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A lot of my in game friends are upset

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AuthorMessage
Bosun
Aug 21, 2009
358
over the changes in the test realm. We like to farm gold together and enjoy everything dropping more gold and are harder to defeat and are more to fight against when in a group. The proposed test realm changes aren't sitting well with a lot of my game friends. It simply is more fun when things become harder but rewards improve as a group.
Petty Officer
Dec 22, 2010
50
Count me as one who is really upset by this. I feel like I have less reason to play the game since I've finished it. Before I was training all my bought companions and furnishing houses. Now that's impossible.

Why kill farming?
Petty Officer
Jan 09, 2010
67
If you all join the battle at the start it's no different to what happens now. So just ensure you and your friends run around in a group together.
Community Leader
I have to agree here.

Places like the Miranda instance may have been an exploit, but minor ones and frankly, not all exploits are bad. It wasn't free gold, it wasn't common or easy enough to throw of the entire game economy, you had to work for it. What's wrong with that? It was a way for players to work for in-game things that would otherwise take a long, long time to fund.

Honestly, if players are willing to put in the work grinding, what's so bad about a high-drop area to accommodate them?
Bosun
Aug 21, 2009
358
Logansan on Nov 8, 2012 wrote:
If you all join the battle at the start it's no different to what happens now. So just ensure you and your friends run around in a group together.
This is bull. I've done that, first its often hard for everyone to join first turn together even when standing next to them as you aren't quite sure if who you are playing with has gone in yet or not. Second, the drops have drecreased so far that I've seen. Third, when you have a quest for 10 or so of something its so much harder and takes so much longer to complete now. Fourth, it feels like a complete waste of time when either you or your friends get into a fight without any companions. Changes to the game should improve things not make what worked quite well not work well at all. Don't fix that what is not broken.
Community Leader
I agree as well.
My friends had a few places we'd use to farm for gold that no longer are helpful.

We still spent hours farming, it wasnt like it was "free" gold, we'd simply learned to use the games dynamics to make the most of our farming time.

Unfortunately now its ultimately a grind if you want any useful amount of gold...

At Level 50, and a training tome for my companions is 5100 gold. Even if I spent a few days trying to max out my gold. Thats 19 tomes you can purchase at most total IF you max your gold, and when it takes 4-5 tomes to raise a companion from level 49 to 50, thats ridiculous. And no, doing all the sidequests etc, using smart leveling of companions still does not "fit the bill".
Grind... grind... grind.... for gold.
Pirates dont work for gold, they pillage it.... requiring effort is one thing, requiring an endless grind, runs the game into the ground.

OFxLedzeplin/OFxSaint
Silent Sam Stern - lvl50 Witchdoctor (ok, im not so silent...)
Dr Zeppers (aka Silent Sam Stern)
Piratey parodies I like to make.
I be a crazy pirate for goodness sake!
Artist & Admin of Skull Island TV
Gunner's Mate
Oct 22, 2011
210
A Mythspent Youth on Nov 8, 2012 wrote:
I have to agree here.

Places like the Miranda instance may have been an exploit, but minor ones and frankly, not all exploits are bad. It wasn't free gold, it wasn't common or easy enough to throw of the entire game economy, you had to work for it. What's wrong with that? It was a way for players to work for in-game things that would otherwise take a long, long time to fund.

Honestly, if players are willing to put in the work grinding, what's so bad about a high-drop area to accommodate them?
Even KI has said there are excellent places to farm for gear and gold. Now they have all been nerfed. I wouldn't say it was an exploit, because it was set up to obtain good rewards in the first place. It's a dungeon. You work the dungeon, sometimes for hours to try and get the rewards, so yes, what's so bad about a high drop area to accommodate us?

If the rewards are reduced, then the cost of items, like tomes, need to be reduced so we can actually play the game as it was intended.
Bosun
May 10, 2010
396
WoW, not very often, if at all, but I must agree with Seasnake for a change.

KI has stated specifically, that you need to put time and effort into farming, but then they make these changes and now, even farming is uselsess. I always thought the concept was crowns vs time, which to me, has always made KI and these games great, especially since I am not a person that has extra money to spend.

I did find a nice gold farm spot in the Abandoned Church, the Church Graveyard, Miranda, and the Jail House in Tumbleweed. Now, all these places drop very little gold and are not worth the effort. Yet the cost of ships, training tomes, gear, and everything else, is still expensive and very costly. So, we are expected to keep farming for very little, putting in even more and more time into a very little return.

