[HexGirlBestGirl]

Please do not determine what our mindsets are for us, first of all. I can tell you now that the mindset certainly was not that the mindset was that hard = fun. The mindset that was more that I wanted the things people faced to be actually interesting, and so I tried to keep them from as feeling as, well... basic as normal mobs. Because people are tired of the same old same old, and I've seen that constantly said over and over.

Furthermore, they weren't hard just for the sake of being hard, either. The swarm was made with the idea of giving people the idea that they are dealing with an overwhelming amount of numbers, but if I were to just slap something like black beasts in there? People would get bored, quick. Same reason for why some liberties are taken in what the mobs are capable of compared to players - because making something that pales in comparison isn't fun either. Nobody will feel satisfied killing something that was no contest to them -  just as people aren't exactly satisfied killing regular mobs now. I'm not about to fully emulate something people are tired of and expect people to be happy with that.

The swarm helped people form their own RP. It gave them a reason to be in a place at a certain time, and as much as you can say that was because of the people who made it happen, without something to bring those people there in the first place you wouldn't have got the atmosphere that was there before the event that day. In that aspect, I think it succeeded.

The idea of having to be super meta was because of balancing issues and that will improve over time, and mobs will come down to size to feel fairer to more people in coming events. Other than that, I'm afraid I'll have to disagree on the mindset that simple is always effective

For more narrative driven events, those take more time, more effort. Which is why you haven't seen any yet - they're still being crafted out for the people who want those kinds of events. Each of these smaller events served a purpose (and served it well), and for those who don't feel they've been covered by these events, just remember that. Those kinds of events will come, you just need to give them time.

In the mean-time, these tie in events exist. They make the world feel more alive without guiding you through a story crafted by someone else, and instead encourage people to gather together in ways they normally wouldn't to make their own RP in a way that isn't standard.

Sorry, Kunai. Events will get better, but you may need to temper your expectations. Quite a few people have enjoyed these events when the tweaks were finally gotten right and I don't intend to change things too much for these particular events. Expanding on areas that are lacking, and cutting down on things that went overdone, sure... but not completely changing it to please an opinion I've only seen so far from one person.

Not every event will be like this, though. Others on the team will be planning more narrative events, and I'll be planning some too... but the swarm is as simple as I'm going to make things myself. Just a group of challenging mobs that give people a reason to pay attention to a certain area for a little while, and give people something to talk about. That's all they are, even if things weren't perfect first time.

I'll give it two months. Most of what i've seen from the myriads of people I can see seemed to have disliked both events and just felt it was a waste of time in the event feedback channel. Why? Hell if I know. Do I care much? Not all that much. But a vast majority, like talking 15+ people here seemed to only have mostly negative things to say about it. And while i'm not in the SL2 Discord or anything, all i've seen was a literal entire segment or two of just terrible shit/dislike of the swarm then like three people saying they liked or were 'fine' with the swarm. So I could say that it was a mere selective instance but then i'd be even more disappointed if I did go in there and saw it wasn't.

Undead meme event also seemed to have the same thing for it just with slightly less people who disliked it and more who just thought "i mean it was mediocore at best" and since i've not participated in any of them, not much more I can say. But I don't think i've yet to find anyone who directly even mentions the stuff ICly so far beyond "I fought necromancer but in a forest instead of Lorywell" and "I fought tons of bugs but not at Bai Kai" more or less. And OOCly, it's pretty much negativity in most avenues that aren't mindless praise.

I've a minimal ounce of faith. I'll not hesitate to say as such. And alas, only you can prove me wrong. Have fun with that. Personally, i'm likely not gonna attend too many events until they've proven to at least be competently balanced or have more reason than doing what a simple LFG can do just with extra mobs. But that's just my take. Don't let it get ya down too much. Or really, at all.

Again.

Only you can prove me wrong. No one else.