[crossfire] Question - Non-friendly maps

[Matthew Giassa]

I've played this game on-and-off for nearly two decades now, mostly 
source-diving to gain bits of insight with respect to writing an online 
tile-based game. I've been using a private server plus MetalForge for 
testing, and it seems some of the maps on MF are designed solely to 
frustrate players unless they too want to source-dive or (ab)use map 
editors (ie: Deliantra's online map viewer) to make maps easier.

Case in point: Ancient Pupland Volcano Quest for WDSM: a lengthy quest 
to get a key, followed by running through a room of deathtraps (ie: 4x 
"Soul Detectors" with all sorts of nasty stuff attacking you from every 
angle like jumping into a fish tank of piranhas), followed by a 1/9th 
chance of getting the desired reward.

Also, the Somarok quest, where the first level is riddled with 
ultra-fast characters that annihilate a level 110 character with top 
tier gear in seconds. This is manageable, but only with a select set of 
player combinations.

Has there been a massive change in AC/WC/Speed/HP/Level balancing over 
the past couple of years? It seems the only way to legitimately get past 
these obstacles is abusing in-game exploits (ie: "cause red death", 
"divine shock"), and various race/class/cult combinations cannot proceed.

Thoughts/comments?

Thanks.

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