Settle in folks, this is going to be a long one.
No, I think UtM has a point. And I think we should be addressing it.
In the name of realism, settings is now in discussions as to whether to change the spawn rate of all "humanoids" to once per hour, or possibly longer, and I must say, the talks have been pretty positive. Sure it'll cause scrambles in the arena until all the NPCs there're dead, so people can get the loot of their bodies, and sources of income will be decreased (at least from player-to-npc merchant)...but hey! That's realism for you.
Yes, I do have a point. And I will get to it. Put your snarky back on the shelf.
a future game design idea then. 
for the glads in the arena, since you can talk to them and what not, it would make sense long term wise that the character must first talk to them to engage them in combat, and it acts somewhat as a duel thing. and long term, perhaps the glad doesn't die if they lose and then upon winning, the character receives a little prize thing for besting them. could go hand in hand with the long term but everyone wanted duel system that doesn't have the character die upon a loss.
thugs, bandits, angry critters in the wild and whatnot, would just be fight to the death as the are the more barbaric/ shady mobs.
Getting warmer…
MOBs respawning once an hour is the WORST idea I've ever heard. If that is implemented, you can certainly count me out of playing PS. 
Not the worst idea, just think it out more. For the rest, absolutely true if done wrong. We don’t want that. (no sarcasm in that.)
If PS is at all successful in the future, MOB killing will be absolutely POINTLESS, as they will all be gone before you have a chance to get there.
Trust me on this one...DO NOT be concerned about realism as much as fun. I have designed many a roleplaying game in my day. My biggest mistake was making it too realistic at the expense of fun.
Oh ye of little vision. There are ways of both realism AND having fun enough for all.
Come on, people clearly want realism to reign supreme in PS.
Under the moon, back me up on this one.
Oh, I do, but it is going to require less sarcasm, an adjustment to the spawns and spawn rates, and a Settings change to accommodate both realism, and many, many (endless) baddies. The answer is right in front of you.
holy crap! realism or no ... that has got to be one of the worst things I can think of to happen. I can name several different spots right now where people are standing several deep waiting to get their shot at killing "the bad guy". …portion of RPGers that love the hack-n-slash. ... ya gotta keep the hack.
Point one, no, it is not a bad idea to space spawns out by an hour. It just takes some thinking out of the RPG ‘box’. And yes, H-n-S is absolutely need in an RPG. In fact, I would say it should be a necessity. Your example of people standing several deep is -exactly- why the spawns need to be timed out longer. "My turn" is about the stupidest 'RP' (yes, that -was sarcasm) I have ever seen. There is a way, though...there is a way...
* Under the moon starts to get an evil look.
If I now think about this one only spawning once an hour, I'm sure I would still not be able to craft steel stock because I wouldn't have had the PP for the training.
Please think about this.
I have, and I think it a good idea... but with changes. First thing that needs to go are the PP. Stupid system in the first place, and why a lot of this ‘madness’ has started in the first place. PP are simply NOT NEEDED, and will be replaced. Stop basing your thinking on them, folks. They are on the way out.
Fethrin and Slywolfe know exactly how to run a game well
listen to them
They know how to run a hack-n-slash leveling based game well, not a realistic RP game with H-n-S as something fun to do for those who like it.
but you need to be rich in order to train
training is very expensive
especially in the higher levels
BINGO!! Give the man a cookie for seeing right to the heart of the problem. The cost of training is insane and one of the most unrealistic things in the game. Cut it, then cut it again. Then, get rid the exponential raise in cost for each level, and replace it with a more flat rate system for all basic levels. Instead, charge people more if they want accelerated training. If people want to power level, make them pay for it with personal trainers (in the future), for the rest of use, give us cheap, slow, basic training that does not cost any more for level 10 than level 100. That is where you start the balance.
We just can't fix everything in one sitting, so some things will appear skewed at first.
Things are skewed. All that has happened is that people are spending more time doing the most boring thing in the game to pay for the insane cost of training, or switching to mining (yes mining) the already crowded baddies, or quitting the game. As I have said before on mining, do not make it take longer. Just limit what can be taken in a day.
Personally, I think the Trias should be made even more scarce than they are now.
