Competition ACA Announcement!

You ask: we deliver:

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They are very smart: a drone lured us all around, from a TP around a mountain, back to the TP.
Though there is perhaps not enough firepower (yet) to kill the droids efficiently.
You can get killed for just looking at them, and then have to make the trek back.
And ouch, the blowing up of your vehicle.

Though a L1100 was killed, and dropped 13k.
But we could definitely use more colonists and their weapons. View attachment 9756

They show up on random spots, so whenever a new sighting has been made: it's passed on through #arkadia.
It's something completely different, and fun to do. Especially when you bring a bunch of friends, so you can fly/ride together.

For now that's it: I'm going back in.

 

Few things can improve this event

1 -
I dont like random respaw , i vote to static respaw [ Priority 4]
With Brackets

2-
Its not everyone like Shared Loot , Spares fews mobs to Soc Hunt or Solo Hunters [Priority 3]

3-
Split Zones in Easy / Medium / Hard [Priority 1]

4-
And Avoid Mixed Spot [ Priority 2 ]
If i only MK5 with Share Loot i GOING Y
if i wish Smugles LVL323(forget corret) i going X

5- to Mob Give us Istant Kill [ Priority 5 ]
Make This respaw Very Near Revive i see alot people mad because lost TT in car/ship just because back to "area event" and get blow up

Its not make any negative effect in event
I see win/win/win to everyone to ARK team / to Deed Owners / To players

 

I think we need dropship capabilities so we can be more effective in returning people to the battlegrounds.... hint hint.....

Jokes aside, love the event, love the RP, also love the controlled NPC's (yes kiting us around Quarry in a zigzag pattern ).... I do agree
that the respawn points for players are a bit far away. It would be helpfull if there could be an indicator on the map which shows us which section of the underground is being threatened by the Smugglers with a small skullsymbol or whatever. Also maybe if we have to keep
fighting so far away from the revival, it might be best to either disable or reduce regen a lot on the NPC's.
All in all, I had fun last night brining my little hunt team equipped with rockets over there

 

thx mate

 

We dont have weapons and firepower for so big hp mob
Some of us dont have age, eyes and reflexes for mobs runing so fast that seem they instant teleport to another area.
Some of us get tired fast of lag, of runing after fast mob and then of runing from revival so faar back.

*forgot most important bos mobs are too smal and their hit box too, you end to shoot other players in back because mob is small and can be cowered by few players.

 

Well so far have enjoyed the event. I do like how they're trying to create a story arc for the rest of Arkadia.

Only issue for me is probably the lag, which can sometimes hit quite hard.

Otherwise has been good fun. Got lucky at the Teleport when two of the mobs came up with some shared globals which was nice

 

The Smugglers event is a nice change from the standard. View attachment 9766
I think it's a good idea to try to bring a different event, instead of just copy/paste events for years, with just another mob/location, depending on the name of the event.
Especially the way this encourages the social aspect is nice. Instead of everyone standing still, and shooting without talking; now there was a need to communicate, and work together.
(Btw, it might be handy to give the instructions, on how to join the #arkadia channel in the announcement. Because not everyone has that channel, while it is vital for receiving the intel.)
So yeah, I did have fun, and enjoyed the event.

Having said that, I also wanted to give 'some' feedback about the first Smuggler event:

- The spawn locations.
The random spawning makes this event different, and gives people reason to interact much more.
It also is very much in line with the story: the Oratan were attacking our bases, so they all came at us at the same location.
The Smugglers are occupying the Underground, and we are trying to get rid of them. So naturally they are hiding, and popping up at various locations. The random spawning locations all over the map, are a great feature I think.
The only problem is the distance from a revive/TP to the spawns, combined with the fact that the TP chips had to be disabled because of a bug.
The concept was presumably written with the ability to 'TP around' included?

So until the TP chip bug is fixed: perhaps the Smugglers could show up at a bit easier to reach places?
Because going by past events: the more an event is done, the bigger the mobs get, and the harder they become.
It would not even be that weird to have the Smugglers closer to the TP's for now, and have them move further away as events progress. The more battles they have, the more they'll adapt. And by then people will (hopefully) be able to use their TP chips again .

At the same time, it would be nice if some lower level mob spawns don't get moved further away, but remain at a closer proximity to TPs. For the lower skilled colonists amongst us, who don't have big dps and/or a TP chip.
So they still will have the motivation to participate, even in later events.


- The Smugglers levels.
Being a criminal faction, rebelling (against IFN/ACA/?), it does make sense that they would not be meticulously organized by ranks. Having them split in separate levels would seem too military for 'criminals'.
But the colonists are already spread out over the whole Underground, so the firepower per group is not that high.
Once the majority goes to bed, it's pretty much impossible for those who are living in the less represented timezones, to partake in this event.
The few smaller ones are possible to take down with a small team (albeit with a lot of dieing). But those were quickly gone, leaving only high level Smugglers, who were just impossible to do with low numbers.
We didn't see re-spawn of the smaller Smugglers, during the 'downtime'; which is understandable story wise. But nevertheless a bit of a disappointment to the people who came online at the 'wrong' times.

