Any chance we can get some low-man plasm earning options?

[Zumi]

Mata can duo or duo box doesn't take anything special
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIuWvLVZRVc

or you can make a party of 6 people farm fractures.

[OmnysValefor]

Only problem with Mata is competition for ???.

[Karah]

We should RRRREEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYY stop advertising the Matamata before it gets changed, like SERIOUSLY.

Stop, no, really, stop it.

[Mokeil]

Only problem with Mata is competition for ???.

Exactly! The thing about Matamata That One NM (excellent point Karah! ) is that more or less everyone knows about him. With only one spawn point for him, competition for access is tight, and more than a little fierce. That one ??? alone does not make sufficient options for an entire server.

Why not fight him in a fracture, then? Well, the problem there (and with low-man farming inside fractures in general) is the entirely random placement of the mobs inside, as well as the entirely random way the NMs will wander. Sometimes you'll get lucky, sometimes you'll step into the first hallway to see the wrong NM waiting to greet you, and sometimes further that one NM that was safely out of the way has decides it really wants to tour the zone about 10 minutes in. Now, we've discovered that good old Carby Pulling works just fine, and that's helped some... But those NMs have some pretty huge aggro ranges - sometimes aggroing long before you can get close enough to give an Assault command to the little minion mob right next to it. Getting aggro at the wrong time can lead to a lot of waiting around for mobs to clear out again.

In short, unless you have an Aegis/Ochain PLD or Twilight gear (which had an extremely limited window of availability), trying to low man farm a fracture is difficult, horribly inefficient, and dependent on no small amount of luck. Sadly outside of that one NM in the field it's the only feasible option, and it's not a very good one.

Farming shards for plasm isn't really reliable for any serious amounts, as you might end up with anything from 100 to 1,000 in an hour depending on drop rates. At best, it's a serendipitous occurrence while doing something else.

[Zumi]

We should RRRREEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYY stop advertising the Matamata before it gets changed, like SERIOUSLY.

Stop, no, really, stop it.

Mata is pretty bad anyway usually like 20-30 people at it. Not really worth it due to the long wait usually.

[hiko]

Mata is pretty bad anyway usually like 20-30 people at it. Not really worth it due to the long wait usually.

if you do it just for plasm you can team up with those people waiting.

you can also farm it inside, just need to add a zombi for other mobs/nm

[detlef]

You shouldn't have to do that though. Matsui said that you would be able to "just take 6 people to gather Mweya Plasm and enhancement materials." There should be a more straightforward way for a PT-sized group to farm plasm that doesn't require 45 minutes of holding/saccing.

Mata is theoretically nice but everybody knows about it.

[OmnysValefor]

He who shall not be named was likely an accident anyway.

Likely patched in some form soon but whatever.

Sac'ing is pretty terrible anyway. Yeah it takes Reraise III a long time to delevel you that far but it's still stupid someone's just repeatedly dying.

That, and holding mobs, is not fun by any means.

[Yinnyth]

Exactly! The thing about Matamata That One NM (excellent point Karah! ) is that more or less everyone knows about him. With only one spawn point for him, competition for access is tight, and more than a little fierce. That one ??? alone does not make sufficient options for an entire server.

Why not fight him in a fracture, then? Well, the problem there (and with low-man farming inside fractures in general) is the entirely random placement of the mobs inside, as well as the entirely random way the NMs will wander. Sometimes you'll get lucky, sometimes you'll step into the first hallway to see the wrong NM waiting to greet you, and sometimes further that one NM that was safely out of the way has decides it really wants to tour the zone about 10 minutes in. Now, we've discovered that good old Carby Pulling works just fine, and that's helped some... But those NMs have some pretty huge aggro ranges - sometimes aggroing long before you can get close enough to give an Assault command to the little minion mob right next to it. Getting aggro at the wrong time can lead to a lot of waiting around for mobs to clear out again.

In short, unless you have an Aegis/Ochain PLD or Twilight gear (which had an extremely limited window of availability), trying to low man farm a fracture is difficult, horribly inefficient, and dependent on no small amount of luck. Sadly outside of that one NM in the field it's the only feasible option, and it's not a very good one.

Farming shards for plasm isn't really reliable for any serious amounts, as you might end up with anything from 100 to 1,000 in an hour depending on drop rates. At best, it's a serendipitous occurrence while doing something else.

You answer these things yourself. Six people shouldn't be able to do as well as 18. 6 people can, however kill matamata inside the fracture. They can also use the same NM-disabling tactics inside the fracture that any 18-person group uses. No Aegis or Ochain? No twilight? Then you face the same damned problems that an 18-man group would face without those things. That's not a matter of quantity, it's a matter of quality.

Naturally, of course, six people shouldn't be able to earn the kind of plasm that eighteen can, but there should be something that the six people can do.

There are several methods available. All of them have been listed and you dismiss them as not good enough. When you say that 6 people shouldn't be able to make plasm as quickly as 18, do you mean that you want methods that allow 6-man groups to make 99% as much plasm as 18-man groups? Do you mean that 6-man groups should be given an easy-mode delve which doesn't require endgame gear to farm?

[OmnysValefor]

I gotta disagree on the extremely limited window about Twilight gear. Find a static for it, and brew it.

Shinryuu is 2 mannable without brewing, especially if you can get a delve monk...

Of course, thf-brewing it is viable and your safest bet (noone can ninja from you).

Excluding luck, Twilight gear (% wise) was never easy to get, people just stuck to it. Heck, larger groups were more likely to have people that would leave and not come back after they got theirs.