I wonder why some players bother to play the game, when all they can do is throw out negative in the chat and forums. I am not saying the negative element doesn't exist. But here we have a community event, many enjoyed before it got added to Sybella's list, and more people still enjoy today. So far, all I am getting from the wall of text above, you don't like having to kill 1 dragon for Sybella's quest.
There have always been people complaining about the issues outside our control. Why would people requesting an invite to the run be a negative issue on your list? Why would people announcing it be an issue on your list? And that just covers the first 6 items on your list. Then you state another person creates a second run, people complain about that too. There is only a few reasons for someone to make a second run; a. The first run is full, b. They don't understand or know a run exists, or c. they are trolling the run. My point is this, second runs seldom happen.
Now if you are only doing this for Sybella, and you are at any dragon that dies, then you are done. You don't need to be fast or jump on your epic mount and run to the next dragon. On the other hand, if you are there to enjoy the run, part of the fun factor is racing with other players. I tend to stay behind and watch for the fallen so I can help them back on their feet. I am not going to get irate about someone with a legendary mount beating me to the next dragon.
The dragon runs are about team work and community. I am really sorry, if those concepts don't make sense to you in a multiplayer game.
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greywyndMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 7,153Arc User
I agree with sandukutupu, picking up the fallen is almost mandatory. Especially if you're flying the "Leaves No One Behind" banner.
I'm not looking for forgiveness, and I'm way past asking permission. Earth just lost her best defender, so we're here to fight. And if you want to stand in our way, we'll fight you too.
The dragon runs are about team work and community.
Part of the fun was taking new players to WOD, taking them to green and watching them ooh and ahh at different mounts, and then the OMG at the dragon landing, killing a dragon and then the race to blue. Despite the naysayers that exist, it was and still is fun.
Similarly, the Dragonflight events in the SH. Although we got 8 dragons on one alliance DF, we usually only did the 4 dragons. Still a lot of fun though, but there was always one person that would complain.
I agree with sandukutupu, picking up the fallen is almost mandatory. Especially if you're flying the "Leaves No One Behind" banner.
the rp you get for a dragon run is like 10 black pearls tops. lol. really not worth the effort. I got my thousand dragons about 3 years ago
From my perspective I can see both sides of the coin. The loot doesn't appeal to certain players, but it is present. There are small issues that can and do interfere with the dragon runs. These issues don't come up often, but caused by others who just don't understand or the lack of available game resources. Refinement, XP, AD, and even those tokens of Linu's Favor have meaning to someone.
Someone else just asked me, in the game, why I give away all my Barovian trading cards, epic mounts, and promote community driven events. I see all the loot and items in this game for what they are; significant and beneficial to progression, but also virtual and worthless to perpetuation. I will never hit the "end game", because I have fun where I am. I don't hide in Moonstone doing role-play, I love role-play, and I feel it should be everywhere, not secluded to one place. If people are having fun around me, I am having fun too.
I am a firm believer that if the players in any online community band together, they can make their own entertainment much better than any developers of the official content. The inclusion of killing 1 dragon for Sybella's quest has both helped and hurt the dragon run. The positive effect it has is bringing more players back to WoD to assist making large runs again. The negative impact it has is causing overpopulated sessions and confusion. This is why I like the event to remain part of the community and not something Cryptic bribes players to do.
I would like to see more community driven events like the DR in this game. I would like to see an annual player's Barovian Bash (Halloween Party) and more events not sponsored or endorsed with the Cryptic Seal of Approval.
I don't hide in Moonstone doing role-play, I love role-play, and I feel it should be everywhere, not secluded to one place. If people are having fun around me, I am having fun too.
[...]
I would like to see more community driven events like the DR in this game. I would like to see an annual player's Barovian Bash (Halloween Party) and more events not sponsored or endorsed with the Cryptic Seal of Approval.
So 2 things :
1- scripted events like the DR allowing to be driven by players. I'm also very much into that kind of event, though I would argue that it's not really driven by players :P, you just follow a very obvious track/method and organize a group to do it, not so different from old 25-tiamat except it is in the "open" world. But still, it's great .
In my opinion there are too few exemples of that in the game and it's mostly "wait until it spawns, then beat it" which is the basic for dragons of the tyranny on leveling maps and most of the BHE with named bosses at the end.
