GuardianGirth
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Maybe EXP share in either only N-VH or Only ULT. But for some reason I feel the game would be a bit offset by the entire game having exp share. I certainly agree with the argument for newer players though.
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And I have been trying to take people's advice. I have been trying to go with Jellen to tag things. I guess I just need to accept the fact I will always be behind everyone else. I just hate it makes me feel weak or useless and I love to keep my party on their feet, so they can keep throwing punches without worrying about dying.It sounds like you are a Force? Or at least you have some techs at your disposal. One nice thing about the "tagging" system is that debuffing counts as a "hit", so if you run around casting jellen the enemies won't be able to kill you as fast, and you get the exp.
Now, what sucks is that you get more experience for killing the enemy than tagging. That essentially screws the support classes, since in Ultimate I don't think you can 1-hit KO anything with techs. You will always be behind your buddy in levels. It's a turn mechanic, but it is what it is. Now, the flipside is that as a support character, you are always desirable in a party because as savage as a HUcast is, slap a coat of shifta/deband and he becomes god.
Eh, personally I'm not particularly biased towards either side.
A party EXP system like the ones used in today's MMOs would be nice, and I noticed that PSU Clementine, and possibly the official PSU server prior to shutdown, has a similar system (though you gain significantly less EXP from enemies that you don't "tag", so you're still encouraged to at least hit as many enemies as you can for optimal EXP gains). The problem with the system in general, though, is that it encourages leeching, regardless of the system's normal intentions. It's not an issue when you're with friends/family that are low level but still do what they can to help, as they're still contributing to the efforts to clear the dungeon. But if you're in a lowbie-carrying pub with yourself as the only high level and everyone else being low level, there's a chance, however slight, that ALL OF THEM will stop either just outside the door (or JUST enough through the door that they're counted as being inside the room) and wait there (or FAR away from the enemy, as I've had to endure in more than one MMO/multiplayer game) until you clear the room, even if it's full of enemies that you have difficulty fighting on your own. I can't blame you on the Dorphon reasoning for wanting this system, though. I've had a personal vendetta against Delbiters ever since the first time I encountered them as a level 34 HUmar, and I do what I can to murder them before they become a threat, regardless of whether or not anyone tags them. But that's often the exception to my playstyle, not the rule. And in general, the only real way to discourage "leeching" is to have penalties for those that don't actively contribute to dungeon/quest completion (i.e. the significantly reduced EXP in PSUC). Again, not saying your friend would do absolutely nothing to help in the dungeon run (in fact, I encourage the opposite). Just that, more often than not, there are people who would rather be carried to endgame without having to do anything beyond moving when necessary than actually having to DO something to reach endgame.
As for the system we have now, I'm neutral towards it. Is it a bit inconvenient to wait for people to tag enemies before killing them? Yes (with certain exceptions where waiting for a debuff is more preferred). Is it unfair for segments where there's too many enemies to allow for safe tagging/grouping, or particularly powerful enemies that can slaughter the entire party if allowed to do so? Yes. Is it frustrating when my RAmar/RAmarl-main brother 2/3-shot (1-shot with Dim line) kills an enemy before I have a chance to get to it myself with my HUnewearl/HUcast without resorting to handguns with the Hunter/Force ranged ATA penalty? ABSOLUTELY! (Though to be fair, he's usually lower level than me since he plays less, so I keep my complaints to a minimum until he catches up.) But for the most part, I don't really have an issue with the system itself. I usually try not to focus primarily on leveling during team play (especially during timed quests since speed is necessary, and stopping to make sure everyone gets EXP means less time to clear without VERY generous time bonuses), instead focusing on team cooperation since I feel that's more important in general. Helping someone grind levels isn't particularly effective if they don't learn to properly play their class/role prior to Ultimate, since it's a whole different beast compared to N-VH and you WILL be destroyed if you can't properly adapt (Forces in particular start becoming more support-focused in Ultimate outside of glass-cannon nuke setups).
