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[Nicktals]

Heading on in a few minutes. Up for pretty much anything, but I noticed on the calendar that phantom uragaan is up...I wouldn't mind doing that a few times. Missed it completely last time, and I need some uragaan stuff.

 

[DragonGirl]

I fucking hate this rewards system. I broke the horns now give them to me! This shit needs to be fixed, I get tired on beating the shit out of the same monster just because he won't give me his shit.
Not nivr...

Welcome to the carrot and stick school of game design. Obviously nobody would play this game if they weren't working hard to gain prizes because it's not like the game is intrinsically fun or anything. < sarcasm

I've always hated the concept of random drops. It's a primitive game design convention that would and should be replaced with a much more engaging challenge system. Monster Hunter already has this sort of system in place: certain items require certain parts of the monster be damaged). They just need to go with it and stop the random drop garbage.

If you break a horn then getting the horn should be 100%. If you as designer want that item to be rare, then make the horn exceptionally hard to break. Make it a challenge that's part of the game, a goal to strive for and a mighty feat to accomplish. I feel it would be far more rewarding to work hard to break a horn and get a prize than have to farm the monster dozens of times for a random drop. It might also be cool to have certain items only available from exceptionally rare monsters that only appear sometimes during other quests. A rare and random monster to chase down (which again, would give you 100% chance of an item if you meet that item's requirement) would also be far more interesting than a random drop.

 

[Ryuuga]

Well that was fun. I was in a room with 2 other players as eager as I was to face Alatreon only to have a 4th jump in and criticize all of our weapon choices. He started going on about how fast we'd fail, but decided to join us on the quest anyway. That said, he abandoned us moments after the mission started.

 

[Lance Bone Path]

I've always hated the concept of random drops. It's a primitive game design convention that would and should be replaced with a much more engaging challenge system. Monster Hunter already has this sort of system in place: certain items require certain parts of the monster be damaged). They just need to go with it and stop the random drop garbage.

It wouldn't be Monster Hunter, if the game weren't capricious and cruel.

There's a very consistent vision behind all this with so many variables being basically random and out of the players' control. Your team might get used to fighting a rathalos and then get your collective butts stomped by some super humongous rathalos because the game randomly felt like throwing a king sized rathalos at you.

At the end, though, many of us are spending inordinate amounts of time trying to obtain top tier weapons and armor that, strictly speaking, are just trophies that get certain jobs done a bit faster than equipment nearly as good and far easier to make.

 

[Haunted]

Welcome to the carrot and stick school of game design. Obviously nobody would play this game if they weren't working hard to gain prizes because it's not like the game is intrinsically fun or anything. < sarcasm

I've always hated the concept of random drops. It's a primitive game design convention that would and should be replaced with a much more engaging challenge system. Monster Hunter already has this sort of system in place: certain items require certain parts of the monster be damaged). They just need to go with it and stop the random drop garbage.

If you break a horn then getting the horn should be 100%. If you as designer want that item to be rare, then make the horn exceptionally hard to break. Make it a challenge that's part of the game, a goal to strive for and a mighty feat to accomplish. I feel it would be far more rewarding to work hard to break a horn and get a prize than have to farm the monster dozens of times for a random drop. It might also be cool to have certain items only available from exceptionally rare monsters that only appear sometimes during other quests. A rare and random monster to chase down (which again, would give you 100% chance of an item if you meet that item's requirement) would also be far more interesting than a random drop.

Agreed 100%.

The punishingly low drop rates on much of the +stuff really soured me on the endgame content. Even with how much fun the game is, there's only so much padding and repetition a gamer can take.

 

[DragonGirl]

It wouldn't be Monster Hunter, if the game weren't capricious and cruel.

There's a very consistent vision behind all this with so many variables being basically random and out of the players' control. Your team might get used to fighting a rathalos and then get your collective butts stomped by some super humongous rathalos because the game randomly felt like throwing a king sized rathalos at you.

At the end, though, many of us are spending inordinate amounts of time trying to obtain top tier weapons and armor that, strictly speaking, are just trophies that get certain jobs done a bit faster than equipment nearly as good and far easier to make.

