Do you PL in AE?

[RikOz]

In the first year after the launch of HC, I rolled a whole bunch of alts in a relatively short timeframe, and I got right sick of the AP and KR arcs. So for a while I started "power leveling" just enough that I could skip straight to Steel Canyon. I used the "Bads in Space" XP farm. Now that I'm not rolling alts nearly as quickly (maybe 1-2 in a month as ideas hit me), I'm back to just leveling new alts normally via missions.

 

Nowadays, my main use for XP farming with that mission is to jump into Bads in Space when the character I've been playing has completed a story arc and has ended up a couple bubbles shy of the next level, and I need to log out soon to go to bed. I hate to log out so close to the character leveling up, but I don't have time to run another mission or two, so I'll hit AE and fill those last couple bubble and get the level up.

[roleki]

On 7/17/2022 at 2:32 AM, Thraxis said:

I GOT DEJA VU READING THIS THREAD

And every time this thread is created, the devs spend more of their precious time chipping away at farming. 

 

Look at the Server Status page, compare the number of people logged in to the number of map instances.  Gosh, if everyone but the EBIL FURMERS are on teams, why are there so many map instances relative to the number of players logged in?   It's almost like... there are a LOT of people who are on a map by themselves or 1 other.  What do you suppose those people are doing, I wonder?

 

These changes that get whined into existence don't serve the majority, they cater to the vocal minority for whom it's just not enough that we're running the same executable as they are, no, we have to share THEiR vision of how the executable should be run.

[Neiska]

Personally I never understood why some are so against how others choose to play the game. If you aren't on their team, then what's it to you? True, you can bring up "players who get PL'd arent as skilled" or "it affects the market" points, but that is largely moot. As leveling outside of AE doesn't magically make someone skilled, as well as the low influx of who are actually new players. As far as trading goes, I suspect there are other larger factors than those who use AE. There is some affect certainly, but they are not the end all-be all. Moreover I would argue that the farmers effect on the market is a net positive, unless we want the "average" build to be nothing but level 50 IOs and a single purple set costs people 2 billion inf.

 

It just always stunk of people trying to micromanage/control how other people play. "I don't like doing that activity. So NOBODY should!" et cetera. Though the thought of turning the tables I find amusing. Imagine if it was the farmers going - "There isn't enough demand for all the stuff we put on the market. Nerf the drops outside the AE" or "Nerf missions. All of them. Zero EXP, and remove the badges. If you aren't in the AE then you are a low skill player. You cant clear maps in 4 minutes? Git Gud!" - I mean, that's what the argument sounds like to the farmers.

[Without_Pause]

1 hour ago, roleki said:

And every time this thread is created, the devs spend more of their precious time chipping away at farming. 

I question the usage of "every time." Last I checked the population was only trending downward. With fewer players, players are seeking more and solo solo options. Have you even tried to find consistent teams on the lower pop servers? I have and can spend hours on said server and get maybe one instance of a non-50 team being announced in the LFT channel. This isn't to say their are that many level 50 teams running either.

[roleki]

11 minutes ago, Without_Pause said:

I question the usage of "every time." Last I checked the population was only trending downward. With fewer players, players are seeking more and solo solo options. Have you even tried to find consistent teams on the lower pop servers? I have and can spend hours on said server and get maybe one instance of a non-50 team being announced in the LFT channel. This isn't to say their are that many level 50 teams running either.

Topic for another thread, but I suspect that's why the name reclamation system is finally getting deployed, in order to make the eventual server consolidation less horrifying to the proletariat.  I wish we needed every shard and more, but for a while there, I was seeing more people in Brainstorm PI than in Indom PI... and it's been that way since at least October 2021.  The devs are going to have to do something about that, and not being blessed with a lot of imagination myself, the only thing I can think of is consolidation. 

 

If that is what happens, I don't envy whoever has to make those decisions and field the follow-ups.  I'll be among the pissed because Indom is 'my' server and it's clearly among the gangrenous that needs trimmed, but my disappointment will be tempered somewhat by the idea that it's for the greater good.  

Or, comedy option, make Indom the 'farming' server, where AE is presented as-is and all the other shards get the various stifles that people chant for incessantly on the forums.  Would be interesting to see what THAT would do to the ghost town.

[Bionic_Flea]

1 minute ago, roleki said:

Or, comedy option, make Indom the 'farming' server, where AE is presented as-is and all the other shards get the various stifles that people chant for incessantly on the forums.  Would be interesting to see what THAT would do to the ghost town.

 

I think that would actually be an interesting experiment, assuming that all the proposed AE changes go live, for one server to be kept as it is currently.  Let players literally vote with their feet.

[roleki]

3 minutes ago, Bionic_Flea said:

 

I think that would actually be an interesting experiment, assuming that all the proposed AE changes go live, for one server to be kept as it is currently.  Let players literally vote with their feet.

