[crossfire] Proposal to fix experience inflation due to random maps

[Anton Oussik]

On 5/29/05, Alex Schultz <
     
     alex_sch at telus.net
     
     > wrote:
>
     
      Andreas Kirschbaum wrote:
     
     >
     
      I feel that maps made for lvl 85-100 need to have
     
     >
     
      a reasonable amount more exp than maps that a lvl 50 can complete.
     
     
I agree. There is little else to do at that level once you complete
the quests and get all the equipment you can.

>
     
      >To demonstrate my point how easy it is to become a high level character by
     
     >
     
      >using the currently existing random maps, I created two new characters on my
     
     >
     
      >local server. I used different races and used skills to level them. With both
     
     >
     
      >characters I reached about level 90 in less than one hour playtime.
     
     >
     
      >
     
     >
     
      Really? This is certainly a problem then, though I can't see how one
     
     >
     
      would achieve that without using banish rods or disabling item power.
     
     >
     
      This sounds like there were exploits used other than the random maps
     
     >
     
      alone (banish rod type ones)
     
     
Not necessarily. The other day I made a firebourne of Valriel on
Metalforge, gave it banishment spell, and had lots of fun in Demon TC.
Levelled very quickly, although originally electricity caused much
pain. Then I got enough hp to sustain it, and became virtually
invincible there. The trick was to avoid fire elementals that I
couldn't kill... but that's getting OT. There exist other even faster
ways of levelling quickly if one knows the game, IIRC it is even
possible to get to the top of xp table (lvl 115) in a day given some
external help, not exploiting any bugs as such.

The problem is not high level players doing TCs, but low level players
being able to do them and quickly gain levels, and also that there is
no real other way of getting to lvl110+ in acceptable time. I consider
the xp gained from random maps as needed to gain high level, and will
protest against them being toned down or removed unless something else
is added to replace them that will allow high level players to level.
Quests provide far too little for the time they occupy.

>
     
      I
     
     >
     
      feel that the exp also needs to be tuned up on non-random maps that have
     
     >
     
      some traps/puzzles and a small number of "bosses" to make those maps
     
     >
     
      more attractive.
     
     
Maybe if quests got combined with random maps, like adding random
areas to quests, which a player may chose to complete (so a
warrior-like player can do it to get better at one-handed for example)
but also provide a shortcut that would require things like trap
disarming, navigating trap mazes, and so on so a "thief"-like
character can also complete the quests, the game would become more
balanced. I appologise for the length of the last sentence.

>
     
      >PS: one last note about the training center: on metalforge I've seen quite a
     
     >
     
      >    few players that got killed somewhere, then switched to the TC because it
     
     >
     
      >    is safe and effortless to level there. (It's their own choice to do so, but
     
     >
     
      >    I don't think the training center (or any other random map) should make it
     
     >
     
      >    possible to level faster than by clearing "regular" (non-random) maps.)
     
     >
     
      >
     
     >
     
      Yes, this often happens with quests like the pupland ones, where it has
     
     >
     
      very nice puzzles and such, but it's hard not to die so much that you
     
     >
     
      lose more exp than you gain there, and though exp shouldn't be too easy
     
     >
     
      to get, players don't find non-random maps attractive if all the ones
     
     >
     
      that are interesting (as in, haven't beaten 10 times before) have areas
     
     >
     
      that they will almost constantly lose more exp than they gain.
     
     
I agree. My main MF character became more-less useless once monsters
started casting banishment. Even doing TCs loses xp after lvl 113. (I
actually went through the code and calculated it. If I continuously do
Heaven I will reach and stay at lvl113). Non-random maps are even
worse, and fixing this by giving giving hw protection has little
effect as 5% of 10,000 damage a second is still  500/sec. With the lag
of 400ms, thinking time 400ms, and reaction time another 200ms, by the
time I press the key to get out of banished area I'm at 50hp, by which
time it's too late.

To summarise last paragraph, another problem with non-random maps is
increased danger, which makes them less attractive for players that
have spent long time developing skills.