That was confined to one server, I'd rather they confined the level 85 starters to one server, rather than have them forced on everyone on normal servers.
They should label them differently...at least for awhile. Maybe have them be labelled differently (as in, different color name) until they gain level 100 + a certain amount of AAs or something. If I at least know that they're a heroic character, I could know that they might need some pointers...rather than the fact that they're just a crappy player who doesn't know how to learn their class. Granted, that could still be the case, but...
Wow quitting over giving people the option to start at level 85 is crazy to me. It's a nice change and people will learn to play these toons in time with very little I convening to groups. Their is quite an overreaction to this news. I'm surprised someone hasn't evoked the think of the children line yet in regards to this matter.
people they already have a list for races and class combos they don't need us to keep asking for blank/blank
Vah Shir everything! Specifically Ranger and Death Knight on top of what they already are. Also Magician and Wizard.. oooh. They have Monks yet? ALSO PLEASE ROLL OUT LEADERSHIP STUFF SOONER. I am tired of waiting to form groups of 3 while trying to GRIND up to the high levels.... WITHOUT the perks!!! OMG not having Inspect Buffs or Spell Awareness IS A B*!@#*!# !!!!
There are currently races that have very few class options that i'd love to see expanded, Iksar and Vah Shir for one. Combinations that I could see: Vah Shir... Shadowknight Ranger Monk Druid Iksar Cleric Rogue Ranger Paladin Berserker Druid .. among others. This is within the context of the lore. But heck, who am I kidding? Your character can now start in Crescent Reach, meaning that technically they aren't tied to the old lore anymore. Why not just throw the door wide open and allow for every race to be every class? Bypass the fact that some races don't have access to certain graphic armors (Vah Shir and robes for example) by using some of the older hero's forge graphics, and you're done. Give people freedom to play what they want. It would be a huge boon to the game.
Heroic Characters will in no way shape or form get new players into EQ. People will log in see the graphics giggle then log out and delete, it is only those of us die hards that can live with the present graphics. As for a returning player they will surely want their old toon not something they have no connection with, so if you must go this route let and old player /herobuff 85 so their present toon bumps up to 85 and gains whatever skills / aa's you decide appropriate.
Guess it's too late but I'd prefer if the froglok monk wasn't already decided, why not vote on that one as well?
Many of the graphics do make people giggle, but you'd be surprised what people can put up with for the sake of interesting gameplay if they have a friend encouraging them to keep trying it. An even more pressing problem I run into when showing the game to friends is that many types of low level characters don't feel engaging enough to play (e.g. rogues and monks). With that in mind, I'm cautiously optimistic that being able to show people what gameplay at 85(ish) is like from the beginning might help me pitch the game to them. At the very least, it gives me another tool in my kit. An important aspect of it is that 85 is high enough of a level to participate in group instanced missions that are part of actual storylines. Group content options for me to play with a newbie/returnee friend are always nice.
Froglok monk? Really? Where did that come from? I'd rather see a poll go out for all of the new race/class combo additions.
The last 2 race/class combos they added were Gnome SK and Halfling Ranger if I remember correctly. So this timeout should be casters and priests. Disappointed to hear they have already decided on one without a vote.
When I read that, it sounded like there were already so many folks commenting on that combo, that was a poll of its own. Editted to add: I'll take vah shir cleric and my husband wants an iksar mage
I agree, stronger than I can express. I'm SICK of people that don't know how to play the game. I've watched people do completely unattended leveling, pairing toons that had a tank merc and a healer merc, then walking away from the keyboard for a couple of days and letting the mercs kill the mobs that path by. The end result is EXACTLY what we'll see from these "Heroic" characters (a total misnomer if I've ever heard one...) - players that have ZERO capability to play the game, let alone play their class intelligently. (oh, and when I mentioned this - a clear violation of the gameplay rules - in a petition, the GM's responded that there wasn't anything technically wrong with what they were doing. Go figure...) I've watched skills and abilities that I've worked HARD to push up be GIVEN away to new players (Alaran language skills, anybody?). The only thing that does is piss off the people who've put in the time and effort to gain those skills, and it's those people that are the loyal customers that have kept EQ going for a long as it has. If you make it trivial to have a level 85 character (or higher, as some have suggested here) then you also make it trivial for people to leave that character - and the game - behind. The more sweat and tears you have invested in a game the more loyal you are to it. Stop making it easy. Stop homogenizing the classes. Go back to your roots and to what made this game popular in the first place (except maybe the "have to stare into your spellbook" part, you can leave that out...). Good content trumps easy leveling ANY day.