There is hope yet....

[Moogerfooger]

So today I was bored and hopped on my mage to do some of the Alien Town quests, and one of them I ended up in one of the AO2 levels, Vicious Visitors I think. I started off solo, but shortly after I started a 45 mage popped in and then a 36 bear. Both asked me if they could join...it was a public/"go to from a quest" game, but I just said "sure"

Anway, I figured I would do most of the work and that they would hang back out of harm's way, with a 55 being there. Heck no! That little 36 bear and his Iceberg Hatchet of Bada$$bearness charged right in and lo and behold, was taunting, beckoning into walls, then stomping back into the walls as best as he could (I even thought to myself, "Someone's been reading Elly's guide", haha). The mage was right there next to me bombing off Hot Flashes, healing left and right.

Then two 40-ish archers show up....and lay right in with Cruel Blasts, throwing thorns left and right.

We mowed right through that level, and not one of them died, not one yelling "heal!!!", all potting themselves to stay alive during heal cooldowns, no hanging back. They were all better than a lot of higher level players I have seen, and I swear that bear had no fear. Not one death. Bosses taken down quick.

I got a Dark Matter Staff from one of the bosses, I gave it to the 45 mage who said "OMG thank you!!!!" I told them all "awesome run with you guys, you are better than a lot of higher players", and each of them said that they had been reading the forums and were trying out new things and builds and skills, that they each read it and were too scared to post and get flamed.

I said "Come on in and introduce yourself! Just search for something before posting, and everyone is pretty helpful there!", and they all said they would.

Regardless, it was pretty cool to see some 30s and 40s a) playing really well and b) to hear that they were checking out the forums to try and get better

I think a lot of us with 50+ characters forget about the 30s and 40s or unconsciously write them off as "noobs" who are out there and really do try, and it was definitely in-game cool to see it in action. Most of us were all 30s and 40s at one time ourselves, and I think sometimes we forget that...I know I do.

Just a little something that brightened my day a bit.

[Magicalbanana]

somehow put a smile on my sad face

[giayuan]

:O there always a few! maybe even more than a few! the world is big.. yes very big...

[Junside]

Nice! I probably scared a few a couple of months ago lol But it's really awesome that these players know exactly what to do and look, they get praised for it, so why not show up?

[KingFu]

That's awesome man! Always awesome to see players doing well at low/mid levels! Glad to hear it!

[Prest87]

This is great to hear!
Cheers to them!

[Vallist]

Yep

IFYOUAREREADINGTHISYOUAREBEAUTIFUL ^^

[Gluttony]

Share the names, cause I'm getting tired of the powerleveled "Plz let me stay" leeches out there! Sometimes I just stand there and see what they do (they usually leave or call me a noob for not protecting them). I'm not leet at this game, by any stretch of the word, but I'm willing to stand toe-to-toe with any boss/mob and do my fair share. I've mostly been helping new players who help themselves, if you're just looking for a free ride chances are quite high I may lead you into a massive mob and suddenly, accidentally *hint hint* disconnect.

[Nightarcher]

This reminds me of the old PL... I loved the noob days.

[MITSUISUN]

Nice one Moog~~~~~~ Great story, makes me want to be a lowbie again and visit old maps to have fun...

[Moogerfooger]

Yeah, I think most of us here have so much begging and players that look/play like they were powerleveled that we shun away from 30s and 40s unconsciously....I get aggravated by it myself, so seeing a group of 4 30s/40s play like they cared was cool to see, even if it doesn't happen enough. What cracked me up the most is that they all asked me "Is it ok if I join you?" when they entered a spawn game, but it was a nice touch.

The mage's name was Ilira or something like that, lvl 45 or 46....quite the little mage. I can't remember the other archers' name, they were 42 and 45 I think, but if you run across a bada$$ little level 32 or 36 (somewhere around there) bear wearing some Frost Plate/Shield with a Iceberg Hatchet of Kicka$$edness, that very well could be him

[krullnan]

sounds like how i play haha in a lemel 43 bear as of 2 mins ago=)

[Ladylove]

Yep

IFYOUAREREADINGTHISYOUAREBEAUTIFUL ^^

Thanks ^^

/10

[Gluttony]

We need more good bears (imo), not suggesting that there are none out there, just that since aggro seems to be highly related to DPS and since birds have that they take aggro. I've seen plenty of full STR bears who are content with taking no damage and doing what they can to damage a boss. I'm probably not in a position to tell any other class what they should be doing since I only have the one toon and have never actually played the others, but I've seen what a pro STR bear is capable of and the difference is amazing! I know that there are player guides out there helping you learn the ropes of how to use your build to its full potential, just wish more players would take advantage of another pro-players experience.

