Watcher gave a long answer yesterday on the question of tagging enemies, or tag. Tagging is the act of appropriating an enemy. In some games, the tag is open: all those who participate in the fight against a target collect loot in proportion to their participation. In World of Warcraft, with a few rare exceptions, the tag is linked to whoever engages the monster. Only the first player to do damage (and their party if grouped together) will get loot and experience.
As I mentioned a moment ago, there are now a few exceptions. Rather recently, Blizzard changed this way for some rare, area bosses, and quest objectives. It is thus possible to validate one's quest on certain monsters hired by someone else simply by participating in the fight (mainly named bosses, unique targets of a quest). Good thing because old players will certainly remember with boredom racing these quest bosses, especially Burning Crusade. I remember in Zangarmarsh having to summon a hunter from my guild to set an explosive trap to help me kill Blacksting which I had been camping in front of for a while without success.
To come back to the initial discussion, Watcher therefore indicates that the concern with the "tap" system (the fact of hitting an enemy to appropriate part of the rewards) is that it can generate negative or even anti-negative situations. social where our own faction can become a nuisance. They therefore want to limit these situations as much as possible and, as much as possible, find other solutions (such as adding other spawn locations or putting in a random spawning system allowing players to be dispatched).
If they do not set up an open system, it is because they think these mechanisms are asocial or even anti-social. They wouldn't like to have a world where everyone is running around and doing some damage (or at least enough to get something) right and left without caring about others. It would come to a point where players would be similar to NPCs or bots with good AI. No more talking or asking if someone has a place in a group. You just have to attack and move on. While on the contrary, the tag rule encourages people to cooperate and form groups, even in solo areas to gain efficiency.
On the other hand, they are well aware that the system should not be a barrier to fun and we must absolutely avoid the negative effects as I mentioned in the introduction where objects or quest objectives do not appear quickly enough. Usually, they make sure that when many players have to kill a single target with a respawn delay (quest bosses, outside bosses or even commanders in patch 5.3), the enemy is open and will be credited to everyone. who will participate in the fight. They can extend this operation on a case-by-case basis when it serves to improve the overall experience. But don't expect this to become a rule in the future!
Perfect Watcher sourceThere's no question that when spawning or quest objectives are not handled properly on our side, the tap system can create negative and anti-social experiences, wherein seeing players of your own faction nearby becomes a nuisance. We very much want to limit and rectify those situations. The most helpful thing you can do in that regard during beta is to bring to our attention specific quests or areas in which you felt competition for spawns was overly detrimental to your experience. We have a number of ways of fixing those problems, ranging from simply adding additional spawns, to dynamic spawn thresholds that ramp up density as player density increases, to making specific targets open tap.
The main reason we don't embrace a fully open-tap world is that we feel that those mechanics are asocial. To be fair, that is certainly better than antisocial - no question there, and antisocial experiences usually reflect spawning and mechanics that we need to adjust. However, while a world in which everyone runs around damaging things a few times (or however much is needed to qualify for credit) may be one in which you don't feel bad about other players being around, at some point it also makes those players nearly indistinguishable from NPCs or bots with decent AI. You don't need to talk, or ask if someone has room in their group or would like to join yours. You just attack a few times, and then move on.
On the other hand, mob tagging rules inherently reward and encourage social gameplay. Even in solo areas like daily quest hubs in Mists, we'd commonly see transient pickup groups form for the sake of efficiency, and stick together through that hub or maybe even another ("hey, anyone up for Klaxxi after this?"). But once again, it's incumbent upon us to make sure that we avoid situations where that is outweighed by negatives like competing for underspawned quest targets or objects.
Philosophically, for a while now, we've made sure that any time multiple players are sent to kill a single specific target that has a respawn timer (be it named quest boss, world boss, or an event like the Battlefield: Barrens commanders in patch 5.3), the mob is open to credit for all. We're certainly open to extending that treatment where it makes sense, and where it serves to improve the overall experience. But I wouldn't expect a wholesale overhaul of our tap mechanics in the near future.
What do you think ? Do you like the current system?
