Do people who pay to bypass XP requirements cheapen their DDO accomplishments?

[karatemack]

A few questions to consider:


Is XP a "challenge"? (IE: is XP difficulty to come by? or is it just a time sink?)
Are those who discover faster ways to gain XP "better" at the game than those who do not?
If someone didn't "discover" faster ways to gain XP... but were shown... are they now "better" at the game than those still in the dark?
Is it appropriate to measure DDO player skill in terms of accumulated XP? Kill count? Ability to solo? Fastest completion times?
Are PL's an indicator of anything other than additional time to play or money to spend?
Were the accomplishments of all the 4.2 mil PLs "cheapened" when the cap shifted to 3.8?
Were EPLs accomplishments before lvl 30 was introduced less prestigious since the XP cap has shifted?
In a PvE game... aren't we all better off (ultimately) when more people have more PLs?

[FranOhmsford]

Depends how much they pay for - If it's just one life out of 42 {lol if only it was still just 42!} then nah!

Heck these days I'd say it's becoming mandatory for most players who want to get there to buy at least a couple of Otto's Stones.

[TDarkchylde]

I don't care. The people who are willing to buy boxes keep the game afloat from a financial standpoint. The people who grind out their lives by running the content keep the servers full. The past life feat is the same for both in the end.

It's the people who exploit their way to completionist that annoy the hell out of me.

[Keladon]

I don't care. The people who are willing to buy boxes keep the game afloat from a financial standpoint. The people who grind out their lives by running the content keep the servers full. The past life feat is the same for both in the end.

It's the people who exploit their way to completionist that annoy the hell out of me.

+1

My thoughts exactly.

[Wonedream]

I voted "No, XP = time + money not skill. So use both." but almost voted the one below it.

getting xp is easy. Just run casual.. it will take longer but be super easy. Or buy pots, a box, etc...

Right now you can spend money to get exp with pots, and with boxes when they are available. Or you can spend time. You do not need special skills or to be good at the game.

XP does not equal skill at all.

And, no, people should not be too worried about how others got powerful so long as they didn't cheat. Spending money helps support the game. So does playing. So, whether someone got powerful by paying money and helping this game's budget (thus making it better for me) or by playing a lot and helping this game's population, I see both things as something I warmly welcome.

[edgarallanpoe]

I have better things to do than worry about how someone else plays this game. I feel bad for the people have so much time on their hands that they put thought and effort into paying attention to how someone else got past lives or experience.

[Turtlsdown]

Your poll options are so loaded what is even the point...?

[karatemack]

Your poll options are so loaded what is even the point...?

So... "yes (other reason)" and "no (other reason)" felt too confining for you? Could you please detail how I could have been more inclusive in my poll?

[TacoBob33]

I say no only because it's just like someone doing r10 on someone else's build and someone else's gear setup.

[Enoach]

A few questions to consider:


Is XP a "challenge"? (IE: is XP difficulty to come by? or is it just a time sink?)
Are those who discover faster ways to gain XP "better" at the game than those who do not?
If someone didn't "discover" faster ways to gain XP... but were shown... are they now "better" at the game than those still in the dark?
Is it appropriate to measure DDO player skill in terms of accumulated XP? Kill count? Ability to solo? Fastest completion times?
Are PL's an indicator of anything other than additional time to play or money to spend?
Were the accomplishments of all the 4.2 mil PLs "cheapened" when the cap shifted to 3.8?
Were EPLs accomplishments before lvl 30 was introduced less prestigious since the XP cap has shifted?
In a PvE game... aren't we all better off (ultimately) when more people have more PLs?


XP is not a challenge. There is currently enough XP in the game that a player only needs to run each quest once and still not get every quest in.

There is one thing that can be said about "faster ways to gain XP", it is just that faster. There are many ways to quicken XP earning, but it does not make you better at the game, but it can make you better at gaming the system.

All they get is knowledge on ways to get XP faster.

I would say measuring someone based on the amount of XP they have earned, or by their kill count would be a poor measurement in my opinion. As for soloing or speed runs I would say that depends on the quest/difficulty. In my opinion that type of accomplishment was diminished when they add in scaling - we lost some soloers because it was the challenge that was taken out.