[Moogerfooger]

We need more good bears (imo), not suggesting that there are none out there, just that since aggro seems to be highly related to DPS and since birds have that they take aggro. I've seen plenty of full STR bears who are content with taking no damage and doing what they can to damage a boss. I'm probably not in a position to tell any other class what they should be doing since I only have the one toon and have never actually played the others, but I've seen what a pro STR bear is capable of and the difference is amazing! I know that there are player guides out there helping you learn the ropes of how to use your build to its full potential, just wish more players would take advantage of another pro-players experience.

Well homie, I feel your pain...but there are some killer bears out there, and several of them are on here, like Elly, MrWallace, JayTb (aka IKungFuPanda)...and I have been told I don't suck on my dual/spec bear, so if you ever need one for PvE, hit me up.

[Ayrilana]

That's awesome!!!

[CanonicalKoi]

I started a baby mage the other day and while I've run into my share of "Gimme stuff!" sorts, I've also run into a lot of good bears and birds on their way up. Thanks for posting this Moog! It was nice of you to give us all some hope.

And I can attest that Moog's bear definitely does not suck. I'd run my bird behind his bear anytime. Heck, I'd even run my 51 mage behind his bear. He'll keep Yosi safe.

[Moogerfooger]

I started a baby mage the other day and while I've run into my share of "Gimme stuff!" sorts, I've also run into a lot of good bears and birds on their way up. Thanks for posting this Moog! It was nice of you to give us all some hope.

And I can attest that Moog's bear definitely does not suck. I'd run my bird behind his bear anytime. Heck, I'd even run my 51 mage behind his bear. He'll keep Yosi safe.

I'm not as good as some of the bears out there, but I do my best I remember doing some runs with you too!

Yeah, it almost made me want to start a new character and do it again, for fun.

[Kalielle]

I started a new mage for fun a few days ago and I have to say, there seems to be less power-leveling and more playing since at any other time in PL history. It's the quests I think. People seem use them instead of their level to measure game progression - I remember seeing a newer player post that he's at 3/18 in such-and-such area, to describe where he is in the game. Before quests one's level is the only thing people cared about, and perhaps that's what drove all the power leveling.

There are tons of people playing swamps, and most of them are level 30ish or late 20ish. Remember how it used to be that no one was playing the swamps? There are also people playing all levels of AO1 and AO2, and there aren't that many Crush the Keeper games as in the past - in fact in AO3 people seem to be playing all levels, and Captive Audience is particularly popular.

Also, I've run into a lot of nice people along the way. There's one story I just have to tell. Was in the swamps trying to finish a boss quest and after a while people left and I found myself alone on my level 18 with a level 29 fellow mage. Well I thought, what the heck let's just finish it, we can do it. (I had the PL shield on and that basically makes me into a little low-level mage tank with its 17 armor and no requirements.)

We just played along slowly but steadily and what do you know, one of the Hootchmeisters drops 2 new swamp pinks. I was laughing and shaking my head - then I look at my level, look at the other players level, and it hits me what level our drops must be - sure enough I go into my inventory to check and it's a level 30 pink.

So as we continue fighting I start explaining to the other guy how these pinks are more rare than level 35 ones, and that he should be careful not to sell cheap. Well it turns out he never sells anything, just liquidates. I was like, "omg why??" and told him after we finish, I'll take him to Balefort and show him how to list things in CS. He says sure, and then after a minute, he just gives me the other pink! I tried to tell him it's too valualbe and but he just said something like, "it's ok, I just use quest rewards for gear so I don't care about gold. Hope it makes you a fortune."

That just left me standing there with my jaw dropped. Good to remember once in a while that beggars are not the only ones in the game, and there are some amazing people out there - you just have to play the maps to find them because they're not sitting in town. (I took him to Balefort to show him the store and he said something like, "well that's great, but I'm going back to playing the game." Bought him a brainfreeze set before he left - was the least I can do.)

[Ellyidol]

@Kal

That's a really inspiring story

I really really hope that those kind of players continue and actually stick to the game. It'd be really unfortunate to have them experience something bad that'd just throw them off the game. I hope to see more of them in forum too!