End of the Road: A Noob's Farewell to Arcadia

[EpicFailWizard]

Iku was originally designed as a semi-super boss hence the more colourful drops.
The respawn rate was originally 3h but was lowered as demand increased.

If you are unable to kill Iku then there is Gunakadeit who spawns every 30 minutes and three floors of mobs who will drop either the skill or the pages to make the skill.

Getting powerful is probably the most important goal in Mir. And exercising that power is the reward.
I don't personally see why things should be taken away from those who have earnt it. I think it is against the competitive nature and a core aspect of the game.

That said, there may very well be a disconnect between ease of accessibility of low level bosses to high level players and "their own" content that needs addressing somehow.


Skills have always been hard sought and earnt. Players seem to come here and believe they are X level they should automatically have Y skill (believing that level is the only limiting factor). That is not the design.

An issue with speeding up progression further is that players miss out on extremely useful game content and lessons - using a variety of skills and meeting a variety of monster types.

Starting at level 150 with all the skills would be terrifying for a new player, and increase bounce rate, or expedite the deflating "progress wall".
We did try this on Project69 back in the noughties.

I'm not chanting for skills to be freely bestowed, as easy as picking apples in an orchard, nor at prices as low as those early sub-30 level skills. Rather, I seek a tweak in their acquisition. The path of leveling has become a whirlwind, so swift that one breezes past the noob quests, outleveling them as if by some overzealous spell.

In my own tale, I've faced Iku 19 times, even besting one with a menacing red aura. Yet, all that fell into my grasp was a solitary skill page.

What if the journey to such formidable foes was more than a mere hop, skip, and a log-out away? In Zuma Dungeon, adventurers rarely lay in wait, for it demands a trek of five minutes, void of teleportation or logout conveniences.

tl;dr: Not asking for easy skills, just a more reasonable way to get them. Despite many attempts at Iku, rewards are minimal. Suggesting making bosses harder to reach, like in Zuma Dungeon, to reduce camping.

 

[EpicFailWizard]

In a burst of renewed spirit, I ventured forth once more, cleaving through normal mobs and vanquishing supers and champs. Post-reboot, the land was ripe with foes, and my efforts bore fruit in their continual resurgence.

In this crusade, I felled 18 supers and 3 elites, many whilst my erad meter surged between 100-120%. My journey led me to IKU with a meter near 100, but alas, a 170+ level warrior descended upon me. Amidst our clash, whether any erad remained was lost in the tumult.
Though victorious, the warrior plundered most of my spoils, leaving no skill book in sight.

It seems, despite my efforts, the path of a noob is paved with tributes, a forced offering for the skills we seek.

tl;dr: Gave it another try, killed many supers and elites, but got attacked at IKU by a high-level player. Lost most of my drop, and no skill book was found. Seems like noobs have to pay for their skill books.

 

[prasko]

What book are you after bud? I have store toons full of pages from arena, wouldn't take me 10 seconds to look.

Edit

Inferno isn't it?

 

[zad48231]

Name and shame the warrior, and what guild they are in. I'll sort them out

 

[EpicFailWizard]

What book are you after bud? I have store toons full of pages from arena, wouldn't take me 10 seconds to look.

Edit

Inferno isn't it?

Thank you, and to the many others who extended their helping hands! But, I fear this quest is no longer just about a specific book. It's about the daunting predicament we new players face, venturing into caves meant for us, only to find ourselves outmatched by level 170+ titans competing in our domain.

I confess, there was a rush of adrenaline, a thrilling surge, in being ambushed while battling IKU. The thrill of not only surviving but also vanquishing IKU in the face of an adversary 30+ levels my senior was exhilarating. However, in other realms, such acts of higher levels harassing the lesser experienced are often looked down upon.

tl;dr: Thanks for the offers of help, but the issue is more about new players struggling against high-level players in low-level areas. Had an adrenaline-filled experience surviving an attack from a much higher-level player while fighting IKU, but this behavior is frowned upon in other games.