I don't have a problem with capricious and cruel, I have a problem with mindless repetition and empty padding. I like the variation in the toughness of the monsters, I'd even like to see it taken further, but random drops serve no purpose other than to frustrate and bore people who do the farming. Make getting high end items a challenge, not a whim of the game's random number generator.


Off Topic Apologies but

My Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands for Wii review plus PS3 comparison is up.

The only reason I'm posting this is I was talking to a gaffer in Monster Hunter who asked I notify him when I finally got the review up and I'll be dipped if I can remember who I was talking to. It was a week ago and sometimes my memory pulls a goldfish. (was it you, Boney?)

 

[Boney]

Yep it was me you little goldfish dragon, thanks.
And spot on as usual about the rewards system, couldn't have said it better myself.

EDIT: Punches you in the shoulder :lol

 

[Kyoufu]

Screw the haters. If items were obtained simply from breaking body parts then we'd all be done with the game in a week.

Masochism is where its at! IM LOOKING AT YOU AGNAKTOR CLAWS!

 

[oracrest]

I am in a room now, and will be helping out a friend who is HR 5, if anyone wants to join.

 

[botticus]

Oh sweet, I don't need to hunt Lagi again in the offline. I got myself all geared up with maxed Lagi armor only to discover I don't need it until the last monster. Ah well, didn't need that few thousand zenny anyway.

Barioth was surprisingly easy, though I'll give half the credit to my high-rank armor. Didn't get his tail, but his wings went down in a hurry and that made everything else less painful. Looks like the war of attrition with Uragaan vs. SnS is up next then the final showdown which I'm rather dreading. It's like Jhen, but underwater and alone!

 

[Boney]

Another thing I realized now is how the game absolutely breaks if you bring high rank stuff into Single Player. I can't think of a better way to implement the system though. Maybe downgrade the defense of high rank stuff to their low rank parts in SP?

 

[botticus]

Another thing I realized now is how the game absolutely breaks if you bring high rank stuff into Single Player. I can't think of a better way to implement the system though. Maybe downgrade the defense of high rank stuff to their low rank parts in SP?

They could maybe scale it down, but I wouldn't want them to trash all your work.

 

[Poyunch]

Another thing I realized now is how the game absolutely breaks if you bring high rank stuff into Single Player. I can't think of a better way to implement the system though. Maybe downgrade the defense of high rank stuff to their low rank parts in SP?

Personally I can deal with this. All I really use the SP for now is the farm. If I can quickly complete a quest in order to "advance" through the day I can get my farmed mats quickly as well. I can see this being a bit broken if you don't complete the single player before you get all the high rank stuff though. Luckily I didn't do that.

 

[Luigiv]

Another thing I realized now is how the game absolutely breaks if you bring high rank stuff into Single Player. I can't think of a better way to implement the system though. Maybe downgrade the defense of high rank stuff to their low rank parts in SP?

Personally I find this to be part of the appeal of the game. If I'm going to have to fight the same boss over and over, I prefer it when it gets easier and easier.

 

[Boney]

They could maybe scale it down, but I wouldn't want them to trash all your work.

You still get the + parts skills though, although scaling it down to regular equipment is a bit too much.

Personally I can deal with this. All I really use the SP for now is the farm. If I can quickly complete a quest in order to "advance" through the day I can get my farmed mats quickly as well. I can see this being a bit broken if you don't complete the single player before you get all the high rank stuff though. Luckily I didn't do that.

All I was missing was Diablos and Ura, and it breaks my heart to have had to kill them so easily
And that's another problem I have as well, the "farming" of SP stuff, like the farm (duh) and easily killed monsters.

Personally I find this to part of the appeal of the game. If I'm going to have to fight the same boss over and over, I prefer it when it gets easier and easier.

When it gets too easy it ends up being kinda like chore. It's different when it's easier when you know their patterns and have a little bit of better armor, than killing a guy without even using a potion because he yields insignificant damage.

Maybe revert super awesome defense, but you still get the super awesome attack of my super awesome weapons?

 

[schuelma]

Almost time for Jhen


Should be there tomorrow night. Do you have to get to 30 or 31 for the urgent?

 

[botticus]

Almost time for Jhen


Should be there tomorrow night. Do you have to get to 30 or 31 for the urgent?