Furthermore, I'm personally one who prefers a mixed playstyle: playing multiplayer whenever I feel like it/have people to run with, but with solo play as a means of general level/stat progression. It's actually much more effective than you think, particularly in Seasons where TTF Dragon can't be farmed for fast EXP and the only other place for EXP farming in multi is an Ep. 4 quests that's only truly beneficial for Forces with Gifoie at a good level (any other method in that quest is apparently slower in comparison). While it's true that EXP you gain from solo is lower (albeit slightly), and I can personally admit that solo play in general is tougher for Forces (particularly FOney; I will agree that playing one is an absolute PAIN early game, even in solo), the enemies are also weaker than in multiplayer dungeons/quests, and some quests pair you up with NPCs that could potentially be helpful (and some who aren't as helpful, i.e. Nol/Elly, but the quests they're in typically aren't that great EXP-wise anyway). In fact, some quests are even part of subplots that you can trigger, a couple of which gives equipment as rewards (particularly the Soul Eater, a pretty good all-class partisan that can be obtained as early as Normal difficulty if you properly complete the Kireek subplot, and makes the transition to Hard difficulty much less troublesome if you can equip it). Any EXP I missed out on during multiplayer sessions (particularly those involving my brother, as I pointed out) could be made back, and more, in solo sessions, and the side stories/subplots are at least interesting and expand on what you learn from normal dungeons.
All that being said, I do feel there SHOULD be sort of a compromise: keep the system the way it is, but have a few additional functions that count as "tagging". I agree that support-focused players are a bit shafted because they don't have many means of tagging enemies outside of debuffs and possibly Gifoie (Barta at best/worst due to low damage but low TP cost and piercing). But as I pointed out, there's a significant difference between being weak but still contributing to a dungeon run in some form, and being weak but doing absolutely nothing to help the one who's trying to level you, and measures should be in place to discourage the latter.
Also, I'm mainly speaking from (Solo) HUmar experience here, but I also agree that opening a fight with Jellen/Zalure on grouped enemies/bosses makes many fights easier (though HUmar can only reach level 15 in both and have absolutely no means of increasing their range afaik). It can be done with a Force/HUcast combo as well, if the HUcast gathers enemies towards him and allows the Force to apply at least Zalure before attacking. Certain enemies like Bringers and Delbiters should be hit with debuffs on sight, though, as grouping/luring them is generally more dangerous. Of course, Delbiters are one of the enemy types you'd typically save a Freeze Trap for as an android anyway, so that also takes priority over fighting them head-on.
*POUNCES and Hugs warmly!* Koko-chaaaaan! Spoken like a true 'plushie! <3 Don't get discouraged! Yes, early on you may feel like you're lagging behind in a particular run...but does that make you any LESS Important??? HELL NO! =3! So long as you play the game unselfishly, putting others before yourself, you will Never feel the frustration others will have that make them wanna Quit PSO! 17 Years of playing PSO and not Once had mew ever had a twinge of feeling insignificant simply because she had a weak character or not flailing around wildly with a Flow or TJS etc...Ok, getting splattededed at a boss and not being revived may be miff worthy...but seeing others beat the boss using your support can feel right too =P. And in case you ever feel disheartened...maybe mew's Plushie poem may bolster you? https://www.pioneer2.net/community/threads/pso-poet-society.606/And I have been trying to take people's advice. I have been trying to go with Jellen to tag things. I guess I just need to accept the fact I will always be behind everyone else. I just hate it makes me feel weak or useless and I love to keep my party on their feet, so they can keep throwing punches without worrying about dying.
And I have been trying to take people's advice. I have been trying to go with Jellen to tag things. I guess I just need to accept the fact I will always be behind everyone else. I just hate it makes me feel weak or useless and I love to keep my party on their feet, so they can keep throwing punches without worrying about dying.