 

[EpicFailWizard]

Name and shame the warrior, and what guild they are in. I'll sort them out

Not vanquishing a rival 30+ levels junior is a blunder so grand, I shall spare them the naming. Tangle with IKU as a sub 150 player, and you'll find yourself a target now and then.
Most fellow adventurers are as calm as a still pond, and the gathering at IKU is like a grand bazaar of characters. Yet, even in the pursuit of supers and elites for their prized books, one faces competition from wizards on their own quest for pets.

tl;dr: If they can't beat someone 30+ levels lower, I won't name them, its already a shame. Trying to fight IKU as a lower-level character often leads to attacks, though most people are generally okay. Separately, there's also competition for supers and elites, as wizards are hunting for pets.

 

[prasko]

Thank you, and to the many others who extended their helping hands! But, I fear this quest is no longer just about a specific book. It's about the daunting predicament we new players face, venturing into caves meant for us, only to find ourselves outmatched by level 170+ titans competing in our domain.

I confess, there was a rush of adrenaline, a thrilling surge, in being ambushed while battling IKU. The thrill of not only surviving but also vanquishing IKU in the face of an adversary 30+ levels my senior was exhilarating. However, in other realms, such acts of higher levels harassing the lesser experienced are often looked down upon.

tl;dr: Thanks for the offers of help, but the issue is more about new players struggling against high-level players in low-level areas. Had an adrenaline-filled experience surviving an attack from a much higher-level player while fighting IKU, but this behavior is frowned upon in other games.

Trust me I fully 100% understand and have been pushing for better treatment of our new players.

I'm relatively new myself having only joined in Sept of 22. I have a 195 wiz, 190 tao, and 166 warrior. I'm walking proof that if you invest a little bit of time and money you can get ahead to an extent. A lot of people helped me along the way and yes, that includes Zade who is a helpful person.

Sadly what wasn't explained to me when I joined this server is that leveling is, and always has been super easy, but the drops are the restricting factors in progression. There has to be some form of grind, otherwise people would progress to quickly, get bored, and leave.

This is just simple game design, but game creators cannot factor in how bad actors will play the game sadly and it does happen unfortunately. Just please don't think the entire server is that way. Most people on here fully support and help new players, as we all understand we need them to flourish.

There are plenty of new player guilds that are active, and if you show yourself to be an active progressing player even high level guilds will take you.

 

[EpicFailWizard]

Trust me I fully 100% understand and have been pushing for better treatment of our new players.

I'm relatively new myself having only joined in Sept of 22. I have a 195 wiz, 190 tao, and 166 warrior. I'm walking proof that if you invest a little bit of time and money you can get ahead to an extent. A lot of people helped me along the way and yes, that includes Zade who is a helpful person.

Sadly what wasn't explained to me when I joined this server is that leveling is, and always has been super easy, but the drops are the restricting factors in progression. There has to be some form of grind, otherwise people would progress to quickly, get bored, and leave.

This is just simple game design, but game creators cannot factor in how bad actors will play the game sadly and it does happen unfortunately. Just please don't think the entire server is that way. Most people on here fully support and help new players, as we all understand we need them to flourish.

There are plenty of new player guilds that are active, and if you show yourself to be an active progressing player even high level guilds will take you.

I recognize you and hold you in esteem, your reputation preceding you, even as a newcomer.

In my days of traversing the Euro MIR, XP was the elusive treasure, and countless forays into a cave would yield rare spoils. Here, one jaunt through a cave bestows enough XP to outgrow it, perhaps after 3-4 ventures at level 140, but scarcely enough to garner any notable drops. This conundrum leaves players haunting areas they've surpassed in pursuit of elusive drops.

