Remove the Party Experience Bonus!

[Occhidiangela]

1. Where you sit determines what you see.
2. Fun is where you find it.

Actually I think the fact that it has become a common practice to always join the party upon entering a game has lulled players into a false sense of security and a belief that players who choose not to party are more likely to be PK's, which is false, at least unless Blizzard fixes current PK exploits such as Hydras and Triggerhacks. Breaking up the current party system would increase PK wariness, not decrease it.

I disagree. If no one is partied, all crosses are red. If partied, all are green. When all crosses are red, which one is the PK? Is he even in your act? The "all party" helped identify who the PK was, or if he/she was even on your screen. This allowed a quick "am I at risk" assessment to be made, however, Trigger and Scroll hack . . . renders a lot moot.

 
If the party bonus was to be removed, so that there would be less parties and you would be more likely to be alone on the map, I doubt a PK would just be able to "slip in". If you hear the sound and then see a red cross closing in on you a few seconds later, what are you going to think? Does it even matter if there are any other red crosses in the neighbourhood, unlikely as it is? One would regardless of whether you have green or red markings surrounding you, have to be pretty thick not realize that it's time to either leave or fight at that moment.

See above.

   don't think PK's are clearly tagged with the current party system. There's no way to be sure who can and can not be a PK. If Hydra PK'ing, Triggerhack and the likes are removed in v1.10, then maybe you'd once again be able to somewhat trust your party members to not suddenly kill you. But elimination of those things will cause everyone to have to hostile someone at least a few seconds before he can actually move close enough to become a threat. Once you hear the sound, between the name and the way the PK will be acting/moving, spotting him is easy enough, regardless of whether there are other markings around and whether they are green or red.

Really? The nuisance PK is the only red x, the party remains the same color as you. That is as clearly tagged as necessary. I don't disagree that IF the hacks are defeated (not holding my breath) yes, wariness around TP's and Waypoints and town entries are still anyone's best defense.

  2.  There are plenty of rewards for team play, if the team members are willing to put their mind to it and work for it, so there is no need for an experience bonus, particularly not with the problems it causes.

What problems? I see no problems. I see greed, and dog eat dog, but No One Is Required to Party Up. For those who do, the reward should remain, but perhaps the bonus needs to be reduced. If you check the comments on how the party bonus is being changed, you might understand that leaching will be more difficult, while true party play will still get a small reward. You can also choose not to party. So, choose it. Why rain on the parade of others?

The Hostile system, while indeed working against most leeches, is far more troublesome than all-out party XP removal.

Mixing apples and oranges, IMO.

Leechers will apparently not be able to leach as they did. Do you understand that? Also, one can always lure a few champs to a leacher now and again. Re partying also helps. Level limits on games help prevent leeching also.

 
I don't think I need to tell you that this competition added much more excitement to the game.

For some, true enough. Bnet is for everyone who bought the game.

While it may not add to comfort or relaxation, which is what some people value and enjoy, I frankly don't care about leisure players who for some reason want to play in the (supposed to be) competitive environment that is Closed D2.

Yep, you don't care about anyone else's fun, just your own. For some of us, Diablo II is indeed a hobby, a leisure activity. If I wanted to get wound up, I'd play and RTS like Starcraft. That, sir, is REAL competition, and it is well balanced.

  You can't have competition without competitors  It could be argued that the party is the competitor, but that makes it at worst 7 vs 1, which isn't really fair. Believe me, I'd be glad to unparty and fight with the rest of the party over the monsters and loot if I thought I had a fighting chance, but that's rarely the case.

Right. But is every party by definition a competitor? No, a party can also be a team. Some games, like basketball, are a competition between teams. Some games, like golf, are solo competitions, though it too can be competition in a team format. Poker, on the other hand, is a Many V Many solo competition. Blizzard's ability to make the games appeal broad enough is part of the secret to Diablo II's success.

  The current ladder is pretty uninteresting, since one look at it reveals nothing but thousands of clvl 99 characters, but back in the classic days, the ladder did actually mean something and many were very interested in the progress of the top ladder runners. I don't at all mind it's return, which is likely to come with v1.10.

The current ladder in simply more of a joke than the original pre-LoD ladder.

The ladder means something? Right, XP over time.

In 1.10 it means, to me, a less likely chance that folks will have dupes, it also means that I need to understand that every game I am in will probably have some folks in it who are playing very competitively with an eye on the ladder. That does not demand that a party penalty by inflicted. The two ideas can coexist in harmony. Since parties tend to kill faster anyway, a small reduction in the party bonus would not necessarily hurt party play. However, since killing speed looks to have been curtailed, unless partied, by design, maybe the reward for partying up is appropriate. The aim, I think, is to make each game last longer so that the time factor you mention, which at present is indeed a pretty gross loophole, is mitigated.

  Your suggestion is, in my view, a plea to increse the amount of hate and discontent on bnet, not change it.
I want nothing but for D2 to return to the exciting and competitive nature and atmosphere it had in the beginning. I don't see how you connect competition with hatred, are all sports also built on that emotion?

Diablo II can be enjoyed on a variety of different levels. Far better that the game be enjoyable either as a team venture or a competition than to preclude either. The party penalty penalized team play in a multiplayer game. Think about the paradox involved in that.

I'd say your position on "what the game is" borders on myopia, and your assessment on the impact of the party bonus is premature: we have not seen the ladder season open, and have yet to see what loopholes folks will and can exploit.

Since you like the Ladder, I suggest that 1.10, whether or not they change the party experience, will give you what you want: a ladder season that is finite, and where 99 is tough to get to. There is your competition. Now, if you form a team who plays together, you can run the ladder together and even duel on another, both at the same time.

Fun is where you find it.