Devs - can we do something about the leveling process

Something that maybe spanned 55-105 or something would be good. We don't need another expansion for the lowest levels. TSS still serves well as a pathway through there.

yes my thinking was for levels above Tss but the same way you can level to in same expansion, maybe a good idea maybe not

I love TSS and I think its design for the time was brilliant but I also think there were a lot more resources at the time than we have now. I think a better alternative is a hero's journey II.

No new quests or missions but basically just create a new achievement selecting quests and missions where the original hero's journey left off.

Increase the xp rate for completing these missions and for some of the zones they are in for that matter.

Also increase the xp rate from dailies significantly and now we have our new mid level path in place that should not be heavy on developer time, it presents a clear path for players to follow and progress, and in doing so people can play and evolve their toons to end game without feeling frustrated by being stuck or end up under skilled because they got a PL and never learned how to play their toons.

This sounds like the better way to go. We don't need more content so much as we need a better road map for someone who doesn't know where to turn next.

And it would be beneficial to the game I think to make leveling fairly easy until you're within 10-15 levels of the cap. There isn't really any good reason it should take a new player half a year or more to catch up to a point where they can even set foot in current content or be desirable to groups.

Determine what is necessary to engage current content and make that path clear and remove tedium from it. If people want tedium there are literally hundreds of things in the game they can do for fun on the side.

I agree and as an added bonus to the git good crowd they could slap some nice reward on the backside of it just like the original hero's journey (although the reward probably does not justify the effort) so even they could benefit from doing the achievement arc should they get bored and need something to do. Because they are bored and going back to mostly forgotten zones this might have the added benefit of them helping out some of these struggling players who are trying to advance in said zones. It just seems like a logical progression that is an all around win for everyone.

Unfortunately I don't think the number of actual new players is significant enough to be an issue here. Holly has said they are after the returning player market not new players. I have only had two people completely new to the game show up in my guild in the last six months as far as I know. Best we can do is encourage more players to return to the game and there I agree maybe there are some things that are not resource intensive that could be done.

As for those willing to drop 35 bucks to be honest the eq player base is much more likely to have the disposable income to drop 35 bucks these days. But I agree whether they will want to is another matter although I see returning players do it all the time.

New player or returning player very best thing any of them can do is join a good strong casual guild. And to be honest I think server mergers would make for a healthier game at the casual level. My guild is all about being there there for returning players helping them with tips and such to get back into the game and get closer to end game even if they are going to move on to a raid guild.

Having lots of low level people to play with is a dream anywhere but TLP servers. Next best thing is a good casual guild that takes in new and returning peeps. Makes all the difference. Help new and returning players find a healthy casual guild to join.

Casual guilds that have GMM difficulty of content have no problems including level 90 toons in groups (at least in my guild and I assume others) because low level toons can be carried through progression. You would not see that happen nearly as much if GMM had never came out.

Create zones that casuals can do well in and where you dont need every party member at max or near max levels and aa to play in and you will create an environment where returning players get grouping chances at much lower levels then they would otherwise.

They will never have the resources to do a level 1 to max expansion.

They really don't have to do that much. Lower the time between dailies is something easy that could be done. Make it a 15 minute timer or something. TSS makes it super easy to level, even for a new player up until Dailies are available.

Depending on the class, though once you get past 80 or so it's a bit iffy on killing mobs solo/molo. They may hit a bit too hard. Adding a full array of defiant gear as rewards for dailies might be a help with that. Maybe even re-balance the stats a bit so they are more like the gear that drops at that level - that's more so with the highest level defiant gear. Add a new set for 95+. That could go a long ways to help leveling.

Just beef up the mercs power, up to level 105. From level 65 to max, they suck.

Prior to level 65, they're in a very good spot. Very powerful at lowest levels, which is good. Players don't want to be stuck at lowest levels long.

As an example, a tank merc should be able to solo kill an even con trash mob, at any level, without heals, without help. That's what should determine a tank merc's stats... just make it the same as a trash mob in the highest zone at it's current level.

