Items And Loot Archive
Thread: Why I joined the dark side and started camping.
Page 6 of 6
Doo-Boo
Tue Feb 08, 2005 4:33 am
#66
"Then I started the grind towards Weaponsmith. Now, I take pride in my work, but no matter how hard I try, I can't make weapons even close to the same quality as the prominent weaponsmith's on my server. Everywhere I look, I see signs advertising +2 weaponsmith. I told myself, well, that's okay - as long as I use quality resources, I should make some that are almost the same quality."
Going back to your original post about why you AFK cheat. I was a WS for a few months and had no problem competing with the 12 point WS. It's ALL about going out and mining the best possible resources. You need to be dedicated to finding these resources when they shift in and hording them when they do. You will counter: but they have been doing it longer so have the better resources. Bunk! New and improved resources shift in all the time! Get out there and harvest your butt off to become a better smith!
How many months have you been playing the game?
Edit: Your auction post was on 1-31. This post is from 2-3. Did you have a religious experience in THREE days to make you become a noble giver of goods? PFFT
Going back to your original post about why you AFK cheat. I was a WS for a few months and had no problem competing with the 12 point WS. It's ALL about going out and mining the best possible resources. You need to be dedicated to finding these resources when they shift in and hording them when they do. You will counter: but they have been doing it longer so have the better resources. Bunk! New and improved resources shift in all the time! Get out there and harvest your butt off to become a better smith!
How many months have you been playing the game?
Edit: Your auction post was on 1-31. This post is from 2-3. Did you have a religious experience in THREE days to make you become a noble giver of goods? PFFT
Message Edited by Doo-Boo on 02-08-2005 07:03 AM
Jagged-F3l
Tue Feb 08, 2005 7:19 am
#67
Symphony wrote:
The subject line alone is probably enough to get me one-starred even before the post is read, but give me a minute and let me explain.
Once upon a time, I was a noob to this game and thought that smuggler would be the coolest profession ever. I needed containers to slice and sat outside my local bank/starport and shouted for them. I shouted that I would slice for free (even though a Master Smuggler charged me 20000 credits just to make me a clamp schematic - not even for metal, just the schematic). I got a bite here and there, but for the most part, I felt like a leper - no one needed their containers opened.
So, I looked on the bazaar for containers. 6000 credits each! I couldn't believe it! I am now a Master Smuggler and I have NEVER seen anything in one that would justify that kind of cost. You can't get anything out of a container that would be worth 6000 credits. So why would someone want a smuggler to open one? Once it's open, it's worthless, but smugglers have to have them to gain rank, so some people chose toexploit us for a few credits.
Well, like I said, I spent 20000 credits to get the clamp schematic, so I sure couldn't afford to buy any containers! BUT! I found out that meatlumps dropped containers, so I headed off to Coronet to kill some meatlumps. At first, I killed them the old-fashioned way (actually sitting at the keyboard), but after a while, I discovered the combat macro commands and I set up a macro to autokill meatlumps all night while I slept.
Not only did I get about 10-15 containers to slice, but I made almost 60k just killing meatlumps! This was more credits than I'd ever seen! I could now afford to buy three clamp schematics! Woo-hoo! Plus, I made pistol xp towards the other parts of being smuggler! It was brilliant! I'm a genius!
But, this got me thinking - what about my fellow smugglers? They're still paying 6000 credits for a container. That's just wrong. So I kept camping meatlumps and started selling the containers for 1000 to 1500 each on my vendor and 2000 on the bazaar. If someone talked to me in person, I only charged 500. If I liked the person I was talking to and thought they would use their power for good, I told them about my /afk macro and told them how to do it. I e-mailed them the details of my macro. In time, I saw the price of containers drop to about 2 - 3k on the bazaar. Was this because of me? I'm almost conceited enough to say that it was!
Then I started the grind towards Weaponsmith. Now, I take pride in my work, but no matter how hard I try, I can't make weapons even close to the same quality as the prominent weaponsmith's on my server. Everywhere I look, I see signs advertising +2 weaponsmith. I told myself, well, that's okay - as long as I use quality resources, I should make some that are almost the same quality.
