Mabar event: second preview critiques

[Entwhistle]

I ran both previews for pretty much the whole time and would like to offer a few notes.

1) Undead Spawning- I think you need to split the difference between the first and second events, the first had too many popping up but the second had too few. I could make my circuit around Joe's area twice without anything spawning.

2) It seems some spawn points were cut out in the second that should be there. The bank off the the right of the big hill by Joe had two or three spawn points in the first and none in the second. Same with the hill top left of the raid entrance, it only coughed up a couple small groups the second time. There were a few points around Delera's that didn't spawn either.

3) More Liches. This may be my bad luck but I only saw 5 or 6 the first time and 2 the second. None gave me dust. Since it is an ingredient, they should pop more and/or give dust each time.

4) Is it possible to make the inactive undead clickable in the focus orb? Seeing what they're going to attack may help newbies and lower level characters from tackling more than they can handle. Right now, they only show in the orb after they've been activated and want to kill you.

Thanks.

[Woody00]

I ran both previews for pretty much the whole time and would like to offer a few notes.

1) Undead Spawning- I think you need to split the difference between the first and second events, the first had too many popping up but the second had too few. I could make my circuit around Joe's area twice without anything spawning.

2) It seems some spawn points were cut out in the second that should be there. The bank off the the right of the big hill by Joe had two or three spawn points in the first and none in the second. Same with the hill top left of the raid entrance, it only coughed up a couple small groups the second time. There were a few points around Delera's that didn't spawn either.

Agreed on both those points. I seemed to get quicker/more spawns the first preview than this one.

[Stark_Raving]

I agree with the OP. Particularly w/ points 3 and 4. Also the drop rate for ingredients seemed pretty low for the amount of motes that you need to farm for the gear. Maybe it was just my bad luck, but I was in with a full party and I got as many ritual items in the time I was in the dragon raids (15 min) as I was averaging per hour for the 3+ hrs I was in the graveyard. Or is that supposed to be part of the incentive to continue going into the raid even after you have all the dragon scales you need on a character?

If that's the idea, fine but please enable them to be turned in for motes or sent through the shared bank to other characters on an account.

I really enjoyed the event, but if there will be other events of this type I have a couple of suggestions that might enhance it for people who don't like grinding out mobs for hours on end (I can deal with it, but some others can't).

1. Add an XP component so that people aren't taking the night off from advancing their characters to do the event. A small amount of XP per kill or an XP reward for completing the dragon raid would help alleviate the grind feeling.

2. Add secondary quests inside the graveyard that yield some loot or at least some plat to cover repair costs. A suggestion from one of my guildies was to have a map "drop" from one of the mobs that lead to a specific grave where you fight a named mob (lich anyone?). If you succeed you get a chest that lasts for a min or so so everyone can get their loot and move on. This would also help break up the night so that it isn't just a cycle of kill, turn in, kill some more, pray you get enough people in the raid so that you can succeed and not lose the 1 key you've found in the last hour. ;-)

Overall a nice job though. that's just my 2 cents on improvements.

Cheers!

[Rinnaldo]

I concur with Entwhistle's points. Stark_Raving also has some good ideas. I'd like to suggest a few of my own:

1. Add a kill counter to the graveyard. I'd, personally, like to see how many undead I've slain. This can be for my party as a whole, or just myself, or both. I'm not too picky.

1a. Possibly, add a small amount of xp for 100, 200, 400, 750 kills, as in an explorer area. This is not a necessity, but if you add #1, it immediately comes to mind.

2. In the dragon raid, it wasn't so much fun to get kicked out after my character died. Maybe let the dead stay in, or add a shrine, or at least extend the timer (2 minutes to get raised isn't very long when the clerics are busy attacking the dragon and gargoyles, or running from a distant room to yours).

[Zzevel]

Agreed, +1

Also add a random favor bonus!