to much agro mobs

[pluky]

stop messing with the mobs more and more getting agro while they must be non agro i am minig where ther are some mobs what the hack mine when you arent an combat toon is getting realy anoying if i want an combat toon i play on that one if i want to mine i am mining i whas an miner in live and i know alot of the mobs they where non agro

[bondct]

inverness nav9 is a total mess now... by the time you can mine there, the xp isnt worth it.... a lot of people around this forum have spoke about community... well having 2 hardcore mining toons in live I can tell you that Inv Nav9 was a community spot... there was always someone there you knew... but now the place is a graveyard as the mobs are too aggresive...

[Kyp [LDEV]]

inverness nav9 is a total mess now... by the time you can mine there, the xp isnt worth it.... a lot of people around this forum have spoke about community... well having 2 hardcore mining toons in live I can tell you that Inv Nav9 was a community spot... there was always someone there you knew... but now the place is a graveyard as the mobs are too aggresive...

The last time this area was adjusted was prior to the addition of mob skills.

[Azasha]

Mining was never much of a freebie in live. A lot of fields had randomly spawning agro nasties. The only exceptions I can pull off the top of my head to this were Glenn and Yokan and maybe some off the path hidden fields out in the middle of nowhere with no navs.

Other than that Live had a lot of agro mobs. Sure 61 Cygni had faction mobs so if you had good faction you were fine. However, even in these systems with no mobs or faction mobs there were pop rocks which we do not have now either.

Mining was never supposed to be completely easy and a sleep thru. Mobs were also a deterrent from Macro Mining tho there were Macro's that if you had a decent setup and a strong character they would take care of agro mobs for you as well as mine.

I'm not in favor of "making things easier" because we now can. I think it was perfectly balanced and fine the way it was in Live. Plenty and I mean plenty of people myself included had no issues mining high end fields in Ardus or BBW with CL 48 - 56 agro'ing mobs in them on top of pop rocks.

[TooTall]

Mining was never much of a freebie in live. A lot of fields had randomly spawning agro nasties. The only exceptions I can pull off the top of my head to this were Glenn and Yokan and maybe some off the path hidden fields out in the middle of nowhere with no navs.

One popular one that comes to my mind was Arduinne planet. Pay your 5,000 creds to the NPC in the sommerled bar, pop his card in your hold, warp out there and there was almost an instant invite every time I went out there and got near a group that wasn't full. Non-aggro, plasma resistant organics and friendly Military (Earthcorp? Infinitycorp?) patrolled the area while you sucked gas to your hearts content. If they chose to come, warriors flew an unnecessary over watch, killing the organics. And a good time was had by all.

There were many fields, level 4 and under as I recall, that had no mobs, or mobs that didn't aggro. There were fields that had lvl 8 and 9 ore in them that were placed in Earth, Jupiter and Mars sector that had no, repeat, no mobs in them at all when I played. The time I am speaking about, for these situations, was just before the sunset announcement.

This is not a criticism of what is in the game now, just a memory which I believe to be accurate.

TooTall

[seekeronos]

I think some mobs should be aggro, and others should not.

That's part of the joy in being an explorer - finding out which mobs did what, and of course, gearing the resource field guardian's power to the level of the mob:

L1-L3 resource field: L5 - L15 mobs

L4-L6 resources: L16 - L25 mobs

L7-L8 resources: L25 - L35 mobs

L8-L9 (mostly L8) : L35-L45 mobs

L8-L9 (lots of L9) : L45+ mobs

... which is *mostly* how I've been seeing things thus far.

But parking a L60 mob or a pack of L40+ mobs together in an L6-7 orefield might be a tad frustrating if that miner hasn't learned good "grab and go" skills.

Otherwise, remember that with high power mobs, "greed Kills"... and W-D-Q (also known as the get {expletive} outta Dodge) key sequence is your friend, especially when popper roids are brought back into the game.

And I agree with Avani - there's a bloody swarm of (formerly non-aggro) manes at Inverness navs 2-4.

The belter mobs at Nav 9 have always been aggro, and are best served at mid-levels by grouping 3 miners (face it, those gas fields are HUGE and take a concerted effort to clear) with one or two fighters.

