Shattered Kingdoms

Hello, me again. Just got through playing a late night session of SK, and I gotta say I'm rather frustrated. I was exploring an area I was new to and I managed to die 3 times. Once inside, and twice trying to get back inside. Now due to my schedule when I play, there are normally no priests on and I am constantly forced to death quest. Because I am forced to death quest I am being robbed of XP that literally took me hours to gain. This to me is non-conducive to exploring. You want me people to get out and explore right? Then why are they being punished for dieing, which is a part of exploring? I feel horribly empty and hollow inside, like I just wasted a crap ton of my life. I had fun exploring, but as soon as I started dieing AND losing 3 ticks a rez I started getting really depressed. As if dieing isn't enough in this game, you gotta rob xp too? I never finished exploring, losing 9 ticks of xp at master level was enough for me to call it quits for the night.

Anyways, thats why I feel compelled to write this post. I want to ask, what are some of your ideas for alternative penalties to death questing? Also, what are your opinions on the xp loss?

One idea I had while floating around in the river was just cut back the xp loss dramatically. Perhaps take away about the same xp as an average quest in SK gives? I don't think around a tick for a death quest would be ridiculous to ask, I just think 3 is way to much and its really bad for people who play when priests aren't around. Anyways post your ideas, if you disagree keep it constructive. Thanks

I'm really getting tired of reading these "QQ i died" posts.




D, why don't you just make death permanent and shut everyone the hell up?

I actually sorta kinda agree with this one though. It's not like buddy's just trying to get ahead or some such thing. He's legitimately saying that he kinda gets screwed every time he dies.

The problem is, though, that without heavy penalties for repeated DQing, people will just use it without thought or even an attempt to contact a priest/shaman/warlock.

Terrus, I don't see DQ costs going down. Believe me when I say I can empathize with how much they sting. I had a character whose only route back to life was frequently a DQ. But for the above mentioned reason and others as well, the costs really should be as hefty as they are. My suggestion to you is to explore more carefully, and assume that every step you take will potentially be your last. Put your pet in front of you, carrry vials of heal and recall, and try to remember that sometimes places you just can't explore without a group backing you up.

No, I don't really agree that losing nine ticks at master is fair, nor do I think it's right when you're given a choice between that and sitting in the river as a ghost. I also don't think that this will change.

Try to look on the bright side? The difference between floating in the river spamming who while looking for a priest and grinding a level plus worth of NPCs is that the NPCs require you to spam other commands as well as who?

I don't have an opinion on the penalties from death quest.

However, instead of locking out player characters for good who have failed the death quest(s), there should be some kind of count down timer to allow them to have another shot later.

The only player characters who fail the quests are most likely legitimate players who did not obtain answers elsewhere.

A change in that direction would allow solo, players who play different time zones, and 'dark times' where the priest class isn't a popular one more inclined to play this already very behind game.

2c.

I'm in agreement with this.

His choice was . . . um . . . NOT going back to the same place twice with SD/double SD and without EQ/help/pet/vials/etc. and wondering why the hell he couldn't survive when he died the first time.

That would only cause 3 ticks. . . .

Here's an idea. When you die, a timer starts if there is no priests of your aura online (not invisible, hidden). Then after 'x' time (30mins to at max 1hr), you are allowed to do the deathquest without any xp hit.

I think that might be impossible to code, and I'd be totally against it working when there were ANY priests online.

I'm actually can sympathize with this quite a bit. Not everyone plays a peak hours, and SK already has a dwindling player base as is. Couple that with the fact that priests are among the least played class, and getting back to life can be VERY difficult indeed. There are many times when I'm online and I'll be one of four or five people on a who list, I can even count a few times when it's been less.

Should I simply sit around all that time doing nothing? Just because if I die there's nobody to revive me? Much of this game is exploratory in nature, I don't see why people should constantly be penalized for exploring new areas simply because they don't hold peak hours.

I like the suggestion of death questing being EXP free 30 minutes from the time you entered the river. Means you've wasted a fair amount of your time still doing nothing, and if you want the instant rezz you still have to lose your exp. I also think it should ALWAYS work like that, whether there are priests on or not. Because getting a rezz immediately from a priest will still always be the preferrable option, as opposed to idling in the river for 30 minutes, then trying a death quest.

I also think that if you fail a death quest, you should be locked out for 30 minutes, then sent back to the river, where you can try again. It seems rather lame that people should be penalized for getting out and playing the game though, death is a part of the game, it happens, even to the best of us, there's no reason why it should be crippling.

I like these ideas, and I agree that the alternative should be worse than a priest, because priests should be the first option for getting to life. <3 priests

and I can definately tell your pregnant Sonja lol no compassion!