No more power levelers!

[KingFu]

I have a confirmed source saying that in a future update, there will be a requirement to play in different campaigns, meaning, you have to be level 10 (example) to play in dark forest, level 45 (example) to play in ao3, etc.

[Demonicdevyn]

i better power lvl to 50 then :O

[regie831]

you seem happy about this aren't you ? :D

[Azrael]

This is a good thing, but a risk for the company. STS is probably timing this with the release of the android release so that those players will HAVE to buy every map pack, where as iphone users were not required to. This is safer to do to a new community that hasnt grown accustomed to the old system, and will also ensure that when this change takes place, there will be plenty of new players to fill up those low level game rooms. And of course STS gets more money, even if they sell some of the map packs at a discount.

[Arterra]

this works out well. now to hunt out the remaining mynas gen and stuff them full of forum guides...

[KingFu]

Haha, yes Alterra, very true.

I for one am happy about this news, it will make the game more interesting!

[shadywack]

I like it but I don't.
When I'm playing in AO2/3 and a level 15 shows up, I just think "ok this is retarded". However, I like being able to go back to past dungeons to power level other people. Namely my wife and close friends enjoy this gameplay mechanic. I'm hoping the implementation is something along the lines of being at least a certain level to enter a dungeon, rather than restricting that dungeon ONLY to a certain level range.

imho that would suck as I've bought all this content and would have to keep deleting/recreating characters to get back into it.

Let's see how this plays out. It could be fantastic!

[smoae]

Mmm I don't see too many power levelers anymore, but this will still be nice.

[Arterra]

I like it but I don't.
When I'm playing in AO2/3 and a level 15 shows up, I just think "ok this is retarded". However, I like being able to go back to past dungeons to power level other people. Namely my wife and close friends enjoy this gameplay mechanic. I'm hoping the implementation is something along the lines of being at least a certain level to enter a dungeon, rather than restricting that dungeon ONLY to a certain level range.

imho that would suck as I've bought all this content and would have to keep deleting/recreating characters to get back into it.

Let's see how this plays out. It could be fantastic!

I wouldn't think there would be a max level admittance... nobody suggests that.
I dont powerlevel up my secondary chars even. maybe thats why i got like 3 lv30's and one 49... :/ but still it makes it quite a bit more fun.

[Rextab]

if they do it where low levels cant enter into higher dungeons, i am all for that. but i don't think they should restrict higher levels from going back to earlier content to help people.
to me it does much more harm to a group to go into higher level dungeons with lower levels taking up a spot and being absolutely useless.
i mean seriously i see people 10, 20, sometimes 30 levels lower than the content. really?
padding should be one to three levels of the content in question... at the most.

[pooop]

they wont deny you access to content you purchased with real money. you cant tell me i bought these map packs and now my lvl 50's cannot play them.
however i could see this being implemented from lvl 0 going up.

edit: well, technically, they could tell me that.

[Snakespeare]

It's that misnomer again. Power levelling can happen in any dungeon. If you are level 21 in Fathom, you have red threat bubbles, and if you take a power levelling potion you get 4 xp per kill. That is totally legit. I support that.

The problem is LEECHING. That is, taking an underpowered character into a campaign where they can have NO effect whatsoever, and leeching the xp.

Conflating these two terms does not help. It gives power levelling a bad name, and it tucks leeching under the umbrella of power levelling. Then, any time someone comes to the defense of power levelling, they inadvertently endorse leeching.

Yes, a power levelling potion is often used by a leech to maximize their theft, but that does not make the leech into a power leveller.

Cool?

[Fyrce]

Hmm... Is it leeching if your level 28 mage gets invited to Ao2:1, finishes it, including killing Nizara, goes to Ao2:2 and Ao2:3 and clears both with her fellow level 41 mage, kiting both Djinns and Zankura and Sobek? Thought we'd die to Sobek for sure, but dex and str mages rock. (There were fellow members for various parts of this but no high levels like everyone expects. And she was only there because a friend invited her.)

Is that what leeching means? So there's a plan for her to not go there because someone has determined she's ineffective? Considering she was soloing Sobek for quite a bit of time...? This discussion is very interesting to me. Oh, and no pots except hp and mana.

