Goblin Squad Member
|
Thinking about what I want to do when EE rolls around and I start making a new character from scratch, and I'm wondering what everyone's opinion is on diversification or specialization.
Specifically, I plan to have one Destiny's Twin being pretty much a dedicated crafter, and even with a dedicated crafter there's a diversification/specialization question (should I just put ALL my points in Sawyer and be the first one in the game to be able to provide bow-making refined materials, for example). And my other character would be the hunter/gatherer/delivery person, and likely also the one that would engage in any tower capturing or guild wars or dungeon delving or whatever I might try during the game.
The question is, should I figure out a build that best optimizes encumbrance and gathering and all that stuff, or should I learn both low-encumbrance wizard or scout or merchant gear and have alternate more heavily-armed and armored loadouts for war? Will that leave me spread too thin, or is it a viable option in this game without being significantly underpowered?
Or do I need to play the lottery so I can buy like 5 different accounts?
Semi-related question: are the Encumbrance feats implemented yet, and who trains them?
Crafting specialization would probably determine if you are going to try and work with a group, or make a name for yourself solo.
The long term game essentially suggests that older players will have the luxury of being more diversified and yet still viable, because of the bank of XP they've built up.
You can specialize, but doing so will mean you are more dependent on some form of interaction with others, even if just through Auction Houses.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
As to specializing... Some will put 90-100% of their XP to a single skill and related skills that increase its attribute or otherwise allow passing development gates. I think that being somewhat specialized, with 50+% of your XP to a single role will be fine, if not ultra-competitive. (Because of the way xp costs rise, you might be at level 15, spending 50% of the xp on a skill, when the leader reached level 20, spending 100%).
I think the idea of having a half dozen account in order to play in different ways... Banish that thought, if you can. Accept that you can't do everything, and rely upon your neighbor to specialize in the areas that you have not.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Basically, play the character you want to play and don't worry too much about it all. Remember, there is no exp cap. (EE has a pseudo exp cap since it will end about 1 year after it begins, but the full game won't have one.)
To give a more helpful answer than that, the question you need to ask yourself is, "Do I want to be on the cutting edge of Role X?" If the answer is yes, then don't do anything but train feats to get you the ability scores you need to meet the bare minimum requirements of Role X (I am including being a straight craft skill as a Role). Really, though, the only folks who will want to do that are members of major settlements with the player resources to fully utilize a hyper-specialized character. For example, TEO is large enough that it will have plenty of folks to have somebody on the cutting edge of each of the crafting and refining skills and other players on the cutting edge of combat roles to fully utilize the gear those crafters and refiners are making.
I suspect most players won't fall into that category and may want to diversify a little more.
Some other important notes about diversification:
1. The exp cost to take a level or two of any of the Combat roles is extremely low, so it doesn't hurt to take a dash of Wizard, Cleric and Rogue with your Fighter build. You gain access to lots of cool stuff, even if it is not potent in the long game.
2. Pretty much any amount of training up crafting and refining is very costly, so training in those areas on a combat-oriented character could quickly set that character behind the curve. That said, your level 6 fighter that can make his own +1 Longswords and +1 Armor won't really feel like he is behind until everyone around you starts hitting T2 gear.
3. What Urman said about being at level 15 versus someone at level 20.
4. What Urman said about relying on others to fill in the gaps.
Hope this helped.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Originally the game was going to have no classes at all, the roles were meant to be entirely cosmetic. At some point that changed (possibly becasue players are stuck in the old way of doing things)but there is never going to be a huge advantage to training one class only.
There may be an advantage eventually to SLOTTING from the same class but you are free to train what you want.
Repeating that - with no XP cap you are basically free to train what you want.
In real life there is no issue learning skills you currently need even if you never use them again. No-one ever says to a teenager "forget about training for that coffee shop job, what use will it be in 10 years time when you are a corporate lawyer". In real life we diversify all the time.
There have been long threads in the past with people trying to claim a 3 year old character that specializes in just one class will be better at PvP then a 3 year generalist but I am very skeptical about this. I think that way of thinking is a hangover from TT and older level capped MMO games where training one thing necessarily means something else gets left out.
Note that EVE characters are like this. Unless they were specially built as a single purpose alt (cyno alt, webbing alt etc) they will have all sorts of mining, small ship and other skills they needed for a while but no longer ever use as a Titan pilot or Incursion runner or freighter pilot etc.
EE has a pseudo exp cap since it will end about 1 year after it begins, but the full game won't have one.)
What does this mean?
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
EE has a pseudo exp cap since it will end about 1 year after it begins, but the full game won't have one.
You keep all the xp and abilities from EE and roll with them straight into OE continuing to gain xp the exact same way, the transition from EE to OE means no difference to that segment of the game. In case that statement gave an impression otherwise.
In games like this with the be-anything skill systems, specialization is rewarded much more often. Diversification usually just means other people are way better than you in a lot of different areas. I will say specialize in two attributes, but be as diverse within those two groups of skills as makes you happy. I realize that's kind of a trick answer but the attribute gates are the only ones that can become a real quagmire to get past.