Sorry, KI, but in my opion, you all dropped the ball on this one, because you are contradicting your own words and views.

I don't see any of these places as exploits, especially considering, they are not dropping crown gear or items, just gold, which is what pirates are supposed to be after anyway. I mean, look at all the places we have been, with tons of gold just laying around, and we wouldn't pick it up? lol I know it is for looks, but come on. Then, in ship battles and normal battles, we can get anywhere from 1 gold or more in the treasure chests. Where and when are you going to draw the line and make an economy that is balanced?

Working for what you get has always been ideal, even if you have an easier time when you are level 50, fighting in areas that are level 35, you took the time to reach max level, and should be making the gold easier.

Please KI, reconsider your nerfs of the so called gold Exploits and really learn the definition of an exploit.
Ensign
Dec 06, 2009
30
A Mythspent Youth on Nov 8, 2012 wrote:
I have to agree here.

Places like the Miranda instance may have been an exploit, but minor ones and frankly, not all exploits are bad. It wasn't free gold, it wasn't common or easy enough to throw of the entire game economy, you had to work for it. What's wrong with that? It was a way for players to work for in-game things that would otherwise take a long, long time to fund.

Honestly, if players are willing to put in the work grinding, what's so bad about a high-drop area to accommodate them?
Couldn't agree more Mythspent.

It took time to aquire that 100,000 gold from Miranda; with an average drop rate of 2,500 gold per battle, that equates to roughly 40 battles at 2-4 minutes each.

I could understand the reason for the nerf if there was a level 50 equivalent - such as the elemental bosses in Mooshu..however, even after a couple hours of farming the wood and earth bosses, I have only gathered 6,000 and 10 pieces of gear that added up to a couple thousand .

This makes me feel like Darth Vader at the end of Revenge of the Sith:

*clears throat* ahem: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Petty Officer
Dec 22, 2010
50
Want to chiime in again. This impacts negatively a lot of things. My lower level characters, which I use to escort into Miranda, can no longer buy ship fuel, furniture, etc. Every dime goes to training tomes and character promotions.

Also, KI encourages you to buy companions, for instance, and now there is no reasonable way to train them at higher levels.

If KI still thinks there are excellent places to farm for gold, I'd like to know exactly where they are. Personally all gold drops are too low, not just the ones in Miranda. I was in Mooshu and opened a chest and got 9 gold!

Without a place to farm for gold, there is no incentive to keep playing your level 50 characters.
Lieutenant
Jan 29, 2010
161
KI says there are good places to farm for items and gold, some of us figured out where those good farming areas were. By changing (nerfing) these known farming areas it just feels like KI is removing farming from the game (or punishing those of us that actually found the good farming areas).
Petty Officer
Feb 24, 2012
98
yar mates
i keep getting 1 gold, 1 gold i couldnt beleive it!
lvl 50, hard battles, times involved etc etc etc
1 gold? over and over again
you get more gold going back and fighting the troggies! if you spend an hour killing them, it would be way more gold than an hour long battle in mooshoo!
i just dont get it

Community Leader
Having read all the comments so far I feel I should add that this nerfing of gold farming, when taking along with the fact that so few crown items are available for gold (especially when compared with Wizard101) just feels wrong to me.

While I'm sure it's unintentional, that combination gives the unmistakable impression that KI is trying to push players toward buying crowns exclusively.

Look, I love KI and I love both games, but I don't love certain aspects of how this one is starting out. No one disputes that KI is a business and that a business must make a profit in order to remain viable and vital. And I certainly don't want to come off as one of those players that shakes my fist and howls at every profit-generating addition, (profit isn't evil after all, it's necessary.) However, KI didn't become the company it is by giving the impression that it's credo was profit before players.

Again, I'm sure that impression is completely unintentional, but it's there nonetheless, and I don't understand why that should be. Especially in a game that is geared primarily for families.

Please, reconsider where this is headed. Please give us the ability to work for gold again. Please adjust drops to fit the level of the area. And please, please, please let us buy more crown items with gold, just as in Wizard101.
Bosun
Aug 21, 2009
358
A Mythspent Youth on Nov 10, 2012 wrote:
Having read all the comments so far I feel I should add that this nerfing of gold farming, when taking along with the fact that so few crown items are available for gold (especially when compared with Wizard101) just feels wrong to me.

