I’m working on setting up platforms for hunts on my Sov. I mentioned it on discord, and was surpised by the amount of folks who just aren’t really down with platforms. I always liked the efficacy of platforms, and I want to keep my hunts to 60 (or at most 90) mins. There are fewer in-between creature drops (I do have a lot of roadrunners on my planet), and it does require grouping everyone up to warp to the next, but I’m ok with that. I am not changing my mind, but I would love to hear from yaw’ll about why you like one vs the other, both as participants and hosts 
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Personally, I enjoy the running hunts more, but really either are fine.
Platform hunts are:
- Easier for people who might have to do a quick AFK for a phone call, have a baby, etc.
- Take up some plots and the fueling of beacons for each.
- A little bit easier for players as they don’t really need a grapple quite as much
Running hunts are:
- Able to get a bit more oort, or it at least feels like I do.
- A bit more fun and challenging getting to traverse across the planet.
- Able to prevent people from just going AFK the entire hunt (if you dislike that)
- Able get a couple of extra meteors
I am sure some people will add to this, but either are fine, personal preference: running.
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So far as fueling beacons, Gleam Club makes that irrelevant. The afk thing is an interesting point…I encourage afk alts, as the more people, generally the higher tier/rewards from the meteor. So long as the active players can handle it, its a win/win. I do not necessarily condone just showing up and afk’ing on a main tho 
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Personally I prefer the platform hunts. I get a lot more oort and drops from a platform hunt than I do for one that does running.
The running hunts just seem so disorganized, even when they’re not. The platforms make it easier to trigger meteors and help hold the group together better.
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as i cant hunt anymore i loved Jacey’s platform hunts 
it was really fast and easy 
i loved that you dont have to run thru several obstacles to get to meteor, it just literally falling at your head, easy to spot easy to reach it
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I’m fine with either but despise high platforms since they ruin the scenery. I’ve always loved running hunts since I hosted the first ones in the game but I do admit sometimes the little portal platforms/houses we are in is nice because it helps keep people together. Another thing to note is your planet - some planets really suck as running if they have too many high canyons or are not decent terrain because you are having to grapple or fall in holes, etc.
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Depending on the run hunt some have tall towers marking the regions so both can obscure the scenery honestly.
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honestly, who care about scenery at hunt? at sov planets made specific for hunts?
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Sov’s are obviously different but I was making a generalized statement. The people that LIVE on the public planet care about scenery usually - that’s why many picked that planet. Many people didn’t like floating junk dotting all over the sky. Lots of people originally played the game because it was pretty and have great landscapes. We used to have huge issues with things in the sky - there are still some public planets ruined by that. Platforms didn’t have a need to be at the top of the sky and at a more realistic height…
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Running.
Didn’t ever liked platforms cause it takes away lot of hunting vibe… it’s like 20 robots going places. People in a rush and such.
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@Xaldafax do you read the post @RobZadouch wrote?
he mention hunting on his own sov planet, he only asked about opinion about running vs platform hunt :),
noone is going to build platforms at habitated planet, and as i remember with hundred of players few years ago noone complained about hunt platforms at T4 Delta
meteors apears only at T3+ planets so i dont see many complaining about floating items above their heads, how many settlements we have at T3 planets?
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I rly don’t know how you figured that?
As platforms are faster way to travel to next regio n Wich triggers meteors much faster than just travelling to them.
So I would argue platforms give you more Oort per x time than just basic running method.
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Because you tend to get extra meteors when crossing region borders on foot. At least some think you do. There is also a chance to graze regions that are not part of the hunt and trigger extra meteors. Lots of long gone hunt leaders swore by running hunts 
I like both types, but I hate floating stuff 
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I prefer running hunts, you will get more meteors/oort on a running hunt. Because meteors don’t just spawn at the region centre. There are secondary spawn lines that you will cross running that you will not hit doing platforms.
As for what xaldafax is saying about them ruining the skyline. Also true.
There was a time before sovereign planets when everyone wanted to get some of that sweet platform footfall. So almost every T3 planet and up had platforms. Some planets had platform for different groups. So some regions had 2-3 platforms that different people made.
Now that the population is smaller. The footfall aspect isn’t as good. But then people can spit there platforms into 4 beacons with alts to get 4 times the footfall to at least make some coin and cover the minimal cost of the portals.
People did take advantage of platform hunts by bringing alts/multiboxing to get more loot. Great for them. Bigger meteors too. But then the bigger meteors take longer to complete and the people not bringing alts get annoyed picking up the slack. The longer it takes to complete the meteors means less meteors getting completed and less Oort for those without alts.
Just my view on the subject.
Definitely do hunts however you like.
You’re the one organizing them.
