Allied Debts
Allied Debts
Brenden "Magi" Gardner - 08/19/2005
Experience debt could be changing, again.
Those of us who have followed EverQuest II since the early stages of beta know that experience debt, particularly how it applied to groups, has been changed more times than one. It is understandable as well given how death and its penalties is a hotly contested component of any MMORPG and is in fact a game breaker for some people.
But do we really need to change it?
This is a difficult question to address namely because we don't know yet how experience debt will be changed but I know that I'm very satisified with the system as it stands right now. With that said, I am primarily a soloer who doesn't group often and hence dies only a handful of times.
First, however, let's look at how experience debt has changed, what it is, and what I expect the changes being pushed to test will be.
In the early stages of the game experience debt was incredibly harsh, especially for groups. I can vividly remember group wipes resulting in about 6 or 7% experience debt after shard pick up (and if the shard was in a rough spot it exceeded 10 or 12%). This was really painful and a lot of times it was due to a simple mistake of newness (read: tank pulling more then he should).
Consider as well how many times a group or raid dies, no matter how skilled they are. It ends up being a lot. So for a good number of EverQuest II players they spent most of their nights in debt, advancing through levels slowly, and this was incredibly frustrating.
So experience debt was changed due to a significant outcry.
Nowadays experience debt is quite lenient. I was in a group the other night and we all got wiped, due to our cockiness, and I only received about 2 or 3% experience debt and that is much more manageable. Experience debt I receive when I solo is also quite minimal, usually 1% but sometimes 2%.
The debt itself is almost nothing but we know that there is more to debt than death.
No one likes it but it is an inevitable part of MMORPGs these days: when you die your equipment decays. Given what we know about the nature of groups, and raids, well this is a very significant issue, particularly when it applies to top of the line equipment.
But this isn't being addressed, at least Blackguard hasn't made any indications of it.
In fact, when I read Blackguard's comments it leads me to believe that this minimal experience debt penalty will be reduced further from the insignificant portion that it is. Logically, however, this doesn't make any sense at all. Unless you die three or four times consecutively this really shouldn't be a major concern.
There has to be more to it.
Logically, I would expect that we may see changes to how fast equipment degrades as that is the most common complaint I read about the death system in EverQuest II (and believe me they are few and far between). But as I said that doesn't seem to be in the cards based on what Blackguard has told us.
But wait: could it be that players are disgruntled at the fact that experience debt isn't harsh enough?
Yes ladies and gentlemen there are a number of players who like harsh death penalties. They love the idea of risk versus reward. They love the comradeship that comes with harsh death penalties in groups, and the accountability that comes with it.
So is it likely that the change coming to test server will be increased debt penalties? That is something I wouldn't be surprised at but who knows what'll happen. Maybe we'll see some sort of new, radical system to give a complete 180 spin on death.
Who knows.
Whatever happens I expect to see something we really saw reinforced in the last 6 months in EverQuest II: the feeling of comradeship towards group members will remain the same. The idea of sharing group experience debt is so critical to attaining this and creates a feeling of immersion like no other. It also keeps griefer-type players away, knowing there is significant consequences for being un-cooperative.
Well, whatever is changed it'll be very interesting to see but as I stated earlier in this editorial I really don't believe that experience debt is the problem with the debt system: it is in fact the repair cost. With that said, I hope that it is addressed in the future.
It doesn't matter really how the debt system is adjusted, whether it is weakened or strengthened I would hope that the developers do address this very issue for it is of critical importance to many players, but fortunately not myself. For as I said before, I don't die very often.
I'm sure no one would be upset with reduced repair costs, would you?
Regardless, there is one thing to keep in mind as this story develops: the changes that will be proposed won't necessarily be pushed to the live servers. They'll be on test for awhile, along with all the other new, and sometimes radical ideas that are pushed forward.
So let's not panic, at least not yet.
лл Back to Main Editorial Page
Brenden "Magi" Gardner - 08/19/2005
Experience debt could be changing, again.
Those of us who have followed EverQuest II since the early stages of beta know that experience debt, particularly how it applied to groups, has been changed more times than one. It is understandable as well given how death and its penalties is a hotly contested component of any MMORPG and is in fact a game breaker for some people.
But do we really need to change it?
This is a difficult question to address namely because we don't know yet how experience debt will be changed but I know that I'm very satisified with the system as it stands right now. With that said, I am primarily a soloer who doesn't group often and hence dies only a handful of times.
