Magician Heal Thyself
A guide to BM softcore ladder slasher multiplayer
Ladder Slasher Multiplayer has been out roughly a week and already many players have subverted the intent of the game to their own gain. We see thread after thread in the slasher forums about how unfair this is and how stupid that is. So lets add some new definitions to the curious D2jsp jargon. This way you will recognize what you're up against if ever you come in contact with such a person. Or perhaps you might recognize the fault in yourself and set about fixing it.
2 wavers. These people annoy me to no end. You've seen them, you're probably one of them yourself. They do the first 2 sets of monsters only then leave the game in search of another game. Hell, I even encountered a group that was doing only the first wave (1 monster), time after time after time. And this is on softcore, NOT hardcore. Hardcore has it's own set of rules and necessities when it comes to multiplayer. And this is fine if they take much damage and don't have much defense, but I see many of them leaving the game with full health or close to full health.
When confronted with their self serving actions, they defend themselves by stating that they heal quicker after only 2 waves so they can join next game after a short regen. Yet there they are, in the very next game, sporting the same shortened life from the previous game. Then on to the next game with even less health.
LowLifes. these people are 2 wavers, or basically anyone else who refuses to regen. They hop into the next available game without regenning at all. But see there is a method to this madness! If you join a game with low health, guess who gets healed first by the mage or rogue? So bam, you're healed and ready to join the next game with full health. I call these people LowLifes (pun definitely intended). It's actually a very smart thing to do if you want to keep playing without ever having to wait for regen. Unfortunately it backs up in your face if you happen to be the mage or rogue and it's your mana that you haven't managed to regen. Or if there are no healers in a particular party. Sucks to be you then. But hell, just leave the game and join the next... there's probably a healer in that game.
I was in several games the other day with this one mage. He joined the first game and stated he heals. Great! He used half his mana bar to heal us, then left after 2 waves (of course!). He joined the next game immediately and I saw the same half bar of mana. He proceeded to use his mana to heal and then left after 2 waves (doh!). He then joined the next game I was in, and lo and behold... he had absolutely no mana at all. He stayed for the 2 waves then left. Another healer kept him alive and I have no idea if he could actually melee or if he was leeching. None of my business! Then came the fourth game, and he joined. He still had no mana! I said to him... I thought you said you were a healer? Don't you need mana for that? He left the game. Heh.
Drop Clickers. If you think about this one, you'll actually be amazed but the ingeniousness of it. Get a full party and everyone starts clicking madly to kill the spawn. But then when the monster is about dead, the clicking seems to drop off and become slower. That's because half your party is clicking on the icon area of where drops appear when the monster is dead. They stopped trying to kill the monster. But wait, see here's the ingeniousness of it! The decrease in the clicking is only the fighters and the barbarians and melee rogues/mages when they are trying to get a drop. You know those healers you think so highly of because they help you stay alive? Guess what they're doing while you're clicking your little hearts out to kill the monsters? Towards the end of a monster's life, they don't need to heal you... they're clicking away on the drop area. It's easier for them, because they don't even have to worry about melee on the spawn. And they're sitting in the back row taking less damage.
There have been countless cry threads about drop 'stealing' and the unfairness of who gets what drops. But take a look at the people who are telling you to shut up, go back to single player and cry less. They say you are slow and they are just faster. That's probably not true at all. A good portion of them are Mage and Rogue healers, mind you, not all... but a good portion. Until I started forming parties with people who rotate drops, the only way I got a drop was by drop clicking. Yes I am ashamed of myself. I admit it... I am slow. But dammit I wanted a drop once in a while too. I don't do it as a habit, because I despise those kind of players, but if you can't beat 'em... might as well join em. I now do drop rotation or resign myself to the fact that I'll never get a drop. Ysohate!
Backseat Drivers. Ever get in a game and see a fighter or a barb in the back row? It chaps my hide. The back row is reserved for Mages and Rogues (who should really be in the middle row, but I am not about splitting hairs) who have no choice but to wear armors with puny defense. They can't wear heavy plate. So the back row is for them, were they can cast in moderate safety. But here come the fighters and barbs, usually with low life (see LowLifers) who are hoping to squeeze out 1 more monster before they absolutely must regen, or to be healed by the mages and rogues. Or they are hoping to last longer by taking less damage and therefore have to spend less time regenning. Or maybe they are just plain cowards worried about their own hides and no one else. They take less damage in the back so they can drop click (see above).
