Other thread was getting long, so I decided to start a new one.

Why does it take me 350 hours? A number of things, really, listed in no particular order below. Disclaimer that none of these are gripes (except for number 5), just reasons why I don’t hero in under 350 hours.

1. Procrastination. I hate ranking. It’s that simple. I would rather be PKing people. The common tendency for people who hate doing something is to put it off. I thought Nepenthe described it perfectly, though he didn’t mean it in this way, that ranking is a rat race to hero. To me, ranking is work. I don’t want my group to be full of flowery phrases and stellar RP. I want my group to rank quickly and efficiently, and use their free commands on typing “where”.

2. “Who group” distribution. (Yes, I remember when we could only rank with people in PK range – thank you for expanding it.) Someone else put it well when they said of the people in “who group,” a significantly large portion of the people in your leveling range will not group with you because of align/cabal/racial differences. Ok, fine, more enemies to hunt and kill. Still, it makes it that much harder to find a group. The rest are already ranking. Then there are those who don’t even reply to you. Good for them, it’s a free country.

3. Group composite: I want a group that will rank effectively. Because I hate ranking, if the group is not feasible, I am not likely to want to join it. In short, you will not see my thief ranking with a transmuter and a necromancer just for the sake of ranking. I’d rather be doing something else like PKing or exploring than gaining 200 xp and resting for 5 minutes, rinse/repeat.

4. There are more occasions I can count where I spend 20-30 minutes trying to get a group together. Ok, great, lets meet in the Inn/Galadon/ etc. Wait 5 minutes. Are you coming? Yes. Wait 5 minutes. Where are you now? I am resting my legs. Ok. Wait 5 minutes. How about now? You’d better find another, since I cannot make it. Repeat the process. Slightly less annoying is getting the group together, picking up about 1,000 xp, and then having the group dissolve.

5. Cabal issues. Having to break a group when your cabal is being raided, well that’s the price you pay for the powers you get. My one issue with this is when you cannot harm the people raiding or retrieving or heal/shield the guardian. Oh, but you can scout, and pick up disarmed weapons. Sure, that helps in the short term. Puts off them gaining your item for maybe 5 minutes. I happen to have a group that’s actually doing rather well. Wouldn’t you rather I continued my progress so I can actually try and kill these people somewhat soon? Have a direct impact? Seems much more beneficial than breaking a half decent group that comes along once in a blue moon. I swear the next time I get chewed out, I am going to tell the Inner Guardian to shove it up his ass. Uninduct? Oh well, you don’t want my help in the future either way it seems. Suit yourself.

6. Mob deaths. I am notorious for these. Situation made better without the massive xp holes. Thank you.

7. PK deaths. These things happen. When you get PKed, you get looted. If you are a fighting class, you cannot effectively contribute to the group without decent gear. If your group can find another, they likely will. This has happened to me with my neutral and evil groups. Would I do the same? You bet.

Nivek

Level 32 - 90 hours. Non-invoker. Been stuck in the low 30s for maybe 15 hours. No groups.

I suppose I would feel more sympathy if I could find a single non-necromancer character who has anywhere near 350 hours and isn't a hero. All I keep finding are characters who hit hero way, way sooner. The only example I can find online at the moment who is anywhere in the ballpark.... level-sat a ton. And he is still on pace to hit hero in about 275. Invokers are the slowest, but even with the slowest affinity distribution (all 5's), they clock in at under 200. That number drops dramatically for invokers with fewer paths, however.

On the low end, I found online: Level 44, 47 hours. Level 42, 44 hours.

Median characters seem to clock in at a little under 100, unless they're difficult to rank for some reason- characters who insist on being alone, etc. Even characters with huge XP penalties seem to be in the 100-125 range.

This is more or less consistent with my memory of how long heroing has always taken. If you're heroing in 350+ hours, I think it's a reflection on how you've chosen to play the game, and not something we need to drastically change the game over. It's certainly the exception, and not a rule.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

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