Game mode: Online official
Type of issue: Misc
Server type: PvE
Region: North America
I believe the mechanics behind the Purge Difficulty setting used on servers needs to be re-examined, as I have reason to believe it is preventing a great many purge types from spawning…
Basis for this theory follows…
I have 3 paid accounts that I use all on the same Official Server, each one setup as a different clan.
- My main contains everything I actually care about, infrastructure… outposts… basically stuff spread out across the Exiled Lands.
- My first alt consists of a single base in NE A9.
- My second alt consists of a single base in central N4.
The reason for the alt accounts is simple: by having only a single, compact base (as opposed to multiple bases), a player can guarantee what area they will get purged in. Likewise, since all of the purge types have specific geographical areas they cover, this means we can select what purge types we’re apt to see.
The problem is that when servers are set to Difficulty 6, and multiple purge types of varying difficulty overlap an area, only the one with the higher threshold will ever be selected. I say this based off of extensive personal experience.
At my first alt’s base in NE A9, and at my neighbor’s base in B9, both Cimmerian Beast-Tamers (diff 1-6) and Relic Hunter Scouts (diff 1-4) should be able to spawn. For the past 4-6 months, we have each gotten 1-2 purges a week at these bases, and every single time it’s been the CBTs who have come calling.
While this is great for farming some of the beefiest fighters and most desirable crafters in the game, it becomes problematic when you begin looking at other areas of the map…
In the volcano, there are several purge types that should be able to spawn: Silent Legion, Cimmerian Beast Tamers, Yetis (all diff 1-6), and Votaries of Skelos (diff 1-4). However, in the year plus I’ve been on this server, even those who have followed my lead and created “purge alts” have never gotten purged by what should be one of the most desirable purges in the game: Votaries of Skelos.
It’s the same in the jungle, no one has gotten purged by Lemurians since the change was made to Purge Difficulty settings many patches ago. The last and only one anyone on the server witnessed was several months before thrall NPCs finally got to wear clothing.
I can’t say if this is working “as designed”, but it’s problematic because it leads to player frustration, has locked away a lot of the game’s content, and essentially shoehorns players into only a small area of the map if they want to unlock the power of purge crafters.
For the sake of granting players the agency to spread out and build where they want, I implore you to reexamine how this mechanic is implemented.
Please provide a step-by-step process of how the bug can be reproduced. The more details you provide us with the easier it will be for us to find and fix the bug:
- Join a server where Purge Difficulty is set to 6.
- Start a clan and build only a single base in an area where multiple purges of varying difficulty can spawn.
- Get purged several dozen times.
- Observe that the only purges that spawn are those with a difficulty of 1-6.