Areas - Dwarven coal mines: Difficulty of getting coal too high?

[Badbelly]

Hey Guys, I just made my first trip into the new Coal mines and was wondering on the balance of the new spawns we encountered.  Our party of four, fairly high level characters (15,15,14 and another I'm not sure of) got wiped out within minutes of entering the mines. As it is now, only the most powerful characters on the server could think of going there to mine coal. Perhaps a small coal deposit close to the entrance of the mine could be made available so those who craft goods to be sold on the market can get the materials required without unreasonable risk. If there is a reason why coal is suppose to be restricted to a very limited supply then disregard this post.

[EO]

Coal is supposed to be hard to get so that steel weapons are not too common.

Try getting silver or platinum and see how the difficulty scales up.

[Zedrik]

Coal is supposed to be hard to get so that steel weapons are not too common.

Try getting silver or platinum and see how the difficulty scales up.

No one wants (silvered) steel weaponry anymore anyway.

[failed.bard]

There is occasionally a coal bearing rock that spawns at the entrance, and there is often another inside away from creatures you can mine then sneak out.

  Wilhelm is 15th, and can still get coal and silver, but it takes some patience, and you have to be willing to run away the instant it starts to look bad.  Even after the encumbrance changes, he would still grab a bag and a half of coal, and 1200 pounds of iron a shot while he was getting his smith skill up.  Both were too common, and much to easy to get before.  Silver has been difficult to get for awhile now, even moreso now, but can still be done solo, or with moderate risk with a balanced party.

  As for difficulty, If Kane and Maria had been there from the start you could probably have cleared the caves, and gotten pretty decent loot from it at that, judging by what she took from the first rubble.  You didn't have a decent party buffer, and no real magic support offensively, just melee types (Corvin included).

[Zedrik]

On the plus side, you don't really need a -whole lot- of coal.

Unless you agree to make a zillion arrowheads for someone... ... ...

[Bad_Bud]

Coal is supposed to be hard to get so that steel weapons are not too common.

Try getting silver or platinum and see how the difficulty scales up.

I mined a rock of platinum!  Corvin smelted it and since the ingots are worthless it was a complete waste of time.

[Helaman]

Pity that...

I wasnt there so I cant comment but also consider if it was high spawn...

On low spawn, you'd have eaten the place... on high spawn? Only clerics can make a dent and those with blind fighting...  Kidding, on high spawn, you gotta think and play very smart-trying strength on strength is nasty

[failed.bard]

I saw only the sneak attacking large shadow asps in the first room, not sure how many they killed before heand, or if they were normal or larges, but I'd say the spawn was high and maybe nearing max.  Nobody goes there now unless they have to, so the spawn seems to stay up.

[Nefensis]

I tried to test Melanie's solo capacity in the mine while rescuing someone and i had to give up, LOL ive no idea how people solo and probably never will know how. Good old invis haste let's hope for lag deal.

[Badbelly]

Coal is supposed to be hard to get so that steel weapons are not too common.

Are we trying to reduce the availability of steel weapons or curtail power crafting?
   
     It doesn't make sense to me to make coal  only availbale to power builds, or those willing to use exploits to defeat the foes. Making areas that have materials used for crafting so hard to get to only encourages power leveling and power builds, both negative things in my mind that upset the balance of the server. Reducing the amount of coal you can get from a vein of ore would have been a better fix if that is the case. My view points are my own personal feelings as  I enjoy the RP of being a crafter/merchant and I think it adds flavour to the server and would be disappointed to be unable to continue. My hope is that a compromise can be reached.

[Badbelly]

and gotten pretty decent loot from it at that, judging by what she took from the first rubble. 

I doubt that.. there was a ninja in the cave looting everything with apparent ease. Seems he logs on and off in the mine so he can loot it again and again. Rather cheesy if you ask me.

[EO]

It's actually done to encourage teamwork and partying. Crafting shouldn't be a solo experience where the crafter does everything in his own corner. A smith needing coal would hire a group or bring friends along to help him acquire it.

[failed.bard]

Wilhelm is the oppostite of a power build, and he can still get coal and silver solo, just not much, and not easily. 

