"Parking" - What it is, why its done, and is it okay - Devs Please help Clarify.

"Parking" -

What it is:

This is a way of running a map that people have been adopting more and more. It consists of a tank or some party member aggroing mobs(generally a lot), running into a corner and dieing intentionally. They then choose to re-spawn at the beginning of the map. The mobs "stick" to the location the aforementioned person ran to and died, thus clearing the way for the entire party to pass.

Why its done:

This is done for several reasons. The most prevalent being to make the map "easier". Other reasons include attempting to finish a map faster, and just plain laziness. Most of the time parties that do this are "farming" maps for loot, and are seeking easier and faster ways to finish the map.

Is it okay:

In a word. (To me)No. This is a clear-cut example of exploiting game mechanics in a fashion not intended by the developers. Not to put words in their mouth, but I HIGHLY doubt when they were working on PVE content, they sat down and decided to make this possible so people could use it to "Park" mobs. Its very very likely a bug in itself, as in many situations the mobs would simply reset, but when grouped into a corner with a large group they ..don't. Now whether or not it is "against the rules or terms of service" ... I don't know. And would love to hear from the developers on it. It tends to bother many folks, including myself, that wish to play the game as intended, and run through the maps pulling and killing any necessary groups, and developing new strategies. However one chooses to "run a map" choosing to "park" large groups of mobs to avoid killing them is not playing the game as intended.

TO DEVELOPERS:

I am sure you guys are aware of this bug, as its been in-game as long as I've been playing. It's just recently became the "new way" to quickly and easily clear elite maps, though. My question is, especially considering the recent increase in the bugs abuse, do you guys intend to fix/change it? Many are curious. Please reply. Thank you.

DISCLAIMER: Some of this post is opinion and some is fact, have enough sense to differentiate between the two, please, and thank you.

i don't see a problem with it because without doing it it would take 45 min to do a run. imo that's way too long. I also think these elites are designed to sell plat revs (based on the the one hit kills and red zone glitches). In any case, if this is addressed before pet spamming then i'm going to rage.

well what do u want the game to be then. simple just tapping buttons and going forward. i mean if that happen there wud be no strategy or anything just keep tapping ur spacebar or weapon button in ur phone and keep playing. thats not a game i wud want to play.the thing which u dont like can be seen as strategy which is devised by players to make runs easier. its fun when u make some stratigies to make things easier. u think u use ur brain. and simply its more fun.

a example: just think wud u like to play a racing game in which u just press the forward key in ur keyboard and the bike just go without any turns or challenges. simple answer is no that wudnt be fun and instead thats not something playable. u like it when there are challenges and u use ur mind to devise a technique which wud overcome that challenge. thats fun

similarly here if this is a technique to make runs easier whats the problem in it. i like this game this way and i dont feel that this thing is really ruining somebodys fun.

yes i may say that i am not saying this coz i do runs like this and it wud be hard fr me then. i am not an avid elite runner. but yes some1 told me this trick before and i liked it. :)

EDIT: and this trick also requires u to kill mobs fr boss to spawn u can just kill small mobs with this or use it to run to boss when u have killed enough mobs

So you mean running straight to boss and skip all other mobs after the last pull is "playing as intended"? Bro parking is a strategy that lets you die less often after last pull, rather than run into a group of mobs like rambo and cant make it to boss because too many mobs. I dont see this as a "bug" or exploit or w/e you call it.

These park things dont make the runs faster, just less dangerous. I think its something similar to when people run boss after x mob killed and ignore the rest, its fine.

IF its working as intended, so be it. Id like to know firstly if it is before I comment further. I'm of fair certainty(based on a lot of mmorpg experience) it is in fact a bug.

this is call smart thinking and strategy don't think there are any issue with it.. you dont' kill all mobs in Nordr maps too when you do a run same thing parking is just another method

We were running elites last night and we would finish the run in about 13 mins (the map w the spider) and about 11 mins for the troll map. We didn't park mobs on the troll map. I find the mob parking strategy a nice way to avoid wasting so much plat on revives. I don't really see it as a technique for speed but rather a way to avoid deaths.

