Ambition and Lvl 100

[Kwinn]

"Ambition at first has a steep path before it; when once the way has been entered, zealous adherents are forthcoming...Henceforth, we must pray that he will have self-control, and so be contented" So spoke Drusus, son of Tiberius Emperor of Rome, of the man who ultimately poisoned him and of who's intriques ultimatelyspawned the reign of Caligula.

So what's this to do with Istaria and lvl 100? Simply this, ambition drives us to level. There are seemingly two schools of thought concerning the pursuit of lvl 100, the hard grind and power leveling. And each has its zealous adherents.

At some point in the leveling process, those who grind learn the ins and outs of their toon, they become very good at playing their toon and are not a threat to anyone or anything. Those who are power leveled have yet to learn the ins and outs, are not good at playing their toon and are threat to themselves and those foolish enough to group with them.

At some point the power leveled will have to exercise some self-control and learn to play. Multiple 100 level classes will not replace experience and these folks aregoing to ultimately face a few choices. Learn to play their character, learn the in and outs; quit the game because its "too hard"; continue on using the game as a $13 per month chat program. Whatever the choice, they must be content with their decision.

If they choose to learn play their toon, they will eventually want better gear, spells etc. At some point this will require inter-action with the community at large and we all win.

If they choose to quit, they lose , we win.

If they choose to use the game as a chat program, we win...a paying account.

However, all of the above becomes moot if restraint is not exercised by those who provide the power leveling services. Even today's patch is not a cure, it is at best, a bandage. Sajid posted in another post on this board that restraint begins in the guilds in particular and in the community at large. Stop power leveling and start teaching. ( I paraphase some here Sajid, but I am sure your intent is along these lines[:)] ) Wiser words have not been spoken. Unchecked, power leveled and untutored players running rampant through Istaria will bring about conditions that will make the reign of Caligula look like Beach Blanket Bingo.

nuff said


Kwinn
Order server

Dog: The other white meat

[Kulamata]

Players quitting is a loss to us, to Tulga, and eventually the loss of the game to us.

Too many changes have encouraged players to quit, without anyoffsetting inducement to entice players into the game, or to stay. This, I think, is one of thethree main reasons for the steep decline in the number of players.

[Gunnyr]

I have to agree with Kulamata here, ANY accounts that quit the game are a loss to the entire playerbase and closer to a loss of the entire game. We've seen it before and we'll see it again. Getting on a high horse and forcing changes that'll drive off players won't help at all. Order sees about 200-300 visible players of a GOOD night, every loss is a major one...especially since it's pretty obvious that another merge would probably drive away at least 50% of the playerbase (and if this keeps up there most likely will end up being another merge).

[Phillip]

Kwinn is right.

and so are the rest.

on the one hand you got someone who could understand the true meaning of it. on the other you got those who understand what's more necessary,that beggers shouldn't be chosers.

that don't solve anything though, does it?

maybe a new game model, could. and the understanding therein.

[imported_Ssilmath]

I'd like to point out that the population for Order has been Light every time I have logged on for the past two weeks...For several months before, it was always Very Light...<Cheers>

[Gunnyr]

I'd like to point out that the population for Order has been Light every time I have logged on for the past two weeks...For several months before, it was always Very Light...<Cheers>

On player counts the average on weekdays has been 180-200 with200-300 on weekends while a month ago we had an average of 200-300 on weekdays and 350-400 on weekends. While to many it doesnt seem that big a drop we're looking at about a 20%-30% drop off in server population in a months time. At least we are when talking visibility and looking at goodbyes on the boards.

[Cylian Golas]

Regardless of the power levellers, leeches etc. Most people have and are leaving the world of Horizons in droves mainly due to bugs, lack of content, lack of communication etc. There was also a mass exodus upon the release of Everquest II and the final beta of World of Warcraft. When WoW is finally released in Europe even more if not most of what is left of the HZ community will move on. I read alot about all the kiddies that will be playing WoW and there is a more mature pop. in HZ. I would say per capita there is probably the same amount playing HZ. There will always be people who love the game warts and all, but with the population numbers I see bandied about it will not be long before the game ceases to exist. You will be told otherwise by the devs and this is understandable and requisite to their position, in as much as it is a business after all and they would be derelict in their duties if they did not try to keep as much cash flowing in as possible. Alas I believe the writing is on the wall! Horizons needs to be in the black and not the red financially. Yes there has been a change of ownership and an injection of finance since Tulga came into the fold, however it is a business and making money is the key to the longevity of any business. I obviously do not know the numbers but judging from the populations I see in EQII and WoW Final Beta, Horizons can`t be making a great deal of profit if anyfor Tulga/AE.