While I'm sure it's unintentional, that combination gives the unmistakable impression that KI is trying to push players toward buying crowns exclusively.

Look, I love KI and I love both games, but I don't love certain aspects of how this one is starting out. No one disputes that KI is a business and that a business must make a profit in order to remain viable and vital. And I certainly don't want to come off as one of those players that shakes my fist and howls at every profit-generating addition, (profit isn't evil after all, it's necessary.) However, KI didn't become the company it is by giving the impression that it's credo was profit before players.

Again, I'm sure that impression is completely unintentional, but it's there nonetheless, and I don't understand why that should be. Especially in a game that is geared primarily for families.

Please, reconsider where this is headed. Please give us the ability to work for gold again. Please adjust drops to fit the level of the area. And please, please, please let us buy more crown items with gold, just as in Wizard101.
Here is the thing though, KingsIsle is losing money by doing these things, not making it. My friends list players have largely stopped playing since the change. I no longer enjoy helping lower level players as when they cry for help and join I don't have companions and the fights are long and boring due to the changes. In Wizards101 players loved their houses and farmed for them and worked hard for them, those houses were obtainable with gold. In Pirate101 I ask players how they like their houses, and they respond houses???, we don't have the gold for such things and as such they aren't that interested in seeing the houses that others have. When it comes to companions, less players buy them cause they simply can't afford to train them, they drop the chances of their best companions coming up and there is no incentive to getting any. If only the first page of companions were included in the percentages then you could try to get new companions and bump off those you absolutely hate and some of the companions are incredibly annoying such as the weasel (hate the voice) and some feel very abusive to me such as the gunfighting chickens (they may not be abusive themselves, but they can stir up abusive memories in players when playing with them). KingsIsle is losing money by not allowing players more control and not allowing them to play as well together and not allowing them to gold farm. If there is a problem with the amount of gold an area drops, then down the gold amount in that area but don't change the entire way fights are fought over it. The changes made have so far come with tons of bugs. Why fix what wasn't broken?, its broken now just looking at the newly added buggy play.
Administrator
Thomas Stormweaver on Nov 7, 2012 wrote:
Count me as one who is really upset by this. I feel like I have less reason to play the game since I've finished it. Before I was training all my bought companions and furnishing houses. Now that's impossible.

Why kill farming?
Just to be clear here.

We have not "killed" farming. What we have done is fix a bug in the loot table that was causing certain Cool Ranch enemies to drop far more gold than intended for the amount of effort and difficulty involved.

Cool Ranch mobs are not supposed to be dropping more gold than the more difficult mobs in Mooshu.
*One-Eyed Jack, Your Pirate101 Community Manager*
Ensign
Dec 06, 2009
30
One-Eyed Jack on Nov 11, 2012 wrote:
Just to be clear here.

We have not "killed" farming. What we have done is fix a bug in the loot table that was causing certain Cool Ranch enemies to drop far more gold than intended for the amount of effort and difficulty involved.

Cool Ranch mobs are not supposed to be dropping more gold than the more difficult mobs in Mooshu.
We got a little off track with the flaming...

I don't think any rational player is angry over the nerfing of Cool Ranch mob drops..it's that there is no equivalent in the higher level mobs or instances.

If I am incorrect in this assumption, I'd would really appreciate a tip on where I should be farming.

As I said in my earlier post: even after farming the final boses, I have very little to show for it. In W101, you could farm for a few hours on MS or DS bosses and come away with 70-100k in gold. It's just not viable as is.

I think what we are trying to say is: please up the gold drop for higher level bosses - even if it is minor, it would us from begging for gold at Skull Island like Blind Mew.
Community Leader
One-Eyed Jack on Nov 11, 2012 wrote:
Just to be clear here.

We have not "killed" farming. What we have done is fix a bug in the loot table that was causing certain Cool Ranch enemies to drop far more gold than intended for the amount of effort and difficulty involved.

Cool Ranch mobs are not supposed to be dropping more gold than the more difficult mobs in Mooshu.
Well it was nice of them to fix this "bug".
Now how about they put equal effort into fixing the "1" gold bug. I still get numerous chests in cool ranch, haunted sky, mooshu that give 1 gold, I have even found some that give NO chest whatsoever. There is nothing in these areas that warrant penalizing the player with such a meaningless reward.