Parking - About moving mobs out of the way, geographically, for ease of access - the moment u don't need to hold the mob's attention while it's within its "pull" zone, so your party can pass or whatever, I'd say it's a bug. Or if it goes out of its pull zone and doesn't reset, that's a bug too. For me it would be a bigger issue if the server considers any number of those parked mobs as having died, therefore registering an artificial kill count and leading to a faster boss spawn.

I was brought along for a merry tour of 1 Tindirin map, saw the whole demonstration - we barely killed any it was more waiting around twiddling thumbs. Seems sus. Proooobably worth investigating...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sceazikua

So you mean running straight to boss and skip all other mobs after the last pull is "playing as intended"? Bro parking is a strategy that lets you die less often after last pull, rather than run into a group of mobs like rambo and cant make it to boss because too many mobs. I dont see this as a "bug" or exploit or w/e you call it.

---

Pretty much this.

Bosses still require a kill count before they spawn. All parking does is let you proceed in a safer manner. If skipping mobs was not allowed, we would clear entire maps before facing the boss. And who actually does that? :p

The only other use I've seen for parking is to separate groups from high priority targets. Hardly game breaking IMO.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Origin

For me parking would be an issue if the server registers any number of those parked mobs as having died, therefore registering an artificial kill count and leading to a faster boss spawn. And not just being moved out of the way, geographically, for ease of access.

I was brought along for a merry tour of 1 Tindirin map, so I saw the whole demonstration - we barely killed any it was more waiting around twiddling thumbs. Proooobably worth investigating...

---

A few times I've been in a group with parked mobs we have had to go back and kill more bc the boss hadn't spawned. I believe that the kill count doesn't falsely register.

Its a double edged sword for me.

1. If I am in your game and you are running with a pro party and you are parking, I will probably laugh at you.

2. I have been in instances of elite maps with either pugs, with under geared people that are not experienced in elite, or people that do not use plat revives. These runs can go upwards of 40 minutes. Parking is good for these kinds of games where its just really not that possible or realistic to do it otherwise. I prefer to just kill everything up to the boss personally, but I will also run once the appropriate number are killed if others are going to (usually the case). But this isn't feasible for people that can't plat revive. In some maps, its near impossible to get back to the boss by yourself. And chances are... you are going to die.

Personally, my opinion is that if it helps the non-plat players be more successful in farming, I'm totally fine with that.

The fastest runs will never involve parking. Parking is the difference between a 40+ minute run in Caves for an average group (not to mention endless frustration), versus a 25 minute run. The 7-10 minute runs in Caves will only be a pipe dream for teams that park.

Probably the biggest reason why I don't see an issue with it is because it does not have much impact on the economy. Basically, a parking strategy means you may be able to get a single drop out of the Caves while on reroll - no harm, no foul there. If this was the difference between one drop versus five per reroll, then I would have an issue.

Honestly, I take far more offense to Sam spamming than I do to parking.

It's an interesting topic. I honestly also always saw this parking thing as an exploit. I mean, you hardly have to kill anything and just stand around all the time, waiting for the hard mobs to be parked so the 'team' needs to only kill the easy ones.

After reading the comments, I think it's interesting to hear the 'run to boss during last stretch' technique is considered the be the same as parking.

I never saw it that way but I have to admit there's definitely a point there.

The reason I didn't see running as an exploit is that it requires a lot of effort to clear the necessary amount of mobs. Key point being that it needs the full cooperation of your team. You basically have your kill spots, where everyone works in synergy to kill every type of mob as effectively as possible. To me, that's always how I saw PvE.. A co-op multiplayer game where everyone tries and dies just as hard.

If you'd compare this with the parking technique, again the way I see it, your team just stands around while one of them takes the fall so everyone can skip the hard mobs altogether. The only thing you do is stand around and wait for your tank to die, with no group effort whatsoever. The ironic thing to me is that people mostly do this to preserve their k/d ratio... But what about the tank that has to die? His/her k/d doesn't matter? Expecting someone to die, just so you won't have to, feels like a twisted kind of game. It might just be me, but that just doesn't sound like how a team should function. So yeah, it doesn't feel like a co-op game at all anymore when one does most of the work.

To make matters worse, I've already seen groups demanding their tank to park'n'die or find another party to run with. Should that really all just be left alone and seen as being ok?

