Curse

Rent · Jun 19, 2006, 10:46 AM // 10:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Witchblade

this system was broke from start ...

first .. if u want a decent amount of Fpts .. u have to do some PvP since the pve reward there is such a crap ....

just cuz of that, i'm done with FF ..

here are the FF rewards

amber/jade: at start they were worth something, now 1k-ish a piece .. means u have to afk/play Aspencrap for at least half an hour for ONE of those ? ridiculous ... just farm twice at Droks if u need a plat fast .. it ll take ya 5 mins tops.
15k sets: ok ... u ll need 80 a/j shards ...means either 80000 Fpts or 80-100k.. which way is the easy and fast way ? sorta easy guess i think
Outpost: 24/7 of boring pvp FF just to get cheaper id kit and a few lights in the sky in an empty map ? sooo great, jeez awesome. Not mentionning u gotta have active guild/alliance (let's do it the Scifi way)
Elites Mishs: what's the reward ? let's say u are lucky and got active guild/alliance etc and u can go in there at will (oh wait .. u can go in there at will with ferries now !!!! rofl !!! ) u can have, what ? green crap ? greens are already everywhere, poisoning economy for months... Zodiac stuff ? most of em are hideous and if u ant em, just buy them .. a few ks VS all that work to get there ? yummy i ll go for the shopping spree option.
Titles: maxing it out requires 10.000.000 pts LAWLZ !!! want me to say something about that ? even with the low cost of A/J now if i had that much fpts, i d make cash with it

if a new way of getting in elites is implemented .. why bother with all that ?
just make it like UW/FOW with an 1k fee and it's done .... no way i ll do rewardless boring pvp for pve content ...

anyway .. i m sure Anet ll try to hold this system til new expansion is released with lil pointless fixes like they did with JQ.. then no one ll care about Fpts anymore.. Not mentionning the Pve missions that ll be dead for guilldless people, outposts emptier than now (ex: Unwaking Waters)

Oh dear god.

Witchblade · Jun 19, 2006, 10:48 AM // 10:48

blah blah ?

Big_Iron · Jun 19, 2006, 11:14 AM // 11:14

When I first heard/read about Factions/Alliances/Elite missions, I was pretty worried. I’m in a small family guild and knew I had no chance of ever being in a big Alliance, would never hold any town or go on any Elite missions. Today, I’m happy as a pig in slop. Why? Because none of that matters now.

- I can grind faction at my leisure when I want or need amber. If I want to take time off from FF, like I have recently, I don’t have Alliance members bitching at me.
- My Faction will go toward something I see as more worthwhile (i.e. amber).
- If I want to do an Elite mission, I can get a ferry there (which I’ve yet to do because I don’t see it being as rewarding as say…FoW).

Hey, the system is working fine for me.

Orbberius · Jun 19, 2006, 11:38 AM // 11:38

I haven't donated a scrap of Faction to my alliance since the FPE (you couldn't get amber then), since the whole concept is completely pointless.

myword · Jun 19, 2006, 12:37 PM // 12:37

so to make the Faction system actually rewarding to the alliance that holds it, they should not ferry. Since Elite missions are the biggest perks to holding HzH/Cavalon... yet when they don't ferry they are flamed.

So basically, the alliances that hold HzH/Cavalon are slaves to the public. They faction farm the majority of their time on GW just to hold the town and are pressured into giving away their only viable reward. Obviously members in the alliances are starting to grow disgruntled with it, how long can they be fooled or can fool themselves?

Sure, at first it feels good like to be the nice guy ferrying people (omg! people actually like me online!!) and getting the occassional tip, but i'm sure i'm not the only guy who's hiding a grin and thinking 'you're getting played' to the guy ferrying me.

Kook~NBK~ · Jun 19, 2006, 01:19 PM // 13:19

So, it sux to be in a big alliance because you're a slave to factions farming to keep control of your town - leaving you with no time to enjoy the fruits of your labors, the elite missions! And the rewards of holding a town aren't good enough fo the work put into it.