On the other hand, the level 50s and 47s letting my level 28 mage tank for them while they sit around waiting to advance to the next campaign level DO belong...? Very interesting indeed.

[giayuan]

does this mean no more quests??

[CanonicalKoi]

Fyrce, what I see as "leeching" is, say, a level 3 char showing up in AO1, standing as far to the rear as he can and doing absolutely nothing. It's like going into Balefort Castle and finding people standing in the entrance--they did just enough in the first room to start getting XP and then spend the rest of their time standing there collecting points (and loot), but doing nothing for the group other than taking up a slot that could go to someone that actually helps. In your example, it was a player who had enough skills and good enough weapons to make a difference.

In my AO1 example, even if he'd tried to help, there's little he can do. His weapons and skills are so weak that he can't
overcome the armor buffs of the baddies. I would have felt more kindly towards him if he'd at least *tried*. He didn't, but he surely did scream, "Rez me!" loudly and often.

[Fyrce]

LOL, Canon. Yeah, I've seen these, though thank goodness, not lots of them, because they really annoy me also. Both the high level do-nothingers and the low level ones. I hate them on both ends. I'm an equal opportunity hater.

[icantgetkills]

This could be bad higher levels can't farm lower level items... Fail...

[CanonicalKoi]

LOL, Canon. Yeah, I've seen these, though thank goodness, not lots of them, because they really annoy me also. Both the high level do-nothingers and the low level ones. I hate them on both ends. I'm an equal opportunity hater.

Oh, yeah, let us not forget high-level leeches; we wouldn't want them to feel left out. ;) The ones who join a low-level group hoping for a salable pink to drop their way, but don't do anything to help. They seem to have no problem with pressuring a lower-level into giving them an item if the LL gets a good drop. You really have to love, "I'll be your friend if you give me that"--who'd want a "friend" like that?!? Or the ones who feel the mobs are "beneath" them and not worth their valuable time, so they trail to the rear only coming forward if it's a boss or a mini-boss that might drop something tasty. Grrrrrr.....

[Snakespeare]

Hmm... Is it leeching if your level 28 mage gets invited to Ao2:1, finishes it, including killing Nizara, goes to Ao2:2 and Ao2:3 and clears both with her fellow level 41 mage, kiting both Djinns and Zankura and Sobek? Thought we'd die to Sobek for sure, but dex and str mages rock. (There were fellow members for various parts of this but no high levels like everyone expects. And she was only there because a friend invited her.)

Is that what leeching means? So there's a plan for her to not go there because someone has determined she's ineffective? Considering she was soloing Sobek for quite a bit of time...? This discussion is very interesting to me. Oh, and no pots except hp and mana.

On the other hand, the level 50s and 47s letting my level 28 mage tank for them while they sit around waiting to advance to the next campaign level DO belong...? Very interesting indeed.

Why do I sense hostility?

I sought to separate the concept of power levelling from the concept of leeching. Leechers claim to be power levelling, but they are not. If they can not cause damage, they are leeching. They take power levelling elixirs to double the XP they leech, but that does not make them power levellers.

I wanted to make this distinction because there is nothing wrong with power levelling, if you do it in the levels designed for the level of your character.

Leeching and Power Levelling are totally different things. Anyone who takes a levelling elixir while combatting opponents with a red threat level is power levelling. This could be a level 28 in Swamps or a level 45 in AO3. But a leech is, by my definition, "someone who gains xp or items they did not earn".

Now, if you go into an easy level with a lowbie and are able to be effective, fine. If you are not using elixirs, you are not power levelling. If you are gaining items and XP by your own effort, you are not a leech.

So why the hostility? Doesn't it seem to you that we would be better served by using these two terms to mean two different things?

[CanonicalKoi]

I agree, Snake; they really are two different things. Power-leveling is using XP pots and (usually) a higher-level friend to get through a tricky, but not impossible area. And the person leveling is usually trying to hold up their end. A leech uses others to get XP and loot while expending little or no effort. I have no problems power-leveling someone who already knows how to play, but just wants to level a secondary char like a twink quickly, but leeches of any level get my goat.

