I love giving advice, like so many people I can easily see solutions for others even when my own path is unclear… It is a gift. And one I like to use, for example you can ask me almost anything and I will be happy to set you on your course. And your welcome to follow my advice or not but don’t get unhappy if my advice is not the advice you were hopping I would give, I am not here to be your yes man.

I was enjoying one of my new favorite podcasts CoopCast over at chickenthistlefarm.com and they went into a bit of a terror about how some people ask for their advice and becoming unhappy that what they offered was not what the askers wanted to hear. That rang true to me. I can be your yes man if you like but don’t pose your question in the form of actually wanting help.

I bring this up because I felt like I was getting a little of that I wanted a yes man attitude the other day from a friend.

I was asked if it would be a good idea to TR his main (3pally lives and a clr live) so he could relearn the game after a long break? He has found a real live friend to newb up with from 1 until (?). And like a lot of people he is all about his main. A sentiment, which I totally understand by the way, Samius and I have a similar bond. But this player (Phlor) has a strange history that I feel discourages me from saying do it.

He is not much of an XP farmer thanks to his original ddo guild. According to him they where very slow paced and thought they could get ahead in low risk quests, making things very slow. Once he capped he found another guild, the Silver Flame Guardians, a very solid guild a little more focused on the end game and raiding which Phlor excels at playing. Then he moved to the DG mainly to lesson the guild drama that larger guilds bring and that is when the TR train started and he hit a wall, A couple of times.

This is why while I feel responsible for Phlor. I didn’t so much talk him into TRing as became obsessed with TRing Samius to the exclusion of everything else. I helped him level as much as I could, I even logged onto his account and powered him up this last go around as he “really wanted to be an raid healer” but as far as I know has played his main maybe 5-6 times since I recapped him but in his own words “he is not a caster.”

So when he laid out his plan of TRing and leveling up with his newb real live friend and asked for my advice, I worried about the xp difference between a first life and a third plus lifer. And knowing that they are not going to be rocking an elite bravery bonus from 1-20 I worried about the xps being there with out burning him out again.

And when I didn’t share his excitement for his plan I felt his disappointment. It was clear enough that I picked up on it… And that is saying something.

But now I have a plan. If he were to TR his main and level with his friend and then at level 8 do the Otto’s box jump to 16+ but then save leveling up until his first life counterpart is ready to level then the xp difference would not be apparent. Phlor would almost always (once the stone Xp is gone things would get harder) have the xp to level until late in the game and they could do quests at whatever difficulty they want leaving the question of when to level up to the new player. Then as they get deeper into the game when xp starts to be an issue again options start to open up to having other guildies with alts at twenty to jump in and help power them through.

Anyway, if you want me to poo poo any of your plans make a note in the comment section or hit me up via samius @ ddococktailhour email.

<3s