Past Lives are indicator of two things, time/resources and possibly a player's planning ability for their final build.

Cheapened when the heroic lives XP curve was readjusted? No, the game was getting lots of XP bonuses added and those were already reducing the "value" of XP. the 400K adjustment was more a bone thrown to us players. I would say that most players only noticed the difference because they still had plenty of quests level 17+ to run when they capped.

As for EPL's the adjustment went from 6mil (Karma needed) to 8.2 mil for level 30. XP was still higher and newer quests added at the top still provided lots of it. However, with the past it would take 4 Epic Lives to fill each Karma sphere. with level 30 it now takes 3 Epic Lives to fill each Karma Sphere. By the fourth life you will be ahead at least one full Karma sphere.

In a PvE game we are better off when players want to play as a team. More past lives don't make a better player. If you want to see how much better you have become at the game try rolling up a first life character and see how it works out. Feel free to twink it up.

[Niminae]

I don't care. The people who are willing to buy boxes keep the game afloat from a financial standpoint. The people who grind out their lives by running the content keep the servers full. The past life feat is the same for both in the end.

It's the people who exploit their way to completionist that annoy the hell out of me.

I'm annoyed by the exploiters, but equally annoyed that the devs seem to keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again regarding writing exploitable code.

And there's no point in trying to defend the devs on this, the ways to exploit are limited and similar, so at some point, years ago, leadership should have insisted on change, lessons should have been learned by the coders, and QA should have been given the tools to test for exploits before code was allowed to go live.

[TacoBob33]

I'm annoyed by the exploiters, but equally annoyed that the devs seem to keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again regarding writing exploitable code.

And there's no point in trying to defend the devs on this, the ways to exploit are limited and similar, so at some point, years ago, leadership should have insisted on change, lessons should have been learned by the coders, and QA should have been given the tools to test for exploits before code was allowed to go live.

no game ever could figure out all the exploits possible in it's system design before release. thats why we get patches.

[janave]

no game ever could figure out all the exploits possible in it's system design before release. thats why we get patches.

- It is a finite set, while very difficult to find each condition under all ranges of input, it is very much possible.

I think a better approach is to establish and encourage a community mentality that reporting exploits is rewarding and more beneficial than (ab)using them. Then reacting fast, disclosing minimal info about the state of the instance/problem, isolate/close the area, and warn against abuse as bannable action.

In my opinion that is the professional way to solve cheating. DDO has many areas where cheating is either completely undefined or just loosely described.

*** I also think that there is nothing wrong with players buying exp, I have not bought it aside the EXP Tomes, but I do not mind players supporting the server costs this way. What I kinda mind is when the managers get greedy and push exp changes like we had with epic past life requirements, and the reaper/racial wheel is just pure greed inspired - which may or may not have been pushed by the success of exp sales. ***

[BigErkyKid]

Responses bolded.


A few questions to consider:


Is XP a "challenge"? (IE: is XP difficulty to come by? or is it just a time sink?)

Time sink

Are those who discover faster ways to gain XP "better" at the game than those who do not?

Sadly, yes. Because the game is acquiring XP.

If someone didn't "discover" faster ways to gain XP... but were shown... are they now "better" at the game than those still in the dark?

Sadly, yes. Because the game is acquiring XP.


Is it appropriate to measure DDO player skill in terms of accumulated XP? Kill count? Ability to solo? Fastest completion times?

Ideally it should be capacity to beat content, and solo and party would be two different leagues. At the moment, it is XP grinds. There are no real achievements since very few people try beating 10 skulls, and it feels kinda pointless anyway. Why? Because, again, the game is grinding XP.


Are PL's an indicator of anything other than additional time to play or money to spend?

Nope. It is the game as SSG designs it, though.


Were the accomplishments of all the 4.2 mil PLs "cheapened" when the cap shifted to 3.8?

It has never been an achievement.

Were EPLs accomplishments before lvl 30 was introduced less prestigious since the XP cap has shifted?




In a PvE game... aren't we all better off (ultimately) when more people have more PLs?

No. Because then we need reaper, and then mega reaper?