XP system my honest opinion

[Lord Osadam]

I'm posting this because I think that the current xp system is a bit unfair. I read somewhere that if you kill creatures with higher lvl than our chars that we get an exp bonus, I read that we are given bonuses if we are in a party. Well this doens't seem to be true.

I went to Sestra for the first time since I got back to the server to check out what's new, and I decided to try and kill a few ghosts, after a lot of effort i manage to take down a ghost using all the spells I had and in the end I got 20 Xp, I went to the hills killed a spittlefist defender with no effort at all and got 20 xp using just a couple of spells.

I went to the mossclaw meet with a party and after that to the goblins near there and I was getting like 8 xp per kill, sometimes I didn't get any xp at all. When we're preparing to get back home a large group spawns and I get killed almost instantly and get a 300xp penalty.

Everyone is grinding the hills now over and over again with no xp penalties.

I really liked the curve system it seemed more fair to the players that don't grind constantly and like to rp, now if I miss a day or two I find new players with a challenge rating of impossible.

To me it looks like right now this sistem only benefits those who grind, those that don't like to go kill goblins all the time get screwed.

Those who know my char know also that I like to sit by the fire and rp with everyone, but with the lack of DM's and events I get nothing out of rping the only reward I get from rping now is companionship nothing more. I hope that the quest system changes how things work.

Just my 2 cents

[Saulus]

Moving this to the suggestion forum.

[GodBeastX]

Noted.

However, as I say in other XP posts, I might as well post in here.

1) Some CR's aren't correct on the server so we have yet to fix them. And the ghosts in Sestra are like, CR 5, they aren't high at all. The goblins in Viridale are CR 3 or so, etc etc.

2) Current XP system is lacking the other half of it, the quest system, so it's unfair to judge your gains just off of the exp gained right now.

3) I've verified party experience 25% bonus working and so have many players, were you close enough to the combat to get experience?

4) Higher levels DO give more experience points. If you kill something 4 or 5 levels higher than you in a party, you're likely to get around 100 experience points a kill.

Things I have noticed:

1) People may be running around killing things over and over (Grinding), however, they are doing it in parties, which I am pleased to be seeing.

2) Some things we will be working on is group rewards. We're unhappy, for example, with the spittlefist chief only dropping one item and a party of 5 all deciding who gets it. This will be getting changed very soon and the drops will be specialized on bosses, so you don't do all the work and get +1 fort dagger.

3) Also, we're getting a few more DMs into rotation very soon, and as always, DM events will wreap experience rewards too amongst other fun things.\

4) Dungeons are being redone to cater to play styles. Remember, alot of Sundren was designed before we knew alot about NWN2. For example, port Avanthyr has been completely redone and matches more of the vision of the area. The necropolis is being redone completely (GOD DOES IT LOOK GOOD), we have tons of zones being reworked and rebalanced.

5) We also had to prepare for MotB which is releasing epic levels. In Sundren, you won't be able to kill things and get epic levels. Instead ONLY DM rewards will give epic experience. That way, if you reach level 21+ you know that you've made a difference in many events DMs set in front of you. The new experience system already caters to this, the old one was far from being able to.

6) Also, just so you know, people were grinding before the experience system change, and about the same amount as they are now. You probably didn't notice so much because you probably weren't trying to level at the same time. We often had people decked out in sooooo much gear just because they were grinding to get it. People with 300k coins literally.

I would say don't make an end all judgement on progression as of today. I hadn't planned on changing the experience system until after quest system was done, however, with the wipe being pushed forward due to not making people feel like "What's the point? If I keep playing I'm going to be wiped!" we put in the new experience system at the same time.

Sure, grinding will always be a short way to get ahead of people, but isn't that sort of realistic? That was one of my problems I had in the xp curve. Players who were on all day ended up being heavily punished with no rewards for being online. If they went dungeon crawling they get 5% exp (1 - 3 points) and people who would be on 5% of the time were just as developed. I don't like to punish people who put their heart into the server for play. Hence why the limit is very light now for experience ceiling, so they can progress from putting time in.

Hope that helps!

[Lord Osadam]

Thanks for the reply, I didn't judge the way things are now just from today, its a trend I've been noticing lately. I sure hope that when you do the things you said were being done things will get better, I just had to take this out of my chest.

Thanks for the reply.

[undeadsteak]

I find lvling hard and the system sorta annoying as well, but hopefully quests will balance things out.

[Venture]

i think the xp is a bit light but i'm still willing to play, the lack of gold thats killin me, buyin all these potions gonna have to get a sconde mortgage on my tent in viridale forest.

[Dragoncleric]

This is somewhat why I choose an ECL+3 race. Leveling for me, takes 3x the amount of xp (let alone time and other factors).
So when it happens it's a special moment. I'm only level 4, but it's not bothering me. Actually enjoying the slow pace.
Only drawback I can see is because I'm now gauging my progress vs standard races, and I'll most likely be level 6, when the hardcore (grinders)players are coming into the teens and beyond (meaning little to no grouping xp). But, this experiment has shown me I'd rather be a mid level someone then a high level nobody.
I'm hoping the quests will give Valen a chance to be someone and be able to complete them without the level stigma.

[Lord Osadam]

Yeah gold is short too, I'm saving to buy some cool robes for ages now...

[Mattimo]

My char is level 5, atm im waiting for the Quest System.

Otherwise I'd be grinding like mad to get another level

[undeadsteak]

Im at 4 and i have to grind crazy for lvling to catch up..

[Intrepid42]

I'm actually enjoying the current setup. Low levels, hard to level, real low magic items. I've always thought DnD was more fun and balanced under Lvl 10 anyway...

[Venture]

I dont think at the lower levels its too terrible but I've been thinking about being a level 10 or higher and needing 10k xp and only getting 20 xp a kill. that might be kinda nuts.

[Mattachine]

The xp system turns the third edition straight line curve and stretches into something more like the 1st edition curve.

This means few high level NPCs, which I think is the intent, right?

I've played on servers that use fairly standard xp awards, and they quickly become topheavy with high level PCs.

[Raksha]

Remember, there are going to be a lot of higher-level baddies that aren't in right now... but yes, a CR18 creature to a 19th-level character is not going to be worth much and is probably going to be a nasty, nasty risk. That's as it should be.

[undeadsteak]

Aye, but some of us have to grind some times. Otherwise earning XP seems hard and so does catching up to those who are on all the time.