MiddleMen. Pretty much the same as Backseat Drivers. Fighters and Barbs who take the middle position instead of the front position. Slightly less cowardice here. Cry that maybe you don't have the most godly of gear. Go check the marketplace and buy yourself an armor with ee, they're cheap enough. I have a 114 ee alloy plate mail that I paid like 20 fg for. it's defense is 43- 130. can't beat that for tanking hits! I have another one, tempered diamond plate mail, that I paid like 35 or 40 fg for, it has 156 ee and 89 to 222 defense! One heck of a tank armor. If you can't afford the godly dex/strength armors... go enhanced effect... it wont let you down. Then you can tank longer which will keep you alive longer out front, thus enabling more 2 wave runs and drop clicking. At least you won't look like a sissy. Nothing like getting in a game and looking at the player list and seeing B M M M. I'm a fighter so I always take front... the B is the mage/healer and the M M M are a rogue, another fighter, and a barb. I'm like what the hell! I ain't martyring myself for any of you. I click M. haha, pwnt! You're in front by attrition.
and finally...
Leechers. They are harder to spot then you think. Because they're quiet. And sneaky. Especially in a full party. But we all know what they do... they suck the life blood from you and contribute nothing. They don't kill and they don't heal. They probably go afk to chat on jsp with their friends while in a game. Hard to say why people do this... it doesn't really help anyone, even themselves. The monsters don't die as quickly and everyone takes more damage. So it's less experience gain all around. I guess they're just lazy. All that clicking is hard on a body. But njaguar gave us his version of auto-click, so that can't really be an excuse either. They stump me... I can't figure them out at all. Can't be lack of gear. Even a rusted sword will hit once in a while, even at high level spawn. But one thing I can guarantee... they have perfected the art of drop clicking. Maybe that's all they're in it for. I remember seeing someone post on the slasher forums that he saw several players wearing extra item slot gear. Too funny. Not really.
I have seen many players post that they have gone back to single player because of the people who have exploited multiplayer to their own purposes. Don't! The good mannered players outnumber the bad mannered players greatly. And our numbers grow stronger every day! Use your voice... ask. Are you going to rotate drops? No? Then you leave the game and go on to the next. If three people in the game volunteer to rotate, the other 2 most likely will also, because they don't want to be seen outright as bad mannered. BM only survives if it's allowed to fester in the dark. When was the last time you saw a ladder slasher player go around saying "Yes I am a bm player... what you gonna do about it?" Force the issue. "What about you? Do you want to rotate drops with these other three players? NO? Then please leave the game." If he/she refuses to leave... then the rest of you leave and make another game. Let the BM player see how many monsters spawn in a 1 player game. More players are willing to rotate than you think. Because most of us see what the drop clickers do. What they do isn't exactly illegal, hence why we call it bad mannered. I spent a couple days leveling with a set of players and we all agreed to rotate the drops. It was awesome. Only one mess up, one guy grabbed a drop out of turn. It was a magical rusted sword... oh the irony! But he even offered to give it to the other guy, who politely declined and waited for the next drop. That was hilarious.
Tired of 2 wavers? Make your own game and ask the people to stay through the third wave. But you can't force them. Eventually you begin to know who is a 2 waver and who isn't. Some of them can't survive past the second wave, that can't be helped.
Ask the barb to take front position if he's in the middle or the back.. Call him on it. Jsper's have very fragile egos... use it to your benefit. Same with the fighter.
If a person comes in with only half life, ask him to leave and regen. Or kick him if it's your game. Again, that fragile ego thing... eventually they toe the line without prompting.
But you have to use your voice (keyboard) and speak your peace. Don't let the bm players run roughshod and control the game. If the good mannered players band together and stick together, the bm players will have no choice but to bm only each other. Can you imagine a game with 5 drop clickers? Who's killing the monsters? Eventually they'll even turn on each other.
The multiplayer version was made so we can all play together. Let's do so... fairly.