I don't think anyone who is enjoying this game and wants to see it succeed should be pleased about anyone leaving the game right now. Well, almost anyone... but where there are exceptions, it's not because they're either carebears or murderhobos.
So I haven't really seen any indication that work has been done on this, but someone somewhere has done some work, because my 660, which is apparently ancient now, is suddenly much more compatible with the game since the last patch or two. Before several of the armors and some trainers had some kind of compatibility issue that made them look like a Picasso, but now I can wear my embroidered robes and look like a human again. The game is also more stable and my graphics card drivers are freezing up less often. I have made no changes on my end except updating regularly, which I'd been doing before. Whatever you did, GW, good work, thanks. I think a lot of the positive things that are happening go unsaid here, so I thought I'd post this.
It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that due to the potential terrorist threats posed by other settlements, in order to ensure the survival of The Free Settlers, I will be taking a firmer hand in leading the Company. Specifically, for their own safety, all members, instead of being free and equal citizens with voting rights on company policy, will be part of an intricate caste system. So join the Free Settlers if you wish to play as: - A slave. - An indentured servant. - A serf. There is a possibility for advancement in the ranks for those who work particularly hard, however. Especially skilled crafters with lots of recipes will have the option (at my sole discretion) of becoming minimum wage workers. Note that the only legal currency allowed for trade in The Free Settlers is TansyCoin. All copper, silver, or gold accrued while farming must be paid directly to me in tax. Anyone who questions our policy will be summarily executed. You can find out more about our new policy here.
The Free Settlers, an independent company in association with the Emerald Lodge settlement, is now accepting Applicants. The Emerald Lodge is a politically neutral neutral-good settlement centrally located in the middle of the action between two major powers, near the center of the map, which has a unique position right next to the Emerald Spire, Pathfinder Online's first dungeon to be explored. It's the perfect location for merchants, shippers, crafters, explorers, dungeon delvers, PVEers, political power players, or just independent or casual players who want a good spot in the middle of the map where they can quickly get to wherever they need to be in the world. The Free Settlers (exact in-game spelling: "The Free Settlers") is a Company formed to give independent players a place to call home. Whether you enjoy the idea of being a politically independent or individualist force in the world or you just aren't interested in the politics of Pathfinder Online or need some more time to figure out which settlement is right for you, The Free Settlers will offer any non-bandit player full training support through the Emerald Lodge settlement. As a politically neutral entity, the Emerald Lodge believes it is important to provide this kind of support to independent players, even independent of the Emerald Lodge itself, and so they've agreed to sponsor The Free Settlers. This might be the perfect Company for you if: - You wish to remain free and independent but need to be a part of a settlement for training purposes. - You're not interested in the politics of Pathfinder Online and are looking for settlement support from a company that will not pressure you to become involved in that way. - You ARE interested in the politics of Pathfinder Online and want to help protect a neutral entity or forge your own path as an independent, or possibly create your own settlement in the future. - You are not interested in joining a giant settlement or one of the major powers or working under strict rules, but wish to be part of an underdog group that's just large enough to have a fighting chance. - You want to make a name for yourself as an individual merchant, trader, crafter, adventurer, or soldier, living and dying by your own sweat rather than depending on a group. - You are a casual player or a player who wants only the occasional help and support of a fellow traveler rather than the full backing of a large group and any expectations that may come along with it. - You are interested in exploring the Emerald Spire as part of an independent company. - You are an explorer at heart, and you believe that a small group of independent players can build something meaningful together... and stand together to defend it. - You think the man wearing the jester cap looks wise and the man wearing the crown looks like a fool. What The Free Settlers expects of its members: - We are a neutral group leaning towards good. We accept all comers, but we do not allow banditry. - As a company under the umbrella of Emerald Lodge, we are expected to follow their rules, which can be found here. We respect Emerald Lodge's political neutrality and though we consider ourselves a separate entity, we will not drag the Emerald Lodge into conflicts through our actions. The possibility for meaningful PVP still exists (especially after the Cataclysm) in the form of settlement defense and the possibility for policing/bounty hunting or even mercenary