Time for the flames!

Many lessons have been learnt here, so I'll list what I see as being done wrong; you can add your own, with what you liked, what you disliked and how you think these things should work in the future.

I would especially like all level ranges feedback - trolls / Willow O' Wisps were aimed at mid levels.

• Capping - Initial patch did not sufficiently understand AT and Aura effects. Remedy seems to have reduced the chances more than intended. I feel that capping is a cool part of the game, however the % chances have to be controlled otherwise there is no rarity or appeal to it and/or the AI has to have worthless equipment. There is also a strong likelihood that Passive Bosses are involved with trading, which is also filling their hulls. Action taken: I have already documented Capping internally, however it would be nice to have a better system than Hull space that we have at the moment.
• Drop tables - many were broken on individual spawners, and fixing those errors / adding items to them is virtually impossible when the AI are spawned Wild. Action taken: I have documented Drop tables fully now (ty SAL!) and streamlining drop tables are on the list of "things to do"; HAL is writing new code to allow live spawners to be accessed & changed.
• Content added piecemeal - There was a significant delay on adding permanent system XML (Plague Space / Broodmother's Lair / missions); this is due to the way XML can be added to live, and the availability of dev team time. Action taken - HAL is teaching me how to do it.
• Re-use of old content - we re-used two pieces of older content, which had either older iterations of code or designs not set to a limited time contest. Action taken - live versions have been altered (Brood Mother lair is now an 8 hr lockout but fast spawn, spawner with keys reduced from 6 hrs to 1 hr respawn); in the future, all old content will be 'modernised' before release.
• Testing - I ran a 6 hour test on test server before the AI were released live; this garnered us some major bug issues which were fixed, however turn out was low (4-5 players, many thanks to them). Action taken - not sure about this one, I rely on the kindness of the PB to help!
• Placement of content - I asked HAL to add the Halloween missions to 'The Graveyard' as it struck me as a logical place for them. I failed to understand that such places can (and will) be blockaded. Bonus fun content such as Halloween is not intended to be effected by internal Player politics. Action taken - Julian made a shortcut to a protected system and I take full responsibility for the error. The mistake was inexperience, not some 'evil dev team conspiracy'.

I'm sure there's more:

Troll teeth / Ecoplasm will be updated as soon as actually possible, and I am examining capping again. Expect updates when I have definite answers.


Over all, I was disappointed in my handling of this event, however I can say that multiple lessons were learnt, and will be taken forward.

The event was very nice, though the staggered event was worrisome. Thought you guys forgot about the rats.

@Bobbo
My posts number 4755, thank you very much. 15 posts per page of my posts, 317 pages. 4756 if you count this one.

The forums always need attention. Julian does too much stuff for the CIA.

Anyone else have Halloween feedback? Or is everyone still camping?

great event thoroghly enjoyable, hower i would of liked to of spent my time in peril killing pumpkins for drops, however cos they dont drop anything my time has been spent mainly whizzing from one end of wild space to the other looking for trolls. Over all much fun event, thanks for the effort.

last haloween rat base was in sol for a reason!

The trolls and willows, and especially trick trolls were hilarious. I mean, I had a TON of fun zipping around killing low level junk when Halloween started.

The only thing on my wish list would be some unique drops from the pumpkin ships, other than the crates. Or just more crates even, or a hot pumpkin crate factory even! I liked those crates so much my shop in Grus is buying them for 25 mil each. Those were a very good idea.

overall good stuff Hope Halloween capital ships drop better goodies besides crates

Bear with me, longgggg.

For the most part, the event has been smooth. I liked the addition of Trolls and their... sayings, is the best way to put it. Naming the trolls after actual trolls was hilarious, +1.

I also liked how there was more "uber" based content. Narwhals for example were a good addition. Good loot tables, impossible(?) to solo(maybe an ungodly FC bank setup, not likely though), tough strategically. When they RAGE, it's all i can do to hang on and try to keep them in range :p I liked their scripting. Overall a solid perilous AI.

Haven't had a chance to do the broodmother's lair thing so far, as it's been camped 24/7 (thanks torchwood, db's :p), but i think it was live a couple of years ago.

