CRPG is indeed dying.

[Penitent]

Heskey has the deep, probing questions -- relevant for our times.  Wisdom is his companion.  Curiosity, his squire.

[Rico]

The only flaw with that banner, is that it's NOT a banner. That is, it doesn't use the actual banner texture at all. It's just a picture at the proper resolution. I'm sure that if he actually took that image and imposed the mandatory banner texture over the top, there would be nothing wrong with it (although the orange is a bit strong/vibrant and would therefore not match the color scheme.)

This is really problematic because you will see the same banner texture on the front side of heraldic armor, but not on the back side. It looks really odd. Whenever I add this to my banners I make sure not to use heraldic armors or to give it really little opacity.

[Mallets]

The only flaw with that banner, is that it's NOT a banner. That is, it doesn't use the actual banner texture at all. It's just a picture at the proper resolution. I'm sure that if he actually took that image and imposed the mandatory banner texture over the top, there would be nothing wrong with it (although the orange is a bit strong/vibrant and would therefore not match the color scheme.)

It's bullshit like this that keeps me from donating to this mod.  And I don't mean $5.  Fuck that.  Being a working professional... and loving the gameplay as much as I do... I wouldn't be against dropping a $100 bucks here and there.

But seeing shit like this... there's no way in hell I'm going to support the devs (and admins) of this game.  I'd love to support the game itself.  But I just can't support them.

"The orange is too vibrant" my ass!  Yet there's a cartoon semen on a banner and no admin or dev gives a fuck!  And it's not so much the fact that these injustices are happening all the time... it's the fact that no admin or dev will come out and say... "we are bais, we do want the fuck we want, we have the power, you don't, so too bad!"

Tydeus, just come out and say it.  And if you want say that... then give an explanation why a semen banner remains.  That's the only two things I want to hear:

We don't give a fuck, we have the power, too bad for you! 

Or

Here's why the semen banner (and the like) get to remain, while other banners are randomly chosen to be deleted.

Lastly... seriously... don't you dev & admins have better things to do than police non-offensive banners?  If not, then there's the problem!

[Tydeus]

If it isn't you, then who's to say your opinion has anything in common with the person who removed it?

Because I understand the essential reason behind the banner rule. I personally do not have the required access privileges to edit banners, so I have no say in the matter. It's just that the general idea behind the rule, is the same with the initial question we ask about the aesthetics of any item proposed to be added. More specifically, "Does the style and quality match close enough?" It's arbitrary and up to each individual.

"The orange is too vibrant" my ass!  Yet there's a cartoon semen on a banner and no admin or dev gives a fuck!  And it's not so much the fact that these injustices are happening all the time... it's the fact that no admin or dev will come out and say... "we are bais, we do want the fuck we want, we have the power, you don't, so too bad!"

Tydeus, just come out and say it.  And if you want say that... then give an explanation why a semen banner remains.  That's the only two things I want to hear:


Lastly... seriously... don't you dev & admins have better things to do than police non-offensive banners?  If not, then there's the problem!

Again, I don't actually have any say here, which is probably why I got the "mandatory banner texture" thing wrong. I don't enforce this stuff, I was merely trying to shed light on why it might possibly have been denied. In all seriousness, specifically focusing on only the color scheme, this particular banner is abhorrent, while the SemenStorm color scheme is slightly less so. That's not to say this is the only test one needs to pass, but at a glance, it certainly would attract your eye more than the SS banner; and certainly, if you're going to look through the whole list of banners all at once, you're not going to give any individual banner more than just a glance.

[Prpavi]

meanwhile EU 1

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OBEY!

[Dexxtaa]

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Realizing that Tydeus is the cRPG marshall and he's at 100 controversy.

[woody]

This banner is abhorrent? Why? What an arbitrary and personal judgement.

Personally I find the racist/homophobic stuff abhorrent, not a simple geometric, if in my opinion slightly garish, banner.

Oh I forgot, on the internet every uber nerd believes their opinion is a fact.

[Elerion]

Allow me to contribute my perspective:

I've just returned to cRPG after 3 years away. I must admit there is a massive difference in the power level of players on the servers.

