9/30/20 - Feedback for the Experience modifications from a Party Organizer's POV
Description
This ticket builds upon the issues and ideas explained in #2250 (closed) , I ask everyone to read that before jumping on this one.
First of all, I want to thank the staff for the recent update which improved the game play a lot by fixing some noticeable issues with certain skills, Thank You.
I want to start with sharing a few findings from the recent update to help everyone understand where i am coming from:
A. 10 person party, multi clienting and utilizing the Kim Song, Will get almost the same experience as a 12 person normal party, Normal, implying everyone is using a unique master account.
B. 9 person party, where 1 person dual logs Bragi, SpSong, and Priest will get similar exp to what a party would get pre thanatos patch.
Pre thanatos, 12 person party
Magma 2 Parties did - 320k+ per/min
Stala Parties did - 270k+ per/min
Bio Parties did - 800k - 1.1M per/min, depends on how many unfortunate deaths, Roaming bio parties did 1.5M+ but i am gonna ignore those for now since they are EXTREMELY hard and require everyone to be on point, something not found in a random pug party. Pug Party, means a party created by recruiting 11 strangers from #party channel in oRO.
Recent Patch, 12 person party
Magma 2 Parties do - 180K+ per/min
Stala Parties do 120-150k+ per/min
Bio Parties about 600k-800k depending on deaths and overall skill of the party.
Thanatos Floor 8 Party (6 members) do about 500k-650k per min, This map is a bitch to party in, Trans Only(and Expanded 95+), people bwing accidently at top floors, you cant find replacements because of the nature of the dungeon, horrible public party spot, where people come and go every 15 mins.
Something Else to consider
A solo person, playing alone, and leeching themselves does about 275k in the current patch, This number was found using a ME priest farming in Niff, I dont want to say that it is the best way to solo leech but this is a good way. The person camping in Abyss3 running 20 clients will have something to say about that.
Suggestion
My suggestion remains the same as my previous ticket,
My suggestion would be to revert the experience system the way it was before, with the one exception, max the out of party taps to a small number (2, currently is okay). So, those 4 groups people in juperos/abyss3 dont use 12 mages/archers to get an absurd amount of exp.
The staff has raised a concern saying that the people have been leveling faster than they intended given that origins is a low rate server, I can understand that, However, I personally feel that origins had a great pace and casual players as well as the more serious players were mostly content with the way things were except for a few, but that is normal you can never satisfy everyone.
Getting 12 people together to do something is HARD, Lately it feels like we are being told that we need to play a certain way that the staff thinks is the right way, We should not be punished for working together between us and the origins community. I don't feel like spending 2+hrs to coordinate a party (YES, thats how long it took me).
2hrs include, reaching out to guild members from various discords, preparing spreadsheets to track participation, making sure everyone who wants to join can join while ensuring a good party roster (this takes the longest), answering questions and concerns. My point here is that, IT TAKES A LOT OF EFFORT TO ORGANIZE A 12 PERSON PARTY.
Rationale
A. 10 person party, multi clienting, Will get almost the same experience as a 12 person normal party, Normal, implying everyone is using a unique master account.
This change is basically helping the people who love to OOP and leech chars, since 12 person parties are so terrible now that it is better to kick a few people, these will be the Bragi and SpSong players, and do the same amount of expgain while using Kim song, It is not that easy to work with, but given the above fact, people will learn and adapt to using Kim.
What this means is, Almost all people in this party will play outside of the experience party, and most of the experience party will be filled with leechers.
B. 9 person party, where 1 person dual logs Bragi, SpSong, and Priest will get similar exp to what a party would get pre thanatos patch.
Someone might argue that, Well, What is the point of increasing the exp per person back to 15%, because someone can still do the above and get more exp, and that is a valid point.
To counter that statement, I would say that Pre Thanatos, A 12 person party would get better experience than a solo player leeching themselves, so solo leeching wasn't really an option most people looked into, Now, However, Solo leeching beats the popular spots, including small (2 - 4 person) roaming parties, so people are starting to use that approach to leveling over the forming parties. I feel that in the future, More parties will have 1 person multiclienting 3 things to ensure that those who are paticipating get better value out of their time in the party over solo leeching.
Additional Information
Big Parties are awesome for new players:
- They allow a variety of different classes to join by filling in one of the flexible roles available (tapper/mobber).
- A person with npc gears can easily join a group of strangers and do something with a team, and maybe build long lasting friendships.
- Static parties force party leaders to actively look for people from the #party channel to join them.
The recent patch has made the 12 person parties basically a waste of time, People have not given up on them just yet, Since, The patch is fresh, but over time, I believe, This change will be the death of them.
I am sure some people will bust a nut over the above statement since they despise big parties that much, but i have built a lot of long lasting friendship with people who i met in these parties, and I hope a system like that stays so more people can socialize.