You mention here Plane of War, it is said it will be released at Anniversary. I hope it does not mean that it is a time limited period that it will be released like the fabled ones.
Well that's an interesting issue. The crossover between the learning curve of the game(and one's class), and the experience(s) forced to be attained to enter certain content/encounters. In 2000 it was far harder for the average player to understand the game. Partially because so few similar games existed. And partially because so little of the game's internal processes were/are available. You might call it fewer "quality of life" features. Information about combat, agro, spell aoe ranges, movement, skills, attribute values, spell types, raid encounters, etc weren't the simplest to understand with such ambiguous feedback from the game. Requiring organization and iterations of experimentation by players. There are more resources now. The understandings what would have more slowly developed from lvl 1-60 in those days can't exactly be extended to the current day. The average player has access to so many other sources(and games) for at least a general understanding for this type of game. Things like mercenaries made all of that much easier. As the overall challenge reduced, it made a lot of obsolete or easily skippable content. I guess this 85 character thing is some form of admission to that. Which is sad with consideration for so much of the game's content.
Its more of an admission that classes change so much. Example. a druid from 1-75 is completely different than 76+. You basically have to relearn everything. So many staple spell lines for many classes are just not available during that "leveling up" phase. I just don't see the point in forcing a person to take a long winded " learn your class " leveling up phase, when that phase literally doesn't matter and will be obsolete as soon as you start learning the spells you will actually use at a higher level.
Heroic Adventures? Just LDoN on steroids. Mercenary gear? Almost meaningless to date. Journeyman Mercenary Tier 5? What is the problem with the current quest arc which permits acquisition of a J5? It certainly isn't THAT difficult to complete with a group of level 75's, especially with the availability of today's gear. If done with some level 75's and some level 90's (to account for the maximum level spread to do Murdunk's) it is just a matter of 2-3 hrs from start to finish. Leadership AA's. Making them available to be earn as one earns regular AA's, helpful. New player race/class combinations, uninteresting. Level 85 Heroic Characters available with the flip of your wallet? Level 85 Heroic Characters available with the press of a key? Exactly what is heroic about the character? What skills with they be granted automatically? What AA's? What gear? WHY would you want to encourage new and/or returning player to abandon 80% of your creation??? IF you insist on passing out power for no effort, kindly do us the favor or making such characters instantly identifiable. It's bad enough to run into a power-leveled character whose player is nearly clueless but who has, at least, had a minimal amount of time actually playing the game, but the very thought of dealing with a newly hatched level 85 character...!!! Please pass the Excedrin. What a sad way to celebrate 15 years.
Well said. What a slap in the face to all those who spent so much time actually earning their levels.
You People realize you to will benefit from these Heroic Characters? -If this is done like EQ2 you will all get to create or buff 1 character to whatever lvl they decide. Thats a free lvl "85" character of your choice. make a buff bot, a tracking bot, try out a race/class combo you always wanted to try. -It helps EQ compete with what the current competition is doing, brings in new and old players, creating revenue for new content and to help keep your beloved EQ alive a few more years. -New players = many things than just your negative stereotypes. maybe LFG and Pugs will start reappearing, maybe your guild rosters will fill up again so you can push on in whatever progression your working on. Maybe you will see old friends return or make new ones. I dont think some of you see the future from your caves, or just refuse to believe that EQ is 15 years old and not bringing in many new players, and people are moving on. EQ has to adapt and change to survive in the coming years. The attitude that "I had to do it so they should to" hurts the game more than these characters would. Personally I think the heroic character lvl needs to be higher, at least lvl 90 with 2k aa and a full set of VoA tier 1 group gear just to compete. These characters should be able to play in some of the recent content. Heroic Characters have the potential for a positive impact on our game.
How about 20% bonus xp to those who already have maxed Leadership? As to J5 mercs, the quest takes one night. Hardly cumbersome. Make them do it. Any progress being made on reducing the 15 level limit on missions? Right now the biggest hindrance to J5 mercs is the level limit on Murdunk's Last Stand. Gnar, they ARE coming back. Our rosters ARE full. Lee of Povar
That's a great idea too! I was just thinking the boar because its the least used clockwork, but the random pet would be really awesome!
