There will inevitably be a quest where someone had a package stolen and a specific mob type has the quest item. What system do you prefer, having the mob spawn be rare or having the mob drop be rare?
I'm not talking about getting bear meat here. I think we all agree those drops should be 100%.
If it's something like "some orc stole my pacakage, go find it!" then I'll be killing random orcs and the drop should be rare.
If it's more like "This one specific orc with a tattoo on his shoulder and a scar over his left eye stole my package" then the spawn should be rare and the drop should be common.
Sorry, my answer is "both" hehe
Ranarius said:If it's something like "some orc stole my pacakage, go find it!" then I'll be killing random orcs and the drop should be rare.
If it's more like "This one specific orc with a tattoo on his shoulder and a scar over his left eye stole my package" then the spawn should be rare and the drop should be common.
Sorry, my answer is "both" hehe
Haha, I 100% agree with your examples too! But which is more annoying for you? I think in general I rather kill the right mobs until I get the drop. When it's a rare spawn it drives me crazy with thoughts like "am I in the right spot?" "is it somewhere else I'm missing?" "did someone recently kill it and I just missed it?" "omg, we need to find 5 more for the other group members!?"
My only request is for both of these to not be combined. Rare drops I can mindlessly farm. Rare spawns are annoying for me to hunt, but should have 100% drop. Rare drop on a rare spawn for a quest item? *insert meme of guy throwing computer out of the window*
To what Ranarius said, it really must fit the situation. Both options, rare spawn or rare drop, are valid choices but which choice should fit the situation. What I never want to see is them both applied simultaneously which is something EQ1 loved to throw at us. Heck, I dont even mind when that rare spawn can appear in various locations as that means I can at least pick an area where he could appear and work to getting it to spawn while someone else is working another area and we both have a chance to get the spawn.
Not much in this thread that I do *not* agree with.
In general I prefer a rare drop to a rare spawn. A rare spawn can be enormously frustrating when camped by others especially if they are much higher level than the mobs are and have a huge advantage getting to and killing the spawn even when its location is random so they cannot just wait where it spawns. Plus if the respawn timer is too long - as tended to be the case in a certain game I need not mention - if one logged in and saw the spawn killed one might as well either abandon the quest and move on or log off and play something else. Much like the much hated quests that can only be done at a certain time of day if you logged on at the wrong time of day.
Ranarius said:...if one logged in and saw the spawn killed one might as well either abandon the quest and move on or log off and play something else...
Eh, those aren't the options I'd choose. I'd go do something else in Pantheon and come back agian later to check on the spawn.
So would I in most MMOs. But if traveling was very slow and there weren't quest hubs with a lot of quests in one place - I would most likely just leave this quest for the next character of mine to pass through. Unless I had a strong reason to just camp the character for an hour or two and do something else with another character. For example if the quest in question led to another quest that I wanted to do or had a reward I particularly wanted.
I don't see the purpose of disliking the more difficult quests unless the reward is the same as the easy quests.
A bandit stole x item please retrieve it! vs The bandit leader has x item please retrieve it (from their room at the back of a dungeon) vs The bandit leader has x item (on their person). Each quest has its place in an MMO for sure and the difficulty ramps up on each option so the reward should as well.
If Pantheon's leveling process is slow paced as promised the prospect of simply skipping the quest and outleveling a quality reward becomes more absurd. If you are going to spend 20 hours in a dungeon it shouldn't matter you can't get the quest done in your first attempt.
I worry about Pantheon as an MMO without 24/7 instant gratification sometimes. Quitting the game because a quest target hadn't spawned sounds entirely believable given the current state of gaming. I waited 10 minutes, this is unacceptable!
Jobeson said:If Pantheon's leveling process is slow paced as promised the prospect of simply skipping the quest and outleveling a quality reward becomes more absurd. If you are going to spend 20 hours in a dungeon it shouldn't matter you can't get the quest done in your first attempt.
I worry about Pantheon as an MMO without 24/7 instant gratification sometimes. Quitting the game because a quest target hadn't spawned sounds entirely believable given the current state of gaming. I waited 10 minutes, this is unacceptable!
This isn't a matter of time investment vs instant gratification. Either path can take 20 hours of farming. It's more a preference of how you feel during those 20 hours.
I think we're going to see both styles of quests and that's okay. I, personally, think that the 20 hours of hunting a rare spawn for a quest item is more stressful and frustrating than repeatedly killing a mob for 20 hours for that drop. Otherwise may really enjoy the hunt and satisfaction of finally finding that rare spawn instead of repeatedly killing a certain mob. Neither is right or wrong or problematic in any way.
As for the quitting, you're absolutely right. Many will quit Pantheon for a number of reasons. Those same reasons may be why others stay. I try not to worry about things like that.
Jobeson said:I don't see the purpose of disliking the more difficult quests unless the reward is the same as the easy quests.
