it does not seem to speed things up. if any thing it might slow the group down due to confusion.
Is it just people stroking their ego by trying to take a portal down all by them selves?
it does not seem to speed things up. if any thing it might slow the group down due to confusion.
Is it just people stroking their ego by trying to take a portal down all by them selves?
Kill'em all and let their favorite deity sort'em out
BoloGrubb / DJGrubb / Gijo
Proud member of the HighLords of Malkier
Because I am not paying attention and/or forget a portal. Figure by the time I get to the next portal that running back will be a bigger loss of DPS...
Aerak the Bulwark-Awryn Shadowblade-Aerrik Lightbringer
Member of D.W.A.T.
Sometimes it's people new to the raid getting confused about where to run. I know I did this at least once on my first Shroud run.
Often, though, it's people running ahead to start clearing trash (things go to hell in a handbasket pretty quickly if no one keeps the trash cleared). Most groups will have one or two arcanes on trash-clearing duty, but some will have an arcane archer or an assassin rogue (or anyone else, really) help out. After trash is cleared, it's just a waste of time for them to run back to the previous portal, so the best way they can contribute to the group is to start beating on the portal they're currently at (which is "ahead of the pattern"). Some people (evocation archmages, especially) will use their spells for portal DPS, but a lot of them will pull out a portal beater and go to town -- you may see them doing this and not realize that they're the trash-killing arcane.
The arcanes? Probably to clear trash spawns from portals....or other classes trying to help clear trash, find out the arcane has it covered and decide to just hit the portal they are standing next to....?
Thelanis - Green Mtn Boys - Level 200
assuming it's not confusing everyone, it should actually make things faster, since the more you split up the less time is spent running from portal to portal, I kind of doubt that's why people are doing it though...
Arannel, Aqueous, Cocobolo, Arboreous, Erudirion, Congruous, and Cogs
Ghallanda Rerolled
One thing to consider is that they might not be running ahead, rather they might be used to a different pattern. I myself have seen at least three regular patterns, and it's likely there have been more minor variations that I just didn't notice. Once you're at a portal, there's little point in going back to the rest of the group as it would just waste time. Unless your arcanes aren't taking care of the trash and for some reason you can't handle it yourself, of course, but at that point you're probably not harming the group by not hitting portals anyways.
EDIT: wow, 4 posts in the time it took me to type that out.
Last edited by SardaofChaos; 04-12-2011 at 02:27 PM.
I run ahead to clear trash since many arcanes don't know the taking-this-one-out-spawns-these-others pattern or don't realize it's their job.
I stay with the group on the portals as long as we don't experience any of the 2nd waves (or worse, keepers).
"I require a reminder as to why raining arcane destruction is not an appropriate response to all of life's indignities" - Vaarsuvius, OoTS #674
If your group has extremely high dps you can have a few people move out of sequence in areas where multiple portal spawn close together at the same time
Fallen former minion of the Gelatinous Cube
Proud Member of Ascent
Arko Highstar
Arckos Highstar
and to be honest i usually dont run ahead but i have when i have gotten new items or made changes to a toon because im curious to see what my portal dps is like.
Should only be two groups in shroud part 1.
The portal beater group.
And ONE caster at the next portal.
But of course theres always... ALWAYS that one guy who goes and beats down a portal solo. Slowing this down by a few % just because they spend more time running to the next so they can show off. And usually whining for haste and rage since he wasn't with the group when it got cast.
Nobody is impressed by how much damage you do to portals. Get with the program and stay with the group so we get done with this grind faster. If you want to 'test' your awesome damage. Go out to the vale or reavers reach. The rest of us wanna shave as many seconds off part 1 as possible.
In Ye Olde Days (tm) of the Shroud, extremely high DPS on a single portal would sometimes result in the "loss" of damage on a portal. It was as if the game missed some of the damage. So groups would often split up and take down portals far faster than they could by staying on the same one.
So, for example, it might take 10 people 20 seconds to take down a portal. But half those people could take one down in 35 seconds. The total time to kill two portals, then, was 35 seconds instead of 40. Across 15 portals, this was a noticeable improvement.
However, I think that turbine's TWF overhaul in the last year has all but eliminated DPS lag and lost DPS so it may not be a benefit any more.
Can be many casters clearing adds... and can actually split the party per side on portal duty if they portal beaters strong enough they clear even quicker - shaving the time in part one down.
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After one or two portals it should be obvious that the arcane is or isn't doing their job. 95%+ of the time the arcane does their job. "Helping" with the trash is a waste.
There are multiple patterns, Euro-vs-American for example, but again it's obvious wich is being used. Again, 95%+ standard American Ghallanda pattern.
Some are confused, I guess. But you cant' get confused portal after portal and just happen to be on the very next portal each time.
I'd guess the overwhelming reason is that people like to see their numbers as they solo beat a portal.
If the solo beaters get Hasted and Raged then I can't image this speeds or slows things down in any way due to the Cummutative Law of Addition.
(I could be wrong - I'm not a attorney.)
Last edited by phillymiket; 04-12-2011 at 03:12 PM.
BONGO FURY - Ghallanda - Thingfish - Wizard, Diuni - Ninja, Gheale - Angel, Dullknife - Tank, Noodlefish - Gimp, Jaquaby - Treacherous and other gimps.
if someone can solo beat a portal in a reasonable amount of time, why not let them? there are many instances where more than one portal is up at a time.
some portals, when destroyed, spawn the next lot of portals.
It's quicker for 1-2 people to go ahead and get 2 of these portals - it speeds the whole thing up.
This thread asks the wrong question - what it SHOULD be asking is why people are just standing around near the altar at the end of part 1 waiting and waiting and waiting (for what?!?)