Only thing I could suggest would be to keep it how it is but make it instanced with 72hr lockout, or change it to make it more like a unique instanced seasonal uber; almost like a dg, but with custom, multiple AI types, separated by their respective focus (see next statement/inquiry) per level of the Laire (maybe). Maybe have zerker rats and sniper rats, sd rats and seer rats, Engineer rats (copper queen-esque?) and ShM rats (maybe just Engineer rats that drop healing drones), and FC (maybe HAL can code some Master/Slave sequence so we can finally have FC mobs; would be good for Jey's Mausoleum Uber) and Gunner rats. Then the broodmother, which has lvl 20 in all of the main class skills (which might conflict so adjust accordingly) that has a custom AI package for something awesome. All instanced, with a 72 hour Cooldown maybe. I think it would be pretty cool.

UD Gear is always good (maybe have some new items added), just need to work on the shard/Great Pumpkin drop rates a bit. Maybe a bit more announcement (forums, and in-game Blue announcement) for testing all the mobs on test.
Also, might consider a kind of item sink for most of the Seasonal Events. Like being able to trade 5x of common shield for 1x of random (or respective) tier 1 Event shield, as an alternative. And 3x tier 1 event shield for 1x Tier 2 Event shield. Or something along those lines; just a suggestion.

The PR for this event has been top-notch, but having a forum thread solely for the event, addressing specific issues, resolutions, and ETA's would be a little more organized i think. Bug response was also excellent, good job.

Keeping in mind that event locations should not be barricade-able, as we learned pretty quickly this time. Can't think of anything else, will edit if something comes to mind.

there are alredy Berserker Space Rat raiding W0-1 :3

Things that, in my opinion*, were done well:

- Loved the new AI, neat graphics. I took two of my characters and a friend into perilous space when the AI first appeared. The fights vs. the lantern ships were awesome! I was suprised when all those AI suddenly popped into existance. Great fights.

- Cappable ships are always nice. Especially for such a pretty ship as the Will o Wisp. The cloud effect was very nice.

- Involving the playerbase's names in the AI was a nice touch. Same with the troll poems and such. Easter eggs = yay!


Things that, in my opinion*, were done not so well:

- Every worthwhile item from the event was based entirely on random chance, again. Christmas, Halloween for the past year have been this way. And I've hated it each time.

Why do you force the playerbase to grind, or waste billions purchasing droppable commodities? Whilst it is true that it is possible to farm an adequate amount to almost ensure that you find the item you want - How is that fun? Grinding is almost never fun. Please do not do this again at Christmas / Easter / Halloween / Whatever. OR if you do, put it in with something else. I've written out a mission chain involving Earthforce Medical Division and the Undead Rat Plague, which I feel would be a better choice of thing to do for an event.

I would enjoy a difficult, but certain chance of a neat halloween item. Maybe various mission chains - of which each player can do only a single one.
In the mission chains I've planned out, I had:

Earthforce Medical Chain - "Cure the Infection" - Defeat Space Rat Swarms, Rescue trapped civilians before they are turned into zombies by the plague! Defend an instanced galaxy from waves of powerful rats by deploying a base kit and some drones, supported by a few AI capital ships from Earthforce's Military.

Loot would be scaled to your level in their tech. This could be easily achieved by setting minimum and maximum levels at which one can take a mission.

Possible Loot:
Earthforce Medical Capital Ship Lasers - Like CALCs, but heat damage. Red graphic. Of use to Gunners, Fleet Commanders, Anyone else who uses capital ship slaves or a capital ship themselves.
Earthforce Medical Capital Ship - Depending on one's level, you would get the blueprint for one appropriate for you, following the EFF to EFDread Line of cap ships. Would have a more white graphic, maybe with red +'s, adds a small bonus to aura power and trans power, at the cost of resistances, shield and elec bank. Of use to all classes, since everyone has an aura generator. Mostly to Fleet Commanders, Engineers and Shield Monkeys.
Plague Mask Tweak Generator - Produces tweaks similar to the Grinch Tweak Generator which a couple of teams got back at Christmas. Would add a small vulnerability to transference (maybe 2.5% before neurotweaking?). Would take a common halloween commod like Rotting Rat Flesh or the like to create a box of tweaks. Of use to all classes, except maybe ShM. Not really all that powerful, just an interesting item.

