Fist de Yuma - August 3, 2004

Killing the golden goose There are a lot of complaints about Turbine changing the XP value on Biakas and Helions. If you read Turbine's post, it is clear that the reason for this change is greed. Players were creating a conflict because of their desire to squeeze every last XP out of Caul, regardless of how much harm they caused to others. Caul started slow. It took a while before people found out how good the XP and loot was there. Soon we had massive fellows, with a line of waiting players. This is when the greed set in. It was discovered that mages did not really need melees or archers. In fact, having them was more bother than they were worth. Of course that is short sighted. It is more work for a mage to have melee/archers there, but the damage they inflict makes up for it. Of course, if the mages are not tossing Imperil, the XP is lower with melee/archers in the fellow. There was also the problem of the melee looting, when they would never have gotten the kill without mage help. Greed kills. After a while, all mage fellows formed. Of course, this created a lot of hard feelings. This was quickly followed with, 126+ only requirements fellows, and even more hard feelings. Then the greed started to extend to outside of their fellows. With a waiting line to enter the fellow, they could pick and choose their members. The people waiting did not want to just stand there and watch, so they did what any person would and should do, they hunted. Of course the odd one or two monsters picked off by these solo hunters could not be allowed. The fellows started demanding that only the "approved" fellows be allowed to hunt. Anyone hunting outside of that were put on a ban list, and not allowed into the main fellows. That created even more resentment. We live in a society were self determination has been undermined. Many think it is up to a ruling body to solve any detected unfairness. So many who had a complaint about the Caul fellows, called on +envoys. After multiple complaints, Turbine started taking a close look at what was going on. Their solution was to make being in the Caul flows less desirable. So they are lowering the XP on the monsters by a large amount. It will still be worth hunting there, but not so much that the greedy will dominate. The complainers have no one but themselves to blame. If they played fair and did not let their greed overwhelm there sense of fair play, Turbine would have just ignored it. Instead we get this. Recently we have seen a lot of player activity at the center of the Singularity Caul, where the high-level Biakas spawn. In addition to the player activity, there've been a number of posts on the various community forums - and calls to the Envoy teams. Everyone wants to camp these spawns! When we took a closer look, we saw why - these creatures were giving out much too much experience when they were killed. No wonder this was one of the most fought-over hunting grounds in Dereth! Unfortunately, once we observed this, we realized that it would be necessary to decrease the experience granted by these creatures. Starting in August, the Hellion, Biaka, Graal Margul and Helcan Margul are having their experience decreased by 37.5%, 33%, 40% and 53% respectively. This will bring these creatures back into balance and resolve the overcrowding issues at the center of the Singularity Caul. It was never our intent for hunting in this area to be so much more profitable than hunting in other areas on the island. Chakron Flux Daemon was asking about the Virindi amulet on Thursdays. I was doing a little hunting with Salvage Mule Three at the time. The last time I had done this quest was three years ago. I had not heard of any upgrading to it. I think the portal restrictions have been changed but was the only change I heard of. After my buff was over, I loaded up Fist and did a full buff. I was sure I would only need fire and cold weapons, so it was a quick buff. Daemon was already running there, and Cobra the Warrior asked to go. I think Ken' helped him get there. I did a few wrong turns, but I'm sure I have the best route now. I'll know if I'm right on the next run. The second I got in, I knew there was a big problem. Instead of low level Hollows and Tusker Guards, there were Telumiat Hollows and Assailers. It did not take me long to find there were also Virindi Inquisitor replacing the low level Virindi that were there. All this was a big shock to Daemon and Cobra. Nevertheless, we figured to keep pushing. We at least wanted to get to the portals, and see what level restrictions were on them now. I had a feeling that they could both fight their way through the lower, while I solo'ed the upper. We spend an hour wondering around in a circle. There is a northern passage we must have passed a few times. Cobra is a low level and Daemon not all that high. So the Assailers were giving them hell. I was never in trouble, but the Virindi were inflicting damage. Finally, Cobra got smacked by an Assailer and died. Daemon recovered his body had to port out. I explored a little before leaving because of low buffs. I checked the map and saw where the missed passage was. I think I can find it ok. The question now is what changes have been made to the upper and lower. I wish I could have found the portals, because I need to know the level restrictions. It would also be nice to see if we can recall from the portal. There is a no summon restriction on the entrance portal. I did not test, but we should be able to tie and recall to it. If the other portals are like that, it will make forming up for the quest simpler. We are going to see if we can gather a six-player group for it. That would give us three for each side. We could then swap sides so we all get the Amulet. I would like us to get more Armlets, as they are a nice item. They are a big help for buffing. Chakron Flux Two A day or so later I tested the last portal recall on Chakron Flux. It worked fine. The second thing was to see if I could get some Sings. With all those Hollows, I should have gotten a lot. I had no trouble soloing it. The Virindi took a bit to kill, but they were the only slow killing monster. I found the hallway to the portals. I explored the upper section to a door. I think that is the one the lower needs to open for the upper. I would have explored the lower a bit, but my buffs were getting low, and I did not feel like doing another hour there. I only got one sing. I'm not sure of