The skill level has increased somewhat on average, but the best players are roughly the same. Either way, being outskilled is motivating, it makes you strive to get better. Most serious gamers won't mind that.

The biggest problem is how most of the players on the server are level 33+ with full looms. It was never like that back in the day. I think Kesh was 34 back then and people wondered how the hell that was possible. The vast majority of players back then didn't have multiple +3 looms, and everyone retired at 31 unless it was Strategus season. This meant there was a decent number of sub-30s on the server, and the 31+ multiloomed people were the exception rather than the rule. Did people get slaughtered when they ran into them? Yep. But for every encounter with such a powerhouse, there were 3 encounters with someone a level 25 newbie could reasonably expect to beat.

Nowadays, nearly every player you face is like that. How big is the difference, though? Well, I did some quick comparisons using Urugash's calculator over at http://alpha-lider19.ru/MB/ . It pits a "newbie" level 30 18/18 1h shielder with no looms, using a 35c battle axe and wearing a 45 armor set, versus a "veteran" level 33 21/18 1h shielder with full looms, using a 38c battle axe and wearing a 55 armor set. The Newbie has spent around 18-20 hours grinding to get to that level, which is already a significant investment.

Specs:

(click to show/hide)

Code: [Select]

Level:           30

Strength:        18
Agility:         18

Skill to attr:    2

Ironflash:        5
Power Strike:     6
Shield:           6
Athletics:        6
Weapon Master:    6

One Handed:     154
^{using cRPG NewGen calc}

vs.

Code: [Select]

Level:           33
[/spoiler]


Strength:        21
Agility:         18

Skill to attr:    2

Ironflash:        7
Power Strike:     7
Shield:           6
Athletics:        6
Weapon Master:    6

One Handed:     158
^{using cRPG NewGen calc}

This is the result, assuming the calculator is correct:
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Even if the newbie can outskill/outluck the veteran, it takes 4-11 body shots to get the kill. The veteran needs 2-4 hits to kill the newbie. That's obviously an insane difference. It gets less severe if both players use steel picks (3-6 hits for the newbie vs 2-3 hits for the veteran), but note that the newbie still needs more hits to kill with the pick than the veteran needs using an axe. And this is with high damage axes and light/medium armor! Lets not even get into how insanely lopsided it gets with lower damage swords or if the veteran is wearing full plate (which, as we know, is not an option for a newbie)...

When every fight is like this, even after grinding for 20 hours just to get to level 30, the game becomes nearly impenetrable to new players. Skill difference is fine. Having to land more than twice as many hits to win a duel, on TOP of that skill difference, is not. It needs fixing if the mod wants new players.

[San]

The calc is incorrect.

[Elerion]

I'm not surprised. Would you mind providing the correct ballpark numbers?

My main point is not in the exact numbers, though. The main point is that there are practically no sub-30 unloomed people on the server anymore, which makes the grind far harder to stomach than back in the day.

To be clear, it's not a personal whine. I have looms from back in the day and from friends. I'm fine. New friends I try to bring to the mod are not.

[darmaster]

This banner is abhorrent? Why? What an arbitrary and personal judgement.

Personally I find the racist/homophobic stuff abhorrent, not a simple geometric, if in my opinion slightly garish, banner.

Oh I forgot, on the internet every uber nerd believes their opinion is a fact.

jesus christ for a moment i thought wayyyyyne wrote this instead of you and i was really scared, luckily he's still ok. fuck me i really shat my pants

[San]

I am only typing on my phone, but tinyurl.com/crpgcalc has better numbers. Head hits deal 1.2x damage. Damage should be around 10-15. Most damage in the game comes from holds and speed bonus. My 10 athletics character was able to go from 57 raw to 78. My 0 athletics character from 57 raw to 74. Overheads deal an extra 10% raw and holds around an extra 25% raw.

There are far more high levels and looms, but leveling is almost 4x faster with no upkeep until 25. It's still bad and should be better, I agree.

