exploit? bug? as intended? 1.4 AA in 10 minFollow

I have been playing for 7 months and am a 70 necro. Yes I was P/Led early on and I jumped at the chance to make levels and aa's with the monster missions. I was never afk while getting the xp. Either I was there, or I was in hell camping some of the time-consuming, just-shoot-me-now-cause-my-brains-are-leaking-out-of-my-ears drops (like trying to get the Gleaming Zraxthil Ores from the Torgiran Mines or the Elaborate Hinge from PoI, or just sitting there killing mobs for faction). Do I consider it cheating... not after all the stuff I have put up with from SOE. What I really resent is people saying that you get people who don't know their class. I leveled from 68 to 70 using the missions. What tactic could I possibly have learned between the levels of 68 and 70 that I have not already learned from 1 to 68? I have discussed unheard of tactics with seasoned necros (like reverse charming). Now that I'm 70, I can comfortably group with some of my RL friends who have been playing for years.

To the person who started this thread... If you truly didn't feel like your toon's work/worth was not being devalued by what you perceived as cheating, you wouldn't have felt the need to snitch. I see people macroquesting and I don't say anything. If that's how they get their jollies, so be it. It is not up to me to make sure they follow the rules. It is not up to me to dictate how they should experience the game. I don't know what it's like in other countries, but in the US life is rife with accepted cheating especially in sports (stealing bases in Baseball for example). If it was something serious like somehow getting your name at the top of the transplant list then I could understand, but this is just a game. But if that's what you need to do to enjoy the game...

Edited, Mon Oct 24 13:30:01 2005 by vorpalswd
Everyone thinks the baseball comment is stupid so I take it back.

Edited, Mon Oct 24 15:20:36 2005 by vorpalswd

This is probably the stupidest arguement I've ever read and I read Shadowrelm's stuff in the Asylum.

Just an example people. There are a lot of things that go on in sports that are against the rules, but people try to and succeed in getting away with it... and it's considered a part of the game. Have you watched a Basketball game, a Hockey game, a Football game. If the referee doesn't see it, you just have to deal.

Edited, Mon Oct 24 13:53:21 2005 by vorpalswd

Stop right there.

You've played for 7 months.

I don't want to hear it.

makes me feel so good that my old-fashion-hard-earned 700+ AAs really means something nowadays...

May not be at gunpoint, but it is a required No Drop if you want your epic. There is no reason to make the spawn so time consuming. At least if it was hard to kill that would be one thing. you would have to come up with a better tactic, perhaps do other missions to get better gear, make friends to come with you... but the senseless waiting and fighting just to find out your item didn't drop... what is the point? What does that teach you? How can that possibly be fun?

Thought it meant there would always be another quest to do, not that each would take forever to do.

Going back to the cheating. Everquest is a program. It has rules. Unless you use other software like Macroquest or whatever to bypass the code, then you are bound by what the programmers put in place. Technically you are not cheating if you use the program as is. There is no difference between a bug and a line of code. If there is a bug that doens't allow you into a zone for x amount of hours, then you can't get in. It may not have been intentional but that is the "reality" of the everquest world at that time. If a mission gives 60% xp, that is the reality of the everquest world at that time. If the devs forget to put in the code that doesn't allow people to get xp if they are not in zone... do you know for a fact that this was unintentional. Like some people hinted it might have been a marketing ploy. I hear how they have made things easier all the time, but you don't seem to pick on those things. Making it easier to tradeskill for example. I know someone who has been playing for 6 years and he remembers all the hardships he had to endure to tradeskill just to have it become so easy after he had attained the max. How about adding portals, summoning corpses to Guildhall, adding maps, double xp potions, removal of boats, clarity potions? The game changes and we are at the mercy of the Devs.

