Devs, please explain why you are nerfing one of the most popular activities on Homecoming

[JasperStone]

3 hours ago, momentarygrace said:

 

Not tasting that rainbow

[Uruare]

I like active farming.  I never got into AFK farming because I was rarely farming purely for maximum resources, but I certainly like having resources with which to pay for new toons and their builds.   Beyond that, I care nothing for INF or merits or anything comparable.    

Every time something changes with farming, it's always a nerf that makes it take more Time to get the same stuff as prior.    There's nothing about that to make me pleased about such changes.   I like lots of other changes that get made in general, but it's never a happy thing to see that it's going to take even more time to get the things now.   100% do not like that.  

That said, it's not my server.  I don't make any of the rules.  If I did, I'd be handling all things economy-related a whole lot differently, but eh.     C'est la vie.

 

Personally, I don't play much anymore. I farm very little because I accumulated so many resources long ago that, because I don't play much anymore, I don't have tons of toons to outfit and I've got nothing to spend it all on.    I plink around and enjoy the game as it is, but I used to be able to earn 8-11m per run of a farm map and now I'm lucky if I make 4m after selling the standard junk that drops.  

Feels bad man.   Farming hasn't objectively been ruined, but it feels like I'm perfectly welcome to spend the same Time to get far less for bothering.    That domino fell and knocked over my motivation to make new characters.  I don't wanna spend twice as much time as before to outfit new toons.   Time cost got too high; stops being fun when it starts to feel like work.

And so I stopped almost completely and I've just been coasting on my billions ever since, which has been easy because I haven't leveled anything new since the 0XP/2xINF toggle got removed.    I already had all the 50's I actually wanted anyway.    I very much enjoyed playing with builds and build-testing for various use cases, but eh.   I've got a busy life and no shortage of things I very much enjoy doing that are completely outside of CoX too.    

As said long ago, none of these farm nerfs have destroyed the game somehow.  None of them were wild or crazy changes that blew a load-bearing wall out in some fashion; not even close.    But, they changed the recipe of my favorite food here.   Tastes completely inferior to what it used to be.    I liked a lot of things on the menu, but now My Favorite Thing tastes like the equivalent of gas station sushi.

Are you happy with that? Do you think that's great?  If so, that's nice.  

There's nothing objectively wrong here.   It's just that I used to be able to get this super tasty sushi here and I'd sometimes sneak on over here when I should've been doing other things to have a quick bite just because I enjoyed it so much.    The recipe changed though.  I don't like it because I remember when it tasted a lot better and, as much as I'm certain that a newer player wouldn't have any reason to start farming and think its been gutted, ignorance is bliss as they say.

Across my accounts, I've got something like 800ish billion INF.  I never spent nearly as much as I made on builds and I'll never spend all of that on anything.

It was never about the INF for me.  I've had more than I'll ever need for a long time.     I don't need more and getting less nowadays is in no way objectively problematic for me.

I feel like I've been gently told that I'm having fun wrong and that I'm tolerated here but not exactly welcome.   I feel like my favorite casual activity in CoX is regarded as a borderline exploit that will persistently and ceaselessly be alienated.    I find it increasingly difficult not to feel like the general consensus of the devs and the majority playerbase is that my kind will be uncomfortably tolerated to a point, but that we would do well to be out of this town after dark if we know what's good for us.

I was never the kind of gal that liked to be where I wasn't wanted.  It's such an ugly feeling.

 

[Zect]

I find it hard to believe the people crying "woe, woe be to the farmer" are using words like persistently and ceaselessly alienated. This is what I mean when I talk about an entitled victim complex. Imagine if people who did TF's on live claimed to be persistently and ceaselessly alienated every time merits from TF's got balanced.
 

Let's take a more objective look at farming by looking at the many buffs, direct and indirect, that AE farming has received over the years:

• Addition of normal inf and loot drops even in non-dev's choice missions
  • This is the big one. AE farming dramatically outperforms everything that's not a marketeer or a very good hardmode TF speedrunning team for making money, while requiring far less investment and effort than either.
• Addition of incarnate xp
• New farming maps
• Powerful new powersets to farm with (modern builds make fire/kin trollers on Live look feeble)
• Powerful new IO sets to farm with (you would need some very wonky build decisions to get softcapped to F/C on live without winter IO's)
• Numerous gameplay changes, such as the PPM system and resist IO set bonuses, that benefit many builds, but farming builds most of all
• Free multiboxing to increase farming efficiency, especially AFK farming

If your point of comparison is live, as it should be, farming has been massively buffed. It just turned out that the buffs went a little too far in a handful of cases, and had to be dialed back slightly. If you still feel persecuted, it's probably a sign that you should peek out of the AE building sometime, and take a look at the big picture.