And it sux to be in a small guild/alliance because you'll never get to enjoy the rewards of holding a town and you're dependant on the goodness of people's hearts for inexpensive (or free) ferrying to the elite missions. (Thank God the majority of the controlling alliances don't charge for it!)

Did I summarize that well enough?

As for me, I'm playing the game for fun. When it stops being fun and starts being work, it's time to move on to something else. I suspect that when chapter 3 is released, Cantha is going to become a collection of ghost towns.

Lex Talionis · Jun 19, 2006, 01:55 PM // 13:55

Pointless indeed. The only practical use for FF is to get amber/jadeite for the 15k armors. Controlling a town is pointless cause even if your on top, you have to keep grinding or you'll lose to some other alliance. Not to mention you may not have the time to do the elite missions after all that hard work.

The only thing I'm happy about in factions, are the new weapon skins, scenary, new skills, some of the new armors, and of course new pets

I think the game would've been far better w/o FF tbh. The elite missions could've been like FoW/UW with a 1k entrance fee when your region has favor. Here's hoping that Chapter 3 doesn't have FF nonesense like Factions.

Snowman · Jun 19, 2006, 02:24 PM // 14:24

I think everyone universally agrees on this point!

I do think ANET are reading, and have probably read all discussions like this.. but the truth is, what can they do?.. the only thing I can think of is an emote for which ever outpost you own. which then disapears if you lose it.

People farm HA and faction points JUST for the emote!..

At the moment our alliance is just happy with the fact that there are loads more players available to help with quests or to do HA< or help with gvg.. mass scrimmages, noone really cares about the faction points, except for the title!

theres just not enough carrots, and where are all the fish?

Navaros · Jun 19, 2006, 02:31 PM // 14:31

Original poster is spot-on in his assessment. Except for his supporting keeping ferrying free because it contradicts the very point he was making.

Why bother farming for faction constantly just so you can let every other player in the universe benefit from your farming whereas simultaneously denying any benefit to yourself and depriving yourself of thousands/hundreds of thousands in income that that faction could have got you?

What's the point of that?

What kind of mascochist would enjoy wasting his time day after day in servitude like that?

Yet the attitude of the "big alliances" is to "ferry everyone for free otherwise we will kick you out of our Guild".

Hence, in my view for those of us who are not a masochists there is no point whatsoever to holding an elite mission zone or any town.

I think the devs should make the game automatically funnel money into every member of a holding alliance's account. Then there might actually be some point to holding a town.

natuxatu · Jun 19, 2006, 02:55 PM // 14:55

Faction Farming is just another addition that people can do if they want. It's called varity. you can sell it for jadeite/amber, help keep control territory boundries... over all it's not pointless on the flip side you shouldn't FF anymore than you want to because that's just silly. It's a game where the point is to have a good time.

Viruzzz · Jun 19, 2006, 03:13 PM // 15:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Batou of Nine

LoL.

Well, the guild im part of has been part of the Alliance that had been dominating HzH for weeks now:: [oOo]. We had been with them since we were originally led by LUST, before we reformed. oOo (Komalis) Alliance has been rivaled with the WHOA Alliance (alliance formerly led by MAD) and therefore we had to Faction Farm (FF) nonstop. Our alliance was adament about holding house and keeping access to Urgoz open to the public. As such the alliance had became fairly well known. FFing for nearly 2 months has really worn down on so many, and the rivalry has boiled up lots of drama from guild backstabs to FF wars.

Today, the guild i am part of decided that FFing was a pointless struggle and was not really a worthy one at that, so we left the Alliance. Keeping Urgoz open to the public is fine with me, but after ALL that hard work we endured, the only benefit in the end is the same as any outpost, 20% discount at merchent and fireworks. Faction Farming 24/7 for JUST THAT is simply stupid. Toping 13 million faction and growing is no small feet, and in the end, we have nothing really to show for it. We are now concentrating back on GvG.

