"Everything was better in the old days" rarely holds true, if only because the human mind has the tendency to make memories look better than the facts were. Now I am new in Lusternia, and that probably makes it easy to brush off about anything I have to say in favor of this, especially since I ain't Demi yet, but having played other mmo's this kind of stuff always gets brought up sooner or later. I've come to call it bitter veteran syndrome.

Maybe you like overcrowded bashing areas and each two steps forward coming with a step backwards, but the majority of people don't. I also think you're overestimating how "easy" it really is, Lusternia does have a steep learning curve, especially when people have never played text games before. Probably not as steep as it once was, sure, but is that really so bad? Yes, you probably had to work harder for your stuff, and people might catch up to it more easily, but that's hardly an excuse to say that because you had it worse others should have it too. Also, more people in the game is something to benefit from. More customers for your trade skills, more people to take up city / guild positions and do a good job, more enemies to fight, and probably more areas added to the game which are new and fun and all that good stuff. And more money for IRE to make the game even better.

If you look far enough behind, you're not making things easier, you're just returning it to the way it was before.

You should win a prize of some sort.

Also, I add my name to this petition.

By all means, solo bashing should be kinder.

Solo bashing/influencing is the base method of advancement. For all those who aren't fortunate enough to have access to aethership hunts and astral bashes, its the only way of advancement. This is particularly true the newer the player is- not just because they're "small", but if they are truly a new player, then they aren't going to have access to the networks of people or knowledge base on what they "should" be doing.

Thus, the current structure of bashing is very regressive. You are punished, in terms of time, gain, and risk, the fewer social resources you possess. While I'm not going to say something as broadly asinine as "this sort of thing drives novices away!", it is always a potential part of the equation.

Furthermore, on the community level, when an org is weaker, it is less likely to be able to host the better bashing activities. Fewer people, fewer resources, and probably well outgunned by their enemies. It sort of feeds the beast. Why stay in a down org when the structure of the system is stacked against you?

Finally, making demigod harder to get/less common isn't a solution to anything, especially when the expected level of combat in these sorts of games always moves forward. Why toss more hurtles at newer players?

Truth.

Though to be fair to Faymar, I'm pretty sure that was before his time.

Bashing areas were built and exist for the purposes of bashing.

Unnecessarily hindering the use of these bashing areas seems counter-intuitive. Why go to the trouble of creating large bashing areas on prime if the risk in entering those areas is large enough that it just dissuades people from using them?

The idea of NPC organizations (outside of the villages) being able to enemy provides interesting flavor but should not create such a heavy penalty so as to dissuade people from using these hunting areas more than once. I don't see anyone here asking to have the NPCs themselves toned down to make it easier to hunt each individual mob, which is what would actually make hunting easier, as opposed to just...creating a minor incentive to actually use the areas in question.

/signed.

Non-org related territory shouldn't have the 2 mil a death penalty. Period. Even if you can secure the ability to not die to the mobs, there's always the risk of getting jumped, and a single death in any enemy territory, as it currently stands, is the loss of at least one to two hours of work of max-xp astral bashing.

Hunting shouldn't be easier, no. There just should be less disincentive to hunt.

And maybe, just maybe, fewer people will aetherbash/influence spam mindlessly.

Add me to the support side, since I forgot to indicate that earlier.

Lowering it in NPC owned areas would be great, so long as it stays high in player own areas such as cities/communes/allied planes.

I'm not going to pretend to understand why this essence/experience heist was put in in the first place. I just want illithoid prison to be a viable hunting spot. There's no sense having hundreds of mobs in a place the good guy's can't bash for fear of being ganked, and the bad guys can't bash because they're allies with the illithoid. Or maybe the bad guys can bash them, because they're bad guys... But anyway, I totally support removing extreme losses for death in denizen enemy territory.

-seal of approval-

Sure, I can gank you in Caoimhe. Should it cost you 2m essence? Nah.