DR, though fun, is basically shout the #n to gather people, sit, wait, kill run kill run kill run kill run kill shout the next #n and jump run kill run kill etc.
Dragonflight and Marauders (if you really try to defend the 3 spots) require more organization as you need a lot of manpower and have to split it so each hotspot can be done (for exemple : red group/green group => keep dragons up to 1-5% HP with one or two player waiting for the kill, and transit the others to blue/black, and simultaneously [in the same min] kill the 4). But it's not open as it's an ally thing.
Acererak BHE in Omu requires 3 or 4 players to cooperate on the altars so it can be triggered and, honestly, i would really love more BHE following this model (less BHE in "free" spawning mode, more BHE where you have to work and/or cooperate to make it appears).
2- RP (or light RP) communauty events :
From my little perspective, and as I had organized quite a bunch of events inside my ally (6 seasons of Miss&Mister, 2 of ally has talent, 1 pvp tournament [never again, to hard and long involvement], 1 olympic games [mostly avorted as i failed to get the idea on how organized it properly]), you face some problems :
* the ability to gather meaningfull rewards. Not that people who participated in my events were really interested by the rewards (some were, but mostly they came for fun), but I don't like organizing that kind of things without some real prizes for the winners. And it's always nice to bring a carrot ^^.
Over a 2 year course, those events had "cost me" (because it's also my pleasure to give) maybe somewhere around 35M AD (either by keeping rather than selling or because I bought things) +5M from third parties/ally "sponsors". In fact, most of the AD earning strategies i developed revolve around being able to put real and useful prizes on the table for my events. Usually it is rank 13/14/15 enchant, bunch of 99xpreserv or coalescent seals, some stacks of 99 jadeites, mounts and comp, etc). The prizes i can propose started to drop in value during the last Autumn Season of Miss&Mister 2019 has i started to feel the consequences of the 100k rAD refined/day/account combined to the sudden rise of the AD=>Zen exchange price rate. Which is sad
* the ability to make enough advertisings (and done well) so people can be aware enough of the date/rules/etc (and i'm still experimenting ^^), which require to consistently push the info over an extended period of time
* it takes quite few hours of "not playing" (at least if you want to make quality) and some nerves to prepare, direct and organize the animation (and sometimes the helpers team), keep it under control while it's playing, keep track of what is happening, and after make a summary (espescially because i'm recording with the command /demo_record so i can then extract some nice vid and screenshots from any angle that pleased me). You have somehow engaged yourself to be there like an appointment.
4- the technical limitations (40 people in the stronghold, nearly no animation tools) which tied you down a bit (but imagination is still the greatest tool )...
But sure, it's a ton of fun and some happy players. I'm usually able to gather 20-30 people during those events, some are there to participate, other are just spectators, fireworks launchers, beer drinkers :P, etc.
I'm not really a content creator in the streamer sense (though i had drop 2-3 vid on youtube) as i lack the time, the willingness and maybe the personnal ability to be one, but maybe there is something to dig up there with the content creators program ?
Who would participate to a Neverwinter worldwide Miss&Mister election, with Rainer/Sylvery as commentators (or Galactic Underwear, would be quite fun xD) even if there is no real rewards and if it takes you 1hour of waiting/chatting for only 5/10 minutes of really parading ? :P
(sorry, i guess i'm going completely off topic) (if you are interested, when i will come back from HAMSTER around at work, i can post elsewhere some of the images from the various seasons of Miss&Mister Grande Hermine [name of my ally] i have )
I wonder why some players bother to play the game, when all they can do is throw out negative in the chat and forums. I am not saying the negative element doesn't exist. But here we have a community event, many enjoyed before it got added to Sybella's list, and more people still enjoy today. So far, all I am getting from the wall of text above, you don't like having to kill 1 dragon for Sybella's quest.
There have always been people complaining about the issues outside our control. Why would people requesting an invite to the run be a negative issue on your list? Why would people announcing it be an issue on your list? And that just covers the first 6 items on your list. Then you state another person creates a second run, people complain about that too. There is only a few reasons for someone to make a second run; a. The first run is full, b. They don't understand or know a run exists, or c. they are trolling the run. My point is this, second runs seldom happen.