In fact, the rumor is that they will be making alternate access methods to Urgoz in the near future. GREAT! Even more incentive NOT to Faction Farm. As it is now, the Faction System is useless, pointless and worthless. If it doesnt change soon, and i mean REAL soon, then it will become obsolete all-together.

How many times have we heard from NCSoft and Anet that this game is all about skill and player knowledge of the game? So many it makes my head hurt. With the introduction of Guild Wars: Factions came a new form of non-stop GRIND! Faction farm, faction farm, faction farm, faction farm, faction farm. This system is SO INCREDIBLY HORRIBLE! Here we go...

The system has an auto TAXING system. Once per day it takes 10% faction away from your guild/alliance total. Can we say Grind focused?
There is no cap limit, there is not attainable reward for a certain amount of faction farmed, and there is no end.
The incentives for controling ANY outpost even House Zu Heltzer are laughable at BEST! Control of any outpost gives 20% discount at merchant and access to a fireworks npc. LOL ?
Reward for being top Faction Alliance and controlling HzH or Cavalon? Control of Elite mission access... oh ya and the typical 20% discount at merchants and fireworks npc access.
Most sensible Alliances who control the Elite missions give free rides anyway. So what reward is left?
A rumor of installing an alternate access method to the Elite missions to the public puts a nail in the coffin for the Faction System. It then becomes utterly pointless.
All "reward" aspects to Faction Farming HEAVILY and i mean HEAVILY outweigh the work required.

/End Rant

So. Please tell me, how in the world is the Faction System worth-while? Do you think there is a point to it anymore? Ever? Currently? Do i just sound bitter? And since it was rantish, my thoughts were as collected as i'd like them to be, so ask me to explain anything. Would you like to flame me?

I assure you that this is not outta bitterness. It is simply my opinions after having to do lots and lots and lots of FF with nothing to show for it, cept some measly title. (ok, maybe it is out of bitterness, but nothing against my former alliance mates...) So, i digress, and move on to better things...

We have just joined a PvP oriented Alliance. This means we will be able to practice in unranked GvG games quite easily and help eachother get in the top 100. A much more interesting effort IMHO...

Sorry for the rant. i had to unload it somewhere =D
enjoy.

i read the first word and thought it was just another zomg this sucks post..
i was positively suprised.. you have some good arguments, you really shouldn't have typed out the first word imo :/

as far as faction farming goes and risk/reward, or perhaps work/reward is more suitable..
People still do it to control a town, and people are still figting to keep control, i mean obviously someone thinks its worth it to work that much for it. else people simply wouldn't do it.

also. the 10% has to be there, else it would just be the first ones to get started that would just win it allways. and its self-balancing, because you can only famr so much before the 10% will be what you can achieve daily

edit:
also if you think about it. it doesn't make sense that your work your ass off to get a town and then don't have to keep doing something to own it. especially with a huge endless war going on

Levi Garett · Jun 19, 2006, 03:16 PM // 15:16

The "broken system" is a direct result of what has happened due to ferrying. If the elite missions were kept solely to the holding alliances then there WOULD be something to FF for and the GW market wouldn't be flooded with elite greens, zodiac items, and other elite mission drops. Seen the high-end forums lately? Not to mention those items would actually be worth more than your average rare drops from other areas. If elite mission items were actually rare, like they were intended to be, then the holding guilds would be making a fortune off elite drop sales which would give them good reason to hold the capitals.

You helped create this mess and now your complaining about it?

Additionally since everybody cried about not having access to the elite mission Anet has now given in and is going to provide an alternate means of getting into the mission area. Gives you nothing to FF for you say? Wow who'd'a thunk it?

MSecorsky · Jun 19, 2006, 03:29 PM // 15:29

Good: Being able to earn points (faction, whatever...) to trade for rare items. Love this, absolutely. I'd like to see faction be tradeable at the rare material trader in town for more than amber/jade, actually.

