05-05-2004, 08:54 AM
The problem is not that monsters would switch their attention from one party to another. The problem is that the difficulty level of an area would become highly dependant on how many total players are questing in the immediate area. When I log in after work (around 5 A.M. Eastern), the player base is naturally much lower than at other times of day. There will usually be about 20 or 30 players in the entire zone of Mulgore, for example. Wherever I choose to quest, there aren't likely to be many players, and the mobs are usually pretty thick. A great deal of care needs to be taken to avoid getting into an unmanageable chain of fights. Quest in the same area about 14 hours later, and you may be waiting for a monster to spawn so you can kill it. However, this dynamic does not cause a big balance problem because the balance is still usually determined based on individual fights (whether it be solo mobs or "linked" groups or camps of mobs).
If monsters had greater awareness, more aggressive patrolling, and more powerful social interaction with each, then this would cause a very different balance scenario. It would be nearly impossible for me to solo after work, and ridiculously easy for me to solo before work. The difference here is that the monsters would no longer be individuals or small groups but rather a collective. Having other players near me to thin out the patrolling mobs would be the difference between me engaging one mob and then eating, or engaging one mob and having 7 more mobs get attracted into the battle before I have a chance to eat.
To see what I mean, try going to a murloc encampment or a mine when nobody is there, and compare it to a time when there are several parties clearing it at the same time. Even with the mob awareness relatively low, it already makes a huge difference in the threat level of facing additional mobs. You can try to correct this by increasing respawn rate in relationship to the number of players in the area, but if multiple parties are within visual range of each other, then respawn rate doesn't really work as a solution.
If monsters had greater awareness, more aggressive patrolling, and more powerful social interaction with each, then this would cause a very different balance scenario. It would be nearly impossible for me to solo after work, and ridiculously easy for me to solo before work. The difference here is that the monsters would no longer be individuals or small groups but rather a collective. Having other players near me to thin out the patrolling mobs would be the difference between me engaging one mob and then eating, or engaging one mob and having 7 more mobs get attracted into the battle before I have a chance to eat.
To see what I mean, try going to a murloc encampment or a mine when nobody is there, and compare it to a time when there are several parties clearing it at the same time. Even with the mob awareness relatively low, it already makes a huge difference in the threat level of facing additional mobs. You can try to correct this by increasing respawn rate in relationship to the number of players in the area, but if multiple parties are within visual range of each other, then respawn rate doesn't really work as a solution.