Profession question: why not repeat tasks?

ragnarcrlsn · December 2013

I'm a new player, and my first character is developing the leadership profession, and I've discovered something odd: most tasks (as yet only on level 6 for the profession) offer rewards that are very low compared to the time/resources invested in them. This is to be expected, to be certain. What's not to be expected is that they are so blatantly out of balance. For example, one can choose between the following tasks:

Scout area - 4 hour duration, rewards are one small chest, 75 Character XP, and 40 Pro XP
or
Caravan guard duty - 2 hour duration, rewards are 100CP, 100 Astral Diamonds, and the same XP rewards.

So, you can get 200cp and 200 astral diamonds by forgoing one small chest of goods. Who in their right mind would do that?

I suppose if you're going to be away from the computer for a while, then taking the longer mission might make sense...but can you really get 100 astral diamonds by auctioning one small chest? I think not.

I think the missions are out of balance, or there should be a more significant reason to pursue different missions, rather than repeating the handful of highly profitable ones.

That is, unless I am missing something...so my question is:
Is there some reason I shouldn't just keep repeating the same mission over and over?

leloupgarou · December 2013

ragnarcrlsn wrote: »

Is there some reason I shouldn't just keep repeating the same mission over and over?

Short answer, no. Often doing Guard Duty every two hours is the quickest way to gain experience in the early Leadership levels. Often doing a 2h/4h task twice is more profitable than doing an 4h/8h task.

I believe this is for two reasons:
A - It makes professions more engaging. If the best tasks took 4x as long and gave you 10x the rewards, everyone would just use those. Professions would be nothing more than a "Oh, have I selected a new MEGA-TASK today?" Rather than the more engaging setup that it has now. As it is now, you can prioritize and pick tasks that will best benefit you immediately, and consistently check back to see how they're doing.

B - While the shorter missions often have good rewards, some of the more time consuming missions over different, more specialized rewards. Guard Duty is great for the quick experience, but if you need a map of the area, or some Astral Diamonds, setting your Mercenaries to a different task may be more beneficial.

So, like I said, sending your guys to Guard Duty every 2h will net you a ton of exp, but as you progress through the ladder, you might notice that you end up sending them off to Raids and Missions instead, as the rewards end up being better, even if the experience is not.

Cheers mate

ragnarcrlsn · December 2013

Thanks for the reply.

I guess the one that really gets me is that "Martial training" is among the worst ways to get leadership experience. Isn't getting no other benefit except professional experience enough opportunity cost to justify offering a better exp/hour rate? Feeding the hungry is 50% better at getting leadership experience than martial training, although the short duration makes maximizing it a chore in micromanagement.

I'm new, but I really think this represents an error in game design that should be repaired. It could be as simple as making certain long missions with otherwise low rewards the only reasonable way of getting particular resources which will be necessary for shorter, higher reward missions.

rlrobr · December 2013

All professions have the same characteristic: the longer tasks offer less rewards per hour than the short ones. If you could do the 5 min feed the needy leadership tak all day you could level up quicker, but it is not only impossible but also the most boring thing on earth.

Leadership offers great rewards on higher levels, from 13+, but specially on level 20. So, sometimes it is better to get a task that offers less immediate rewards but gives you more XP, than the opposite.

beckylunatic · December 2013

The training tasks end up providing more leadership xp per hour at higher levels, but martial training is basically reserved for use when you're afk. I think it's fine the way it is. You'll outgrow those early tasks fairly soon anyway.

ladymythos · December 2013

Don't underestimate the chests. They can have some really nice stuff, like marks of potency.

angrymanagement · December 2013

For Leadership, you can only perform 3 of the same task at any given time. So pick the best reward task do it 3 times, next best x3, and so on.
For other professions (except Alchemy), you can just filter for Deep, and do those + any required asset creation/upgrades all the way to 20.

cdnbison · December 2013

I've got an alt that I'm trying to actually level via gameplay, so the martial training task works out well for me - all yellow xp. No, I don't get any AD, gold, or chests, but I am also not (with my semi-limited time to game) coming back to a character that has gained 5 levels since I last played.

It may not be "most efficient", but I just want Leadership in a good place once I hit 60. I don't want Leadership to *take* me to 60.
The other three prof. slots are being used for crafting prof. so I can keep myself in gear as needed (some of the blue stuff is half decent when levelling).

Edit: At higher levels, yes, the chests can turn out some decent stuff - up to Lesser refining stones / marks, as well as refining gems (pearls, peridots). That's in addition to the profession resources and kits (good for alts).

beckylunatic · December 2013

cdnbison wrote: »

I've got an alt that I'm trying to actually level via gameplay, so the martial training task works out well for me - all yellow xp. No, I don't get any AD, gold, or chests, but I am also not (with my semi-limited time to game) coming back to a character that has gained 5 levels since I last played.

It may not be "most efficient", but I just want Leadership in a good place once I hit 60. I don't want Leadership to *take* me to 60.

Yup, I've got characters where I don't really mind having them cap out entirely from being prayer-and-profession drones (like TRs number 2, 3, and 4), but it's a bit sad when you come back to your one-and-only cleric and have no idea how to play her effectively because she's been abandoned in PE for two months while you played other classes. Speaking from experience.

I've also at times avoided all Leadership tasks that granted character XP because I was trying to not outlevel skirmish queues.

My new HR is currently frozen at level 9 until I have more time to actually play with him.

craeh1 · December 2013

ragnarcrlsn wrote: »

Feeding the hungry is 50% better at getting leadership experience than martial training, although the short duration makes maximizing it a chore in micromanagement.

Well, that kind of "task balance" is used also in various other games, specially at all those city-farm-zoo-what-ever-idgaf-ville games.
Just with the simple target to make people spend some ca$h, cause they get bored and mayb also sick of doing the same shortduration tasks over and over again to get progress. The other side is sinking more time with less progress - both can bring in the cash.

Why Leadership got designed like that I also didn't get.
I did Feed the Needy for a long time, then I reached 13+ where the chest/AD tasks come up and I decided to focus more on these.
While playing a character I may take the feeding task for leveling Leadership... but mostly I choose the 6hrs+ tasks, just by laziness.

Profession question: why not repeat tasks?

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