Solutions, so as NOT to eliminate the use of nerd poles in game.

Z

Zantrag

Refugee
I love using nerd poles for various reasons. Generally I have avoided poling up to the roof after loot; as this seems like cheating.

HOWEVER, the ability to nerd pole is a lot of fun! One solution:  Randomize the locations of loot within POI's, to prevent this cheat.

Simply have four or five different locations where the most valuable loot can spawn, and make it random on every respawn.

Then, even if you nerd pole to the roof, it doesn't mean you can get the best loot there. You must still search the building.

You want to work from the roof down when looting?... O.K., from the basement up... also O.K., from the middle...?  It's all good.

Sure, it may not be the perfect solution, and I'm no developer, so I don't know how hard this would be to accomplish; but

I would hate to lose the ability to nerd pole... so there.  Any other (or better?) ideas? BTW, can't wait for A21... Looks great!!!

 
I can support the idea as it embodies features that I think would be handy even if I have my doubts about addressing the problem you describe. I'd certainly love to be able to randomize the locations of loot items on a block-by-block basis.

That said, this is suggestion is easier said than done and unlikely to provide the relief desired. So long as designers look to make a single large loot-pile, players going directly to the loot will remain a problem unless you design a POI to support it in advance and the POI is significant in size. This isn't viable for a great many existing POIs. I think even if you got the support needed added to the game code, you'd still have a massive effort needed to adjust the POIs and in the end the players would still memorize the locations. For instance, players already remember all of the zombie spawn points in a POI, which are more numerous.

Something I don't think anyone has mentioned would be perhaps making the last zombie killed in the last zombie volume to be cleared drop some of the end loot. Then you'd have to clear the POI to get some of the end loot.

 
zztong said:
Something I don't think anyone has mentioned would be perhaps making the last zombie killed in the last zombie volume to be cleared drop some of the end loot. Then you'd have to clear the POI to get some of the end loot.
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It's been mentioned before, and IMO, a bit immersion-breaking. So it just so happens that the last zombie I killed happens to be holding the loot or the key to access the loot? Feels a bit arcade-y.

Overall, I don't think nerd polling is an issue, especially when it comes to using it as a method of scaling a tall POI. As someone mentioned in another thread in this same topic, this game is largely cooperative and there is no incentive to "competitive" play. If players want to take shortcuts to get to the loot quicker, so be it. The way I see it, this would work exactly the same way in the real world. If I knew (by some previous or second-hand knowledge) where a stash of supplies was located in a big building, I would probably make every effort to shortcut my way to that location instead of blasting my way through a horde of zombies. While I can't nerd pole in real life, there are other ways to scale a building.

 
Alpha 20 has already introduced an alternative to the nerd pole in the form of Customizable Blocks. Since you can now change the shape of almost every place-able blocks, you can turn Frame Shapes into ladders and just go up. You can even place ladders on stable ground and carefully climb up to the sky!

 
I think it would be nice to just have the ability to nerd pole or not as an option players can choose.  Although I'm used to using that as a quick way to build or get up a building or whatever (I think using ladders would work but is slower, maybe I just need practice, though?)  But I think it would be a fun challenge to turn it off and see what happens, too.  Just my 2 cents.

 
MarissaX said:
I think it would be nice to just have the ability to nerd pole or not as an option players can choose. 
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It is unlikely that there will ever be such an option, but there may be a mod at some point. @Roland made a mod some time ago that stops you from placing a block when your feet are in the air.

 
I also believe (but I could be wrong) that the SMX core mod adds the option of turning on/off the ability to nerd pole (along with other things you can do with it).

 
there is no reason to get rid of nerd polling.

It is an amazing feature, especially for builders who need to get up and finish off a build.

 
My feeling is that players should be allowed to do what they want in a game that is not designed primarily for pvp.  If you aren't competing, then does it really matter how you choose to play?  And if someone plays a way you don't like, there are many other places to play where such players might not be.

As it is, you can change loot to give a lot more loot, so what is the difference?  All you are doing is allowing an easy way to get a lot of loot, which is already an option in settings.  And all players have the same ability to do this if they choose.  It isn't an unfair advantage for some (other than choosing to take or not take parkour, of course).

I don't find this method of gameplay enjoyable and will rarely grab loot from the loot room without completing the POI, but I have no problem with others choosing to do so.  If I didn't like how someone else was playing, I'd find a better group of people to play the game with.  I wouldn't ask the developers to change the game by removing something like this.

The problem with randomized loot rooms is that if you find the loot room partway through the POI, will you actually bother completing it?  How often do people complete a POI if it's is fetch only and they already got their item?  I know I usually do unless I'm trying to complete multiple quests before night comes, but most probably don't.  In the end, the devs can give POI makers more options for randomization, which is definitely a good thing, but it is up to the POI designers where they choose to place loot.  They can already choose not to use a loot room and where to place it, but most stick to this standard placement of loot.

You can spread loot out rather than use a loot room and get great randomization that way, but most players like loot rooms, so that isn't a good option.

 
I agree with Riamus statement, players should be allowed to do what they want in this game especially.
My reasoning this is one of the most easily moddable games, with the quality of gameplay, texture, and
dev support.

Its a sandbox with attitude basically. Xml,structures,AI,environment,even the exe is moddable to allow
almost infinite variations, rules, and personal choices.

If too many stringent rules are applied it may lose its re-play ability for others. I have tried the nerd
pole and prefer using ladders, not to get to the loot, but, to gain a vantage point, and safe locations.
If one were to look at it from a reality standpoint, I wouldn't actually carry around 30 plus ladder segments.

One of the side effects, of A21, is if you have been getting deprived of getting loot in the past, the region
reset will put it back after a time for you to claim your reward. The devs may or may not have had this in mind
but they are in the process of solving the conundrum.

 
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