Edited, Mon Oct 24 15:36:17 2005 by vorpalswd

I know what an epic is. I could understand if the mob was harder or if the epic had more steps to it. The camping of a mob that does not drop the item for days is pointless. Doesn't make the player better in any way, just frustrated. SOE is teaching us how to behave. Through the reward and punishment system, they are teaching us what is acceptable and what isn't and I don't think they realize just what it is they are teaching. Hell camps more often than not teach people who don't have the time, to find an alternative (like killing the mob with a pet while AFK). It seems more like a punishment if by "following the rules" you sit there for weeks because you only have 2 hours to play. Meanwhile you don't level, you don't gain a new skill, you don't progress (like PoP). You just vegetate. Not a smart move IMHO.

I've got a question for you purests out there. By purests I refer to people who don't sanction the buying of toons. I do agree that you are in jeopardy if you rely on someone who hasn't played for very long especially in a group, but how many of you would click off a buff from an ebayed toon? Seems like a buff or a heal whether it came from a toon with one owner or several will still save your life. I wouldn't advise a new EQer to buy a toon, but I can see someone who has been playing an Enchanter for example purchasing a Cleric, especially if the guild needs more. This person still has to learn the ins and outs of using a cleric, but already knows how to manage mana, keep an eye on others for buffs, the importance of not gaining agro...

Edited, Tue Oct 25 10:27:50 2005 by vorpalswd

Yes there is a lot of waiting in RL. And if EQ is trying to imitate RL then why the outrage at RL reactions. Given an obstacle, some people will be twarted. But the majority will find a way to go through it, around it, over it, under it... Just because you decided to scale the mountain, why are you upset with people who find a shortcut. You can use the shortcut too, but choose not to. That's fine, but to call attention to the shortcut for the sole purpose of depriving others of the benefits of their search or ingenuity or whatever is just mean-spirited. A lot of the quests and mob strategies include very specific steps that if not done in order or on time can result in failure. I don't see the difference between that and what you call an "exploit" (like the moving of no drop items). If it wasn't in the code it wouldn't be possible. Someone found it and benefitted from it. How many lines of code do you think EQ has? And if you have ever read the exploit it is very hard to fathom how someone could figure it out. I believe it was leaked to the public by the Devs themselves. Just like the best tickets for a concert always seem to wind up in the hands of scalpers.

Edited, Tue Oct 25 10:59:31 2005 by vorpalswd

Some of them are easy. Got to 220 in brewing in a few hours. Baking was a snap too. Tailoring and Blacksmithing are hard. Person I was refering to said he spent so long getting one tradeskill up just to have it changed so it was easier and the next tradeskills he wanted to work on got harder. My point was that a lot of EQ got easier, not just getting xp from monster missions. I can understand complaining about it, but condeming others for living in an easier world and taking full advantage of everything in that world is harsh. My mom comes from a different country. I'm not exagerating when I say she used to wash her clothes in the river. I can't get her to understand that I will never wash my clothes by hand as long as there are washing machines around. Are you that tenacious when it comes to your views of how to experience EQ?

The rewards for tailoring and smithing far exceed the rewards for brewing and baking.

I was wondering when it was going to turn nasty.

I was not P/Led to 70. I was for the first 25 levels or so and probably would have continued if I hadn't insisted that I wanted to do it my way.

I have put in time and effort into my character. Even though I was shown how to do things, those methods didn't work for me and I had to come up with my own way of doing things to be successful. And as a necro I did it solo. I feel that the easier xp now makes up for all the time I spent twiddling my thumbs waiting for the drops I wanted. I did not say epics are ONLY for those that have time. I said it takes very long to get and does not teach the player very much. The thread did focus on time only because someone else claimed I had no grounds to be upset because the time I put in was inconsequential.

My posts have also been about the monster mission XP, purchasing of toons, the overall trend that EQ has been getting easier in some respects. Focus on what you will.

As for STFU. There are less rude ways to ask a person to keep their opinions to themselves. My intention was not to make you mad (touched a nerve did I) but to express a different opinion. So what part of EQ teaches respect and tolerance cause I think someone P/Led you through that part of it.