Thursday, February 5, 2009

The ugly sight behind the lucrative hunting business.

Many a time, when people learn that I've been hunting, comments about this rapid source of cash is made. Indeed, hunting is a rather fast way to earn money, given the relatively ease of catching red chinchompas coupled with the fact that the catch is stackable makes it an even more popular choice for a quick source of money. Although, after a while of hunting, I came to realise that behind the glamour and attractiveness of fast cash, there are some darker, repulsive habits some hunters have within that not only ruin the game for others, but potentially acting as a double-edged sword, spoiling his own mood.

I term these people the spot robbers. They hop into worlds with players they feel are pushovers and try to drive them out from their hunting spot. It is usually done in two ways, or a combination of both and/or more. One of the two is by walking to your spot, and setting their trap on yours while you dismantle it. This will usually result in the hunter "dropping" his trap on the spot while the robber gets away scot-free, with their spot.

The second, a more extreme way, is to lay his traps a little distance from yours, and start killing the chinchompas that approach yours in order for them to respawn (usually near his traps), using a bow/crossbow or less often seen, melee. More often than not, flaming and insults follow after.

I've seen and dealt with these spot robbers. For some reason, I'm less tolerant towards them than random level 50s asking me for places to catch rainbow wingtails. I might be able to offer some tips about how to stop these spot robbers. I think the key to stopping these people is to " pay them back in their own coin".

Bring crossbows, bows or other ranged weapon with you on your trips. Since not all of the spot robbers employ the trick of shooting down your chinchompas, you might be able to deal with some of them that way.

Also, when these robbers steal your spot, steal theirs'. They normally start with more strategic spots, then move in for yours, so by stealing some of theirs' you might actually end up turning the tables around.

Well, I've seen my share of spot robbers, dealt with all of them, never once did I end up at the losing side of the tug-of-war in power. I've driven away level 99 Hunters, driven level 63 Hunters, as long as they try to move in on a spot i painstakingly switched numerous worlds to find, they would be asked to leave, and if not complied, further actions would be taken.

Sometimes others might think, why not share? The logic is simple. There are a limited number of spawns, the less people, the more chinchompas you have running around for you. It all boils down to the theory of "survival of the fittest" i feel. If they manage to steal my spot and force me to leave, kudos to them, if not, they would have wasted a great deal of time unsuccessfully trying to make a stubborn hunter leave.

Some of these spot robbers are in the level 90s when i met them, and they, of all people should understand the annoyance of people robbing your spot, yet they do not spare a thought for others hunting. These people definitely deserves a lesson.

For me, i make it a point not to steal the spots of others' for the sake of honour and thoughtfulness for others. I don't think the desire for fast training would drive me to go against, but at this moment, I'm definitely against this course of action. That's low, it really is.

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