opinions requested on this one.

[Skynar]

Alright you found those mythics then thats luck it is hard to find mythics because its all based on your luck.

That is not accurate because I find mythics all the time and i have like 150 luck Which is super low.

And lose em. and force people to hunt together. Maybe it will help bring people back to this shard. Right now a new person comes on and they may get some help at start but soon after they are forgotten and they also become solo hunters. Its a bad perpetual loop of demise. but then no one usually cares for my opnion anyway so just ignore it and go about doing your solo hunting on what is deemed a "family" shard. Or maybe everyone turns their common sense meter up some and looks at the bigger picture.

and yes I have not been playing much lately because it is not what it used to be.  to many solo people who are overpowered and do not want to hunt with anyone else for whatever reason.  greed, loner  who knows. or 2 many overpowered rich people charging an arm and a leg for noobies to get things socketed or buy decent armor. and no Im not playing on any other shards or even my own use shard.


Sorry shaft me   but at least I am honest and out for the shard and not for myself.

[Quezecoatl]

Alright you found those mythics then thats luck it is hard to find mythics because its all based on your luck.

That is not accurate because I find mythics all the time and i have like 150 luck Which is super low.

Didn't mean that kind of luck ment real life luck could care less what in game luck is cause my real life luck when it comes to the game is fairly poor when it comes to finding augs.

[Silverglade]

As one of the old timers around here, I have to agree to keep the sockets. There are not enough players on the shard to facilitate group hunting. I, for one, almost always hunt alone because of my wierd schedule. Sometimes I have to go at the drop of a hat, and be back 5 mins later, so I don't want anyone relying on me. Also, what would wind up happening is that everyone would complain that "It's too hard!!", and the GMs would eventually have to tone down half the shard, which is A LOT of work. Most boss's in Fel can hit for more than our max HP witout sockets, case in point. Many smaller mobs in Fel can easily take us down in 1 or 2 hits without sockets. While I agree with Thane that they can be nerfed a bit, dropping them entirely would cause more work than it is worth. Possibly dropping to 3 or 4 sockets per item max, instead of 6 would help in the short run, or reducing socketable items to include only 4 or 5 things (like only jewelry, or only armor. But I say in the short run because there will always be players that will crunch the numbers, and power up.

BTW,

IIII'MMMM BBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!

[Mina]

    LOL,  i am loving this poll.  all of us at sylvan are soooooo  opinionated,  LOL

  Thanks for all the replies guys,  was fun reading  lol
  And Welcome back Silverglade

[Rocks Silivan]

This seems to be a hot topic going on. I chose I really dunno because I could care less if we have sockets or not. If we were to get rid of them then that would let us be able to use all that awesome armor and weapons we can not use here cause they are to powerful with sockets. There is alot of armors and such we have but cant use cause of how strong and good they are so getting rid of sockets would let us use them . Also, I like having sockets for I love what they bring to the table for my chars. On another note, then we would need to weaken dragons and possibly alot of monsters and what not and it can be done. Alot people will whine if there dragons get nerf weaken or whatever it be, but when we switch if it happens it doesnt matter anyway cause we will all start over if that times come anyhow . There are many ways to look at this on both sides with negatives and  positives for both! But i would love to see all that awesome armor and weapons we dont get to use sometime soon . Also on the augment side of things, anyone can aquire any augments they want or needs if they try hard enough. It may take time or come quick, but it is not impossible or to hard to get them. Luck does not play a factor in getting augments if u really want one save your gold and buy one if u have to .

This is just Rocks half dollar of sense.

[Cpt_Starfox]

Ok my vote is to leave things the way they are and just keep adding More cool stuff... We don't need any "re-balance."

This sounds to me kinda like the same old balance discussion just warmed over and tuned to be specifically about sockets...

So... now my spill on balance... warmed over and redone lol

Just because a tough player can solo just about anything they want given about 45 mins to do it... doesn't mean there is a lack of balance!

Ok, so what would be the signs to show any lack of balance? And, do we show any of the signs?