work, but if you wish to engage in these activities, you should have enough political savvy and communication with EL to make sure not to pull EL unwittingly into war. - Aside from this small set of reasonable expectations, The Free Settlers are just that, completely free to play the game where and how and with whom they wish. - We expect you not to be a jerk. We don't want jerks. We don't have to define jerks. If you don't know how to not be one, I'm very sorry. We can discuss individual lessons if absolutely necessary. What members can expect from The Free Settlers: - Freedom. Within the game's terms of service and the company's rules, you have the freedom to associate, trade, or worship whomever you choose. You have the freedom of speech. You have the freedom to come and go as you please. You have the freedom to play the game however often and in whatever way you wish. You have no obligation to provide any support or materials or funds or recipes or items to your company (as it has no responsibility to provide them to you). - A vote. You will have a say in major company decisions. This will be especially important when it comes to spending our company's Influence on support facilities. While we want to contribute to the success of the Emerald Lodge as a whole (and definitely do NOT want to spend our Influence on redundant facilities), we will base our Influence expenditures on our members' needs and our members' votes. - Support. We are not obliged to offer substantial material support to our members, but within the bounds of our capabilities (and possibly requiring gathering your own raw materials, depending on availability), we will provide refining and crafting services, especially to new players in tier 1, and may provide finished goods or recipes as we see fit and are able. (My own alts are capable of most of tier 1 and will eventually be capable of all tier 1 refining for this purpose.) Members of the company are under no obligation to offer other kinds of support, such as answering questions about the game or coming to a player's defense in a time of need, but are strongly encouraged to do so. The leadership will always do so when available. Anyone at Officer rank is expected to offer any reasonable non-material support they can while they're in-game and available. - Punch and pie. Above all, we hope to create a group of people who are supportive, friendly, and just an all-around good group to be a part of... a group that will leave you alone to play the game how you want to play it, or provide a good pool of pickup players to form parties for PVE, or come to the aid of their fellow Settlers when they need it, not because they have to, but because they choose to. To apply for this settlement, just type "/vcapply The Free Settlers" in-game. Thanks for reading. Let's keep the River Kingdoms free!
Maybe they should convert to this engine. hmm: Sorry, I don't like being dismissive (although Pyronous often is, I'm afraid), but I felt this was too funny to pass up.
I quite like the backpacks. Perhaps over time they can be worked on a bit so it's a little more clear what they are (perhaps a little bigger?) but I think the concept is spot-on. I think it's the best fit for the setting, it captures the pioneer spirit of the game, and a dead body isn't what people who might steal your stuff are after anyway, it's your stuff, as represented by your pack.
An old Zen proverb that I think we all might do well to remember... not that I personally subscribe to any religious or philosophical belief systems that it may be associated with, but it seems like a good story to share today nonetheless. Imagine yourself in a small boat, fishing in the streams flowing from the Zombie Kitten Mountains under the bridges of Thornkeep. You're enjoying the warm, bright Golarion moon by night, possibly drifting off to sleep as you wait for a fish to take a bite, when suddenly another boat bumps into your own, breaking its hull, costing you durability points, jarring you from your tranquility, and you begin to shout and curse at the jerk who hit you with his boat. Then you look over and realize the other boat is empty. You've been shouting into the night, but there was no one there to hear you, no one to curse, no one to hurt with your words, no one to blame for your misfortune. You feel silly for shouting at an empty boat, but then again, what if there had been another person there? Would your shouting have helped any more? It still could have been an accident, or wickedness on their part, but you have little way of knowing... and why should it matter? What's happened to you is the same either way, and if the way you react is so much calmer, so much less stressful to yourself, when you know there's nobody in the other boat, why would you not react the same way if there is someone in the other boat? To put on a show for them? You owe them no such thing. You should react in the way that best suits your own needs. Getting ganked sucks, and our natural reaction is to be much angrier than we would be if we died at the hands of ogres or goblin shamans or a bug in the system or friendly fire. Likewise, it probably hurts when someone playing a bandit feels vilified by the comments of their victims in a game where playing a bandit is well within the rules, and it's probably pretty darn frustrating to see them ragequit when your intention isn't to drive anyone out of the game (unlike some folks in