The whole leeching thing I just don't get. If you have someone leeching off your team, why not just leave the party? or have a vote to kick option(maybe future thoughts)? You can avoid leechers. There are like what 200 people playing on this server? It's like a small town, word gets around and everyone knows everyone. I've played games with leechers and that's how I avoided them, but most those games had options to vote to kick. Edit: leeching was more for loot than a leveling aspect.
Leeching is just something that shouldn't even be considered. Experience only matters early game to get to the meat of the game. Once you get to that point, you want to grind for good gear so experience isn't even a thought. Everyone tells me experience won't even be a thing later on, so why is changing the exp gain such an issue?
First point I'll address: "leaving the party". Why do you think I use solo play as my general means of progression in PSO (and MMOs in general) in the first place? I only party with those that I know will pull their own weight in a dungeon, regardless of skill level (ex: my brother, but good luck doing any sort of enemy farming quickly since he's...particularly determined when it comes to looting everything in a quest or dungeon. And I mean everything). If none are present, I run solo, since if I screw up it's my own fault, and not because I was forced to fight a multiplayer-level enemy by myself (many MMOs these days have both solo and party modes, with the party mode having stronger enemies that are meant to be fought with a team and soloing them is only possible with insanely-high gearing, if even possible at all prior to a cap increase. PSO is the exception though, since it's multiplayer quests and areas aren't AS punishing when played solo compared to other MMOs). More often than not, I typically find myself being a solo player these days, because I've found it difficult to find people that are actually willing to contribute and aren't so elitist (or so extremely uncomfortable with their own skill level) that they'll only run with "the best of the best".
As for the "Kick" or "Blacklist" option, I do have to agree that it would be useful for keeping leechers from being an issue, especially if one doesn't want to always lock their rooms behind a password to avoid them (especially since a lot of people already do that, and we all know how people complain about not being able to play with others because of that), and it's kinda one of the "measures" that I was implying (besides what I mentioned concerning PSUC's EXP system). But that would assume that the option would be implemented along with a party EXP system in the first place (there's a chance it might not, for fear of being "abused" for purposes other than what it's intended for). If it's not implemented, then we're right back at square one, where the only way to avoid leechers is to always lock rooms behind a password and give a middle finger to honest players whose only crime is not being important enough to know the password.
Of course, this is all assuming that it would even be possible to change the way EXP distribution is handled in the first place. If EXP distribution is something that can't be altered, then these discussions and suggestions are entirely pointless. A staff member would have to confirm whether or not changing the "tagging" system to something else is possible without breaking the game/server (in a technical sense, not in a balance sense).
You're awesome. Don't stop being awesome.*POUNCES and Hugs warmly!* Koko-chaaaaan! Spoken like a true 'plushie! <3 Don't get discouraged! Yes, early on you may feel like you're lagging behind in a particular run...but does that make you any LESS Important??? HELL NO! =3! So long as you play the game unselfishly, putting others before yourself, you will Never feel the frustration others will have that make them wanna Quit PSO! 17 Years of playing PSO and not Once had mew ever had a twinge of feeling insignificant simply because she had a weak character or not flailing around wildly with a Flow or TJS etc...Ok, getting splattededed at a boss and not being revived may be miff worthy...but seeing others beat the boss using your support can feel right too =P. And in case you ever feel disheartened...maybe mew's Plushie poem may bolster you? https://www.pioneer2.net/community/threads/pso-poet-society.606/
='),','You're awesome. Don't stop being awesome.
If you only play with certain people/solo, then why are you defending the whole leeching thing when it will never pertain to you?
If you want to enjoy PSO, make a point of never playing with HUcasts. They basically have their own game that is separate from the game the other 11 classes play, and EXP sharing won't solve the problem of you being bored because the HUcast destroys everything before you even get a chance to participate. (Note: this isn't a troll. There really is no other solution that doesn't involve modifying HUcast's stats if you don't want playing the game to always feel like a race as you desperately try to keep up with the HUcast.)He is able to kill things faster than me because he does twice the damage than I do and I get stuck with healing him all the time because he is a HUcast.