Proposed Problem: players are allowed 3 accounts on UOR and some choose to pilot them all at the same time to reap greater rewards than a player who is only using one account at a given time. Proposed Solution: Add enemies to high gold/hr spots that are hard to deal with while triple boxing Example 1: Stealthing / Backstabing / Stamina Draining Monsters Example 2: Teleporting Monsters Example 3: Monsters that change targets relatively frequently Example 4: Monsters that are pet damage resistant Example 5: Monsters that have the Serpentine Dragon ability (provo your pet onto you)
My own .02: - I think the pet-resistant thing is done to death here - I think backstabbing enemies is brilliant and flavorful and I think it could be easily coded and would greatly help combat all types of triple-boxing, not just tamer-tamer-tamer but also mage-mage-mage and other combinations.
My dream solution would be to combine everyone's three accounts into one account with 15 character slots. Given how unlikely that is to happen, I'm not sure it's even worth posting. For Delavar's proposals, I like examples 1 and 2 best. I would only want monsters to teleport if it makes sense for them, though. As in, they should be magic-users.
Can you guys elaborate on what you mean by backstabbing? The enemies randomly switch aggro off of tames and go after the tamer? Or they disappear and re-appear behind the tamer and get some kind of damage bonus when the tamer is facing away from them?
I like all the above ideas including merging to one account. My one concern about the merging of accounts is that people have been ridiculously spoiled with the current system where they can basically afk macro to gm on two accounts while doing something fun on on the third with. I honestly don't think triple boxing miners would rise to prominence like tamers have now because they are so easy to punish, you dont have to go deep into a dungeon and risk a long run back if you get triple fire breathed and die. triple miners also aren't going to be scoring a quick 20 plat. Miners have gear to lose, and tamers don't so I do think the proposed changes more relevant to tamers like target swapping, pet resistance and serpentine are best.
My assumption of how it would work would be that the enemy would be hidden/stealthed, kind of like those orc scouts and the elf rangers on this shard already do. And there'd be a line of code like "If Stealthed, Damage is doubled". And of course, taking a swing while stealthed would immediately make the bad guy visible. But if the damage of such a hit was high, it would give a lot less time for you to ALT+Tab over and manually intervene to save your char. I think area attacks work well too, because when an enemy does something like that 20-point earthquake that the Halloween guy does, that's 60 damage that a triple-boxer has to deal with. You could go even further and have an enemy whose routine "announces" a very devastating attack about to happen, which can best be mitigated by a quick retreat away from him. Obviously its hard for someone to use their mouse to get three characters out of the way in such instances, although I guess the follow command might help with that.
These suggestions would seem to involve A LOT of coding? It would be a lot easier to nerf control slots or implement 20% stat loss.
The main issue everyone seems to have is the use of 3 accounts at champ spawns correct? I think that making all the mobs of the world have special abilities will honestly take away from that classic feel. Also I don't think this is near as much of a "problem" as many would like to state it is. If someone has hours on end to play 3 accounts all in different areas of the world farming then I say more power to you and I tip my cap and it isn't as easy as set it and forget it. Take a tamer, a bard and dexxer and throw each of them in different dungeons and diligently farm all three accounts at the same time. It is not as easy as some would like to say it is. Now sure take three accounts and plop them all in the same area then that is a different story and definitely easier. I still think that it isn't a problem that needs a solution....utilizing three accounts is something EVERYONE can do thus; even playing field. I never farm three accounts at the same time, but I don't see why someone who does shouldn't be able to. Also honestly if someone is upset that they are not making the same amount of gold as someone using three accounts then said person can use three accounts themselves. I agree that the pet resistance is done enough but I also don't want to start seeing classic monsters with special abilities to solve a supposed problem that isn't even utilized by near everyone playing this game. I will add one last thing; I am not defending my play style because I love triple boxing champ spawns so much, I don't do champ spawns and have never completed one in my time on this server. If the champ spawn issue is something that needs to be addressed then OK but I don't think all the mobs of the world need an overhaul.
Triple boxing is almost exclusively a champ problem. *There is some people who do it mining golems for faster kills, but (I think) its not the issue people have.* In the open world, spawn rate of monsters hinders you from really farming gold much faster then just being solo. Champs guarantee a fast spawn rate with auto loot plat from kills, that is the advantage. Because when it comes to looting corpses trapped in 6 dragons, 3 mares, and 3 characters its not very easy to get around. The Champ bosses got a buff to teleport to damagers and huge HP increases well over a year ago. Before this happened it wasn't common for people to 3 box tamers, every one had one, and brought 2 eval mages to triple the plat. The problem is, when one solution comes in to fix something, people (who know the ins and outs a this game we have been playing for 10 years) figure out the next best way to work smarter not harder. The only solution I can come up with is some sort of account "Tethering" We all have 3, they all can be played at once, you can used 3 at once if you want, but when it comes to auto loot characteristics, all three accounts are tethered and your main account is the only one that counts a damager. So you can still play if you want the extra dmg, or like playing that way, but limit to the same amount of auto loot type of loot (Trophy's from gm events, holiday event loot, monster statuettes, plat at champs)
Era accuracy is good. Adding a bunch of weird monsters into the game doesn't seem like a good solution to me. I don't see any good solution to triple boxing, other than telling people they can't do it at champ spawns. Addressing other reasons as to why triple boxed tamers are becoming popular is a good solution too.
Triple boxing is not exclusive to Champs. You need to run three tailor/smiths to be 'on par' in the BoD game. You need to run three chars to "mine" with battle ready characters using shovels that allow them to do what their skills would not (harvest ore). You need to run three accounts in Factions so you can be 'on par' and come back ready to fight when you get put in that epic 10 whole minutes of statloss. You need three fisherman to be 'on par' with anyone else playing that game too. I used a lot of superlatives. I know the game is what you make of it. The game is made into a fucking garbage dump when the majority insist on 3x anything in lieu of "hey man, wanna team up to accomplish x, y or z?" If that's how you want to play, by all means enjoy it I guess. Whatever makes you happy and if that's "perfect" UO to you, more power to you. As for the suggestions, I agree with most of the suggestions. The pet damage resist is right out. I really don't want to see a single tamer eat shit to solve for one player running three of them. Stealthing mobs that attack the tamer, not the tames, would be awesome. Really anything you can add that would make a tamer ask another player to team up and help them handle the shit that interrupts their tanking of a high end mob. Everyone knows tamers are for tanking high end shit but if party members are useless, then it's not an MMO anymore it's just a boring shitshow of gold pumping, spawn humping greed.
I'm not saying I'm not guilty of ever running more than one client for a specific goal. However, in regards to BoDs, no, I've never had three of any specific template running in concert. The only thing I have more than two of are pvp mages because that's the only thing really competitive in group PvP. I have two tailor/smith/miners that haven't mined since mining got fucked in the face. I have been working bods with them and the most I've ever 'multi-boxed' them is when I used to recall mine and like two or three times I actually had them simultaneously crafting items for filling bods. In short, I have done these things and every time I do, my inner Britannian dies a bit more.
I wonder how many of the people who are complaining about triple boxing in PvM (particularly at champs) have actually done it? It's neither as easy nor as fun as it sounds.
No shit it's not fun. It's profitable and literally the most efficient way to make massive amounts of gold and a lot more platinum than pretty much any other method. I'd be even bold enough to say more than any of the other methods combined.
