Goblin Squad Member
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Or, are escalations here to stay?
If it were a possibility, what would you rather see?
I for one would like to see a few static camps throughout the map. There camps would be assorted high-level mobs that never disappear; maybe 4 or 5 spawns altogether. One thing about Pathfinder Online that I do not enjoy is the inconsistency of PvE which I find leaves people feeling baffled (what should I do? There are no T2 escalations and the other ones are BORING and offer little to no reward, so I'll just log off).
If there were actual static high level content I feel people would have something to focus on, plan for and fight over. Of course I'd really like to see dungeons but Goblinworks has stated that they will not be in anytime soon so I'd be content with a few permanent high-level spawns for now.
What say you?
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Goblin Squad Member
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I mean, to be fair, there are static PvE encounters. The Monster Home hex in the NW by Rotters Hole is the Usties. There will always, always be Ustalavs there. Which, personally, I think is kinda b!~$#@#~ given that the center of the map has T1 bandits, but still. If you want static PvE, take over that area of the map, or scout out where the other T2 home hexes are and move there.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Well, my "preference" would be no static PvE encounters.
I would like to see entities/agents that "seek out" or wander until they find conditions ideal for them. Then they "compete" with PCs for resources to build up their position.
These entities could be everything from squirrels (who seek out specific wood nodes) and foxes (who hunt squirrels) to goblins and bandits (who might hunt PCs and compete with PCs for construction resources).
But, I think it is beyond the point where I could successfully argue that such a system could/should replace escalations.
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Goblin Squad Member
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They recently "turned the heat up" on the escalation monsters and they are certainly tougher to kill than they were a couple of weeks ago. Bob Settles said in his Fireside chat (what 2 weeks or so back) that there were more monsters planned, and some additional features for escalations, but the escalations were to be part of the core PvE content (unless I missed something).
There will eventually be dungeons, as everyone wants them in (including Lisa and Ryan and all the rest that have come on Mumble), but that is pretty far down the road. At least a year it sounded like. Until then you'll have to find things to do if the escalations don't tickle your fancy.
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Goblin Squad Member
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In the recent poll that Goblinworks sent out, I listed "more engaging PVE content along the lines of dungeons" (or something like that) as the feature I would most like to see in the next 3 months. If more people put that in or some other derivative with similar intent, then we may see dungeons or something else interesting, coming sooner rather than later.
+1 for more engaging PVE content
- Jasc
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Goblin Squad Member
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Or, are escalations here to stay?
If it were a possibility, what would you rather see?
I for one would like to see a few static camps throughout the map. There camps would be assorted high-level mobs that never disappear; maybe 4 or 5 spawns altogether. One thing about Pathfinder Online that I do not enjoy is the inconsistency of PvE which I find leaves people feeling baffled (what should I do? There are no T2 escalations and the other ones are BORING and offer little to no reward, so I'll just log off).
If there were actual static high level content I feel people would have something to focus on, plan for and fight over. Of course I'd really like to see dungeons but Goblinworks has stated that they will not be in anytime soon so I'd be content with a few permanent high-level spawns for now.
What say you?
I say do the damn dungeons before you loose everyone and while your at it hire someone with talent to add a new rare encounter monster every two weeks. This ain't cutting it!
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Goblin Squad Member
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Or, are escalations here to stay?
If it were a possibility, what would you rather see?
I for one would like to see a few static camps throughout the map. There camps would be assorted high-level mobs that never disappear; maybe 4 or 5 spawns altogether. One thing about Pathfinder Online that I do not enjoy is the inconsistency of PvE which I find leaves people feeling baffled (what should I do? There are no T2 escalations and the other ones are BORING and offer little to no reward, so I'll just log off).
If there were actual static high level content I feel people would have something to focus on, plan for and fight over. Of course I'd really like to see dungeons but Goblinworks has stated that they will not be in anytime soon so I'd be content with a few permanent high-level spawns for now.
What say you?
There are already static camps, in the form of Monster home hexes, which always have approximately the same content, in the same place. And if you think people aren't fighting over them, you're missing out.
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Goblin Squad Member
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Crowd Forging Escalations:
New calculus in player contribution and reward is needed. The current system is that only one group of 5 can participate in the boss battle, otherwise the boss will go poof or not respawn at all. Now, I recognize that this is probably a bug and may eventually be fixed.
However, that still leave the problem of Boss stealing, by a group that had contributed less to reducing the escalation cycle, but they had discovered the boss before the other group.
Under the current, broken system, you also open the door to escalation griefing where the second group can continue killing and ensure that the boss does not spawn at all.
Also, while listening in on the chat of those participating in the boss battle, it was over in less than 5 seconds. So fast in fact that the comment that was glaring was "that was it?"
