a simple poll

[SamwiseBanned]

true but easier to get a port (gfay spires, SF rings, BB rings) to and from faydark than getting dropped in the middle of dreadlands or w/e dangerous places for lowbies in kunark

[SamwiseBanned]

hmm i cant remember where i leveled on sz, it definately wasnt kunark but on Druzzil Ro it was definately LoIO, OT, KC ect.

[SamwiseBanned]

non iksar melees are at the mercy of casters to bind them in Kunark before they can even think about xp. this is why soulbinders are needed. pop too low. I remember in January it took a couple of days (3-4 hours total) to get my ogre warrior bound in gfay. the hardest part was not getting pked by the people coming to bind me but either way that was 2 days i couldnt do jack shit because i was bound in feerott.

[TheLieka]

Good point. You're right. The game would be more fun if you didn't have to try.

I will admit that my list was based on more than just "helping you level" and "getting people together". Here's the thing, someone had to go through and populate the spawn tables. Someone had to create the itemization tables. Someone had to put in faction tables. Someone had to balance their levels. Someone had to write their pathing. Then some dude bitched because it was wrong, so someone else had to go in and adjust it. Someone had to write their quests. I could go on...

It is nice to see people actually use zones like Kedge Keep and Kerra Island and enjoy the work that has taken over 8 years and thousands upon thousands of man-hours to produce. If that takes you 20 minutes out of your way, and you can't sit in Unrest, then you don't have to use it. If no one uses it, then that's fine too - the staff of the server cannot be expected to adjust human behavior. If they were really concerned with getting you out of Unrest, they would just remove it from the game.

Hot Zones are a carrot, not a stick. It's up to each individual on whether or not they choose to utilize them. If you tell me that it's going to take me x days to get y levels, or I can travel for an hour and then I will get those same levels in much less time (not to mention getting a group and pvp), then you bet your ass I'll travel. I think most people would do the same.

[aborted]

Hot zones would be amazing, and id like to see the xp stay the same for atleast 1-51. So people can get to kunark lvls if they want too.

[SamwiseBanned]

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

Good point. You're right. The game would be more fun if you didn't have to try.

I will admit that my list was based on more than just "helping you level" and "getting people together". Here's the thing, someone had to go through and populate the spawn tables. Someone had to create the itemization tables. Someone had to put in faction tables. Someone had to balance their levels. Someone had to write their pathing. Then some dude bitched because it was wrong, so someone else had to go in and adjust it. Someone had to write their quests. I could go on...

It is nice to see people actually use zones like Kedge Keep and Kerra Island and enjoy the work that has taken over 8 years and thousands upon thousands of man-hours to produce. If that takes you 20 minutes out of your way, and you can't sit in Unrest, then you don't have to use it. If no one uses it, then that's fine too - the staff of the server cannot be expected to adjust human behavior. If they were really concerned with getting you out of Unrest, they would just remove it from the game.

Hot Zones are a carrot, not a stick. It's up to each individual on whether or not they choose to utilize them. If you tell me that it's going to take me x days to get y levels, or I can travel for an hour and then I will get those same levels in much less time (not to mention getting a group and pvp), then you bet your ass I'll travel. I think most people would do the same.

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I appreciate the work but that doesnt make certain zones any more enjoyable for me [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[SearyxTZ]

I just want to not be the 1 person in a zone I'm grinding in

as a player I think I'd still go to those other zones for item drops. For exp grinding though (and pvp), it should be centralized

[Rushmore]

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

Well, if you're getting into specifics, here are my two cents. It's list time!

There are a few things you have to keep in mind before choosing Hot Zones.

1. Do not make newbie zones "hot zones".
2. Make sure people can't farm inintended high level NPCs from hot zones (either by buffing the NPCs or lowering the NPCs' levels).
3. Hot Zones should not be common. Going to a Hot Zone should be exciting, not a time that you plan to zone in and take a smoke break.
4. Hot Zones are great at bringing players to content that they would not typically experience. I do not believe that giving players a cookie for experiencing content that they would have experienced anyway is a good idea.
5. Finally, the worst thing that a staff can do is increase drop rates in Hot Zones.
   Yes, a Hot Zone should attract players, but monkeying with the loot tables in order to attract players is a bad idea. Stick with the Hot Zone xp bonus, and leave it at that.

Now for the actual zones that I would pick:

1. Beholder's Maze (Antonica)
   8 - 25
   
2. Kerra Island (Odus)
   15 - 35
   
3. Kaesora (Kunark)
   30 - 45
   
4. Kedge Keep (Faydwer)
   35 - 50
   
   either:
5. Howling Stones (Kunark)
   50+
   or
6. The Hole (Odus) <-- My preference, but I understand why promoting the new Kunark content would be preferable.
   40+

agreed to everything u ever said till you picked hot zones.

[TheLieka]

You're not the first one. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] So far, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that thinks its a good idea to give people an incentive to go to underutilized content.

but dude... it's been years since I've ganked a group in Kedge. You don't know joy until you have killed with dispel. And I held that joy until dispelling levitate in mass pvp fights over Klandi... oh mama.

[Renk]

I tend to think keeping the current boosted exp is the best baseline, for both fun and population, because the "reducing lifetime of the available content" argument isn't as applicable here due to PvP already slowing down PvE consumption, and PvP itself isn't typical PvE content that gets linearly consumed.

Also, hotzones seem to be the best additional option for boosting activity (be it pve grouping and/or pvp), and doesn't clash with some people's feelings as harshly as the YT/LB things do.

The biggest thing about hotzones I would say is, while some people mentioned not wanting too many at a time as to not spread people out too much, for each level bracket (low/mid/high or whatever) there should be 2 at the same time. One in kunark and one in the old world, or such, for some of the excessive travel reasons previous posters mentioned in some cases.

And if they are rotating (possibly among specific zones for each bracket like people mentioned, not too many giant outdoor zones like karanas), then some days they would be a place you want/usually level in, other days they might be that more unused kerra/kedge type that might bring new people to experience them (or not, that's ok too). I think that variety would be good initially to see how it goes. Some give, some take, one wouldn't necessarily expect or want to be in a hotzone every single day.

Maybe a 50% hotzone boost is too high if we keep the current bonus, but something in the 20-50% range I suppose (additive I would also guess, not multiplicative). And if there was one in a lvl50+ zone maybe it should be less of a mod than lower level zones or such. Just throwing some things out there.