No mention of Mearatas, but still an amusing read. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019...range-20-year-trip-still-has-no-end-in-sight/
Interesting article. What’s wrong with the Advanced Loot system?? Seems to work just fine to me? Unless it is a backend problem consuming resources...
Agreed... Also, devs have repeatedly said no server mergers, which contradicts the article. But I digress.
They have said "not technically possible right now", which is not functionally different from "no", but is not exactly the same thing.
On the whole, it seemed to convey why we are either still playing, or back to playing this game. For me, it is part game, part community, and part unknown. I just know I like Norrath and surrounding environs.
EQ's advanced loot is a bit of a mess but it's so powerful and nice. I can't imagine playing without it, and when I play loot-heavy games that don't have some auto loot system it's hugely obnoxious.
Yeah, I don't know what makes Advanced Loot so horrible. It's definitely not perfect, and at times can be annoying, but it's fine and way better than the old way?
I can't speak for anyone else but I came back a few years ago because of nostalgia and to play with my dad. I'm still playing because EQ is a very unique game that is interesting because it's stacked many levels of gameplay and features into one disgusting mess that DBG doesn't have the $$$ to fix and streamline. It's almost like beta testing a new game, just with 20 years of content and features in it, many of which aren't intuitive or documented, so you have an endless set of things to do and learn. It makes other games feel like tic-tac-toe.
I've never really subscribed to the idea that EQ is necessarily more complicated or challenging than other games. A lot of the "challenge" is just tedium. But there's just something about how the whole package comes together that I find myself drawn back to. I just like playing it.
Yeah, there are definitely ways it could be improved. It would be nice to see if something is Lore/No Trade/Quest without having to open the item window separately.
I use Advanced Loot and think it is much better than not using it. However, there is some room for improvement. I find some things about it frustrating.
I thought the server mergers was the interesting part of the article. "Longdale is also looking at some behind-the-scenes updates—primarily a round of server mergers for next year. EQ has had server mergers in the past as the population has dropped, but they were always two-to-one mergers involving all servers. This time, servers with low populations will be merged, but ones with high populations, like Luclin and Xegony, won’t get one. Longdale also intends to deal with the Zek server, the last remaining PvP server in the game, which is said to be a ghost town. Longdale wants to “find a solution” to Zek this year." Personally I would like to see all servers get mergers but that does not seem to be in the cards. The other thread on this should probably be merged here.
The only thing thats annoying really about the advloot system is that sometimes it gets bugged other than that.. it does what it needs to =\
We are all aware Holly was let go? And their plans have changed (from what I can see) within a month of several old statements made. The Holly stuff is outdated info. I would temper my expectations of statements made by non-devs. What devs state they are capable and willing to do is much more likely to become a reality than PR statments made right around the run up to 20th anniversary.