Now if you are only doing this for Sybella, and you are at any dragon that dies, then you are done. You don't need to be fast or jump on your epic mount and run to the next dragon. On the other hand, if you are there to enjoy the run, part of the fun factor is racing with other players. I tend to stay behind and watch for the fallen so I can help them back on their feet. I am not going to get irate about someone with a legendary mount beating me to the next dragon.
The dragon runs are about team work and community. I am really sorry, if those concepts don't make sense to you in a multiplayer game.
I think you need to reread my post. I never said i hated the event. Whenever i am there if it happens to coincide than i will join in but its not something i make specific time to do. I also never indicated anything in my list as being positive or negative directly. It was just a list of what typically happens whenever i happen to be in the zone and it is forming. As for second runs being rare, i have seen it happen multiple times due to people not inviting to fill the zone. It is not just DR's that it happens with, its in any zone that has HE's. people call out for help but then wont invite to the instance.
I even stated that i have seen the odd super smooth run where everyone seems to get what they wanted. It is just not what i often see.
If you want to run DR's go right ahead and do so if you enjoy but spouting off on the forums that they are epitome of community and teamwork is ludicrous. I will concede that it is a little bit community oriented but there is no teamwork involved whatsoever. All it is is 30-40 people zerg rushing to each dragon, there is no teamwork involved it all. you could be a single player and have 39 bots on auto attack following you and do almost as well.
I think you need to reread my post. I never said i hated the event. Whenever i am there if it happens to coincide than i will join in but its not something i make specific time to do. I also never indicated anything in my list as being positive or negative directly. It was just a list of what typically happens whenever i happen to be in the zone and it is forming. As for second runs being rare, i have seen it happen multiple times due to people not inviting to fill the zone. It is not just DR's that it happens with, its in any zone that has HE's. people call out for help but then wont invite to the instance.
I wasn't targeting you at a "hater", I understood you have some concerns with the DR. Your list was a lot of what I have read in chat during the DR before. People complain about game lags but then would blame wizards for using Icy Terrain claiming it caused the lags. Typically any AoE spell can cause serious lags, but there is nothing we can do to control that kind of mechanic. I do too get upset and sometimes I get irate at players who call out a BHE or HE and then will not send an invite.
The last time something like this happened I was in Barovia and I knew the BHE was about to spawn in #2. I called out "invite to #2 please" because #2 was full. Guess what they said? "There isn't a BHE in #2". Does that even matter?! Why would you deny someone an invite and argue the point? Also I get a little chuckle out of people who ask, "inv BHE" and after all the maps report back there is none available, the same person asks again and again. I put these odd behaviors off to either little kids playing the game or they don't speak English and only know "inv BHE" gets them to the event. I get angry with "problem players" too, we are all human... except for the conspiracy troll in PE, I think he is a bot... and I try my best to help even the most helpless.
I even stated that i have seen the odd super smooth run where everyone seems to get what they wanted. It is just not what i often see.
I have done quite a few DRs that don't go as expected, and I see some irate individual telling the caller they sucked and we should have jumped to white instead. But so what, we still came out killing a lot more dragons than the developers ever intended us to do.
If you want to run DR's go right ahead and do so if you enjoy but spouting off on the forums that they are epitome of community and teamwork is ludicrous. I will concede that it is a little bit community oriented but there is no teamwork involved whatsoever. All it is is 30-40 people zerg rushing to each dragon, there is no teamwork involved it all. you could be a single player and have 39 bots on auto attack following you and do almost as well.
Now that statement is not accurate, there is teamwork in the DR and most BHE throughout the game. I can't begin to tell you how many times I have stood silent at the start of a DR and someone has invited me to their party. This is done to bolster our buffs, and we can keep an eye on each other's health. I know I grab the fallen and help them back up and others have done the same for me. Any DR you will see a player down and 2 or 3 will rush in to help them. That is showing you care more for your fellow player than racing off to the next dragon. I don't play online games to be antisocial and we all know bots would never be able to show they care.
I show up...randomly...on a random toon...to DRs. If anyone complains I try to help them. Sometimes players miss a dragon...big deal...head to the next. Most often you'll get there soon enough.
If you're a player on a slower mount, just hit and run (start heading to the next dragon early).