I paused my ascent at level 130 post-Christmas event to acquire skills, only to find myself at 140 still skill-starved. I could surge to levels 150-160 and overpower the fledgling bosses, but that, in my eyes, is the crux of our problem.
Is the essence of our game to outlevel and then effortlessly vanquish bosses with a single strike for books or runes? Or resort to the mercantile solution of buying them outright?

tl;dr: Respect you as a player with a reputation. Unlike euro MIR, here you outlevel caves too fast to get drops, leading to overleveling areas for drops. At level 140 and still missing skills. Questioning if the game is about overpowering bosses easily for drops and forcing new people to just buying books.

 

[prasko]

I recognize you and hold you in esteem, your reputation preceding you, even as a newcomer.

In my days of traversing the Euro MIR, XP was the elusive treasure, and countless forays into a cave would yield rare spoils. Here, one jaunt through a cave bestows enough XP to outgrow it, perhaps after 3-4 ventures at level 140, but scarcely enough to garner any notable drops. This conundrum leaves players haunting areas they've surpassed in pursuit of elusive drops.

I paused my ascent at level 130 post-Christmas event to acquire skills, only to find myself at 140 still skill-starved. I could surge to levels 150-160 and overpower the fledgling bosses, but that, in my eyes, is the crux of our problem.
Is the essence of our game to outlevel and then effortlessly vanquish bosses with a single strike for books or runes? Or resort to the mercantile solution of buying them outright?

tl;dr: Respect you as a player with a reputation. Unlike euro MIR, here you outlevel caves too fast to get drops, leading to overleveling areas for drops. At level 140 and still missing skills. Questioning if the game is about overpowering bosses easily for drops and forcing new people to just buying books.

I firmly believe that yes skills and items are meant to be the slowing factor in progression.

Skull island helped a lot, and I mean a lot of new players in this regard as farming books was infinitely easier to do, but I dont forsee that coming back any time soon. Maybe if we're lucky summer?

I've known quiet a few people that got well into 180s and 190s while missing books and still wearing holy crystal gear.

Unfortunately some of those lower books are the lifeblood of a leveling wizard. Such as inferno and call of phoenix.

I understand the want to grind, but don't be afraid to accept help when offered. If it weren't for the helpfulness of some people on this server, I wouldn't have progressed nearly as quickly as I did.

Find a good guild. There are plenty of new player guilds that help active people.

 

[UnKnownAngel]

EpicFailWizard you're starting to lose some credibility here my friend, refusing to name the PK'ers and then churning out the same thing.

The things you are moaning about (levelling fast) are QOL changes that we have received to help new players overcome the huge levelling obstacle and catch up to the existing herd, the rate of levelling soon slows down and every 10 lvls you will lose exp rate making the next 10 even slower, then you will realise the highest level is 200 and the place to be is heroes league all the way up to 195. Levelling isn't even as easy as Cowboy says, its a grind, but things have been added to save time like multiple annual events, mythic Wisdom items and TrainingElixir which is now available in all 3 shops.

This is not euro mir, and this development team, I would confidently say are the most experienced in the business.

Project69 - 21 years (still live)
Arcadia - Coming up 11 years (still active)
RoTA - 6 years (dunno what that one was about tbh)

 

[zad48231]

I recognize you and hold you in esteem, your reputation preceding you, even as a newcomer.

In my days of traversing the Euro MIR, XP was the elusive treasure, and countless forays into a cave would yield rare spoils. Here, one jaunt through a cave bestows enough XP to outgrow it, perhaps after 3-4 ventures at level 140, but scarcely enough to garner any notable drops. This conundrum leaves players haunting areas they've surpassed in pursuit of elusive drops.

I paused my ascent at level 130 post-Christmas event to acquire skills, only to find myself at 140 still skill-starved. I could surge to levels 150-160 and overpower the fledgling bosses, but that, in my eyes, is the crux of our problem.
Is the essence of our game to outlevel and then effortlessly vanquish bosses with a single strike for books or runes? Or resort to the mercantile solution of buying them outright?

tl;dr: Respect you as a player with a reputation. Unlike euro MIR, here you outlevel caves too fast to get drops, leading to overleveling areas for drops. At level 140 and still missing skills. Questioning if the game is about overpowering bosses easily for drops and forcing new people to just buying books.

