About the Mechanics and Design of the Bombard Event

[Rutelor]

This is one of those cases in which interesting, innovative mechanics are marred by a certain clumsiness of design. This event is inflating the value of the currency item drop, just because it only moves close to the intended conclusion when there's massive participation. And there hasn't been massive participation since the first night of the event.

Over 40 players quickly dispatching bombards and kings, plus a bit of luck, can do the last few minutes of the fight with ease, but alas, those conditions exist no more. Now, when the initial fever is gone, only an average of 6-7 players are to be found outside of Ul'dah at any one time, and that barely, at peak participation hours. The crescendo of the fight's last few minutes, with lots of kings spawning near the balloons, is too much for these few participants to handle.

Neither is the spawn rate the main culprit in this hurdle, which I have the feeling could be handled by about 10-15 players under other circumstances. Rather, the speed (or lack thereof) with which the bombards and kings are consumed and disappear seems to cause a lot of dead debris close to the balloons, making the participants unable to detect, see, and target the approaching, alive bombards. For some reason, it feels that this effect is not intended as one of the few real difficulties of the fight.

Perhaps, more attention and testing will be needed next year.

R

[Renen]

Why put R at the end of your text?
Its not a letter, where we dont know by whom it is w/o a signature

[ShivenCasull]

Why put R at the end of your text?
Its not a letter, where we dont know by whom it is w/o a signature

It's his style to sign his posts, does it really bother you?

I totally agree OP, I've run into a similar situation. At peak hours it's not too bad trying to do the event but any other time and it can be impossible.

[Nabiri]

The bombs aren't so cluttered in the Black Shroud. It's much easier to see and target them.

Also, in Thanalan it seems you need around 30 people for a successful (no lost balloons) run...
In Gridania you can do pretty well with around 7 people. :x

If anyone's having issues I recommend taking a few friends to the Black Shroud.

[Rutelor]

Why put R at the end of your text?
Its not a letter, where we dont know by whom it is w/o a signature

Are you really that tight-assedly controlling, or is it that you really think I need you to enlighten me? Wait... Perhaps those two questions are the same thing.

R
R
& R

[Rutelor]

The bombs aren't so cluttered in the Black Shroud. It's much easier to see and target them.

Also, in Thanalan it seems you need around 30 people for a successful (no lost balloons) run...
In Gridania you can do pretty well with around 7 people. :x

If anyone's having issues I recommend taking a few friends to the Black Shroud.

Thanks for the tip, Nabiri. I guess it's time to visit the Black Shroud, then.

:-)

R

[Ganbachi]

I agree. I'd like it to work without targeting the bombards. This may allow the players dedicate the time to do the dance instead of spending it mostly on targeting them while running everywhere. It could work if the bombards notice x player are dancing at a place, which might stop the player spamming the emote before it finishes.