Menu
What's New
By:
Filters

Abuse of MM Categories

Rave

Rave

Stalker
Joined
Jun 16, 2005
Posts
2,400
Location
Florida
Society
Freelancer
Avatar Name
RP Rave Prospector
Why is this still allowed? There are certain people who are in "Category 4" (Lv70-99) that are clearly over Lv100. They pull enough skills out to qualify for Cat4 and then after being assigned to Cat4 by the mission giver, they chip right back in. No names here, but I have already seen Great Masters coming to and from Cat4 (as can be seen by the Entropialife tracker).

Cat4 is already the roughest competition because of the 29 level range disparity at the high end of the DPS spectrum, but people who are maxed on UL, non-SIB weapons are placing themselves into this Cat because they are guaranteed to beat the rest of us.

Honestly, how is there no penalty for this?

Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying my time in MM (my first time participating), but it just seems ridiculous.
 
I think you get your assigned cathegory by the hit skills, I know at least 1 player that is 105+ in dmg and under 100 in hit and that was assigned for cat4 :)
 
If thats the case, I'll double check the professions Ive seen. But Im curious why it isn't based on highest offensibe profession, Hit or Dmg. It seems like Hit or Dmg above 100 is still a big advantage in Cat4. Hmmmm
 
Rave said:
Why is this still allowed? There are certain people who are in "Category 4" (Lv70-99) that are clearly over Lv100. They pull enough skills out to qualify for Cat4 and then after being assigned to Cat4 by the mission giver, they chip right back in. No names here, but I have already seen Great Masters coming to and from Cat4 (as can be seen by the Entropialife tracker).

Cat4 is already the roughest competition because of the 29 level range disparity at the high end of the DPS spectrum, but people who are maxed on UL, non-SIB weapons are placing themselves into this Cat because they are guaranteed to beat the rest of us.

Honestly, how is there no penalty for this?

Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying my time in MM (my first time participating), but it just seems ridiculous.
Click to expand...

IF thats the case u should send a support case , its not usally i like to see ppl reported but thats just BS ... And about dmg and hit... Well thats disturbing cuz this ismanipulation .. Hope MA says someting and prove this should be a fair vompetition as far it can be...
 
Sounds like bodybuilding... "Making weight"

Also it's just as bad when they have alts in lower categories using their uber gear, even if not maxed.
 
Dalas said:
Sounds like bodybuilding... "Making weight"

Also it's just as bad when they have alts in lower categories using their uber gear, even if not maxed.
Click to expand...

Haha .. Well they wont do it in from lvl 4 to 3 due they lose comando HP ....
But IF thats the case its shiittier then all gear... Cuz esi market gets fucked and also one thing... Dosent cost alot to chpp out on that lvl? Is it worth that in prizes? And were did the esi come from.. Have to huge tt OR tts...
 
Is it even worth it? The cost of 10% skills loss on chipping out must be epic at those levels.
 
If you're just above 100, going back to 99 isn't that much. If you can guarantee yourself top 3 it very well could he worth it. I was also curious about the alt thing too. I know I would never place in cat4, so it doesn't affect me really. These are merely some observations.
 
Last year keys are still usable and counting for MM2013.
 
Rave said:
If you're just above 100, going back to 99 isn't that much. If you can guarantee yourself top 3 it very well could he worth it. I was also curious about the alt thing too. I know I would never place in cat4, so it doesn't affect me really. These are merely some observations.
Click to expand...

Well good that u saw that...
Now what do with it?
Well RAVE I hope u ath and shaft him OR she... GL
 
Most MMs you be disqualified if u chip in out during it! Should be no problem if someone is lvl 102 and chip out to 99! Plenty of lvl 99player who can do thesame than and chip to 102 aswell
 
Last edited:
Garco said:
Last year keys are still usable and counting for MM2013.
Click to expand...

Soc m8 had last years key 3 solo and this year is in cat 4. He went in cat 3 but his pints are not counted there.

Falagor
:bandit:
 
Falagor said:
Soc m8 had last years key 3 solo and this year is in cat 4. He went in cat 3 but his pints are not counted there.

Falagor
:bandit:
Click to expand...

