Ideas to help new players settle on BG

[aaron22]

I personally like that this game takes time to get to 30. I don't see it as a grind. I also like that not everyone has the best gear they will have after 2 weeks playing. These things allow you to develop your characters personality and how it is altered by the environment that is our server. Making choices along the long journey and creating bonds and rivals that grow with you. The slow steady Improvement driving deep the motivations that push your character through the toughest times. Allowing you, the player, to grow a bond with your pc. To feel the same thirst for survival that your pc would have. I personally play a more HC standard and have rules for what is death for my pc. So this may not apply as well to others that do not. I like the long journey. It would be sad for me to see it shortened. I like that my characters have holes in thier gear.

Everyone has 2+ chapters in thier biography. 1 is before level 1. 2 is 1-30. And then however many more you can experience before your PC's eventual death. I relish in knowing that we all as a community have gone through this same journey. Differently but the same.

With that said, I do think that rp xp could be improved. There have been good ideas and I have yet to see quality arguments against these improvements. Mob xp seems fine, and group xp seems fine as well. Drop rates and gear availability seem fine to me as well.

[WhatsInTheBox]

I think the best thing at this point might be to put up a poll and if the majority of people rather grind like its a korean mmo to get to 30 or are one of those folks who don't seem to mind spending a year or more to get to 30 then ok we drop the subject....

but if more people are like me and rather see a little more XP so we don't have to play the game like its our job then maybe we can bump it up a bit? I'd like to see XP of fighting monsters appropriate to your CR around 50-70 as opposed to the mid to high 30s it is now.

[dedude]

Why do you think the game will be more fun for you at level 30? This isn't an mmo with end-game raiding. All levels are equally valid.

Thankfully game design isn't a democracy governed by the gamers, as most don't know what makes a game.

[aaron22]

I don't play this game like it's my job and in one year I had 2 level 30, a level 29, 2 level 20, 3@15 and 3 10's. What are you doing? None of those are rcr crossovers. I don't really do much campfire chatting or tea parties, but I dont ignore rp either. I'm not a power builder but my first two successful builds were easy to play. And I took build advise from a good builder. I no longer have those toons because my rp was not good with them. 30 is typically a stopping point for me. I am gonna try to grow past that with my latest main, but I cannot help but feel like her journey is ending. Unless I can find a new set of goals for her. *shrugs

[chad878262]

I don't play this game like it's my job and in one year I had 2 level 30, a level 29, 2 level 20, 3@15 and 3 10's. What are you doing? None of those are rcr crossovers. I don't really do much campfire chatting or tea parties, but I dont ignore rp either. I'm not a power builder but my first two successful builds were easy to play. And I took build advise from a good builder. I no longer have those toons because my rp was not good with them. 30 is typically a stopping point for me. I am gonna try to grow past that with my latest main, but I cannot help but feel like her journey is ending. Unless I can find a new set of goals for her. *shrugs

Holy Shnikeys! My first year on the server I got 1 PC to 30 and 1 to ~15 ROFLMAO! Now, since then I have another at 30, one at 28, one at 22 then about half a dozen anywhere between 4-19, but dang Aaron, that is solid leveling of some PC's there.

However, for those like me that don't level like this, I would say there are some things that could make the JOURNEY more fun, but I don't think the leveling needs to be FASTER. It's more about just simply allowing a decent pace to leveling without quests so that one can RP, adventure, fish, or quest and gain the same weekly 'bonus'. This way leveling is not faster, but it is more fun since the player gains decent XP playing whatever way they WANT to play.

[Nemni]

Yes please implement that exp pot! I'm really tired of the quests, yet not doing them means leveling much slower.

[Vogar Eol]

I'd really like to see a meaningful increase in XP from all the average area creatures. It should be enough to maintain a solid 40 - 50 xp per kill from level 10 - 30, if you're willing to move up the CR as you level

Then we have "gold text" Bosses. Those shouldn't be just a tiny increase in XP. They should have the same fulfillment and reward of completing a quest, for the rarer ones. Drop a white dragon, black dragon, pit fiend, balor, or dracholich... you SHOULD hear a meaningful *ding* of "quest complete" style XP reward. Kill a Queen Umber Hulk, Fell Troll, or Giant Commander? Those feel less like a Boss and more like lieutenants. They can even spawn heavily sometimes, so huge XP rewards aren't as justified.

The boss of the area/dungeon though? That should feel like a quest completion. From the Necromancer in the Graveyards, to the Goblin Shaman in the goblin ruins... From the Beholder in Gnolls, to the Ogre Chief... From the Nightstalker, to the Dracholich... those notches in the belt should be sizeable rewards for their appropriate CR.

[Theodore01]

Can we please get XP for drinking - at least as a dwarf. I would prefer that over fishing anytime, really.