Maria buffing Kane worked well on the rescue.  It just needs to be planned out now when you go to get those two, and even moreso to get the platinum when and if that becomes needed.

  I'm not even going to touch the ninja part, because there's a pretty big risk of violent death there if they're seen by the large asps or KD spamming greater spiders.

[Badbelly]

It's actually done to encourage teamwork and partying. Crafting shouldn't be a solo experience where the crafter does everything in his own corner. A smith needing coal would hire a group or bring friends along to help him acquire it.

I agree completely.. My point is that we had a party of four, three of whom were level 14 or higher.. We all died with in a minute of entering the place and we had someone to lead us that had been there before and knew what to expect. We had to be rescued by a level 19 PC with support of a mage who only had to deal with a small fraction of the spawn we encountered,  I am all for encouraging partying but this seems to be unreasonable to me. A well balanced party of mid level PCs should be able to gather Coal from the mine, As it is now you must bring a  mage and be supported by PCs that are of the highest level. I am giving feedback for the Devs to use, If this is how it is intended, so be it.

[Badbelly]

There is occasionally a coal bearing rock that spawns at the entrance, and there is often another inside away from creatures you can mine then sneak out.

Good news indeed  .  This supply is more than adequate. After learning of this i have no issues with the difficulty of the rest of the coal mine. 
Thanks to everyone for the feedback its much appreciated.

[Zedrik]

It's actually done to encourage teamwork and partying. Crafting shouldn't be a solo experience where the crafter does everything in his own corner. A smith needing coal would hire a group or bring friends along to help him acquire it.

That would be nice if people actually cared enough to party outside their little group of friends.
Getting people to go do ANYTHING besides sitting around gossiping about who is cheating on who and who is going to marry who and whatever is like asking people if they want to go pull the teeth out of a conscious dragon's mouth for giggles.

Assuming I could actually find the people to begin with. Often, even with 30+ people on, I can't find ANYONE  in ALL of the Blasted Server no matter how much like a chicken with its head chopped off I look. And when I do, they are often idle. Or just ignoring me.

And this is getting worse every month. One of the primary reasons Ulfga rarely pops in anymore.

[Bad_Bud]

Sedrik is almost always fair game, and a nice enough character to want to help people and do it for free.

[Wids]

That would be nice if people actually cared enough to party outside their little group of friends.
Getting people to go do ANYTHING besides sitting around gossiping about who is cheating on who and who is going to marry who and whatever is like asking people if they want to go pull the teeth out of a conscious dragon's mouth for giggles.

Assuming I could actually find the people to begin with. Often, even with 30+ people on, I can't find ANYONE  in ALL of the Blasted Server no matter how much like a chicken with its head chopped off I look. And when I do, they are often idle. Or just ignoring me.

And this is getting worse every month. One of the primary reasons Ulfga rarely pops in anymore.

You've never asked me.  All of my characters are up for a good cross-country romp...whenever they're not already busy with something else, that is. 

Don't take it personally if some adventurers stick to their own little bands or cliques; some people simply have trouble trusting strangers, especially where danger and plunder are involved.  Everyone dreads the chance of bringing along a parasite who runs off with the chest full of 500 Gold, the Mordenheim Lightning Rod and two potions of Cure Critical Wounds after training a small army of large ochre jellies into the room and shanking the wizard in the back, just for kicks.  Be sure to ask me and/or Bad_Bud about Viorica's first (and last) dungeon crawl with Calin sometime. 

But sometimes, the best place to meet and party with other adventurers is not in any tavern or temple but in werebeast-infested stretches of wilderness and other enemy territories.  Nothing unites people like a common foe, and joining forces may be the key to survival.  Viorica and Jinx rekindled their acquaintence with Jana Moonshadow when the road through the village's farmlands grew clotted with a large pack of mountain loup-garou who respected no nocturnal or diurnal cycles of activity, and the three of them safely made the trip from Barovia Village to Vallaki in the dead of night.  Then the next day, Jana asked Viorica to accompany her on a worg-hunting trip which ended in the Misty Woods, and Viorica ended up dragging Jana out of there after an encounter with the resident dread treants didn't quite go as planned. 

So whenever the buddy system works, it works very well indeed.  Now go out to the Misty Woods and find some new buddies.