Nation/class populations and new alt-PK systems?

ElrynGreythane

Out of curiousity, are there any very underpopulated or overpopulated nations at the moment? What about archetypes (excluding mages, as I imagine they are quite FOTM right now after the meld changes)?

Also, the timequake system seems pretty interesting... But is my impression that it is designed mostly for PK correct? Are there any elements of the system for non-combatants? Alternatively, have there been any new mechanics or system changes made over the last year or so that I should look into that isn't necessarily heavily PK conflict based?

Thanks so much!!

Daraius

The element of the timequake system that’s for non-coms is that there’s no experience loss in timequakes, so anyone can hop in and get a taste with zero risk.

As for population, I honestly can’t keep track. A lot depends on time of day, and you’ll see populations swell and shrink over the course of hours.

If you’re looking for non-pk ways to profit, you can join the madness that is aethertrading. For now it’s limited to Tailoring, Jewelry, and Cooking, but we’ll eventually see other trades rolled in.

Xenthos

The most populated orgs in general tend to be Glom and Mag.  The least being Gaudy and Seren.  Halli has had a sustained bump for a while (though they had a drop yesterday, they've been doing solidly well pop-wise for a few weeks now).  Celest seems to fluctuate wildly, going from #1 one day (they've claimed it a few times recently) down to #5 a couple later, then back up again.

Time of day is a huge fluctuation too, I just tend to review the daily averages for an idea of how things look.

Class-wise is harder to tell imo.  Certain people just classflex all the time and you can never tell what they are going to be.

Gnometrading does let you get anomalies too (just like Timequakes) with no fighting involved.  Yendor has traded for hundreds of the things.  Or you can just trade for goop items as Daraius said.

ElrynGreythane

Thanks to you both for the quick replies, that's super helpful!

I'll definitely look into this aethertrading thing - on first skim of the helpfiles I'm not sure it sounds like a lot of fun inherently on its own, but maybe the rewards make it engaging!

Xenthos

I have never been able to get into it myself, but I also do not have a great deal of need for goop.  If you need goop it is apparently greatly appealing (per how many people I see going for it).

Daraius

Ngl, it is mad tedious to craft a bunch of identical items and them refine them into “unique” pieces of craftsmanship. But for someone like me who’s always considered most artifacts simply out of reach, it’s been a real boon to my shininess.

You might have also noticed daily credits are a thing now. You can get up to 20 a day by engaging in various aspects of the game.