Observations after an extended break

[Tusty]

1. PK is bad. From the perspective of a non DS player my encounters over the last few days have been: outnumbered, outbonused, and out eq'd simultaneously. Doesn't really matter the set up. Dodge, combo, abs basics+decent weapon gets destroyed. Try mobs? Doesn't matter. Go inside FD? Doesn't matter. The only viable option is to leave and even with the rust and built in advantages none of you are good enough to catch me unless I just decide to stay around. Conclusion - the best option is to just not PK.

2. Did everyone quit while I was gone? There's like 10 statters, 2 Pkers, and 4 AFK/RP people at any given time. If so, why did everyone quit? Because of Point 1?

3. A segment of the MUD thought me and my pals were bad for the game because of how we played SS. We weren't "honorable" I suppose. Only killed people exping or AFK was the common accusation. Yet that appears to be the norm . I honestly thought we made for some fun PK on all sides.

4. Maybe there should be a shift from DS/LS North PK to SS/LS Southwest PK. Break up the monotony of just running the same old zones with the same old mobs with the same old people.

5. My Razorbacks are going to win the baseball NCAA World Series

[Thore]

It ebbs and flows. I have been getting rolled also by the uber kits and rares/uniques, but whatever. In a perfect world you log in with a choice to PK and it plops you on DS or LS in a balanced fashion, but that's a pipedream. Give up on SS man.

Edit: also it comes down to players being responsible and providing good PK for both sides, which means sometimes sitting out. It seems quite a few players haven't learned this common courtesy. Wish they would, I try to practice it when it's appropriate.

[Ominas]

1. PK is bad. From the perspective of a non DS player my encounters over the last few days have been: outnumbered, outbonused, and out eq'd simultaneously. Doesn't really matter the set up. Dodge, combo, abs basics+decent weapon gets destroyed. Try mobs? Doesn't matter. Go inside FD? Doesn't matter. The only viable option is to leave and even with the rust and built in advantages none of you are good enough to catch me unless I just decide to stay around. Conclusion - the best option is to just not PK.

2. Did everyone quit while I was gone? There's like 10 statters, 2 Pkers, and 4 AFK/RP people at any given time. If so, why did everyone quit? Because of Point 1?

3. A segment of the MUD thought me and my pals were bad for the game because of how we played SS. We weren't "honorable" I suppose. Only killed people exping or AFK was the common accusation. Yet that appears to be the norm . I honestly thought we made for some fun PK on all sides.

4. Maybe there should be a shift from DS/LS North PK to SS/LS Southwest PK. Break up the monotony of just running the same old zones with the same old mobs with the same old people.

5. My Razorbacks are going to win the baseball NCAA World Series

LSU is going to win. Razorbacks never do well in the Super Bowl.

[Kryyg]

1. PK is bad. From the perspective of a non DS player my encounters over the last few days have been: outnumbered, outbonused, and out eq'd simultaneously. Doesn't really matter the set up. Dodge, combo, abs basics+decent weapon gets destroyed. Try mobs? Doesn't matter. Go inside FD? Doesn't matter. The only viable option is to leave and even with the rust and built in advantages none of you are good enough to catch me unless I just decide to stay around. Conclusion - the best option is to just not PK.

2. Did everyone quit while I was gone? There's like 10 statters, 2 Pkers, and 4 AFK/RP people at any given time. If so, why did everyone quit? Because of Point 1?

3. A segment of the MUD thought me and my pals were bad for the game because of how we played SS. We weren't "honorable" I suppose. Only killed people exping or AFK was the common accusation. Yet that appears to be the norm . I honestly thought we made for some fun PK on all sides.

4. Maybe there should be a shift from DS/LS North PK to SS/LS Southwest PK. Break up the monotony of just running the same old zones with the same old mobs with the same old people.

5. My Razorbacks are going to win the baseball NCAA World Series

Has been posted every few months by returning players for the last 25 years. Enjoy what you can enjoy. If you want SW PK. Start it up. I disagree with most of number 1 except for that you probably are very fast ant running. Everyone is in today’s game play.

[Rig]

I almost want to play again so that I can either:
A: run you down as I have many times
Or
B: laugh and take my time as I slowly track you to Falme/Outpost/Nearest Channeling Mob Support

[Tusty]

I almost want to play again so that I can either:
A: run you down as I have many times
Or
B: laugh and take my time as I slowly track you to Falme/Outpost/Nearest Channeling Mob Support

Or C: You'd die in some dumb way to me as you have across multiple alts in the past

[Tusty]

Has been posted every few months by returning players for the last 25 years. Enjoy what you can enjoy. If you want SW PK. Start it up. I disagree with most of number 1 except for that you probably are very fast ant running. Everyone is in today’s game play.
[/quote]

Right, hopefully my observations don't come across as some whiny complaint. I honestly don't care enough. I can play or not play, I'm just amazed at how bad PK seems. Which parts of number 1 do you disagree with? Have you tried playing a plain jane LS character recently?

[isabel]

There's no point in arguing with l33t players. I say this not in a negative way just that their playing experience is fundamentally different. It's like going to France and speaking Italian. Their entire framework of thinking of this is different.

Personally I can relate to the OP and to the person who has posted about casual play and the gap.

And I'm not making this up. I've played alongside enough of the top players to know this. They will still school everyone on normal characters but why should they? It's just less of a hassle to have the bonuses because you can do more and faster.