Less than good: The whole town owning thing. Too much work for too little reward. Shoot, I'm in a Kurzick guild that doesn't care about town ownership and currently running amok in the Jade Sea, getting Luxon faction in the process. Without the desire or care to own a town, things are more fun.

Bad: Being in a Kurzick guild won't let me fight for the Luxon in ABs. Like my guild, like the Luxons, hate the restriction. Ah well, maybe they'll see the light someday...

Snowman · Jun 19, 2006, 03:45 PM // 15:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeviGarrett

Additionally since everybody cried about not having access to the elite mission Anet has now given in and is going to provide an alternate means of getting into the mission area. Gives you nothing to FF for you say? Wow who'd'a thunk it?

(off topic) I have to say though, it didnt take much!.. they seemed to bend pretty easily on this.

But other things which we have been furiously bitching and moaning about since the game came out has never, and probably will never be changed.

I wonder why they so easily gave in to this?.. maybe because of the overwhelming positive response from alliances offering free taxi service.

Big_Iron · Jun 19, 2006, 04:12 PM // 16:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snowman

(off topic) I have to say though, it didnt take much!.. they seemed to bend pretty easily on this.

But other things which we have been furiously bitching and moaning about since the game came out has never, and probably will never be changed.

I wonder why they so easily gave in to this?.. maybe because of the overwhelming positive response from alliances offering free taxi service.

Well, we're being a little premature here. Anet hasn't given general access yet. I'm not saying they won't, but it's not there as of today.

SirShadowrunner · Jun 19, 2006, 05:26 PM // 17:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Batou of Nine

We are now concentrating back on GvG.

IMO, this was the entire point of Factions in the first place, to push ppl
towards pvp, probably easier to make a game that focuses on pvp more
than pve. The pve portion of this game is hideously small and easy except
for a few missions, so what do we have to do, try and get titles or ff for
control of some obscure outpost that is devoid of life.
This also applies to the Deep, probably one reason they started giving free
rides was there was NOBODY there except them, I have been there twice,
what do I see, more Dredge, OMG your kidding me, I don't even consider
the elite missions part of the game anymore, I have pretty much written
them off, ppl get a good drop and Vamoosh they are gone to go sell there
precious item.
To address the original OP's question on whether it is worth spending your
hard earned faction for the Alliance, I say as long as everybody in the guild/
Alliance is in agreement and is working toward the goal then it is fine,
but it is very obvious that not everybody is donating there faction to the
Alliance and are hoarding it for themselves and piggy-backing off the
hard work of others. This has created some hostile arguements within
alliances and has guilds hopping around from Alliance to Alliance, not
a good thing to have in a game.

-Fallow dung.......

SpeedyKQ · Jun 19, 2006, 05:38 PM // 17:38

The reward for faction farming is either amber/jadite or temporary prestige.

Those who want temporary prestige badly can put forth the effort it takes to get it. I can't understand why people care about prestige so much, but that is their business.

But why is anything wrong with the system? Just because some people seem to overvalue city control doesn't mean the system is broken. It just means some people's judgement is questionable.

The rest of us can turn faction into gold or armor, and gold and armor are good.

Pretice · Jun 19, 2006, 06:33 PM // 18:33

The real reason for farming faction was to get into the elite mission, the ones who have messed up the faction system wasnt Anet, it was the alliances that opened the elite missions to everyone. They made it all really pointless. Back to HOH.

The Great Al · Jun 19, 2006, 06:52 PM // 18:52

Well, if Anet decides to give an exclusive area to the controlling alliance, that won't be fair to the people who aren't in a large guild. Howbout maybe the people in a controlling alliance have like, +30 health and +5 energy, or something like that?

myword · Jun 19, 2006, 06:56 PM // 18:56

so... blame should be put on the alliance that started the trend of ferrying and the Scribe for subsequently heralding them as examples then?

majority of the playerbase now expects free ferries, as if it was their right, and alliances that hold the town are pressured into ferrying for free, if not they are labelled jerks and insert every negative thing here.