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Floating platforms are great for visibility. Being my Sov, I absolutely could have gone that route, but I didn’t. I really just hate building in the sky 
So they are ground based. I agree that if you skim another region while running, it will spawn more meteors. You also may not hit any unintended regions…so with platforms its just a guarentee every time. Speed really was of the essence, as I really want to keep them under 90 mins, preferably closer to 60. Quick maybe 300 Oort, in and out Thanks to all who are replying, glad to hear all the different sides!
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I like platforms, but I prefer ground or near ground (no more than 1 plot off the ground).
I can do the running hunts, as long as there’s not a lot of high mountains to cross. Galan hunts used to scare the poop out of me because of all the high areas and I frequently fell to my death.
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Nope, If a planet is prepped prior to a hunt you get as many and more. Also The size of the meteor is more consistent due to the group hitting the region area together. Sometimes with run hunts people get too far behind and when the meteor spawns it will be smaller. When I prep my planet prior to a hunt we generally get a couple smaller bonus meteors prior to us crossing into the region. Then after we cross together and take down the smaller bonuses we will get the region meteors and those are often multiples as well. I like run hunts as well don’t get me wrong they offer a different atmosphere in the hunt. It just takes more regions to get the same amount. Just my experience doing hunts. As far as platform placement if where we cross the region border is fairly open I built them on the ground or low. If it has an obscured view I placed them Higher to make it easier to see the incoming meteors and know which direction to go. Still they are a lot of fun. Most as has been said are on sovs now but there are some lingering platforms in the home worlds where folks still have gleam club still active.
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As a retired hunt leader who ran both platforms and running hunts and appreciates both, here’s my two cents…
Platforms built in the sky are ugly… although they make it easier to see where the meteor lands. I can see why peeps have had issue with them in the past, but on sovs that is a non issue. I will be sooo stoked when those who hold the sky high plats on perm planets let their beacons run dry. dry
Platform hunts help control the type of meteor you get. You’ll consistently get larger meteors on a platform hunt because the more peeps who cross into a region at the same time, will spawn bigger and usually multiple meteors…and you get to control when people cross the region line.
If you’re speed hunting which I would for sure consider a 60 minute hunt being a speed hunt, you will absolutely maximize your time on a platform hunt.
Also, @RobZadouch 's plats are NOT in the sky. so that’s not the issue. The issue here is OORT, so let’s go get it!
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Yes, I read the post and made my views known. When it was said “sov” again, I said that sovs can be different but I can still NOT LIKE air based platforms. A person is allowed to have views that are the same for both planets if they wish.
Just because it is a sov doesn’t mean I have to love platforms sitting at the top of the sky for no reason. I even clarified that they could be in the air but I just didn’t like super high ones.
I completely respect the SOV owners decision on what they want to do with their planet. Platforms can help speed up Oort gathering but overall planets have issues with meteors not spawning anymore if you go around too fast. We used to have planets no longer spawn meteors because too many were deployed. So while platforms are great at times running was nicer because it slowed that down.
Obviously on SOV you don’t have builds so footfall or just pretty builds isn’t a component but when running you actually get to enjoy the game and all the cool builds. When planets were more busy you could spread out the footfall to just cool builds and there was nothing like coming over a mountain and seeing a really cool build that everyone just gasped over.
Just because I made mention of public planets doesn’t take away from anything. Public planets were here first and people abusing public planets helped develop my view of stuff in the air. Sovs can be pretty or ugly too and I certainly am allowed to enjoy the landscape of the sov if I am going around on it. There are many sovs I have hunted on that are absolutely beautiful and I enjoy the landscape and views.
And people did build platforms on tons of public planets - they were everywhere at one point, they built footfall slides, and many other things with some of the worst being intentional flashing gleam to annoy people. Many planets were littered with the hunt platforms everywhere and YES MANY COMPLAINED. We had huge fights about platforms/floating things, etc and more than a few people actually left because of the trolls and people that couldn’t respect other people’s spaces. Footfall what one of the biggest reasons people started platforms because they could force many people into their plots - that is why people would portal all over the place to buildings that even had 1 plot per character for max footfall.
I have many conversations with James about various topics around this and even adjusting Oort gathering back to the old hunting method and mining to help cut down on issues. Remember, you are talking to the person that helped push and coordinate the first hunts in Boundless way before Meteors even existed and we got Oort via animals. I’m one of the few that solely bought the Oortian package and was able to talk via voice consistently to James for years. I don’t need history lessons.
I support hunts of all types - running lets you enjoy the planet and experience the game in some of the best ways while portal platforms are a great way to keep people together and move fast between regions but they don’t need to be high up in the air and can be on the ground. That’s my view.
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