However it does mean you will not get that "medium level" pk that the large majority of players would enjoy.

This is such a basic gaming thing. You do not pit magnus carlsen against someone who is just a little above average. It's not fun for either player.

Players have to compensate for skill and eq difference (which is the same thing..good players end up with good gear and bonuses, badder players will stil lose in great gear to good etc)

[Eadmund]

1. PK is bad. From the perspective of a non DS player my encounters over the last few days have been: outnumbered, outbonused, and out eq'd simultaneously. Doesn't really matter the set up. Dodge, combo, abs basics+decent weapon gets destroyed. Try mobs? Doesn't matter. Go inside FD? Doesn't matter. The only viable option is to leave and even with the rust and built in advantages none of you are good enough to catch me unless I just decide to stay around. Conclusion - the best option is to just not PK.

The game is lopsided right now. DS has the best of all worlds. Raiding options are better than they've ever been, DS fallback points are overpopulated easily turning 2v1 fights into stalemates and some are simply unhittable (See Akkad) or end PK entirely.
Chasing patrol Caralain needs to be removed since it single handedly can win fights.
Blodfest needs to start being mobile again so LS doesn't feel a constant threat eminating from nearby Andor.
Siffas area has a million mobs. (Siffas, sure he should have mobs, he's a smob, but is the rest of the area a main city? or an outpost?) there's also Dhounds like 10 rooms away.
Camp is also overpopulated.
Keep... has a DL, a smob, mobs in almost every room, a patrol 1w of the no mob.. poisoning fade mobs.. only 1 jump and 1 gate. (disregarding Maze exit entirely)
Akkad needs work to not be OP. (Reduce mob support at Jump, make Akkad call in a patty of Dhounds when he's being hit, add a clan door alld 1n of Akkad.)
Stedding patrol area is overpopulated but not by much. To actually hit people there and hope they die you have to clear 1w and everything 1s of the patrol which just leads to DS leaving because it breaks the flow of PK. So like Camp, it has too many mobs.

ABS is unplayable. When an abser shows up people don't think "On no, watch out for bashes from the abser!" or "Oh no, he hits hard!" They think "Oh yay! A free scalp!"

Combo: I was super happy to see that combo setups had generally low deffence, until you see that everyone uses rares now. Using rares is fine, but combo setups need to be downed more OR more of a sacrifice be made when chosing between combo pieces. Right now there are some pieces that are simply the absolute best at both absorption and deffence. If people want to fight outnumbered, they should have to chose to wear "lighter" combo with less abs % but more overall deff and if they want to tank more bashes then they wear the heavier abs % and lower deffence options.

Combo should be a balance of chosing to not get your deffence broken from regular melee but taking a lot of damage when bashed vs taking some melee damage and less damage bashed.

Combo weapons : All rares should be downed, in either damage or deffence. Make different rares a trade off, wicked axe has same PB as the best non-rare 1 handed axe but has more damage. Crimson axe has the same damage but higher deff. (just an example) All regulars should be downed. Both in damage and weight, most of their PB is low enough. Not to make Dodge impossible to bash since that ruins general engagements but less % chance of bashing max db for sure. To make absers worth playing or valuable to your team, they have to have an opponent they win against. Why play abs if you can play combo and do just as well and better?

Berzerking. Needs to be a thing again. All combo weapons bash so well you hardly ever have to go berzerk to bash full dodge. That should only happen if the comboer is Zerk. Absers / 2 handed abs weapons should be the go-to weapons to bash full dodge brave. That would make playing combo an actual risk/reward situation vs full dodge. Either you go for the win or you go abs-bash vs pesky dodgers. This would lead to more death!

I've been back a month? maybe. And I've never seen PK at commie. Dusty becomes a game of flee hitting at Kajin who is unreliable and walks out at the worst times. And all three flees from kajin typically have no mob support to help aleviate the fleer. So there's no real way to fight back when DS just has to hit, flee and wait. (not like camp, siffas, stedd patrol, blight, ect) The best mob support LS has imo is the 1 chasing patrol near cave. That's it and if you get too low there, then you go in and you don't stay at a gate, you run to Uno since he might have mobs in the adjoining rooms that you can flee to and regroup to him after. If DS has 2 high hp people they can fight inside FD against 1 low person fairly easily and if they don't kill the target, the avenues of escape are numerous.

Give basic abs weapons higher OB and reliable damage, down combo weapons across the board (rare and regular) in damage and weight, down DS mob support everywhere, up LS mob support at fall back points and up FD so people actually can fight inside rather than run Cairhien or TV. Make Kajin chase again. or put mobs in the adjoining rooms.

Final notes, if the goal is to have more people experience (and succeed at!) PK to progress their characters, I would strongly suggest making LS have stronger backup points. LS being the side with inexperienced PKers, letting them get steam rolled in FD with low mob density, no channeling mob, no smob room, 2 gates, 2 jump exits, very little call mob.... looks like imms are setting LS up to forcibly try and fail.

Thank you.

[Thore]

Some good observations. I never really stepped back to think about it, but yeah, DS mob support is insane. Why are there patrols set up at Cara ent and near Apple also while having permanent Blodfest ent in Cara. Really quite silly. I'm no conspiracy theorist but it lends some credit to whoever was complaining about imms being DS sympathizers!