Seen a lot of chatter recently (and previously) about obs/exp exp.

Is there any chance that .. sometime .. in the not to distant future, players don't have to spam look 1. look 2. look 3. exam item, exam 2.item in every room of every area I've been to hundreds of times over 20 years?

There has to be a better way. I.E., Just walking through the area or something. Or maybe some really, basic mini quest for every area - like - Kill the High Lord, get all the exp from the high lords keep. Kill the Lich, get all the exp from Vaults. Kill the Drolem, get all the exp from Trothon, etc, etc.

Just an idea/whine/gripe/plea.

>Seen a lot of chatter recently (and previously) about obs/exp
>exp.
>
>Is there any chance that .. sometime .. in the not to distant
>future, players don't have to spam look 1. look 2. look 3.
>exam item, exam 2.item in every room of every area I've been
>to hundreds of times over 20 years?

I've gone by some key areas with my mortals and looked at mobs to gain *some* obs/explore xp. I don't mind doing that. Some players have created an arms race, though, where they are farming these points.

If those players choose to spend their online time farming obs/exp xp, or spamming perfect rows of 100s, or playing 7-path invokers, then that's their choice. If that's their cup of tea, great! They will reap their rewards for putting in that effort by having more edges, better practiced skills and more elements to use.

The key word is how you *choose* to spend your time.

Alternately, you could choose to explore new areas just to see what cool stuff the authors put in them. You could choose to spend your time organizing a PK tournament of champions. You could choose to preach your religion's dogma. If those things don't interest you, that's okay, too.

>There has to be a better way. I.E., Just walking through the
>area or something. Or maybe some really, basic mini quest for
>every area - like - Kill the High Lord, get all the exp from
>the high lords keep. Kill the Lich, get all the exp from
>Vaults. Kill the Drolem, get all the exp from Trothon, etc,
>etc.

There may be a better way, and I appreciate your suggestions even if I don't agree with them. My (Akresius' player's) opinion is that getting rid of explore/observe xp as a requirement for edge points is also a viable option.

I see it as something of an equaliser for those who explore vs those who pk, given that those who explore are still going to have to fight those that pk.

Explorers won't get edges from pk.

If pk'ers want to maximise edges, and lose some time over it, I can live with that.

Having said that, there is a problem in that there are WAY too many things in room descriptions that don't exist as things to examine. Try the Stone's Embrace, for example, Halls of Rest (or rememberance or whatever). Lots of things described that aren't actually lookable at.

So if you are exploring, you waste a lot of time because of that sort of thing.

At this point - anything to reduce the "grind" and make the game more playable/fun would be a step in the right direction IMHO.

Having a quest to kill high lord is quantifiably more fun then running in and out of emissionary rooms to look 2.;flee;flee.

The former involves getting a group, talking to other people, maybe role-playing, and having a common goal. That sounds fun/questy.

The latter involves me going solo into an area I've seen 500 times, to 'farm' obs points. Yeah, that's great.

- But needs to be done if I want to keep my darkened and not get slaughtered by a duerg cry/chilling sword spec wielding mithril.

>But needs to be done if I want to keep my darkened and not
>get slaughtered by a duerg cry/chilling sword spec wielding
>mithril.

Your definition of "needs" is not equivalent to mine, and you're either miscalibrated or exaggerating the impact of the ~2 decent Edges you can earn via a lifetime of Observation XP.

You might not wish to spend time looking at stuff in areas. That's fine-- you chose to invest time gathering darkened armor instead, which also has an impact on battle. You could spend that time gathering cash and preps, and make your character more powerful that way. You could raid cabals or do quests or participate in PK and earn Edge points that way. You could go build your RP reputation and earn Edge points that way.

Another player might have different priorities and invest their time differently. That's why the Edge system is as flexible as it is.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

I see your point. I concede. It certainly is a miscalibration then, I had assumed the impact far greater than what you are indicating.

Thanks for your response.