Lance Berg
2003-11-24 12:31:12 UTC
I admit I haven't done a rigorous check, nor appproached LDoN in any
sort of a disciplined way; I've done whatever dungeon people wanted,
with whatever groups came to hand.
This means I have three fails (two with partial success) and have only a
few points in Miragul, none at all in Deepest Guk. The majority of my
points are spread evenly between Mistmore and Rujarkin, with about half
that amount in Takish... although due to the prevalence of summoned mobs
in Takish, I'd presumably be more use there.
Here's the thing, at nearly 400 points total, there's still nothing I've
seen that I'd buy; this includes stuff running as much as 220 points
when I have no more than 160 points in any one mission type.
I am untwinked in the classic sense, I have nothing on me that I didn't
personally earn the money for, and not by quasi-twinkish means of
selling spider silks or spiderling silks or leather padding or any of
the other ways in which a low level character takes advantage of the
relative weath of high level characters by doing their tedious work in
exchange for outrageously high recompense. No, I've earned money
largely by killing mobs that were at least cyan to me (occaisional bouts
of killing green mobs with a partner who was getting exp aside,) and
dumping almost everything to vendors, not because I object to the
bazaar, but because I find it tedious.
Still, I have sold items in the bazaar to people who have money earned
by "other means", I'm probably still tainted (if you want to call it
that) by the general inflation.
Worse, I've purchased items in the bazaar, and there taken advantage of
the substantial Deflation; items which were once valued by players at 10
times what they are now drape my body in many locations.
I look at a 220 point item, and realize I could buy better for 220pp...
but I earn ten times as much PP in an LDoN run than LDoN points, and I
can make much better money than that in many camps out in the
non-instanced world.
But its worse than that. At my level (52) I make an average of 15
points per mission. I've been 52 for quite a while now, deliberately
staying here to let a friend catch up with me, so I've made quite a few
15 point runs. At 15 points each, my 400 point total would represent 27
missions run, or between 27 and 40 hours in mission time plus another 27
hours or so of pre mission and post mission time.
But I wasn't 52 the whole time, I started much lower, in my 30s. When I
was seeing 3 points, 4 points, 5 points a mission. The gear I'm seeing
available at 220 points would also have been something I'd turn my nose
up at level 34, a time when I was still wearing mostly newbie quest
gear! Yet it would have taken 100 LDoN missions to get to my current
total, and since LDoN got me between 1 and 2 yellow per mission, I'd
have long since been significantly higher level.
What would interest me? Simple; augments for focus effects, augments
with clicky powers, augments with stat boosts, level appropriate spells
that are priced at reasonable points for that level... actual items are
very unlikely to be interesting, except that if there were reasonable
point costs ones with more augment slots than "real world" items, and
reasonable stats compared to what can be purchased with the sort of cash
that is dropped in LDoN, these might be worth buying since you can
rapidly run out of places to put augments.
At something like 160 points, there's an augment to add 2 AC. Two. I
can't think of a class that would profit by putting an extra what, 30
points (are there 15 locations on a body?) of AC on at any level, in
exchange for 2400 LDoN points, there -has- to be a better use of your
time than that.
What would the point values have to be then? Well, lets say you can do
a mission for 3 points at level 30 (which is more or less the case).
In 3 missions you'll be level 31... so really there ought to be
worthwhile things you can buy for no more than 9 points. Things which
will be disposable, like focus II effect or something, focus is ideal
because there are other cheap routes to it and because the max level of
spell it effects means that you'll be discarding it in a few levels
anyway, when you'll be level 50, earning 15 points per mission, and
should be finding similar items for your new level at around 45 points each.
What do you think, am I missing something, or is the ... I won't say
risk, but toil versus reward totally out of whack for the lower levels
of LDoN play?
Splendid One, 52 Gnomage, Firiona Vie
ps Not that I don't enjoy LDoN, nor do I find it poor reward overall;
with an average of 2 augments per mission I end up with 1 every 3 or so,
plus the exp is just fine and I like how easy it is to find groups and
go do something with no hassles about it already being camped; I
especially love the way it forces you to move around instead of taking a
static camp... this is the original Vision of the game that was so
astonishingly botched by the spawn mechanic. Its just the adventure
points part that seems, well, pointless.
sort of a disciplined way; I've done whatever dungeon people wanted,
with whatever groups came to hand.