I would love to see it, but also, I would hate to see it.  I don't want to be proven right or wrong, I just want everyone to be able to interact with this executable in the way they are accustomed to doing so.  Some people can't have a good time unless they're actively shitting on someone else while doing it, and, unfortunately, that's the community the devs seem most interested in cultivating.  Me, I'll be here until the lights go out, and when they do, I hope I am at the third intersection in the large cave map, surrounded by the only people who understand me - custom s/l mobs who are on fire.  Some of you people will be legging it over to a warehouse.

[Excraft]

16 minutes ago, roleki said:

I don't want to be proven right or wrong, I just want everyone to be able to interact with this executable in the way they are accustomed to doing so.  Some people can't have a good time unless they're actively shitting on someone else while doing it, and, unfortunately, that's the community the devs seem most interested in cultivating. 

 

^ Best quote ever about this game, the folks running it and these forums. It's 100% spot on and I'd upvote it more if I could.  All this pissing about and worrying about what's "good for the game" that's 18+ years on and still standing instead of just providing the platform people are clearly enjoying as is.

 

Thank you for that and glad to see there's sensible people out there who call it like they see it.

[Parabola]

The really interesting experiment would be if the ae farming community was sectioned off onto a different server with a completely isolated instance of the market*. The influence farming has on the market gets bandied around as both a reason to restrict farming and a reason to allow it - I would love to be able to actually run the experiment.

 

* I know this is probably not technically possible.

[Without_Pause]

I don't see there being an advantage to a farming server. There would be no real perk for farming there as one could simply transfer elsewhere once they were done being farmed or farming themselves. Plus, I dual box farms. Why do I need to be encouraged to move to a separate server so I can still farm by myself?

[Rahabina]

On 6/27/2022 at 7:02 AM, The_Warpact said:

Think its a ghost town now on some servers? Take XP away and see what happens. 

 

AE farming is a necessary evil, it helps the market and brings in a population of players.

I don’t get to play as much as my VGmates so yesterday I pl'd a toon up to 27 so I could play next weekend with them on their days that they play.

This is just an example, if I didn't have access to AE then I wouldn't play at all. 

I agree, if they took XP from AE a lot of people would quit

[biostem]

On 7/18/2022 at 10:32 AM, Parabola said:

The really interesting experiment would be if the ae farming community was sectioned off onto a different server with a completely isolated instance of the market*. The influence farming has on the market gets bandied around as both a reason to restrict farming and a reason to allow it - I would love to be able to actually run the experiment.

You'd also have to eliminate the ability to transfer off of that server to another, as well as eliminating emailing inf & items from there.  Either way, all you'd do is have people resort of pre-AE methods of farming - folks ain't dumb.

[Monty Haull]

In regards to the original question.  Yes, I would still play if AE was nuked. 
I am a famer.  I multi-box 3 accounts.  I PL alts.  I PL others.  I don't need to farm.  I have more INF than I could ever spend.  I farm because it quick and easy to accumulate INF and IOs. 

Do you know what else I do?  I market. 
I made more INF marketing than I ever did farming.  Farming gave me the seeding INF but, marketing took INF to the stratosphere. 

Guess what?  I have a badger too. 
Yes, I run around playing the game just to collect badges. 

I also just play the game.  I played on live for years.  There are some many times you can run thought content before you are like, just go to 50 and see what this toon can do.

I do not see how farming emp merits are causing a problem in the game.  I only recently retired one famer just do that and I found that it was not worth the time.  I would rather play the game than PL a farmer to 50+ just to farm emp.  

Those who think AE farming and PL is hurting the game, I disagree.  I think it helps keep AH prices in check and below the seeded AH prices set by the DEVs.  Remember AH on live? 
I also dump a lot of farming loot into AH for less than the buy now price just to free up inventory.

In Tarzan speak:  "Me farm, farm good, farm help AH.  Farm not hurt anyone.  Farm gone?  Me play game, me play game anyway."
In Zathras speak: " Zathras farms, you should farm too.  Zathras told them but they didn't listen.  Treat Zathras like beast of burden.  Zathras once farmed too much and broke continuum.  Now Zathras will go be with the one."

 

[Neuronia]

I use AE almost exclusively to level.
Get to 50 i n 3-4 hours, then slot up, do my +HP accolades villainside.
Removing XP from AE wouldn't really change much, I'd just run farming content redside mostly and invite my friends instead of offering open farm groups on Excelsior. I think that would be a net negative since fewer people would be getting their builds to 50 and fewer people to 50 means less raiding, high-level content and so on.

You can always turn XP off to do story arc content, I've done so plenty of times.

So, I guess I'd use AE very little of XP was nuked.

Edited July 23, 2022 by Neuronia

[Parabola]

22 hours ago, biostem said:

You'd also have to eliminate the ability to transfer off of that server to another, as well as eliminating emailing inf & items from there.  Either way, all you'd do is have people resort of pre-AE methods of farming - folks ain't dumb.

Yes indeed, you'd have to completely isolate the farmers. It wasn't a serious suggestion - just that it would be interesting to do so we could really see what would happen to the market.