October 2018: Barrel Volcano

Area of the Month for October 2018 is the Barrel Volcano!

A template format for your review is below; click 'edit' at the top of the page, copy-pasta from the ---- to the next ----, and fill in the gaps!

(Yes, a wiki account is required to edit the page and therefore post your review, but take heart: The wiki is hosted by the Cleft itself, not a third party!

---

Player: You!(Class/Level)

Review Date(s):

Descriptions: X/10

How does the area's room descriptions(descs) work for you? Do they give you a good idea of the area? Do things that stand out in the desc and NEED explanation GET that, either from flavor text(extra-descs) or NPCs in the room or anything?

What about mobiles(mobs) and their descriptions? Can you get a decent mental image of who or what this NPC/monster is? Do they respond when you talk or interact with them?

Some areas have interact-able objects like fountains. Do they stack up well also?

Balance: X/10 (OR N/A)

(NOTE: combat will be most accurately gauged when your character is in the area's suggested level range.)

If this area has combat, how does it feel? Does anything jump as horribly overpowered and impossible to deal with? What about the flipside, anything far too easy to beat?

Are purchased or rewarded items at the appropriate strength levels? Is the effort required to obtain rewarded items reflected in their usefulness (or uniqueness and fancifulness)

Attractions: X/10

Why would you suggest someone come to this area? Is it just a good place to grind experience(lots of mobs)? Does the area provide a chunk of good gold and loot?

What about the quests? Does this area's quests feel properly done, or is there some part of it that you feel needs work?

For towns, are the shops good? Any other non-combative attraction for the area?

Connections: X/10

How easily and well does this area connect to its nearby areas? Does it make sense thematically to be connected to the areas it is?

Personal

Any comments you'd like to make that you don't feel apply to the other sections can go here!

---

Player, Vashka, lvl 100 Surgeon, 6th Remort. --Token'd

Descriptions. The descriptions at some points get a bit repetative, but given it's a maze of twisty, windy vulcanic passageways, this both makes sense, and actually adds to the atmosphere. The mobs themselves, could in some cases definetly use some color-coding to give them some pop, but their descriptions are functional and descriptive enough as it is. It's definetly one of the area where you most need to pay attention to extra-descs, which works, but makes it more glaring when you expect some bit of detail in the main-description to have an extra-desc, but there's no responding text. This could use some work, but then again, it would possibly detract from the functional extra-desc hints too.

Balance. Obviously, since I went in over-leveled, I can't judge how balanced they are or feel. But then again, going in at-lvl probably wouldnt help much there either in my case. That said, the enemies have the right level of health and power they should for their level range, and while their combat-progs are somewhat basic at times, there's a few genuinely enjoyable surprises they can pull off tucked away. Given it also has multiple sub-areas, there are quasi mini-bosses that stand out as More Difficult, which could lead to nasty surprises to people not used to such a broad area range, and un-used to Looking at enemies to gauge their level. Which is actually a good thing; it's instructional on the hazards of haphazard killing.

Attractions. Barrel Volcano, has a Ton of various Attractions, from exceptional Loot, to Mining spots, to varied strata's of Quest nearly across the whole spectrum of the level range. Well integrated, lots of variaty, plenty to recommend going there, including non-combat in the Mining. The Quests themselves are instructional, with multiple means of completing them in some cases, all educating would be explorers on valuable lessons, like looking at all them Extra Descs, or how to find hidden treasure. That said, they are quite challenging first-time tried, but I wouldnt see them changed a bit, since the Rewards are mostly proportionate to the hoops jumped through. Shops there are, sell pretty much what you'd expect, straight-forward, no fuss, get what you're there for. That said, it feels rather barren at times for Mob Density, it is not really a combat-heavy zone for its sheer size. Plenty of variaty, not a lot of quantity so one tends to go there for the Puzzles, more then the Experience, which is understandable, it's a Volcano, not a wild-life habitat, but it could use more monsters all the same.

Connections Its situated in a place that makes sense, a mountain range. Single Approach, also, sensible. Could use some inter-connectivity with the other nearby tunnel-sets maybe, but that's about it for Connectivity.

Personal Note Barrel is a place that grows on you. The first time you go in, most people are frustrated, and quickly leave. It is one of the most Mapped places, actual physical maps, just to make sense of the various lay-out puzzles and secret passage-ways it hides. It's frustrating, but beloved all the same, and you genuinely feel a sense of accomplishment the first time you finally figure out how it all is supposed to Work. Further, it's withstood the test of time pretty well. A few things need a tweak to make them more appealing, but they're not really necisary either. It's a Volcano, if you try to give a new paintjob, it'll likely just scorch it right off again.

---

---

Player: Abaril(Summoner/100/6th remort)

Review Date(s): 10/16/18

Descriptions: 6/10

The room descriptions are, for the most part, very well-written and do a serviceable job of describing a volcano. The "In a Tube," "Further Down the Tube," "Another Branch of the Tube" type room names gets a little monotonous, but I think that's probably something that comes with the territory of being in a volcano. The bright and dark reds are used well throughout the area in the room names, but the rest of the area is definitely lacking in color. I would expect mobs named Magmus and Pyrosphere to have some reds, yellows and whites to give them some more character. The same would apply to the few items I've found in the area.

Balance: N/A

I went in at level 100, and as you can see in the personal below, I don't find the area compelling enough to level in.

Attractions: 5/10

I would give this a much lower rating from my own personal experience, but I'm bumping it up because I've heard that the area has some fantastic quest rewards. That being said, I haven't seen many of them. I've only seen the one "shop," and I have to say that the 2-hour light from the Pumpkinhead is puzzling and almost pointless.

It's definitely not a place to use for regular leveling, and I haven't seen any drops that I would consider notable.

Connections: 7/10

The volcano is easily accessible and on a standard path for newbies. I am unaware of any connections beyond the main entrance to it at this time.

Personal

I have never really done a lot in Barrel Volcano for two reasons: the level range (21-45) spans 25 levels. At higher levels, that might be ok, but for someone looking for a place to level right after Moogle Village, it doesn't really work for me. You just wouldn't take a fresh level 21 character in there and hope to accomplish very much. Second, the mob density is extremely low. As a place to level, I would not recommend it at all. And as a place for questing and exploring, I have found it to be boring and frustrating at the same time. Maybe I will give it another shot one day, especially if I see multiple rave reviews from other players!

---