Yes! Exactly. If the cost of training was reduced, time to train increased, and the gain of tria cut, then items and upkeep would become the main cost of the game. Those are two things players can provide without great need of NPCs. Instead of players having to ‘vanish’ BILLIONS (maybe trillions) of tria to NPCs for training, they could earn 1% of what they do now, and not need any more than that. Money would pass between players more often than it would go to NPCs. Balance continues there.
That's where you're wrong, my friend. In almost EVERY medieval RP setting, adventurers make up 1% of the entire populous. Now, there aren't many NPC's, but in reality, the plaza should be crawling with them. There should be farms all over the countryside, and NPC's should outnumber the players 99 to 1, but that's just not possible or practical.
Draklar is never wrong, just misunderstood. Just as you seem to be misunderstanding the meaning of 'roleplaying'. It does not mean playing the hero every time, or 'talking in a chat room'. RP is taking ANY role. I have had over twenty characters in this game so far. Not a one of them have been an adventurer. Nor do I just stand around talking with them. I play their role as best I can without the support for those roles in the game yet. As for farms, yes, there should be farms. Many, many farms. They should also be player owned and/or run, be it with hiring NPCs to work your ground, other players, or yourself. Myself, I would very much like a Harvest Moon type play style added to the game. All your ‘adventurers’ bore me to death sometimes.
Ugh. There are many obvious ways to fix that.
Exactly. There are many ways to fix many things. first you must ask yourself how it can be done before you cry about why it should not be.
Too drastic a change can lead to unsettling results, and therefore unhappy players.
This being an RP game, first and foremost, the reduction in gold or ANY of the tweaking would be best handled IN GAME.
Yes and yes. And I have stated how to do both earlier in this thread.
P.S. If you want to avoid arguments, never use words "you're wrong" in a discussion.
Ehem...
You are wrong.
Looking for a fight, aye?
Now, as for the ‘simple’ short term solution with longer term practicality, cut the spawn times to about one hour (or even ten minutes, and not the same time for each, if possible) for each humanoid spawn. -Then- put in ten times as many (or more) spawns for baddies, and just as many for Gladiators (good guys…sort of). Make it seem like there are about fifty to one hundred different Gladiators in the Arena, with the same exact number as there are now fighting at a time, but appearing in slightly different positions and times. The ‘hour’ downtime is simply what each one needs for rest before going to fight again. Now, instead of having the Glads give out swords and loot, have them give out ‘prize money’ in the form of tria, and perhaps the stronger ones would give out a ‘rare’ sword once in a while as a prize. The reason for this is that characters would then not be looting the Glads, but would be receiving payment for entertaining the ‘crowds’ (make NPC crowds).
The spawns of humanoid bad are a little more tricky, and needs a bit of a Settings bend. Since these guys always seem to come fully armed and ready to kill…but can not, in fact, loot their victims due to how the DR works (settings-wise), the reason for their attacks must be most sinister. I propose to NOT explain where they come from, and simply keep popping them into the game with the one hour staggered, but ten times as many spawns. Place books in the libraries -speculating- where these strange people come from, but never give a solid explanation (yet). Add an interesting twist to it in a future implementation by forming a portal over the spawns, and dropping the baddies out of it. Planeshifting, anyone? ‘Realism’ and Hack-N-Slash both achieved, with a heavy dose of roleplayability and a possible future story unfolding.
Balancing mining. Also not a big deal, mechanics or Settings-wise. But first both the cost of training and the payout and weight of gold (or other money crop) has to be reduced. In future implementation, players could be limited to how much gold they can mine in a day. This would be done by sanctions from the government, only allowing citizens to keep a certain amount of ‘first’ gold or ore dug, and the rest would be heavily taxed. This is both realistic and limiting, without wasting a player’s time (in combination with flat rate cost of training). Getting in good with an NPC mining faction could get you bonuses in either payout or allowed take. With adjustments, this would achieve realism , fun, and balance. For those who would create alts to mine as well, so what? There is no finish line in this game, so no one is getting there first. The problem with bots is not as easy to fix, and needs a new system that is hard to bot, as well as more realistic and fun. (and yes, I have the seeds of an idea for that as well.)
Perhaps some of this is exacly what the Devs have in mind, perhaps not. In my mind, nerfing gold the way it was is a wrong step in the right direction, robbing from fun in hopes of getting some little balance.
In ending, I have this to say to you. There is always a way, and never doubt the moon.
* Under the moon smiles.
