Locate object / Astral locator

[Gnua]

I'm considering removing both of these entirely.

Would there be any reason to play a trash mage anymore?  Or is that considered an added benefit of removing locate object?

[blackmagus]

Loading things makes zoning fun.

Fun, profitable and not an entirely pain in the ass waste of time.

Seems like making the more elite items no_locate seems to be a fairly commonly mentioned alternative.

[Shival]

I think removing Astral is fine but to remove regular locate would be more of an issue then a help. People will look all over trying to find someone who has a said item. So when your looking at core rise wild you may be starting more wars and more people will be called spies... actually maybe it's a positive note... let's bring the pk back to arctic. Game on

[eddiex]

Potential locate compromises:

Replace Astral Locator with old Clairvoyance spell.

Reduce distance of locate object.  Critical cast or spellcrafted locate should hit as far as normal locate does now. Normal locate distanced greatly reduced.

or

Locate can only be casted once every 3 tic < haha you will all hate this one but its for all u mages who like to afk and locate all day

[Ericj]

I like Corey's ideas, remove force loads.  Make everything worn or even death load.  The idea of having to kill something, wait for repop and run again seems unnecessary.  It could simply load if mob repops (I know mobs are not designed that way so maybe redesign mobs to respawn regardless if killed).

I still think I would like to see high end gear no_limit but just with a low load rate.  It would be fun to play and know that you always have a chance to load good gear, I think that would drive more people to play than anything.  There is nothing more crushing to your will to play if you know all the good gear is loaded.

Thoughts?

[puff]

I like Corey's ideas, remove force loads.  Make everything worn or even death load.  The idea of having to kill something, wait for repop and run again seems unnecessary.  It could simply load if mob repops (I know mobs are not designed that way so maybe redesign mobs to respawn regardless if killed).

I still think I would like to see high end gear no_limit but just with a low load rate.  It would be fun to play and know that you always have a chance to load good gear, I think that would drive more people to play than anything.  There is nothing more crushing to your will to play if you know all the good gear is loaded.

Thoughts?

I would imagine that most of the old to semi "old school" players have less time to play than they used to. If you only have X hours to play, would you rather spend it on guaranteed loads or a random chance of a load?

[Ericj]

I fall into that semi "old school" demographic most likely and I would rather have random chance.  If you only log a few hours a week or maybe a binge 4hrs on a weekend it would be fun to know you have a chance of something good.  Guaranteed loads are only worth anything if you have folks "locating" for you and even then, gear is already spoken if it is in clan decay.

 Folks who might have never gotten certain pieces of perma-max'd gear would have a chance. 

I would like to see more input on this idea from the playerbase.  Maybe my mindset is no longer in tune with arctic but is something I feel would give players with less time more motivation.

[gulca]

I agree with lottery mentality. it's nice to know the jackpot is there every time you start a zone. low % but not never.

it's not really motivating checking something just hoping you hit a decay from someone's char. especially if the whole zone has been max or its a DT casket.

one reason why I collect coins. it always loads and never disappoints.

[jingo]

I still think I would like to see high end gear no_limit but just with a low load rate.  It would be fun to play and know that you always have a chance to load good gear, I think that would drive more people to play than anything.  There is nothing more crushing to your will to play if you know all the good gear is loaded.

Thoughts?

I don't know.  What is low load rate?  All MUDs I've played with this scheme have obscenely low load rates (anywhere from 1-5%) but items that never decay.

With item decay, you could end up putting load rates to a point where mathematically you can never have a full set of elite gear.

[Gnua]

I still think I would like to see high end gear no_limit but just with a low load rate...Thoughts?

I do like the idea but recovering from DT would become much harder than it is now though.  Then again, you are more likely to have a spare set on a storage character with this setup....

[Jarrad]

Get rid of locate. Return clairvoyance to usefulness. Any item that is limit one gets a 4 week out of game timer, %load. Items limit 2-5 get a 3 week out of game timer, %load. Unlimited items % load and who cares how long they last, they are not limited. My 2 cents

[Lyam]

remove astral locate .. a mage sitting at a mage guild locating zones is just a silly idea ..
instead of removing locate make the limit items that ppl locate for nolocate or extremely hard locate so most wont bother ... maybe increase which circle locate is on? make locate a lvl 9 spell for all robes??

[Super Tacoman]

I agree with lottery mentality. it's nice to know the jackpot is there every time you start a zone. low % but not never.

it's not really motivating checking something just hoping you hit a decay from someone's char. especially if the whole zone has been max or its a DT casket.

one reason why I collect coins. it always loads and never disappoints.

exactly my thoughts.  with the limited item system i always start to feel like everything of any worth is taken and each zone has a 0% chance to load anything.  apparently there is a lot of stuff loading if i looked in the right places, but i dont know where to look.  and it feels bad.

jorquin has already taken some steps to help with this and i think it could lead to a lot more fun for me and my friends.

[Gramm]

Locate is for part-timers that are afraid they wont get gear with what little time they have to play, and for fulltimers making sure there is no gear for the part-timers to locate.

Remove it and make people work for their gear, and to keep it secured also. If someone really wants a piece of gear and deserves it, they will be around to spam it if it is that important. I think it will stop people from having way too much gear for just one person to really have when there are so many hungry mouths around to feed. Good luck maintaining 3 fully stacked characters, if you cant just instantly locate all the decays and win first try. With lower % load rates and no locate, that lottery looks a lot more profitable for a lot more of us.

Far too often i see people that will viciously defend their perfect set and every load in it. And in some cases people have like 3 sets they will viciously defend... thats potentially 30 items a single person will lock up... by removing locate its a really good way to prevent that kind of stuff. And its also a way to mix that gear people hold onto for the entire wipe.

I think someone said to maybe make locate only work on norent items, that is a BRILLIANT idea.

[Kadaj]

I'm totally fine with the removal of both spells, however.....if they are removed and players are forced to run the zones, I think a little more rank gain would be appreciated. No one wants to run a full zone for zero loads and .05% rank. I'm not sure how hard it would be, but perhaps similar to one of the very first rank incarnations where if you haven't killed the mob in a certain time you got more rank exp instead of when the mob was killed by someone else.