Frykka

But engaging and tactical are not anecdotal... its is the make or break for people to spend money on. Your position lacks the subjective assessment required for testing purpose. How do you know what is fun and engaging if you haven't tried it. I don't say gf when I lock up and dc from performance... I say it when the battle was engaging and tactical, whether I win or lose the fight is irrelevant. I hear players saying the blob is part of making the sieges less fun and less tactical given good performance. There is lots of adjustments to do still...

Simply because it is the meta doesn't make it either fun or engaging... the battles get fun after they spread out, the chokepoints can be mitigated by blowing more holes and approaching in stages. The blob is not mitigated by anything but another blob. The question isn't why are we forced to blob up, whether by the range of our classes, by the physical terrain, or for mass body blocking or even by design... the question is whether a blob is engaging and tactical play. In fact I question your conclusion that it is a design choice to create the blob.

The mobs in test are dropping the runic recipe scrolls now on the test server... the highest tier of weapons. Most make just one weapon.

Why you stand around in combat stance Willis?

This is true, but doesn't address the larger blob. Does it change mass body blocking in 50 v 50?... ranged stay in/near the blob too. Only stealthed classes, useless in siege situations avoid the blob. It isn't either or and it is an across the board cancelling mechanic... blob up tight and your ability to knock off targets is diminished while still exposing you to effective aoe if your target spreads tactically for the mechanic. Chokepoints have upsides and downsides for both sides... open field battles change to a more dynamic front given closer to equal forces.

The trouble with stronger aoe is that it doesn't scale with the battle size... if you make AOE that strong then will be the forced meta once again. 10 v 10 isn't blobs nor is 20 v 20 really... you can still see and aim at nearly every target. Maybe a combination of a crowded debuff with an aoe damage split change. I think if it is possible to engineer and test a proximity debuff, we have proximity buffs, we should do so. We are testing things. There has been some good success but we don't get to push this out the door without it being right. We know we can dial aoe back up but is that the correct and only solution to stacking/blobbing.

Not at all, it has nothing to do with zerg or small group size of a guild... we will get alliance mechanisms to match forces... if you are outnumbered vs a blob it doesn't matter much.... If you are matched at 50 v 50 with group comps by 5s, what is more fun and more tactical, allowing the blob ups that mostly create a giant emperor penguin in winter body block which leave knight pull and force mage push as the only target separators from the safety of the blob OR spreading that blob out even a bit more with a confined spaces progressive debuff penalty.

Actually we are blobbing at the tree anyway with no penalty... you could still strategically protect the tree room by spreading to all sides a bit, the room is bigger than 15m. 30m maybe end to end so 2 groups of 20 on each end doesn't trigger the debuffs on anyone unless the get too close.. Same goes for attackers rushing the tree in a blob instead of approaching from multiple sides.

Politics? Don't get you there Mandy... how would you politic players to spread out? Ask nicely? Lul... Blob v blob goes back to SB stacks... collision doesn't do the job so we have blobs rather than stacks. Are you saying you personally like blob v blob over more spread out battle lines? Can we get better and more dynamic fights when we have large numbers in a parcel?

I think going the opposite way would be more effective. If everyone in a blob loses damage then ttk goes up or they get to a point where no kills happen while the smaller blob can get attrition on the larger. Combined with solid aoe powers the lose formation can surround and pummel the tight blob.

Lately I have wondered if an anti blob mechanic is needed more than anti zerg. Stronger aoe and more of it could cause more issues, FF in a dregs hardcore ruleset could help... but maybe we should try a series of friendly proximity debuffs. Tier 1 - 20 friendly players within 15m activates a -10% final damage modifier debuff on a player. Tier 2 - 30 friendly players within 25m activates a -20% final damage modifier debug on a player. Tier 3 - 40 friendly players within 35m activates a-30% final damage modifier debug on a player.. Zerg or rather blob all you want but an advantage goes to spread out players. I am sure that there are other issues to arise but blob v blob play has little appeal yet it is difficult to spread the blob. Works on a similar checksum as the overwhelming odds passive but in reverse.

Moved

I remember when skills and progression added some .05 tiny piece for each gain and everyone complained that it meant nothing... this is what a flat power curve looks like, teeny tiny incremental gains... not 3% or 5 % in 24 hours to a stat or power. No, we do not have a very flat power gain, we gain power very fast after every wipe... With a flat power curve the white weapon would top damage at 80 and the purple at 100... we won't talk about (15-15) wooden board enhanced hilts either.

One of the Elkin faces is distinctly femme... doe-ish, particularly when the antlers get neutered by a helm.

I am glad that this does turn back to the question of wipes in a way... it is not a hijack. Full wipes take us back to launch day and simulate the one time shot of progression for us, the players who will play at soft launch. The experience of players starting post soft launch is not simulated by a wipe. An item only wipe simulates what happens if you place vet players and new players into a import/export restricted campaign (but not skill restricted)... we did this once back in January and what we saw was some of the widest gaps between player power to date. A wipe doesn't accomplish any catch up, we know this. Wipes DO need to be full wipes imo, gear wipes will not simulate anything we will experience at launch or late game progression wise. How fast can a skilled out group of players reset their production base is not going to be a player feature we experience again and again. (unless a twink crew in a noob campaign is your thing)