Exactly, maybe that explains OP
 
Selosse said:
Mosy MMs you be disqualified if u chip in out during it! Should be no problem if someone is lvl 102 and chip out to 99! Plenty of lvl 99player who can do thesame then and chip to 102 aswell
Click to expand...

Well IF thats the case then cat 4 is really a bad spot..
Maybee we can orginaze a competion commision by players and help MA to make it better not just talk and bash them?
I belive their is fair and respected players out there who fair and Wants the best for the game we love..
Is that possible? And not just for MM .. They work as our spokeperson..
 
Garco said:
Exactly, maybe that explains OP
Click to expand...

It's possible, but I've noticed at least 2 people who are lv100 (might be DMG if Hit is how you are categorized) that are solely hunting in Cat4.

One of the issues, points aside, is someone hunting with old keys (if that's the case) and hitting the ubers in a lower Cat... effectively messing up the HSL. It's unlikely you are going to see multiple 2,3,4,5k PED ubers on any particular Cat mob.

The issue with MA basing your Cat on just Hit is that you can makeup for the 1 or 2 Atks/min you lose between lv99 and lv100 with the Neurostims. And if you are maxed on DMG (above Lv100), you are shooting as if you are maxed.

That aside, my loot return is doing just fine, so that makes me happy :laugh: I would just feel bad for people who are ACTUALLY cat4s losing out on top placement because of skill abuse (if that's the case). The only penalty for skilling up into the next Cat is losing out on your Team placement. Solo doesn't appear to have any penalties (based on the rules I read).
 
Frankly, I really couldn't care if someone chips out to just be able to squeak in at the top of category 4. First, they lose a LOT of skills doing that, and, therefore, a lot of peds. There are probably people who are prof level 71 doing the same to be able to get into category 3.

Someone who just recently achieved prof level 100 is, in no way, able to compete against some of the people who have been there for years! And, really, the difference between someone who is legitimately level 99, and someone who chipped down to level 99, it's not making a whole hell of a lot of difference when it comes to DPS. The people who are, say, level 74 have absolutely ZERO dreams of making the top ten, and are simply entering for the chance to loot something awesome, and maybe make get to one of the thresholds that MA set for "winning" universal ammo.
 
I agree with OP that it does suck, but as far as I remember MA changed the rules from the past. It used to be once you started - you couldn't use skill chips. Now they changed it - I don't know how I feel about it - I think overall it's fine. This is because the use of chips helps the economy somewhat, and the avatar is losing some skills in the progress. I think most people know that for MM - if you want to win... you will. (Terminator for example)
It is defiantly lame to do it like how you describe, but then really one is inclined to think the whole thing is lame - there are so many other things you can do to tweak your skills, add boosts and buffs and so on that makes the less advantaged frustrated.
The one year I did compete - I just did the best I could. Each round I tended to do a little better - added damage enhancers as my (L) gear tiered up and used some bigger (L) amps. I got "lucky" and got 50th place which gave me one of the "booby" prizes. I had fun - got good loots, and got a nice placement and prize.
Not sure why MA changed the setup and chipping rules.
I think I totally lost my point and where I was going with this sorry.


BTW: I am the one mentioned by Falagor using Cat 3 Keys left over from last year when I'm placed in Cat 4.
I don't get any points. I just wanted to see if it worked and now that it does - I like it cause at lvl 73 Cat 4 is a little too much for me at the moment. Now I can still have fun and hunt MM mobs!
Also: It doesn't work for teams - father lootius didn't accept my key! Oh Lootiussss!
 
Coz1969 said:
Frankly, I really couldn't care if someone chips out to just be able to squeak in at the top of category 4. First, they lose a LOT of skills doing that, and, therefore, a lot of peds. There are probably people who are prof level 71 doing the same to be able to get into category 3.

Someone who just recently achieved prof level 100 is, in no way, able to compete against some of the people who have been there for years! And, really, the difference between someone who is legitimately level 99, and someone who chipped down to level 99, it's not making a whole hell of a lot of difference when it comes to DPS. The people who are, say, level 74 have absolutely ZERO dreams of making the top ten, and are simply entering for the chance to loot something awesome, and maybe make get to one of the thresholds that MA set for "winning" universal ammo.
Click to expand...

