Merry Band of 5

[Hellburner]

Is this bugged Killed l=the Snatchscale Brute and it did not drop the item ( Sword ) only dropped random items

 

[Hellburner]

I have talked to multiple players and its just that the Drop rate is outrageously BAD, to the point that this quest May not even be worth starting

 

[Elloa]

It's a long chain quest that requiere you to work for it. The "difficulty" is intended
As always Quests are optional. If it causes you frustration, then it may be better to not pursue the quest.
This is very much the reason we do not want to add XP to quests. So quests are something you embark only if you enjoy/want to do it. You do not feel forced to do it. This allow us to be more creative with stories, add puzzles, mysteries or challenges. Some players love those type of quests, some players will hate it.

That being said, thank you very much for your feedback. This is also a first experiment with a quest of that scope. So any feedback, positive OR negative is really useful to see how we will go from there in future.

 

[Hellburner]

That is not difficulty , or the journey and all the other spin words you may wish to drop. It is insanity to expect a group of 6 players on that level ( 34 to 36 ) to potentially spend 6 to 20 hours of game play each ( being conservative based on mob type turnover personal experience as well as Witnessed drop rates ) to try for a single drop. One person would be lucky to get the drop in a group before the group implodes or resets with More people trying for the same drop leading some to eventually abandon the quest or Finish at a level where the Item is most likely to be of little to no use.

I already understood this to be difficult, as when I got to this point and was already at 12 hours of game play just to get this far with NO COMPETION for drops ( I was doing this with a level 50 character , and have farmed it helping Other level 50s )

 

[csthao]

That is not difficulty , or the journey and all the other spin words you may wish to drop. It is insanity to expect a group of 6 players on that level ( 34 to 36 ) to potentially spend 6 to 20 hours of game play each ( being conservative based on mob type turnover personal experience as well as Witnessed drop rates ) to try for a single drop. One person would be lucky to get the drop in a group before the group implodes or resets with More people trying for the same drop leading some to eventually abandon the quest or Finish at a level where the Item is most likely to be of little to no use.

I already understood this to be difficult, as when I got to this point and was already at 12 hours of game play just to get this far with NO COMPETION for drops ( I was doing this with a level 50 character , and have farmed it helping Other level 50s )

This is exactly the same reason why they changed the ancient bear kill quest in the cave in New Haven Valley. People are "competing" or fighting over spawn. This is no different. Just imagine IF they have a healthy population of players in game. When there's more than 1 group trying to do the quest at the same time. Even 1 group you're rolling against each other, and they expect 20+ hrs for 1 drop x 6 players in a group? Ridiculous! You'd think they'd learn by now.

 

[csthao]

It's a long chain quest that requiere you to work for it. The "difficulty" is intended
As always Quests are optional. If it causes you frustration, then it may be better to not pursue the quest.
This is very much the reason we do not want to add XP to quests. So quests are something you embark only if you enjoy/want to do it. You do not feel forced to do it. This allow us to be more creative with stories, add puzzles, mysteries or challenges. Some players love those type of quests, some players will hate it.

That being said, thank you very much for your feedback. This is also a first experiment with a quest of that scope. So any feedback, positive OR negative is really useful to see how we will go from there in future.

It's not difficult killing a named mob and clearing the area where they spawn. It's just a major time sink. If you want to make it difficult, how bout making the fighting mechanics harder. Like instead of the usual aoe stuns/daze, why not do "death touches" or unbreakable complete heals or swarm adds or move to a certain spot if not you get debuff or instant death or traps/triggers.

A mob that has a 1% drop rate (just generalizing) does not make a quest "difficult." It makes people quit games.

 

[Elloa]

It's not difficult killing a named mob and clearing the area where they spawn. It's just a major time sink. If you want to make it difficult, how bout making the fighting mechanics harder. Like instead of the usual aoe stuns/daze, why not do "death touches" or unbreakable complete heals or swarm adds or move to a certain spot if not you get debuff or instant death or traps/triggers.

RELATED TO FIGHTING MECHANICS
We absolutely agree with that. But harder fighting mechanics, requiere new tech to be developed. Which is something we are working on. New fighting tech has already been released since we launched, and we are working on more tech that you will discover in encounters in future.

 

[Yarpen Zig]

The purpose of both the Snatchscale Brute and Garr the Slayer seems to be to encourage players with a desire to complete the quest to play with 33-38 players to help clear their respective camps. Alternatively, those who leveled with the quest in their quest log might check off those respective camps as they progress through the content organically.

If it were as simple as walking in and bopping one single Brute it would defeat the purpose. This game is meant to encourage grouping and this quest provides a secondary reason to engage with the Oasis and Snatchscale village grouping areas outside of xp or 34 ability books. The quest is encouraging you to work with a few other people and you're very much rewarded for doing so.

