Changes with the February Update: Alternate Ability Grants for Gold Members and Ability Changes

Discussion in 'News and Announcements' started by Piestro, Feb 4, 2014.

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  1. menown Augur

    Still sounds like jealousy, but whatever.
  2. Coldmouth Elder

    I remember paying some guy on Rathe server all the plat I owned so he could PL my ranger so I could PL my group... yeah ugly cycle.. glad to see it end.
    Smallpox likes this.
  3. Sulla New Member

    I think all these changes are going to have the same effect on EQ that NGE had on SWG.

    I'm particularly bothered by the free AAs given to the lazy players. The grind is what makes EQ special and different from most other MMOs. To take away the satisfaction of grinding up those AAs is completely misunderstanding what makes EQ addictive. When you take away the goals, players get bored and quit to play something else. I'm rooting against you SOE. I hope you implement these changes and get a mass exodus.
    Carcass and Leeroy Jenkins like this.
  4. Gnuff Journeyman

    I appreciate detailed explanation of the proposed changed, but I wish understanding the proposal made it more palatable.

    I will be happy to see the zone lagging beam kiters make their belated exit, but I see no reason to nerf head shot, decapitation, and assassination. The three later do not involve swarming, and can only be used in very limited circumstances on low level mobs.

    The AA grant is a bad joke that you should have saved for April 1. Bad? Make that offensive. An affront to everyone who has put in the time to get those AAs. Just so you know, EQ doesn't have any "new" players, it has returning players that are coming back to the game they remember. A game that was challenging.

    I'm not going to be one of those cancelling all of my accounts. I will stick it out and just not log in as often. Hey, I guess this patch will help reduce your server load in two ways. :) Next time my subscription is up I will have to give some serious thought into whether this is a game I want to keep on paying for.
    Carcass likes this.
  5. Halifax New Member

    If an autogrant of AAs is inevitable, I would like to suggest what many have already previously suggested in this thread: That it doesn't include the mass that you're currently proposing.

    I feel that an autogrant of AAs all the way up to OoW would be more than sufficient, and that the current proposal of all the way through Underfoot is absolutely ludicrous.

    Without attempting to come across as hostile, if this does go through and so much of the hours that I've dedicated to gaining AAs goes for naught with the addition of such a massive amount of autogranted AAs, I will be cancelling my membership that day.
  6. Tornat Augur

    wont happen , will bring in more players. there is still 5 billion things to grind out.
    Smallpox likes this.
  7. Twobitt New Member

    As an SK I would like to suggest an idea in regards to the change to riposte/lich. Would it possible to limit the amount of mobs that would be affected by lich at one time to negate the benefit of swarming. It seems to me that the proposed change in it's current form would decrease an SK's ability to tank in many non swarming situations. I really don't swarm much but prefer to either group with my friends or solo tank mobs for xp and am quite often needing to tank 2-4 mobs when I get adds in both situations. Something that I assume fits under the role of an SK seeing as they have many spells and AAs to help them grab agro from multiple mobs. Completely taking out the healing that lich provides from riposte in these situations is going to severely hinder my, and my group's, survivability. Having the benefit of this effect from even just a few mobs would be a much better alternative then the change in it's current form.

    Regarding the AA grant:

    I recently returned to EQ after about an 8 year break. First started playing right after initial release of the game. I came back in mid December and had a 65 SK with less then 100 AAs and a 75 ranger with about 120 AAs. Since that time I have leveled the ranger to 85 with about 2500 AAs and the SK to 97 with 3500 AAs. My gear was essentially worthless on both characters but I was easily able to make enough plat to upgrade all of my gear in a short matter of time as well. I was very surprised to read that you were making these changes with the intent of making it easier for returning players to ramp up to current levels. I don't see how this could be necessary with how easy it already is to level and gain AAs. To be honest my biggest disappointment after returning to the game is how easy the game has become. When I played, the game had consequences and was unequal between the classes and that seemed to be how it was intended. Levels and even AAs were hard to obtain and therefore something to be proud of. I am assuming with your change I would gain AAs but as many have stated. I prefer not to have them. I would prefer to continue to gain or should I say "earn" them.
    Melanippe, Carcass and Leeroy Jenkins like this.
  8. Annastasya Augur

    i applaud the fixing of some of the abilities in game that lead to an unpleasant or unplayable environment for others. While it may be fun and/or profitable to kill large numbers of experience giving mobs in a single pull or at a very fast pace, it is bad for the game for single characters to do this.

    i think, however you are being too harsh on some classes that were already hurting for play options or fun ways to run their characters. Rogues, Berserkers, Clerics specifically seem to be casualties of the crossfire to balance the game. i propose that, instead of simply taking some of the keystone abilities away by making them useless, that you additionally, give them more tools to do some meaningful solo content.

