RDA's have become like an unending game of late-stage monopoly.

MZ3K

Grandmaster
. Why do you have such a hard on for whining about RDAs only? Why not IDOCs or Champ Spawns? They are just as "monopolized' as RDAs if not moreso.

IDOCs are an oblique consequence of the fact that houses disappear if you don't refresh them. In contrast, RDAs exist to be events.

Champs aren't nearly as monopolized. If that's so, then who plays them? Seems to me that Trin, TBA, werkt, $, OooOOo, POWER, and EQMS all show up at enough of these things and all come away with loot from a good number of them. The same can't be said for RDAs.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

MZ3K

Grandmaster
system is broken. People call relics and eggs ''endgame'' items but in reality they're more essential than they are endgame. It's broken because essential items are not accessible.

You make a good point.

Werkt uses a fleet of metadragons to own RDAs (kudos to them). Can't win a meta-egg without finishing an RDA (notwithstanding a few exceptions).
 

Tard the Paladin

Grandmaster
The only issue I have with these sorts of things, is that it seems to me that big groups dominate, the rich get richer and you either join them or don't achieve.

I know there will be plenty of exceptions

But I feel, even as a relatively new player, that I've almost reached my own end game.

I've trained up most types of char now, I have a meta dexxer, a legendary crafter and Im approaching 110 tame.

I look at what I have left to do and I think it's pretty much unobtainable unless I dedicate hour after hour after hour of my time, or join one of the dominant guilds.

Nearly every champ I participate in gets zerged or $ takes the boss. I've never done an Rda and despite collecting bods on my crafter for 3 months I've never had anything higher than a dull copper large.

I wonder how I can achieve 120 tame, for example, to control a meta, or how I could ever afford numerous relics on my meta tali or meta pet etc, or ever get a good runic hammer to make weapons.

I understand the reasons these things are meant to be difficult to obtain, but when they seem to be impossible, it gets to a point where you just accept you've gone as far as you can go.

Maybe remodelling rdas isn't the answer but rather, providing something that smaller guilds or more casual players can do which gives them a chance to get these high end rewards.

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk


I'm reposting Jongi's post. There's quite a few of us veterans advocating for the new players but so far this is the only comment from a new player. It sums up the new player experience. I would imagine a majority of new players have a similar view.
 

MZ3K

Grandmaster
I'm reposting Jongi's post. There's quite a few of us veterans advocating for the new players but so far this is the only comment from a new player. It sums up the new player experience. I would imagine a majority of new players have a similar view.

That's a worthy repost.
 

dobber

Grandmaster
I don't see a single solid argument against having more content. All I see are "it's fine" kinda talk and a lot of avoidance of the discussion about how things have gotten so twisted in the past couple years.

WORKING AS INTENDED. NOTHING TO SEE HERE.

The RDA system isn't broken. It's just stupid. In this quest of failure players and groups that once had a shot at these things have found themselves on the sidelines because of a progression of changes geared for large groups. That's the biggest glaring flaw to me.

Here's an easily digestible summary to maybe take focus away from the wrong parts of the discussion: small group activity that is a healthy helping of PvM content on this server becomes large group activity. Nothing put in its stead. Needs backfill.

Thoughts?

Well if this is your view, quit bumping this dumb whine thread that implies RDAs need fixing and make a separate thread. Additional content is not something I oppose. Minus the faction RDA, or an additional RDA, there is nothing that can be improved with RDAs. They are awesome and if you don't have a lot of time or a relatively open schedule, don't expect to be able to do these. Same with IDOCs. Sometimes also with Champs. Basically with all end-game content, it takes time and effort and blood and sweat and tears and jizz in your face.
 

Shane

Administrator
Staff member
I'm not sure if you're on the same page here. The discussion isn't about guilds being too large. We're discussing the fact that RDA's are designed in a way that is shutting out new players. This discussion has been civil and no blame is being placed. That's because most of us here, myself included, are in large guilds that actually achieve RDA success.

Its the basic math that shows where the problem lies. New players need rare relics to grind their characters, however, these relics are cut off from new players by those of us in large guilds that do RDA's. Many of us here are simply pointing out that this is a concern to new players.


Sorry i haven't been following this post to a T. here.

I'm going to be very blunt here when i say that RDA's were designed, are worked on currently and will always be developed in the mindset of the END GAME USER.
We have never, ever, said once that RDA's were designed for new players. The entire system is designed to be really tough challenge while giving veteran players something to strive towards. This was the entire soul purpose of putting this system in when i thought it up......

However,
Is there an issue when everyone joins one guild to monopolize a system? Yes... That is a problem.
Like i said though before, right now it is WERKT, before them it was $, before them it was EQMS, before them it was LORE....