First, however, let's look at how experience debt has changed, what it is, and what I expect the changes being pushed to test will be.
In the early stages of the game experience debt was incredibly harsh, especially for groups. I can vividly remember group wipes resulting in about 6 or 7% experience debt after shard pick up (and if the shard was in a rough spot it exceeded 10 or 12%). This was really painful and a lot of times it was due to a simple mistake of newness (read: tank pulling more then he should).
Consider as well how many times a group or raid dies, no matter how skilled they are. It ends up being a lot. So for a good number of EverQuest II players they spent most of their nights in debt, advancing through levels slowly, and this was incredibly frustrating.
So experience debt was changed due to a significant outcry.
Nowadays experience debt is quite lenient. I was in a group the other night and we all got wiped, due to our cockiness, and I only received about 2 or 3% experience debt and that is much more manageable. Experience debt I receive when I solo is also quite minimal, usually 1% but sometimes 2%.
The debt itself is almost nothing but we know that there is more to debt than death.
No one likes it but it is an inevitable part of MMORPGs these days: when you die your equipment decays. Given what we know about the nature of groups, and raids, well this is a very significant issue, particularly when it applies to top of the line equipment.
But this isn't being addressed, at least Blackguard hasn't made any indications of it.
In fact, when I read Blackguard's comments it leads me to believe that this minimal experience debt penalty will be reduced further from the insignificant portion that it is. Logically, however, this doesn't make any sense at all. Unless you die three or four times consecutively this really shouldn't be a major concern.
There has to be more to it.
Logically, I would expect that we may see changes to how fast equipment degrades as that is the most common complaint I read about the death system in EverQuest II (and believe me they are few and far between). But as I said that doesn't seem to be in the cards based on what Blackguard has told us.
But wait: could it be that players are disgruntled at the fact that experience debt isn't harsh enough?
Yes ladies and gentlemen there are a number of players who like harsh death penalties. They love the idea of risk versus reward. They love the comradeship that comes with harsh death penalties in groups, and the accountability that comes with it.
So is it likely that the change coming to test server will be increased debt penalties? That is something I wouldn't be surprised at but who knows what'll happen. Maybe we'll see some sort of new, radical system to give a complete 180 spin on death.
Who knows.
Whatever happens I expect to see something we really saw reinforced in the last 6 months in EverQuest II: the feeling of comradeship towards group members will remain the same. The idea of sharing group experience debt is so critical to attaining this and creates a feeling of immersion like no other. It also keeps griefer-type players away, knowing there is significant consequences for being un-cooperative.
Well, whatever is changed it'll be very interesting to see but as I stated earlier in this editorial I really don't believe that experience debt is the problem with the debt system: it is in fact the repair cost. With that said, I hope that it is addressed in the future.
It doesn't matter really how the debt system is adjusted, whether it is weakened or strengthened I would hope that the developers do address this very issue for it is of critical importance to many players, but fortunately not myself. For as I said before, I don't die very often.
I'm sure no one would be upset with reduced repair costs, would you?
Regardless, there is one thing to keep in mind as this story develops: the changes that will be proposed won't necessarily be pushed to the live servers. They'll be on test for awhile, along with all the other new, and sometimes radical ideas that are pushed forward.
So let's not panic, at least not yet.
лл Back to Main Editorial Page
| Posted by Gebo at 2005-08-19 16:52:10 | |||
| The current debt system is a joke. When I get in groups and we see a tough mob that we can probably not handle the general attitude is usually What the heck. Lets give it a shot. We can work off the debt on the next pull. Debt used to be significant I can remember one night when I ended up with 99 debt... sigh. But those days are gone and the newest proposal is actually to get rid of group debt and limit it to the individual and then limit it to only 50. I dont know how this will promote the feeling of comradeship towards group members when it says loud and clear that we now need only worry about ourselves. I do think that it should be encounter based no group debt from somebody on the other side of the zone whos running to meet you and gets stomped by a wandering Epic. Beyond that Im with the group that thinks the debt should actually be slightly increased to make it more meaningful. | |||
| Posted by Rendclaw at 2005-08-21 15:20:55 | |||
| If you like more debt get some
Why increase the debt penalty For comradeship
In a pick-up group you are out for yourself trying to meet your ends with their help. If they arent working towards what you need you leave.
If you are in a guild group you have comradeship without getting massive debt to make it.
I dont understand the thought that debt fun. | |||
| Posted by rendclaw at 2005-08-21 15:22:18 | |||
| Interesting my post had punctuation when I typed it. . . | |||