Your style of play is very much like mine. I love the grind and quests and role-playing and getting into the details

But the unfortunate reality is we are a dying breed. The vast majority seem to be unhappy if they can't compete with the top players, everyone wants to be right up there. They want to be top level and have all the fancy stuff at the click of a finger

GM does an excellent job of balancing this need, while keeping playability for those who want to enjoy the game in a more traditional sense. But such balance will never be perfect and one of the key areas that imperfection shows its hand is in exactly the negative experiences you describe

Just let people who have played a lot longer help you over those short hurdles, you've had plenty offers from me and many others, and focus on the parts of the game you can get continued enjoyment from

 

[EpicFailWizard]

EpicFailWizard you're starting to lose some credibility here my friend, refusing to name the PK'ers and then churning out the same thing.

The things you are moaning about (levelling fast) are QOL changes that we have received to help new players overcome the huge levelling obstacle and catch up to the existing herd, the rate of levelling soon slows down and every 10 lvls you will lose exp rate making the next 10 even slower, then you will realise the highest level is 200 and the place to be is heroes league all the way up to 195. Levelling isn't even as easy as Cowboy says, its a grind, but things have been added to save time like multiple annual events, mythic Wisdom items and TrainingElixir which is now available in all 3 shops.

This is not euro mir, and this development team, I would confidently say are the most experienced in the business.

Project69 - 21 years (still live)
Arcadia - Coming up 11 years (still active)
RoTA - 6 years (dunno what that one was about tbh)

Regarding the forum posts about PK in IKU, it's evident that many players simply station an alternate character there to monitor the situation. While I might flatter myself thinking I survived the level 170+ attack due to skill, it's more likely they were after the drop and didn't want the curse of killing me. The real issue is trying to get a book from IKU as a noob, which often involves fighting or using a TownTeleport.

Leveling does seem to slow down eventually, but at levels 130-140, one can outlevel a cave in just a few runs, and at lower levels, it's even quicker. And in all that time, not a single book dropped.

It appears that grinding in this game isn't about leveling up, but about acquiring skills and items, even if it means farming lower-level areas that aren't challenging but just time-consuming.

I long for grinding to involve challenging fights with mobs at my level, not just overpowering lower-level mobs and bosses until the necessary items drop. And when I start at a cave suitable for my level, I often outlevel it several times before getting any drops.

tl;dr: Players park alts at IKU, and getting books there as a noob is tough. Leveling is fast, outpacing cave levels quickly without getting book drops. Grinding here seems to focus more on obtaining skills/items rather than leveling, often in less challenging, lower-level areas.

 

[EpicFailWizard]

Your style of play is very much like mine. I love the grind and quests and role-playing and getting into the details

But the unfortunate reality is we are a dying breed. The vast majority seem to be unhappy if they can't compete with the top players, everyone wants to be right up there. They want to be top level and have all the fancy stuff at the click of a finger

GM does an excellent job of balancing this need, while keeping playability for those who want to enjoy the game in a more traditional sense. But such balance will never be perfect and one of the key areas that imperfection shows its hand is in exactly the negative experiences you describe

Just let people who have played a lot longer help you over those short hurdles, you've had plenty offers from me and many others, and focus on the parts of the game you can get continued enjoyment from

You may have a point. The irony of the beginner quest is that it bestows so much XP, one outlevels it before completion, a frustration even for me. Perhaps it's best to view this game as an unbalanced Early Access realm, favoring those who arrived early, leaving them to lord over newcomers as they see fit.

It might be time to shift strategies, to focus on XP and camp noob bosses for a better chance at survival. But then, I'm left wondering, is this truly the intended way to progress in the game?

tl;dr: The game might be unbalanced, with early players having an advantage. Considering focusing on XP and camping noob bosses for survival, but questioning if this is how the game is meant to be played.

