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To me this points out a core problem with ranking in CF and most CF PvE. It is almost all difference in scale changes... How much different is ranking in the Academy Cavern vs Forest of NoWhere vs Akan vs... Not very. These are all differences in scale. In fact, most of Hell (that I've been too) is really just a vastly different difference in scale kind of PvE.

There are some differences in kind during ranking, however, and these are actually gravitated toward, even though they are more dangerous... Partly due to higher XP, but I think also because they are more engaging. The Mausoleum is an excellent example. This is a fundamentally different kind of ranking experience. You have a cursed area (which is different) with lots of wandering aggro mobs (which is different) and you have a quest that rewards skill gains (which is different). Compare to, say, Nightwalkers, which has 1 of those (cursed area), but not the others, so once you figure out where the things are... It is really no different from ranking in FoN, or whatever. Compared to Calendryl, which has spec moves and wandering and weird non-aggro attack thing... And one of those is vastly more engaging than the other, but their rewards (XP) don't exactly reflect that.

I'd love to see a CF where ranking mobs basically had player HP and did basically player levels of damage... but also responded to player attacks in ways that make sense for the area and made every ranking session a truly engaging experience.