In my opinion it is too late to save Horizons. Too long have people waited which is evident in the dwindling population as folks leave for greener pastures.

I am not slamming HZ, I really enjoyed playing Horizons for the most part and the community was excellent. Notice I say "was" as this is no longer the case. The game had the potential to be awesome and go on for years, but I do firmly believe that the world of Istaria will disappear within the year!

I hope I am wrong but I fear not [:(]

[dunkelzahn]

greetings all

as always cylian make me humble about him
he hits the mark with this again

iam really his ops 100 %

i wish it werent so but it is this game was bug filled from day one and if it werent for the reason of pay i would guess its still is and never left the beta testing phase

but there is one point i differ from him but this more because personal faith then believe or reasons

its
his blieve of the death of game if i see these bad performance of their patching their untruhfull infotainment when what is to be expected (rembersme of halflife 2) is hard to push aside or over come but
i dearly hope as long there is live inthis game i may (only ) may mutate(recover; get healthy ) in to something better than now

where is life there is hope
and if only this to you ; GN ,Tula, AE,Dangit , Luca, Bowman and the unkown game employee

if you continue to work this poorly (Bad) you can bet to stalk out many or all players but who will need you then who will see any reason to pay you

i call out to you for a fresh start make a choice tell us exactly what are your qirks and bugs and ... when you solve what in what time and then we may have the faith to stay in game and give you the prerequested time to fix all this

pls rember even best friendliest gamer (not me) will someday run outof patience and will to stay in here
your line of credit with us players is not limitless
and i fear if i see the list of goodbyes its nearly empty

but this yourchoice we can only react to your actions unactions.....
greetings dunkel and family

[Vahrokh]

********, seeing you Cylian being so disheartened really addolorates me.

I really hope that you get some relax in Wow and stop thinking about the past. It still hurts you I see.

Who knows, maybe one day I could end up in the same situation. [:'(]

For certain it had to boil inside you for a long while until it exploded.

[Flin]

Kwinn, I will agree that there needed to be some control on Powerleveling... I know of many Veterans that left groups because all of a sudden there were several players level 20 or below in the group. The day before the changes a friend of mine left a group that she was the major puller for because the idiots had invited a level 2 player.

I got some feedback this morning from another friend, he is level 85 about 110 class if I remember right. He didnt say much about the XP.. what he said was " at least it used to be fun".

That right there is what is going to kill this game. It's no longer much fun to play. Starting a game that the beginner quests don't work on, that has so so many bugs all the way through it, lately there are even more bugs in the chat system of all thing. The combat que timers are not working right, you have mobs standing there when dead.. and others alive standing under them that you have trouble targeting to kill because of the dead one.all the while they are killing you. The health bar bug is still here, mobs that need to be in game because of Comp drops are not here yet. Quest's at lower levels are not working right, at upper levels also in some cases. The list goes on and on and on.

Yet because of a minority of players in game, some of which don't even play any more but like to make trouble, we now have nerfed XP rates instead of a means to limit how low of a player could access the main areas that caused the troubles. I mean hey, they could have just made it a quest to use the gate to go to the Islands and you had to be a certain lever before you could see the quest.

I have heard some here complain about players who were so new to the character that when they were asked about stuns they replied " what stuns" well guess what , that was me they asked.. The reason I answered that way is because I didn't have stuns, I had Shocks. I still don't have any stuns.. But I can Electrocute anything within a certain area with the same effect as a stun.

Did I know how to play the Character I was playing? Why don't you ask Rigs, I am sure you know him and that he will give you a good answer. Heck, I remember you and Kelwatha from when you died in Trandalar by the undead on the first time you went there, and you guys added me to your group so I could res you. I was 20 levels below you and pulling undead one at a time because it was fun.

There's that word again ... Fun...

Personally I think the games days are now numbered. The grind has been made even more of that . Just a grind to get to a certain point, and, once you get there you have a choice, start a new school, or get bored and leave.. Of course now with the XP changes many more will lean towards the leave side of it

You compainers all got your wish, the Nerf is in.. But I think the bad effects from the Nerf won't be felt for a week at least.. and then it will just get worse and worse.



.

[Phillip]

the XPs gained from high levels (85+), high rating players (125+), have suffered greatly eventhough we didn't have any leechers, PL noobistic geektardin our group.

so those who are playing accordingly are getting the shaft.

i don't see why it's not possible to put a levelcap on the islands, like they do in AC1? make the level/rating cap for grouping as well, like if you are level 20, you can't hang with a group levels 40+. this system work wonders in other games.