance implications.

Butch_of_TD states (summarized): I'm concerned with this statement, "Oddly enough UA's spend the same credits to train/specialize their skill as a crossbow." If you want to compare UA with Crossbow, you MUST factor in that Missile characters MUST have Fletching and Alchemy to survive. Or factor in the time to make an Alchemy Mule.
Orion_Turbine: Does the need for fletching affect your DoT? Did you notice in the example given that it still took the UA a little longer to kill the creature than the crossbow? At high levels I am also factoring in healing, and melee d as well. Or in some instances I am factoring Life or Creature magic. Alchemy and Fletching are a conveniance, you say necessity, I say they are a way to make your character self-sufficient. It is a playstyle choice. You choose not to interact with other players who may have tradeskill characters that make deadlies. Before you go off that does not discount the validity of the need for them, as I stated earlier in this post or in another post I'm not sure anymore, I have never played any of my missile characters without Alchemy and Fletching. I really do understand the appeal of them. These changes will affect your playstyle slightly but I think once you get into the swing of them that you'll be incredibly surprised.

Arboc77 makes 10 statements, which are included in the answer.
Orion_Turbine: Point #1)

"That's an unfair characterization. It takes a LOT more than "several" quarrels. On average it took about fourteen - seventeen if I include all the misses. That's more like a UA attack, excepting it takes several minutes for my character to fire seventeen quarrels (factoring in the healing). That's for EACH monster. "

Bear in mind that the typical UA/Sword on low power who swings about 6/5 times in the space it will take you to fire your arrow. They will miss 4 out of 6 swings. They will take bewteen 20-30 hits to clear the monster(Not including crits or tinked items to take this monster down.) Oddly enough UA's spend the same credits to train/specialize their skill as a crossbow. The advantage they have is if they have melee defense specced they may only need to drink a stamina potion or heal a couple of times, it still will take them longer on average to kill these creatures, and if not perhaps the creature is weighted more toward their skill.

Point #2)

"I took Life *exclusively* for the protections - there was never an intent to vuln the mobs."

I think that maybe this was a bad idea. Level 7 spells are rather costly, experience wise, for the added benefit beyond 6's. Especially since at level 84 you're likely to have a complete set of 6's that you can wear. But that is a character choice and you certianly are not faulted for choosing to spend millions of experience on a skill that you only half use.

Point#3)

"You should pay attention to them - they know what they're talking about. I concur with the "uber" players - life protect spells are the ONLY mechanism the game provides to defend against 90%+ of all monster attacks - so characters without life are completely unviable"

Again the difference between a level 6 and 7 is minor in the grand scheme of things. You are free to differ on this point I will allow others who have done the extensive testing to provide further detail (Before you nervous Nellie's start to get all huffy, of course there is a difference in the protection levels of 6 and 7 spells but again none of you have seen the changes that are coming.)

Point #4)

"The low-medium-high attack is news to me. Extensive experimentation with attack heights rendered absolutely no difference in attack damage or hit rates. You might want to check this, because it may be broken."

Nope not broken. The fundamental is the same as it is with melee characters. If you are attacking at the same height as the creature is you get a bonus to defense. So do they.

Point #5)

"Well you can see from my results that I'm hitting 40% and 44% for the two monsters I've mentioned."

I've also seen comparable tests from others posted here within 5 points (Which does indeed make a difference) who are hitting 60% of the time. I'm chalking this up to, "Personal Results may vary."

Point #6)

"Player experience, factual reporting, and temperate well-reasoned debate do not seem to have helped you adjust your position or your intentions."

Until you see the complete changes how can you pass judgment? You are considerably lower than the creatures in question. Your skill costs 8.8 million to raise, while someone who has focused on their bow skill is about 10 points ahead of you at your level with level 6 buffs. Admittedly you split your experience between Life/Creature/Crossbow/Item and Mana Conversion. You only use Life for the buffs. I assume then that because of the animation shift you only use creature for the buffs as well. You are behind the curve because you chose to spend your experience in that manner.

Point #7)

"I'm sad that you seem to have missed the point about life protects being the only defense against most monsters and the fact that only one class of players has this practically built-in"

At no time have I said that you do not need to have life protects. But you certainly don't "need" to have level 7's if that is all you are going to use life for. I have yielded that you most certainly need life protects. Never once have I said that you do not need them to survive against all of the content in the game. Well maybe the really low creatures but even then increased protections help.

Point #8)

"the fact that only one class of players has this practically built-in, while your attitude is that if anyone else has it, they're due to "pay a price" for it."

How is life magic built in to a mage? Do they suddenly just develop Life Magic on purchasing War Magic? Or, like you, do they spend skill points to learn the skill? They also spend experience into the skill to increase it so they gain access to higher level protections and vulns. The only difference is that they use life for vulns, transfers and drains as well as the protections.

Point #9)

"I won't drag this out, but I will suggest your prepare your asbestos suit. If, after 11 months of hard work, my new main becomes unworkable, I guess I'll retire him and think about what to do next."

I'm not afraid of flames, if I was would I continue to frequent these boards? Come now. I say that you need to wait and see. Stop focusing on two creatures that are level 120 and 125 and focus on finding that fun monster spread that fulfills your loot, xp and fun dreams next month. Keep sight that this current month is the first step of refurbishment. Nothing is set in stone at this point.

Point #10)

"I REALLY wish you'd put this effort into new content or abilities for the players instead of reshuffling the deck - it doesn't make for interesting or exciting updates..."

I think mayhaps you are making this comment far too early. How do you know with absolute certainty that the next update won't so completely change the way that you see the game that it won't feel totally new to you? Let it happen before you throw those stones. This is not a nerf it is an evening of the field. Wait and see before you pass judgement.