The most common character I show with is Mr. Serious (pally). I use him to help heal, so less complaints
I really enjoy doing these for the fun of it. I like meeting up on Green sort of early and having a chance to look at what folks are doing with their characters (mostly in terms of costuming), and checking to see if they have a character bio. I like it when there is a nice group that explains things to people who are confused, keeps adds off of more vulnerable characters, and brings folks back after death. It feels nice to be able to assist other characters during the run. There is also this wonderful energy about the event, a kind of breathless group PvE vibe in which we want to work together to create the largest benefit for everyone. A very nice energy. There is, at times, some not so great energy to the event as well. I can honestly say that has rarely come up during the hours that I play though. I like it when it is a fast and frantic experience, but not a selfish one. A very cool part of the game!
They still have Tiamet scaled and have made it a longer, more painful run to farm linu favors. At least 50% or more Tiamet runs wipe it now. It takes a hr or more to get a Tiamet run spawned. My last character can't get the last 2 boons from lack of linu's favors because of the scale CaCa thing. I too, also wish they would put linu's in the weekly legacy or a 5 dragon run. It's a painful slog that shouldn't be, the scaling thing has ruined it, making it so.
They still have Tiamet scaled and have made it a longer, more painful run to farm linu favors. At least 50% or more Tiamet runs wipe it now. It takes a hr or more to get a Tiamet run spawned. My last character can't get the last 2 boons from lack of linu's favors because of the scale CaCa thing. I too, also wish they would put linu's in the weekly legacy or a 5 dragon run. It's a painful slog that shouldn't be, the scaling thing has ruined it, making it so.
In the time you are waiting for Tiamat, you should be doing the Dragon Run and getting the Linu's Favor there. If you had read all the posts, you would see that 4 to 5 runs gets you a Linu's Favor. That's 10 minutes max per run, less than an hour of total playing time. Instead of waiting on a queue to open you could have immediate action.
Also if you don't want to do runs, you can create Dragon Empire Treasures (1 per day) for "Rewards for the Hoard" and in one week get a Linu's favor for doing practically nothing. Even before "scaling" was an issue in Tiamat, I am not sure what the current state is now, I didn't run Tiamat for Linu's Favor.
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greywyndMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 7,153Arc User
The Dragon Empire Treasures can also be bought from the Bazaar, I believe.
I'm not looking for forgiveness, and I'm way past asking permission. Earth just lost her best defender, so we're here to fight. And if you want to stand in our way, we'll fight you too.
we now have a DragonRunners chat channel, find wickid@geppetto5280 ask for inv. if you want ADMIN rights please ask. I will gladly promote you in the chat channel.
any dragon run is a good dragon run
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juleadreamMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 372Arc User
Killing dragons is just one of the best parts of the game. If I'm in WoD when the dragons land, even if I am in a dead instance, I will go out of my way to get up close and personal on my Fighter. Not to try and kill the dragon, I know full well a solo player will never do that, but to see how long I can last. And sometimes the cavalry will arrive and I get to dance on a dragon's corpse.
Not to try and kill the dragon, I know full well a solo player will never do that, but to see how long I can last.
Before mod16, solo'ed any dragon was easy. I didn't try to solo one since mod16 (in fact didn't have the chance to try, as there is always some random player to jump in the fight), but it doesn't seem infeasable, especially the white dragon.
Not to try and kill the dragon, I know full well a solo player will never do that, but to see how long I can last.
Before mod16, solo'ed any dragon was easy. I didn't try to solo one since mod16 (in fact didn't have the chance to try, as there is always some random player to jump in the fight), but it doesn't seem infeasable, especially the white dragon.
Hasn't really changed all that much, they removed the scaling from WoD a long time ago. You can defeat a dragon with about 3 to 4 people. It will take a longer time with so few. I can tell from your post, you have not returned recently to the WoD. I suggest you return and give it a try.
I can tell from your post, you have not returned recently to the WoD. I suggest you return and give it a try.
I have, and at least with 16 different toons, but only for legacy quests purpose : i'm taking all the legacy quests and only complete the objectives when I've got all of them to do in a same map (adventures/conquest/(heroism)). Happens for Tyrany that the 3rd one for me is always the heroism, so i'm going in the WoD only the week the heroism legacy quest is available again => too much people hunting dragons to even think about trying to solo a dragon anywhere (so I have only one opportunity every 9 weeks as it's only worth as a challenge/"achievement" for my main, if it was really something i'm interested in).
But, as i'm close to be able to down solo the red one during a DF (though still ~10%-15% left in 10 min), i suppose the weaker DR ones are very feasable alone.
