I
ilum
Guest
I posted a long post on VNboards about my thoughts on buffbots and why I want them removed from the game...
Clicky:
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=61912055
Can also read it below, but you might wanna reply on VNboards...
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=61912055&replies=0
Hello all.
I write to create a post explaining my feelings about buffbots and how they affect my gaming experience. My wish is to see if there is anyone agree'ing to me and maybe if we can hope that we will see these issues removed from the game.
Also, I can add at the beginning that I myself have a buffbot and have had it for a pretty long time. So don't regard this as a whine for someone who's pissed over losing because I dont have a buffbot. I am only concerned for the overall experience.
A buffbot is normally a Cleric (alb), Druid (hib) or Shaman (mid). They are all classes that are suppose to be played actively, but when used as buffbots, they are only used to cast the buffs on players, then to be parked afk somewhere out of harm of enemies (hopefully).
For the people using buffbots, they will give a great boost to the persons performance in RvR. So what's the problem? Can't all people just use buffbots, and the ones not using stop whine or make one if they need it? Maybe, but every day I see more and more problems from buffbots, and they are starting to severely hamper game experience.
One of the first problem with buffbots is that they ruin the game atmosphere. You have to use two computers or alt-tab between clients...this isn't how playing a computer game should be. And I always get strange questions from people why I need 2 computers to play a game...oh well
Another problem is that they create a lot of hassle for the users. The impact from buffbots is so great that if you are RvR'ing with a buffbot, you want it with you wherever you go. This makes transferring zones (i.e. going Emain to Darkness Falls, or to Odins) a lot harder, having to get two characters across. Also a lot of comps get unstable with 2 DaoC clients running. Thus there is increased chance of going link dead - and going link dead with a bot means you have to go back to the bot to buff. Making an RvR grp is already a lot of hassle for many, so this just adds more than necessary in my opinion.
I know some of you at this point may think "then just drop the bot". But if you want to compete in RvR rather than bang the wall over the buffed Infiltrator killing you like a graycon, I've experienced that it is simply not an option. Maybe I exaggurate these problems in my post, maybe I don't. I _think_ most can agree they are considerable problems, but people are still using buffbot because as long as they are available, the gain from them is simply to big to ignore.
The third problem I would like to mention is that they are creating additional difficulties to balance the game. People are upset because Cleric has the spec AF buff and heal proc. They are of course much greater problems from a buffbot than from a grouped cleric, partly because active Cleric's will not perform well with enhance almost at 50 and also because when you only use active cleric's you are further limited by the concentration pool. So what's wrong the the AF buff and heal proc? In my opinion nothing....I see it as an extra candy given to Cleric's enhance line because their counterparts gets better baseline / specline abilities in their "tertiary" line (i.e. druid nature with root/ae root, shaman with AE disease, instadisease...or healers if you like...with baseline curemez, mez+). I'm not into discussing balance here, that's another discussion...I know BOF is nice
People get upset about infiltrators because they are buffed with spec AF and nightshades because they got spec haste from buffbots...but can you really take buffbots into account for game balance..? Then you are further imbalancing the game for those who choose to play without a buffbot. I am not one of them who choose that, but I am still concerned about their game excerience. After all, I want this game to continue, and to do that, it needs a solid mass of active players all across.
Fourth : Buffbots, when used, renders almost the entire baseline/specline of enhancement/augmentation/nurture for Clerics/Shamans/Druids. This is suppose to be one of the three lines defining those classes. This is also true for the self-buffing classes, such as Friars, Thanes, Champions etc..
Finally, buffbots also make stealthers/soloers more attractive to play. Get an infil/nightshade/sb, get a lvl 50 buffbot - you got a killer on your hands. Buffbots has a lot of impact on stealthers. They normally dont group with buffing classes, so normally wouldn't have buffs if it weren't for buffbots. I play a Paladin mostly and I would for a fact seek more groups if I couldnt walk around twice as strong buffed from my 50 enhance moarcane 3 buffbot.