Lyceum Scientist Mission Chain - "Study the infection" - Collect rat samples [100% drop rate] from various special types of rat. Once this is complete, assist the Lyceum Scientists in attempting to resurrect some human bodies with the same techniques. This goes horribly wrong, and results in zombie outbreak in the Lyceum Science Outpost where the mission chain exists. It is then your job to collect fragments of a prototype anti-undead weapon OR [3] drones OR [10] fighters OR [25?] missile crates based on your class, for a repeatable mission (All items gained would have a half-life of the duration of the event from this mission). Then going and destroying various zombie-human ships and saving the Lyceum Outpost.

Possible Loot:
Lab Coat - Aura Generator for -2% elec tempering. Hull locked to freighters, or capital ships. Useful for ShMs, Engineers, Gunners, Fleet Commanders. The actual effect would be useful for all non-capship classes.
Injection of Undeath Blueprint - Similar in requirements to the Injection of Vis Blueprint, except requiring a halloween commodity to create that drops from undead. Adds a decent flat positive effect to shield regen, and a negative effect to tracking, turning and thrust. Useful to all classes.
Zombie Brain in a Jar - A controlbot for combat slaves, applies zombie-like stats to the slave. So, less movement stats, some more resists and shield regen. Good for every class, I guess.

Zombie Rat Swarm Missions - You are sent by an Earthforce Agent to check out a sort of 'undead space cheese hive'. Upon docking, you are bitten by an mini-undead rat whilst exploring the interior, and turned. Then you can do missions for the Undead 'team'. Such as destroying Earthforce Capital Fleet whilst leading your own swarm of AI controlled rats, rescuing an undead rat broodmother from various AI. And dropping 'Plague Drones' to corrupt various areas. Mission chain would end with you being ambushed by an Earthforce Medical Fleet and cured.

Possible Loot:
Aura of Unlife - Med-tech and powerful cloak. Would provide bonuses to resistance whilst on.
The Cure - A tweak BP which gives you a tweak that is the inverse of the Injection of Undeath tweak above.
Hollowed-Out Space Rat - A non-organic HF suitable for mid-level snipers. Would come with a built in Aura of Unlife, and a tweak generator similar to the t20 Absentis tweak, but far less powerful.


Of course, there'd be more things.. to suit each class.
This is just an example of the sort of interesting mission chain I'd like to see.

StarSonata forgets to give players a purpose. Events would be interesting if they did that. One of the reasons I liked the Enigmatic Sector was that you had a clear mission, to explore the unknown for the Paxian Scientists. The Serengeti UZ also had this - but to a lesser extent, since 'Kill this guy, now this guy, now this guy' wasn't particularly involving for the player.

The idea is to provide an enjoyable event, and avoid having players frustrated for hours because they got a snickers instead of an unholy laser.
Also - The amount of money that changes hands over these events is ridiculous. They're meant to be fun, not an economic stimulant.


* My opinion does not represent the playerbase. Just putting them out here incase they can help.

tl;dr summary:

- Good job on most of the new stuff, a few bugs, but that's to be expected from a new admin.
- Stop giving events based entirely upon random drops. Include missions that are involving for the player and include a choice between mission chains.


Thanks,

Paladin,

Awsome

Shards would almost never drop. I spent an entire weekend killing the Trolls, Willows, and pumpkins only to get one shard.

Sorry - they are supposed to be rare, its just the luck of the roll. (i.e. You can get 4 in a row and then kill 40,000 without one - its a single roll every time)



@ The longer posts. I really appreciate the feedback (make it worthwhile! ) and I'll be posting a longer response that takes into account your concerns later on. Bit busy now though, I apologise :/

My "Aethyr" suggestion could come in handy as a release for next Halloween, AEM. Of course, its not exclusive to Halloween, but its certainly creepy, and lunacy seems like a perfect place to put high level Halloween stuff.

You'd have to leave it in after the event stopped, though. Or i'd hunt you down.

On topic, i thought that the pumpkins were very well balanced; If only the drop tables had worked!

The trolls seemed somewhat weak, and the highest tech version seemed far too rare. Possibly the first issue would be solved if the second issues was solved.

One last issue, it seems like the level 3 plaguespace rats dont drop anything more than the level 1 ones. It's usually quite a bit more effecient to camp level 1 or 2 than 3 because of that. This is partially because of the damage absorbing abilities of the rat missiles/fighters, you should factor those in when you adjust the drop rates.

All in all, a very nice event. Congrats.