[Akalabeth]

Farming was nerfed on live too. 😛  First they removed the xp from Regen critters who rezzed and then they significantly reduced the amount of tickets you could get in a map before reset.

[Akalabeth]

I didn't read the whole thread, sorry.  It seemed to be mostly pics and taunting.

 

I adjusted my builds and changed which maps I do and still have fun and with the aggro range now, I am faster than before.  That said, I would have even faster results that I wanted if they hadn't reduced xp gains.

[Etched]

I ran my fire/fire brute yesterday helping a friend gains some lvls. Since everyone on here was complaining about the fire farms I decided to run a S/L mish instead and use those buffs that people are claiming to be a nerf to my advantage. I had no issues with max aggro. I lost health but i did that with a standard fire farm. Regardless, I cleared the map fairly quick with less stress about being debuffed.

[Uruare]

10 hours ago, Zect said:

I find it hard to believe the people crying "woe, woe be to the farmer" are using words like persistently and ceaselessly alienated. This is what I mean when I talk about an entitled victim complex. Imagine if people who did TF's on live claimed to be persistently and ceaselessly alienated every time merits from TF's got balanced.
 

Let's take a more objective look at farming by looking at the many buffs, direct and indirect, that AE farming has received over the years:

• Addition of normal inf and loot drops even in non-dev's choice missions
  • This is the big one. AE farming dramatically outperforms everything that's not a marketeer or a very good hardmode TF speedrunning team for making money, while requiring far less investment and effort than either.
• Addition of incarnate xp
• New farming maps
• Powerful new powersets to farm with (modern builds make fire/kin trollers on Live look feeble)
• Powerful new IO sets to farm with (you would need some very wonky build decisions to get softcapped to F/C on live without winter IO's)
• Numerous gameplay changes, such as the PPM system and resist IO set bonuses, that benefit many builds, but farming builds most of all
• Free multiboxing to increase farming efficiency, especially AFK farming

If your point of comparison is live, as it should be, farming has been massively buffed. It just turned out that the buffs went a little too far in a handful of cases, and had to be dialed back slightly. If you still feel persecuted, it's probably a sign that you should peek out of the AE building sometime, and take a look at the big picture.

Did you miss all the parts where I said that it was how I feel, not how it objectively is?   

And also the parts where I specifically stated that there's nothing objectively wrong here?

Flew right by those, eh.   You were so eager to attack that I suspect you didn't read much of anything beyond the words you didn't like.

It's ok.  I've got very thick skin and I know how it is when one is so fixated on winning that they run the ball into their own endzone.  

That said, I can't apologize for how I feel because I'd just be lying if I did.  I can say how I feel and what I think.  

I don't think you're going to get a lot of mileage out of running any kind of campaign with 'Bad ol' Uruare over here feels some way I don't like and isn't that just terrible' though.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Uruare

[Doc_Scorpion]

Protip:  If you don't want to have your feelings discussed, don't enter them into the discussion.  Also don't keep repeatedly using your feelings to buttress your points.  And especially don't make your concluding/summary paragraphs about your feelings.

If you make your post about your feelings, that's what people are going to discuss.

You can't have it both ways.

Edited November 9, 2022 by Doc_Scorpion

[ivanhedgehog]

13 hours ago, Zect said:

I find it hard to believe the people crying "woe, woe be to the farmer" are using words like persistently and ceaselessly alienated. This is what I mean when I talk about an entitled victim complex. Imagine if people who did TF's on live claimed to be persistently and ceaselessly alienated every time merits from TF's got balanced.
 

Let's take a more objective look at farming by looking at the many buffs, direct and indirect, that AE farming has received over the years:

• Addition of normal inf and loot drops even in non-dev's choice missions
  • This is the big one. AE farming dramatically outperforms everything that's not a marketeer or a very good hardmode TF speedrunning team for making money, while requiring far less investment and effort than either.
• Addition of incarnate xp
• New farming maps
• Powerful new powersets to farm with (modern builds make fire/kin trollers on Live look feeble)
• Powerful new IO sets to farm with (you would need some very wonky build decisions to get softcapped to F/C on live without winter IO's)
• Numerous gameplay changes, such as the PPM system and resist IO set bonuses, that benefit many builds, but farming builds most of all
• Free multiboxing to increase farming efficiency, especially AFK farming

If your point of comparison is live, as it should be, farming has been massively buffed. It just turned out that the buffs went a little too far in a handful of cases, and had to be dialed back slightly. If you still feel persecuted, it's probably a sign that you should peek out of the AE building sometime, and take a look at the big picture.