So if you want to dabble in an adventure related class now or someday, pick crafts that use those same attributes and all your training will support each other. If you might want to be roguish someday, try out the Dex-related production like weaver, gemcutter, or leatherworker. You can be a scavenger now and cleric later on very easily. The Destiny's Twin I'm going to make a bard someday is picking up dowsing for now; both Personality.
It's building the slow-moving requirements with something interesting now so they are already done when switching to something else interesting in the future.
EE has a pseudo exp cap since it will end about 1 year after it begins, but the full game won't have one.You keep all the xp and abilities from EE and roll with them straight into OE continuing to gain xp the exact same way, the transition from EE to OE means no difference to that segment of the game. In case that statement gave an impression otherwise.
I was assuming there is a wipe at the end of EE like there will be at the end of Alpha. Is that not the case?
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
I was assuming there is a wipe at the end of EE like there will be at the end of Alpha. Is that not the case?
No there isn't. That has big implications for all of EE. We will be creating the game content for 12-18 months before the game goes "live" in Q1 2016.
There should be a road map/quote out there somewhere about the stages of this game(Alpha, Early Enrollment[War of Tower, Great Catastrophe, Post-Great Catastrophe & Player Built Settlements, Final Stage of EE], Open Enrollment, Free To Play).
This should be in the PFO Wiki, but I cant find it. :(
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Oh Em Gee there is NO Free to Play either, and there never has been.
As a subscription model details around the edges can change but "F2P" has a specific context of getting some of the game for free and needing to pay to get full content, or paying to gain a vital in-game resource.
Instead of that, GW is planning to let someone else pay your subscription fee for you (and then trade that 30 days of training to you for in-game resources). All accounts have equal access to the full game with no difference between them no matter how much you pay, paying more instead means your account stays active longer.
While this means if you have enough in-game resources you can trade them for game time without spending your own real-world money (because someone else did), it is definitely NOT the same beast as the monetezation strategy labeled "free to play".
-----------------
Heading the crying off at the pass: Anyone that wants to get enraged about some rich kid being able to buy a lot of goblin balls for instant in-game wealth being unfair advantage and pay to win... you're wrong.
It's up to other players how much someone can get for selling goblin balls. It also greatly reduces gold farming and thereby gold farming spam because players have a permitted way to buy gold from other players that actually becomes a part of the in-game economy, eliminating the market to have to put up with gold farmers. Anyone I've ever known that's done it both ways dramatically prefers this method compared to dealing with gold farmers all over.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Oh Em Gee there is NO Free to Play either, and there never has been.
As a subscription model details around the edges can change but "F2P" has a specific context of getting some of the game for free and needing to pay to get full content, or paying to gain a vital in-game resource.
Instead of that, GW is planning to let someone else pay your subscription fee for you (and then trade that 30 days of training to you for in-game resources). All accounts have equal access to the full game with no difference between them no matter how much you pay, paying more instead means your account stays active longer.
While this means if you have enough in-game resources you can trade them for game time without spending your own real-world money (because someone else did), it is definitely NOT the same beast as the monetezation strategy labeled "free to play".
-----------------
Heading the crying off at the pass: Anyone that wants to get enraged about some rich kid being able to buy a lot of goblin balls for instant in-game wealth being unfair advantage and pay to win... you're wrong.
It's up to other players how much someone can get for selling goblin balls. It also greatly reduces gold farming and thereby gold farming spam because players have a permitted way to buy gold from other players that actually becomes a part of the in-game economy, eliminating the market to have to put up with gold farmers. Anyone I've ever known that's done it both ways dramatically prefers this method compared to dealing with gold farmers all over.
Brilliantly said.
Editing myself in light of new info:
Basically, play the character you want to play and don't worry too much about it all. Remember, there is no exp cap.
(EE has a pseudo exp cap since it will end about 1 year after it begins, but the full game won't have one.)To give a more helpful answer than that, the question you need to ask yourself is, "Do I want to be on the cutting edge of Role X?" If the answer is yes, then don't do anything but train feats to get you the ability scores you need to meet the bare minimum requirements of Role X (I am including being a straight craft skill as a Role). Really, though, the only folks who will want to do that are members of major settlements with the player resources to fully utilize a hyper-specialized character. For example, TEO is large enough that it will have plenty of folks to have somebody on the cutting edge of each of the crafting and refining skills and other players on the cutting edge of combat roles to fully utilize the gear those crafters and refiners are making.
I suspect most players won't fall into that category and may want to diversify a little more.
Some other important notes about diversification:
1. The exp cost to take a level or two of any of the Combat roles is extremely low, so it doesn't hurt to take a dash of Wizard, Cleric and Rogue with your Fighter build. You gain access to lots of cool stuff, even if it is not potent in the long game.
2. Pretty much any amount of training up crafting and refining is very costly, so training in those areas on a combat-oriented character could quickly set that character behind the curve. That said, your level 6 fighter that can make his own +1 Longswords and +1 Armor won't really feel like he is behind until everyone around you starts hitting T2 gear.
3. What Urman said about being at level 15 versus someone at level 20.
4. What Urman said about relying on others to fill in the gaps.Hope this helped.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Bookmarked for inclusion in the soon to be updated EE FAQ thread; and for new people to add new insight to the topic on hand. :)