I will admit, werkt has absolutely the most tamers i've ever seen in a guild, but also you need to understand that the more people they have the more issues/greed they have too. If you're doing RDA's with 20 people, chances of you getting anything is just as good as if 4 guilds of 5 people were doing it, right?

Again, RDA's and "NEW PLAYERS" shouldn't even be in the same context. RDA's are end game, champions imo are even end game...
RDA's aren't a selling point, we don't even advertise them at all honestly because it's ridiculous to advertise something that you can't fairly get into unless you've put in 30+ days of SOLID play... or more...

RDA's were for the vets, and vets are using it big time!
I'd rather talk about the problems or issues on how to make them more balanced between veteran players you know?
 

Bromista

Grandmaster
As a matter of fact I seem to remember staff having watched the first few RDAs done (this is like two years ago) and beefed up the difficulty because they were not intended to be done by solo players.

At the time "end-game" players were weaker in the PvM game because no metas, no talismans, etc. But either way it's clear staff never intended RDAs to be easily handled by small groups. Doesn't mean they couldn't still be handled without some difficulty though.

The latest pushes have taken that variable all but out of the equation.

And what of established and experienced players that roll with only a handful of players? Should the answer always be "well we have standard PvM content for the masses and this really nice end-game content for large groups so anyone in-between better join larger guilds/form alliances/etc"

This. Cannot. Be. The. Answer. To. Everything.

Where is the part of the game that fills that void @Shane? We need some "mid-game" content.

And @dobber don't act like what I have to say is not pertinent to the dicussion. Maybe the OP had different ideas. Maybe the ideas got a little off the beaten path. Maybe a bunch of naysayers came and didn't like the idea and maybe they need a fresh perspective on things?

Maybe don't bump a thread just to naysay without offering anything that could even remotely be considered constructive?

Because my posts? My posts are constructive as fuck. You can build shit with my posts and the end result doesn't even have to be something radical or new AND it doesn't have to change your precious RDAs one bit in their current fucked up state.
 

Dig'em

Grandmaster
I'd just like to say I was in the first dragon RDA ever :) me, Kareem and my lost buddy Truth (he said he's banned for some reason, unban him if possible literally one of the funniest dudes I ever played with on here) we got the first meta and chromatic dragon :) it was mint green, been hooked ever since
 

Kilike

Grandmaster
Sorry i haven't been following this post to a T. here.

I'm going to be very blunt here when i say that RDA's were designed, are worked on currently and will always be developed in the mindset of the END GAME USER.
We have never, ever, said once that RDA's were designed for new players. The entire system is designed to be really tough challenge while giving veteran players something to strive towards. This was the entire soul purpose of putting this system in when i thought it up......

However,
Is there an issue when everyone joins one guild to monopolize a system? Yes... That is a problem.
Like i said though before, right now it is WERKT, before them it was $, before them it was EQMS, before them it was LORE....

I will admit, werkt has absolutely the most tamers i've ever seen in a guild, but also you need to understand that the more people they have the more issues/greed they have too. If you're doing RDA's with 20 people, chances of you getting anything is just as good as if 4 guilds of 5 people were doing it, right?

Again, RDA's and "NEW PLAYERS" shouldn't even be in the same context. RDA's are end game, champions imo are even end game...
RDA's aren't a selling point, we don't even advertise them at all honestly because it's ridiculous to advertise something that you can't fairly get into unless you've put in 30+ days of SOLID play... or more...

RDA's were for the vets, and vets are using it big time!
I'd rather talk about the problems or issues on how to make them more balanced between veteran players you know?
Kinda tired of people throwing around the term endgame. Put simply, it's just not how UO operates. There is no "endgame" content. Including pvp,champs and even your RDA system.

I fail to see, why new players, or vets, who aren't apart of the large guilds should get shafted with custom content.

Throwing a fragment on lvl 6 maps is an amazing idea, even if it takes x fragments to create a portal, and they only drop, once every 20-30 chests. Regardless if this happens or not, make tmap chests despawn if no one is around after 5mins, or give us a good sink(not stupidly priced), that allows us to remove other peoples chests, if no one is around.

It gives inccentive for people to do tmaps, and farm the higher mobs for the maps, thus getting more people into dungeons, thus more pvp, all while giving "endgame" solo/small groups a very small, time consuming shot at rdas. So how isn't this a good thing for veteran and new players alike?

Why is it bad that portal fragments could be made to drop on the highest level tmap, but having relics drop on motm deemed ok?



