My diplo rant

[sorkvir]

Yes, I'm sorry. I feel like ranting. Please bear with me.

I like diplo. But its seriously lacking. The first and foremost is the reward system. In my opinion it just sucks. From skill 50 -100, let me tell you what I've gotten:

501 shirts
259 pants
154 one time use items
3 belts
10 Faction increase orbs (best out of the lot)

yes, those numbers are exagerated, but not by much. I don't have enough bag space to store a shirt for each faction along with the pants, belt, and 'information' item that I get. To top it off, if i vendor the items, they sell for 2c. No one wants to buy them because guildies are giving theirs away or they just turn in their information to get the same thing. You look at crafting/adventuring and you're making much more.

I don't have any titles. In beta, the Raki's had their 'Ambassador' title once they finished the quest line, not there anymore. I hit level 100 Diplo and no 'Envoy' title. At least I have a crafting title above my head or a simple lvl for adventuring.

As for the civic buffs, they're nice. But they affect everyone else BUT me. Artificier, Blacksmith buffs, wheres the outfitter? As far as the cards, they're nice, but I develop my strats to 'not' use them so I don't learn to relie on them.

The adaptive decks are nice, but the faction hits just aren't worth trying ne opponents. I would rather stand near a mob and 'farm' them for rep. Then, every so often, try another one. With the plan to add more downtime between wins, just means either more downtime, or more faction hits.

Sorry for the rant, and I really do like diplomacy. I think its a fun and addictive 'game'. But at the moment, I see absolutely no reason to continue 'skilling' up in it.

Thanks for listening and sorry for the rant.

[Ceyllynn]

Originally Posted by sorkvir

Yes, I'm sorry. I feel like ranting. Please bear with me.

I like diplo. But its seriously lacking. The first and foremost is the reward system. In my opinion it just sucks. From skill 50 -100, let me tell you what I've gotten:

501 shirts
259 pants
154 one time use items
3 belts
10 Faction increase orbs (best out of the lot)

yes, those numbers are exagerated, but not by much. I don't have enough bag space to store a shirt for each faction along with the pants, belt, and 'information' item that I get. To top it off, if i vendor the items, they sell for 2c. No one wants to buy them because guildies are giving theirs away or they just turn in their information to get the same thing. You look at crafting/adventuring and you're making much more.

I don't have any titles. In beta, the Raki's had their 'Ambassador' title once they finished the quest line, not there anymore. I hit level 100 Diplo and no 'Envoy' title. At least I have a crafting title above my head or a simple lvl for adventuring.

As for the civic buffs, they're nice. But they affect everyone else BUT me. Artificier, Blacksmith buffs, wheres the outfitter? As far as the cards, they're nice, but I develop my strats to 'not' use them so I don't learn to relie on them.

The adaptive decks are nice, but the faction hits just aren't worth trying ne opponents. I would rather stand near a mob and 'farm' them for rep. Then, every so often, try another one. With the plan to add more downtime between wins, just means either more downtime, or more faction hits.

Sorry for the rant, and I really do like diplomacy. I think its a fun and addictive 'game'. But at the moment, I see absolutely no reason to continue 'skilling' up in it.

Thanks for listening and sorry for the rant.

about those shirts and stuff... hubby is having the same issue with way too much clothing given... tons of it literally.

[Troubador]

Okay, not sure where to start. I'm mad too, but there must be a lot I don't understand. See my stats from my sig below. Now...

1) What shirts and what pants? From level 42 to 61, I could only win basically 1 or 2 types of parley. I have 2 Red cards (1 useless), 5 Green cards (3 useless), 11 Blue cards (4 or 5 useless), and 2 Yellow cards (1 useless). I say 'useless' due to the combination of cards I have coupled with the types of parley I must engage in, in my 'home' area. Other than the training quest parleys in Halgarad, the only place I've been able to win ANY parleys is in my starter town, Durogar's Post. There, vs the 50 and 75 ranked Guard types, I could win the Civic Incite parleys (Demand, Logic, and Persuade) most of the time. It took me a long time to get there, and by that time, my faction and prestige were both in the dust. Finally got those back up (~400 Faction and ~75 Prestige). Still, the ONLY rewards I ever got were Hearsay, Rumors, etc., none of which I can do anything with. The only Broker I've ever seen in a Blackmail Broker, and I have no Blackmail. I have Trends, and Arcane, and this and that. So, WHERE are you getting shirts and pants, etc.?? I can't finish the ONLY tutorial quest I've been able to find because my Domestic Skill is 7, and I need 8 to continue. I can't figure ANY way to get shirts or pants etc to boost Domestic without getting quests. Please Educate me here, even if it's painful. ;(

2) Remember that I said in my question above that I'd only generally been able to beat those level 50 guards in the ONE type of parley. That was BEFORE today's patch. The one combo that worked for me involved using my only decent card, Elocution, a purple card. Since the patch, all those guards now have a different strategy, one that involves a new card they've suddenly aquired, 'Flurry of Arguments'. It costs 3 Demand, gives me 1 Demand and 1 Flattery (not useable in these parleys), gives 4 Influence, and a delay of 1-2 turns. Now I have NO cards that use all the Demand that guards (and everyone else) use. They apparently took out the cards that gave the occasional Logic that my Elocution (delay of 4-6 turns) requires.

Diplomatic Play has so degenerated over the past couple of patches, and the lack of brokers to cash in the few assets I have, and the inability to complete the ONE quest that I have will likely result in my 1st month in Vanguard being my last. I've played MMORPGs for over 7 years. I've never been this frustated with a newbie char. Gaining higher levels, sure. But just getting started the 1st week of a game? Nothing else comes close in terms of difficulty or frustration level. It is looking more and more like this is another case of a product being released before it was ready.

Anyone else feel like this?

[Fyrestrom]

There are other Brokers in other cities. They will take Hearsay and Rumors, crude or significant of all types. They just dont have every type (Arcana, Blackmail, Plots, Trends) all in one place. Head to Veskals for some and Leth Nurae has and Arcana Informant I know for sure.

Looks like you will need to reformulate some new strategies as will I. Travel to Leth Nurae and see how you do there turn in your info and look around. You will not be able to win every parley you come upon, no one diplomat should be able to at this level. Find your niche and then travel around and try it out on other groups.

ps. The game was released before it was ready. Diplomacy in its current state has only been around for the last 3 beta stages. It is the least ready of all the spheres, but I think it will be the best of the three in short order.

[Troubador]

KK, thx Fyre... will do. I recently found the horse I'd 'lost'. It disappeared and finally found it in the 'Mounts' tab... ;p I've not done much travelling yet... went to Veskyll's twice... didn't know I'd have to run further afield this early.