This means I have three fails (two with partial success) and have only a
few points in Miragul, none at all in Deepest Guk. The majority of my
points are spread evenly between Mistmore and Rujarkin, with about half
that amount in Takish... although due to the prevalence of summoned mobs
in Takish, I'd presumably be more use there.
Here's the thing, at nearly 400 points total, there's still nothing I've
seen that I'd buy; this includes stuff running as much as 220 points
when I have no more than 160 points in any one mission type.
I am untwinked in the classic sense, I have nothing on me that I didn't
personally earn the money for, and not by quasi-twinkish means of
selling spider silks or spiderling silks or leather padding or any of
the other ways in which a low level character takes advantage of the
relative weath of high level characters by doing their tedious work in
exchange for outrageously high recompense. No, I've earned money
largely by killing mobs that were at least cyan to me (occaisional bouts
of killing green mobs with a partner who was getting exp aside,) and
dumping almost everything to vendors, not because I object to the
bazaar, but because I find it tedious.
Still, I have sold items in the bazaar to people who have money earned
by "other means", I'm probably still tainted (if you want to call it
that) by the general inflation.
Worse, I've purchased items in the bazaar, and there taken advantage of
the substantial Deflation; items which were once valued by players at 10
times what they are now drape my body in many locations.
I look at a 220 point item, and realize I could buy better for 220pp...
but I earn ten times as much PP in an LDoN run than LDoN points, and I
can make much better money than that in many camps out in the
non-instanced world.
But its worse than that. At my level (52) I make an average of 15
points per mission. I've been 52 for quite a while now, deliberately
staying here to let a friend catch up with me, so I've made quite a few
15 point runs. At 15 points each, my 400 point total would represent 27
missions run, or between 27 and 40 hours in mission time plus another 27
hours or so of pre mission and post mission time.
But I wasn't 52 the whole time, I started much lower, in my 30s. When I
was seeing 3 points, 4 points, 5 points a mission. The gear I'm seeing
available at 220 points would also have been something I'd turn my nose
up at level 34, a time when I was still wearing mostly newbie quest
gear! Yet it would have taken 100 LDoN missions to get to my current
total, and since LDoN got me between 1 and 2 yellow per mission, I'd
have long since been significantly higher level.
What would interest me? Simple; augments for focus effects, augments
with clicky powers, augments with stat boosts, level appropriate spells
that are priced at reasonable points for that level... actual items are
very unlikely to be interesting, except that if there were reasonable
point costs ones with more augment slots than "real world" items, and
reasonable stats compared to what can be purchased with the sort of cash
that is dropped in LDoN, these might be worth buying since you can
rapidly run out of places to put augments.
At something like 160 points, there's an augment to add 2 AC. Two. I
can't think of a class that would profit by putting an extra what, 30
points (are there 15 locations on a body?) of AC on at any level, in
exchange for 2400 LDoN points, there -has- to be a better use of your
time than that.
What would the point values have to be then? Well, lets say you can do
a mission for 3 points at level 30 (which is more or less the case).
In 3 missions you'll be level 31... so really there ought to be
worthwhile things you can buy for no more than 9 points. Things which
will be disposable, like focus II effect or something, focus is ideal
because there are other cheap routes to it and because the max level of
spell it effects means that you'll be discarding it in a few levels
anyway, when you'll be level 50, earning 15 points per mission, and
should be finding similar items for your new level at around 45 points each.
What do you think, am I missing something, or is the ... I won't say
risk, but toil versus reward totally out of whack for the lower levels
of LDoN play?
Splendid One, 52 Gnomage, Firiona Vie
ps Not that I don't enjoy LDoN, nor do I find it poor reward overall;
with an average of 2 augments per mission I end up with 1 every 3 or so,
plus the exp is just fine and I like how easy it is to find groups and
go do something with no hassles about it already being camped; I
especially love the way it forces you to move around instead of taking a
static camp... this is the original Vision of the game that was so
astonishingly botched by the spawn mechanic. Its just the adventure
points part that seems, well, pointless.