    As for the 4k autogranted AA well i think it is a tad too much. Some of us still enjoy the low levels and the content and the process of growing a character through the game. A steeper curve of experience gain for the first 4000 AAs would make plenty of sense to me, or granting 20 per level up from 51 to 90. But dumping it all on anyone who subscribes for one month like that definitely takes something away from the experience of playing Everquest. Would you give any character that reaches level 85 ten million plat and full raid gear from house of thule as well? it's a slippery slope, find a better way.
  9. GreenMachine86 New Member

    LMAO.....the barrier that exsists when "coming" back to the game....IMHO that's what you get for leaving! To be behind and you should have to catch up. So Joe Schmo has a level 65 char with 200 AA's and hasn't played EQ in 5 years....while I have been - grinding AA's and reg exp when "I" felt like it....and my level 75 char has 2500 aa's. So the only thing he lost for being away for 5 years is 10 levels??? Now your saying "it's only FAIR" that Joe gets the same, if not more AA's because he didn't play? BULLSH*T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are giving my monthly subscription money to Joe for doing NOTHING, yet I still pay and get almost nothing in return.

    LMFAO.....I can see that EQ has changed over the years, gradually, but this is just a downwright insult to me playing all these years! For what.....if you want to kill EQ, don't do it slowly - just pull the friggin plug NOW and be done with it.
  10. CaRnon Augur

    By your thinking bards using Selo's was one of the biggest culprits in swarming also?.... So should they nerf run speed also since it allowed bards and mages to swarm up a whole zone full of mobs into a small bunch? Just cause something is being used in a way it was not originally intended for does not mean it should be broken cause a few people are causing issues.

    I just see Gnomeland as a mage trying to pass the blame onto clerics.... I never attacked the mage class nor ever asked for a nerf of anything you guys did... so why the hate towards clerics now... is with all your hate towards clerics? I can say that the few of us who still play clerics as mains do not appreciate random nobodys trying to place the blame for all these nerfs on us.

    You DO understand that there are way better ways to Powerlevel then using a cleric's shining line... but keep up the good work trying to blame us for the nerfs other classes were causing...

    anyways... I am sick of you attacking the clerics... we are not the reason for all these kneejerk nerfs. Its funny your so quick to attack us.. its always the guilty who are the first to point the blame elsewhere.

    -C
    Ardin and Leeroy Jenkins like this.
  11. Lonewolff New Member



    You are systematically killing this game and, at times, it appears that you are doing it on purpose. It just started to appear, at least to me, that we were starting to become more populated on the servers again and that more players were coming back to the game. I will guarantee if you go through with the changes exactly as proposed by you (SoE and Developers) you will kill the growth in this game for the higher end players that came up through the ranks and worked their A$$es off to get to where they are and to learn the skills necessary to achieve the uniqueness of their particular classes.

    I implore you to figure out a way to not make these massive changes in the game...especially not all at once because you will see a decline in the number of players in EQ. As stated before in one of my other responses...this is a COMPLETE SLAP IN THE FACE to those of us that have been playing for many many years...some since Day 1 to work for what we have and now you are just going to give it away. Wrong answer to make up for destroying the unique abilities of specific classes that have showed some ingenuity in broadening their abilities to move faster at times in the game and to use those abilities we were given by you in a way that may not have been intended during it's inception...but isn't that what makes the game interesting...finding new and innovative ways to play and use what special abilities each class possesses.

    Please think about what you are going to do to the game if you make all these changes...it is not going to insure the longevity of the game...it's going to kill it and those players that busted butt to get what they have are going to say, "The Hell With It, I will find some other game to play!"

    Take care and God bless,
    Dwayne (aka. Lonewolff - Cazic Thule - 100 Monk)
  12. Coldmouth Elder

    Everything gets trivialized, its the journey that counts.