You get capped at 30.

 

[schuelma]

You get capped at 30.

sweet. Thanks for the help as always. Wanted to continue, but alas, life intruded.

 

[Tenbatsu]

Why on earth does the Vangis set only have 3 slots?

The game need to be well balanced right?


One of the most important aspect of MH3 is the armor mixing system which quite a number of you don't seem to get it. If you mix your armor you don't even need to farm much. Just make and mix what you have in your possession to get the skills you want. However if you are lazy to mix, I kinda understand :/

 

[Haunted]

Personally I find this to be part of the appeal of the game. If I'm going to have to fight the same boss over and over, I prefer it when it gets easier and easier.

Absolutely.

Going back and utterly destroying the monsters you previously fought so hard to beat is a great feeling. One of the major reasons why people hated Oblivion['s world leveling system].


But agreed on the farming being SP only, all the features should've been present in the online and offline hub. The 10 player lobby of the JP version also sounds much better than the 4max in the western version. Would make finding a full party so much easier.

Screw the haters. If items were obtained simply from breaking body parts then we'd all be done with the game in a week.

Masochism is where its at! IM LOOKING AT YOU AGNAKTOR CLAWS!

nooooo! masochism in gaming is bad! bad kyoufu!

 

[botticus]

The game need to be well balanced right?


One of the most important aspect of MH3 is the armor mixing system which quite a number of you don't seem to get it. If you mix your armor you don't even need to farm much. Just make and mix what you have in your possession to get the skills you want. However if you are lazy to mix, I kinda understand :/

The problem I'm having with it first off is that I have like a hundred different talismans. And they aren't organized in any logical fashion. So to even think about mixing things up based on talismans and the charms I can forge is far too intimidating.

 

[Shaheed79]

Yeah, in hindsight I wish they never bothered with voice chat and just kept the 10 person rooms. It's such a drag having four-person rooms. :/

I seriously want Capcom to do something about that. Trading 10 person rooms for voice chat in a game like MH is sinful and I'm new to this series. I can't even list all of the complications that decision lead to. Keyboard is more than enough and even that isn't crucial to enjoying the game thoroughly. Meanwhile on the Japanese servers they're livin it up in 10 person cities.

 

[Tenbatsu]

The problem I'm having with it first off is that I have like a hundred different talismans. And they aren't organized in any logical fashion. So to even think about mixing things up based on talismans and the charms I can forge is far too intimidating.

You should organize your charms and sell off those you don't need before you even start mixing:lol

 

[john tv]

ISP guy came today to fix net prob -- found faulty wire outside and replaced it. 20 mins after he left, I saw the modem disconnect again.

That said, I've been on now for 30 mins and haven't dc'ed (something of a small miracle), so maybe something is better? Not sure, but if anyone wants to risk playing with me, I'm on now. ;p

 

[botticus]

You should organize your charms and sell off those you don't need before you even start mixing:lol

But how will I know if I don't need them!? :lol

 

[Ryuuga]

Screw the haters. If items were obtained simply from breaking body parts then we'd all be done with the game in a week.

Masochism is where its at! IM LOOKING AT YOU AGNAKTOR CLAWS!

 

[Shaheed79]

But how will I know if I don't need them!? :lol

Sell copies of lesser yields. I keep the best charm of every bonus and sell the rest and I have it categorized by effect. All status conditions have a row, all stat altering have a row, all ability enhancing have a row ect. ect.

EDIT: Oh and I also organize the rows from largest bonus to smallest.

 

[satori]

Hey guys had to run into the office to take care of some shit. Anyways I been sitting at HR 50 for a few days now. Been trying to do my urgent with a few randoms, and each time my team mates keep dying. I had to switch my entire armor set to the Peco so I can heal them, but I always run into a player that gets one shot by ala.

I have killed ala a few times for others, but when its my time to roll the quest they always leave. I will be home in about an hour or so. If anyone else needs their urgent done, and want to get it over with, I will be in the Gaf room in a few.

 

[Mairu]

I'll do Alatreon later if you want. I've got bombs & scatterfish if you're planning on sleep bombing, it makes the fight take considerably less time

 

[botticus]

Sell copies of lesser yields. I keep the best charm of every bonus and sell the rest and I have it categorized by effect. All status conditions have a row, all stat altering have a row, all ability enhancing have a row ect. ect.