Some fields should be conducive to (compelled) grouping, and others might not need to be so, if they are tucked out of the way so that the truly inquisitive miner can find treasures all to him self at much reduced risk of something making him go **KaBOoM**!

[Azasha]

One popular one that comes to my mind was Arduinne planet. Pay your 5,000 creds to the NPC in the sommerled bar, pop his card in your hold, warp out there and there was almost an instant invite every time I went out there and got near a group that wasn't full. Non-aggro, plasma resistant organics and friendly Military (Earthcorp? Infinitycorp?) patrolled the area while you sucked gas to your hearts content. If they chose to come, warriors flew an unnecessary over watch, killing the organics. And a good time was had by all.

There were many fields, level 4 and under as I recall, that had no mobs, or mobs that didn't aggro. There were fields that had lvl 8 and 9 ore in them that were placed in Earth, Jupiter and Mars sector that had no, repeat, no mobs in them at all when I played. The time I am speaking about, for these situations, was just before the sunset announcement.

This is not a criticism of what is in the game now, just a memory which I believe to be accurate.

TooTall

I actually forgot about Arduinne because I never really went there. But I do remember there were 2 places to buy "passports or licenses" 1 was 61 Cygni for a Nommos Hunting permit the other was Arduinne.

However, I still think there are far more ore fields now that are less risk than there were in Live. The only exception to this being L4 and 5 ore fields. Every other level that I have seen has somewhere you can mine completely safe. Which again is far more than you had in Live after they added pop rocks which made any field possibly unsafe. Trust me lower lvl JE's would scatter like cockroaches when you turn the light on when I popped roids in Glenn because when I popped them you could guarantee that something CL 46 - 48 was coming out of it and it didn't always just agro me.

I didn't mind as it gave me a little combat with my mining but others who hate mining and feel they have to do it to make their ammo seem to just want free rides a lot.

[fuulishone]

The problem isn't the aggressive guardians in fields. For the most part, they're alright (except for at least two fields in BBW that I know of... the guardians there are ridiculous). The real problem is that these guardians have a super-fast respawn rate and many are auto-aggro upon respawn even when they're not in scan range of you. There needs to be some sort of break between respawns so that some amount of mining can be performed in the lull, even if it's only a handful of roids. At least it'll show that a particular miner is active and not a macro-bot.

[bondct]

The problem isn't the aggressive guardians in fields. For the most part, they're alright (except for at least two fields in BBW that I know of... the guardians there are ridiculous). The real problem is that these guardians have a super-fast respawn rate and many are auto-aggro upon respawn even when they're not in scan range of you. There needs to be some sort of break between respawns so that some amount of mining can be performed in the lull, even if it's only a handful of roids. At least it'll show that a particular miner is active and not a macro-bot.

yeah it could be partly the respawn as well, and they definitely aggro when they are not in range... but when im in mining mode I am more trying to evade than encounter... oh and I guess it definitely shows a macro bot vs a miner BECAUSE A MINER doesnt go there anymore... so in that regard its kinda a self-defeating strategy...

"if you try and police everybody, you will wind up policing nobody, because there will be no one left" -confucious

[Azasha]

The problem isn't the aggressive guardians in fields. For the most part, they're alright (except for at least two fields in BBW that I know of... the guardians there are ridiculous). The real problem is that these guardians have a super-fast respawn rate and many are auto-aggro upon respawn even when they're not in scan range of you. There needs to be some sort of break between respawns so that some amount of mining can be performed in the lull, even if it's only a handful of roids. At least it'll show that a particular miner is active and not a macro-bot.

I will agree that respawn rates and auto agro on respawn probably should be re-visited. I have seen some insanely fast respawn rates in roid fields that need to be adjusted. The poll doesn't really cover this or any other response it covers a straight yes agro mobs, no agro mobs, and no mobs at all which is a bit black and white and leaves no area for balance.

The poll might have needed another option of fewer mobs in one area or slower respawn rates. There should be some risk when mining so it's not free xp / credits but it doesn't need to be a death trap if you are the properly balanced level to be in that field.