The same toxic bs that makes this community shine. What a winner.

[lemming]

I find less sympathy for the farmer when they mention they've already made many billions of influence, but now it's just not profitable.  I've been playing for the last 3 years with 100 alts, but not working toward making influence.   Yea, there's a definite imbalance in which ways make the most inf.

[MoonSheep]

11 hours ago, ivanhedgehog said:

The same toxic bs that makes this community shine. What a winner.

 

not agreeing with someones viewpoint doesn’t make the content “toxic” ivan

 

i disagree with your farming view but don’t think your contributions are toxic, or hostile etc. people can have different viewpoints and coexist on the forum

 

the matter is described by some as a forum wide war, when really its a handful of threads where people go to have an argument for a laugh, like a pub of drunken sailors

Edited November 9, 2022 by MoonSheep

[Luminara]

Yar.

[battlewraith]

1 hour ago, MoonSheep said:

the matter is described by some as a forum wide war, when really its a handful of threads where people go to have an argument for a laugh, like a pub of drunken sailors

 

Well if you're one of those drunken sailors then they're probably a great bunch. If you're not, then they may reasonably come across as assholes, particularly if you have to argue with them and shout over them every time you try to order a drink.

 

 

[MistressOhm]

So here's my take on the "feelings" posed by a couple of farmers:

 

"I used to be able to make billions just doing the AFK thing, now I can't, and it's not fun anymore".   This was never designed to be an AFK game, but there are AFK games out there that you might enjoy, if that's what you like to do.   I'm glad this was never a grindfest, and actually catered to casuals since I am one, but at the same time, I don't believe that INF and resources should ever be bestowed in bulk as a participation trophy for showing up.  And essentially, that's what AFK farming IS, at the core of things.  You log in, enter an instance, set a power to automatic, and do your RL thing while the game throws mobs at your idle character.  While that might be a legit strategy, I don't see that it should ever be the predominant way to gain resources - if you're not interactively playing, you shouldn't reap more rewards than those who are interactively playing.   Day Jobs are the reward for showing up and simply hanging out in one spot, as specific buffs and minor abilities that are associated with a location.  They help with the gameplay but don't break the game.

 

"I farm very little because I accumulated so many resources long ago that, because I don't play much anymore, I don't have tons of toons to outfit and I've got nothing to spend it all on."  This is what happens when you farm excessively, exclusively for farming's sake.  You got SO much stuff so quickly that you honestly can't use it all, and aside from more farming, you don't really play the rest of the game that much.  Face it, you're BORED with the system you yourself set up, and now that the system doesn't flood you with stuff like it did before, the only reason you did something boring is now diminished.  It's not the dev's fault you're in this spot, but your method of play was (and is) rather narrowly defined, and that's what got you.  While you may feel this was a personal attempt to 'gimp' you, it's simply balance.  The same will be said of those folks messing around with wallstreetbets - they're 'gaming' the system, and when the system gets changed to curtail their activity, they'll whine, but then they'll figure something else out.  So, figure something else out.  

 

"This tastes different and I don't like it anymore."  So someone gorged on the buffet in the past, and now the portions are smaller and the cost (sunk Time) higher.   If my experience with casino buffets pre and post Covid are any comparison, maybe that buffet line isn't the best choice anymore?  The comparison is apt - buffets used to be cheap (and comped to nearly everyone who played) so the quality of the food wasn't always that big a deal.  But now they're expensive, and you have to gamble a lot more to earn a comp... so given the choice, I'd rather spend my $20 comp on a pizza made to my specifications, than spending twice that on a few plates of watery wilted salad, crappy orange chicken and bland steamed rice, and a small plate of tiramisu that tastes like it came out of a freezer box with the words "Sara Lee" on it.  Likewise, if farming doesn't give a player the endorphin rush that it did, because it's harder, takes longer, or doesn't reward as much, then that player needs to decide if it's worth it to them to continue. 

 

As @Doc_Scorpion pointed out above, these quoted feelings are on the table because (and ONLY because) they were brought up as points to the discussion.  That makes them fair game.  I'm not going to say they aren't valid... but I'm also not going to prop them up if I think they're unreasonable or entitled.  