Why are they so quick to fix the issues that are an advantage to the player but continually put off fixing the things that are frustrating the players. Companions we must use that are known to be bugged, badges we are expected to pursue that do not work, etc.
Dr Zeppers (aka Silent Sam Stern)
Piratey parodies I like to make.
I be a crazy pirate for goodness sake!
Artist & Admin of Skull Island TV
Community Leader
One-Eyed Jack on Nov 11, 2012 wrote:
Just to be clear here.

We have not "killed" farming. What we have done is fix a bug in the loot table that was causing certain Cool Ranch enemies to drop far more gold than intended for the amount of effort and difficulty involved.

Cool Ranch mobs are not supposed to be dropping more gold than the more difficult mobs in Mooshu.
It's funny, but because the drops were so much higher in Miranda, I figured it had to have been set that way on purpose. You know, as a final financial boost before going on to MooShu.

Accidental bonus or not, however, I still say it was better as it was. It gave added incentive to progress through what has become a very expensive game economy. Especially when one considers the ever increasing cost of training companions. And it's not as if you can save money by ignoring the training of companions at the bottom of your list. Low percentage or not, there is still a chance that they'll show up in a battle, and they'd better be up to snuff if you want to win the fight.

So, either the game needs to be adjusted back to the gold farming days of yor (last week) or, give us the ability to drop a number of companions off of our active lists. (That second idea would work really well with the ability to put companions in our houses.)

And really, I think the Crab Hermit would make a much better butler than battler.
Bosun
May 10, 2010
396
One-Eyed Jack on Nov 11, 2012 wrote:
Just to be clear here.

We have not "killed" farming. What we have done is fix a bug in the loot table that was causing certain Cool Ranch enemies to drop far more gold than intended for the amount of effort and difficulty involved.

Cool Ranch mobs are not supposed to be dropping more gold than the more difficult mobs in Mooshu.
I am sorry to have to disagree One-Eyed Jack, but there are many areas that still drop 1 gold. Scorpions, Buffaloons, Hornets, Wasps, and even enemies in Mooshu. These were not fixed!

Now, the places that were dropping good gold are now dropping 1/10 of what they were, if that, that is not a fix, that is a major nerf!

Ship battles even vary in the gold dropped, from 1 to 1000 gold, even in Mooshu, fighting the Amber Hoard ships. Now there is no increase on the places that should be dropping gold, but an immediate fix to those good farming areas that helped every player with the cost of ships, gear items, and training tomes? Especially when there are so many other real bugs that needed to be fixed first.

Sorry, but this is rather disappointing, if KI would have fixed all the places that gold drops are too low first or at the same time, then it may not be as big of a deal, but to lower the gold drops to 1/10 and not even by 1/2, that is what is making this a major NERF and not acceptable!
Petty Officer
Nov 28, 2008
82
Just my 2 cents worth.

My highest character hasnt made it to the area in discussion but Im seeing this from a different point.

There is no way to trade stuff to players and there is no way to pass or trade gold, even to yourself. Soooo, what does it really matter if one character spends hours making gold coins, even to max it at 100k? Is that so bad? There is no economy to ruin. Its only on his sheet for his use.

The only thing to buy is junk armor from the stores that can be found (and better) fron every chest in a regular fight. Or - you buy housing items and try to invest your time and personality into the house, of which no one except friends can see. And then, its just for looking at. They cant actually take anything or benefit from your work. Or 3rd - level up your companions. Its already over 2k per point to buy book and Im only just into the 30's. I have no idea what it will be at 50. Maybe 4k each? Based on that total guess, you could gring gold to max and still only buy 25 tomes.. which probably doesnt even give you 1 per companion based on what Ive been reading about too many companions threads.

Am I missing something? Is there something else to spend gold on that Ive totally missed? I dont do housing fluff and I have better gear from drops, it cant be given to your lower levels to help with books, so basically its a useless stat with the exception of companion training.

Where am I wrong on my thinking? What have I missed?
Bosun
Sep 08, 2008
388
I will reply by asking, has the physical loot table been changed? I.E. My mother received an Armadillo pet from so and so in Cool Ranch (before loot fix), and I was wondering if that so and so in Cool Ranch still dropped that Armadillo pet (after that loot fix).

I REALLY want that pet, yet after countless days, still have not gotten one.
Lieutenant
Jan 29, 2010
161
A Mythspent Youth on Nov 11, 2012 wrote:
It's funny, but because the drops were so much higher in Miranda, I figured it had to have been set that way on purpose. You know, as a final financial boost before going on to MooShu.