    Take my story:

    I grinded Rank 14 Grand Marshal in vanilla WoW.. it took me 13+ hours a day of elite level premade PVP for 2 months straight, winning 90% of the games. Taking a day off meant I took a step backwards, it was not much of an option. You know what happened 2 weeks later? Blizzard made my Grand Marshal weapons available to everybody for Honor Points, regardless of their PVP rank, because a new expansion was on the horizon and they wanted everybody to get them. I was pissed off to say the least.. but that is the nature of MMOs. WHatever you worked for will always be easier to get the next time around. All that gear you worked for will be obsolete a year or two down the road. Those AAs you earned with 400% boost modifier? Even those will become easier. It's not that big of a deal really. What matters is you had a good time watching your character progress. Everything you're doing in game right now matters very little 2, 3, 4 years from now. I can quit EQ for the next 2 years, and me and you can still be equal 3 years from now. It doesn't matter.
    EightBitTony likes this.
  13. Rykishi New Member

    Thanks EQ. Can you please explain to me what your master plan for an sk is then since you have these conjured images in your heads. We aren't great soloers(atleast not with content worth a damn), not really useful in raids, and as a grp tank we need to well equipped and know how to play our class well. You're nerfing some of our self healing abilities and making us even more useless in the process. What the hell do I do with my main now. A damn mage pet can take on 4 mobs at once and two of those same mobs would eat me alive(max def aa) and you are going to make it even more difficult to succeed. Shadow Knights should just be taken out of the game, b/c I doubt anyone will want to play one anymore after you gut the class of one of the biggest draws it had. All the time and effort I put into my class was wasted. And on top of that you are giving away aa. I built my own aa up how I needed them. I wanted to tank so I max def. I wanted to be efficient in raids, needed the aa that make me a better raider for my guild. I wanted to ...don't say it, SWARM, so I leaned my aa's in that direction. I took the time and skill to direct my char in the direction I needed/wanted to at the time , and wouldn't know half as much about the class and what the aa actually do if I didn't. Atleast you could have used lube.
    Leeroy Jenkins likes this.
  14. Littlelegs Elder

    no proposed change would affect how i play. since everyone else is weighing in, i thought i'd get in before the lock. do it! or dont. i've never NEVER been adversely affected by swarming or any other mass killing ability. since this appears to be the flavor of the posts that i HAVE read, focus on the stuff that would affect me. the clownshoes ucs comes to mind ...
  15. Perspero New Member

    Oh, we knew that nerf bat was gonna fall. I'm surprised it lasted so long.
  16. Rettx New Member

    Totally against auto granting AA's. If you want people to arrive at the top end of the game quicker, introduce Heroic Characters, which start at level 85 with 4000 AA's auto granted. Heck I would likely create a Heroic Character or advance a lower alt to see what its all about.

    This game does not have to be all about vertical progression. What's wrong with lateral progression? Essentially that's what I have been doing with my main and some of my alts. With my main on 3 accounts, I am currently working my way through Underfoot, tackling the quests in the Achievement Guide. I set my AA/Exp slider to 50 % and enjoy the zones and content. I feel satisfied with what I have accomplished.

    There is vast amounts of content in EQ that is not at the upper end. Create some additions to that existing content that promotes lateral progression, and make the older content relevant again. Its seems that auto granting AA's will make all content before HoT irrelevant. It just another way to make this game easier so that everyone is in the 80 - 100 level range.

    I have no problem with giving the players the opportunity to get to the 85+ game sooner so they can feel attached to the game and hopefully keep them in Everquest, but do it via Heroic Characters.
  17. Hiladdar Augur

    There is a difference between berserker decap ability as compared to ranger headshot and rogue anatomy abilities. Decap works on any critter with a head. Headshot and anatomy only works on humanoids.

    Hence if our friend Soandso is a snake and struck by a berserker, he can be decapitated, but if he can not be massive killed by either a ranger's headshot or rogue's anatomy.

    Has number of mobs with a head as compared to the number of mobs tagged as humanoid been taken into account when equating the ranger / rogue proc rate as compared to the berserker proc rate?

    I concur with the philosophy and appreciate the amount of work that went into this. I would like to see continued monitoring of this to see if some changes need to be tweaked a bit. Likewise, with such a significant change, I would also recommend revisiting class rebalancing in a few months.
  18. forever_quester New Member

    I am not a swarmer or PLer of any sort.

    However, I believe procs on riposte should function normally on targeted mobs. Melee's are getting excessive collateral damage with the change. I know this is codable.
    Zurd and Gnuff like this.
  19. Gnomeland Augur


    I was answering clerics who were wondering why Shining Rampart was nerfed along side the other abilities. Nobody's blaming you. The nerfs were across the board and towards every class that was abusing swarming; get over it, you're not the center of the world.

    The only joy I take from this is that I knew that those who repeatedly brought up beam kiting were also going to draw attention to the other abilities that were used for massive swarming. There's a sort of bitter joy from seeing what you warned come to pass.
  20. Nadiil Journeyman

    Let me see.. nerf PL classes just before introducing your own Heroic lvl 85 characters available in the Marketplace for a mere 3500 SC.
    That explains everything.
    Serriah_Test and Numzan like this.
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