SumOldMan
08-10-2007, 07:46 PM
<p>Let me just start by saying that I had a level 70 warlock on Venekor that started when the server did. I had played PvP some in the past but not a huge amount. That warlock on Venekor was the most fun I have had had on any game in a long time. This was pre-aa (although aa's were added while i was playing him) so no real reason to level lock or mentor. Sure, at lower levels I lost a lot, especially to scouts (stun = bad for a clothy) but as I grew, I was able to hold my own, and I was devastating in groups.</p><p>I stopped playing here to play eq classic and vanguard and was really disappointed by both. Now when I come back I see twinks with ridiculous AA's owning the low level areas on both sides. It was to the point where I couldn't even make a dent in a green's health pool defending myself. I hear all you now -- learn to play, get better gear, buy a clue -- you name it I have heard it. The real problem is both the disabling of combat experience and mentoring. These things were designed for PvE and should stay there.</p><p>Lets review why these concepts were put into Eq2 to start with. It was so that friends that had huge playtimes wouldn't outlevel their friends who didnt play so much and they could still group together. It's a fine sentiment for PvE servers. How many of you can remember back to when armor and spells didnt automatically scale, and you had to have a separate setup for each level range you were mentoring in. It was a huge pain -- but now everything scales. The is fine for PvE and had good intentions involved all around.</p><p>Now lets look at PvP and how these things are REALLY used. Disabling of combat experience is generally used to artificially keep yourself at a low level while you rack up AA's. Why do this? So you can farm lower level players for faction and get PvP gear you dont deserve. Does anyone out there truly believe that a new player with a level 15 that has never locked has a chance against a twinked out 15 with 21aa's (again something that was just recently changed, but used to be as many aa's as you could get)? Level locking now has become just a huge I WIN button for PvP and farming faction.</p><p>What about mentoring? Again this was designed for players to be able to group together when one has outlevelled the other. A fine sentiment, but not so good for PvP. How is it used in PvP? Anyone remember all the troubles with mentoring when Venekor first opened? It went through several changes before we got to where we are today of not being able to help or fight back when you are mentoring. Mentoring today is used almost exclusively to get credit (AA exp) for things that you have outleveled long time ago. It's become a tool to work around the developers intent of no AA experience to things that are grey. In my mind, that makes it an exploit.</p><p>So lets make PvP work again. Lets completely do away with level locking -- you kill something, you get exp. You discover an area, you get exp. You finish a quest, you get experience. This is the only way we will be able to attract and hold new players. If you don't have the stones to PvP when theres actually a chance that you will lose, then you shouldn't be on a PvP server to start with.</p><p>What about mentoring -- there i think the fix is even easier. Either turn it off completely for PvP servers or don't award AA experience while mentoring. This would allow a person to remain grouped with his friends without using as a tool to get around what is clearly intended.</p><p>PvP should be fun -- In my opinion, it is less fun when one side always wins and the other side always loses. I have donned my Kevlar battle armor in preparation for consequences of publicly supporting what may turn out to be an unpopular opinion. Fire away!</p><p>Thanks!</p>