Topic

XP... more of a penalty then a benefit?

Ok, help me out fellow Glitchen. I have got to be missing something.

Right now, I am afraid of XP. I'm only a level 34 and really don't like the idea of getting any higher. Sure, my energy would increase - but so does my cost to teleport and pay off my oh so demanding idols (who are running me to the poor house while occasionally bestowing me with more of the dreaded XP without even asking!). I've got plenty of energy. Sure, I sometimes get a bit weak when mining, but nothing a few awesome stews can't handle. There are even some days where I don't need to eat a thing. 

So, I've begun to find ways to avoid XP.  It's not too difficult to avoid XP coins and I've stopped using Silvertongue. I can donate to more shrines after I've hit the XP limit for the day. And, of course, it's a bad idea to make anything and keeping my mood low helps. But that's just awful! I don't want to run around a sad little glitch who has to buy everything. What am I missing? 

Why do I want XP and why shouldn't I threaten to throw the idols to the curb the next time throw me a big blast of Giant Hate?

Posted 13 months ago by Vera Strange Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • There are two things that balance this out -
    1) Quoin/Coin (has this been sorted out yet?) return increase with levels. So a quick trip to the Ancestral Lands can refill low energy when you have a max of 2000 as quick as when you have a max of 500.
    2) New day refresh. Think of it this way - If you have a max of 500 energy and reach midnight with just 1 energy, you are getting 499 "free" energy. If you have a max of 2000 and reach midnight with 1 energy, you are getting a free 1499 energy.

    Idols... well, they added a whole new thing to the mix. Anywhozits, I like to think of it all as "With age comes other problems. Sure, you are more efficient at gathering food and using energy and all that. Because you are wise and know how the world works. But your back also hurts more. And Your knees creak. And you have a hard time peeing." Or something.
    Posted 13 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • You don't HAVE to pay the tithe. 

    You just can't help yourself.
    Posted 13 months ago by shhexy corin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • And the energy/mood kicks are nice, even if you hate XP
    Posted 13 months ago by shhexy corin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I like the large pool of energy available at the higher levels. Since the energy required per action is fixed, even energy-intense activities like mining are really not an issue when you have a huge pool to draw from.

    On the other hand, it becomes more and more difficult to keep mood up as your level increases. Somewhere around level 45, I noticed even the mood increases from very active harvesting/petting/watering was not enough to keep mood stable, and it becomes necessary to regularly consume milk/drinks/icon love if you want to keep it green. This is particularly problematic when cooking or mining since neither activity increases mood.

    In short, I agree that more xp is not without drawbacks.
    Posted 13 months ago by Kraftmann Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Focus Meditating Mood while cooking DEFINITELY helps things a lot. You can't meditate while mining though, so there's that.
    Posted 13 months ago by Liza Throttlebottom Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I got 99 problems, but XP ain't one.
    Posted 13 months ago by Xev Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Xev - Hit me!
    Actually, don't. Ow.
    Posted 13 months ago by Djabriil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • So the only benefit of XP is a greater pool of energy? 

    Admittedly nice, but it really does not seem to be worth the cost to me - though I do not find most of my joy (and therefore don't spend a ton of time) doing the energy intensive activities. And when I do, I tend to have enough energy for the day... even a run through Callopee & Pollokoo today only required eating a couple awesome stews, certainly manageable. For my play style (more exploratory & social oriented) XP just seems to be more of a nuisance. Though, once I'm able to do a bit more crafting but lack easy access to produce to make food (no crop garden in the swamps), that may change. For now, I guess I'll casually continue my efforts to avoid XP gains and see how it all plays out. 
    Posted 13 months ago by Vera Strange Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I've also been avoiding XP since the beginning.  Initially because I didn't like XP grinding from any game, but then reinforced by the additional reasons mentioned above :)  I'm pretty much accidentally lv35.
    Posted 13 months ago by Lara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I've been in agreement with everything said above for a while now, though I still go after exp, regardless. (Most of it from shrines, since I'm still donating for icons.) All the scaling things based on level really do need to cap out at some point, especially mood/energy drain and teleport costs. These costs scale with level, but very few ways to regain mood and energy do. The only ones I can think of are savory smoothies, icons, and... quoins. We shouldn't really be forced to rely on those few methods.

    Though I will say that until it gets addressed, if you're gonna do a bunch of cooking or mining or something, munch a Rookswart. That will at least stop your mood drain for a very respectable 10 minutes.
    Posted 13 months ago by Zigniber Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I am becoming more and more agnostic as my level goes up.  That could mean that I care less and less what happens with regard to shrine and god-related aspects of the game.  Maybe that balances things out for me.  Also, there is a special item to sniff (not no-no) that gives us a big mood boost (please let people discover it for themselves.)  I'm not having any problem at all keeping my mood high now that I've discovered it.
    Posted 13 months ago by Parrow Gnolle Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think that teleport costs a percentage, so basically the cost remains the same. 

