Lacuna (atys)
I would like to agree with Freddy, but getting sups has never been that hard in my experience. It took me 6 months to dig my personal goal of 1000 zun solo. Yap that is a lot, but I liked digging and I wanted to try for a 100 rubbarn amp run. For a while I was giving away a lot of sups free over kami chat, but abuse for doing so, and a lack of reciprocity make me think... meh. I love your philosophy, Freddy, but one of the main reasons people have stock piles is that there are very few players. And, in my experience, very few of them had the patience to enjoy PR, apart from the rush at resets and season change. *Looks at Binarabi* It's not simply a matter of certain players stopping others getting them, but that many players do not try.
Hard ... defined how ? Hard as in difficult to do or hard as not being able to afford the time investment ? I don't bother much myself .... in no rush to get anything and try and spend the time I have in game more productively. I have no problem with KP or weather, though I think now having weather where ya can't dig choice, exe or sup was a bad step. I'd hate to have to master PR this way.
I find I can travel just about anywhere and do whatever I want to do with 80% amps and choice gear. I have had every NPC Armor set pre-merge and the idea of say killing Pei Ruiz 45 times to get it again holds no real draw to me. Same for boss mats.
For others to, I can sympathize and I listen to comments as to why they are not playing. It must be recognized that there is a definitive advantage to certain time zones and those w/o outside obligations. If peeps can afford to spend say 15 hours a week in game..... spending 2/3 of that "waiting" to dig a node or find a boss is a buzzkill. Argue if you will that those willing to make the time investment deserve more but let's not forget that these peeps are paying the same subscription fee that keeps the game afloat and each person who leaves game reduces the game's long term viability.
Circling 6 possible locations and waiting for that specific boss that one needs to complete their NPC set ... or waiting for PR weather, and as soon as it arrives you get chased off by KP and before weather comes back ya gotta log because you generally only have 2-3 hours between work, chores and family obligations ... it's not made any easier for those folks who never seen a boss, know where the spawn locations are or found the post which leveling the playing filed by publically mapping them. Lac did the same helping to level the playing field with much of the PR rules.
Some other observations....
.... lots of comments about "finding a boss" .... I do see bosses often enough .... but 95% of the time it's the ones that are killed just for fun, not for mats. If you killed it, you own it [if you really want it] applies.
.....since merge, I have been on for one reset..... at 4 am.
.... with the holiday season here, work gets kinda slow and had flu / vacation so I have had more time..... I been digging next to one boss spot for last 4 weeks (5+ hours weekdays, as much as double that on weekends) , ... not seen it pop once.
I don't understand the "few players = stockpiling" link..... again we saw what stockpiling results in pre-merge .... grinding jools with zup zun....for days. For about 9 months pre-merge, Bina and I were oft alone at SN's.... we'd grab what we could thru one weather cycle or full bag and leave.
I routinely have given away sups and boss mats if i didn't have an immediate need .... remember once being asked for mada skin and as I had been away from game for a few months, couldn't remember why i was saving them.... so gave them away..... then I remembered :) .... but others stepped in and I was soon back where I was.
One of my 1st post merge PR experiences was being caught in the middle "or so I was told" of two factions contesting who was going to dig a node in Wastelands. Initially I watched compass as peeps changed direction as soon as my dot must have appeared on their compass and "accidentally" picked up aggro as they were passing my location. As the two groups PvP'd around me on the Shu node, I was continually dragged upon, the thought I guess being that once weather changed, I might dig the sups out while they were killing each other and there'd be nothing left to fight over. The odd thing is, I was just looking for choice, so I could get a 165 focus boost set. m IF sup had popped and i dug it, I would have gladly given 2/3 of it away.
As far as "digging for spite", that's a concept I simply can not understand.
It should be hard to find bosses and to get hands on the best mats ..... but "digging / killing for spite" and "digging / killing for the sole reason to make sure that others don't have them", is not the type of behavior that earned Ryzom all those "Best Community" accolades over the years. That's the only part I take issue with.
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