Sent from my SM-G900P
 
Last edited by a moderator:

wreckognize

Grandmaster
make tmap chests despawn if no one is around after 5mins, or give us a good sink(not stupidly priced), that allows us to remove other peoples chests, if no one is around.
Sent from my SM-G900P

isn't that exactly what the treasure chest recycling wand does?
 

GluttonySDS

Grandmaster
If you want to do champs and RDAs, all you have to do is show up. If you want to be successful at them, you need a guild. Same goes for just about anything in UO.

I realize a lot of the bigger PVE zerg guilds dont recruit but EQMS is always willing to take in any member who wants to participate in this kind of stuff... so if youre a newb and you wanna do RDAs or champs or IDOCs or faction PVP all you have to do is grind up the 200k(or donate) and boom, youre now a part of a team that will show you how things work on UOF.
 

[Legato]

Master
I think we should stay on point. whether you consider this mid game or end game content doesnt change the fact that certain guilds monopolize this system to their personal benefit, which i think is the issue. What mechanics can be tweaked to give everyone striving for mid/end game content a more equal footing on participating?

What if we had variations or tiers of RDAs? Maybe some solo players could do with lesser rewards. Larger ones for server wide/ guild wars.

While different, I love the Diablo 3 system with goblins. A rare goblin spawns a portal to another dimension where the player has a chance at awesome loot. Perhaps do something similar either with a rare new mob, or an item that spawns on any monster with a very small chance that can summon a portal.

Hell, I dont know. I'm a seasoned player and Ive yet to get a chance at an RDA yet, and given the domination by WERKT, I doubt ill get a chance anytime soon, regardless of my characters or skills.
 

GluttonySDS

Grandmaster
I think we should stay on point. whether you consider this mid game or end game content doesnt change the fact that certain guilds monopolize this system to their personal benefit, which i think is the issue. What mechanics can be tweaked to give everyone striving for mid/end game content a more equal footing on participating?

What if we had variations or tiers of RDAs? Maybe some solo players could do with lesser rewards. Larger ones for server wide/ guild wars.

While different, I love the Diablo 3 system with goblins. A rare goblin spawns a portal to another dimension where the player has a chance at awesome loot. Perhaps do something similar either with a rare new mob, or an item that spawns on any monster with a very small chance that can summon a portal.

Hell, I dont know. I'm a seasoned player and Ive yet to get a chance at an RDA yet, and given the domination by WERKT, I doubt ill get a chance anytime soon, regardless of my characters or skills.

Why should a 3 man guild be on equal footing with a 20 man guild? Thats the beauty of a sandbox... grouping up and working together makes thing easier and brings more success. Those 3 people could join with another 3 man guild and a 6 man guild and recruit 2 more people and now they are factors too.
 

Derwolf

Grandmaster
Sorry i haven't been following this post to a T. here.

I'm going to be very blunt here when i say that RDA's were designed, are worked on currently and will always be developed in the mindset of the END GAME USER.
We have never, ever, said once that RDA's were designed for new players. The entire system is designed to be really tough challenge while giving veteran players something to strive towards. This was the entire soul purpose of putting this system in when i thought it up......

However,
Is there an issue when everyone joins one guild to monopolize a system? Yes... That is a problem.
Like i said though before, right now it is WERKT, before them it was $, before them it was EQMS, before them it was LORE....

I will admit, werkt has absolutely the most tamers i've ever seen in a guild, but also you need to understand that the more people they have the more issues/greed they have too. If you're doing RDA's with 20 people, chances of you getting anything is just as good as if 4 guilds of 5 people were doing it, right?

Again, RDA's and "NEW PLAYERS" shouldn't even be in the same context. RDA's are end game, champions imo are even end game...
RDA's aren't a selling point, we don't even advertise them at all honestly because it's ridiculous to advertise something that you can't fairly get into unless you've put in 30+ days of SOLID play... or more...

RDA's were for the vets, and vets are using it big time!
I'd rather talk about the problems or issues on how to make them more balanced between veteran players you know?

this is exactly how i feel about idocs^
 

[Legato]

Master
Granted not nearly as much as others but a good 15-20 hours without finding anything. But thats not the question here. I think the monopoly question was more surrounding the engagement inside the RDA, not big guilds finding them. That point came up after, which i recognize too.

Again, why not have different variants of an RDA. Some have mentioned Treasure chests for a fragment shard. What if other professions can find similar shards. Fishers can fish them up, Lock pickers can find them in dungeon chests, certain monsters can drop them, thiefs can steal them from town boxes, whatever. Make the spawn chance low and the rewards maybe less than that of world event RDA, and you might appease a majority of the player base who can grind and strive for something.

Regardless though, the RDA events themselves once started seem like a giant cluster fuck which I dont think is what was intended. Having 90% of the screen covered in pets is nuts
 
Top