>From: "Michal Hobson" <given@...>
<SNIP>
>Their downtime was so minimal, it was sick. I was
>constantly getting "I love bards" and "I love this song!" They were
>actually getting bored waiting for the next orc train to show. Which was
>pretty cool considering when I first arrived, they had all just sprinted
out
>of the zone away from a train!!
===============================
I guess I am not as lucky as you. While I LOVE my bard to death (he is the
ONLY character I play), I do sometimes find it hard to find a group for
several reasons:
1) Fewer High Level players- There will always be a lot more people lower
level than you, and when your level reaches loftiness of 30 and up, there
will be fewer people to join up with. Like aging, It's simply a matter of
attrition. Try doing a /w 1 29 all and then follow that with a /w 30 50 all.
Sure, a lot of the uber players might be anonymous, but not enough to
counter the immense number of lower level people. Luckily, after 20th it
seems, you can find someone within 10 levels of you either way, and you are
fine (that's been my experience anyway). Still, there were SO MANY people
when I was like levels 1-8... now... it's tough to find a full 6 within a
few levels of me.
2) Guilds - Personally, I don't really care for guilds, for numerous
reasons. Don't get me wrong, I think they DO belong in the game, as another
"social incentive". But I don't know how many times I FINALLY find a group
of 4 or 5 people, and I ask to join, and get the "you aren't part of our
guild, so no." response. Granted, quite a few times I've gotten the "Hey, we
need a good bard in our guild, wanna join?" message in response, but
personally, I don't know if I'll ever join one. To me, I would feel too
obligated to answer the beck and call of my guildmates, and being a bard, I
am a bit TOO "free willed" to actually have enough willpower to do this
(smile). Regardless, most of the time I am actually turned away from a
group, it's because of their group being all of one guild.
3) My class- I know, I know, Bards are the jack of all trades, master of
none. We do a lot of different things, just none of them masterfully. We
should EASILY be able to find groups, right? Nope. I HAVE been told on MANY
ocassions, point blank and bluntly, that BECAUSE I was a bard, I was not
wanted. "You can't tank real well, you can't dish out damage, we have
healers, we have buffers, etc. etc. etc." Granted, I HAVE been told that
BECAUSE I was a bard, I WAS wanted! "We need Selos!" or "We don't have a
cleric, and you're better than nothing!" etc.
4) Greed - Simple, undeniable greed. "No, we don't want you because Rubicite
is rare enough, and since you can wear it, you might loot it or hassle us
about getting it." And of course, one I've heard a LOT "We are doing fine
with 3 people. Adding you would just water down the EXP distribution.
Sorry."
Now Michal, don't get me wrong. I STILL like the bard best out of all the
classes in the game. I LOVE my bard TO DEATH (uhh... quite literally,
actually, as I retrieve my corpse for the third time in ten minutes). But, I
was just pointing out that the original poster's complaints were not
unfounded, and in fact his/her problems are frequently experienced by
others, on other servers.
However, I do not have such a dismal outlook on the class. Sure, there are
things that I would CHANGE, but are we, overall, the weakest class in the
game? The strongest? We could discuss this into the next century, but I for
one believe we're right there in the middle with the rest of them (smile).
On a side note, I snipped a quote from your message, above. While early on I
ocassionally received praise and comments like that (because of Hymn and
Selo's), I can not believe the LOVE that is heaped on me now that I am past
32nd level. I can not believe the absolute LOVE that spellcasters heap upon
me when I play the Mana Regen song. Heck, a FEW of my more common mage
friends have actually become quite POSSESSIVE of ME!!!! Talk about "stroking
your ego" or feeling important, it feels GREAT! For a long time, I felt
like our class got little respect, except from people who KNEW what we were
capable of. Now, no matter what, and at least from spellcasters, we have a
whole new load of respect coming to us after 32nd level. And heaven forbid
you get two or more bards with this song in a high level group!!! WOOHOO!!
Just my 2 copper's worth, sorry if this was boring,
Tim
Tallonn Stringfellow - Bertox