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Genning

This is a game for roleplayers. We want your ideas how how to build the better game. Post your suggestions here.
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Sidious
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Genning

Post by Sidious »

Genning is perhaps the weakest 'innovation' ul ever had. Tell someone unfamiliar with the game that to get items they have to sit in a room and wait a few minutes to maybe get something useful, and they'll look at you like you're green and then go do something else.

It's not as if the game doesn't support a loot table, it's just that the loot table sucks. If you actively hunt, as opposed to sitting around by yourself doing nothing, you will get less useful items. So endangering your character and killing dangerous things, earns you no reward, nothing you couldn't get by standing in a room alone.

Who has time to stand around? The nature of gaming has changed, and will continue to, and only games that adapt can survive. You have a big chance of adapting this great idea into something that will last, but some of the mechanics are outdated even for your own players. Many of us no longer have the time we had when we were in our teens and early 20's. We want to play and not have to spend 2 hours standing in a room. Because we want to play the rest of the game, not just stand there.

You might say, go hunt Shammies and Horrons. Ok, now we're talking needing 2 - 4 people, so the loot table isn't exactly better. Now we have to split everything. And you're talking about a game where the population may not allow for this, it's not the largest, you know. And some folks are playing at off-peak hours.

What I would suggest, is fixing up the loot table so that a majority of items would come from killing nightmares. Keep genning, it's unique, and it allows those who want to play that way to play that way. But I would suggest giving Agoknights moderate chakrams 30-40's. And mid range elemens. Things that are useful but not super powered. Nothing v. fast, no v. long alterors, nothing crazy. That stuff belongs on horrons and blix's.

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Koi-Spark
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Re: Genning

Post by Koi-Spark »

That's certainly a great suggestion, and it's an idea to get a good discussion going. But that is a big shift in game balance that has to be carefully tweaked, not thrown into at once. Everyone already hunts Agoknights, so when you start having them drop actually decent items, everyone gets flooded with these added items.

There are good gens out there. Of course nobody wants to stand around waiting on items, but that's never been the intent. The best gens are guarded by the best nightmares (Horron's Lair, for instance). It doesn't mean you have to collapse the mares to get good items, you just have to be quick on your feet and rather stealthy. The idea is for you to pick up items from the gens while you're hunting, or turn a small gathering into an impromptu social cocktail party!

We're open to looking at small adjustments to mare drops and item gens, but this is another reason for houses and their vaults/armories. When people stand around at a gen for hours trying to find the items they want, it's because they decided that's how they'd best find what they're looking for, not because it's the only way, but we are open to other ideas as well.
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Ghazgkull
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Re: Genning

Post by Ghazgkull »

My suggestion is to change the Shamblix/Horron invulnerable zones into reduced damage zones instead. To actually enable people to fight them for XP and items. The strength of the damage reduction can be tweaked to find a good balance of effort/reward to hunting them, but I've always felt that 100% shielding was a bad idea.

Yes, I also think the same should apply to the GM-driven darkmares. Even if the shielding is 90%, it's more fun when people can actually do damage rather than the current system where the main battle people fight is against network latency, trying to land a shot.
Sidas
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Re: Genning

Post by Sidas »

Ghazgkull wrote:My suggestion is to change the Shamblix/Horron invulnerable zones into reduced damage zones instead. To actually enable people to fight them for XP and items. The strength of the damage reduction can be tweaked to find a good balance of effort/reward to hunting them, but I've always felt that 100% shielding was a bad idea.

Yes, I also think the same should apply to the GM-driven darkmares. Even if the shielding is 90%, it's more fun when people can actually do damage rather than the current system where the main battle people fight is against network latency, trying to land a shot.
I dunno...it's rather fun to have the bragging rights of dropping a DM w/ a shot you intentionally bounced off the wall. :-)
Star Scream
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Re: Genning

Post by Star Scream »

I prefer the system the way it is now. I agree with what Eros says, if you hunt in Cairn or Lost Caves, there are a few decent gens as well as nightmares so it compliments itself.

I also agree with Ghaz, it would be nice if you could realisticly hunt horrons. As it stands it is almost impossible. GeRRoZ and I have teamed to hunt horrons many times and traditionally they havnt dropped much worth talking about. Some of the gens seem a lot worse then they used to be too.
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Riggs
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Re: Genning

Post by Riggs »

Eros wrote:I do think this system could be improved upon. My suggestion would be to introduce a new mare inbetween agoknights and shamblixs. This new mare could shoot chakrams like Shamblixs, but not have the frontal shield. Allowing 1 person to hunt them.
This and Sidious' remark about not being in our teens/early 20's to have the time to waste at gens is a HUGE point. I'd rather do just about anything than gen sit.

90% frontal shield, sure as heck beats 100%, IMHO.

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Star Scream
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Re: Genning

Post by Star Scream »

I agree that Darkmares should not be changed. It is the lesser mares that I'd like to see altered with taking away the 100% shield and making it 80-90%. With so many 5th - 7th sphere dreamers DMs should have the advantage.
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Ghazgkull
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Re: Genning

Post by Ghazgkull »

The right number would have to be found. 90% is just an example. It would need to be tested both with strong individuals and with pairs/groups. Having some vulnerability would open up different group tactics that would need to be tried.
Krodoc
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Re: Genning

Post by Krodoc »

With minimal change to the system as it stands, I'd propose:

1) Remove cursed items from the gens. If you're going to have to wait 5 minutes per item, it's a slap in the face to get a cursed one.

2) Completely remove Minimum speed chakrams from the game. I guess they're good for hunting, but I don't even use them for that. To me, that's a cursed item.

3) Have the gens spawn items every 2.5 minutes or so, so it doesn't seem like an eternity before you pick up the next item you're about to be disappointed with.

4) I'm not sure what the percentage of any one type of item spawning is, but if you'd increased it by a little, it'd likely make a HUGE difference.

All in all, keeps the system relatively the same. Just makes it not as boring, or tedious.
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