Fistule: aka. Where did all the NMs go?
Greeting all, perhaps like myself you have witnessed a strange phenomenom occuring around our gelatinous friend.
Each time I arrive at Fistule I am met with at least one, often all three, NMs being held by players. Without getting on a high horse this is unfair to others, and a fine line between NM holding and legitimate killing. However the point of this post is not to complain, it does not get oneself anywhere. Rather myself and other have come up with some ideas for a much needed changes to this NM, after all it is easier then changing people.
Solution 1: Do Nothing!
The easist solution and not one without merit. After all as far as I am aware only 3 NMs can "agro" Fistule, meaning 3 groups or individuals have a chance at any one time. Competition is there sure enough, however if you arrive and all NMs are popped and being held then you are left with a problem with no solution. Sadly it is the norm on my server that the NMs are held from the moment Fistule dies until it repops, as such this is why I believe a change is needed.
Solution 2: Multiple Fistules.
The thinking takes lead from the existing changes to larger ??? NMs. Of course Fistule is small fry by comparison, however it brings about behaviour not seen in other NMs in terms of holding. Having multiple Fistules pop would mean less direct competition with other players, 3 NMs that can agro it and 3 Fistules seems about fair. Lets be honest for a moment, Fistule is used for 2 things only, KI for Eve and Empy upgrades. The downside is it would make that stage an awful lot faster to finish then others *cough Glavoid*and create unbalance. That aside I lean towards this solution personally.
Solution 3: Make Fistule a ??? NM.
A rather drastic change for this kind of problem, perhaps too drastic. That said many have called for other NMs (some all NMs) to be made force pop and it has been done in the past. What you would get from this is groups huddled around waiting to spam trade a ???. Me myself, I would rather a 5 minute ??? then a 15-20 minute pop with all triggering NMs already being held. I've witnessed NMs being held from the moment Fistule dies, until the moment it repops often. In that respect it becomes more about how much time will be wasted until the next repop then anything else.
Solution 4: Change Fistules Behaviour.
Not my idea but a novel one. Make Fistule claimable in a normal fashion, however it would effectively be invincible to all damge at this point. It would enter a normal state once one of the trigger NMs is brought within range. The losers in this would be soloists, essentially you would have to bring Fistule to a ??? and pop an NM instead of the other way around. People could steal claim from you whilst you pop an NM, it could get messy in my eyes. All said it would make holding NMs less appealing then it currently is, and bring things back to good old fastest on the finger (botting naivety aside).
So there we have it, a few ideas that may make life more hospitable around Fistule. Make no mistake a change does need to be made, perhaps others who have experienced similar difficulties have some ideas as well. Any (polite) feedback is always welcome.