Ok, so I’ve finally sorted out my PC (which rather spectacularly went the way of eggs in microwave ovens) and after 18 hours of patching joy, I’ve finally got back into my MMO of choice, the behemoth that is EverQuest II. After much fiddling with UI, working out how to switch multicore support off, and generally waffling about, I went into the big bad world of Pickup Groups.
Today I picked Scion of Ice, a nice easy instance to ease my way back into doing what I do best; annoying mobs and taking a damned good thrashing. First mob down, no problems, moved onto the next, then… Lo and behold! A parse dump in group chat! Apparently I am 1900 or thereabouts, not fussed on wether that is good or not, whearas a squishier person, today that role is a warlock (don’t even get me started on amends) was around 4000. This continued for the duration of the instance, every few mobs, the numbers returned, boredom sets in, my number goes down, dinner is almost ready, heads back up, food is postponed, down it plummets… (aggro, meanwhile, is unaffected, of course).
The point im trying to make is, is does this excite you? Perhaps, this is your idea of the ultimate entertainment package? No, I doubt that it is, but that’s what ACT, and programs like it, are turning the game into. Back in the day, during EQ1′s domination of the MMO market (in the west at least) people who used “parsers” were few and far between, and the uses weren’t as intrinsic to being able to compete at the highest levels as it is now.
I myself use a parser, but only because it’s the only way to maximise your damage-per-second (an average of your damage over the length of a fight). I have a little plugin that bleeps when my character auto attacks, basic, but now a fundamental part of the game, essential in timing combat arts and spells to not interfere with your main weapons strikes. My problem with it is the fact that it removes part of the “mystery” from the game. It’s only a small thing in a rapidly changing genre, whereas it used to be incomprehensible to all but the most wizened and dedicated, now all the mobs are now marked with their level, difficulty, even how many groups is recommended to take the damned things down. The game is being reduced to it’s bare numerical values, the exact opposite to what Bioware are doing with there Baldurs Gates, Icewind Dales and Knights of The Old Republic. Yes, these games have options to display the die rolls and whatnot, but I prefer to have them hidden, helps the suspension of disbelief somewhat, keeps the “immersion” going, bringing them back to the fore again seems like a step backwards to me.
Just whats so wrong with targetting the thing, hitting the C key (the “consider” funtion in EQ1), seeing a dark blue /con and taking a chance on a fight that’s not a foregone conclusion
MMOYeti:
mmosymposium:
WodgeFTW:
MMOSres:
Well I ignore parses and will never run one, I'm not interested in seeing the numbers. I suppose as I don't really raid it's not an issue for me, but I play the game for fun not to see if I have a higher number than someone else.
I play the game and use my combat arts/spells in the order I think best fits the situation. If I want to dps I work out an order abilities should be used to do damage sure, but I don't want to be comparing my numbers to someone elses. MMO's should be about immersion and fun and having a load of numbers appear is not either for me.
Does this mean I might not get groups or raids? It might well do, I like to think if I'm doing well people will still invite me, if not I won't be losing any sleep over it as I much prefer to group with my guild anyway and neXians don't parse in groups.
Myself and my guild (as you know Wodge
), play the game for fun and I'd pick a guild group over anything else, everytime!
Good to have you back Wodge.
To me, the idea of a computer-based RPG game (MMO or not) is to calculate the numbers involved quietly in the background and not show them to you. That's why I turn off all the damage displays in LOTRO. I want to have an adventure, and like Yetian says, I want to face the unknown odds of whether I can beat a mob by sheer cunning and ability, not by a scientific equation of DPS, AC and buff calculations.
I remember being told by an individual that I had Fellowed with that I was doing higher damage with my bow than he was, despite the fact I was about 6 levels below him and he was using a skill that I had yet to acquire and that he'd seen higher level characters in the Ettenmoors with lower morale than me. My response was one of "Eh? Oh, I hadn't noticed" because considering the technicalities of how my damage was calculating out or comparing my rate of survival had never even been on my mind – I was just having too much fun as it was.
It's true that I do pay attention to how I develop my character, but only in the same way you would in real life, i.e. choosing the heaviest mace, the sharpest sword or the strongest armour, but I'm really not interested in the maths involved.
//HoC