[dev1015] Still no Abyssea VNM adjustments still a major point of congestion

[Zaknafein]

I hear all this "there's no way to use third party programs on VNM's anymore" crap. Or "you suck suck at claiming them" nonsense. If when these things pop they are claimed in the span of time it takes to rest twice (which they are 98% of the time) there is a problem.

Increasing the upgrade rate of abyssites will do nothing to help this already obnoxious problem. It will only increase the frequency with which the "monopolizers" can upgrade so they can continue to make their 3rd or 4th harp or shield. Or more likely continue to monopolize so they can charge people 500k an upgrade item. Either of those situations is idiotic.

I thought abysssea was supposed to fix this sort of issue where people monopolize targets to the detriment of other players? Especially in the case where it is being done simply to profit. There's no difference with this VNM crap, and Dragon's aery.

Either make multiple T2/T3 pops or sufficiently randomize their spawn points. IE: 5 different "new spawn" points. If new random spawn points are introduced, and people are still claiming them in 5 secs within the 1st week of the switch it will be pretty easy to see if they are violating the terms of service.

[Rearden]

There is no way to 3rd party VNMs lol, claim better.

The only way to 3rd party VNMs at the moment is to request data from the server, which will get you banned shortly after. It's the same reason you can't autolocate any mob/??? (eg Kupo spawns) in a zone. The server only loads what's within 50' of you, after that you have to request it from the server and doing so will get you banned.

[Zaknafein]

There is no way to 3rd party VNMs lol, claim better.

The only way to 3rd party VNMs at the moment is to request data from the server, which will get you banned shortly after. It's the same reason you can't autolocate any mob/??? (eg Kupo spawns) in a zone. The server only loads what's within 50' of you, after that you have to request it from the server and doing so will get you banned.

So for all of you cheater's out there who know exactly where the spawn points are for the T2/T3's because you used apradar b4 they "supposedly" nerfed it....knowing exactly where to stand when their timer up is somehow not benefiting from knowledge gained through previous use of third party programs?

[Rearden]

You can figure that kind of thing out on your own, every spawn point has a specific path that mob will take. Knowing where that path will go is hardly cheating and takes some dedication, skill, and experience - all things that should be a requirement to getting anything as awesome as an Ochain or Dardaubla anyway.

[Ramyrez]

This is something that seriously needs addressed. People who are talking about breezing through these in a matter of days apparently don't have to worry about work, family or any other responsibilities or they have their linkshells out converting for them. Even assuming you have 38 people with T3 pops ready to go (and insanely supposing you get 2 drops every mob!) you're looking at approximately 19 hours JUST to do the T3s. Forget the clear > colorful > T3 upgrade time and the fact upgrades aren't even close to 100%.

19 hours is about my available playtime in a given work week working a 40 hour job and taking care of your "standard" adult responsibilities. With another 12 or so hours on the weekends if I spend the majority of my free time on the weekends playing. And I don't even have kids and I don't have family that lives in the area to whom I have any responsibilities..

The bottom line is that this game is well past seven years old. Even if you assume people were 13 when they started playing this game they're getting to the age where they should be responsible adults playing in their free time. And if you expect people who are responsible adults to play your game, you've got to allow them the chance to access items without massive time sinks.

The advisory SE gives at the login screen about "be sure not to ingore your friends, family, work, etc." has become a giant joke. Dedicating nearly as much time to this game as you do to your job in a week should be MORE than enough to complete these things in a reasonable timeframe.

As it is, tonight alone between competition and poor convert rates my group has spent three and a half hours without a single T2 > T3 convert. And for the past hour that's been with zero competition and killing the mob mad fast.

In the same time frame we could have done 6+ of ANY other 85 Empyrean mob. Minimum. Probably like 15 Cirein-Croins or Ulhuadshis. And those are conservative estimates. The mobs themselves are a joke to kill with 2-3 decent players, short of random mishaps.

Bottlenecking people based on ability to claim vs. ability to actually defeat the mobs and do the true work is rubbish. You're not a better or more dedicated player for being finished in a very short time frame. You're lucky, have more time or more people willing to do things for you.

Edit: appologies, I finished this without a conclusion. That conclusion being thus:

Increase VNM spawn rate, increase the number of mobs that drop colorless souls or, if you think these are too "easy", add some other, more challenging way to obtain them that focuses on a group's ability to obtain pop items and defeat the mob.

Do not leave it up to competition and dumb luck. The developers saw the error of their ways (finally) getting rid of all the old 24 hour king-pop HNMs. Now they need to get rid of this step backward they've made with these VNM claiming nonsense.

[Ramyrez]

Also, unrelated, but why is it showing beastmaster as my main job? I haven't been on beastmaster in like three months.

[Rearden]

Maybe Ochain isn't your thing?

[blowfin]

Maybe Ochain isn't your thing?

It's beside the point what your interest in the VNM's is. I've only needed +2 items from them and I know exactly where they spawn without ever using a 3rd party App. Some effort is required, that's all. It's never *exactly* the same spot, but it's always in the same general area. Then they tend to roam to a fixed area too. What's really going to help you once you figure it out is having some movement speed gear and a good feel for distance.

Oh, and that's not all addressed at you.

[Ramyrez]

Some effort is required, that's all. It's never *exactly* the same spot, but it's always in the same general area. Then they tend to roam to a fixed area too. What's really going to help you once you figure it out is having some movement speed gear and a good feel for distance.

The problem coming when you've got 5-20 more people putting forth just as much effort with all the same knowledge and movement speed.

[blowfin]

The problem coming when you've got 5-20 more people putting forth just as much effort with all the same knowledge and movement speed.

I don't disagree that it's a major point of congestion, I put off T2 VNM hunting for a long time because it was such a pain. I'm actually still missing an item of BST +2, not that I've been playing much recently mind you. I've posted in several threads suggesting we need more T2 and/or T3 pops.

Just trying to offer some pointers. Widescan can help a lot too if you don't get claim, you can work back towards the spawn area eventually.

Oh and the profile thing with the jobs is backwards. Job on the far right in your preferences will show up I think.