that was bad luck, or if the drop rate is lower than I expected. I'll give it a few more runs to make sure. Meanwhile I'm ready for our allegiance, and anyone that wants to join us, to do this quest. If I'm right about the run, it will not take much time to get everyone there. If I get to repair that computer I have setting in storage, I'll try to make the run solo, with my two accounts working in tandem. Caul recall While on the way to Qbar with Cliff Bowman, I ran across William the Bat and a few of his members getting ready for the Caul Recall quest. They asked me if I wanted to join them. Fist's Armorer is about ready to start hunting Caul, so this was an ideal opportunity. I quickly logged off Cliff Bowman and swapped accounts. I then did an allegiance recall to Tou-Tou. After a quick buff, William made the portal to the Bore. We had a strong group, far stronger than my only other running of this quest. That run was with Paraduck and can be found on the AC Vault column page. http://acvault.ign.com/features/columns/fistdeyuma/ The members were; William the bat (126), Rhood Archer (126), Rikku Ah-Bhed (116), Silenta the Quite (126) and Fist's Armorer. My old column goes over this quest well, so I'll just add in the high and low parts. William the Bat ran an outstanding quest. He must know this quest backwards and forwards. All he asked was for us to clear the way for him. Each turn and twist he made without hesitation. The only time he had to slow down was to let us catch up. Sadly, Silenta the Quite had a run in with a few Hollows at the wrong spot. We had just passed a portal, and there was no way for her to get to us. Turbine should really make the portals recallable after the entrance. I can understand not making the entrance recallable, but people who die need to have a way to get back. William gathered up her DI's, and we continued on. They have added something to this quest. When I did it before they did not have the level VII spell bracelets. I grabbed an Endurance VII for the Armor Mule, one less spell to toss on him. I would have grabbed the others, but they are on a 7-day timer. We finished the quest in just over an hour. That included waiting for one guy who kept lagging out, and recovering Silenta's body. This is the second quest I have gone on with William. I'll have to admit, I'm impressed. Spec' leadership I have decided that it would behoove me to spec leadership with two of my mules. Cliff Bowman and Fist's Mule Two are both getting a major push. The long-term goal is to max their skills. The short-term goal is to make them 126. That will give me flexibility with vassal placement. Cliff Bowman is 104 and Fist's Mule Two is 105. This means that even the short-term goals are a long way away. I figured it would help if I got the maximum pass up I could. I have already have loyalty spec'd with three of the pushers, so this is the logical step next step. Cliff Bowman's run was smooth. The only real problem was moving all the armor sets he had stored off to another mule. It is hard to make a run with a 280 burden. I recalled to Tou-Tou and, after a delay while Fist's Armorer did the Caul Recall quest, took the Arwic portal and ran to the Subway. From there I took the Qbar portal, and then ran to Landbridge. The temple is a short run from there. With that out of the way, it was Fist's Mule Two's turn. He has less weight problems. I moved off a few xbows and he was good to go. Fist de Mage buffed him for protects and speed. I did not figure to be doing any fighting, so banes were not needed. Everything went as expected, until I hit the temple. Err, no plants. I use one plant that I know has a P name in the temple. It makes it easy to do, and I hate memorizing useless information. I had totally forgotten to grab the plant. I logged him in front of the temple and loaded up Fist's Armorer. He was still buffed from the Recall Quest, so it was be fast. A quick check showed he did not have the proper plant on him. I ran to the Tou-Tou mage to grab some. Humm, no cash. I had just enough pyreals to get one plant. Well, I did not figure to need more than one, but I hate taking a chance. I decided to risk it and just use the one plant. I did the run to the temple, and did a drop mule on the plant. Well that was my intent. The temple is a pain in the rear to use. It will take many tries to give the plant to the statue. Instead, it drops to the ground. I have to pick it up and try again. When I did the drop mule, I somehow gave it to the statue instead! Grrrr. That was my only plant. After a little blue language, that I was glad Rosa did not hear, I allegiance recalled back to Tou-Tou and cashed a D note. So, after another run with FA to the temple, and a more careful drop mule, I was inside the temple. I grabbed the leadership gem and clicked on it. Nothing. I clicked again and watched the message. Not enough credits. A quick check showed I only had 1 credit. So I have to wait for another two weeks, and make a run to the unspec'd temple, to complete this project. A case for spec'd Tinker skills For tinkering, we have a case of the have and the have nots. Those that can afford to have two accounts, and the time to push up a mule with passup, have a major advantage over those who don't. Those that chained before they fixed it, and created a maxed out mule, are part of the haves. There are those who have taken a tinker skill with a main. Some keep it as they advance, but most find the lost credits hard to overcome. Even with that, we have classes with a major disadvantage. A mage would sacrifice a lot to have 100 coordination. A melee with maxed Focus is also rare. Even getting tinker skill to a halfway good number is very hard. When Turbine made Tinker skills, the chains and other aaa things were still with us. Now that they are gone, we can make a case for allowing tinker skills to be spec'd. This is not a great deal for me, as I'm one of the haves. I just feel it is unfair for others who want a tradesman. Generally spec'ing adds 30 points to a skill. While this is a major gain in the middle of the curve, it is would only effect the top tinkers by a few points. For those struggling to make a few points towards an armor or weapon skill, it would be a godsend. I think it is time for Turbine to take a look at this. This restriction was needed back when leveling a mule with a chain was easy. In today's environment, allowing the tinker skills to be specialized makes sense. * Fist de Yuma