    The tithe costs are the only thing that can be considered a downside of leveling up, but with higher skills and more practice, it's easier to get currants. Since I bought a 50k house, I always have between 30-40k so I don't care much about currants, in fact I prefer to have something to pay.

    The only drinks I consume are earthshakers and flaming humbabas and several times my mood was to high to drink, so usually I have problems to lower my mood, not to get it up.

    I like the big pool of energy, and I'm donating a lot to get all the icons, so I'm going to keep leveling up. 
    Posted 13 months ago by Natalia Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Natalia - even though the % is constant, the actual cost to you doesn't remain the same, because energy/mood intake DOES remain the same.  Eating an egg at lv20 gives the same energy at lv40, and harvesting an egg tree at lv20 gives the same number of eggs at lv40, ceteris paribus.  Meanwhile, teleport goes from, for example, 80 to 160 a pop, thus requiring you to spend twice the amount of time to make up the 'same action'.  It's not quite true that teleport cost 'basically remains the same.'
    Posted 13 months ago by Lara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • So, for those looking to avoid XP... here are some of my tips:

    Manage your Mood: I'm trying to keep it red, but don't really bother with it unless it gets into the green. The best mood killer I've found is a certain dairy product that's fun to lick. 

    Coins: I've not started going after that achievement, but avoiding XP coins while running around isn't all that difficult. You can even enjoy jumping around the coins at GFJ if you wait a few seconds after someone has cleared em - the currant coins will spawn before the XP coins.

    Emblems & Idols: I gather as much donation fodder as possible, so that I can donate to as much as I can to the various giants after reaching the XP limit. I still tithe (the whining drives me batty, the energy is useful, I like most of the Giant Love, and I want my friends to be able to use them however they'd like), but I do get the occasional blast of Giant Hate (the XP bestowing).
    Posted 13 months ago by Vera Strange Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "Meanwhile, teleport goes from, for example, 80 to 160 a pop, thus requiring you to spend twice the amount of time to make up the 'same action'.  It's not quite true that teleport cost 'basically remains the same.'"

    For the same level of teleport skill, you're right, of course, but the effect of this is mitigated somewhat because higher levels of teleport skill make teleportation cost less. I think you'll find that on average a lvl 20 is going to have a lower level of teleport skill than an average lvl 40.
    Posted 13 months ago by juv3nal Subscriber! | Permalink
  • That's a good point.  I've been going for emblems/icons  this week but I hate the tp penalty associated with leveling up.     I think I'll just go for one icon for the giant that rules the street I live on. 

    I don't even use the emblems to reduce learning time anymore.   I have plenty enough skills and it seems silly to reduce the learning time by a few hours then have the skill finish in the middle of the night and fret over wasting several hours not learning.    When I finish Piety and a few more cooking skills I may just stop with learning and wait and see if new skills are brought in.  I'm kind of regretting having learned eyeballery, its not very useful and I can walk/jump around the street almost as fast as I can eyeball it.   Snapshottery was fun for an awhile but I've gone back to old screenshot methods.   The learning penalty for both those skills worth the benefit of having them.   
    Posted 13 months ago by Treesa Subscriber! | Permalink
  • juv3nal - I did say ceteris paribus earlier on in my post :)

    I didn't even bother using Teleport until it was maxed, to be honest, so if I was teleporting at lv20 at all then it was already at max.  I don't think that's unusual either - I'd assume most people max out Teleport asap.  I can't think of any situation when I'd rather lose 1/3 of my energy than suffer the tragedy of slightly more slowly arriving in another place lol.
    Posted 13 months ago by Lara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Vera - keeping low mood.  I totally forgot about that!  So that's why I always have exactly one of those dairy products on hand (I must have figured it out at some point, but then forgot about it).  Thanks!!

    Along that train of thought, we XP-avoiders now just have to look for energy and currant quoins, since mood and xp are undesirable.  (as well as the odd others you see in the ancestral lands.)  I didn't know currant quoins spawn before XP ones either.

    Do you have to tithe to get the random bestowments from icons?  I haven't had to tithe at all yet since I stopped using the icon verbs, which makes my XP situation less currant-motivated, yet still get various Giant Love/Hate.  I have several icons, though.
    Posted 13 months ago by Lara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "I'd assume most people max out Teleport asap.  I can't think of any situation when I'd rather lose 1/3 of my energy than suffer the tragedy of slightly more slowly arriving in another place lol."

    If a rook attack is in progress and you want to help fight it is one time sensitive situation. Although I'm drawing a blank on any others off the top of my head.
    Posted 13 months ago by juv3nal Subscriber! | Permalink
  • btw, I just received:

    "The Icon of Alph has bestowed 0 xp upon you."

    :D
    My mood was at crying (<10%)
    Posted 13 months ago by Lara Subscriber! | Permalink