So, to sum it up...and I'm sure I've forgotten a point or two...buffbots:
1) Has a negative impact on game atmosphere
2) Creates a lot of extra hazzle for users
3) Makes it harder to balance the game
4) Makes active buff/self-buff classes less attractive
5) Encourages soloing/stealth classes
If you agree that those are issues, the natural question arises - Why do people use buffbots? Well, I guess it's because they make such a impact on how your character / groups perform in RvR. My main is RR8 - and I can say that spending the time levelling a buffbot was an extremely good investement to earn realm points easier . I'm sure for the people that already got a buffbot like me, they may have second thoughts about losing their "edge". But atleast on my server it's not so much an edge anymore as it is something you must force yourself to use to have a chance to compete.
Of course, buffbots also help in PvE. And nerfing buffbots somehow would make PvE harder...and most people would agree that PvE is enough tedious as it is. If that is seen as a problem, I think it is possible to easy PvE a bit to compensate. Or atleast, I see that as a problem one can easily overcome.
How to fix buffbots? Well, the simple solution is to do a similar change as was done to the shaman end-regen buff. Make buffs "sleeping" once you go outside a certain range. This range can be topic for discussion later.
And that's it ... that's the end of my post about buffs in game, how they affect the game, and how they can be fixed in game. Still, I know I've left out a major side of the story. And that's the fact that buffbots make a lot of customer pay twice for paying DaoC. Mythic makes a lot of money from that, Goa makes a lot of money from that. Atleast for the moment. However, buffbots have a negative impact on my game experience. My game experience will be a major factor in how long I will play this game.
Speaking for myself, I can also say that if Mythic felt they would go bankrupt from losing the extra income from buffbot accounts or not break enough profit, I would be happy to pay more for my main account and get a good game experience and not needing 2 accounts to compete in/enjoy RvR.
Excuse me if I express myself in poor English as it isnt my mother tongue.
This is the end of my post, please keep comments constructive
- PLEASE REMOVE BUFFBOTS FROM THE GAME, THEY HAMPER MY AND MANY OTHER'S DAOC EXPERIENCE (and yes I got a 50enhance moarcane3 buffbot myself) -
Clicky:
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=61912055
Can also read it below, but you might wanna reply on VNboards...
http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=61912055&replies=0
Hello all.
I write to create a post explaining my feelings about buffbots and how they affect my gaming experience. My wish is to see if there is anyone agree'ing to me and maybe if we can hope that we will see these issues removed from the game.
Also, I can add at the beginning that I myself have a buffbot and have had it for a pretty long time. So don't regard this as a whine for someone who's pissed over losing because I dont have a buffbot. I am only concerned for the overall experience.
A buffbot is normally a Cleric (alb), Druid (hib) or Shaman (mid). They are all classes that are suppose to be played actively, but when used as buffbots, they are only used to cast the buffs on players, then to be parked afk somewhere out of harm of enemies (hopefully).
For the people using buffbots, they will give a great boost to the persons performance in RvR. So what's the problem? Can't all people just use buffbots, and the ones not using stop whine or make one if they need it? Maybe, but every day I see more and more problems from buffbots, and they are starting to severely hamper game experience.
One of the first problem with buffbots is that they ruin the game atmosphere. You have to use two computers or alt-tab between clients...this isn't how playing a computer game should be. And I always get strange questions from people why I need 2 computers to play a game...oh well
Another problem is that they create a lot of hassle for the users. The impact from buffbots is so great that if you are RvR'ing with a buffbot, you want it with you wherever you go. This makes transferring zones (i.e. going Emain to Darkness Falls, or to Odins) a lot harder, having to get two characters across. Also a lot of comps get unstable with 2 DaoC clients running. Thus there is increased chance of going link dead - and going link dead with a bot means you have to go back to the bot to buff. Making an RvR grp is already a lot of hassle for many, so this just adds more than necessary in my opinion.
I know some of you at this point may think "then just drop the bot". But if you want to compete in RvR rather than bang the wall over the buffed Infiltrator killing you like a graycon, I've experienced that it is simply not an option. Maybe I exaggurate these problems in my post, maybe I don't. I _think_ most can agree they are considerable problems, but people are still using buffbot because as long as they are available, the gain from them is simply to big to ignore.