 

[Neiska]

And here's my take on things, quite likely an unpopular opinion - 

 

"But X is more/less than Y, and Y was such and such way on live" - Bit of a moot point, seeing that the game went through multiple changes before even HC took the wheel. Moreover, which part of live is this in reference to? As even the final few changes people were disputing. And this isn't remarking upon the fact that A.) Those people who made the decisions on live, have zero input on how HC is ran (to the extent of my knowledge) and B.) This is a different ship, with a different crew, and a different voyage. What was done on Live, or what the original Devs wanted or said is largely irrelevant.

 

"But it's for the good of such and such" - Indeed? And good for who? For you? For me? For the community? The Market? Let's not pretend for an instant that changes have been improvements for everyone across the board, as that would be intellectually dishonest, to start. Secondly, even if we took just the forums as a sampling example, (which I hope we would all agree that forum users are the minority of the player base) it would be plainly obvious that not everyone agrees on what is "good" and for "whom" as well as "what." Even if we assumed that all non-forum users agreed 100% without exception, that would still leave the users here against whatever the point of contest is. In summary, any claims of "good" or "better" and that the players all think in such a manner is pretty questionable.

 

"The players asked for X" - Also moot. Players have asked for many things. I suspect that there are more things that were asked for that have not been added or implemented than those that were. I am not saying it is a good or bad thing mind you, only that stating that a small section of a minority of the player base asked for a particular feature is also irrelevant, given that it's likely that those people are a small part of an already small part of the player base, its just as likely that just as many people were unaware that a change or feature was going to take place until it actually happened.

 

As far as farming itself? I suspect the argument is more complex. Some people like to focus on themselves and their own methods, goals, and aims. And care little for what other people do or what they achieve. Other people feel a compulsion to compare themselves to other people, to create a competition if you will. "X players have more money/levels/whatever than me. It's not fair!" As if there was a race to be won, a trophy to win, or a prize to be awarded. Which by logic stands to reason that those people care more about Controlling others than they do about any sense of balance. And I speak not just of the game itself here, I am reflecting on the different attitudes and mentalities.

 

To summarize - 

Some people compare themselves to others to measure their own achievements.

Others like myself, compare themselves to themselves and where they used to be or where they once were to gauge their success.

 

For those in the first group, I suspect many of the changes made sense. But for those in the second, where we find ourselves having lost ground, be it INF, EXP, vet levels, alts, or just plain simple enjoyment, we lost more than we have gained. And thus the conundrum and arguments. No matter your reasoning or logic, you cannot put pen to paper and show me unequivocally that I am in a better place now than I was a year ago, for you cannot say that that is, only I can.

 

Which this will lead to one of two outcomes -

1. Either a larger population enjoying a shared space, each group or side doing their own thing.

 

But I think it far more likely that - 

2. A smaller population of entirely similar minded people all enjoying the same activities, and those that disagreed or felt differently reached a point where there were simply better options.

 

Take from that what you will.

 

The dislike button is down below. I expect the same usual suspects.

[battlewraith]

1 hour ago, Neiska said:

Some people compare themselves to others to measure their own achievements.

Others like myself, compare themselves to themselves and where they used to be or where they once were to gauge their success.

 

 

Yeah this pretty much hits the nail on the head. Particularly when looking at a statement like this:

 

1 hour ago, MistressOhm said:

I don't believe that INF and resources should ever be bestowed in bulk as a participation trophy for showing up.

 

This is hilarious to me because there is literally no trophy in this game that has any significance to me as a player. I don't care about other people's badges, how many 50s they have, how many merits they've accumulated, etc. Resources to me are essentially the cost of doing business. I'm pursuing some interest or creative endeavor and due to the game mechanics, there is a certain amount of grind thrown my way as a tax to pursue that interest. It's in my interest to minimize that tax so that I spend as much time in the game doing the things I actually enjoy doing. Unfortunately, there is a large contingent of the community that view their achievements relative to what other people are doing. They feel it is in their interest to keep this tax higher to protect the subjective value of their "earnings."  I guess I can understand this mentality intellectually but can't relate to it at all. If an activity is fun--that should be the reward. If other people have the option to skip tedious content or get phat loot--and this destroys your fun--then the activity in question must not be all that.

[MistressOhm]

@Neiska I don't think you're off base at all.  It IS a disparate group (not desperate, yet!) and as such we all have differing ways we prefer to play.  