1. Is the shard too easy? Too newbie friendly? OR does it not have any challenges for the socketed end-gamers
Answer = NO
If you want to die and you think you are all that can't find a challenge anymore.... Well, I can certainly point you to some places that might change your mind. Sure you might have beaten them before given the 2yrs+ you've probly been here... but still, can you solo it?  How well can you solo it? What's the smallest group you can do it with? Do you have the skills it would take to run a very successful group hunt and to train new players? (it aint easy!)  -  There are challenges like that for the high-end gamer. Note: Just because you think that some boss should not be soloable and then someone does it, doesn't mean we lack balance... just means ya make a harder boss!  Muwahaha!!
If you absolutely prefer to hunt solo and don't care to try to help new players and go on group hunts with them... then you STILL have challenges that await you! Like what you ask? Let me list the challenges for various "high-end" gamers...
1. Can you solo every boss?  I mean can you solo Abraxius in Fel and his pet? Can you solo the walker in the darkness in the Cove Graveyard? Can you make the Prince of Skara Brae cower before you? Can you solo kick the blood god off his throne?? Can you make Caelan's evil twin page Caelan for help (hehe)? Can you you actually kill Acacia's twin or a paragon Drow king?
2. Do you have what it takes to gather a group of new players and train them and take them on successful group hunts? Remember, just because you can solo Doom doesn't mean you can lead a party into doom and be hailed as a wonderful leader! If your party wipes out.... guess who looks bad hehe - Them partly for being new... but you are the senior player afterall, you should know how to watch over your party and how to train them  It takes time and effort to train a party to fight well together. Can you do it?
3. Let's say you're a soloist only... then can you solo everything?  And on the wild chance that you actually can (I'd be surprised) then have you gotton every special drop? I know players who are filthy rich and been here ages who still don't have everything! Go be a solo shiney collector! hehe
4. How awesome are you in various other skills?  Afterall, you can have 5 chars and just because you may be the "end all be all" of the warrior class, doesn't mean you can hit the broad side of a barn with a bow and arrow 

2. Well is the shard too hard due to making everything for the end-gamers?
Answer = NO
There are dungeons of almost every level!  Sylvan has a near perfect stair-step balanced mob system to lead you from easy to nightmarishly hard. I've walked my way up through it and I know that it works. There is even a newbie dungeon!

3. Can only one type of player succeed in fights? OR can only one type of player make money?
Answer = NO
In most cases you can use any type of character to do anything you want... You just have to have the skills and know-how to pull it off As far as Money, on Sylvan... for goodness sake... you can make money just being creative and selling Christmas ornaments, so... I don't see how there is an issue there. I've even heard and seen about making money being a gardener! There are more ways to make money in Sylvan than I care to count... if one way doesn't make enough money for you, just combine it with another way. Granted Sylvan can hardly accommodate every single "business" type and make sure it ends being filthy rich.... like if you try to sell plain boots to make money... don't expect to be filthy rich in one day lol - but the Sylvan economy is fairly accommodating to variety and creative thinking - as a matter of fact, it was just recently "tweaked" to be even more accommodating!!  How much more accommodating can we get?

4. Are there no accommodations for people of various hardheaded "views" about balance?
Answer = There are plenty of accommodations!
Before you get your feeling hurt (hehe), let me be the first to say I am one of the hardheaded people who love my sockets and do not want them "messed with"... Thus far, I'm ok.... but for the people who have other views... the people who think they'd have more fun without sockets... even those who despise sockets... what about them??? Well, there is the RP... NO SOCKETS and not even any Druid spells or pets above a WW - there are still stronger and weaker players even with those restrictions... but point is... there is the RP and it is FUN - It is awesomeness to almost the extent that human level can acquire... it is just cool.... join it and see! Ok... but still what if you don't like RP and you don't like sockets... well, nobody said that you *must* have sockets... you can not be socketed and still hunt in various places and even places in Fel believe it or not! You just gotta be good at what you do and have the know how to do it... granted you can't do *everything* but there is still a lot that you can do! AND as stated above, you can still make EXCELLENT money and be purely unsocketed. Oh and BTW, we also have all kinds of no-sockets events and even no-sockets pvp events!  In those such pvp events.... you unsocketed purest should have the upper hand of unsocketed experience! (hehe) SO, bottom line... Sylvan is accommodating in that regard as well!

5. Is everyone too powerful and nobody group hunts because of it?
As far as I can tell.... that is a pure myth. I'm someone who could be considered "powerful" as I can solo just about anywhere in Fel (excluding a few places that still scare me - the walker in the dark!!!  EEK!). But does that deter me from group hunting? absolutely not!  It helps me! It encourages me! It almost forced me! roflol - I might be little strong, but I love group hunts, I group hunt not because I have to in order to defeat the mobs.... that is not the point of group hunting anyway! The point of group hunting and the reason I do it, is to meet new people and to help new players become good fighters and strong team players! It isn't an easy task all the time, and I dunno that I am much of a leader heh, but I try to organise group hunts to meet people and get people together. I'm a stronger player and as such it is almost set forth as my responsibility to help the new comers. Being strong helps me in leading. It does not make me a good leader, or even make me a leader at all, but it helps and encourages me as I try to get groups together and form hunts. Generally the reasons I find that people do not group hunt with me is because they are crafters and are busy, they are new and are macro training, or they are already in a group hunt, or they are out artifact hunting as a soloist. There is nothing wrong with any of that, but those are more the reasons I find that people don't join hunts... there may be 15 people online, but not all of them are hunters.... not all of them are "in the mood" and not all of them aren't busy with other things... being socketed doesn't seem to have much negative affect at least that I personally have seen... it actually has a positive affect for me.

