Drops in Tier 1 and 2

[thrashette]

currently...

So I compromise with only including a select set of races that fit the classic pelt bearing races: wolf, cat and bear.

..and gnomes...

On the other hand, nothing in Meldrath's Mansion seems to be dropping marrow or spinneret fluid of any kind.

[Tyranthin]

Admittedly, I'm only an amateur coder, but it sounds to me like there is some insanely inefficient conditional checking going on. Logic dictates to me that if a specific code fragment is being utilized frequently that it should get its own function/module, along with accompanying data tables if applicable. I think the global drops code certainly qualifies for its own stand-alone module/data tables.

I have no idea what programming language is used for Everquest, but if I were running the show, I'd likely set up something like this:

table of humanoids (race1, race2, race3... race999)
table of golems (race1, race2, race3... race999)
table of furry animals (race1, race2, race3... race999)
table of spiders (race1, race2, race3... race 999)
table of casters (class1, class2, class3... class999)

boolean module check table match(parameter:  table, parameter:  field)
local variables for table match (boolean) and loop counter (integer)
match starts as false
loop through table, incrementing the counter
{if field matches counter, then {make match true and break the loop}}
return match

module global drop check(parameter:  spawning mob)
if check table match (table of humanoids, spawning mob race), then {put plate/chain/leather/silk drops on it}
else if check table match (table of golems, spawning mob race), then {put plate/chain drops on it}
else if check table match (table of furry animals, spawning mob race) , then {put leather drops on it}
else if check table match (table of spiders, spawning mob race), then {put silk drops on it}
if check table match (table of casters, spawning mob class), then {put research drops on it}
(and whatever other global drops there are)

Type definitions for the tables should support a variable number of fields.

If you can't tell, I'm a very strong proponent of compartmentalizing code. Spaghetti logic just causes problems.

Of course, this is very basic pseudocode, and the drops would obviously be level appropriate to the mob (very simple with a nested if/then/else statement). However, without specific knowledge of the programming language being used, it's impossible to say whether or not something like this would work.

Man, doing code monkey work again almost makes me want to dust off my old MUD. Good times...

[Ngreth Thergn]

Sounds like that IF statement could use a little optimization. Assuming the level ranges are constant across races, you could do something like:

if (level < x and level > y and some_other_condition) and (race=wolf1 or race=wolf2 or... or race=cat3 ... or race=bear ...) then ...

Depending on your parsing/compiling engine, that would likely speed up the execution time significantly and reduce the server load to boot.

I absolutely get no choice... because believe it or not... the "if" statement is built in a database...

drop table - index - requirement
20 ore - 1 - min level 15
20 ore - 1 - max level 24
20 ore - 1 - race golem 1
20 ore - 2 - min level 15
20 ore - 2 - max level 24
20 ore - 2 - race golem 2
20 ore - 3 - .....

everthing with the same index is an AND (and grouped together in a lump as if there was a parentheses around it) everything on a different index is an OR.

I get no options to properly group or any such thing.

[KyrosKrane]

Wowzers. What I wouldn't give to get a peek at how EQ's back end really operates.

Thanks for the info, Ngreth.

[Roanne]

So youre saying you have no plans to fix distribution of pelt, silk, and ore drops across tiers anytime soon?

I dont really care about the apologies and technicalities. I just like to know if the issue is going to stay broken-as-intended or not.

[Aldier]

What he is saying is that the method of coding used for EQ does not warrant him the ability to add more "animal" races, easily, to the list of those that drop pelts. He went with bear/cat/wolf race models and selected them as he felt appropriate.

There is not broken drop rate that has been presented. There has been an adjustment to the "intended" drop rate %s as the post launch levels were too high and the items were entering the world too quickly (in the opinion of the developers)

[dendail]

drop rates

in the opinion of the ones that play the game the drop rate stinks 5 hours in beza killing all sorts of mobs not 1 exqisive spinneret fluid or exquisive marrow plenty of exquisive silks and some tantuloam ore seams to me the mobs that drop the ore and silks should drop the spinneret fluids and ore at about the same rate. not this stupid rate it is dropping and with the prices for this stuff way over 350k is just stupid to me, who's opinion should count the one that is putting in thier time to get the drop or some deveploper who is sitting in and office this just get me realy pissed off i want to make my wife a symbol but i can't go to a higher zone then beza ,not every player has such good gear that they can just walk into the tier 4 zones and get the drops then turn around and sell the stuff for 350k i would suggest instead of less then 1 &#37; it be changed to about 2% and even though you get a drop you still have to make a 440 trivial combine and if you can get into a tier 4 zone you don't need the armor any ways to me just anonther way to keep lessor geared players away from better zones

[Roanne]

There is not broken drop rate that has been presented. There has been an adjustment to the "intended" drop rate &#37;s as the post launch levels were too high and the items were entering the world too quickly (in the opinion of the developers)

Great, so where are the tier-13 bears, lions, and wolves?

