Anyone noticed that ever since the boons got into the game, it has become much harder for non-booned
players to do that much? I admit, I don't have any boons, never got many, and I am pretty broke rl, so
even if donations got on, I wouldn't be able to donate money.

To do much melee damage you need way above 200str, hard to get without boons.

Just some idle thoughts, when I am depressed that others hits that much harder and got that much more
hps/sps and whatever.

Well, its just in the nature of the game - you got no boons, you suck and wont ever be able to do anythign else than rape duz's.

But life is.

(I have no boons, so I know how you feel)

I played for many many years before I got boons, and they didnt help that much.
It's all about the mental state. If you think like a winner, then you are.

True. I have boons and I (still) suck.

Indeed, players are more powerful now than they were a few years ago, when they were more powerful than... etc. There's a natural evolution of strength in any game that doesn't end. Heck, I remember when 20M put you in the top 300 characters.

As such, it's not that you suck without boons, it's just that you aren't the best. Which, in a game of minmaxers, is about the same thing ;)

You wizzies need to give us failures some way to get those tp's.
But then, that wouldnt be useful, couse the tp req's for boons is also kinda rediculous.

I wouldn't say that boons suck. At level 45-ish or so, I watched a level 40-ish skeleton tarm tank better than me, a minotaur LoC with 83% parry set to parry 51 : p.

The tarm also had about 300 more HP, even without buffs. : p

In my mind the main benefit of boons is not necesarily minmaxing, but in widening the range of options that I consider playable.

I totally agree, boons give you more race guild combos the absolute power gap is not really that big.

I think anyone who thinks boons don't make much of a difference needs a bit of a reality check.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't a full stat boon is +40?

Which would represent more than 35% of my strength for my reaver centaur.
40% of my wis -> 25% of my sps.
33% of my con -> 15% of my hps.

And doesn't this +40 represent 4 times more than the best eq can offer? And I see in the sales that someone is selling a +9 wis item for 15 million which would take me jugging away at making 60k cash an hour 10 days of playtime.

Now I agree that the more xp/levels/eq I get the boons effective increase in power would diminish but how many months of gametime does a full boon represent?

And lets be honest, nobody would buy them if it didn't make any real difference.

I agree they do make a big difference. Especially if you need to minmax.

However, what people are saying is that there are only two things that you can't do without boons. One is being the best, and the other is making a more diverse character in terms of race/guild selections.

If you feel a deep urge to be the best player in BatMUD, then prepare to spend a couple thousand Euros on boons and other stuff. However, short of being the best you can still make a boonless character, using the right race/guild combos, good enough to pull your weight in any EQ party except those run by players that will only let the best play with them.

So to recap, yes boons make a difference, but no they don't make the game unplayable. I believe that is a widely held opinion.

Yep, Hrolf is quite right. From newbies point of view that +40wis naturally is awesome but it really is only 4 +10 wis eq. And yes there are +10 wis eq:s that cost under 15m.

Naturally this improves your character but you can wery well play without if you want to make duck tarmalen. Then again if you want to make that drow tiger then you are in deep shit without boons.

im a drow tiger without boons and I dont see any shit around me.

"Yep, Hrolf is quite right. From newbies point of view that +40wis naturally is awesome but it really is only 4 +10 wis eq. And yes there are +10 wis eq:s that cost under 15m.

Naturally this improves your character but you can wery well play without if you want to make duck tarmalen. Then again if you want to make that drow tiger then you are in deep shit without boons."

While completely accurate this is still a non-sequitor. Let's stay with the tiger....while its true I can get 40 wis from 4 pieces of gear... thats also 4 slots that are locked up and can not be used for damage gear/pys. res/skills whatever which significantly effects your character. Tell me a Tiger who loses 8 slots for say 40 con and 40 wis doesn't lose a LOT comared to the booned character who can use those slots for far better eq for the guild. it can be frustrating seeing a character with the same level having 200ish more hp and mana because they are booned. While I do not beiefve boons make the game unplayable it does narrow your options and significantly reduce your str vs. booned players as Hroth said. Is it an unfair advantage...yes and no. There are many games that do not allow you full options unless you pay even tho the game is free. I just consider Bat to be one of them. As I can think of no other way for Bat's admin to garner donations easily it is still the best system.

Using tiger as the model for this discussion is flawed because you are comparing peoples ability to offtank in a party as a tiger. For this role, having a ton of boons is pretty much mandatory if you want to be useful. However this is an example of extending a guild beyond it's designed functional range.

If you are talking about a single guild tiger's ability to solo cash and expa, then having a few boons one way or another isn't going to make a ton of difference.

If you want to frontrow without boons in big parties, don't be a tiger.

This is the true value of boons.

I know players that are great without boons, and some others who have boons and still suck a lot.
Boones help, yes, but it is not requires to play this game, everyone can be succesfull without them, and yes
boons makes some lesser races with sucky stats playable, like gnolls and kobolds for example.

My choice was only along the lines already stated but the accuracy of the overall statement is true. You are missing the point entirely.

Who idiot uses 8 slots in +stats eq if there is far better eq for the guild.

Stats do not really give that much power in the end compared to playing skills and exp and eq. Biggest problems with boons were con and pr but as hp has diminishing return and pr boon was removed they are not problems anymore.

You can be good without boons you can't be the best.