[setec]

I have a confirmed source saying that in a future update, there will be a requirement to play in different campaigns, meaning, you have to be level 10 (example) to play in dark forest, level 45 (example) to play in ao3, etc.

This is contrary to everything the Devs have said in the past. Not that they can't change their mind, but they have been saying they would not do this because people who purchase content should be able to play in any of that paid content regardless of level.

[Inching]

This is contrary to everything the Devs have said in the past. Not that they can't change their mind, but they have been saying they would not do this because people who purchase content should be able to play in any of that paid content regardless of level.

in theory i agree this should be the case but if you compare the online MMOs this is not the case.... ie WOW, Asheron's Call, etc

in my opinion there should be a level cap and this might even work in STS' favor as there is now an actual goal to obtain which is to get to a certain level and enter the map and not mindless killing to just reach the level cap and in the process of getting there, piss everyone off because of leachers... (yes really long sentence).

[setec]

in theory i agree this should be the case but if you compare the online MMOs this is not the case.... ie WOW, Asheron's Call, etc

in my opinion there should be a level cap and this might even work in STS' favor as there is now an actual goal to obtain which is to get to a certain level and enter the map and not mindless killing to just reach the level cap and in the process of getting there, piss everyone off because of leachers... (yes really long sentence).

Actually in WoW, with exception to dungeons, I can take a level 1 character into most high level areas meant for 70-80 levels as long as I can find a way to get there. Sure, it's not the best idea but it is possible.

I'm not saying this is a bad idea, I'm just saying the Devs have been against it.

I think that you should have to be at least a certain level to join certain maps. I don't think it should go backwards though. A level 50 should be able to join Forest Haven games.

[Protank]

Ya i hope this is not going to happen. A ez fix is would be how a old game called EQ did it. In grp u must be within 10 levels of the highest lvl guy in grp or u dont get xp. I find it really hard to believe they wont let my high lvl go farm a map i want a item on. That would be wrong imo and if they didnt want any power lvl'n why do they sell xp and super xp pots.? Just fix the in grp xp. Dont take all the maps i paid rl $ for away from me just cuz im capped plz!

[Rextab]

i like the idea of letting the group leader determine the min/max level he will allow in their hosted game. that would fix alot of issues i think.
as far as comparing WoW's way of doing things to PL's isn't a totally fair comparison. WoW has a "world" and it has "instances". The setup for PL is basically you have a town and you have instanced content. Just taking WoW for example when running dungeons (until you grossly overpower them) would you want to take 4 people that are the appropriate level and then one person that is grossly underpowered and completely useless to leech XP and loot? no i didn't think so.
that is sort of the problem here. There is no real solo game in PL. it is pretty much all group based and dragging someone along that can't even damage enemies or provide any sufficient value to the group is a serious issue.

[RedRyder]

FYI: if you were really here from the beggining, youd know that thisnwas done before. Dont you remember the level requirements for buying dungeons? Had to be level 13 to purchase dark forest etc. That worked fine.
Another thing that would work, and something that would put PL on a super high plateo is making an open world environment with monsters youd have to get through to get to higher level areas. If not the appropriate level to kill em, u cant pass.

[dirtball]

I got booted from Skellar Crunch yesterday b/c a lvl 50 brought a lvl 1, yes a lvl 1 into the game, and maybe didn't want me to get some of the gold or loot. Idiots! No wonder there are so few lvl 50's that can play without the very best weapons. Few people learn to play their characters anymore, they just get to 50, get the best gear, tank through AO3 and die while getting the rest of the party killed. Skillful playing is dying b/c of power leveling.

[KingFu]

I got booted from Skellar Crunch yesterday b/c a lvl 50 brought a lvl 1, yes a lvl 1 into the game, and maybe didn't want me to get some of the gold or loot. Idiots! No wonder there are so few lvl 50's that can play without the very best weapons. Few people learn to play their characters anymore, they just get to 50, get the best gear, tank through AO3 and die while getting the rest of the party killed. Skillful playing is dying b/c of power leveling.

Well, most of the damage is done. I see so many dang mynas gen noobs that just annoy me, they cant pvp, they think they're the best, they cant play, and are just over all annoying and obnoxious. Starting with Acidstorm...