[Hrafnar]

The boss of the area/dungeon though? That should feel like a quest completion. From the Necromancer in the Graveyards, to the Goblin Shaman in the goblin ruins... From the Beholder in Gnolls, to the Ogre Chief... From the Nightstalker, to the Dracholich... those notches in the belt should be sizeable rewards for their appropriate CR.

+1 Honestly some of the boss fights have felt like a bit of an anti climax, even when punching above my weight. 70 xp and an empty ale stein!

[aaron22]

Why is 30 wanted so much more than level 15? Why do you want the increase? What does that accomplish? Is there no challenge at 15? Is there nobody to play with? This desire for level 30 seems like the need you reach a finish line. This desire is understandable but misguided. The long journey is what makes this server great. It is long enough to make you appreciate the journey but not so long that nobody can or will do it. Stop sprinting toward the finish line and enjoy the stroll. Embrace it for what it is. And beware for what you wish for.

[Hawke]

You want to get to 30 to get that sense of achievement and witness the full potential of what your character can do.

I've been here a LONG time highest character I have is 20. I just did that a year and a half ago

Not advocating for XP shift, as there is a whole forum for it, but just pointing out the motivation to get to 30.

[Vogar Eol]

Why is 30 wanted so much more than level 15? Why do you want the increase? What does that accomplish? Is there no challenge at 15? Is there nobody to play with? This desire for level 30 seems like the need you reach a finish line....

This is a demonstration of the Sunk Cost Fallacy, also called an "Escalation of Commitment".

To summarize, people will throw effort and resources after a potential future they envision. It doesn't matter if the potential future is illogical, or if the smart thing to do is to cut your losses. You will throw good effort on top of repeated bad outcomes, simply because you are invested already.

In our gaming case, people subconsciously BELIEVE they will have more fun later. The result? They will spend no small amount of energy to make that future happen sooner.

The smart people are the ones that instantly stop playing when the game stops being fun.

[Face]

Why is 30 wanted so much more than level 15? Why do you want the increase? What does that accomplish? Is there no challenge at 15? Is there nobody to play with? This desire for level 30 seems like the need you reach a finish line. This desire is understandable but misguided. The long journey is what makes this server great. It is long enough to make you appreciate the journey but not so long that nobody can or will do it. Stop sprinting toward the finish line and enjoy the stroll. Embrace it for what it is. And beware for what you wish for.

Yes the low level content can be fun but casting magic missile at a kobold gets old realy fast and the higher level you get the more skills-spells-feats (AKA more options to play around with in the game) and that is fun.

[Darkwind]

The smart people are the ones that instantly stop playing when the game stops being fun.

Truth, but in games such as this and particularly in MMOs, those folks are few and far between. I've gotten much better at this over the years and now do count myself as one who can simply "walk away" from it even with significant time/effort investment. But that is no easy task for sure.

Overall, I do agree with most of what you wrote on the thread and others with your same mindset.

For me, here is the ultimate "rub" of the situation if you will. First off, we are playing a game that is 10 years old, let's look at that right off the bat. This isn't the latest and greatest MMO with whatever fancy new things are out. So the community should be the ultimate arbiter of what works or doesn't work. The reason for that is very simple, no community, no game. You only have to look as far as the NWScry website to see the utter -graveyard- of dead and buried PW servers.

They are there still sitting with the world existing and maybe half a dozen people playing on servers that use to support 90+ people. This is the fate of any game world that is obtuse to its player base. BG could be that place just as easily as any of them are currently. Who knows what landed them in the dead zone?

Secondly, on a server with what? 20+ prestige classes grinding to 30 taking so long is utterly non-sense. Artificially retarding the level curve benefits who? Cui bono? Certainly not the player. I would -really- like to be able to play through some other PRCs but there is no way in hell I'm going to go grind Xvarts, or trolls, or whatever ad infinitum so I can see what its like in the other classes. This to me, does a disservice to the players. I'm sure they'd like to see what those classes are all about but who is going to grind out 30 levels on a ten year old game 2, 3 or more times to see what the PRC is like? Not I, and I'm guessing not the vast majority.

Just my .02 on this topic and I hope it is taken in the spirit it is offered which is constructive feedback.

[Valefort]

Grinding to 30 has never been the point in this PW and that's why it's discouraged, seeing what x and y PRCs are all about can be done in JEGS module if you want. Going through the leveling process to know that is called masochism.

It's about RP and seeing random joe going from hunting rats to killing dragons in a very short amount of time is not believable, the progression is already very fast from that point of view. Also if the leveling process is quickened that's more areas not being used much which would be a shame. Fast leveling favors short lived PCs and limits stories, the fact that the server has a healthy population is proof that things are not bad, or perhaps even ... good, unbelievably so !