R27 Zombie Plaque Feedback

I rarely use all caps, but in this case I have to say that the R27 zombie plaque is:

NOT FUN!

Wow! It is just truly awful for a low level melee player. Truly. Utterly. Hopelessly. Underhandedly. Awful.

So here is what happens in R27. With a newer melee character I fight a zombie in East Perennial and get the plague. Ok, that's fine. Next I exit combat thinking I need to go back to town for a cure plague potion that I don't have. And I am too low to have a spell to clear it yet. But whoah! Even out of combat, my health now jiggers around uncontrollably unless I stand still. The plague DOT continues out of combat. Can I run back to town for a potion? No! Too late! The plague worsens with every step, even out of combat. Death ensues. Unless I am missing something, zombie plague, at least for low level players with no cure in hand, is sure death.

Here are the feelings this raised as I tried a number of times: 1) Since when has anyone seen a DOT with no end after combat that affects players any time they move out of combat as being balanced? Why waste play time with that? Might as well just give the zombie a +10,000 claw of doom to one-shot me and get it over with. And 2) is this fun? The only good I can say about the experience was that resurrecting at the ankh cures it. Beyond that, what was going through my mind was whether the game was going to require me to run from all zombies now? Or was the game now requiring me to have magic when I didnt want it? Or to always have to carry potions without an option not to? Before I had a choice to play with the plague as an impediment. Now, not so much. If it was fun before, it isn't so much now.

Conclusion: Maybe the current R27 plague is a funny prank on Halloween or something, but otherwise....not. I hope its a bug!

 

I always thought it was kind of funny that the people that need to worry about dealing with plague most are those least equipped to...

 

Surely I could be equipped if I wanted to.

But I think you miss the nuanced point of my grumbling.

The new plague requires that you must be equipped. In the past, you could play with the plague as an impediment. And that could be a little fun. It is no longer a fun impediment. Now it has to be cured.

I do think that any game mechanic that requires one to have to play a certain way is not the greatest of designs. In this regard, the past plague design was far better.

 

Maybe the dudes that used to chase you around infected with the plague so you wouldn't harvest things in the area will no longer be bothersome any more?

 

Not quite what i meant i think. I was referring to the fact that the people that interact most with plague are those that are low level(less effective curing ability and lower hp) and likely without huge stacks of gold to spend on potions.

 

This is true. Good point. But I have not minded that so much. My dispute with this new epidemic is that it has further eliminated my choice to live with the plague as an impediment while I finished a scene vs. now having to cure it or dying unmercilessly every time. Choice has been removed. And instead I am required to play one way (cures are a must). Else run.

 

has it changed for r27? it used to go away when u left a scene. but yes, avoid zombies at low level and/or talk to npc in soltown. someone there provides a few freebie plague potions. I used to avoid them at low level, but at higher now I can manage them.

 

Yes. Give it a try.

 

Yeah, makes no sense to me. It would be fine if it was time limited, even a minute would be annoying, but still, entirely inappropriate to crush new players like this.

And now, for me, I just avoid fighting zombies, at all, ever. I'll fight -anything- else. It's just no fun at all, and waaaay too punitive.

 

Makes you think a bit about using it on your pet. Would it be just as fast to kill it?

 

So, if you're a melee and fight a zombie you get a debuff that lasts forever and this debuff will once every 2 seconds deal 0-100,000 damage. Yeah, sounds like fun. It's not even a slow, gradual death its' either you're alive or poof, you're dead.

 

low level health players and high level health players need to die for plague in similar way.... yes. .maybe a 500 Health players can die on half time compared to a 170 player... but this need some time.. 1 point per second.... and reduce STR / DEX / INT by 20% (when plagued.. the players can NOT AUTO-HEAL with healthy skill)

 

What is zombie plaque? Does it, like, stick to your teeth?

 

I thought it was a bug. I think it's a bug.

I was at full health and then suddenly dead in about a second.

I couldn't figure out what happened until I read the log file that said I'd been killed by the Zombie Plague. So I went back to test it again and the same thing happened.

 

It's even worse when you play with a pet or in a party. Area purification doesn't seem to work. So you infect each other again and again until you are dead

 

Yowza. Note to self: Don't fight zombies with a pet in the party.

 

There should be a temporary immunization from the plague in the game. Otherwise, it is near impossible to get rid of in a crowd. Maybe purify should add a plague immunity buff for 10 minutes or something like that.

 

@Chris @Attenwood

uh yeah, this needs fixed.

 

It doesn't matter if I play with a pet or in company with another player.
I should be able to heal both ... me and my Pet (or a party member) with the Area Purification !
But as I said...it doesn't work

 

Actually I'm starting to like it now. Suddenly the game is very dangerous.

The zombie plague of total doom. Run!