EVE). But as long as bandits are allowed to be bandits, yet the rest of us aren't constantly hounded by them to the point where we can never enjoy PVE, we all need to lower the temperature a little bit, because we're all really getting what we came for. If we look at the arguments being made here, a lot of people are saying there aren't enough consequences for PVP, while others are saying the rep system is too harsh. Well, they say a good compromise leaves everyone unhappy, so there's a chance the balance that exists now isn't as bad as we're making it out to be, though we do have every right to make our suggestions for how we think it should be improved and expect features that were promised that aren't implemented yet to eventually come. We're viewing PVP vs. PVE as a tightrope Goblinworks has to walk to make this game viable to both playstyles, but I think we're making a mistake viewing it this way. I think what they're creating, and more successfully than we're giving them credit for, is not a thin space between those two, but a very broad space with room for both. Time will tell, but it seems to me like they're on the right track, despite some small bumps in the road that we're making mountains out of. Yes, people should play bandits and kill people and take their stuff. Yes, people should not want their stuff to be taken and organize resistance and publicly call people out who do these things. But you're not going to win every battle on every side of that spectrum, so you should react the same way you do whenever you're playing a game and roll a 1: s*** happens, move on. Dice don't always roll your way, the world doesn't always turn the way you want it to, but the other boat is always empty, there's no reason to shout yourself hoarse. tldr: maybe we should calm down and be patient and see how the game plays out a bit, because we're all overreacting and we'd all be a lot happier if we just kept the characters in character and reacted out of character to in-game challenges the way we would with any game, whether the challenges are fellow players or AI.
This is where international politics happens... internal politics happens on Mumble/Teamspeak, internally. I'm hoping to start interviewing people and doing some actual reporting, so my site will hopefully start being a decent resource for following the politics of PFO, but I've been super busy with work.
I think most PvP'ers understand that mentality. They just don't care. Some drama might be warranted with action like that. Trying to get people to ragequit is clearly metagame harassment, not in-game "I'm playing a badguy" behavior. I'd ban the crap out of them.
Aren't the crafted camps comparable items at some point (or do they never get the banking ability? I'm not sure about the specifics)? So what you're getting with a premium item is the ability to use something that can be crafted without having to spend the XP or find a crafter and without gathering or purchasing materials. That alone is probably the reason for a cooldown... if I were to spend $50 or $200 for an item that was just "you have a high-level sword now and you can just click on it again when it breaks and you have a new sword now", I think the problem would be evident.
Forencith, this was kind of a stealth move, but the jumping is actually a masterful game design element. When I first played LotR Online, some jerkface trollnugget thought it would be funny to pin me against a wall so I couldn't move. If you can jump over other players (which is exactly the height you can jump), they can't do that. The fact that we can jump the exact height we can jump is actually an unheralded piece of design genius, because it eliminates the problem of whether players should be ghostly apparitions people can just walk right through (like in Planetside) or solid obstacles. This way you can pick the realistic option, people are solid, without having to worry about trolling in the form of boxing people in.
"Atheory couldn't have acted alone. He can't spend 83 minutes without standing on someone's head." There is no close second to this, though the ones that come closest have to do with grass.
I don't have Lightning Bolt. And even if I did, if it's cheaper and more effective to just use a bow, why would I run around in cloth armor like an idiot when I could be optimized in medium chain armor? I know asymmetric balance is difficult to achieve, but it feels like they're skirting objective inferiority rather than a different tactic and playstyle with wizard, and if they keep nerfing it they'll definitely get there. It's true that it's really easy to go through the lowest-level enemies like a hot knife through butter with area attacks, but anything beyond those lowest levels that does physical damage and the wizard just doesn't have the staying power to survive long enough to do damage. On edit: To try to be pithy about it, we have the glass part, but not the cannon part. I don't even feel comfortable carrying a spellbook, because both my implement slots are used for heals that allow me to get off that second or third shot.
A +2 staff can reliably take down any Bandit or Goblin in one shot with Wraith's Cry. Goblin Shamans and Bombers usually go down as well, though not 100% of the time. I've never seen the ranged AOE one-shot anything, but it takes Recruits down to a point where almost any follow-up attack will do it. Two shots with that will not kill a Bandit, however.