A bandit stole x item please retrieve it! vs The bandit leader has x item please retrieve it (from their room at the back of a dungeon) vs The bandit leader has x item (on their person). Each quest has its place in an MMO for sure and the difficulty ramps up on each option so the reward should as well.
If Pantheon's leveling process is slow paced as promised the prospect of simply skipping the quest and outleveling a quality reward becomes more absurd. If you are going to spend 20 hours in a dungeon it shouldn't matter you can't get the quest done in your first attempt.
I worry about Pantheon as an MMO without 24/7 instant gratification sometimes. Quitting the game because a quest target hadn't spawned sounds entirely believable given the current state of gaming. I waited 10 minutes, this is unacceptable!
Feastycentral said: What system do you prefer, having the mob spawn be rare or having the mob drop be rare?
While I agree that both of those are appropriate for specific situations, I'm in the group that prefers knowing I'm in the right place at the right time because the mob I'm looking for keeps spawning and I/we keep killing him. I'm logical enough that I don't have trouble accepting that a RNG can mean (to use a metaphore) that I flip a coin 50 times and it comes up tails every time. But when it's my first time doing a particular quest and I wait a long time and the mob in question never spawns, I fall prey to endless doubts that maybe I followed the clues wrong and am in the wrong place. (Or worse, somehow missed an important step in the quest and failed to get the flag neccessary to make him spawn.)
As a totally separate reason, killing the same mob repeatedly has the benefit of looting that mob repeatedly. Especially in a new game - or new area/level of a game - I find it quite interesting to see the range of drops I can get from one mob. And at the same time I'm grinding loot for income, with the possibility of a jackpot!
Tigersin said: Speaking only for myself, my gratification will be getting to know people on my server.
Totally agree with this.
Neither of those options sounds fun, but generally "rare drop" is better than "rare spawn" because at least I'm doing something.
I would prefer something more interesting.
Counterfleche said:Neither of those options sounds fun, but generally "rare drop" is better than "rare spawn" because at least I'm doing something.
I would prefer something more interesting.
- Stolen package is in transit and you need to rush to intercept it before it get to enemy encampment. Various places along the route will be more advantageous (no enemy allies nearby), so try to pick a good spot. But don't wait too long, because the encampment is much harder.
- Stolen package is in wagon / fort /etc. Distract guards and someone needs to sneak in and replace it with a fake package.
- Package is a fake and NPC who stole it will soon discover this and return. If you try to fight NPC in the wrong place, it will call nearby mobs as reinforcements. You must either find a good location to ambush and defeat the NPC away from nearby mobs, or quickly clear them out before NPC returns.
- Charm / subdue an enemy with knowledge of the location, but be careful because some will lie, so you might want to capture a few to make sure you're not being lead into a trap.
Those are great ideas for fun quests!
Pantheon will likely have hundreds, if not thousands, of quests. Maybe the latter more realisticly after an expansion or two. Hopefully we get to see a bit of all ideas with none being overused.
I think this is where Lore, No drop, and TLC come in. I dont mind rare drop for the following situations: I am a goody race and lo, how a rose e're blooming, as men of old have sung. Amid the cold of wi-nter when half spent(spent) was the night. And this rose is a quest item for a evil race, I cannot use it so I shout that someone might come and loot it- who is evil. I mean, how much steak can I eat? No drop or lore might not be so bad since I can loot it, but its worthles to me and maybe I can trade it. I cannot loot another because its lore. It would be nice if Lore items could ONLY be traded for lore items maybe a filter on trade window that for items tagged as lore, only another lore item can be input and traded in trade window, no objects, no coin, no gear- only something tagged as lore. Sure, this would allow some cheesing like a lore augment put on a tradeable piece of gear to make the gear lore to facilitate the trade , and then aug removed and coin traded outright as a seperate transaction but I think that could be worked around.
I would like the opportunity to stumble upon a rare drop and not have it wasted for someone else who has been struggling, or, forced to hang onto a rare quest item and manage that use of inventory space by accepting the inevitability of hoping I will run into another appropriate character that needs/can use it.
Flossie said:I prefer the rare spawn, it's got more of an exciting "wow" factor in my opinion. Rare drops become boring, quick.
Interesting how perspectives vary. To me it is the precise opposite - knowing that any pig can drop the amulet of swinehood keeps even the most routine porcine encounter interesting whereas if only Beatrice the Boaring dropped it I would snooze through encounters with any other porker.
dorotea said:Flossie said:I prefer the rare spawn, it's got more of an exciting "wow" factor in my opinion. Rare drops become boring, quick.
Interesting how perspectives vary. To me it is the precise opposite - knowing that any pig can drop the amulet of swinehood keeps even the most routine porcine encounter interesting whereas if only Beatrice the Boaring dropped it I would snooze through encounters with any other porker.
Especially since usually you have to kill a hundred piglets first to get a chance for Beatrice to spawn in most games.
