I have *alot* of pets and I explored with a bulk of them last night. I'll admit I had a rough time. Between 18 unicorns I only got to the second island without skipping mobs on the first to avoid loss with 2 of them. One had counterstrike and one ran into fountains (which I LOVED).

I experienced much the same with my other pets (pumas and a gryphon).

That said I almost really love the new explore. :)

I hate hate hate having to skip mobs if I want to get to the second island in order to have the chance to kill MORE mobs to get exp. Using 10 exp and then waiting (10 hours??? is that right) for 5 more for an explore just makes me cry.

I like irrimn's idea of making it 4 explore or I was thinking giving us 12. That way I won't be afraid to give that beast boss statue a try and I won't always skip certain guardians.

All in all I do like it more than I expected to. :) I just wish there was a tiny bit of wiggle room with the energy.

^ My thoughts exactly. I'm hoping this change causes more people to battle against each other, because it's less energy.

Shilar:

"I hate hate hate having to skip mobs if I want to get to the second island in order to have the chance to kill MORE mobs to get exp."

So weird, that is exactly what I love about the new explore. Before you didn't really lose something while exploring. Sure, you could get kicked of the map, but that is not the same as actually losing something.

Now you have to make a decision:

Do I want to go for mats and buildings only -> Only fight monster you think you can win easily and exit the island for a second trip.

or

Do I want to get mats but level my pet too -> Get mats and then go through the monster from easiest to hardest, with the possibility to quit halfway because you rather have a second trip and the monster look too hard.

I'm loving that. It might take a bit longer to actually level a pet up, but with fountains, the sanctuary, energy potions and insight scrolls, you can still level your pets quite fine if you are desperate for fast levels. Oh, lets not forget the riding hall too. With higher silver income, those higher levels are way more affordable to train too. :)

I understand what you are saying Teilchan but that is only from the gathering perspective. This process makes leveling harder is what I'm getting at. :)

Yes, I am getting more exp per mob but if I can only fight a few before losing energy then that is a big loss in experience overall.

1st I either skip exp on the first island by killing only mobs I am sure I kill or I kill all the mobs and more than likely lose energy forfeiting my second trip.

If I do skip mobs in order to go to the second island I am then going on a wing and a prayer that I dont have a freak loss on the second island when I start with the lower level mobs and work my way up. If I lose and get kicked off I lose all that potential exp as well.

To finish this if I can't complete both islands (only done that with one pet that has amazing abilties) I then have to wait 5 hours to do another explore making it realistically one full island a day.

Hope that all made sense.

Bottom line is not everyone explores for the same reason. I do it mostly for experience on my pets NOT gathering.

Let me be clear and say I do like the new explore -to an extent- and am not trying to bash it in the least. I just wish there was a little leeway in the energy to explore ratio.

(edit to reflect 5 hours ... I was typing quickly before and wasn't paying attention :)

Did you track the experience you were getting before and know you are getting a loss or does it just feel like you are getting less?

Because I really was tracking it (to see if it was worth the four hours in the ridinghall) and I'm getting basically as much, at least in the level 30-49 range. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but on average the same. (In one island, usually I take the losses and keep going.)

I think it only takes one hour to replentish an energy, not two, now.

@ Mouse

it always was 1 hour, not 2

Oh... Shilar said this "I then have to wait 10 hours to do another explore", so I figured that's what it was because I've also always thought that.

nope, its just that normally you could expore with 2 or 4 energy (2-4 hours waiting time, assuming pet had 0), now you need at least 5 energy in order to explore (meaning 5 hours wait, assuming pet had 0).

I like the new explore. I guess I'm a roll-with-the-punches type of girl, but things don't seem drastically different for my plans either way :)

Before, I'll admit, exploring was a bit boring. But I soldiered on with it to get much-needed resources, such as food, vermillion, clay, etc., and also to level my pets up. Five trips for each pet, even when I only had 10 as opposed to the 25 I have now, forced me to focus completly on exploring rather than developing my breeding plans.

Now, exploring takes less time, and I seem to be getting the same amount of resources and experience--sometimes even more! I haven't tracked the amounts like Ankokou has, but that's how it seems.

So really, I like things better this way. Less time, same results--something everybody likes, generally speaking. I can understand if people get frustrated, though--even with double the chance of running into a building of any kind, I haven't found a scriptorium to exchange recipes at, and I've only hit one fountain.