[TooTall]

Oh, and Inverness Down, the planet. Lots and lots of lvl 1-2 gas, some 3, mobs that do not aggro, unless you shoot them first. I remember as a mid level miner with top gear, I could NOT keep up with the respawn between 2 fields (Alpha and Beta). Suck one dry and the other was full again, good times

Currently: no mobs, nothing to mine, just navs

Again, this is not a gripe, just and observation and memories.

TooTall

[Terrell [BT]]

I will agree that respawn rates and auto agro on respawn probably should be re-visited. I have seen some insanely fast respawn rates in roid fields that need to be adjusted. The poll doesn't really cover this or any other response it covers a straight yes agro mobs, no agro mobs, and no mobs at all which is a bit black and white and leaves no area for balance.

The poll might have needed another option of fewer mobs in one area or slower respawn rates. There should be some risk when mining so it's not free xp / credits but it doesn't need to be a death trap if you are the properly balanced level to be in that field.

Agreed. There should be some challenge for an orefield the player should be in, but it shouldn't be overwhelming.

As a JE if I have a low sig, I should be able to mine and avoid most fights, if I am careful and pay attention to where the mobs are. But if I'm not careful, I should be attacked by guardian(s) of apropriate level to the field I'm in. Manes, big pita was that I couldn't carry my GEs there, but their scan range was poor, and they could not see cloaked, so there was an escape for a JE. Not sure how well PE's powerdown worked with them, but their PLs and Menace were quite effective against them (which they should be), so mining wiht a PE friend in BBW was something I commonly did in Live.

The L9 orefields mentioned by an earlier poster, in BBW, did have apropraite guardians in terms of level & number in Live, IMO. They were CL45-56. I could only see higher level guardians in an orefield, if there was something very special in that field. And the mobs had drops that were worth it for the warriors that an Explorer would need to bring for protection.

[GenghisBob]

If you have non-aggro MOBs in an ore field, why bother with them at all? No miner is going to start shooting at them, so why put them there? Maybe to 'aggro and run' to grieve other miners, but I don't think we want that.

Therefore, if there are going to be MOBs in ore fields, they must aggro. However, the distance they aggro from could be controlled so in low level fields you almost have to bump them to aggro and in higher level fields the distance is a little greater. If you want that nice fat rock either kill the MOB or wait until he moves away. Talk about putting a little skill into mining...

[seekeronos]

If you have non-aggro MOBs in an ore field, why bother with them at all? No miner is going to start shooting at them, so why put them there? Maybe to 'aggro and run' to grieve other miners, but I don't think we want that.

Therefore, if there are going to be MOBs in ore fields, they must aggro. However, the distance they aggro from could be controlled so in low level fields you almost have to bump them to aggro and in higher level fields the distance is a little greater. If you want that nice fat rock either kill the MOB or wait until he moves away. Talk about putting a little skill into mining...

Mobs that aggro are one thing, and I've no problem with it (what do Manes eat to get so big and powerful? They mostly eat roids... and the occasional miner!)

However ---- some fields that have L5-L7 roids guarded my a pair of CL50 mobs, or guarded by a swarm of CL30 mobs are not fun for the typical miner using that field as leveling fodder (typically anywhere from OL40 to OL105, with CL's widely varying.

Me, I've got a dramatically underpowered combat ability, hidden behind (currently) L6 shields and L100 hull. I can take a couple of hits from a Voltoi in Antares before being turned to mush, or can grab that last roid before the gang of 10 CL25 manes violate my ship's exhaust ports in unpleasant ways.

I can play in Antares if I'm alert, but in terms of production, I'd do better in a few select spots in certain dangerous sectors that are less guarded.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is:

More mine fields less zealously guarded at the mid levels would not be a bad idea. Not a Glenn give-away, but not the ass-rapery that awaits the unprepared mid-level miner in Inverness Nav 9 either.

[fuulishone]

Personally I'm looking for fields that fall into these three major categories:

1) Very safe, afk-able fields just to relax in. I don't care about the spread of level or rare-ness of the ores or the respawn time. These are just for kicking back and enjoying the life of a miner. These fields are appropriately contentious since many leveling miners will want to go here, and quite frankly, that's alright.