 

And that's what this comes down to, play.  This isn't a job.  No one is requiring us to log in 8 hours a day, other than perhaps ourselves.  If it's not fun, however we each define 'fun', then there's not much reason to engage.  

 

As for Dev motivations... I have no idea, we'd need a Dev to weigh in, specifically on that question.  We did get a note that said "Hey we figured out the math was wrong on the XP Boosts and fixed it" along with a rather simple explanation as to how it was wrong.   The fact that it went unnoticed for such a long time? That probably makes the change sting a bit more, because we'd all gotten used to it being wrong and accepted that as normal. 

 

I -try- not to compare myself to others, because let's face it, I'm weird, I know there's not many others that I could even remotely draw comparisons to.  (That might be true for a lot of us, but only self-reflection will expose that, it can't be declared from without.)  There are times that I get -jealous- of someone multiboxing and running farms to get a 50 in a few hours, whereas it takes me months to get there slogging solo thru the game content.  But then I remember, multiboxing requires planning and resources that either I don't have, or don't know how to leverage, so there's more to it than what the results tell you.   I admit to getting a large spike of satisfaction when I've automated a job to where what used to take weeks now only takes an hour.  The results validate the weeks of time I may have spent working out the process, dodging criticism from others how "it'll never work" or "we don't have time for this, we have things that need doing."  So I get it.  But, that was to make a job easier and to free up time for more ... productive use.  My 'play' isn't in the automation sphere, much. 

 

Will these changes chase off the farmers?  I doubt it.  Yeah, the process isn't -as- efficient as it once was.  But it's not completely kiboshed, either.  So, there's that.  

 

If the Devs decided "in order to save up memory requirements per character, we're shortening the Bio panel to a URL" I'd probably go 'whaa?' because while I understand that server resources management is a thing, there's no plausible explanation why that would be NEEDED with as small of a playerbase as HC has (nevermind how many people are running around with blank bios).  It would be ... arbitrary.  And maybe that's why the farming people are upset, it feels arbitrary to them.  

 

Quote

This is hilarious to me because there is literally no trophy in this game that has any significance to me as a player. I don't care about other people's badges, how many 50s they have, how many merits they've accumulated, etc. Resources to me are essentially the cost of doing business. I'm pursuing some interest or creative endeavor and due to the game mechanics, there is a certain amount of grind thrown my way as a tax to pursue that interest. It's in my interest to minimize that tax so that I spend as much time in the game doing the things I actually enjoy doing. Unfortunately, there is a large contingent of the community that view their achievements relative to what other people are doing. They feel it is in their interest to keep this tax higher to protect the subjective value of their "earnings."  I guess I can understand this mentality intellectually but can't relate to it at all. If an activity is fun--that should be the reward. If other people have the option to skip tedious content or get phat loot--and this destroys your fun--then the activity in question must not be all that.

 

@battlewraith  Fair point!  I'm still thinking of this as a structured game, with a set of rules.  There's something about 'coasting' that bugs me personally, not because it affects me all that directly other than perhaps the economics of the system (a whole new rhubarb to get into!) but because it seems to break or at least bend those rules.  I like structure.  And structure that gets bypassed is... annoying?  I don't know.  Maybe I'm borderline OCD that way.   But your point stands - it SHOULDN'T be that big of an issue.  

Edited November 9, 2022 by MistressOhm

[Neiska]

2 minutes ago, MistressOhm said:

As for Dev motivations... I have no idea, we'd need a Dev to weigh in, specifically on that question.  We did get a note that said "Hey we figured out the math was wrong on the XP Boosts and fixed it" along with a rather simple explanation as to how it was wrong.   The fact that it went unnoticed for such a long time? That probably makes the change sting a bit more, because we'd all gotten used to it being wrong and accepted that as normal. 

 

Personally, I never had issues with that. But I did find the timing highly suspect. Particularly they were discussing options such as removing EMP merits from the AE at relatively the same brief time period. Which from the farmers point of view, does little to address "we aren't after the farmers, really" concerns.

 

2 minutes ago, MistressOhm said:

Will these changes chase off the farmers?  I doubt it.  Yeah, the process isn't -as- efficient as it once was.  But it's not completely kiboshed, either.  So, there's that.  