-edit-
Oops, almost forgot, about aquiring high level stuff to augment you armor... Legendaries I can find once ina while... Mythics... as long as I've been here, Mythics are not easy to find and cost a fortune to buy.... I dunno, some people just seem to naturally find them somehow... but it seems to me that for most of us, it aint easy!!

Oh and btw... sockets and armor are SUPOSE to cost a lot lol - because it is good stuff! If you disagree on the price and want to change things, then by all means, get to where you can socket things and then you can charge whatever you want! hehe Like I said, the Sylvan economy is accommodating indeed hehe   
-end edit-

Bottom line, I don't think we need any balance tweaks... we're already balanced and doing very well.

Who would have ever thought that Sylvan was such a wonderful place hehe 

[Misty Waters]

I vote no leave things the way they are . i dont understand this balance thing that every one keeps talking about .ive been here a year and there were tons of places to go as a newbie and i found a ton of things to do. and now im alot stronger and i still have a lot of places i can go and alot of things to do. i have socketed chars and i have non socketed chars. and i can get on any one of them and find all kinds of things to fight or to do. how much more balanced can you get ,  its your choice as to how strong your char is. if you want them stronger then make them stronger, or enjoy the game with what you do have its your choice, why change other peoples game . theres things to do on this game for all levels of players so why change it .

[Skynar]

Cap I disagree with 90% of what you said

Small mobs for unsocketed players give our garbage for gold.  Even OSI Uo MOBs  give out better gold.  So dont say its balanced because its not   The low mobs give nothing  The high mobs  over give.

Some Hardheaded super strong people who can kill anything. in 5 min or 45 min  are delusional if they think it is easy to make GP killing Shame mobs all day for what 2 bog mobs would cash out. Not to mention  with the Bad vendor economy.  To many vendors not enough buyers when you can make it all yourself.  So that is no way to make any real money.  hence its next to impossible to buy good armor or weapons because when it does happen to be something good on the auction all of the overpowered mob killing hardheaded keep the sockets people have literally  Millions in Gp 10's of millions   So  try spending a year on this shard killing like crazy, hunting like crazy, vending like crazy.  To still not be able to even come close to competing with  for good items  with the mega strong.     

It amazes me that it is no different here then in real life.  The rich and powerful always say how great it is while the middle and low class always beg for mercy when it solely benefits the rich and powerful.

THINK ABOUT IT before you go off about it.

Khayman

[Rocks Silivan]

Ok... what Cpt has said is very true. When I first joined the shard I had no sockets, let alone any good armor or weapons and I made very good amounts of gold training in SHAME, covetous level 1 and lesser types of dungeons. So Sky you are false in what you are saying. I made good amounts of gold from hunting these places when i was young. The small mobs do give decent loot so I don't understand why you say they don't. And not all the players who have alot of gold win everything at auctions I saw and seen many things go to people with less gold and I also recall you winning a staff item... unless ur implying your one of us overpowered hardheaded mob killing keep the socket players. If someone does WIN stuff at auction its cause they EARNED the gold they use to win that item. I really think you need to think about what you wrote and think about it before  you go off about it. I also don't see anyone begging for mercy and this game specifically this shard benefits EVERYONE not just rich

[Abbadon]

I also think killing small mobs can net you the best amounts of money. When I want cash I'll do darksider runs with destard/alarics/chaos. I wouldnt say Alarics and chaos is low, but as far as Im concerned you can easily do darksiders with no sockets. It also happens to be that darksiders give one of the best gold to time ratio compared to pretty much anywhere in Fel. You can sit there killing a boss for 15 minutes, but killing 6 darksiders within 15 minutes will net you much more gold.

I reckon the reason wealthy people are wealthy is because they have the know-how and the experience to go where they need to depending on what they need. For example, a new player might over look ettin warlords, however they actually give one of the best atone to killing-time ratios you can get.

On a side note link - this had thread had nothing to do with balance nor wealth. It was to do with nerfing sockets to force people to hunt in groups. The fact was that some things needed to be balanced IF this had taken place (the thread has veered off in a COMPLETELY different direction - these kind of discussions tend to do). I believe everything is well balanced right now, however if we were to nerf sockets it would no longer be (hence the need to balance mobs).