Thank you sandukuputu for starting this thread. I too enjoy doing DRs on all my characters. The thrill of the race, the agony of evading mob dragon poison so you can mount up and get to the next dragon, the joy of jumping off cliffs into seas of Hoard HEs just to evade the laser archers ... it's all there the *The Great Dragon Race" that is a Dragon Run.
I see Wickedid and Snowball often (seems they live in WoD, lol) and they always do a great job of calling, and making sure everyone knows 'which' instance to jump to after black.
Regarding Linu's Favors ... here is the problem: Tiamat is only accessible to characters with IL of 18K, which you are *not* when you get access to WoD. So Tiamat is *not* a viable source of Linu's Favors until you have high enchants and have leveled your Companion and boons to get your IL up. So... you grind DR runs to get the Coffers to make the 200 point cases so you can earn your 1500 points for the Reward for the Hoard quest. And eventually you finish ToD without ever setting foot into Tiamat. I *always* take the SH quest from the Wizard Tower and get 100 GM for a DR run. That alone makes it worthwhile to me ... because (again) since mod 16, SH mobs are too overpowering to kill until you are IL 16K or better (I'm at 13,500). Oh, yes, you can kill them, but it takes more time and potions than the reward is worth. So the only source of GM is the three quests at 100 GM each (Mugs, DR, and WoD) and Marauders.
What is true for DR runs (fun) is also true for Marauder runs, large groups of players, many mounts, team effort, forgiving of lowbie abilities, and good rewards. And just like DR runs, you had better have an Epic mount or you'll miss out on T3s (afterward) or always get to the mob as they die. Thanks to Siege of Neverwinter event, all my characters have their *free* Siege Griffon with Wanderer's Fortune :-).
Hope to see more of you in WoD next time the clock says *:44 meet us at Green.
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plasticbatMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 12,417Arc User
So... you grind DR runs to get the Coffers to make the 200 point cases so you can earn your 1500 points for the Reward for the Hoard quest. And eventually you finish ToD without ever setting foot into Tiamat.
Is the "200 point cases" Dragon Empire Treasure? When I tried to get the boon from ToD, I made one Dragon Empire Treasure everyday in order to get Linu's faviour. One or two of my toon finished ToD that way. It was long time ago and Tiamat was tough. It was when it was introduced and there was no queue. At the right time, you needed to stay in front of the door. Does new player know where the door is?
*** The game can read your mind. If you want it, you won't get it. If you don't expect to get it, you will. ***
So... you grind DR runs to get the Coffers to make the 200 point cases so you can earn your 1500 points for the Reward for the Hoard quest. And eventually you finish ToD without ever setting foot into Tiamat.
Is the "200 point cases" Dragon Empire Treasure? When I tried to get the boon from ToD, I made one Dragon Empire Treasure everyday in order to get Linu's faviour. One or two of my toon finished ToD that way. It was long time ago and Tiamat was tough. It was when it was introduced and there was no queue. At the right time, you needed to stay in front of the door. Does new player know where the door is?
When you run the DR and the dragons drop the coffers roughly 1 or 2 per dragon. It could be called a grind, if you don't enjoy it or don't find something else to break up the monotony. The Dragon Empire Treasures can be created can from a Tyranny of Dragons Campaign task or purchased from the Wondrous Bazaar at the outrageous price of 50K AD. While 100 coffers can get you 1 favor this would require you to do 7 good runs, buy them in the AH for 35K to 45K AD, or create an entire week's worth of Empire Treasures. When I was going for the completion, I was doing all three tasks. To be honest, I think some of my 8 characters never once killed Tiamat. But yes, I do remember the sound of the alert horn and waiting by the door to enter the raid.
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plasticbatMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 12,417Arc User
So... you grind DR runs to get the Coffers to make the 200 point cases so you can earn your 1500 points for the Reward for the Hoard quest. And eventually you finish ToD without ever setting foot into Tiamat.
Is the "200 point cases" Dragon Empire Treasure? When I tried to get the boon from ToD, I made one Dragon Empire Treasure everyday in order to get Linu's faviour. One or two of my toon finished ToD that way. It was long time ago and Tiamat was tough. It was when it was introduced and there was no queue. At the right time, you needed to stay in front of the door. Does new player know where the door is?
