Why I don't like to group

[Reiker]

It's pointless to crunch numbers when you don't even know the algorithm that P99 is using for experience.

[yaeger]

Originally Posted by Reiker [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It's pointless to crunch numbers when you don't even know the algorithm that P99 is using for experience.

It's not pointless, look at page 2 of this topic where I quoted one of the developers on this very subject.

[Reiker]

Originally Posted by yaeger [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It's not pointless, look at page 2 of this topic where I quoted one of the developers on this very subject.

Then your math is bad. You're saying that a full group would have to kill 30+ mobs every 6 minutes to compete with a soloer. If a group was killing 30 mobs / 6 minutes, and a soloer killing 5 / 6 minutes, the full group would be receiving approximately 10% more exp than the soloer and that's not factoring things such as better zone ZEM, less downtime, etc.

[yaeger]

Originally Posted by Reiker [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Then your math is bad. You're saying that a full group would have to kill 30+ mobs every 6 minutes to compete with a soloer. If a group was killing 30 mobs / 6 minutes, and a soloer killing 5 / 6 minutes, the full group would be receiving approximately 10% more exp than the soloer and that's not factoring things such as better zone ZEM, less downtime, etc.

Serious.. you didn't even read the post?

[Reiker]

Originally Posted by yaeger [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Serious.. you didn't even read the post?

Yeah you got me, I just calculated numbers and percentages without reading the post you referenced. In fact it seems highly likely that you did a straight divide by six instead of adding the 10% exp bonus that Bum mentioned. Didn't you read the post, dude? The post man, did you read it? There's a post. About group experience calculations. You should read it.

[yaeger]

Originally Posted by Reiker [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Yeah you got me, I just calculated numbers and percentages without reading the post you referenced. In fact it seems highly likely that you did a straight divide by six instead of adding the 10% exp bonus that Bum mentioned. Didn't you read the post, dude? The post man, did you read it? There's a post. About group experience calculations. You should read it.

Fine.. I'll help you.

Not true, I've checked it with debugging repeatedly. In fact what happens is:

Example mob worth 1000 xp.

One person killing one mob gets 1000xp.

Six people killing six mobs get 6600xp (which equates to 1100xp per player before normalization).

If all six players are the same level and are class/race combinations without any XP modifier then all six players will get 1100xp each.

However, if the group is again the same level, but has some penalties etc, it works out like this:

Code:

Race Class Per Mob For Six
--------- ------- ------- -------
Human Cleric 162 974
Ogre Warrior 174 1042
Halfling Rogue 142 851
Erudite Wizard 180 1083
Barbarian Shaman 171 1026
Half-elf Ranger 271 1624
--------- ------- ------- -------
Total 1100 6600

So except for the Human Cleric and the Halfing Rogue, all members of the group earn more XP for killing 6 mobs while grouped than they did killing one mob solo.

The benefits of solo'ing vs. grouping depend on a lot of factors, but from a raw XP perspective, if the group can consistently kill 6 mobs in the amount of time the solo'er kills one mob, the group will earn faster XP over time.

[Reiker]

Originally Posted by yaeger [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Fine.. I'll help you.

I'll help you out too since I know you've been too busy with burger flipping to learn the maths.

One person killing one mob gets 1000xp.

Six people killing six mobs get 6600xp (which equates to 1100xp per player before normalization).

If all six players are the same level and are class/race combinations without any XP modifier then all six players will get 1100xp each.

This means that a group gets a bonus 10% exp. You seem to have left that out bro.

[Lazortag]

Sometimes the loot is better in groups. There are some camps your mage is just never going to be able to break, that have awesome loot. Then again, mages can do seafuries, which beats everything. Fuck.

[kenzar]

Soloing doesnt require you to sit and wait for a group, please account for that in your math.

[Enderenter]

I don't think there's that big of a discrepancy between solo and group xp, there are just several factors that often cause group xp to be worse if you are a player who knows what you are doing:

1. What I like to call "Lowest Common Denominator" syndrome. The players in the group all play as lazily/poorly as the worst player in the group, because they don't want to carry the group or just don't care.
2. Waiting in line for groups when most dungeons are full. (far less convenient to wait 30 minutes to an hour to find a group than to just start killing stuff on your own)

However, group xp's downside (vs solo) is somewhat mitigated by the following negative factors:

1. Good solo spots are almost always taken at 40+, (Oasis/Feerott/OoT Specs, HGs etc) and often don't open up for many, many hours.
2. Most classes in classic, no matter how twinked, cannot solo efficiently past level 30.

Ultimately, I agree with Reiker on the point of solo vs. group (assuming all players involved are reasonably skilled, knowledgeable, or just able to follow simple instructions) being convenience vs efficiency. Obviously, some classes in classic are just ridiculously good at soloing for xp, (Mage, Necro, Chanter etc) and some classes are just ridiculously bad at it (Rogue, Warrior). But even in the case of Mages, (who are by all accounts incredibly overpowered at solo on P99, far more than they were on classic) put 6 Mages in a group together, and if there are enough mobs to kill, the XP will be better than a solo mage.