Buffbot/Buffnpc - Phoenix Freeshard

Well i agree on the part that everybody only should be allowed to only log one account, seeing that multiple account logs open up so many problems in game balance; plus they generate unnessesary traffic, lag ect.
But playing on different freeshards (i.a. uthgard) having no buffbot shows some questions.
Solo players or smallmen, and especialy stealthers (damn i hate stealthers, i whish you would remove them entirely from daoc but that is another story)
are in need of any buff, and using buff pots and charges to cover the crucial parts is not only expensive but ruining a lot of the rvr fun part.
further are alb grps running less than 3 suports not able to use their uniqe spec af buff due to lag of buffpower, plus some grp setups relying on pets will never have the same power like in the old days when a fully buffed pet hit you in the face.

so what about adding buff npc or items providing buffs for a acceptable time (more than 2 mins?)

Thu 22 Mar 2018 5:53 AM by Gorren

I put it forward to the team as something we can discuss and vote on, don't get your hopes up though; I feel as if buff npc's are a bit too much even for a more progressive server.

Update: We discussed the possibility of buff NPC's today but decided that with pots and charge items there are plenty of ways to attain buffs if you have the drive to farm them.

Sun 25 Mar 2018 1:57 PM by Byte

My only thought on the matter would be to add a LGM Alchemist line of potions that give w/e level buffs that last until zone/death/log. By "LGM" I mean literally max-level to make, con yellow when you hit the cap. To balance it vs the duration potions, you could leave the buffs at a lower level.

Just my 2 cents.

The issue has never been not being able to have buffs, but their duration making them entirely pointless w/o a large population if players. By the time I get the area where enemies are, the duration is up.

Mon 26 Mar 2018 3:15 AM by Kevin

coming from an alb 8 man cleric. full buff pots and buff NPC are a huge NO. Buff pots and buff NPC's just imbalance things. only a solo would want a buff NPC

Mon 26 Mar 2018 10:15 AM by cptstoni

comming from a 8man player. the buffpots might actually imbalance, but having buffnpcs would give every kind of player a "buff" and not really create any imbalance.

now saying that im not talking about capped red buffs at lvl 50. more like yellow buffs without +buffbonus. also no shenanigans like endu pom/crack and health regen.

solo players will have one less money drain wich might be a drawback, but this could be bypassed by charging for the buffs. theire overall experince will surely be better.
smallman players will have the freedom to not only build the 3-5 variantions in groups normally, wich would probably get more ppl to rvr instead of waiting for this one cleric/druid/shaman in order to run.
8man will profit more if they are hibb/alb or a midd castergrp. and allow for more setup variations aswell.

cheers

Mon 26 Mar 2018 2:29 PM by Isavyr

The easiest change would be to add function that gives two, or three, buff pots for every craft. This would make the materials effectively a third the price, without actually modifying them.

I second what others say--it would largely change the meta to introduce buff NPC or buff-bots. A minor last point: with Friars having determination, they may find some use on this server, and Albion can run spec AF!

Mon 26 Mar 2018 3:44 PM by cptstoni

buffbots were part of the game long before the aimed patch, so how can it change the meta?

Tue 27 Mar 2018 11:10 AM by Kevin

curious as to what class Isavyr gonna play. can only see a soloer pushing so hard for buffbots and buffpots.

Tue 27 Mar 2018 2:16 PM by Isavyr

Well, Kevin, that's where you're wrong. I am not a solo'er, but their perspective has to be entertained in the interest of all.

Wed 28 Mar 2018 6:07 PM by Inactas

You're wrong KEVIN.

Thu 29 Mar 2018 8:08 AM by Kevin

solos just benefit the most from buffpots / buff NPC's. there are plenty of item charges in the game if you want buffs.
zergers can benefit from this as well but them you give zero incentive to organize at all. might as well give them croc ring as well.
90% of the time i did not run base con on my cleric and gave spec AF to either the Minst or the Sorc depending how the night was going. and there was spec AF charges easily available for anyone who was not lazy.

a buff NPC is just absurd. buff pots of lesser stats i can see the reasoning but where is the line drawn? just allow dual log and buff bots at that point.