[Prosperity]

Oh I don't usually comment on anything but I think I'm well suited to comment on this.  I've been here 3 years and played most of that time without sockets.  None of my characters are fully socketed yet.  I'm rich.  I can buy anything I want but prefer to find and make things on my own.  I found my mythics.  I have quite a few, actually, and have sold a few.  I will socket anyone that needs socketing if they have valorite since that takes time to gather.  I like sockets.  You don't need to be fully socketed to get rich fast here.  And if you ask, you will find someone to give you or help you get anything.  I like Sylvan because there are many layers and facets to the game.  You can get really strong and rich very fast or you can take your time, do it all yourself, dilly dally, and still have things to look forward to for a long long time.  I like sockets.  It's just another layer to the game, something more to achieve.  I like augments.  Just another thing to search for.  I liked gaining the skill and the resources to be able to socket armor, it's another challenge to be met.  I like things the way they are.  I'd be especially disappointed if sockets disappeared.  I like Sylvan because there's more to the game than just bashing away at monsters all the time.  Ok, I'll go decorate my house now.

[Cpt_Starfox]

"THINK ABOUT IT before you go off about it."

*cough cough*

Skynar/Khayman... you probly have more money hidden in an old sock in some forgotton corner of your house than I do in my whole bank account on Sylvan lol (I believe I can be considered rather poor indeed heh)   

"Strong" does not equal rich nor does "weak" equal poor as others have already stated and shown 

Also, if you do find someone struggling desperately to make it, help em out.  Share with them the benefit of your knowledge and experience (as well as a few coins if you can spare hehe).  Who knows, you might make another friend! 

[Skynar]

roc its because no one else wanted it either including me and i gave half of it away as a gift. 

cap think again only reason i have anything is thru gifts and occasional empty auctions where i can actually get something without all of OOC driving the price insane.

I give plenty friend, you of all should know that.

apparently my knowledge is incorrect according to all the power players  so what benefits would the be according to your own logic?

only person i know of i havent been friends with is roc  because i think he is power hungry and over charges for things and drives the prices up and tries to bully people around and then harass then  through is all legal status of "shard council".   But hey thats just my opinion and im sure his feelings are not hurt by the loss.

but again  I see nothing changes unless the power players say so. and the only reason your blind to that is because you are the power players.

Acacia and other gms have treated me fantastic and i have no complaints about them.  I do think the shard needs an overhaul tho. and i think you are all against it because you know it would put you all back on equal ground with the little people and you would lose your holier then  thou im indestructable rich pwn everything advantage.

but hey im wrong about everything else  so why should this be any different.

[Shakka]

I think this is getting a little too ridiculous and a little too personal, Skynar.

[Rocks Silivan]

cap think again only reason i have anything is thru gifts and occasional empty auctions where i can actually get something without all of OOC driving the price insane.

Okay... I think you have gotten way off of topic here.. Why are you targeting a guild and accusing them of driviing prices insane??? NO one in that guild has done such a thing since I joined or intends to. IF someone has gold and wants to bid on something to win they have every right to try to win that item. Dont sit around blaming others for stuff cause they worked hard to get what they earned, anyone can make alot gold if they truely want to and how they spend it specially at a auction they prob saved it for shouldnt be attacked for.

only person i know of i havent been friends with is roc  because i think he is power hungry and over charges for things and drives the prices up and tries to bully people around and then harass then  through is all legal status of "shard council".   But hey thats just my opinion and im sure his feelings are not hurt by the loss.

You know what, I cant blame you for not being friends wit me thats on you. I have been at this shard for 2yrs now, and I do not deserve this crap from someone like you. I dont sit around talking bad on people on forums and if you took chance to get to know me you'd know the real side of me. If you asked ANYONE on this shard what type of person I am I am positive they tell u what you said above was false and you need to check yourself. I have always helped anyone who needed the help, I have given plenty of gold, rares, rare tamables, anything you can think of to many friends and players i first encountered. I dont know how I am power hungry maybe cause I like to try to make my character stronger? Who knows, and to say I bully people around??? Are you for real... I charge prices on items what I think it should be, you dont have to buy items if u dont wanna pay it... And I NEVER in my life harassed anyone in rl or game, but I do remember you sending my PMS over forums that seemed like harassment and very rude comments to me, but I didnt tell stuff cause Im not like that. I do not come onto this game or forums to here bullcrap like this, this kind of stuff drives my away and I really dont feel like dealing wit this crap of stuf you write that is personal.