When you run the DR and the dragons drop the coffers roughly 1 or 2 per dragon. It could be called a grind, if you don't enjoy it or don't find something else to break up the monotony. The Dragon Empire Treasures can be created can from a Tyranny of Dragons Campaign task or purchased from the Wondrous Bazaar at the outrageous price of 50K AD. While 100 coffers can get you 1 favor this would require you to do 7 good runs, buy them in the AH for 35K to 45K AD, or create an entire week's worth of Empire Treasures. When I was going for the completion, I was doing all three tasks. To be honest, I think some of my 8 characters never once killed Tiamat. But yes, I do remember the sound of the alert horn and waiting by the door to enter the raid.
Dragon Empire Treasure and coffer are not mutual exclusive. I did both. Dragon Run was not as easy as today (or even easier few mods ago). We might kill up to 5 in a very good run but not something like 20 in later days.
*** The game can read your mind. If you want it, you won't get it. If you don't expect to get it, you will. ***
I asked about the Possibility of dragon runs in stronghold being updated on the twitch stream but as usual certain players are ignored
There are more than BIS players in this game RIP Real Tiamat, RIP Real Demogorgon RIP real Temple of the spider. Why remove non bis content to give to bis players ???? FORCING the majority of your player base to play 4 mod old dungeons and trial will have a bad result on player base Changes are getting so bad i would rather prefer no new changes (RIP ICE FISHING in winter fest)
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plasticbatMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 12,417Arc User
Wickid here again, im over 27k as of 1/23/20. been playing since 2013. ive seen a lot of people complaining. well, I never saw any rose gardens being promised. dragon run is team play, the prizes are set for the level, its not about level, its not about gear. I have ran dragon run with friends for 7 years. that's what it is about. friends.
Wickid here again, im over 27k as of 1/23/20. been playing since 2013. ive seen a lot of people complaining. well, I never saw any rose gardens being promised. dragon run is team play, the prizes are set for the level, its not about level, its not about gear. I have ran dragon run with friends for 7 years. that's what it is about. friends.
I will be back in there soon. I don't know, if you experience the chat bug I am having? You can read about it here. I don't think it will stop me just have to plan things out ahead of time. I am going to log in to see, if they fixed it. Today was only routine maintenance as far as I know.
Comments
There have always been people complaining about the issues outside our control. Why would people requesting an invite to the run be a negative issue on your list? Why would people announcing it be an issue on your list? And that just covers the first 6 items on your list. Then you state another person creates a second run, people complain about that too. There is only a few reasons for someone to make a second run; a. The first run is full, b. They don't understand or know a run exists, or c. they are trolling the run. My point is this, second runs seldom happen.
Now if you are only doing this for Sybella, and you are at any dragon that dies, then you are done. You don't need to be fast or jump on your epic mount and run to the next dragon. On the other hand, if you are there to enjoy the run, part of the fun factor is racing with other players. I tend to stay behind and watch for the fallen so I can help them back on their feet. I am not going to get irate about someone with a legendary mount beating me to the next dragon.
The dragon runs are about team work and community. I am really sorry, if those concepts don't make sense to you in a multiplayer game.
I agree with sandukutupu, picking up the fallen is almost mandatory. Especially if you're flying the "Leaves No One Behind" banner.
Part of the fun was taking new players to WOD, taking them to green and watching them ooh and ahh at different mounts, and then the OMG at the dragon landing, killing a dragon and then the race to blue. Despite the naysayers that exist, it was and still is fun.
Similarly, the Dragonflight events in the SH. Although we got 8 dragons on one alliance DF, we usually only did the 4 dragons. Still a lot of fun though, but there was always one person that would complain.
Guild: Ruathym Corsairs
Someone else just asked me, in the game, why I give away all my Barovian trading cards, epic mounts, and promote community driven events. I see all the loot and items in this game for what they are; significant and beneficial to progression, but also virtual and worthless to perpetuation. I will never hit the "end game", because I have fun where I am. I don't hide in Moonstone doing role-play, I love role-play, and I feel it should be everywhere, not secluded to one place. If people are having fun around me, I am having fun too.
I am a firm believer that if the players in any online community band together, they can make their own entertainment much better than any developers of the official content. The inclusion of killing 1 dragon for Sybella's quest has both helped and hurt the dragon run. The positive effect it has is bringing more players back to WoD to assist making large runs again. The negative impact it has is causing overpopulated sessions and confusion. This is why I like the event to remain part of the community and not something Cryptic bribes players to do.