The sword drops at about 1/10 to 1/20 drop rate but frankly the Brutes spawn near back to back and a 5 to 10% drop rate isn't bad at all if you're clearing with a party. It's only made more difficult by the lack of population which can basically be said about virtually every aspect of the game. If groups were plentiful, people would be collaborating to help those on the quest get the sword. For some reason you all think that if the population goes to above 100 again suddenly chaos will erupt. Y'all being ridiculous.

 

[Hellburner]

Having done this multiple times Zig not on a one off , they some times will spawn 3 or 5 in a cycle or 2 of the Entire Camp and then None spawn for a couple of cycles. That is not a small amount of time for one Drop for level group required for On level gaming , and then you have to multiply that by 6. I am over the 20 mark seeking a drop on my toon, and have seen others with similar drop rates. If none are up I have had to help clear 3 full cycles to see even one Brute on one of my times.

You your self were in the 1 of 20 range as you admitted when asked Days ago. I am Scaling this in time spent based on a group On level not 40s and 50s farming , rolling off for the item VS others in groups not one person gets it as while 4 or 5 others " help ", and keeping any form of a group together long enough to actually complete just this one step.

Also the present game experience has to be taken into account based on player levels online , not a hoped for thing. Making a grindy game so grindy even the player's who support it don't want to do a quest past the Second step ( yes people are abandoning it at the Bootleggers Brew step ) let alone this step is not a reasonable way to keep the players you have invested Let alone attract new players.

Also I don't see anyone in the game or even Here saying the Rewards are GOD like etc, you just have to keep grinding .With the track record of many of the quests in Game not giving an reward worth the bag space to even take it to a vendor, I hold little reason or hope to see that this one would be any different.

At most there are 4 or 5 quests in this game I would even suggest bothering with to this point based on time and effort spent to finish and the end rewards, with maybe 4 or 5 more that are OK to do as you go, but nothing you cant replace with drops.

Lastly Players have already revolted over an earlier Step for the basilisk drop that was Halved and patched to adjust.

 

[texastime]

Having done this multiple times Zig not on a one off , they some times will spawn 3 or 5 in a cycle or 2 of the Entire Camp and then None spawn for a couple of cycles. That is not a small amount of time for one Drop for level group required for On level gaming , and then you have to multiply that by 6. I am over the 20 mark seeking a drop on my toon, and have seen others with similar drop rates. If none are up I have had to help clear 3 full cycles to see even one Brute on one of my times.

You your self were in the 1 of 20 range as you admitted when asked Days ago. I am Scaling this in time spent based on a group On level not 40s and 50s farming , rolling off for the item VS others in groups not one person gets it as while 4 or 5 others " help ", and keeping any form of a group together long enough to actually complete just this one step.

Also the present game experience has to be taken into account based on player levels online , not a hoped for thing. Making a grindy game so grindy even the player's who support it don't want to do a quest past the Second step ( yes people are abandoning it at the Bootleggers Brew step ) let alone this step is not a reasonable way to keep the players you have invested Let alone attract new players.

Also I don't see anyone in the game or even Here saying the Rewards are GOD like etc, you just have to keep grinding .With the track record of many of the quests in Game not giving an reward worth the bag space to even take it to a vendor, I hold little reason or hope to see that this one would be any different.

At most there are 4 or 5 quests in this game I would even suggest bothering with to this point based on time and effort spent to finish and the end rewards, with maybe 4 or 5 more that are OK to do as you go, but nothing you cant replace with drops.

Lastly Players have already revolted over an earlier Step for the basilisk drop that was Halved and patched to adjust.

This is really well written and valid points. I’ve helped a friend do parts of the quest and it does seem overly time consuming considering the current population. There are almost never any full “of level” groups, especially 30+. Finally, I would keep grinding to the final rewards. They’re pretty badass and look good too (the staff at least)!

 

[Yarpen Zig]

Having done this multiple times Zig not on a one off

Yes, I have only done this quest start to finish once. That said, I've worked with multiple people in my community to finish this stage as well as the previous stages so I have a generally reasonable idea of how hard it is to obtain both the helmet and the sword. Both the Snatch camp and Oasis are intended to be grinded by a party so having to clear the camp a few times is a reasonable expectation. Obviously that's easier said than done given the population but frankly that can be said about virtually every aspect of the game currently.

This is really well written and valid points. I’ve helped a friend do parts of the quest and it does seem overly time consuming considering the current population. There are almost never any full “of level” groups, especially 30+. Finally, I would keep grinding to the final rewards. They’re pretty badass and look good too (the staff at least)!

Yeah I guess it comes down to whether the devs are trying to balance long format quests like this one for the intended audience (groups) or the actual audience (individuals and/or boxers). If you're balancing for an Embers Adrift with plentiful groups, I think it's tuned fine. If you're balancing for the current state of the population, then yeah perhaps it's a bit too rare. I don't admire the dev's position currently as they're building an MMO without a "massive multiplayer" playerbase. It feels like a catch 22 that will inevitably aggravate their current playerbase in favor of a the experience of potential future playerbase.

I still don't think 1/20 is a bad drop rate as long as the rewards are worth it. And in this case, I think the rewards are worth it.