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Mercs, yea or nay?
GrayGreene
Member Posts: 239
in Rift
Just curious what folks on this forum think about the mercenary system.
Comments
love it
leveling almost exclusively through warfronts currently
Excellent idea, queue times are minimal, I will tell you I did not read the patch notes beforehand and I was a merc and was like ????????.
LOL. That must have come as quite a shock.
I think this is an excellent idea. I do understand those that feel it can break immersion to the two faction system, but at the same time I think such breaking is a step in the right direction as I feel players split by factions is one of the bigger weakness of MMOs in general.
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
I think its a great idea. Biggest issue is it can be rather disorienting and confusing, but considering the fact it makes wait times far less, its a great idea to have.
Well, it's good to see players are happy. I'll be the only negative voice by saying the merc system tends to sacrifice teamwork and immersion for quick ques and pvp leveling. It's actually game breaking for me, but not sure if it's the merc system or the new players joining in. (and the new, seemingly anti-social behavior i've seen in warfronts) Could be I'm evolving past these "pop" games, and ready for something deeper. The merc system is faster though, and you can level up quickly in warfronts alone. But it's much harder to get to know fellow players, and chat has become hostile more frequently.
All in all, its a proactive solution to que times that were sometimes very long. I still think the shard merges sped up ques considerably on their own, but as long as the majority are happy Id be silly to say Trion made a mistake. Hope everyone continues enjoying their game, and think its cool to consider other people's opinions. I'm going to move on myself, and maybe check in from time to time. Would love to hear about some other games with team-oriented pvp and great communites. (probably non-existant hehe)
*** could also be im using merc system as scapegoat. Lots of folks i pvped with arent logging in as much. It's also been way harder to get folks to group up and que. Maybe just new mentality in these games as opposed to the merc system?
Don't like it.
Well, actually, that's not true.
I don't care whether they have mercenaries or not.
What I don't like is that they didn't give players who may not want to participate any way to opt out of it. You are going to play as a mercenary or you are not going to play. That part sucks.
Well, i am on new shard/cluster and love my new shard. Making friends is the best way to go about pvping, and faeblight shard has much better community imo. I still dislike merc system as, believe it or not, there are non-contributors from cross factions. It still remains harder to organize new players and remember the afkers. (by afk, i don't neccesarily mean folks away from computer) I am beginning however to appreciate the players from the other side who play competetively regardless. All in all, i'd like to see the merc system go. I think the surge in population, and the past merges are enough to keep ques fast.
Warfronts queue's used to be upwards of 45 minutes on some shards. Now they are down to less then a minute if that. People need to just get over this RP crap and have fun with it.
I am sick and tired of not being able to ahve common sense stuff in MMO's because devs do not want to make the 1 or 2 shards of rp'rs angry.
Would like it even more if it had an option to opt out.
Lol, no one is angry. I'm not even a RP. But i love the players who are and they are seldom if anything but gracious. You are sick and tired? Bit of an over reaction. I am having fun, and there is nothing to get over. Sounds like you the one with the issue. Everyone has right to an opinion.
Also, since when have devs listened to the minority? They are a business and will make decisions that enhance player retention and new sales.
I am happy with Rift. This isn't a gripe thread. I respect RP, and would never call their style of recreation crap just because i felt differently.
So what is your reasoning for wanting it removed then?? Only reason that could possibly make sense is you have to fight other guardians or defiants. This is RP related plane and simple. There is no logical reason why people would want to go back to 45min queue,s
I already explained the logic. Would you like me to do it again? Or could you scroll up and read thread
Also, i am not meaning to argue. Just expressing my opinion. I agree ques are really fast, and it's wonderful. Also, i would rather see the majority satisfied then only a few players. Merc system isnt going away, so there is no threat or anything. I just would rather see faster ques and no mercs, or at least an option.
It's a cheap band aid fix for a problem but I guess it works..
There were two major changes that have affected PvP that Trion showed lack of foresight to counter two EXTREMELY obvious issues. The first is mercs. Not having an opt out options is awful planning, because its pretty obvious to realize that many people dont want to fight for the other side. The merc idea is great, but not without the opt out feature.
The other thing where they *really* dropped the ball, is with level locking. Didnt they learn from WoW on this one? Level lockers should get their own BG with other level lockers only.
Mercs are an okay idea, but I would have preferred to see a faction "betrayal" quest line like in EQ2.
Its been pretty awesome. Nice to have fast queues, and tons of fun to kill guildmates.
*Addressing the cry to allow an opt - out.
This fixed two issues at the same time to dramatically improve pvp. First of course was the queue times, more importantly though it breaks up pre-mades that are tandem queuing instead of queuing as a premade. NO ONE likes not being able to play because they are facing 10 R40 people on the opposing team all on vent. Allowing an Opt-Out would allow those teams to exploit the system again...and screw that. PvP has been MANY times better than it ever was before.
LoreImmersion issues, use your imagination and you can get past it.
You have a very good point. However, the premades still exist and players are kidding themselves if they think all players will remain competetive as a merc. When looking at stats its clear that some choose to sit out rather play against their team mates. However, there have been hours of good fun when folks play competetive despite, and I for one have enjoyed killing players from my faction and sometimes fight even harder
I've been queing in groups now for a while and have only been seperated from group twice. Of course, our little pre-mades havent gone past 6 in number so maybe thats part of it. Usually when mercs, our whole group has been mercs. In any case, I'm used to the system now, and any frustrations have matched past frustrations, with the nice change of faster ques. So I can see why so many have endorsed this system. I just hope they continue perfecting it, and hopefully figure out a way to mark/replace afkers or non-contributors more quickly.
As for lore and sociability, it does suffer a bit from the merc system, and remains difficult for a new player who is soloing a character to consistently meet fellow team mates and form a player bond. But with some extra work in chat these players should be able to make some friends and get past the initial confusion.
As someone who did not enjoy the merc system at first, I can honestlly say i have come around. Though I still agree it's more like a bandaid than an innovation, It's part of the game now so I'm glad the problem is solved for the time being. I do still believe players are understating the affect of the shard merges. They redid the warfront clusters as well, and that too made a big difference in que times.
Been away from Rift for a bit, Are the mercs usable only in Warfronts, or can they be used in general PVE like EQ/EQ2?
It's only a system for warfronts to solve the problem of faction imbalance and slow ques.
But damn...that would be pretty cool. Not sure how you'd handle loot for master looter but when you get down to it...we're all against Regulos..
Its fine.
I think it is a good idea. However, I feel a little extra reward should be given to those who are forced to be a mercenary.
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