This post reminded me of something I've been wondering about for a long time: http://forums.qhcf.net/phorum/read.php?5,1020326,1020395#msg-1020395

Have you guys given any consideration to shortening the roads some? This would help make the world smaller so the smaller playerbase can spend more time interacting. Maybe not completely undo the original road extensions, but maybe make them like 1/3 as long as they are now: roads north, northeast, and east of Galadon; that area around Tir-Talith; northeast, east, and southeast of Voralian; between Udgaard and Hillcrest; etc.

No, it may not be as realistic or immersive, but sometimes good fun is more important than realism.

Hutto, the Sleepy

For what it's worth, we do for the most part feel like Thera doesn't necessarily need to be any bigger. This is one of reasons you typically see revamped areas versus brand new ones from new Immortals.

However, I don't think shaving a few seconds off the Eastern Road commute is going to have much impact on interaction between characters.

Personally, I like having the "loop" be fairly big. Condensing things down so that areas are more tightly packed together (in terms of number of steps in between) would really annoy me with respect to PK, especially at low levels. It's no fun when a short lead over your pursuer is worthless because at best, he's 3 rooms behind you instead of 13 or 30 and now has a much better idea which adjacent area I slipped off into or what have you.

I appreciate the responses.

Even if it is harder to lose someone chasing you (I'm not sure it will because of the increase in directions you can quickly go), this disadvantage of shorter connector areas is not as likely to make players like me log off and not want to come back as not being able to find people to pk in the first place. Wouldn't you agree?

With shorter distances between the areas, it will be much easier to find people leveling, practicing, and exploring. Most of the people that do these are somewhat regularly checking 'where pk' anyway, so it won't change things much for them, aside from gratifying their paranoia more often.

Besides the tension and danger of the chase, of almost dying or almost killing someone, these are the most exciting parts of games. Making it easier to find people and more challenging to seal the kill fits right in this.

As for how much time it cuts off, if 1/3 isn't enough, by all means cut it down more until we find a distance that makes a difference and works.

Hutto, the Sleepy

What they did basically is inject some shortcuts in to make navigating the space easier. I think there's probably two more I'd like to see (fast mechanism back and forth from Seantryn and fast mechanism to the present from the past besides the single exit). Other than that it feels good.

Probably a larger problem is that when you're a ranger, you might find them and not be able to do anything about it (they're in their guild for instance with Tribunals on, or they're in civilization with 2 buddies, etc). Or you finally do catch them and since you're not a savage or cloud survivalist/beastmaster you can't seal the kill.

There's always other classes like air shifters, druids, scion mages, assassins and conjurers that have an easier time tracking people down with better or worse kill sealing capabilities. A rager hunter is going to have a really hard time trying to play the game that way because they aren't designed for it.

Isn't that just for Outlanders? Or have there been other shortcuts added that anyone can use?

I know of one in a out of the way place involving a quest and portals. It isn't really in a place I pass by all that often.
I know of a shortcut near there in a shrine (I don't feel comfortable using it for any character that isn't a follower.)
There's Enpolad's which is nice, but again, it's kind of out of the way unless you're Nexus.
The boats in Hamsah are kind of a drag since they are only available in certain timeslots. Good for saving moves as a lowbie though.

Do you remember how easy it was to make a loop from FON to Emerald to New Thalos back when the roads were shorter? Tar Valon up to Mortorn and popping back to Tar Valon?

But all in all, this isn't really aimed at the people playing now who don't have a problem with it. It's aimed at the people who do have a problem with it. For me, there are 3 things that keep killing my desire to roll up, in no particular order:

1. Feeling like I have to jump through hoops to maximize my chances of getting powers. I get stuck trying to write a role that I think is "good enough" and it ends up not getting finished. Or every time I think about looking at the boats again. A friend and I always tease each other about having to look at the boats when one of us talks about making a character. It's not just about the boats though, it's about how powers are earned by playing in narrowly structured ways that frankly aren't fun for me. Hard because it is risky can be fun. Hard because it's tedious is not fun, sorry Valg.

2. Item imbalance. Preps, gear, ABS, etc. I've harped on this enough in the past.

3. Small playerbase. Can't find a group. Two guys in my pk that are within my role to kill. spend 15-20 mins checking the most likely places, then log off. I'd rather play a different game.

Hutto, the Sleepy

Low mvs plus a million possible places equals 2 rounds of fight before they flee, word/teleport for every 3hours

they only want to dogpile. the only fair fight you can get is one where you're generally overmatched anyway and the other person knows it.

Rule #2 of pvp: If you didn't start the fight and are not ready GTFO.

Rule #1 of pvp: Enter where often.

With most fights in pvp. The only time I have ever been able to turn a fight or survive the surprise attack was as a priest class or Invoke w/shields. All others got smoked through command denial/sheer damage out put. Why would you stick around for those fights? You wouldn't. Cabal wars are the only time where you really have pvp fights and that is because each person is prepped. Pehaps if there were a change.