EDIT: Oh and I also organize the rows from largest bonus to smallest.

That would work, but I'd have to get out of hte habit of doing auto-sort on the whole equipment set, or it'd screw it up every time. You can sort weapons and armor individually, right?

 

[Ridley327]

Sorry I haven't been on recently; my TV finally got repaired today, so I'll be moving my Wii back onto it tomorrow. Let's see how close I can get to Alatreon before I leave on vacation!

 

[john tv]

I'm a fight or two away from Alatreon if anyone wants to help

 

[Shaheed79]

That would work, but I'd have to get out of hte habit of doing auto-sort on the whole equipment set, or it'd screw it up every time. You can sort weapons and armor individually, right?

Yup. I used auto-sort for the first 50hrs or so then realized how useless it was if you wanted to group armor sets, weapons and charms together efficiently. I wish I could take snap-shots of my setup but I can explain it just as easily.

The first page is only for weapons with each weapon and bow part having its own row (sometimes two rows).

The second page onward is for Armor sets. You can put two sets on each row if you like. I use one row a set as I don't have that many yet.

Now the trick is to use page 19 or 20 for charms. I forget which one it is but one page back from page one. That way you have Weapons, Armor and Charms 1 page away at all times.

 

[Lonely1]

I'm a fight or two away from Alatreon if anyone wants to help

Bah, your room is full.

 

[Poyunch]

Almost time for Jhen


Should be there tomorrow night. Do you have to get to 30 or 31 for the urgent?

Oooh I'll totally be there. I've been in the mood for Jhen for so long.

edit: Something must be up with my router because now I just keep disconnecting. Grr. :/

 

[DragonGirl]

Screw the haters. If items were obtained simply from breaking body parts then we'd all be done with the game in a week.

Masochism is where its at! IM LOOKING AT YOU AGNAKTOR CLAWS!

But you miss the point. I'm saying make those body parts that give out the rarest rewards a serious challenge to break. I'd rather work hard for that coveted item and fail than grind in the hopes that I win the body part lottery.

See? It's perfectly masochist approved.

 

[Boney]

edit: Something must be up with my router because now I just keep disconnecting. Grr. :/

It seems I have acquired the power to disconect people even when I'm offline. Fear me.

 

[Dragona Akehi]

Stupid Rathalos. He was limping and time ran out! Blah. I didn't even get the five minute warning. :/

I WILL WEAR HIS SKIN. AND THEN DANCE IN IT.

 

[Kyoufu]

Stupid Rathalos. He was limping and time ran out! Blah. I didn't even get the five minute warning. :/

I WILL WEAR HIS SKIN. AND THEN DANCE IN IT.

Are you soloing online upper rank Rathalos or something?

 

[Dragona Akehi]

Are you soloing online upper rank Rathalos or something?

No, I'm n00bing offline weak-ass Rathalos. I just haven't gotten his movements down yet.

 

[Poyunch]

You know what's worse than disconnecting in the middle of a quest? Disconnecting right when you complete a quest! Fuuuuuuu!

 

[MonthOLDpickle]

No, I'm n00bing offline weak-ass Rathalos. I just haven't gotten his movements down yet.

What weapon and armor are you using?

 

[Luigiv]

No, I'm n00bing offline weak-ass Rathalos. I just haven't gotten his movements down yet.

You going at it with your Anata Boneblade? I tried fighting my first one with it and I ended up having an overall hard time, beating him with only a couple of minutes to spare. After that I got my Thunderclap and then when I went after Rathalos again, he was peachy. The Anata Boneblade is just really underpowered.

 

[john tv]

Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Beat my Alatreon urgent on our second (kinda third) try with the help of Lance BP, Lonely1, and Matt. I was starting to lose my faith -- was getting my ass handed to me, and felt like I wasn't able to contribute much apart from knocking his ass over a few times. It's hard!

Thanks for the help guys -- you rock!

 

[Kyoufu]

But you miss the point. I'm saying make those body parts that give out the rarest rewards a serious challenge to break. I'd rather work hard for that coveted item and fail than grind in the hopes that I win the body part lottery.