Suggested Solutions:
1. Calculate individual character achievements during the escalation cycle, and reward accordingly.
2. Make the Boss so powerful that it could take the group of 5 a significant amount of time, effort and challenge to defeat it.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I would like to see some themed PvE events that happen either locally in a hex, spread over x number of hexes or even globally over the entire map.
kind of like the following.
Night of the full moon. During night hours certain hexes become infected with lycanthropy altering the mobs in those hexes.
Mists of Transference. A Magical mist descends over settlements leaving a settlement randomly transports you across the map to a random hex. ("I guess were not in Kansas anymore toto.")
These wouldn't be hard to implement I imagine and could be good or bad ideas.
However, I believe more static camps would degenerate too much into theme-park territory, something PFO isn't.
The escalations do need more variety though AND i feel they do need a few more base mechanics.
currently Escalations spawn, give mini quests and spread. some spawn bosses with loot.
Escalations need more monster types. New rewards (hopfully this will happen when enchantment comes in), wandering/patrolling mobs as well as camps, better AI (think this is a given), and something else. Structures.
When Holdings go in I hope we will soon see structures for the monsters too - a way to PvE bulk resources for your company/settlement. How effective these holdings are will hopefully grow in time. For now it would be nice for bandits to have hideouts, cultists to have shrines and goblins to have scrap piles. But wouldn't it be great if mordant spire was able to build large walls and gates similar to the gates of Mordor? with the only access to the core monster hex being to beat down those gates or wait for them to open (as the escalation spreads).
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Goblin Squad Member
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Certain monsters should have horde nodes in their hexes. The longer the escalation goes on, the larger the hordes. For example, bandits should have hideouts with stashes of loot they guard, etc. These nodes should be accessed like other nodes.
The monster AI should include spawning more reinforcements in order to protect these hordes if they are attacked or accessed. It should be a constant battle to get to the horde, access it, loot it (should take time, like for husks), and defend against reinforcements.
It should not be a situation where a group of PCs can just kill all the guard and loot away freely. The monsters collected this stuff, they want it, and they should constantly be trying to defend it.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I've wondered how easy it would be to scale agro range. If the agro range could be scaled, then more advanced escalations might appear more aggressive and possessive. I think current agro radius is 20m. If it were 25m for escalations at 25-50%, 30m for escalations at 50-75%, and 35m for escalations at 75-100%... It wouldn't be such a walk in the park - it would be seriously dangerous to try to pass through a territory claimed by mobs.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I think the main problem with escalations is how they grow.
They start slow and have an exponential growth. The larger they get, the more difficult does it get to kill them off.
This might make sense long term when holdings are in and when you want to claim a new area in the wilderness. You will have to clear it. This makes sense when there are advantages to clear escalations and when you get penalized when you don't
But at the moment it doesn't matter if the hex next to you is 0%, 10%, 90% or 100%. This leads to the behaviour that you
a) kill off the interesting escalations - mainly T2 - as they give you the T2 recipes you (your settlement) still needs
b) kill off some of the small escalations - mainly because as a well equipped fighter you can solo a 5000 total escalation
c) don't bother about the escalation that seems boring
I hope this behaviour will change with the advent of PoI and holdings as you don't want to have your holding swamped. And you might have to be more stategic.
I know what I'm talking about. The Bonedancer fall into this category. Boring to fight. Full strength (350000) they are bad risk/benefit ratio as Death Squads are pretty deadly and very, very difficult to solo.
They hardly ever drop any T2 (I saw one from a Deathsquad - but never got a drop myself).
So the only reason I fight them at the moment is looking ahead to ensure lands close to EL will be free of these pests. And yes that might mean to have to travel 10 hexes from my own settlement to clean out a new mother hex if they grow again.
And this also means doing some more 'boring' stuff and 'less rewarding stuff' because of long term goals. But this only makes sense as part of a settlement - as a single player there is no such motivation.
But I think this mindset will change over time and players will react earlier / do longer compaings to clean out areas if something like the Bonedancers get out of hand.
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Goblin Squad Member
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I know what I'm talking about. The Bonedancer fall into this category. Boring to fight. Full strength (350000) they are bad risk/benefit ratio as Death Squads are pretty deadly and very, very difficult to solo.
They hardly ever drop any T2 (I saw one from a Deathsquad - but never got a drop myself).So the only reason I fight them at the moment is looking ahead to ensure lands close to EL will be free of these pests. And yes that might mean to have to travel 10 hexes from my own settlement to clean out a new mother hex if they grow again.
I noticed this myself last night Thod. You're surrounded by these fiends. I will gladly join up with you to smite them!
Just let me know, I begin a 10 day vacation tonight.