Staff can be useful for taking down large numbers of low-level mobs, which is why they added the cooldown, but I don't know if it's necessary. Compare Wraith's Cry to Whirlwind: they cost the same stamina, Whirlwind does 3x damage and Wraith's Cry does 3.8, so Wraith's Cry does higher. Whirlwind is a smaller area of effect. Wraith's Cry has a cooldown of 12, and Whirlwind of 2. Whirlwind can be used by someone in heavy armor, where Wraith's Cry will in the future do much less damage if you're wearing heavy armor... without numbers, one could guess it will end up doing similar or less damage than Whirlwind in armor. It will also cost ammunition while Whirlwind will not. The armor limitation and ammunition I think would be enough to make up for the extra damage and slightly larger area without having to add a cooldown, at least not as large as they have. What it comes down to with longbow exploit for me is that a massive damage "kill it before it kills you" strategy is an easy one to figure out, and is always the first strategy to get criticized as overpowered. Stunning someone into oblivion will be the second strategy to get criticized, as it's annoying. But is it actually overpowered? I'm not so sure.
Grace, there are no basic attacks for staff/wand/focus, they're all purchased with XP. And until they add in armor penalties, you can wear plate armor and use a staff... which does close-range massive damage that is well offset in my opinion by cloth armor, but with heavy armor is definitely OP.
Not always. Some attacks that cause opportunity will also interrupt your attack, like all the bandit archers do. It can be very difficult, sometimes impossible, to take out higher-level knights before your stationary shots slow you down enough to get hit (not to mention how many attacks in the game slow you). Also, ogres can do ranged attacks without provoking opportunity. And enemies often fail to provoke opportunity when running after you, though that may be a bug. And as for PVP, like Sspitfire said, anyone spamming an interrupt has nothing to fear from basic longbow exploit.
I agree with that, Karlbob. Enemies running at me not granting opportunity, my attacks failing to work in the middle of combat until I relog, something goes up a tree and starts shooting me and I can't shoot back... with those things happening I'm not going to feel bad when a wolf gets stuck running around in a circle. I did head out to the Ustalavs, and it is a bit exploitish. Their debuffs make it take a LONG time to kill them, but they do stop doing damage, so if you kill the enemies around them first, it's just a matter of patience and you take them out. It's still somewhat of a challenge in game logic terms to solo farm them because I have to clear out the other enemies, which can be quite difficult (first thing I did was get killed), but I already have one new t2 recipe to show for my efforts and it's definitely a bug. I'll farm it a bit more because the devs said enjoy, but I definitely would have reported it if I had found it. This isn't like the Broken Men casters who seem easier to kill because they're doing relatively low-damage attacks (especially if you have magic resistances), they just stop doing any damage altogether.
Sadly if "change your tactics" means "you should be a fighter now", that's a lot of XP down the drain. The only AOE that does massive damage is an up close spell. If you're taking advantage of the lack of armor penalty and running around in plate while casting this, then yes, it's OP, but if you're in wizard armor, it's actually quite a feat to stay alive long enough to cast that spell twice against multiple enemies, and it's easy to interrupt. Compare that to fighters, who get to do a pirouette that does significant damage to everything around them with a longsword, with the benefit of armor, no long cooldown, and no ammo. With encumbrance and crafting, attacks that use ammo should have some advantage to compensate. Once we have armor penalties to magic, I just don't see the AOE spells as being significantly overpowered. And if you're in cloth armor and have a cooldown on your attack spells, you need mobility. Everything in this game slows you. Energetic Field is important just to recover normal movement. I agree that a wizard (especially one in plate armor) was possibly too efficient at taking out low-level mobs (although a pirouette with a longsword is still pretty good at that). But I think the fix was maybe a bit too extreme. I'm not sure there are even spells matching a Diminishing Staff that do damage and don't have a cooldown now (though I will have to go to the trainer and check, so don't take my word for it).
Fleetfoot Postal Service is my currently one-man metacompany, hoping to work with delivery specialists across the map. In other words, I can move stuff, yes.