 

[prasko]

Sadly noob bosses are camped for reasons addressed before. Rune/crystal drops. They drop more consistently and the same size as bosses 70 levels higher than iku, that are more difficult to beat and much much harder to get to.

This has been the complaint of many for a while now.

 

[prasko]

If you get a chance shoot me a pm with your in game name. I have many pages I can try to help you with.

 

[EpicFailWizard]

If you get a chance shoot me a pm with your in game name. I have many pages I can try to help you with.

In the grand adventure of Arcadia, my heart swells with gratitude for your offer of assistance, as well as the kindness of many others. Yet, my quest is not for personal aid but for the betterment of future newcomers. They confront a daunting wall in their journey; how splendid it would be to dismantle this barrier, making the path smoother for those who follow in our footsteps!

tl;dr: Thanks for the help, but my aim is to improve things for future new players who currently face significant challenges.

 

[EpicFailWizard]

Venturing near Iku's spawn, I sought to queue like in days of yore, yet the same warrior struck again, the lvl 180 nimpo, no less.
A duel was beyond my grasp; fortune smiled upon me, sparing my life from the clash. Is this the fate of gameplay in our realm, to be hunted rather than to hunt?

tl;dr: Tried to wait at Iku's spawn but was attacked again by a lvl 180 warrior. Luckily, I wasn't killed. Is this how the game is meant to be played?
Edit: grammar.

 

[EpicFailWizard]

Pondering whether to scatter bosses across the land in unpredictable locales, would such a spell of change bewitch the game too greatly? This might foil those mighty level 170+ adventurers from easily vanquishing or driving away us novices at the hunt. As it stands, the vanquisher of the last beast knows precisely when the next shall arise, leaving me, in my naivety, to be felled at the crucial moment, feeling quite the fool.

tl;dr: Wondering if random boss spawn could deter high-level players from dominating. Currently, it's too predictable, and I often end up ambushed at the last crucial moment by someone who knows the time of the next spawn even if I wait for a long time.

 

[trollkukk]

Cave entres of some cave migt cude get a max lvl lock . This to awoid PKRS that be +40lvl over the players normaly hunting ther ,
That can easy ben done by say no entry if + 40lvl of bosses normal lvl as no DS no GP to gain for them ,

Iku;i cude have more spawning points wer he spawn randomly to wen kild so players ned to lock for him wen hunt him.

 

[sithouena]

Venturing near Iku's spawn, I sought to queue like in days of yore, yet the same warrior struck again, the lvl 180 nimpo, no less.
A duel was beyond my grasp; fortune smiled upon me, sparing my life from the clash. Is this the fate of gameplay in our realm, to be hunted rather than to hunt?

tl;dr: Tried to wait at Iku's spawn but was attacked again by a lvl 180 warrior. Luckily, I wasn't killed. Is this how the game is meant to be played?
Edit: grammar.

Dude. I've always been the first one to spot/camp (or whatever you like to call it) the boss, and yet you still hurled a nasty amount of hate/negative things about me in-game and so I ignore the crap out of you while I patiently-silently wait for the boss to respawn. You've been rude ever since the first time you saw me camping IKU and every time you arrive and saw me there, you leave with a trash talk behind. If only you had asked for help that would have been a different story. I would have hunted the book you need. I do not hate low levels and I definitely do not PK for no reason at all.

The way my gaming setup works (OLD SHITTY LAPTOP), Iku is the only boss I find promising in drops despite my hella LAG. That being said, I cannot do any higher bosses let alone kill someone. Of course I will try to pk you because you stole the boss from me but I could not possibly manage to kill you with such LAG. If you are there first, I would have left immediately and try my luck on it's next respawn. Don't act like you're all innocent, Somango, we could have been friends. Just be a little nicer to someone next time.

-- nimpo