Review: Disabled Parties

[Dhund]

As a new player for EfU, I never had any issue with the party system. I've never had to do any commands, I just stay near my group.
 
Would I have liked it a few times? Yes, when I've been bleeding out and nobody else had transitioned yet. But hey, I learnt from it.

[TheMacPanther]

I really like it, save for the fact I was stuck at -9 stablized and had to wait god knows how long as the rest of the party just walked along.

[Caddies]

Along with elimination of the login screen, one of the best implementations yet.

Definitely keep.

[Meldread]

The new system is in my view complicated and therefor less fun. The more you change the game the more time you have to spend understanding it. All I want to do is play, not read about all the fancy new voice commands.

If you're using voice commands you're doing it wrong. :p

Seriously, "complicated" is subjective, but I don't think most people who've used the system several times find it complicated at all.  

To use the new party system:  Find people to go questing with, and have everyone stand near the quest giver while someone gets the quest.  If someone doesn't get the quest, whoever spoke to the quest giver has an item that they can easily add new people to the quest with - point and click.

That's it.  No voice commands.

----

The whole /c setally voice command is only to make things simple when it comes to using /c hostile all.  It is a command that you never need to use, ever.

[Jayde Moon]

Even though I personally enjoyed playing with the new system, I voted nay, and Snoteye pretty much sums it up for me.

I do have an additional observation and a follow on that may be completely off-base, but I'll throw it out there:

It feels to me that many changes that occur here in EfU:A tend to optimize things for those who are good at the mechanics of the engine.  That may not be the most accurate way to put it, but generally those of us/you who are good at the game either benefit the most from these changes or are feeling the least negative impact.

For those of us looking for that extra challenge, for those of you with shit hot computers that run everything smoothly with no lag or jerkiness, for those of you who are just abso-fuckin-lutely elite gamers... changes like this are SWEET.

But for those who aren't as good or who have hardware issues or are just looking for some fun RP without feeling like they gotta be PvP gods or gain elite twitch-skills, a lot of these changes are overly cumbersome.

Not everyone falls neatly into these two categories, and there are definitely some folks who are good at the game but find the system cumbersome and some folks who aren't mechanically awesome but like all the neat new stuff...

So that's my observation.  The follow on:

Often times, those people who feel weaker in their gaming abilities or feel that the spotlight shines often on our elite PvPers, RPers, etc (whether they are bitter about that or OK with it) tend to not be as vocal on these forums.  Not everyone has a thick skin and can deal with forum/irc banter.

I think that those who like the new system, the players who are good at the mechanics or generally have a bigger 'presence' in EfU:A, are more likely to post about why they think it's great, while those who don't like the new system are more likely to simply vote anonymously, not open themselves up to criticism that can sometimes come across as 'shut up and deal, you big baby', and in some cases fade away from the community.

Again, that last part may be completely off base, but I've talked to a few people and this is what I'm feeling from them.  The yay votes as of this post are not overwhelmingly in the majority, yet most of the people who have posted their reasoning seem to be very much so in the yay camp.

And there are a few players I have spoken to who feel that this may be the thing that pushes them away, for what that's worth.

[Mort]

So much PhDs written here.

[Thomas_Not_very_wise]

I've re-read this thread so many times, hardly any dumb concepts besides mine. I am amazed

[Archon]

Ok, I just found a new gripe about this system, and it only just happened a few minutes ago.

Here's what happened in point order
1. Three of us took on the Trog quest.
2. We killed the Trog King
3. The quest got handed in while all three of us were all still in the cave.
4. No one knows who handed the quest in, and the DM's were unable  to find out.
5. Result, no money or potions for the people that just did the quest due to some random who was probably standing around invisible nearby and who worked the system.
6. DM's did reward us an extra 400xp each for the inconvenience, but lets face it, this situation should never have even occured.

My vote is an astounding "no".

[Thomas_Not_very_wise]

This could of occurred even during the old quest system. Someone logs out when they had the quest, and they log back in. In a perfect world, they wouldn't turn it in without asking or making sure no one is in the QA area at the moment, (This should be an option for ALL quests, even if you already took it.)

Result: Someone turn's in quest, quest resets, new group takes it, you're in the QA still, you're fucken screwed.

[TheWastesAreFrozen]

Ok, I just found a new gripe about this system, and it only just happened a few minutes ago.

Here's what happened in point order
1. Three of us took on the Trog quest.
2. We killed the Trog King
3. The quest got handed in while all three of us were all still in the cave.
4. No one knows who handed the quest in, and the DM's were unable  to find out.
5. Result, no money or potions for the people that just did the quest due to some random who was probably standing around invisible nearby and who worked the system.
6. DM's did reward us an extra 400xp each for the inconvenience, but lets face it, this situation should never have even occured.

My vote is an astounding "no".

So you're voting no because someone cheated? Not to mention that the person who originally took the quest would have seen everyone that was added.

[FleetingHeart]

This could of occurred even during the old quest system. Someone logs out when they had the quest, and they log back in. In a perfect world, they wouldn't turn it in without asking or making sure no one is in the QA area at the moment, (This should be an option for ALL quests, even if you already took it.)

Result: Someone turn's in quest, quest resets, new group takes it, you're in the QA still, you're fucken screwed.

The fact that it happened directly after they downed the boss seems too convenient for me to believe it was an accident such as this.

I honestly believe someone cheated here. I don't truly understand why the culprit couldn't be found however, since they should have been noted in the quest tool. However, maybe it's too late to check that once the quest is turned in.

Is exploiting enough to vote no? I don't know. It was enough for me, just -seeing- the potential there after it was done. And I wasn't even effected by it.

There is a lot of work to be done on the system before it should be used in game... and honestly I don't feel enough testing was done before hand.

[FanaticusIncendi]

I voted no.

There are a few reasons for this, with one of the big ones being the maps. Quoting Snoteye:

in some cases the map serves as a legitimate extension of senses otherwise penalised by engine limitations (e.g. far-clipping and 90o FoV). It is not purely an OOC convenience tool as it has been made out to be.

The new system makes it extremely frustrating for those of us with very little mechanical game ability to begin with. I'm 34 and I didn't get my first computer until I was 20 and went to college. I only started playing computer games at all a few years ago. I still have to look at the keyboard when I type. Go ahead and laugh if you want but I can't imagine I'm the only computer-challenged person here.

As an example which expounds on the issue with the maps, I look down to type an emote, look up again and my party is gone. I'm pretty sure my character would have watched them walk away. Even WITH the map I have often had a hard time finding my party and catching up again, without the map it is frustrating enough to make me not want to log in at all.

Honestly I have found my desire to play greatly reduced since these changes were made. I play for the stories, not to win at PvP or be the mechanically uberest badass or whathaveyou. I feel like the new changes make what is mechanically an already very difficult game for some into a punishing experience rather than a fun bit of escapism.

All that being said, I can see how the changes could potentially really enhance one's game, such as party tactics. I just don't think the tradeoff is worth it and I also think you're going to lose some players. Which, you know, if you want to run the server for the benefit of one particular group then I guess losing a handful of us unworthy schmucks who can't keep up mechanically is no great loss.

[TheImpossibleDream]

So if I were to sum up the arguments against this in 3 sentences it would be:

The change makes me feel alone when my character is alone.

I hate to seem biased but I hate the idea of change.

I don't like having to keep an eye on the screen to see where my party went.

Public poll imo!

[Ommadawn]

Nagarage!

[FanaticusIncendi]

I don't like having to keep an eye on the screen to see where my party went.

It's not about "like". Maybe you didn't read carefully.