I started spamming requests for quality resources - irolunn reactive gas for example. It's used in advanced power handlers which are used in EVERY firearm. I had a doctor tell me that he had some irolunn gas with 900+ OQ - perfect for what I was looking for. And, he'd only charge me 120 cpu. 120 flippin cpu?!! You gotta be kidding me! Killing meatlumps just doesn't pay the kind of credits where I could afford that kind of price. (Huge thanks to the WS who sold me some 649 OQ gas for only 1 cpu - it's folks like you who make the game worth playing)
So, if I want to compete in the Weaponsmith market, I need clothing attachments and decent resources. I'm slowly building up a resource selection, but no one is offering clothing attachments for a reasonable price.
When I think about it, the ONLY way I can think of to bring down the price of these things where they can be affordable to mere mortals is to flood the market with them. It worked for the containers, and I think it will work for the posters, adhesives, clothing attachments, whatever.
Who do I hurt by camping? I hurt the guy that was going to wander in to the borgle cave POI and loot the goodies at the bottom of the cave. Unless he was going to camp the same spot (in which case, he's as guilty as I am), he's only going to put 2 or 3 attachments into circulation. Personally, I don't camp during high traffic times so others will get a shot at the goodies - just during the low times when the spawns might be wasted, but that's me.
Now, if you're complaint is that I am /afk while camping it and you wanted to camp it while actually at your keyboard, I'm afraid I don't see the difference. Am I evil because I want to sleep? I don't think so, but regardless, you CAN beat my macro. In fact, there's a guy on my server (BullseyeHUN) who consistently beats it. He must have quite a bit of patience, but it doesn't bother me, because the attachments are still getting into circulation and I know he will eventually get bored and leave.
I do not believe it's the /afk macro guys that cause the problems, I think it's the people that will pay millions for clothing attachments or over 100 thousand for adhesives. Tell me this, who would camp Nyax, or whatever his name is, if they only made a few thousand credits for it?
Maybe you think I'm a bad guy, but IMO, I'm doing more good than harm. If you need one of the attachments that I just looted from the borgle cave, send me a /tell. If I have one, I'll trade you for a WS tape with similar stats. If it's a +1 tape, you can probably have it.
If you need WS resources, look me up - I don't have much, but I'll do what I can. If you need a clamp schematic, bring me the metal you want to use and I won't charge you a single credit. I don't camp meatlumps much these days, but if you need containers, come see me with the novice smuggler tag on and I'll send you a macro so you can get some sleep.
Welcome to the dark side.
I strongly disagree with your reasons for "camping".
Players pay alot for high-quality resources because they spawn very infrequently. Players pay alot for adhesives because there was a time when they dropped infrequently. Players pay alot for +10-20 attachments because they are rare, and are meant to be rare.
Personally, I think you sound like a spoiled child, "OMG, if I can't afford to be an uber armorsmith, I'm going to cheat to become one and to hell with the community." That is what you sound like. There are veterns in this game that have had no choice but to do everything the "hard way", because this is the way it was when the game first went live. There are players that choose to do things the "hard way" because they find it fun. I absolutely have no tolerance for impatient children that come into this game and expect to be uber this or uber that overnight.
Let me give you an example of how the game is intended to be played. I decided I wanted to be a shipwright when I was beta testing JTL. I felt this profession added an interesting element of fun to the game. So, when I was playing my live account, I spent the seven weeks before JTL was going live gathering resources, setting up houses to store the resources, and constructing factories to build subcomponents. When JTL went live, I had enough resources to start crafting tier 1, 2, and 3 ships and components, which I sold on my vendor to anxious pilots. With the money I earned from sales, I bought more resources to continue through the rest of shipwright and eventually became master. I had fun, other players benefitted from my grind, I made a few extra credits along the way.
majorslappy
Tue Feb 08, 2005 7:52 am
#68
The answer isn't AFK loot camping. It isn't ending recursive macros which are very helpful in other situations. It also isn't sending the drop rate for CA/AA's through the roof.
