When players are free of flagging, they like it more..

[ccheath776]

This is not a flame or bashing of Turbine in ANY way shape or form. Do not take it as that please.

While looking at the november poll and ...well raids in general.
And then doing trial runs on other MMO's and how they do raids I began to see a pattern in customer and player wants.

I know what the developers intent may have been to require flagging. It makes us run through quests. No developer wants to work on a quest for days and days only to see it ignored because its not required or some other reason. Or because they want to provide some level of a challenge. Or maybe to put a timesink in. I dont know, I'm not a developer. For whatever the reasons, I am sure they are legitimate. That is not my point.

What I have seen is that if players are left to their own actions as far as raids are concerned they will enjoy it more.
What I mean is that if you take away the flagging process completely, then I bet people will enjoy raids more. I dont think the removal of these flagging processes will mean that people will never run the other stuff.
After all did having no flagging on Tempest spine mean people never ran Delara's or Redwillow again?
Did the mere fact that you did not have to run ghola fan or shreiking minds ever again to get flagged for the titan mean nobody ever ran those two quests again? No, people will run the quests they enjoy and will not just raid all the time.
Think about the amount of time saved by not developing some complicated raid development and simply making a raid better.
Sure, require us to run 1 or 2 quests once to get raid flagged but only require it once like in the TF. Not any quest 20 times like in giant hold. Or assembling a sigil piece like in the Abbott.
Let us decide if we want to run that quest, let us decide if we want to run the new raid.
Maybe link it to favor and not a large amount like 1750. Maybe like 1000 or 800.
Unless you have X amount of favor the quest giver does not consider you worthy to take on the challenge.
Or HECK make it random, the quest giver gives out a different sort of flagging to different people.
Some have to go run these X 2 quests and defeat them, some have to go into tangleroot and find me the golden chalice, so on and so forth. Make it fun.
Make it creative, make it something, make it like a real DND adventure would be.

My point is that I think if you eased off or eliminated the flagging processes all together Raids will be much more popular.
I mean look at the poll, its amazing. Tempest spine is the numero uno and it has the least amount of flagging of all of them. It also doesn't have alot of complicated puzzles.. hint hint.
That to me says alot.

I understand the issue of the goldfarmers. Any amount of flagging is not going to stop them, that I can guarantee.

Leave the raid timers in, to me that is acceptable.

Does anyone else agree or am I just feeblminded?
Maybe the devs should open a forum discussion on flagging. Let us players brainstorm better ways to do it.

[Mckim_Brian]

I was gonna /not sign, and then I actually read your post.

A random flagging mechanic, while possibly problematic, could be alot of fun and add replay ability to the raid.

I'm also for making the flagging mechanic more "adventure" like. While I enjoy the Abbott preraid, froma story point of view, it's kinda ********.

[ccheath776]

I was gonna /not sign, and then I actually read your post.

A random flagging mechanic, while possibly problematic, could be alot of fun and add replay ability to the raid.

I'm also for making the flagging mechanic more "adventure" like. While I enjoy the Abbott preraid, froma story point of view, it's kinda ********.

While thinkig of ways to improve the raids I sat back and wondered what I do as a DM if I had a bunch of adventurers that I wanted to take on a large campaign like the dragon.
Thats when I thought up the random stuff.
Because I would assume my adventurers met up with a king or some other NPC but I am sure this NPC would probably think them unworthy and send them on tasks to prove their worth.

One time in a PNP adventure a fighter had to prove his streangth to a king before he would let them use the kings ship to cross the blood sea of Istar to get to the forbidden isles where a dark dragon was menacing the kingdom.
The fighter had to do feats of streangth and stamina to prove he was worthy.

I dont expect DDO could ever be that way but you could have something like this.
Just make a lever or some other thing that has a str check and not a minimum need like the levers in VON 5. Make the fighter actually roll so there is the possibility of rolling a 1 or a 20. There's a chance of failure.

[Mckim_Brian]

How about this:

The raid has a set number of prerequisits (sp), say 12. Each time you talk to the quest giver you are given 3 of the 12 to do before you can do the raid. It could be problematic if random chance struck and you had a hard time finding anyone else who needed the same prereq's to help ya out, but that's what a good guild is for.

[Mckim_Brian]

A little of topic, but while were talkin about adding adventure to the prereq's - I wsh the raids themselves had more of an adventure feel to them, instead of go into this room, kill this guy, get your loot and done.

[Litz]

I don't know the more I think about flagging, and not just flagging in this game other games too, I think to myself "Self if I actually recieved a flag that I could attach to a long stick and wave around for everyone to see or salute, then I'd be the coolest wizard in the parking lot". Then I wake up and realize I was dreaming. really what I want is Trebuchets..

[ccheath776]

I don't know the more I think about flagging, and not just flagging in this game other games too, I think to myself "Self if I actually recieved a flag that I could attach to a long stick and wave around for everyone to see or salute, then I'd be the coolest wizard in the parking lot". Then I wake up and realize I was dreaming. really what I want is Trebuchets..

Litz your requirement would be to build a Tebuchet and that would flag you for all raids.