 

I beg to differ. If you were to spend any great amount of time in the AE and observe to say, what it was like a year ago, or even less time, you might take note of a very different environment. There "are" less farmers now. Both in game, here on the forums, and in the discord, as well as the "farming discords. "But I also suspect that was the aim all along at least for some. And anytime someone points it out its a shrug of the shoulders in reply, with the statement of "people move on." Well, yes, certainly. But to insinuate that the farming changes didn't contribute to that is just absurd. But I also suspect that since they wanted less farming, they pay that little heed. And in some corners since the hardcore farmers were undesirable in the community to begin with, their leaving is no great loss and is actually something to be celebrated. 

 

Speaking personally? Some people like to say this community isn't toxic. I disagree. Strongly. I have played many MMOs and online games, from WoW, to Diablo, Guild Wars, Vanguard, etc. And in some ways, this one is worse than all of them. But not in regards to drama, bickering, or forum PVP. But never before in any game have I been asked to validate my RL handicap, and this includes my time in a top end raiding guild. Over a decade of online interaction with other people in video games, and that has only happened to me here. And that really should speak volumes. And this isn't even touching things like the political messaging in the past or actual "toxicity."

 

And yes, there is a growing "Us vs Them" here, even if the "Them" has become silent, or quieter, doesn't mean they aren't there. According to some, they aren't heard or had their concerns addressed anyway, so why bother? 

 

Food for thought.

[battlewraith]

1 hour ago, MistressOhm said:

Fair point!  I'm still thinking of this as a structured game, with a set of rules.  There's something about 'coasting' that bugs me personally, not because it affects me all that directly other than perhaps the economics of the system (a whole new rhubarb to get into!) but because it seems to break or at least bend those rules.  I like structure.  And structure that gets bypassed is... annoying?  I don't know.  Maybe I'm borderline OCD that way.   But your point stands - it SHOULDN'T be that big of an issue.

 

I've often wondered about this game community, and the active forum community in particular, if there's a high representation of people in technical fields and/or engineering pursuits where rulesets and application of established principles are very significant. Maybe moreso than other MMOs.

[lemming]

12 minutes ago, Neiska said:

Personally, I never had issues with that. But I did find the timing highly suspect. Particularly they were discussing options such as removing EMP merits from the AE at relatively the same brief time period. Which from the farmers point of view, does little to address "we aren't after the farmers, really" concerns.

My guess is, they were working in the same general area of code with testing.

[Neiska]

28 minutes ago, lemming said:

My guess is, they were working in the same general area of code with testing.

 

Most likely, but in hindsight it might have been better for them to spread it out instead of all at once. Or at least announce it and let people brace for it, instead of all at once. But that is just me musing.

[Akalabeth]

Is it honestly the farming that people do that bugs the non-farmers?  Or is it the messages in LFG like "lf ae farm pls" all day long?

 

Because I'm quiet and don't bother or say anything when I log onto my farmer and go in so I'm not sure why anyone cares.  If it's the economy people are upset about, well... take a look at the gougers/resellers/hoarders etc too then.

Edited November 9, 2022 by Akalabeth

[Doc_Scorpion]

21 minutes ago, Akalabeth said:

If it's the economy people are upset about, well... take a look at the gougers/resellers/hoarders etc too then.

Why?  I mean seriously, why?  None of those groups have the potential to damage the economy or tilt the balance of gameplay that farming does.  There's no possible economic argument for taking a look at them.

[MistressOhm]

24 minutes ago, Akalabeth said:

Is it honestly the farming that people do that bugs the non-farmers?  Or is it the messages in LFG like "lf ae farm pls" all day long?

 

Because I'm quiet and don't bother or say anything when I log onto my farmer and go in so I'm not sure why anyone cares.  If it's the economy people are upset about, well... take a look at the gougers/resellers/hoarders etc too then.

 

Thankfully there's not a lot of 'farm' chat in Everlasting's LFG.  Sometimes you see it, but honestly, I see more promos for parties in various bases than I do farms advertising for spots.   So no, that's not it.

 

Mostly, it's the economic portion of things.  And yes, I know, this isn't Real Life and there's room for me to participate without edging anyone else out, so there is Absolutely No Reason Whatsoever to feel left behind if someone can make billions of inf in an hour whereas I struggle to clear a few hundred thousand. 

 

I think my main hangup (and yes it is a hangup!) is that it seems to be exploiting the system, to the point where "everyone does it" and if you don't farm, you're a shitty player for not properly financing yourself.  

[Akalabeth]

So basically... you're upset because you aren't rich like some farmers and want to stop them from having a lot influence cause you don't?  You want everyone else to grind like you to make it "fair" instead of doing what they do?

 

Also... it's kinda odd that anyone would think merchers don't have significant economic power.

 

I don't get it. 😞