The answer is simple. Isolate the rooms/caverns where the loot-dropper is. Instance that room. Put a timer on it for the player so that the player can only enter the spawn once every 24 hours. Once the spawn is killed and looted, the player is booted from the instanced room. With instantiation and gated drops, the problem disappears completely. No loot camping. No AFKers. No killstealing. Amazing eh?
DraconianOne
Tue Feb 08, 2005 8:06 am
#69
Okay, I confess: I've made quite a bit of money while AFK.
My secret? I saved up, bought some harvesters, found a good resource spot, placed the harvesters, set them running and then sold my resources to people who wanted them. The great thing was that I didn't have to sort out a macro (beyond the "get off my bike, survey, get back on my back" macro which is now, thankfully, redundant anyway). I could even log off my PC and still be earning money (albeit in the form of resources).
When the new loot publish came out with the recyclers, I knew I wanted them. So I went and camped the Binyare bunker on Talus to get blue wire and heating elements. Now, before you rush off and respond that I'm a hypocrite, let me add two further points:
1. I was never, ever AFK and don't even use any type of macro.
2. I only ever did that when there was no-one else there. If someone turned up after I'd done one complete sweep, I'd leave and let them have free run of the place. Sometimes I might get there to find someone else there and we'd have a chat and perhaps swap items that each other needed.
It isn't against the terms and conditions of the game to play the game AFK but it's not a style of playing the game I understand or empathise with. It certainly demeans the achievements of players who only ever play the game ATK. For example, my toon has, after 5 or 6 months of playing, still not yet mastered TKA. I've been working at it more recently and made some huge leaps. I've been working my way up to taking on harder and harder mobs and exploring more of the galaxy. Eventually I'm going to be a TKM and I'm going to have been there for every minute and I know I will feel I've achieved something and have stories to tell about the first random nightsister encounter I had, having risked life and limb as a novice TKA by having risked taking on a Tusken Warlord (and seeing the difference a month or so later when I was much more advanced).
But I could have just found a spawn of meatlumps, set up a macro and left my PC running while I was asleep or at work or whatever and got to TKM without any effort on my part.
The thing is, why should anyone say to me "Congratulations on getting to TKM - that's a real achievement!" when they know that I could have easily set up a macro and done it AFK?
As for it being easy to steal kills from an AFK camper, it's not that easy as a novice TKA to respond quicker and outdamage an AFK, speedcapped pistoleer. My only hope is that the mobs aggro me first if I stand in the right place. Even then, the AFK looter is likely to get the kill with his ranged weapon. At least with an ATK camper I can hope that they might let me take one or two of the mobs for my own (unlike the player who told a friend recently to "shoo" away from the spot he was camping and find her own place).
I don't expect you to be convinced that, while AFK gameplay may not be condemned by the EULA, it is not a style of gameplay that should be encouraged or practiced. Just don't expect me to respect you or congratulate you on looting that awesome SEA.
My secret? I saved up, bought some harvesters, found a good resource spot, placed the harvesters, set them running and then sold my resources to people who wanted them. The great thing was that I didn't have to sort out a macro (beyond the "get off my bike, survey, get back on my back" macro which is now, thankfully, redundant anyway). I could even log off my PC and still be earning money (albeit in the form of resources).
When the new loot publish came out with the recyclers, I knew I wanted them. So I went and camped the Binyare bunker on Talus to get blue wire and heating elements. Now, before you rush off and respond that I'm a hypocrite, let me add two further points:
1. I was never, ever AFK and don't even use any type of macro.
2. I only ever did that when there was no-one else there. If someone turned up after I'd done one complete sweep, I'd leave and let them have free run of the place. Sometimes I might get there to find someone else there and we'd have a chat and perhaps swap items that each other needed.
It isn't against the terms and conditions of the game to play the game AFK but it's not a style of playing the game I understand or empathise with. It certainly demeans the achievements of players who only ever play the game ATK. For example, my toon has, after 5 or 6 months of playing, still not yet mastered TKA. I've been working at it more recently and made some huge leaps. I've been working my way up to taking on harder and harder mobs and exploring more of the galaxy. Eventually I'm going to be a TKM and I'm going to have been there for every minute and I know I will feel I've achieved something and have stories to tell about the first random nightsister encounter I had, having risked life and limb as a novice TKA by having risked taking on a Tusken Warlord (and seeing the difference a month or so later when I was much more advanced).