So yeah, those are the reasons why I always had a feeling of parking being an exploit and running not so much. That said, I'd be fine if both parking and running to boss would get 'fixed', although parking seems to kill teamwork endlessly more as compared to running to a boss during the last stretch.

Parking is a cool tactic... Its just like running to the boss at last but requires more skill!!

My frnd ben is pro at this!

#parkingftw!

I'd still like to see the mobs requiring at least 1 person to hold attention within their pull zone. Once out of zone they ought to reset. Whatever timeframe in between them being pulled to them being reset gives the party a nice window, anyway.

tbh I don't know how 'parkers' do it. Just that 1 run and I nearly died of boredom - the run felt longer. It's kinda disempowering too since once u get used to "super-easy", suddenly everything else that requires a bit of skill/effort looks so much harder, more out of reach, people are gonna tell themselves that it's too much work, or even that it's unattainable.

U know what, I know what those sorts need. They need to play Commander Keen 3 yeah baby. After a few hours of a̶b̶u̶s̶e̶ fun, AL will be as easy as picking ur nose.

Attachment 85587Attachment 85585

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JaytB

To make matters worse, I've already seen groups demanding their tank to park'n'die or find another party to run with. Should that really all just be left alone and seen as being ok?

---

I never expect my tanks to die for me. More often than not, since I know the optimal parking spots, I usually take the fall. I kind of like the challenge of parking as a rogue. There is an art to parking for non-tanks.

Plus, it's not all that different than making the long run in Oltgar or Jagged Trail. The problem being that once you commit to the run, if someone cannot make it and does not have plat, either the run is ruined as someone has to go back and escort, or the player that dies simply cannot get back to the boss. It's just a twist on the team dynamics we use when making the run - something to accommodate our non-plat runners.

I do take issue with the fact that people just "expect" the tank to die. If you want to use a parking strategy, then you should do it yourself, not just expect your tank to do it for you. All three classes are capable of parking (Rogue being the most difficult since we don't have shields). If you want to share in the loot, you should share in the parks as well.

@jaytb:
-Parking is actually not just "lure hard mobs, kill easy ones" because mobs are the same all the time. You still need to kill enough, similar to running you just kill the first half of the map and run the rest.
-With parking you still need to kill as many mobs, the mobs parked dont count as "dead" so basically parking and running are the same. The difference is that with parking you can run less dangerously and die less often than risking your life being rambo.
-Parking is a strategy. I remember Kalizza said something like "some sacrifice saves whole team from many more deaths later" when he introduced this method. If the tank doesnt want to sacrifice with this parking, its fine, just let the party run dangerously the way people did previously. If the party doesnt want to run but demand the tank to park instead while he doesnt want to, its the party's problem, not parking's.
btw any class can park you know, not just the tank. People think "only tank can park" because they have highest armor and hp, but smurf and rogues can do that too.

edit: just pointing out, kali, rogues have 50% dodge which will work in PvE because in PvE mobs attacks normally not with skills like in PvP so they are kinda equal ;) As a smurf I can tell after that 2 seconds invulnerability I am down in less than a second after parking in cave :p

It's not necessarily an exploit, but it's certainly an interesting method players have come up with to deal with Elites since banishing does not work as effectively in Tindirin. To quote Jurassic Park, "Life finds a way".

In regards to how we feel about it, we're still discussing. My personal opinion is that the only bug is that some of the mobs are not leashing properly, or perhaps have too long of a leash range (reset point for aggro). At the moment there is no immediate reaction that screams exploit over strategy at this juncture, however we will investigate some things related to this and changes may occur.

Thanks for the feedback on this

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Carapace

It's not necessarily an exploit, but it's certainly an interesting method players have come up with to deal with Elites since banishing does not work as effectively in Tindirin. To quote Jurassic Park, "Life finds a way".

In regards to how we feel about it, we're still discussing. My personal opinion is that the only bug is that some of the mobs are not leashing properly, or perhaps have too long of a leash range (reset point for aggro). At the moment there is no immediate reaction that screams exploit over strategy at this juncture, however we will investigate some things related to this and changes may occur.

Thanks for the feedback on this

---

Thanks a lot for your reply.

Can you please clarify. Are all mobs supposed to leash to their respective spawn points upon any characters death that has currently aggo'd said mob, or not?