Alternate theory of VI balancing

I'm getting the feeling more and more that nerfs coming in have less to do with game balance than with population control. Perhaps the reasoning is that if everybody starts a monk twink, monk twinks must be overpowered. Of course the overlooked answer is that monks are just an incredibly fun class to play.



I'd like to see a count of the number of toons >30, >40, and >50 by class. I'd imagine the largest represented class would be monk. If the monk herd gets trimmed by not making it a fun twinkable class, then the nerf might be considered successful in VI's eyes.



Next on the popularity list would be druid. And druids got nerfed on 10/22. Don't flame! It's true. PoP is a stealth nerf to druids who made money as taxis. I personally love not having to rely on expensive ports, or bothering guildies to come pick my non-sowed butt up. But it is a change in the roles available for druids, and will dramatically over time reduce the /shouts in nexus "drOOd Airlines porting to all drOOd locations. Donations of 50-100pp required, paid in advance."



On the other side, anti-nerfs are implemented to encourage playing of a given class. I know fewer beastlords than I do members of any other class, with the possible exception of chanters. Will making a beastlord's pet more powerful encourage more people to play them? Only time will tell. Does the lack of players using these characters make them broken and in need of fixing? It's possible. But it's possible that Verant is looking at the counts only and assuming that popularity is the barometer of balance, not the actual character traits. It's putting the cart before the horse.



What class is next most popular? 50pp says they're next in line for the nerf bat.



This is only a theory. I'd love to discuss it and refine it, even see counterpoints that disprove it.



Cheers!




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Yeah you could be right, too many monks for VIs comfort.



To be honest best group I was ever in was a few nicely equiped monks and one shammy in OT. Wicked xp group and fun as hell. Seems we dam near cleared the southern portion of the zone. A least Shammys seemed to like us. Maybe thats what they wanted to avoid, bunch of Team Thunderkicks running amonk (heh). Wonder what happened to all those guys.



Then again maybe it was just a dart board after all....


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Lol.. sadly enough I ground my monk from 56-60 in a 3monk group all with fungi's, 2 with T-staves. We all stopped 5 days later when were all 60. yes there were some breaks in there, and also a random 60 rogue or 2. =)



lol.. sorry this doesn't really relate.. but thought it was funny.


</p>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub35.ezboard.com/bmonklybusiness43508.showUserPublicProfile?gid=cit arn21>Citarn21</A> at: 10/24/02 6:37:14 pm

Check out the stats at www.guildmagic.com.



Although they only represent guilds that have registered their characters, they do have some 250,000 characters listed.



In popularity, the rankings are roughly:



1) druid and warrior (about the same)

2) cleric (about 80% of the number of warriors/druids)

3) monk and shaman (about the same, with about 65% each)

4) most of the rest

5) beastlord and mage



Of course, these are just rough statistics, but 250k toons (and 140k players) is a large sample size, and these seem remarkably consistent across servers.



FWIW, this also maps pretty well only my experience as a player of 2 50+ chars on Xegony.



My 2cp, anyway.



-Lithis (retired as of a few weeks ago)


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I really think you are on to something with your hypothesis. I have no idea how many monks are actually in game, but I would not be surprised to find them among the most played class. I wonder where warriors fall out? Its quite a gamble on VI's part, but I suspect they are smiling to themselves with all the...I'm hanging my monk up...time to dust off the necro replies (the desired effect).



Perhaps they intend to completely ignore us until the "numbers" begin to balance out. I doubt any of them read these boards, but the big class-o-meter in VI may be something they keep careful track of. The more I think about it, the more logical it all seems. Verant never ran any tests, they never gave a damn what effect the "nerf" would have on the average player (the ones with only one or two accounts to lose) and were thoughtful enough to spare the uber monks (those with 3-7 accounts). The loss of a couple of accounts here and there would not have a big impact so long as those with multiple accounts were happy (ie uber enough to avoid the nerf). Please don't flame me by reading into this that all uber monks have multiple accounts, but I suspect that its not uncommon. If a person has enough time to play to get the things need to have an AC over 1500 then it would follow that they probably have invested time and money in other accounts and alts.



I have friends in EQ and its sad to think about leaving and this whole thing is rather personal. But from a business point of view it makes perfect sense and provides a reasonable answer for all of us who were waiting for a reply. The answer is simple and painfully obvious....



"Verant does not truly care about any individuals, we care about the bottom line which is money. Too many monks make EQ a boring game and we were thinning the herd.



For those without the wit to understand the nerf it did exactly what we intended. Our measure of class/hours played clearly has shown a decline in monk/hours with a nearly parallel increase in druids, necros, paladins, rangers and yes even warriors. We fully expect that many of those who have cancelled their accounts will be re-instating them with the release of PoP to play their alts.



We withhold the right to take further adverse actions against any class which has become too popular. If the monk/hours do not drop to an acceptable level we will be renaming the class to "Lemmings" to reflect their predictable response to our business decisions and further thin the herd.



Thanks for your money and don't expect any further posts.



VI"





Gujoryu CrouchingTiger - Legacy of Twilight

Lvl 54 Monk

Veeshan


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I really think you are on to something with your hypothesis. I have no idea how many monks are actually in game, but I would not be surprised to find them among the most played class.

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They aren't.



There are a little over half the number of Monks as Warriors. You were pointed at where you could get a samle on the Web of some number, and I think you'll find they tally with any /who you want to do in game.



Leather clad Humans and Iksar are simply more visible.


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Xarnak "Death to all fanatics" Clawfist (http://www.magelo.com/eq_view_profile.html?num=266873), Iksar Monk of Xev.
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Dubious member of Hawkestone (http://pub72.ezboard.com/bhawkestone).
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"I stare, it stares back.

I long to know its feelings.

It demurs. Lunch, then."


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In my guild, 15 level 60 warriors, 7 level 60 monks. The warriors whine the most (mainly about Taunt).




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But who has a monk alt? In my guild, monk mains and warrior mains are about equal; however, 1/3 to 1/2 of my guildies have a monk alt at some level of development. I believe there are not many out there who have monks that are and always have been their main. There are many, many caster-main funded monk alts.


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