[Nessaj]

(click to show/hide)

Allow me to contribute my perspective:

I've just returned to cRPG after 3 years away. I must admit there is a massive difference in the power level of players on the servers.

The skill level has increased somewhat on average, but the best players are roughly the same. Either way, being outskilled is motivating, it makes you strive to get better. Most serious gamers won't mind that.

The biggest problem is how most of the players on the server are level 33+ with full looms. It was never like that back in the day. I think Kesh was 34 back then and people wondered how the hell that was possible. The vast majority of players back then didn't have multiple +3 looms, and everyone retired at 31 unless it was Strategus season. This meant there was a decent number of sub-30s on the server, and the 31+ multiloomed people were the exception rather than the rule. Did people get slaughtered when they ran into them? Yep. But for every encounter with such a powerhouse, there were 3 encounters with someone a level 25 newbie could reasonably expect to beat.

Nowadays, nearly every player you face is like that. How big is the difference, though? Well, I did some quick comparisons using Urugash's calculator over at http://alpha-lider19.ru/MB/ . It pits a "newbie" level 30 18/18 1h shielder with no looms, using a 35c battle axe and wearing a 45 armor set, versus a "veteran" level 33 21/18 1h shielder with full looms, using a 38c battle axe and wearing a 55 armor set. The Newbie has spent around 18-20 hours grinding to get to that level, which is already a significant investment.

Specs:

(click to show/hide)

Code: [Select]

Level:           30

Strength:        18
Agility:         18

Skill to attr:    2

Ironflash:        5
Power Strike:     6
Shield:           6
Athletics:        6
Weapon Master:    6

One Handed:     154
^{using cRPG NewGen calc}

vs.

Code: [Select]

Level:           33
[/spoiler]


Strength:        21
Agility:         18

Skill to attr:    2

Ironflash:        7
Power Strike:     7
Shield:           6
Athletics:        6
Weapon Master:    6

One Handed:     158
^{using cRPG NewGen calc}

This is the result, assuming the calculator is correct:
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Even if the newbie can outskill/outluck the veteran, it takes 4-11 body shots to get the kill. The veteran needs 2-4 hits to kill the newbie. That's obviously an insane difference. It gets less severe if both players use steel picks (3-6 hits for the newbie vs 2-3 hits for the veteran), but note that the newbie still needs more hits to kill with the pick than the veteran needs using an axe. And this is with high damage axes and light/medium armor! Lets not even get into how insanely lopsided it gets with lower damage swords or if the veteran is wearing full plate (which, as we know, is not an option for a newbie)...

When every fight is like this, even after grinding for 20 hours just to get to level 30, the game becomes nearly impenetrable to new players. Skill difference is fine. Having to land more than twice as many hits to win a duel, on TOP of that skill difference, is not. It needs fixing if the mod wants new players.

Good post. Let's see if we can do something about evening out that playing field.

[Elerion]

I am only typing on my phone, but tinyurl.com/crpgcalc has better numbers. Head hits deal 1.2x damage. Damage should be around 10-15. Most damage in the game comes from holds and speed bonus. My 10 athletics character was able to go from 57 raw to 78. My 0 athletics character from 57 raw to 74. Overheads deal an extra 10% raw and holds around an extra 25% raw.

There are far more high levels and looms, but leveling is almost 4x faster with no upkeep until 25. It's still bad and should be better, I agree.

Thanks!

And yes, the 1-25 grind is much improved.

That doesn't change the fact that to get to level 30 with 3 +3 looms requires 500+ hours of grinding, and even then you're still numerically underpowered compared to the majority of the server.

Back in 2011 you would be on par with or more powerful than 50% of the server simply by being 30, since nearly everyone reset at 31. Getting to 30 took longer then, but nowhere NEAR what it takes to reach parity with 50% of the server nowadays.

edit: Clarified that I was responding to San.

[Nessaj]

Sure.

What I'm thinking is something like everyone starts at level 15, plus we do something to even out the amount of hits needed to kill a fully loomed 33+ hero, evening out the playing field a lot (e.g. only 2, or MAX 3 hits extra), which is still a fine 'buff' for higher levels too IMO.