So it would be great if there could be a bit more variety in level, and some (more) smaller mobs could be included.
It's the same as with the Oratan events: most want to shoot the biggest ones. But there are also quite some people who don't want/can't (afford) to kill the huge ones, and prefer a bit more manageable size mob.
Especially during the down times, when there are less colonists shooting.


- Loot.
First thing that came to mind when I read the event announcement: "I hope they drop Smuggler stuff!"
But so far they seem to drop common Pirons and glitter(?).
Are they going to drop Smuggler (related) items in the future? I'm not expecting the Smuggler Armor parts to drop (though that would be awesome).
But having the chance to loot a Smuggler item, might be a big motivation for people to come and hunt them.

I can't say that the loot was that great for me personally this time. (Tbh, it was quite dismal.)
But ofc the loot is MA's department.


- The Droid's size and speed.
Where the Axes also had this 'instant teleportation' ability, at least they were easier to aim at, because of their size.
Ofc the Droids are supposed to be small: nobody would send a huge drone the size of a house out.
But after a teleportation, it's very hard to get an aim again, especially because it's blocked by other people most of the time.
Would it be an idea to make them fly a bit higher? So they are over the heads of the tallest colonists?
That way you would at least be able to get a clear shot at them.

Also, there was less firepower here than for the Oratan events. So even though it makes more sense for a Droid to do the teleporting thing, than for an Axe to move faster than the eye: it's still frustrating to many.
Is it possible to adapt the AI to the dps it receives? So if the damage is low or slow, it moves around slower, and goes faster the more dps it receives.
That way it wont turn off the people when there is a smaller defense group. While it would still be challenging if there is a big crowd.

Sorry for the wall of text, but unfortunately I seem to be incapable of writing a short feedback post (today). View attachment 9765

 

Hehe, thanks for the explanation.
It wasn't that clear, but I actually meant the suggestion for future announcements of similar events.
For the people who ask in local chat where the Smugglers are: "how come everyone knows exactly where they are all the time". And also for the people who don't ask at all, and either plod on, or leave.

Ty for the Ned tidbit. View attachment 9779

 

Just a note, I believe the "instant teleportation" is not a feature of these mobs, it's due to lag. I saw it on other mobs that normally move smoothly.

 

Screenies Of the Smuggler Boss Ned can be seen in this thread

http://arkadiaforum.com/showthread.php?10690-The-Smuggler-Boss-PVP-Ring-Celest-Harbour

 

I just want say this event was EPIC & Exceeded my expectations.

I have been Camped down in the underground this weekend for probably 80% of my time on Arkadia where this is normally spent grinding through Kadras for the Kadra mission and so provided a great break from the grind on these and has been an absolute blast.

There have been some Great Times and Great mob spawns there have been times where the L1110 Level 5 drones have been a big beasty to shoot down as numbers have not been around but making sure people are signed up to join /#arkadia is working.

Through out the weekend I have also purposefully gone up to the quarry and harbor to advise people to join the Chanel and get the latest intel for the smuggler locations and activities and if when people arrive in the underground tp they ask I advise them to join the arkadia Chanel.

Over the weekend It has become easier to find mixed spawn locations and this has enabled shared loot mobs to be solo'd.

The Main Arkadia Underground TP has often had smuggler private and sargents surround them and you can solo these - you can then move out form the tp north our south to meet battallions of smugglers.

Also around the Eastern Wall there have been spawns of lower level mobs.

Heading around the tunnel areas there have been higher mobs where they have been found and spotted they have been shouted out by players to the #arkadia chanel and backup has often arrived for the larger ones.

The Abyss & The Cathedral - Have had Larger elites and Drones the biggest ones.

KC Has been Camped down in the underground most of the weekend and has been soloing many a many smuggler and reporting finds of LARGE Smugglers - there were other people in and around these groups and tactics deployed where to snag the smuggler back to the revive area and let them follow you.

I have spent appx 20 Hours in the underground this weekend and have really enjoyed the event there have been great teams around and have also been in teams that have yellow swirlies yes there are some of the usual complaints about loot but thats not an ARK issue.

This has been a great event for me & I hope there is more to come from the smugglers - the smuggler boss NED & I have unfinished business

I want to Also say Thank's to the following this weekend not just for backing me up with Smuggler Boss Ned but for also co ordinating shout outs and getting people to join the #arkadia chanel we have also asked traders in the quarry if they can mention this as well and have had some pilots do this for us in local chat and so thanks to them too

KC
Lesteri
giga
Rocky
The-Unknown


Smugglers Bring them on ! ! ! ! & Thanks SMuggler BOss NED ( Smuggies ) & The ARK Dev TEAM & Arkadia Offical Lars who We have seen around a LOT over this weekend although I havent seen the smuggler boss lately

 

Is the event over?

 

Thanks.... ehm, gotta hint, they are not near a TP it seems