"Gnome Beastlord with Robo boar pet would be sick, or a clockwork spider/rat. Boar would be the best though! Definitely some sort of clockwork though cause, they are gnomes after all." Has the a lot of potential to do interesting things with lore wise and would be awesome! "Personally I was thinking along the lines of a clockwork rat or spider myself...but the boar works, too. Maybe have it summon a different one depending on what your level of EM is (y'know, like how necro pets change)...or...just make it pick a random one when you summon it! Random would give that little bit of "which clockwork did the gnome make for his pet this time?" sort of feel to it, which would make sense given that they're gnomes...and their pet would be 'tinkered'. " That is a great idea
YAY PRODUCER!!!!!!!!!! FROGLOK MONK YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! / happyflip good by little ranger yes thank you thank you!
More Character Slots for Gold Subs. I frequently find myself wishing the number of character slots for a given server was equivalent to the number of available classes. I would love to play each class, but do not want to abandon my in-game social network and start over on another server.
People who insist that there is nothing to learn or nothing to experience at low levels strike me as the type of people who want it all instantly. Insisting that the pre-level 75 game is nothing like the post-level 75 game is patently ludicrous, misleading and utter balderdash. If one cannot be bothered learning the game or ones class from the beginning, then why bother playing at all? It certainly isn't as if, these days, one will be spending months or years getting to level 75, 85 or even 100! The amount of information available to anyone that plays EverQuest and who has the sense to seek it out or ask questions in game makes leveling a matter of a few weeks or months not years ! Every game out there that uses the "instant gratification" model doesn't see its player base become committed to their offering. People jump in for a month or two, get bored and quit. Perhaps no one ever notices that instantly satisfying the "wants' of an individual or a group usually results in more cries of "Gimme! Gimme!" and not more bucks for the enablers. Catering to the lowest common denominator has never improved a thing! The name of the game is EverQuest! Ever as in playable for years, not days! Quest as in literally thousands of things to do! So who exactly is the so-called "Heroic" character creation ability aimed at luring? The developers have been following the EZ-Mode model now for a number of years! Just exactly how much simpler does this game have to be? What competition are they chasing? Why? They have already made the game Free to Play! While the Marketplace, no doubt, is a source of revenue, I would venture the opinion that it is the recurring paid subscriptions that fund its continuation. A newly hatched level 85 with all the accoutrements accomplishes exactly what? Under the control of a new and/or newly returned player such a character, I rather suspect, won't be what most progressing guilds are going to be jumping for joy at the prospect of recruiting. As for groups, nothing like spending most of ones play time instructing a group member in the basics of their class! Oh joy! Again I ask WHY would it be the objective of the developers to encourage new and/or newly returning and/or current players to abandon 80% of their creation?
Problem is most (probably even every class) of the classes change with things added in the upper game that the Dev's never downgraded to the low game. This causes low level people to learn useless information on their class as it is no longer valid in the end game. For example, a Paladin is a night and day difference once they get into the 80s+ and basically nothing you learned before that comes into play anymore, you unlock many many many tools to use and the class starts to open up. Most hybrids are this way where a certain level changes everything you do and you are pretty much forced to re-learn your class. People will also take the path of least resistance = Merc power leveling yourself for the first 65 or so levels = those levels are pointless. I hope the Heroic Character matches the max a f2p can do, level 95 + either bronze or silver's AA cap.
Important things a Druid does not learn pre-70 Group Heal. That is right. A druid can not group heal until the later levels. White Wolf/Black Wolf. Probably the most important Druid aas. Call of the Wild. 0 xp rez. Long cool down, fast casting heal. Delayed Heal. Adrenaline Heal. Survival of the X group heal. ( long recast, more damage done to you group heal, the more it heals ) These are just a few and they DRASTICALLY change the way you play a Druid once you get them. You are physically unable to learn how to use these skills at the earlier levels. Everything you learned 0-70 means squat after you get these abilities. How does learning to use Karana's Renewal ( remember that Druid version of CH? ), which was useful during its time period help a Druid at the higher levels? It doesn't. Saying the pre-level 75 game is like the post-level 75 game is patently ludicrous, misleading and utter balderdash. So many spell and AA lines were implemented at 70 or 75+ that were not backlogged into the lower levels that, yes, many things change in how you play a class. I personally have nothing to gain from this. I don't do alts. I guess I may have something to gain in the sense that this can get people to a level range I can group with them faster.
thanks for putting it into words more politely than i ever could, 2 accounts unsubbed over this crap, i didnt stay in eq2 either when they announced it.
I always wondered why there weren't any halfling bards - we have to listen to their music every time we go through there
well unsubbed when account site is back up , for now i just uninstalled the game, had my fun since 2000.
Mayong gave level 50 characters for free. Except for it costing to get level 85, I see no difference in what was done.
