Changes with the February Update: Developer Updates

do some or all luclin progression - get luclin aa
do some or part of pop (harder due to mostly raids) - get pop
do some or part omens - omens aa
dod spell arcs grant that levels aa - or one grants all expansion 9if even simpler)
don progression tier 1(all group or solo)
por - aura arcs(por flag might suck molo/solo if stuck group-less - iirc was a huge time sink)


every expansion has some form of progression tasks which are simple in modern defiant and mercs
They didn't have to bundle the expansion AA as a reward to the full flags, just the parts blatantly mercable in case groups were an issue.

You still need to level - why could the AA grants not be linked to a progression path even if in part?

hotzones linked to the zones players would be doing progression tasks..
move hero gear / preatorian (spelling?) gear over onto some of the progression tasks.

progress through the games lore, progress the players level, reward with gear/aa relevant to the old tasks level range. Focused 'boosted' path towards the latest expansions.

add in a boosted group bonus to promote group help on the group tasks if required. Add in an xp potion for group rewards - that helps speed up grinding?

flag the AA grant to accounts so alts need not repeat it.
can even have the expansion AA grants sold in SC if must!!
can have it so grant only works if gold
can have it so the AA grant bundle / potions are tradeable

adding->
(heros journey armour - reduce the rec level, standardise the req level. one/two items per expansion progression arc + expansionaa bundle unlocker) - get to 85 having done in part the expansions main lore arcs / unlocked aa through the expansion tasks / grown into the hero journey set - level 85/with decent aa/ experienced the games progression/lore - or just ignore tha game and hand out the AA)

So you saw a few raids, and talked to a few people. No you did not experience recent content.

You had a really really good second hand experience. You did not experience it first hand, which is different. Its more than merely pressing a few buttons, no matter how much you want to try to redefine it.

Nothing you can say will change my mind that you experienced the last 4-5 years of content in such a way that can you make a valid comparison between it and older content..since obviously you did not experience it yourself.

you don't get the aa unless you pay for it! so the free aa grant is far from free

I'm probably bigger on AA's than most people. I remember when they first came out, I had only played games where you reach max level then that's it. I thought AA's were the coolest idea ever. Even before this whole debacle began, I always said AA's are the number one thing that kept me faithful to EQ, even after you reach max level there is still a staggering amount of character development to be done.

Yes, there's still plenty of other stuff to do, EQ is a massive game, it will just feel a little hollow to me without gaining more AA's, adding AA's is like Christmas all year long for me!

So opt out of the free AAs. Problem solved!

imagine being able to do both at the same time! ever sone any of the dod spell arcs? don progression tasks? omens progression tasks? sof? sod? you buy your auras (if class has them) in pok or quest it?
imagine being able to get big lumps of AA for doing what was at the time the major vein of game/character progression designed for solo/groups

no wrong. they are being granted yearly ONLY to gold subscribers (even if thats just one month for each yearly grant)

800 hits is not enough for Lich Sting.

Decided to create an 'oh, SNAP' moment pulling multiple orcs from the building in the fort in Eastern Wastes (just because been trying to get a drop there and familiar with pathing).

Did pull of 8 mobs today - five melee and three casters (i.e.,three mobs trying to cast rather than beat on the tank, reducing the number of ripostes by some unknown amount).

For the duration of Lich Sting:
hits - 456
bashes - 90
ripostes - 136

So that is a total of 682 hits/ripostes/bashes from one 'oh SNAP' moment - from the SK tanking perspective uncomfortably close to the 800 limit being on Lich Sting. Rogue's extrapolation from parsing hits by his 95 SK alt on a GGH dummy are not representative.

There were also another 145 swings that missed (so misses + hits = 827), so easily potential for additional hits - not to mention more swings/hits if I was using a faster weapon than the 34 delay 1HB I am currently using.

I don't know if the 1500 number for hits mentioned earlier in this thread is the 'right' number, but it's pretty clear that 800 is not enough for Lich Sting.

No raiding tonight, so should have time to do a swarm or two in Kaesora Library raid instance to figure out how many ripostes a swarm eats there just to show how high the hit limit would have to be to really allow swarming and see if I can actually mow it all down in 105 seconds, unlike a year ago last time I did it. (Not that Kaesora will be relevant - returns are marginal over grouping as it is, and will green out with the next level increase; the mob HP inflation in Underfoot has made that very swarming unfriendly for SKs as it is, much less upcoming mortal coil nerfs.)

