Fuschino
Adept
Hello everyone. A thread was started in the PVP forum about a similar topic but has degenerated into an anti-EQMS and $ower temper tantrum. I thought I would put it here in hopes it stays more focused.
Opinions:
-Ultimate online is hard. It should be hard. You should run the risk of losing everything on your person at any moment.
-PKing is great. It makes the game fun. It provides a risk versus reward scenario that is unmatched in virtually any other game. Whether we want to admit it or not, the danger of leaving your house is part of the reason we play this game. That should never be infringed upon.
-The endgame content here in Ultima Online Forever is very, very good. I love all of it. The champs, talismans, metas, RDA, the naval combat reborn. It's what keeps me coming back to this 20+-year-old game on this server.
Now that I've gotten all that out of the way, let's focus on what has become, in my opinion, a significant issue with champ spawns.
Problem:
The nature of the champs spawn reward system easily lends itself to the following scenario:
Group A begins the champ spawn and works it through multiple stages. As the champ spawn approaches its final stages, group B gates (with their pvp templates) in and murders group A and ensures that group A cannot rez. Group B finishes the champ, while ensuring group A can't rez.
Group B receives the three PS drops from the champ spawn because no one in group A is alive or close enough to the champ death.
I know some people will look at this and say the following: "Get better at PVP." "Join a bigger guild." "Suck it up buttercup, this is Ultima online." I honestly appreciate those perspectives. I get it. However, in my opinion, this tactic is exploiting a loophole in the champ spawn rewards. This goes beyond the usual Ultima online "hard knock life"philosophy. It's closer to exploitation of a loophole. Additionally, there is a time versus reward issue emerging with these champ sponsor. Why bother playing this awesome end game content that the staff has created, when you know you have no chance of finishing it successfully, not because of your abilities, but because of a loophole. Having said this, I believe it can be fixed fairly easily (conceptually, I'm not a coder).
Solution?
As the champ spawn progresses, and participants are actively working the spawn, they accrue champ points. When the champ finally dies, anyone who received champ points will receive a blessed currency of some type that can being used to barter for what are traditionally champ drops (power scrolls) from an npc. To receive these receive this currency, you do not need to be alive when the champ dies or even next to the champ when the champ dies. Anyone on the screen with a high enough champ score total when the champ dies should also receive a bonus to this currency reward. The price of these endgame power scrolls on the NPC's should be quite high.
Why is this a solution?
I believe this is a solution because it has a marginal impact on the playstyle of people currently engaging in the champs spawns, whether that is the champers themselves or the people exploding a loophole. PVPers can still come in and slaughter PVMers. They still can dry loot the bodies of their victims and fight for dominance of the spawn. What it solves is the loophole. People who put in time at the champ spawns, even if they are murdered, will still receive some small reward for their efforts. People who finished the spawn will receive a significantly larger reward than those who do not.
Conclusion
I'm sure this idea isn't perfect. I'm sure some of you can think up some reasons why this may not work. But I do believe it is a starting point. In my opinion, there is a significant problem with champ spawns that is not play style related. This, in turn, is gating a lot of the great stuff on the server away from all but a few people.
Opinions:
-Ultimate online is hard. It should be hard. You should run the risk of losing everything on your person at any moment.
-PKing is great. It makes the game fun. It provides a risk versus reward scenario that is unmatched in virtually any other game. Whether we want to admit it or not, the danger of leaving your house is part of the reason we play this game. That should never be infringed upon.
-The endgame content here in Ultima Online Forever is very, very good. I love all of it. The champs, talismans, metas, RDA, the naval combat reborn. It's what keeps me coming back to this 20+-year-old game on this server.
Now that I've gotten all that out of the way, let's focus on what has become, in my opinion, a significant issue with champ spawns.
Problem:
The nature of the champs spawn reward system easily lends itself to the following scenario:
Group A begins the champ spawn and works it through multiple stages. As the champ spawn approaches its final stages, group B gates (with their pvp templates) in and murders group A and ensures that group A cannot rez. Group B finishes the champ, while ensuring group A can't rez.
Group B receives the three PS drops from the champ spawn because no one in group A is alive or close enough to the champ death.
I know some people will look at this and say the following: "Get better at PVP." "Join a bigger guild." "Suck it up buttercup, this is Ultima online." I honestly appreciate those perspectives. I get it. However, in my opinion, this tactic is exploiting a loophole in the champ spawn rewards. This goes beyond the usual Ultima online "hard knock life"philosophy. It's closer to exploitation of a loophole. Additionally, there is a time versus reward issue emerging with these champ sponsor. Why bother playing this awesome end game content that the staff has created, when you know you have no chance of finishing it successfully, not because of your abilities, but because of a loophole. Having said this, I believe it can be fixed fairly easily (conceptually, I'm not a coder).
Solution?
As the champ spawn progresses, and participants are actively working the spawn, they accrue champ points. When the champ finally dies, anyone who received champ points will receive a blessed currency of some type that can being used to barter for what are traditionally champ drops (power scrolls) from an npc. To receive these receive this currency, you do not need to be alive when the champ dies or even next to the champ when the champ dies. Anyone on the screen with a high enough champ score total when the champ dies should also receive a bonus to this currency reward. The price of these endgame power scrolls on the NPC's should be quite high.
Why is this a solution?
I believe this is a solution because it has a marginal impact on the playstyle of people currently engaging in the champs spawns, whether that is the champers themselves or the people exploding a loophole. PVPers can still come in and slaughter PVMers. They still can dry loot the bodies of their victims and fight for dominance of the spawn. What it solves is the loophole. People who put in time at the champ spawns, even if they are murdered, will still receive some small reward for their efforts. People who finished the spawn will receive a significantly larger reward than those who do not.
Conclusion
I'm sure this idea isn't perfect. I'm sure some of you can think up some reasons why this may not work. But I do believe it is a starting point. In my opinion, there is a significant problem with champ spawns that is not play style related. This, in turn, is gating a lot of the great stuff on the server away from all but a few people.