Tue 3 Apr 2018 11:53 AM by Ivi

well rip necro in grp or 8v8 then, no grp will have the conz or run 3 buff classes just to power a necro pet.
i was so hyped for the necro mechanic improvements in rvr #sad

Tue 3 Apr 2018 10:48 PM by Ivi

cptstoni wrote: ↑
Mon 26 Mar 2018 3:44 PM
buffbots were part of the game long before the aimed patch, so how can it change the meta?

holy fuck yes, nearly every set grp in this time had a buffbot, some even two.
how much of the entire daoc live population is buffbot accounts?

and no, as i sayed i dont want buffbot accounts, i just want a possibility for long lasting "buffbotlike" buffs, nothing that changes the game.

let us pay for it! a good way to get some ingame money out of the game again

Thu 5 Apr 2018 12:29 PM by Mirelind

As a person that can never manage to pull together an 8 man group or find an invite, i would love to see some form of buffs available. It would allow for more casual players to have a fun night out playing with a couple of friends and still remain competitive. DAOC was never really about what 8 man group could out do another 8 man group in a setup scheduled fight. It was about picking off stragglers, or running out getting a small scale fight and also taking towers or keeps. Who wants to insta die to a guard cause they don't have buffs, this counts more towards stealthers and some casters.

Any ways just my two cents. Good luck making a decision.

One final note the emulator servers that have done well included buff merchants. The ones that have gone under left it out or had slow leveling. So who want to see the server survive i do. So my vote is for buff merchants. Plus it will get rid of the annoy buffbots at keeps saga.

Thu 5 Apr 2018 1:10 PM by Throck

I am ok with buffpots and buffnpcs, but I am against buffbots, especially at release. There is already going to be a server queue because of the population at release and I do not think it is fair to anyone to have half of the queue be buffbots. I especially do not want to see the population end up dropping becaue people do not want to deal with those buffbot queues and just give up on the server. Also, I do not think it is fair to players to not get in groups because everyone wants to level their buffbots etc, especially since most people who play this really want to get to end game RvR. I think when the server is established and if population drops off this topic should be revisited, but for the sake of the server I think it is a bad idea to start. I think that the fact that this server has such a great RoG system already makes things a lot easier then other servers anyway.

Thu 17 May 2018 11:15 PM by Joc

One idea that would make pot/buff juggling soooooo much easier for smallman and solos would be a 30m or 60m timer on pot buffs. There is NOTHING MORE ANNOYING than ten minute buff timers. It changes nothing as far as effectiveness, but it's a huge QoL change for many.

Just an idea.

Thu 17 May 2018 11:57 PM by Haruspex

I have no problem with whatever the staff decides, whether better pots, or a buff NPC or even neither at all.

My only concern is that the Necromancer and other pet classes like Bonedancer (especially Bone Army specs) doesn't get screwed. Make the buffs apply to the PET when it is summoned. Necromancer cannot do anything without their pet and if everyone else is benefiting from the Buff NPC (assuming that got implemented) then Bone Army pets should at least be competetive and have buffs also.

Fri 18 May 2018 5:15 AM by Tree

By that logic buffs should transfer to all pets in the game to keep it fair. However I dont think thats wise in terms of balance. Pet classes are already very powerful (in PvE).

Btw not in favor of buff npc, but pots could use some love.

Sat 19 May 2018 1:29 AM by Haruspex

Tree wrote: ↑
Fri 18 May 2018 5:15 AM
By that logic buffs should transfer to all pets in the game to keep it fair. However I dont think thats wise in terms of balance. Pet classes are already very powerful (in PvE).

Btw not in favor of buff npc, but pots could use some love.

I disagree. Cabalist/Enchanter/Spiritmasters all receive pet buffs for speccing in their Pet line as well as other benefits. Bonedancers do not aside from a Dex/Quick buff.

Secondly, a necromancer can literally DO NOTHING without his pet. Not having the NPC/POT apply the buff to the pet instead of the Shade is grossly unfair and imbalanced against the Necromancer.