I would like to see more community driven events like the DR in this game. I would like to see an annual player's Barovian Bash (Halloween Party) and more events not sponsored or endorsed with the Cryptic Seal of Approval.
1- scripted events like the DR allowing to be driven by players.
I'm also very much into that kind of event, though I would argue that it's not really driven by players :P, you just follow a very obvious track/method and organize a group to do it, not so different from old 25-tiamat except it is in the "open" world. But still, it's great
In my opinion there are too few exemples of that in the game and it's mostly "wait until it spawns, then beat it" which is the basic for dragons of the tyranny on leveling maps and most of the BHE with named bosses at the end.
DR, though fun, is basically shout the #n to gather people, sit, wait, kill run kill run kill run kill run kill shout the next #n and jump run kill run kill etc.
Dragonflight and Marauders (if you really try to defend the 3 spots) require more organization as you need a lot of manpower and have to split it so each hotspot can be done (for exemple : red group/green group => keep dragons up to 1-5% HP with one or two player waiting for the kill, and transit the others to blue/black, and simultaneously [in the same min] kill the 4). But it's not open as it's an ally thing.
Acererak BHE in Omu requires 3 or 4 players to cooperate on the altars so it can be triggered and, honestly, i would really love more BHE following this model (less BHE in "free" spawning mode, more BHE where you have to work and/or cooperate to make it appears).
2- RP (or light RP) communauty events :
From my little perspective, and as I had organized quite a bunch of events inside my ally (6 seasons of Miss&Mister, 2 of ally has talent, 1 pvp tournament [never again, to hard and long involvement], 1 olympic games [mostly avorted as i failed to get the idea on how organized it properly]), you face some problems :
* the ability to gather meaningfull rewards. Not that people who participated in my events were really interested by the rewards (some were, but mostly they came for fun), but I don't like organizing that kind of things without some real prizes for the winners. And it's always nice to bring a carrot ^^.
Over a 2 year course, those events had "cost me" (because it's also my pleasure to give) maybe somewhere around 35M AD (either by keeping rather than selling or because I bought things) +5M from third parties/ally "sponsors". In fact, most of the AD earning strategies i developed revolve around being able to put real and useful prizes on the table for my events. Usually it is rank 13/14/15 enchant, bunch of 99xpreserv or coalescent seals, some stacks of 99 jadeites, mounts and comp, etc).
The prizes i can propose started to drop in value during the last Autumn Season of Miss&Mister 2019 has i started to feel the consequences of the 100k rAD refined/day/account combined to the sudden rise of the AD=>Zen exchange price rate. Which is sad
* the ability to make enough advertisings (and done well) so people can be aware enough of the date/rules/etc (and i'm still experimenting ^^), which require to consistently push the info over an extended period of time
* it takes quite few hours of "not playing" (at least if you want to make quality) and some nerves to prepare, direct and organize the animation (and sometimes the helpers team), keep it under control while it's playing, keep track of what is happening, and after make a summary (espescially because i'm recording with the command /demo_record so i can then extract some nice vid and screenshots from any angle that pleased me). You have somehow engaged yourself to be there like an appointment.
4- the technical limitations (40 people in the stronghold, nearly no animation tools) which tied you down a bit (but imagination is still the greatest tool
But sure, it's a ton of fun and some happy players. I'm usually able to gather 20-30 people during those events, some are there to participate, other are just spectators, fireworks launchers, beer drinkers :P, etc.
I'm not really a content creator in the streamer sense (though i had drop 2-3 vid on youtube) as i lack the time, the willingness and maybe the personnal ability to be one, but maybe there is something to dig up there with the content creators program ?
Who would participate to a Neverwinter worldwide Miss&Mister election, with Rainer/Sylvery as commentators (or Galactic Underwear, would be quite fun xD) even if there is no real rewards and if it takes you 1hour of waiting/chatting for only 5/10 minutes of really parading ? :P
(sorry, i guess i'm going completely off topic)
(if you are interested, when i will come back from HAMSTER around at work, i can post elsewhere some of the images from the various seasons of Miss&Mister Grande Hermine [name of my ally] i have
I even stated that i have seen the odd super smooth run where everyone seems to get what they wanted. It is just not what i often see.