Since those of us in the lower half of Cat4 don't stand a chance, and we have to work our way up... why shouldn't the same be held to those chipping down to 99? Why shouldn't they compete at the bottom of Cat5 and work their way up?

If you chip down and you're using the very top DPS for cat4, you'll probably not lose much PED. The prizes would more than makeup for the cost of putting some of your main skill on a chip. And if you're looting well, even better.

And yes I am one of those Cat4 people who already knows I won't win any kind of top prize, so it doesn't affect me either way (as I stated before).

I do think that Cat4 needs to be split into two level caps (70-89, 90-99) because the DPS disparity is greatest in this category. But I get that MA doesn't want to have 6 cats because they want to hold onto their income as much as possible instead of throwing out a few more items.

I'm probably 10-12 levels below being any sort of competitive in this category, and it could very well take me 2 years to get there (which is 2 MM's where I'm just 'participating'). This applies to anyone in this cat, not just me, of course.
 
I'm 105 dam and 94 hit, I'm at a disadvantage to someone who's 98/98 so I don't see this as a problem. Be thankful you're not 76/80 and playing against lvl 130/130 like I was before they opened up cat5.

If someone chips down to 99/99 then they qualify for cat4 so it's not a problem imo, as long as they don't chip up after collecting their keys.

There's always going to be big gaps between possible dam done unless you break it into about 20 categories. The way I see it is when you're at the low end of a cat you play it as a learning process so that your tactics are at their peak when you get to the upper end of the cat in a year or 2.
 
I brought this to Kim's attention 2 years ago and I was told that it would not make economical sense. I'm okay with it because it allows more players to play in the instances which in the end makes MA more money And that is a good thing for us all so that he servers keep running and we don't get into a rocktropia or next island situation here on calypso
 
Garco said:
Exactly, maybe that explains OP
Click to expand...

I think that OP has strong feelings against situations like this:
person takes mission at level 24.99 (Hit) - then he skills up/chips up to desired level (i.e. level 40) and then he can use equipement that is maxed at lev 40 having like 120 eff dps which is sure win in cat 1.

Personally i think it would be good if there would be rule that once you reach (Hit) level over your cat max you need to chip down first to enter again (like with team rule)... but... not in this years MM but from next year.

It was well known how system works and lots of people made preparations and planned ahead to adjust to this situation (including me - my weapon is maxed at lev 50 but truelly maxed at lev 51.5 - it has then max/max nr of attacks. I skilled up this 1.5 level in one day of hunting so this is really easy task to do actually - i did not have to chip in to achieve this).
And if it would be changed during this years MM it would piss off many players who made the effort and put some planning and thought on this way before MM has started.

Falagor
:bandit:
 
slither said:
I'm 105 dam and 94 hit, I'm at a disadvantage to someone who's 98/98 so I don't see this as a problem. Be thankful you're not 76/80 and playing against lvl 130/130 like I was before they opened up cat5.

If someone chips down to 99/99 then they qualify for cat4 so it's not a problem imo, as long as they don't chip up after collecting their keys.

There's always going to be big gaps between possible dam done unless you break it into about 20 categories. The way I see it is when you're at the low end of a cat you play it as a learning process so that your tactics are at their peak when you get to the upper end of the cat in a year or 2.
Click to expand...

Yes, sorry if I didn't mention that in my post... yes if they continue to play at 99/99 that's fine. But if they chip back UP after setting into Cat4 (so they are 100/100 and up)... that is my concern. Thank you for bringing that up :D

The same could be said for lower level cats because it is easy, and cheap, to chip up to higher weapons from Cat1-3. If someone gets Cat3 and spends a few thousand PED they can jump to a much higher DPS weapon and wreck that entire Cat.

These issues have yet to be [openly] addressed by MA. As far as I can tell, they wouldn't take action against these players since there are no explicit rules against doing this.
 
Someone chiping down or up before events makes sense, but doing so during event have bin clear on the past that it aint allowed.