[KyrosKrane]

not every player has such good gear that they can just walk into the tier 4 zones and get the drops

if you can get into a tier 4 zone you don't need the armor any ways to me just anonther way to keep lessor geared players away from better zones

I hate to say it, Dendail, but that's exactly the point here. SoF is NOT an easy expansion, and these items are NOT easy to get, and that's good. It means people will be playing in the expansion for a long time, and it means the items will be in high demand for a while. It means there's a solid progression path in both challenge and reward. If you want to farm these items yourself, you have to be able to handle the zones.

You say you can handle Beza. That's a tier 2 zone. Farm it for gear you can use. Also head to Dragonscale, Loping Plains, and the other Tier 2 zones. Farm those for gear, get yourself some AA in the process (or levels, if you're not yet 80), then go try level 3 zones again. SoF tiers are not minor steps, they're huge. You really do need to gear up in a lower level tier before you can tackle the next. If you're in raid gear, you may have a leg up -- but even raid geared players are hitting roadblocks and having to re-gear or change their strategies to survive in tier 3 zones.

[dendail]

drops

kryos you and the other pellous are most of the problem on luclin have price wars on the trades drops driving the prices for the stuff sky high and i have over 2150 aa and a 18.6k ranger what i read was that beza was a tier 3 drop zone ,and sence you can't get the high end tanks to group with anyone but thier own guild mates, me and my wife form our own group and to exclude a bunch of paying players is wrong and the equisive silk drops in beza so the spinneret fluids should to and tatuloam drops thier to so pours should to

[Zaltak]

Its the same complaint ppl had about haveing to get keyed for VT in order to get gear that allowed them to enter PoTime:-P

[nazlith]

I think the problem is the ratio between high-end ore and high-end loam (using smithing as an example.) I am getting ores at a reasonable rate but the loams, of all levels, are almost non-existent. I wonder if this is a result of the templates being used for skill-up paths meaning that at lower levels you want many ores per loam. I have been using the 25&#37; exp bonus to level up some alts and all levels loam are extremely difficult to come by.

[Unapuma]

Loams are supposed to be much rarer than ores. This is to limit the supply of new cultural armor coming into bazaar.

[MareeTP]

It may not be the high end tanks "excluding" non-guild members, as much as it may be those high end tanks are badly needed by their own guildmembers to survive the tier 3 mobs and therefore are never LFG and never have spots in their groups available because guildmembers are always looking for those spots themselves. And the expansion is still very new. Most of us are still working tasks for faction to get our spells and keys etc for the raiding part of eq... and do that with guildmembers who have the same exact needs. Probably will be for some time yet.

When Im making a group, I'll take guildmembers over the LFG tool where I can, simply because I feel an obligation to people I know and raid with. If there is room for someone else, I have no objection to grouping with them - I've met some really nice, skilled players that way, but honestly, there is rarely room because guildmembers need groups too.

And it isn't just the tanks. You can't take a high end tank and plop them in an average non-raider pick up group and expect the group to succeed in a tier 3-4 zone. It takes high end healing and strong DPS to survive also.

What Ive observed is, that while unguilded players may not have a lot of access to farming the tier 3 and 4 zone drops, their alternate route is to farm the tiers they can, raise the money they need for the tier 3 and 4 drops and go the bazaar route to obtain them.

At least these things are droppable. It's not like there is absolutely no way for anyone but high end guilds to obtain them. I agree the loams are rare. I almost never see the porous for sale in the bazaar. And Ive been looking for the corresponding marrow for a long time now with no success. Most people I know that farm them - use them. While I understand your frustration with it, I also understand the logic behind making them rare.

[Salroth]

I am pretty sure Ngreth has already stated this..

Beza is NOT a Tier 3 zone. It is Tier 2. You shouldn't expect to see very many exquisite anything there.