See? It's perfectly masochist approved.

Sounds like a horrible idea though, no offense. Currently, I find it hard enough to get people to cut Alatreon's Tail, break Diablos's horns, destroy Gobul's Lantern or god forbid break all of Agnaktor's claws. If you make this gimmick any more taxing than it currently is then you're basically killing a cool aspect of the game's battle system.

The game is designed, just like other loot-fest games, around repetition. It is through repetition that keeps people actively seeking to kill monsters or gathering materials.

Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Beat my Alatreon urgent on our second (kinda third) try with the help of Lance BP, Lonely1, and Matt. I was starting to lose my faith -- was getting my ass handed to me, and felt like I wasn't able to contribute much apart from knocking his ass over a few times. It's hard!

Thanks for the help guys -- you rock!

Woo! congrats! I didn't know your connection was stable enough for a long Alatreon fight lol.

 

[Dragona Akehi]

What weapon and armor are you using?

Sieglinde
Rathian Armour
+Hearing
+Fire Resist 2
+Negate Stun
+Health +20

You going at it with your Anata Boneblade? I tried fighting my first one with it and I ended up having an overall hard time, beating him with only a couple of minutes to spare. After that I got my Thunderclap and then when I went after Rathalos again, he was peachy. The Anata Boneblade is just really underpowered.

I find Longswords don't do well for tall wyverns like Rath/ian/alos or Barroth. Greatsword have better reach, and hit harder, so I'm using Sieglinde on Rathalos. Besides, you don't really get a nice combo going in order to use the LS Spirit Attack, which is the point of the weapon over GS.

I'm just not very good at twitch games. But I'll learn his pattern properly (I think I've fought too many Rathians lately, and expect her moveset instead) and WEAR HIS SKIN. AND DANCE IN IT.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

Dragona, if you want I can help you kill a bunch of rathalos quickly online.

 

[john tv]

Woo! congrats! I didn't know your connection was stable enough for a long Alatreon fight lol.

Thanks! Yeah, I had one dc tonight but in general it seems to happen way less often at night. I lucked out! Got several Alatreon plates and an Azure Dragongem too

 

[Luigiv]

Sieglinde
Rathian Armour
+Hearing
+Fire Resist 2
+Negate Stun
+Health +20



I find Longswords don't do well for tall wyverns like Rath/ian/alos or Barroth. Greatsword have better reach, and hit harder, so I'm using Sieglinde on Rathalos. Besides, you don't really get a nice combo going in order to use the LS Spirit Attack, which is the point of the weapon over GS.

I'm just not very good at twitch games. But I'll learn his pattern properly (I think I've fought too many Rathians lately, and expect her moveset instead) and WEAR HIS SKIN. AND DANCE IN IT.

Well if we're going to do LS without spirit combo vs GS I would say it then becomes a choice between dodging and blocking. Personally I'm no good at blocking :lol.

Anyway, Your equipment should be fine, guess it's really just a matter of learning his attack patterns. You could try switching to a Thunder or Dragon element weapon but honestly I don't think it would make that much difference (not before your first Rathalos anyway).

 

[Lance Bone Path]

Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Beat my Alatreon urgent on our second (kinda third) try with the help of Lance BP, Lonely1, and Matt. I was starting to lose my faith -- was getting my ass handed to me, and felt like I wasn't able to contribute much apart from knocking his ass over a few times. It's hard!

Thanks for the help guys -- you rock!

First one probably went about as smoothly as could be expected since I think two out of four people hadn't seen alatreon before. We all got tail carves which is actually a lot better than how a lot of first time alat quests go.

Second time, I'm not sure what happened. I thought someone was going to give me more sleep ammo and now it occurs to me that we should have done a low rank quru quest and have had the team practice quickly giving their rations to someone after getting a signal. FWIW I think we could have salvaged the quest if someone had thrown a paintball at the bombs instead of letting it wake up while I was busy running up to people and typing "ammo?"

Haha, I really hate gunning alat. Aside from the running around trying to panhandle ammo while alat was asleep, it's kind of boring :/.

Third time was the charm. As alat quests go, it was pretty uneventful. No sleep bombing this time; we just walked in and kicked its butt.