The Crusader Road Post Dispatch is improving its Trading Post services. For those of you who don't know, this is an unofficial River Kingdoms newspaper with a Trading Post section where you can all list items for sale or barter, in Auction Houses or outside of them. Your Trade Notices are now automatically tweeted on the Twitter account @PFOTrade with the hashtag #PFOtrade. Any ad you list will appear on Twitter a maximum of 30 minutes after you post it. This was surprisingly complicated to accomplish, and required either switching to a classified ads plugin that wouldn't provide all the features the current one provides or spending money. I went with the spending money route. My wife says she still loves me. Doc has been kind enough to help out in developing a Recipe, Spell, and Maneuver trading service at PathfinderOnlineHQ. We're hoping to add more features in the future, but right now, you can sign up at pathfinderonlinehq.com/user/register and click on "Trade" on the navigation bar, or through your dashboard, and create a Trade list, a Want list, or browse what others have posted. The database is not complete yet, but most of the Tier 1 recipes are there with more, especially tier 2, on the way. Doc is working very hard on this, and it's all manual. Your registration approval is also manual, so be patient, he'll approve your signup very quickly. And finally, the Crusader Road Post Dispatch's Trading Post now has two posting options, a 31-day option and a 7-day option. You can use either one for most things, but please use the 7-day option for Auction House listings. GW has said that the Auction House listings will be changed to 7 days in the near future, and this prevents items from being listed for too long after they've already been sold or expired. With either option, your Trade Notice will be saved and can be extended before or after it expires (as long as you don't delete it) so permanent items and services can be updated and will remain visible if you renew them. The Crusader Road Post Dispatch will also soon be providing actual in-game news. Anyone who wishes to be interviewed for news stories, especially ranking members and leaders of settlements and companies, though commentary from everyone is invited, are encouraged to contact me. Anyone who wants to play reporter and write in-character stories is welcome to contact me as well.
There could also be a system in the Auction House where you can list an item for sale, including at a price of zero, and only allow a specific person to buy it. That would create a working system for buy orders for allies, arranged transfers, transfers between alts, arranged sales, and drop box transfers for people who aren't online at the same time.
"Up, son of Peleus, most daunting of men. Save the body of Patroclus, they are fighting over it beside the ships. Men are dying while your Greeks try to protect his corpse, and the Trojans attack, longing to drag him off to windy Troy. Glorious Hector is their leader, who sets his heart on slicing his head from the tender neck, and fixing it on a stake above the wall." My understanding of how corpse looting works is it acts like a harvest node, each looting takes time and you only get one item, so that buys you some time, and if you go bug them, they'll either be looting and defenseless or fighting and not looting. The one who died can take all in what seemed to be described as an instantaneous action, so they just have to be able to run in and run out. That could be difficult, but all you'll lose for trying is durability, because all your other stuff will be on the husk anyway. So if someone killed me and wanted to harvest everything off my corpse, I'd make them earn it. But I also like your idea.
Obviously there's such a thing as "griefing", and you shouldn't be doing that. This is a game where some level of politicking is expected, so to an extent, you shouldn't feel bad about that. There's always such a thing as going too far, but as long as you're playing by the rules, what you consider too far and what someone else considers too far don't always have to match up, and you don't have to feel bad for doing something that someone else doesn't like if you don't think it's wrong. You should feel bad when YOU go too far, regardless of how the other person feels about it or if they even notice. It's OK to have compassion for others, and you should take into account how your actions affect them, but a lot of times people get butthurt over things that are way below the threshold of fair play, and you can't let that get to you. In the specific case, this is a game where settlements can be taken over. If Scorchbark doesn't play, Scorchbark's settlement is going to be taken over. You don't have to feel bad for being the one to do it, as long as you're doing it for reasons you've thoroughly considered and consider to be decent.
(IC): Pray, how, then, does The Empyrean Order define neutrality? Does "neutrality" mean immediately and unquestioningly accepting Brighthaven's definition of what their borders should be? I thought neutrality for an independent settlement meant not taking sides in the wars among these burgeoning nations. Or are you confusing the word "neutrality" with "nonexistence"? Must one give up all territory in the name of neutrality? The way I see it, Theodum was not invited when you drew up your map. Your dream of what your borders should be was your own, no one else's. This is the frontier, and he was first to plant his flag in the ground. Any further attacks on this territory would be by definition expansionism against a neutral entity. (OOC): ;)
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