Elite hunt marks aggroing in sarter zones! WTH?

[Kosmos992k]

New players are likely to be in the novice network. It's actually quite a common thing for them to mention that they found one and some of us go and kill it.

Well, I'm glad that that is the case, in my experience - on the same server, the novice network is not entirely helpful, at least to a player who already knows the game. But I'm glad to hear that it works for some players, that's a great improvement over the early days.

However, I do want to ask folks, what would be harmed by preventing these hunt marks from aggroing on characters below level 20?

True some players are being toxic, but I think somehow this is alright. The open world has to have some form of danger, unpredictability and fear.

Yes, I understand that. My main is lvl 56, not lvl 5 and I've been playing for 3+ years. I completely understand the desire that players have for the open world to have some danger. But, the players saying that are invariably at the level cap, and these kinds of hunt marks present zero real threat to those players. So how does having A rank marks (or S ranks) spawning where new players generally roam increase the danger of the world to those desiring that danger? It doesn't. Danger and fear in the open world for low level characters is mobs about 10 levels higher than they are, or packs of level appropriate mobs that can overwhelm them. It's quite possible to bite off more than you can chew as a low level character without having Girtab land on you outside the gates of Gridania.

Why do high level players who are not threatened by these marks have such a vested interest in defending their presence in areas that those players no longer even frequent?

[OMGAFLYINGPENGUIN]

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I'm sure no matter how small a server is S ranks would still attract people. I feel like this would not need any change. If I see someone in need of help, I offer help, I do the same with craftings too and I don't charge anybody for the i250 items. Anyways my point is that this isn't exactly a problem, there are and always will be way around things. I've been a low level before, so have all the maxed out players here.

Trust me I've died countless of times too, but I only support certain changes that I see are reasonable, you won't make friends or anything if everything in this game is handled out to you and if the open world is so safe, if anything FFXIV have the easiest open world content. I have seen people posting for help on reddit and gamefaqs for similar reason and they almost instantly get help. Maplestory depletes your EXP by 10% everytime you die on the higher levels that's 7-8hrs a day, for every death on ragnarok on a higher level you lose 10hours of grind time. That's the point I'm trying to bring about, there is no penalty from dying in this game, there are many ways to get help, RO doesn't even have a shout function. Which is why I've mentioned before that we shouldn't spoonfeed this generation, so many players feel like they are entitled for everything and do not have to suffer or fail for anything.

Anyways.. this forum isn't the worst, you haven't seen the dota, LoL or Dragon nest forums. This forum actually is quite decent.

Back then stuff like this happen and we don't demand the developers to change anything



And how do the players answer back? They party up and try to clear the path for the novices. This is the kind of things I wished this game would have sometimes.

[Rieze_Xeero]

Anyways.. this forum isn't the worst, you haven't seen the dota, LoL or Dragon nest forums. This forum actually is quite decent.

Agreed, you wanna see a toxic community. Go and check out MOBA forums hahaha

[Kosme]

However, I do want to ask folks, what would be harmed by preventing these hunt marks from aggroing on characters below level 20?

This wouldn't really be a big deal in the grand scheme of things. It would hurt what little there is in this game of the idea of "danger in the open world", though. Now of course there are plenty of FFXIV players who don't care for this idea at all, but then there are many like me who do, and we appreciate the little extra unpredictability it adds. Makes things a bit more memorable, fun.

Sometimes obstacles are welcome, it's the very point of most games: stuff that you need to find a way to overcome. You know, like avoiding sight or proximity aggro from hunt marks, or waiting out that pesky FATE that's spawned right on top of your quest. Failure to overcome the obstacle is met with some kind of loss.

I do think, though, that you're a little off about what level 60 players are thinking about danger in the open world:

Yes, I understand that. My main is lvl 56, not lvl 5 and I've been playing for 3+ years. I completely understand the desire that players have for the open world to have some danger. But, the players saying that are invariably at the level cap, and these kinds of hunt marks present zero real threat to those players. So how does having A rank marks (or S ranks) spawning where new players generally roam increase the danger of the world to those desiring that danger? It doesn't. Danger and fear in the open world for low level characters is mobs about 10 levels higher than they are, or packs of level appropriate mobs that can overwhelm them. It's quite possible to bite off more than you can chew as a low level character without having Girtab land on you outside the gates of Gridania.

Why do high level players who are not threatened by these marks have such a vested interest in defending their presence in areas that those players no longer even frequent?

I have 3 characters at level 60, and I switch between them and play different jobs everyday. It's all very routine and predictable though. Few memorable moments. It doesn't matter whether I'm level 1, 10, 25 or 60, the danger I feel while running through the world is the same: little to none. Danger creates memorable moments. Frustrating, sure, but the kind of stuff you can look back on and realize you have a good story to tell.

Maybe it's my FFXI "training" through the many times I played goblin dodgeball in Valkurm Dunes or wherever, but aggro is almost always avoidable, and where it isn't, you probably won't die just by running through a spot with 5+ higher level mobs who can't catch you, hit you more than once, or run more than 10 feet before they give up. You mentioned being "overwhelmed" in FFXIV's open world, and the use of that word did make me laugh a little.

I get that being one-shotted by a hunt mark is inconvenient, but in a game where so little is lost from dying, how did that experience really impact your daily activities? At the very least it gave you something to talk about!

Not trying to project ideals on you or anything, I'm just trying to clarify a possible perspective of someone at level 60. It's not some elitist thing, and it isn't some weird desire to see lower levels suffer.

TL;DR When things are already so streamlined and easy in the open world at all level ranges, it seems odd to complain about something so small and inconsequential.

[Niwashi]

Why do high level players who are not threatened by these marks have such a vested interest in defending their presence in areas that those players no longer even frequent?

Well, I'll defend it for the same reasons, and I still do frequent those regions.

A few weeks ago I was leveling one of my lower level alt classes (which was in the mid 20s at the time). I was passing through Central Thanalan, but my destination was in Eastern Thanalan, so I wasn't paying much attention to the game beyond just making sure I headed in the right general direction, when all of a sudden I was flat on my back and looked up to see Brontes standing over my character. Whoah, I'd just like run right into him. It shocked me back into the game, realizing that I'd been paying so little attention that I could fail to notice a huge monster like that. I laughed a bit, shouted his presence (not for help, but because I knew people would want to find him, S ranks are still popular and there was nobody else around yet), then I resurrected and came back. A boring trip across a region so familiar I'd lost interest in it had turned into an event where things were happening, and it got me involved and paying attention to the game again.

Another case a few months ago: This one was in Southern Thanalan and I was doing Amalj'aa quests, when I found Zanig'oh standing right on top of one of my quest objectives. It was a high level area and I was on a level 50 job (the same one I generally use when hunting these marks, in fact), but I certainly couldn't solo an A rank and it was blocking the spot I needed to go, so it still fits at least that part of this topic. I shouted asking if there were some people who could come help me kill it, and some people came. It wasn't quite peak hours (plus that's a big region for people to travel to where I was) so it took a little while, and I was a bit later finishing those quests than I might have been otherwise, but I got to chat a bit with the first person to show up while we waited for a couple more to join us, so it added a bit of social interaction on a day I might otherwise have just played solo the whole time. I don't remember anything about the day before when I'd also run a set of Amalj'aa quests, likely some of the same ones, but that day, when I had to get people to come help me kill a hunt mark to reach them, was memorable enough that I can tell you about it now, as well as being more social. Neither of those are bad things in an MMO.

So yeah, I've been one-shotted when going by a hunt mark as a low level character, and I've had access to a quest blocked by one. And overall, both of those turned out to be fairly positive experiences.