If you want to run DR's go right ahead and do so if you enjoy but spouting off on the forums that they are epitome of community and teamwork is ludicrous. I will concede that it is a little bit community oriented but there is no teamwork involved whatsoever. All it is is 30-40 people zerg rushing to each dragon, there is no teamwork involved it all. you could be a single player and have 39 bots on auto attack following you and do almost as well.
The last time something like this happened I was in Barovia and I knew the BHE was about to spawn in #2. I called out "invite to #2 please" because #2 was full. Guess what they said? "There isn't a BHE in #2". Does that even matter?! Why would you deny someone an invite and argue the point? Also I get a little chuckle out of people who ask, "inv BHE" and after all the maps report back there is none available, the same person asks again and again. I put these odd behaviors off to either little kids playing the game or they don't speak English and only know "inv BHE" gets them to the event. I get angry with "problem players" too, we are all human... except for the conspiracy troll in PE, I think he is a bot... and I try my best to help even the most helpless. I have done quite a few DRs that don't go as expected, and I see some irate individual telling the caller they sucked and we should have jumped to white instead. But so what, we still came out killing a lot more dragons than the developers ever intended us to do. Now that statement is not accurate, there is teamwork in the DR and most BHE throughout the game. I can't begin to tell you how many times I have stood silent at the start of a DR and someone has invited me to their party. This is done to bolster our buffs, and we can keep an eye on each other's health. I know I grab the fallen and help them back up and others have done the same for me. Any DR you will see a player down and 2 or 3 will rush in to help them. That is showing you care more for your fellow player than racing off to the next dragon. I don't play online games to be antisocial and we all know bots would never be able to show they care.
If you're a player on a slower mount, just hit and run (start heading to the next dragon early).
The most common character I show with is Mr. Serious (pally). I use him to help heal, so less complaints
Also if you don't want to do runs, you can create Dragon Empire Treasures (1 per day) for "Rewards for the Hoard" and in one week get a Linu's favor for doing practically nothing. Even before "scaling" was an issue in Tiamat, I am not sure what the current state is now, I didn't run Tiamat for Linu's Favor.
But, as i'm close to be able to down solo the red one during a DF (though
still ~10%-15% left in 10 min), i suppose the weaker DR ones are very feasable alone.
I see Wickedid and Snowball often (seems they live in WoD, lol) and they always do a great job of calling, and making sure everyone knows 'which' instance to jump to after black.
Regarding Linu's Favors ... here is the problem: Tiamat is only accessible to characters with IL of 18K, which you are *not* when you get access to WoD. So Tiamat is *not* a viable source of Linu's Favors until you have high enchants and have leveled your Companion and boons to get your IL up. So... you grind DR runs to get the Coffers to make the 200 point cases so you can earn your 1500 points for the Reward for the Hoard quest. And eventually you finish ToD without ever setting foot into Tiamat. I *always* take the SH quest from the Wizard Tower and get 100 GM for a DR run. That alone makes it worthwhile to me ... because (again) since mod 16, SH mobs are too overpowering to kill until you are IL 16K or better (I'm at 13,500). Oh, yes, you can kill them, but it takes more time and potions than the reward is worth. So the only source of GM is the three quests at 100 GM each (Mugs, DR, and WoD) and Marauders.
What is true for DR runs (fun) is also true for Marauder runs, large groups of players, many mounts, team effort, forgiving of lowbie abilities, and good rewards. And just like DR runs, you had better have an Epic mount or you'll miss out on T3s (afterward) or always get to the mob as they die. Thanks to Siege of Neverwinter event, all my characters have their *free* Siege Griffon with Wanderer's Fortune :-).
Hope to see more of you in WoD next time the clock says *:44 meet us at Green.
When I tried to get the boon from ToD, I made one Dragon Empire Treasure everyday in order to get Linu's faviour. One or two of my toon finished ToD that way. It was long time ago and Tiamat was tough. It was when it was introduced and there was no queue. At the right time, you needed to stay in front of the door. Does new player know where the door is?
RIP Real Tiamat, RIP Real Demogorgon RIP real Temple of the spider. Why remove non bis content to give to bis players ????
FORCING the majority of your player base to play 4 mod old dungeons and trial will have a bad result on player base
Changes are getting so bad i would rather prefer no new changes (RIP ICE FISHING in winter fest)