But I could have just found a spawn of meatlumps, set up a macro and left my PC running while I was asleep or at work or whatever and got to TKM without any effort on my part.
The thing is, why should anyone say to me "Congratulations on getting to TKM - that's a real achievement!" when they know that I could have easily set up a macro and done it AFK?
As for it being easy to steal kills from an AFK camper, it's not that easy as a novice TKA to respond quicker and outdamage an AFK, speedcapped pistoleer. My only hope is that the mobs aggro me first if I stand in the right place. Even then, the AFK looter is likely to get the kill with his ranged weapon. At least with an ATK camper I can hope that they might let me take one or two of the mobs for my own (unlike the player who told a friend recently to "shoo" away from the spot he was camping and find her own place).
I don't expect you to be convinced that, while AFK gameplay may not be condemned by the EULA, it is not a style of gameplay that should be encouraged or practiced. Just don't expect me to respect you or congratulate you on looting that awesome SEA.
Izhozz
Tue Feb 08, 2005 11:15 am
#70
I dont really care about campers. Its their choice... I make money selling resources and slicing,and soon to be pushing out serious loads of FP cheapy cheapy,so I dont really have a problem with that guy that stands in a pile of Meatlumps every single time Im there. Its actually quite fun to watch the Valarian Thiefs spawns in Mos Eisly...All the newbies standing there and tries to figure out a good combat macro...And then get totally pwned,and then return with fat wounds and repeat it all again...*sigh*
Symphony
Tue Feb 08, 2005 5:02 pm
#71
Just a note to all you guys who actually stick around at the keyboard when you're playing: you guys have a lot more patience than I do. Some of you have asked how old I am. I don't feel it's any of your business, but I was around when Armstrong landed on the moon.
Here are the things that I like about the game:
Going to the POIs and themeparks and completing the quests
Helping the new guys figure out how the game works
Helping the new guys get into the "haves" group
Here are the things I don't like about playing the game:
Taking two missions in somewhat close proximity to each other. Kill mobs and base/whatever at mission. Repeat 1000000 times until next level.
Repeat until high enough level to do the things that I do find fun.
I don't think I'm childish so much as impatient. I pay $15 a month to play this game! Why in the world would someone pay that for something they don't like doing? I did it halfway through Master Marksman and I hated it. Once I started grinding with the /afk macro, I was able to get out there and do the fun things. You can call it childish if you want, but I'm sure I'm not the only one that despises that portion of this game.
Nerfing recursive macros may cut down on camping (IMO, I don't think it will) but it will also make that grind worse with no way to get away from it. Personally, I think we should petition for some sort of improvement in the level-building process. It's just boring the way it is (surely I'm not the only one who thinks so)... Maybe you could take some kind of mission from the rifle trainers if you wanted rifle xp (role-play like he's showing you a new rifle trick because you delivered something to his buddy for him) or introduce some sort of story-flavor that even low level guys can complete.
It just gets REALLY old with all the "Farmer Brown's camp has been taken over by Cu Pas" and crap like that.
In the end, you can quote thunderheart and his theory that a game is meant to be played and not botted all day long, but if the game isn't fun to play, no one is going to pay money to do it. If they get rid of the bots, they better make the game fun. Personally, I only found it fun after I was high enough level to go out and see the POIs and theme parks. You shouldn't have to do stuff you hate just to get to the good stuff. It should start out fun and stay fun.
And regardless of whether the macros are nerfed or not, there should REALLY be instanced POIs. Whether your ATK or AFK, people are going to continue to camp Nyax and spawns like him. If they're instanced, then everyone has their very own Nyax to kill.
majorslappy
Wed Feb 09, 2005 1:51 am
#72
I think the CSRs should camp all the loot drops and keep the insanely over priced SEAs out of the game. Just as good a solution as allowing loot campers to do their thing. 
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