Rules only state this now says now

The solo category events are intended for solo hunters. Any attempt at abusing team mechanics or any other Entropia Universe systems or features in order to gain an unfair advantage over other participants will be grounds for disqualification from the event, forfeiture of any prizes, and possible sanctions imposed on one’s Entropia Universe account.
Click to expand...

So in bold that could mean chipping during event ?
 
[FM] said:
Someone chiping down or up before events makes sense, but doing so during event have bin clear on the past that it aint allowed.

Rules only state this now says now



So in bold that could mean chipping during event ?
Click to expand...

Could mean - does not mean it means ;).

Also - what if he just skills up naturally before doing even single run inside?

Falagor
:bandit:
 
[FM] said:
Someone chiping down or up before events makes sense, but doing so during event have bin clear on the past that it aint allowed.

Rules only state this now says now



So in bold that could mean chipping during event ?
Click to expand...

That's the issue, the ambiguity of these statements. How can a player argue to defend his actions when we have no explicit outlines of what is and isn't okay? Or how can others argue that another player is cheating? At what point in time do we say "This player purposely chipped out to make a lower Cat"? Is chipping the day of MM that line? A week before? A month before?

A player could chip to .1% under the cutoff a month prior, knowing he will meet the req. for the lower category. He also knows he will naturally hit the next level within the first hour or two, so he doesn't have to chip in. Since he naturally gaining that skill level back, can we say they are abusing a system?

Ambiguity.
 
Falagor said:
Could mean - does not mean it means ;).

Also - what if he just skills up naturally before doing even single run inside?

Falagor
:bandit:
Click to expand...

Exactly it could mean :)

In past MM it was clear in the rule that it was not allowed chipping once you started, skilling naturally was all ok :)
 
Rave said:
A player could chip to .1% under the cutoff a month prior, knowing he will meet the req. for the lower category. He also knows he will naturally hit the next level within the first hour or two, so he doesn't have to chip in. Since he naturally gaining that skill level back, can we say they are abusing a system?

Ambiguity.
Click to expand...

I dont think so.
If im level 99 hit today and level up to 100 during the event I will be transfered to cat 5 ( at least it used to be like this)
So if you are chipping only .1% to level 99.9 you may shoot yourself on the foot!
 
Aye if you out level your current category it'll move you into the next automatically.

If someone chipped out got key's then chipped back in it wouldn't let them score in Cat 4 anymore, only cat 5. (Info from the few people I asked who had trouble with it last year)

Not to mention for someone to chip out like 102->99 would be like 10-20k peds worth of esi's in this market, on top of 10% skill loss. I honestly don't know anyone who would do that, especially knowing terminator/T10MM is in cat4 chances of winning enough to pay off your loss is not very likely. Knowing how to win an event is far more important than skill.

EDIT: Tried using Chipping optimizer tool it would take roughly 1700 ped of ESI to chip from 102 to 98.
900 ped of ESI to chip from 102 to 99.9. at 1250% ESI prices that is crazy if someone infact did that.
 
Last edited:
It's a tricky issue, if you are "just within the next category" it has often been better to chip down to the lower category to be "top of that category"

It's hardly fair to disqualify someone if after 40 hours sheer hunting they hit an artificial boundary. As I understand it, it was disallowed to chip in once someone had registered for Merry Mayhem , if that "chipping back in" within the event has recently been allowed then that opens a big can of worms.

As I read the opening post, that is what is possibly occuring, there is significant Ped loss in buying ESI, chipping down then chipping back in so those prizes must be worth it.

I'd have to check previous years rules to see if there was a change.


In conclusion, some people really want those gloves. ;)
 
Ogulak'Da'Dragon said:
Aye if you out level your current category it'll move you into the next automatically.

If someone chipped out got key's then chipped back in it wouldn't let them score in Cat 4 anymore, only cat 5. (Info from the few people I asked who had trouble with it last year)
Click to expand...

Is this definite? The only thing I saw in the rules this year was that outleveling your current Category would remove your ability to go into that Team cat.

If this is the case for solo Categories, then I have no problem with anything. It could just be the lack of complete outlined rules that made me question if people could abuse this system :laugh:

Again, my first year actually doing MM, so I admit I'm not fully aware of how the whole system works, I'm basing this off of the posted rules :dunce:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top