The third problem I would like to mention is that they are creating additional difficulties to balance the game. People are upset because Cleric has the spec AF buff and heal proc. They are of course much greater problems from a buffbot than from a grouped cleric, partly because active Cleric's will not perform well with enhance almost at 50 and also because when you only use active cleric's you are further limited by the concentration pool. So what's wrong the the AF buff and heal proc? In my opinion nothing....I see it as an extra candy given to Cleric's enhance line because their counterparts gets better baseline / specline abilities in their "tertiary" line (i.e. druid nature with root/ae root, shaman with AE disease, instadisease...or healers if you like...with baseline curemez, mez+). I'm not into discussing balance here, that's another discussion...I know BOF is nice
People get upset about infiltrators because they are buffed with spec AF and nightshades because they got spec haste from buffbots...but can you really take buffbots into account for game balance..? Then you are further imbalancing the game for those who choose to play without a buffbot. I am not one of them who choose that, but I am still concerned about their game excerience. After all, I want this game to continue, and to do that, it needs a solid mass of active players all across.
Fourth : Buffbots, when used, renders almost the entire baseline/specline of enhancement/augmentation/nurture for Clerics/Shamans/Druids. This is suppose to be one of the three lines defining those classes. This is also true for the self-buffing classes, such as Friars, Thanes, Champions etc..
Finally, buffbots also make stealthers/soloers more attractive to play. Get an infil/nightshade/sb, get a lvl 50 buffbot - you got a killer on your hands. Buffbots has a lot of impact on stealthers. They normally dont group with buffing classes, so normally wouldn't have buffs if it weren't for buffbots. I play a Paladin mostly and I would for a fact seek more groups if I couldnt walk around twice as strong buffed from my 50 enhance moarcane 3 buffbot.
So, to sum it up...and I'm sure I've forgotten a point or two...buffbots:
1) Has a negative impact on game atmosphere
2) Creates a lot of extra hazzle for users
3) Makes it harder to balance the game
4) Makes active buff/self-buff classes less attractive
5) Encourages soloing/stealth classes
If you agree that those are issues, the natural question arises - Why do people use buffbots? Well, I guess it's because they make such a impact on how your character / groups perform in RvR. My main is RR8 - and I can say that spending the time levelling a buffbot was an extremely good investement to earn realm points easier . I'm sure for the people that already got a buffbot like me, they may have second thoughts about losing their "edge". But atleast on my server it's not so much an edge anymore as it is something you must force yourself to use to have a chance to compete.
Of course, buffbots also help in PvE. And nerfing buffbots somehow would make PvE harder...and most people would agree that PvE is enough tedious as it is. If that is seen as a problem, I think it is possible to easy PvE a bit to compensate. Or atleast, I see that as a problem one can easily overcome.
How to fix buffbots? Well, the simple solution is to do a similar change as was done to the shaman end-regen buff. Make buffs "sleeping" once you go outside a certain range. This range can be topic for discussion later.
And that's it ... that's the end of my post about buffs in game, how they affect the game, and how they can be fixed in game. Still, I know I've left out a major side of the story. And that's the fact that buffbots make a lot of customer pay twice for paying DaoC. Mythic makes a lot of money from that, Goa makes a lot of money from that. Atleast for the moment. However, buffbots have a negative impact on my game experience. My game experience will be a major factor in how long I will play this game.
Speaking for myself, I can also say that if Mythic felt they would go bankrupt from losing the extra income from buffbot accounts or not break enough profit, I would be happy to pay more for my main account and get a good game experience and not needing 2 accounts to compete in/enjoy RvR.
Excuse me if I express myself in poor English as it isnt my mother tongue.
This is the end of my post, please keep comments constructive
- PLEASE REMOVE BUFFBOTS FROM THE GAME, THEY HAMPER MY AND MANY OTHER'S DAOC EXPERIENCE (and yes I got a 50enhance moarcane3 buffbot myself) -