Accidental bonus or not, however, I still say it was better as it was. It gave added incentive to progress through what has become a very expensive game economy. Especially when one considers the ever increasing cost of training companions. And it's not as if you can save money by ignoring the training of companions at the bottom of your list. Low percentage or not, there is still a chance that they'll show up in a battle, and they'd better be up to snuff if you want to win the fight.

So, either the game needs to be adjusted back to the gold farming days of yor (last week) or, give us the ability to drop a number of companions off of our active lists. (That second idea would work really well with the ability to put companions in our houses.)

And really, I think the Crab Hermit would make a much better butler than battler.
What I find interesting is that the companion percentages in the management section don't always seem to be applied to the companion. It feels like my 0 - 5% companions show up far more often than my 12 - 20% companions. So, like you, I am forced to keep them at a viable level (huge training tome cost). I would love to be able to leave my less useful companions at my house.
Lieutenant
Jan 29, 2010
161
eveque67 on Nov 12, 2012 wrote:
Just my 2 cents worth.

My highest character hasnt made it to the area in discussion but Im seeing this from a different point.

There is no way to trade stuff to players and there is no way to pass or trade gold, even to yourself. Soooo, what does it really matter if one character spends hours making gold coins, even to max it at 100k? Is that so bad? There is no economy to ruin. Its only on his sheet for his use.

The only thing to buy is junk armor from the stores that can be found (and better) fron every chest in a regular fight. Or - you buy housing items and try to invest your time and personality into the house, of which no one except friends can see. And then, its just for looking at. They cant actually take anything or benefit from your work. Or 3rd - level up your companions. Its already over 2k per point to buy book and Im only just into the 30's. I have no idea what it will be at 50. Maybe 4k each? Based on that total guess, you could gring gold to max and still only buy 25 tomes.. which probably doesnt even give you 1 per companion based on what Ive been reading about too many companions threads.

Am I missing something? Is there something else to spend gold on that Ive totally missed? I dont do housing fluff and I have better gear from drops, it cant be given to your lower levels to help with books, so basically its a useless stat with the exception of companion training.

Where am I wrong on my thinking? What have I missed?
Let me see:

1) Ships -- continually need upgrading and cost several thousand each (progressively increasing with each needed upgrade)

2) Ship equipment -- must match each ship accordingly

3) Gear-- not every person in game gets the same drops all the time (what you get today someone else may not get tomorrow), and some gear may be better in the shops

4) Weapons -- see gear

5) Houses -- while you may not care for this aspect of the game, many people do, and the least expensive house is 75,000 gold

6) Housing items -- decoration is a skill, and if the game evolves like W101 did there may be occasional contests for in game goodies

7) Training tomes -- as your character levels the cost of tomes goes up, so 28 companions x 5,000 gold per tome at level 50 = 140,000 gold for one tome per companion (and figure that the lower your level the less gold you have to keep training your companions: 16 companions x 2,000 gold per tome = 32,000 gold for one tome per companion)

8) Name changes and ship/gear dying -- this may be another thing you care little about, but some people do and there is a cost involved.

Futuristically speaking there will be the bazaar, crafting, and other things not yet in game that will require gold.
Ensign
Dec 13, 2008
37
From reading the posts above and from my own experiences in the game I think that the thing which has not been addressed and is causing many of the problems, is not whether or not the areas that were modified were dropping too much loot and had to be changed.
It's more that KI felt that cutting back high profit gold areas was more important then beefing up low profit areas of higher level zones.

If cool ranch is going to have max drops in the 500 gold or less range then a number of areas in mooshu need to have minimum drops that are above 200 gold.
I should not be sinking jade fleet ships and only getting 1 gold for my effort.

So please if we are going to have maximums in some areas lowered, can we also have minimums in some areas raised?
Petty Officer
Dec 22, 2010
50
Shiningfantasia on Nov 12, 2012 wrote:
I will reply by asking, has the physical loot table been changed? I.E. My mother received an Armadillo pet from so and so in Cool Ranch (before loot fix), and I was wondering if that so and so in Cool Ranch still dropped that Armadillo pet (after that loot fix).

I REALLY want that pet, yet after countless days, still have not gotten one.
Just to be certain, you are at Hang 'em right?
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