It's tuned to raid gear. There is no account being made for people leveling. That's clear regardless of the answers to those questions.

and yet so do you also get free SC.. you get ability to sell in bazaar.. you get increase AA limit.. you get to where prestige items.. you get higher version mercs you get rank 2+ spells.... I can go on.... So do you refuse all these? You are paying to win if you use them. =)

There will still be a staggering amount of AAs to do at 100. A returning player will have a bit more of a leg up toward getting back current though. A friend of mine who was last actively playing during Omens contacted me the other day when he saw the news about this AA grant and asked me about helping him catch up for it. His character was level 70 and was one of the primary tanks in his guild when he retired. He has 400 aa. He's from a period where one AA was a significant amount of work, not a trivial dozen kills or so like today. It is a mental hurdle for people from that era.

I didnt agree with the silver/gold either as it split the player base into two overnight. This just automatically widens the difference between silver and gold.

imo rank 2, and mercs is fine as groups negate disadvantage from mercs and rk2 is not so overwhelming.

I've always much preferred the AA silver cap to be dropped (irrelevant now) whilst increasing the xp gain for gold as the advantage of having subbed. All have the ability to end up in much the same place - $$ paying for quicker not further....

Unlocking AA bundles if gold but no cap on silver to grind them fits my ethos of not paying to be stronger. Want it free - work harder.

Oh, while you guys are in the mood to want to fix something, how about adding some AA to allow a merc have more than 15 buffs? Thx.

ding him his aa for the expansion he was flagged (or in part) - he's never touched the expansions he didnt play. He needs to still level. Go level doing some old school (to us - new to him) expansion progression tasks. Ding his levels - unlock the expansion AA - reward him armor he can grow into a he works his levels. He'll play through levels with ease due mercs and mudflation unlocking AA bundles with just focusing on relevant tasks.

You already have to work harder. No one is being lazy...... your concept of what makes a player lazy should be directed at people who sit and join task adds and who sit in raids and cast 1 spell or move around and just loot. People getting free AA's to help get through low levels and up to the range where others are playing is not being lazy. Its finding a fix that does the least amount of damage. Is it perfect... nope... is it needed... yep... will it be good.... well lets see... Im going to say yes.. because I have already seen the positive in the amount of people excited about coming back.

"Basic Raid-geared". Umm...playing since 2001 and over 11k AA and us groupers get screwed again. There is nothing basic about "raid-geared"...they are the elite, not the norm. What will I get...one proc a minute? What's the use?

Oh calm down.

I read this as merely using a raid geared toon to figure out how often he wants it to proc for someone with a higher gear set.

The sky isn't falling on groupers.

If he used groupers as the balancing point, yall would just complain then too. "omg raiders get it to proc soo much! screwing us groupers again! "

never called anyone lazy! If someone wants the quickest route pay. if not work harder than those who pay for speed/convenience. $$ should never allow more in a game unless its a pay to win. Is EQ 100% now a pay to win?

I fully agree AA catch up routes are needed. read the post above the one i quote of yours here.

Its (at least to me) 100x better and of no hardship to someone leveling up to follow a heightened progression path. It in fact makes it even easier to level(not just aa) as a much more focused route to aa/gear/level is offered.

As already said. Its the complete lack of any vision/inventiveness/utilization of game assets to achieve a 'catch up' route that annoys me with their choice. It can still be monetarised (with a greater maintained income imo)

you either agree their choice is the best available or not. And i don't believe reading your posts you yourself could not come up with other ways to help new/returnee players in a much 'gamier' way than whats now going to happen

adding a login and auto inventory all needed epic 1 drops is a fix for new players fighting perma camped drops right? just a no drop/no flag on epic 1 drops and increased spawn rate makes those epics more accessible to new players right? even if only a small minority of them.

Seriously is asking for them to add / develop an option that allows a player to PLAY to progress so bad?

Silence the voice of reason. GG

I think I have asked this before. There are 17 days left in February. Is there a firm date for the
"FEBRUARY UPDATE". Anyone from Sony?

I have read; not all, but a lot of the posts. Haven't seen any dates. Thanks