Well, I said my 2 tria (and then some) already, but since I was asked a direct question....
"I know you've done alot of grinding in the recent past Do you remember what levels you were at in metallurgy/blacksmithing/weaponmaking when you were able to make what you thought were good weapons? (what quality were the weapons when you began to be satisfied?)" A: On Fragnetics, I got up to I think BS=35 SM=32 with some dagger and axe and shield making, just for fun. I got so, with effort and technique (work 4 blades, always working on lowest Q one, until the lowest is about as high as others and higher than ave, then sharpen it and do the process again, then combine, I would get a lot better Q than others said they did with the same levels....) That enabled me to get some perfect ones, but a lot of mid quality ones to play with or give to freinds. Never sold a perfect one, bamko would get his tria by hunting. In ezpcusa I think my BS is 2 and my axemaking is 1 or 2. I have made 2 Q120 small axes so I can actually hit ulbers once in a while.
"And more importantly - how many hours of grinding do you think it took to get to those levels?: A: On fragnetics, I would say probably about 4000 hours IRL. I can not tell you how many times I pressed the "," key (my shortcut for "/use") but it allowed me to chat and daydream.... I doubt I will level that high on ezpcusa, esp with the talk of wipes already....
"You also seem to like harassing the Ulbers. Do you remember levels and hours of grinding for that hobby?" A: Harassing? there is ajoke there... but ...
I remember very well, I do it now in ezpcusa already. I have q120 axes, my axefighting level is about 9 I think, my Lightarmor is 6-ish and my MA is 1 (gloves) and no helm yet. The trick is in the timing... much like dueling, except you can USUSALLY predict the timing of an NPC attack better. ]ulbers are not as smart as duelists, they just keep on attacking, a duelist can stop attacks and wait for you to start moving in....[
Of course it may take 5 minutes to kill one, vs bamko on Fragnetics killing on with a flower.... OF DOOM! (charmflower in right hand, level 80-something melee, looks like slapping with flower, but actually hitting with left hand... fun times that....)
While I am on a roll again, a couple points.
I sure hope that a pure vote/headcount is not used to decide what will be done with PS. Many want things to be easier, but they are often the same ones who, when max out, get bored and move on, IMO. Some seem to think that playing the game (called grinding, which kind of shows how some just want to "win" the game and finish it, not enjoy the process, again IMO) is a bad thing. Maybe I just do not understand, but if you really like "grinding" <<shudder at term>> why do you want it to be easier and over quicker? What pride can you have making Q300 swords if everyone can make them? I just do not understand, but I suspect these are not grinders, just those who do not want to do the grinding, but want the benefit. I do not think that will make testers stick around longer, nor test the mechanics as well, though it would encourage more wipes... which would further alienate testers IMO. But hey, it is Talad's game.
And regarding licences and art, IMO making it open would encourge more people to work on it. I have known several coders who looked into PS and moved on once they found out that their work not only would not belong to them, but they wouldnot be able to use it elsewhere. I am sure the current art staff likes the current method, or they would be gone, but I wonder if it is not cutting off ones nose to spite ones face. Of course the licensing is pretty clear, and PS has every right to have whatever system they see fit, Just adding my thoughts on it since it was discussed here...
So... question to Dev leaders or whomever has authority. What kind of testers do you want on each server? You can keep the RP aspect on Fragnetics and still est a lot of things on EZPCusa, I think it is a great Idea to do this, but I want to encourage a simple acid test. When something major is going to be changed, (like making it so you can level max any skill in 4 hours) ask yourself; Will this discourage our testers? which kind of testers do we like?
It seems EZPCusa would be great for players who like to grind and see new things and test things, while fragneitcs is the more traditional, conservative, reluctant to see any change, Rper. I think this idea of dual servers can be the best of both worlds, but I shudder when the RPlayers (RP-elite) start coming into the ezpcusa forums talking about wipes and making advancement involving more roleplay. I admit I fed the trolls a bit, oops. Sorry about that, I just assumed that someone of authority would point out this is the ezpcusa forums... not PS in general.
Anyways, I am waiting to see what will be done ingame on either server... I play for fun, and a wipe does not destroy me, I start characters all the time, but even the thought of a wipe stops me from grinding so hard... or playing as much. tomato Ta-Mah-to.
