Is there max skill gains/mob?

[Serica]

I've spent quite a lot of time around the edges of swamp camp areas over the years, including very recently while doing the puny missions myself. (And yes, I sweat all the mobs before I kill them, as I'm also skilling up Tailoring on the Lesser Elysia bp )
So while I may not have been there, this type of interaction is something I've seen repeated over and over, as new players join the game.
Pulling a bigger gun and one-shotting mobs is a very typical reaction of an 'older' player who can afford the loss associated with overkill to drive home their message.

There's also the possibility the skiller was sucking all the defensive skills out of the mob and then abandoning them for others to kill, which I don't think is a fair practice.

I think you might be confused between gaining defensive skills from a mob and say sweating it.
A player can sweat a mob dry, and with a little practice, abandon it by dodging around shrubbery, leaving a dry mob on the field for someone else to kill (which can be annoying for other sweaters).
However, a player can't 'suck all the defensive skills out of a mob', like they can with sweat. If he were to 'abandon' it, the mob will still give defensive skills to other players - the limitation on skillgain only applies to him, not everyone else.

[wizzszz]

However, a player can't 'suck all the defensive skills out of a mob', like they can with sweat. If he were to 'abandon' it, the mob will still give defensive skills to other players - the limitation on skillgain only applies to him, not everyone else.

Do you have any evidence to back up this claim?

[Serica]

The nerf on defensive skills was introduced years ago (2007/08 iirc), to limit afk-skilling (just like scanning was nerfed more recently, so now there's a time limit before you can scan the same ava/vehicle again and gain skills .. you can scan again in the meantime, but it won't give you a skill gain).

With evade/defense skilling, the skill gains stop after about 2min or so (I've never bothered to time it personally, but there are threads on pcf like this one: http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/fo...fter-x-minutes). Any interaction on the player's part with the mob, like shooting it once, or iirc even sweating it once, will restart the timer.
The basic method is described here (but doing it with punies unarmored is obviously the more eco counterpart): http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/fo...=1#post2547296

The time limit is between the player and the particular mob, just like one person scanning a vehicle and starting a timelimit on skill gain FOR THEM, will not prevent another player from scanning that same vehicle and getting a skill gain.

Feel free ofc to go and do a documented test if you need to convince yourself

[wizzszz]

The time limit is between the player and the particular mob, just like one person scanning a vehicle and starting a timelimit on skill gain FOR THEM, will not prevent another player from scanning that same vehicle and getting a skill gain.

Serica, i know about the nerfs and all that - but all i've ever seen ingame (and the standards of efficient game design) tell a different story: The skillgains are tracked on a "per mob" basis, and not on a "player related to mob" basis (which would be a horrible thing to do, efficiency-wise, for something so trivial).

If you have nothing else to offer but "gut feeling" to back up what you claim (and a blunt "test it yourself"), i'd plain say that you are wrong there and that it is very possible to "empty" a mob of the skillgains it (!) carries.

Because, that is how it worked imo all the last years since they nerfed skillgains - scanners work differently, but the system was introduced years later (and is entirely different, because it is a paid action, which kinda justifies some extra strain on the database).

[Serica]

...all i've ever seen ingame...

Ah, so no proof for your claim then.. just your 'gut feel'.

A mob doesn't have a fixed amount of 'skill' to give. If it did, it wouldn't start giving defensive skills again to the original player for another few minutes after he has any active interaction with it, even it only to sweat it. And if it will restart giving skills if the original player does that, then why wouldn't it give defensive skills to any other player who comes along and sweats (or shoots) it? That would be just illogical.

[Madmax]

Serica.. wind ya neck in..you speak of what you think sounds like old school players and such without knowing this as fact, as a moderator your opinion on such matters needs to be one of neutrality in my humble opinion. Rights and wrongs on both sides of the actual in-game experience that started this thread.

[wizzszz]

Ah, so no proof for your claim then.. just your 'gut feel'.

I don't need to prove anything here, you were the one to claim to know how it works.
And besides, the "skill gains are in the mob" has been the accepted theory since the big skill nerf - if you have a better theory, something that matches the observations better, that'd be great, but then you have to provide test results, lots of them.

Don't try to turn things around and challenge me instead, i am just the nagging voice that questions your exuberant self-reliance that made you present your assumptions as facts in a debate, to undermine someone elses point - that's at least worth a "yellow card", my dear.

That would be just illogical.

Again, you present that stuff like a proven fact.
It is nowhere near that, it is your personal little theory, your personal belief.

If you attack the thread starter based on personal beliefs, please make an effort to make clear that this is your belief only, and not based on facts.

That would be just illogical.

Logical fallacy at it's best.

And this is a virtual universe, what you deem "illogical" may be the best choice under the circumstances for a game developer (resources like memory & cpu time are limited) - you know, the same thing as star wars and the "there is no sound in space" thingie...


And btw - mobs "replenished" their sweat back then pretty easily - once everyone were off their radar, they were "reset", so your deduction is pretty much void anyway, not only because you ask the wrong questions...

[Serica]

I don't need to prove anything here, you were the one to claim to know how it works.

Ah well, we'll just leave it to Neil Stockton then to 'provide test results, lots of them' to substantiate his original statement then. (He wasn't the 'thread starter' by the way, but maybe you didn't read it whole thread)

Why anyone would think that if Player A can get a mob to keep giving defensive skills by interacting with a mob (after it has stopped), but Player B would not get the same defensive skills is beyond me.

[wizzszz]

Ah well, we'll just leave it to Neil Stockton then to 'provide test results, lots of them' to substantiate his original statement then. (He wasn't the 'thread starter' by the way, but maybe you didn't read it whole thread)

Neil doesn't need to prove anything here, it has been the accepted theory for many years that mobs only carry a limited amount of skillgains, entirely independent from player(s).

You were the one coming up with something that's just in your head, and maybe that of a few of your mates, presenting it as if it were facts.

Why anyone would think that if Player A can get a mob to keep giving defensive skills by interacting with a mob (after it has stopped), but Player B would not get the same defensive skills is beyond me.

You've lost me there - read that part again, and tell me if it actually makes any sense, especially the "after it has stopped" part.

And, how "can get a mob to keep giving defensive skills"? Who claimed that??

[Neil Stockton]

Ah well, we'll just leave it to Neil Stockton then to 'provide test results, lots of them' to substantiate his original statement then. (He wasn't the 'thread starter' by the way, but maybe you didn't read it whole thread)

Why anyone would think that if Player A can get a mob to keep giving defensive skills by interacting with a mob (after it has stopped), but Player B would not get the same defensive skills is beyond me.

Because skills = TT value. When has MA ever given out free unlimited TT value?

I did some casual testing on this question, but it was a long time ago and the details are very foggy. I could be wrong, but my conclusions were that defensive skills are present in a finite amount in each mob. In other words, that if one player receives all the defensive skills from a mob, it will not give more skills to another player. I didn't do any testing to see if they reset after a certain time period.

I'll do some formal testing and report back with my results.