It's Time To Reconsider Removing Crossworld Hunting

[Mithina]

There is a lot of problems with the hunt which is why I have slowed down on my hunting of late, despite being one of the most active scouters.

However, I don't think that removing cross-world is the solution.

I think there are some good solutions as having the hunt master tell people if an S rank is able to be spawned, introducing a 5 min invuln window when an S rank/A rank first spawns to allow people to catch up (I cannot count how many S ranks I have personally spawned and missed because of leechers who wait and insta pull), and scaling health based on the last time it was killed (this would not PREVENT people from sniping, but discourage it).

None of these options would reduce the integrity of the hunt and still allow it to be more stable for a growing population and increasing game size. There is a lot of people who are very active in the hunt, spawning S ranks and scouting A ranks, but are completely missing out on things they WORKED for because some people think they are more entitled to than others.
I could spend all my leves on Lampalagua and leave the area to do Bone Crawler, have Lampalagua spawn and killed within 30 seconds before I can port back, and end up with nothing but a f**k you for my time.

While something like a 5 minute invulnerability shield would be nice, it would instead create another problem for prime time current expansion S ranks and that is zone congestion. I'm assuming zones are still hard capped at 300 players total. A number of ShB S ranks during peak times have gotten extremely close or have hit that cap numerous times throughout Shadowbringers, especially when there was actually ample time for relays to go out in-game. A shield like that would cause the zone to hit congestion more often, and that's on top of the hunt population already increasing. And do we really need that many players at a single hunt?

[Tsumdere]

While something like a 5 minute invulnerability shield would be nice, it would instead create another problem for prime time current expansion S ranks and that is zone congestion. I'm assuming zones are still hard capped at 300 players total. A number of ShB S ranks during peak times have gotten extremely close or have hit that cap numerous times throughout Shadowbringers, especially when there was actually ample time for relays to go out in-game. A shield like that would cause the zone to hit congestion more often, and that's on top of the hunt population already increasing. And do we really need that many players at a single hunt?

Then the easiest solution would be to not put the invuln shield on the newest ranks, or lower it to at least 30 seconds so people who are spawning other side of the map can get there. I suppose that I had gotten ahead of myself and was thinking of hunt QoL changes and less about the zone congestion.

The servers are all individually bursting anyways with the influx of players, removing cross-world won't make the servers uncongested. Heck, even before cross-world I remember times when zones would get congested from S Ranks on Balmung. I've even seen trains that are mid-patch, mostly home world players and reaching the triple digits. And now every server has significantly higher populations. There isn't a single change they can make to make it uncongested at this point besides raising the player cap on zones.

A 5 minute invuln window isn't going to change anything. People are still going to complain they're missing out.

Players were never intended to be able to get to every kill. That's what a part of the community keeps failing to understand. If SE wanted the entire community to be able to get to the kills, the system would have been designed differently.

Keep in mind that what we're experiencing now is not going to be what we're experiencing with Endwalker hunts when Endwalker releases. There won't huge numbers of players at level cap for several weeks. The gear most players have will be the equivalent of the Ronkan gear at the start of Shadowbringer instead of far more powerful end of expansion end game gear. Things will be dying more slowly.

As a spawner/scouter, I have no sympathy for people who show up several minutes late and complain early pulling. This simply isn't about that. As the player base grows, mobs get weaker and weaker, more items are moved to be bought with exclusively hunt tokens (such as old glams), and the pool of older S Ranks/A Ranks that basically don't exist anymore because they are perma-dead grows, it becomes more and more apparent the hunt system needs to be readdressed.

5 min was a lot, I admit, but I was just shooting numbers. But there should be something to allow spawners to get their own kill... you know... since they were the ones who did the work. Right now, all the hunt does is reward cheaters with their radar bots and leechers.

I'm all for FATE ilvl syncing on them, or moving them into treasure map like spawns that 8-man parties can tackle like many others suggest.

[Jojoya]

But there should be something to allow spawners to get their own kill... you know... since they were the ones who did the work. Right now, all the hunt does is reward cheaters with their radar bots and leechers.

Considering the community has long since developed trackers (no bots involved, simple information tracking) that narrow down the possible spawn points to 1-2, it should be extremely rare for spawners to miss out on their own spawn now.

SE has said even spawners don't own what they spawn. It's still an open hunt. Will they change their stance on that at some point? Only time will tell.

I still thinking using a reduced vuln buff modified from what Trion uses for some of the world events in RIFT (or at least used to when I played) would be the best compromise. Any damage dealt over a certain amount appropriate for the intended level would be nullified while the mark's HP pool and damage would remain what it's always been. It remains accessible and a challenge for the players at the level intended but high level players won't be able to come along and smash it in 20 seconds, giving more players (not to mention the spawners) time to arrive and participate.