PVE mob motivation

[aaron22]

Just wanted to get a general feel from the player base here. How much do you think the PVE mobs actually try to kill you? In an even CR/ECL basis, do you feel like the mobs do what they should in order to win the life or death battle with you? Some mobs are limited in what they can and cannot do. A bear only has a few options, but a ogre/giant/goblin shaman has far more. There are also AI limitations that are there as well too.

Just curious what you guys think.

[Planehopper]

In most life or death situations between intelligent beings, I would think the first and most common response would be run/hide until the fight can be won with superior numbers/power. That wouldn't make for a very fun video game.

I think the best way to emulate that in game may be to have an increased number of "you've been ambushed" triggers that are randomized on a map.

[Invoker]

Just wanted to get a general feel from the player base here. How much do you think the PVE mobs actually try to kill you? In an even CR/ECL basis, do you feel like the mobs do what they should in order to win the life or death battle with you? Some mobs are limited in what they can and cannot do. A bear only has a few options, but a ogre/giant/goblin shaman has far more. There are also AI limitations that are there as well too.

Just curious what you guys think.

The casters definitely aren't.
Due to the nature of XP gain and leveling speed on the server, one needs to produce a few Ecatombs to actually achieve meaningful progress.
That has one big consequence: direct damage, passively unavoidable spells become much more dangerous, since mobs can throw casters' bodies at you in large quantities.

If all casters were doing all they can to kill players, with appropriate spellbooks, rigged dice and inflated HP (making it extremely unlikely to one-shot them at your ECL), it would redefine the concept of "grinding"...simply because they would end up killing PCs quite a lot, depending on the latters' classes and builds (...and levels).

[Moltrazahn]

They ain't doing everything.

Otherwise, they would be throwing every spell at you, even the ones they (somehow) know you are immune against xP. As panic over the PowerBuilder sets in, their desperation would become more and more visible, as they rain down fireballs at you, even if they are aware that... it's not going to stop you. You are the monster they speak of to their children. You are the grim reaper there to raid their homes, murder their families and uproar their societies. You are the culling, you are the 365 days of "The Purge"... and you are undying.

Come to think of it, very few of the actual enemies are a threat.

If we had things like... Random events where certain mobs attack towns, and guards had to fend them off. Then yes, it would feel like they are something that needs to be controlled.

Like, say... A timer in each town.

[parchment]Beregost RAID chart. (Auto Updates)
How many days since last raid on town:
Xvarts: 4 (Low chance of raid).
High Hedge Beasts: 9 (High chance of raid)
Goblin Tribe: 9 (High chance of raid)

Note From Guard Captain: "Attacking the base of the monsters will reduce the chance of a raid to occur."(Each X-number of monsters killed reduces the chance by 1%)[/parchment]

That would give not only a reason -why- we want adventures to attack monster-dens.
It would also give a reason for -every- level of adventurer to raid every level of the monster.

Would give new purpose to adventuring guilds and those who keep "patrolling" or those that keep culling the Xvart village xP

... #Devs?

[Hammer_Song]

The dynamic random encounters have helped. I think the purple mobs should come sooner and be much tougher. It’s basically the pve’s mobs last ditch effort to survive.
But yeah, I’m a massive fan of the dynamic encounter system we are lucky enough to have here.

[Steve]

In most instances, I'd think any Area would have a variable CR rating to it, CR Rating being an OOC metric designed to allow our PCs to actually Level (something based off the general "progression" in most video games that rely on Experience to empower the avatar).

Personally, I'd love to see a day when the Hilltop Ruins was all-of-a-sudden CR 15 or 20, like as if some Devil descended there and empowered the Kobolds with Eldritch magic or something....

But it would seem the greater truth is Players WANT the certainty of CR so they can meta the Game, and get through the experience without their PC dying...although, PCs never really die, unless the Player wills it so...so, really, the whole worry about having your toon killed is not an issue, whether or not mobs are trying for that.

The real issue is how CR protects the Player from losing Experience Points, since loss seems to be the most avoided aspect of this game (IC and/or OOC).

For what its worth, it feels like the dynamic spawns got toned down, since their initial release. I remember actually worrying about what I'd find in any Area with those spawns, but now they seem to appear so infrequently, that I'm back to the usual "meh" feeling about any Area I know from past play.

[Tsidkenu]

Purple mobs should come after 1d20 +4 minutes after entering a zone to emulate a range of plausible npc responses: an immediate urgent counterattack (low roll, 5 min) or a last ditch reinforcements (24 min) and variations in between.

[izzul]

i remember back in 2011-2013 where mobs are group based.

for example in frost keep, there are randomly(in group)
-1 frost giant, 1 mystics, 1 dragon or
-2 frost giants, 1 dragon or
-3 frost giants or
-2 mystics, 1 dragon

even when you hit one from far, all of them come running to you in a group until the door(even when you HIPS following you until the door/until you die/until you kill them all one by one).

after long vacation and hiatus when i came back to this server, it seems that you can kite them one by one.

example nowadays
-only 1 frost giant in an encounter
-only 2 frost giant in an encounter
-all of sudden 3 frost giant and one dragon comes
-all of sudden 4 frost giant mystics spawn
-and the purple encounter sometimes brings 8 purple shaman(xvart), 8 fiendish Gnoll shaman(reaching woods)

note that i dont prefer it to be reverted to the old days but perhaps there is something can be done here.

[Darkwind]

Dynamic spawns are really nice, best addition in recent memory.

I would also add, like a few others alluded to, I'd like to see this dialed up to 11 every so often. Basically, when the big 'reinforcements' arrive it is say 2-3 the current number, occasionally. This would add a fear element with the unpredictability.

Also from what little I know about the engine this is not terribly difficult to script because you can set a randomized timer and a simple multiplier. It would be nice to see an area absolutely swarming with monsters that the PC may have to gradually chip away at it to retake. (Or the server resets whichever comes first)

[Valefort]

My bet is that you're all experienced in the sense that you know what the mobs will throw at you and you're likely also playing builds that are too powerful and/or with overly good gear. Don't mule nor powerbuild and you'll be challenged.

[chad878262]

Agree with valefort here. Been leveling a ranger/ paladin and at level 19 the troll claws took everything my PC had tp keep from dying. Consumables, toggling combat modes on/ off, using divine might, going from two weapon fighting to sword and board, etc. With no mulling you only slowly can purchase equipment and rely far more on whatever you can find. This gives a much more difficult/ frightening experience.

Not that I don't want new challenges, but these things take time.

[Steve]

Try playing the Server WITHOUT buffs...then you'll feel the pain, I mean, challenge.