I think as a whole if damage were less over all in pvp (not PVE) we could do more than flee and teleport. When you can get one shotted or near one shotted without damage reduction there is no incentive to fight. I personally gave up enough con with my newbie characters to learn to fight. I am not going to give you a win just because you attacked me. Command denial and over queueing is the name of the pvp game right now. You get 40 abilities but resort to bash, trip, cranial, lash, bat, etc because you have to command denial. I don't know if it will help to lower damage in pvp, but is an idea.

I don't know. Since I've come back I've gotten just about 120 kills according to Evernote between all my chars since September or October or so. It's not fantastic maybe but it's not bad. I guess it depends on who you're trying to fight or what kind of build you have.

I get lots of fights. Most of my midranked chars I'll log in, grab 3-4 kills in 2 hours then log out.

But 9/10 of my chars are warriors and maybe that's why. People seem to like to pick fights with warriors, even my rager berserker warriors.

I also don't like to, or very very rarely, play something that doesn't have some kind of lagging attack. I've played enough paladins to know that bash/cranial/pincer/lash as a whip spec are insanely valuable.

Anyway I think if you want to play CF like doom your best bet is with an un-caballed evil warrior. Just run around fragging people and don't level past 41 (hero ranks are the most boring, no question).

Uncaballed evil warrior. Take the mute and anathema flaws. Stand in Galadon and let the fights roll in.

And then sigh when they Proclaim themselves to be tactical masters when they've killed you as you stood naked eating crimson scourge roots because you were desperate to score a fight from some coward.

You might have a more legitimate problem given the timezone difference between you and 'prime time'. When I log in during 'euro time' it's usually when I'm getting off a late shift and just want to gather some stuff...there's almost no one on morning to mid-day GMT.

If the roads gets shorter, it would make it even easier to shake someone following you by dodging between more areas quicker. And there are certain classes that can use the length of the roads to their advantage while chasing someone. Assassins with vanish to get ahead, airforms for obvious reasons and anyone with summon. Shorten the roads and those advantages gets diminished.

That being said, I am not a very pk-focused player so I tend to be the one being followed by said people. It is a toss-up to me but I bet the pk people will not like this idea.

... double movement loss rates due to hunger, plague and scourge, etc.? Don't forget about those malediction classes!

I agree that there would be significant drawbacks to shortening the roads. They would need to be addressed in order for such a change to be implemented.

I think the only time it's really hard to find people...is when people are doing their very best not to be found. Being in a place you won't get found to prac skills or gather stuff is a skill by itself and probably important to the overall scheme of the game during times where odds are very lopsided.

I'd be more inclined to give 'people finding skills' (things along the lines of clairvoyance) to more types of characters where it is warranted and not used just to line up better gang beat-downs.

A hunter ranger might be a good candidate for skills like that - it's not like they're massively lethal or supportive in a gang of themselves.

Should at least have Explorer's track. IMO.

Any class called "hunter" should at least be competitive with a conjurer for finding people, IMHO.

I just don't know what you could add besides Explorer tracking that would fit the ranger flavor. Not like clairvoyance would fit heh. Maybe an even more advanced track that somehow tracks everyone that passed through or something instead of just the target. I don't know.

trainedbird ImperialGuy
You whistle for your trusty falcon and after describing your target he takes off to the skies.

*** Two ticks later ***

Your falcon returns sharing with you information about the location of ImperialGuy.

(PK) ImperialGuy In a Guild

(essentially a where).

Think that'd work.

--------------------

Another maybe simpler option is to give them a skill that effectively grants them eyes of the eagle (do a where as if you were doing it from the skies above the area you're in).

You make hunters into pseudo-falconeers and I will never play another class again.

####ing sweet idea and can't believe I didn't think of it.

Two ticks for the bird to return like you suggest. 1 tick to get there, and when he returns he reports the position as of 1 tick ago. Oh man.

Indoor/caves/etc. limitations. Surely this is genius.

If you want to keep going with the theme, drop call lightning and replace it with a falcon attack. Make this a skill, not a spell and the falcon swoops down, attacks your foe, small chance to blind or cause bleeding :).

Daevryn. Make it so.

Dude, I'm actually thinking this would make Hunter's like 10 times cooler.

Could give them call falcon (skill) which could function like bearkin/familiar abilities.

Maybe give the skill to beastmaster's too, but a lesser form?

Make it int and chr based skills for the more frail but smart rangers (you are training it after all.)

The Falconer's Backyard
This yard consists of a fenced in lawn, a single tree, and the
falconer's falconry gear. Otherwise it looks much like any other
equal-sized piece of land from around town. You may re-enter his
house to the east.


A retired falconer is here, tending to his birds.
The falconer creates a ranger's staff!
The falconer wields a ranger's staff.

wilderness forest <100%hp 100%m 95%mv 1900tnl (47.22%) 2 PM> l2
Huh?

wilderness forest <100%hp 100%m 95%mv 1900tnl (47.22%) 2 PM> l 2.
He's tall and handsome, with jet-black hair and piercing gray eyes.
Dressed in practical leathers, he tends his birds quietly and efficiently.
It is said he was dismissed from service because of his alleged ties to
an unnamed secret society, but the truth may never be known. . .
The falconer is in perfect health.

the falconer is using:
<mainhand wielded> (Glowing) a ranger's staff