Key Warhammer Online system seems to be random
by Justin McElroy 
{ Nov 26th 2008 at 9:30AM }
According to the tests of some players though, that number is random, applied when the player enters a zone, and remains stagnant until they leave it or log off. This has been kicking around for a couple of days and Mythic has not, as of yet, leaped to its own defense. We'll let you know when they speak up.
[Via Massively]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ganrob @ Nov 26th 2008 9:38AM
knowing a little about mmo's, it's probably a tad bit more complicated than what a message board or fansite conjures up.
Zertoss @ Nov 26th 2008 10:01AM
Maybe, but RPGs have some hardcore fans that are known for extensively testing every aspect of the game to determine how the math behind it works. They do a great job of figuring it out, so I wouldn't discredit this just because it was someone who plays the game that figured it out.
Dirty @ Nov 26th 2008 10:07AM
Knowing a bit about dorks.. they will find the flaws in your game.
Cal @ Nov 26th 2008 10:44AM
Well if you've played the game you'd be able to see that it is seemingly random. For example twice, when I played, I joined a keep attack in the closing minutes, once without attacking a single enemy, yet still gained 1st or 2nd place for contribution out of around 24 people...
Other times I had been in a keep siege for hours dealing out plenty of damage and death, only to come last/near last for contribution.
Wiinterfang @ Nov 26th 2008 9:49AM
Looks like WOW to me =/.
Kweli @ Nov 26th 2008 10:03AM
I find it hard to believe.... I've specially noticed myself higher/lower on the charts depending on how hard i was working
Niroth @ Nov 26th 2008 10:00AM
Unless this was introduced in a recent patch, I highly doubt this.
I probably did 100 PQs in my time in WAR and whenever I was there the whole time contributing I was near the top, if I joined halfway through or was eating a cheeseburger while playing I would be near the bottom. Always seemed to line up correctly.
Ad @ Nov 26th 2008 11:02PM
In my experience, the random contribution award is happening during keep raids, not PQs. When participating in PQs, the contribution award seems to be more in line with the actual contribution of the player.
Dirty @ Nov 26th 2008 9:58AM
I dont really care much about the MMO scene, but I have to admit that that dwarf with a mohawk and tattoo is pretty bad ass.
MrGutts @ Nov 26th 2008 10:09AM
Yeah slayers are cool looking. It's to bad Mythic never made them a playable class. So no mohawks for players.
Tedworth @ Nov 27th 2008 10:10AM
Yet, my friends. Yet
Makoto99 @ Nov 26th 2008 10:20AM
The non-contributive portion, I could see this. That number is wildly random... it's a make or break number at times.
The number for contribution was pretty accurate when I did it. During drive-by's, I'd get 0 or close to it if I did anything accidentally.... during full-focus PQs, I'd get a high number.
Like another person said, maybe they patched and broke this recently, but it didn't work as described in the article when I did it.
CodeMunki @ Nov 26th 2008 10:42AM
In my experience, this is not random. It might be for the end boss part, but you appear to get "participation credit" for killing the trash mobs that activate each stage of the PQ. By contributing to the entire PQ, and not just the boss, you get more credit than someone that just shows up at the end.
That being said, I'd bet that if a group of X players is present for the entire PQ, then the participation level is a tie and the result is essentially random. I doubt they track stats like damage done, amount healed, etc. to calculate your contribution level.
Kyera @ Nov 26th 2008 10:57AM
Well, I think Joystiq may have eaten my post, and if so I'll try and retype it later, but I can confirm that I ran a number of tests on this in sieges and PQs and that it currently is borked. Whether it's always been this way or broke in a patch, I don't know, but there have been "wtf" questions about contribution since day one...
Kyera @ Nov 26th 2008 11:04AM
Okay, I have a chance to retype my post, so yeah. :p
You are assigned a random contributon "value" when you enter a zone that remains until you log off or change zones. Where this value places you in the contribution chart depends, of course, on the contribution "values" of all other players in the siege/PQ -- this is why you'll see your contribution fluctuate as the warband changes.
If you run some tests with a consistent group (farm the same isolated PQ, such as Bastion Stair, or flip keeps with an identical warband) you'll notice that you get the same results every time *regardless of what people do*.
I've had people get actively involved in PQs (either dealing damage or healing) and sit by passively and the contribution breakdown remains the same. I've cycled keeps in a zone and had my contribution remain the same value whether I was healing my ass off or alt-tabbed reading forums.
If you want to take the time to test it, go ahead, but if you don't, rest assured that's the way it works. Last night I healed my ass off in one siege, placed thirteenth. The next, I was on the phone mostly afk, and placed thirteenth. I've waltzed into PQs on my Witch Hunter in Stage 3, done enough to 'contribute' (however that's calculated), and walked away with #1 contribution over a higher level Witch Hunter who was there for all three stages. I farmed T1 PQs for a low level friend of mine who was AFK on my Witch Hunter, and every time he'd end up with #1 contribution.
If you've ever been in a T4 warband where a level 10 player gets top 5 contribution, or in a T2 warband where a level 40 chicken gets #1 contribution, you know just how messed up this is.
Whether it's been like this since the beginning, or whether they broke it lately, who knows?
Cal @ Nov 26th 2008 9:15PM
It was definitely broken before Halloween, whether to that extent or not I don't know
ganrob @ Nov 26th 2008 11:15AM
I'm guessing one can only try to form an own experience and speculate from there, the devs have the real insight (and by insight i mean code in front of them and flipcharts and stuff like that).
rbtroj @ Nov 26th 2008 11:53AM
I've seen this even in the very few times I've actively participated in a PQ. I was starting out a Bright Wizard on a low pop server so I was in a low-level PQ ... to make a short story long, that means I was probably one of three or four people in the PQ. I didn't see anyone else in the PQ for the first two stages, and my BW was really a bit high lvl for the PQ so I was doing most of the burn. But someone else must have been there since I was turning all the numbers. Anyway, by the boss stage others had shown up and we completed the PQ. I placed last even though I HAD to have had almost all of the contribution for the first two stages. So, I can only think that this random value issue is legit, or the boss stage is the real decider as to evaluating your contribution.
Mystic @ Nov 26th 2008 11:43AM
WOW!! This is SOOO WRONG Joystiq! It's random for KEEP raids, NOT PQs!
DDRFan2006 @ Nov 26th 2008 11:44AM
It is publicly known that you get a number for your contribution and they give you a medal and a bonus. Then they do a random dice roll (1-1000) that gets added to your contribution and bonus. There have been times where I am just passing through a public quest and participate in the third phase, do a little contribution and manage to get the first bag. It has not happened much but it has happened.
Scott @ Nov 26th 2008 12:33PM
Yeah, as mentioned by Mystic, this is for Keep Raids not Public Quests.