Hey all. Newbie to Funcom forums but not to CE. I’ve been playing it near non-stop for about 4 months now (late Dec) with no signs of slowing down.
Reading through this thread, it seems to me that a lot of the stated issues (paying for a server, admining and removing toxic players–or in certain cases “toxic”–etc) could be resolved by Funcom removing the tether from co-op.
You’d only be able to have four on at any given time as opposed to the dozens that you’d have on an Official or Private server but the pros would be control of your own server plus, with co-op being strictly invite only, the added security of knowing exactly who’s playing in your game and therefore nullifying griefers and trolls. For those that don’t want to pay $20 for a server, this would make a nice alternative.
There’s also the added benefit of being able to turn Co-op into PvP (you can kind of do that now with a bit of hoop jumping but the area of play is narrower).
This would require an unambiguous set of rules of conduct on the servers. What is allowed, what is not allowed? The more restrictions you place, the “fairer” the game becomes, but with every restriction you take away some of the players’ freedom. And that freedom is what attracts people towards sandbox games, so it’s a delicate balance, and I’m afraid you wouldn’t find consensus even among players who’d like to see some rules.
And regardless of how many rules you put in place - you can’t stop people from being annoying jerks. The first problem there is that there’s no measurable definition on what an annoying jerk is, and determining that on a case-by-case basis would require manpower on a totally different scale than blowing up undermesh bases or obelisk blocking walls.
Even online games with a huge pool of volunteer player moderators such as Runescape couldn’t manage that.
I know how you feel. Me and my friends abandoned the game because after so many hours spent in it we had to leave the server cause of trolls blocking key locations and dungeons in PvE. We left the server, joined a new one and we had to leave again cause of other trolls. We reported to funcom but nothing happened.
So we joined a PvP, built a small house and we get wrecked by an alpha clan that spent all his time searching for us and killing all of us. They said that if we don’t give them a part of our respurces every week they will come and destroy all. This is ridicoulous but Funcom don’t do anything about that. Private servers are not an option, if the admin stops paying you lose everything. This is very sad because this is one of my favourite games, but cause of toxic players is currently unplayable.
Funcom didn’t need a consensus when they implemented a whole bunch of changes they believed were going to improve the game. It’s generally how these things work: they see a problem, they listen to what players have to say and then they come up with their own solution. Occasionally, that solution gets tweaked based on players’ feedback.
I don’t think anyone is aiming for that. It’s just like in real life, where you can’t stop people from driving like jerks – or even causing accidents – but you still have some laws that dictate how you can’t drive and some degree of enforcement of those laws.
It’s not really as complicated as you make it sound. Right now, if you’re playing on an official PVE(-C) server and someone builds a fence-topped wall all around your base, there’s nothing you can do about it. Any solution to that is already a good start.
Developing is making the rule. Not making a game and hope that people follow the rule…
If this was true, Conan don’t need green walls, next time you just tell people not to walk in the “no go area” (behind the green wall), saves time coding it.
To be fair, he was replying to my complaint about griefing on PVE(-C) servers. But your point is still valid and you can apply the same logic to PVE(-C) server moderation too: solve the most egregious problem first, worry about the rest later.
How about raid hours as well being a limit. They should suggest no one should raid outside of evenings (server side time) from 5pm to 11pm to amke the game more fun. I am sure the players would gladly follow the suggestion.
Sure, but that’s not enough for many people. As CodeMage said, there are perfectly “legal” ways to block brimstone spawns, wall off obelisks, etc., which causes people grief. Yes, cheaters should be punished, but what constitutes cheating is a fluid concept as soon as we go beyond “breaking the code”.
there is a big difference in using in game mechanics, and playing off the map. Under-meshing is by far the number one issue on PVP. I would guess that servers have issues with the under mesh as well, as it is not meant to be part of the server load. 0,0,0 distance and all. @zerog is basically saying is the cut and dry cheating should be handled asap, all the other stuff that falls more into just being trolls and greifers, and can be handled later. Be surprised at how many of the undermeshers are part of those, and they will slowly go down as well.
Griefing problems will only get worse and more widespread, the longer hands are idle due to world events. Spawn blocking should be approached prophylactically on any active server. I mean that any person who plays on any active server should take it upon herself to make a claim, or several cleanly-tethered claims around or through necessary resources. That’s before the bad guys arrive.
The same actions should be applied to the few remaining points of access for undermeshing.
I speak from experience here: Zero-G built this btchin volcano palace that completely horned out the Skelos mesh, which at the time was the deal-breaker on PvP. It was a public service.
Ohhhhh. Well that makes sense. Then it goes to prove my old aphorism: “Fences won’t keep out the fox, but presence does.” Explains wHy the server went to pot.
Sure thing. Wanna handle customer service for those people who are complaining about resource blocking, obelisk blocking, kiting world bosses to bases, etc?
Those are valid complaints, if lower priority than hacks and cheats. But by the same logic, GMing people who hack/cheat is a lower priority than fixing the actual bugs that enable such cheating. Where do we draw the line? Yuo might be satisfied with punishing rulebreakers, but not everyone is, whereas others are satisfied with Funcom trying to fix the exploits rather than the exploiters.
The issues you dismiss as “semantics” are ruining the game for others. Who are you to decide those people deserve to suffer while Funcom focuses on the things you consider important?
Funcom do mass ban several of my friends have been banned on Xbox through fault of there own or not … who knows Just wish there bans we’re not so inconsistent… how can one clan get banned for doing something on a server they had no idea was wrong , yet other clans on other servers get away with it
I liked your post, but that is because i am pretty much done playing as well. So it is a more i agree. It is sad that more and more of the OG gamers are done. I am now looking into modding for it…but i feel even my mods (or stat adjustments really) won’t be as accepted, as they will be trying to bring survival back into the game.
I really want to run a PS4 private, but the very limited tools on console make this un-fun as well.
@WhatMightHaveBeen There are quite some people asking for a harsher version of the game focusing more on the survival aspect. If modding interests you, you should definitely give it a try. A lot of people don’t play the game actively but find modding very enjoyable. Who knows, a server reflecting your vision might turn into a very popular one. You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain in terms of experience and enjoyment.
Please give it a bit more time, I have high hopes there will be a solution soon. Several atom-based servers have opened up on the IBM Blade Cloud recently, and as they begin to gain popularity/availability, someone will likely make it happen for the PS4. Unless there’s something I’m missing, there is nothing I can see in the Sony kit to say we can’t have a full server experience.
Also, please write up what would make it harder core, and would retain you. At least on the PC I would be more than willing to deploy such an instance.
several of my friends have been banned on Xbox through fault of there own or not … who knows 
Just wish there bans we’re not so inconsistent… how can one clan get banned for doing something on a server they had no idea was wrong , yet other clans on other servers get away with it