2) Solo or duo-able fields (duo by a miner and one other class, not necessarily a warrior type) that require pre-clearing of guardians before one can mine. These would be the equivalent of folks that go to Cooper/Antares to farm. They farm mobs, I farm guardians and ore. I would expect mob respawn to be reasonable, maybe 3-4 minutes delay after the last guardian is cleared, or perhaps escalating guardians. I would expect a narrower band of roids and levels, and a moderate amount of rare ores. Some level appropriate rarely spawning hulks would be nice.

3) The concept of a group quality field where a dedicated warrior and healer is required to clear the guardians fast enough for mining. Guardian respawns should be reasonable, say 1-2 minutes after last guardian is cleared, with appropriately difficult guardians. (A field with 20% level 9 roids should have CL52 guardians, a 100% level 9 field should have CL60 guardians as a guideline.) These fields are meant for multiple miners and a protection team working together to effectively mine them. They should also have a very narrow band of ore types as well as a high *drop* rate of some of the rarest ores.

[scotterdoos]

Something I've noticed is that MOBs seem to auto-attract to your location and then attack when you are nearby. I'm starting to wonder if the aggro range of the MOBs is too big. They're "seeing" too far off into the distance and then motoring towards you to get in range. Does anyone else remember in live that if you were at range the mobs wouldn't aggro. If you were in aggro range but not attack range they would go blinky. Currently they only go blinky when they start shooting, and you're lucky if the aggro graphic displays.

[Whitelighter]

Mob aggro is fishy right now. They will see you from a longs way away sometimes but still not attack you. They will just follow you around like a fat kid would if you had a slice of cake. Ive noticed it a lot out in Antares lately.

[Trapt]

I used to always look for mining groups as a defender and would fly protection while they mined. I know with the limited amount of players we have on the server, there isn't as many people to choose from but I'd be willing to mine and fly protection at same time. Let's bring back mining groups imo!!!

[bondct]

i guess what made the mining groups with protection work was the large playerbase... cuz there was always someone rotating in and out... I can recall on my PS that sometimes I would goto guns duty if our warrior dropped and until we could get a replacement on site (which usually didnt take long)....

however, since it will be years imo before we can expect to see a pb like that again... it might be time to backoff on mobs and aggro in ore fields...

[BlooAnemone]

i guess what made the mining groups with protection work was the large playerbase... cuz there was always someone rotating in and out... I can recall on my PS that sometimes I would goto guns duty if our warrior dropped and until we could get a replacement on site (which usually didnt take long)....

however, since it will be years imo before we can expect to see a pb like that again... it might be time to back off on mobs and aggro in ore fields...

The lower playerbase does seem to lend itself to this theory. I remember often mining in groups, even if I didn't start out with the intention to do so, upon arrival at the asteroid field there would be people there and grouping would be an easy option. But, it does seem that it is much harder to thin out the random mobs floating around before re-spawning. Also possibly related, the density of the mobs seems to be an issue in some locations (not necessarily just in mining locations). I don't know if that's directly respawn related, but it there are patches where the mobs just seem to be packed a bit thicker than they were in live.

[Rossdie [BT]]

Just out of curiosity, are JE's able to get below 0.0 visibility in game right now, I know in live they could and the mobs wouldn't even see you?

[Terrell [BT]]

Just out of curiosity, are JE's able to get below 0.0 visibility in game right now, I know in live they could and the mobs wouldn't even see you?

I didn't know we could do that in Live. Did it actually show as a negative visibility, or did it just say 0.0? In late Live I usually had a visibility on my JE of 0.1, and sometimes 0.0, but I never noticed a negative one.

[Rossdie [BT]]

I didn't know we could do that in Live. Did it actually show as a negative visibility, or did it just say 0.0? In late Live I usually had a visibility on my JE of 0.1, and sometimes 0.0, but I never noticed a negative one.

I recall seeing -0.7 on my JE in live and the mobs would just pass by, I wish my original game hard drive wouldn't have crashed so I could get my screenies from live.

[Terrell [BT]]

I recall seeing -0.7 on my JE in live and the mobs would just pass by, I wish my original game hard drive wouldn't have crashed so I could get my screenies from live.

Thanks, that's very interesting to know. How did you get it that low?

[Rossdie [BT]]

Thanks, that's very interesting to know. How did you get it that low?

I would have to look up the engine/devices combo I used to use, just not sure if they are in game right now or it the code will allow it to show that way.