A caster or dps merc should have the same stats, dps, etc, as a trash mob of the highest zone of it's level.

Healer mercs just need smarter AI, stop casting heal over time, promised, or AE heals, period.

This, this would fix the too difficult to level problems, and most of the lower level grouping problems. It would allow anyone, of any skill/gear level, to actually go out and accomplish something by themselves, in level appropriate zones, without being too OP.

I don't see any reason mercs shouldn't be a completely viable option up to 10-15 levels below the cap. There just isn't a player base anymore to support much more than the top end of the game.

to me the issue the DEV have is that any thing they put in the Game will effect most servers. And this is issue is for the Blue servers where most of the peeps are at max level and peeps who join want to get to max level and join groups. I still think they can add to the HOT zones a NPC that can give peeps a Buff for more molo play for that level of the zone would be a way to keep the game going forward.

It amuses me more than a little that the "go suffer to max level and work for it" crowd seem to regularly offer the suggestion to mooch XP from someone who's already max level. Yeah, definitely working hard for your levels.

I think the best approach would be to make tank mercs worth a damn in this range to let people actually go do relevant content, and then let people have two mercs (so that every class can reasonably use them). You could do something to make mercs unusable in the newest expansion or two so that mercs would be limited to being a catch-up mechanic. When I was leveling my Wizard years ago, I could solo XP pretty well but getting gear on my own wasn't really a possibility outside of the bazaar since soloing anything that gave relevant gear wasn't really a possibility.

I don't think getting groups is mooching exp. *shrugs*

In the 80s? You might as well be alt-tabbed watching for all the help you'll be to someone who's 110.

If you're completely incompetent perhaps. Most 80s and 90s players can definitely be of noticeable help to 110 players. The only time that would not necessarily be the case would be when you're stacking the same classes on top of each other.

Remove the grouping level limit.
If you want to drag a level 50 into a level 110 zone (and can keep it alive) would be a fast way to level up alt characters.

Use the heroic character template to do an Old Man Mackenzie Version 2.0.

Please no.

If I wanted to play another class, I'd play another class.

I'm trying to think of how, other than percentage buffs (which don't really benefit much from attentiveness) and maybe split pulling. Bard songs would be pretty good (for melee, anyway). As someone with two box teams I'm currently leveling, neither at max level, I don't really see how any of them except the bard (with caveats) would be worth much to someone who's level 110.

The higher level box team is Druid, Mage, Enchanter, and Warrior. The Warrior would get to absorb one combat round on a bad pull. The enchanter's CC spells won't stick on anything beyond whatever the current level restriction is and its mana regen is a laughable fraction of the 110 mana pools on Magelo. Haste is good, but that's once every two hours. Tash. Mage could provide better-than-nothing pet gear for the other two pet classes, a speed bump pet, and occasionally tickle the mob with level 90 nukes in between resists. Malo. The Druid might be able to provide a snare if necessary, subject to resists. Level 90 healing? Fire resist debuff.

The lower level team is SK, Shaman, Bard, and Berserker. I guess the Berserker could provide War Cry every 25 minutes (at current level - I think that drops a bit later). Snare? I think a level 110 sneezing would do more damage than a 79 Berserker - maybe a 90 Berserker would be equivalent to cutting insults. Bard already acknowledged - some caster benefits limited by level, like Aura and Aria. Fade is level capped, so pulling is probably not the greatest choice. Shaman can provide Mammoth's at 86 or so (every hour and a half or whatever the duration is), which is nice. Haste, Panther/Cougar/etc which benefits from the proccing player's AAs. SK - split pulling or speed bump. Resists on snare might slow this down.

I mean the real problem is people being antisocial and not really wanting to play with others anymore.

You can add, change, do whatever. Stronger mercs, more gear, more zones, more whatever. It will never fix this game unless the community changes.

You go to CR, BF, any of those zones on a good day, easily 25-30 people in CR, maybe 12-15 in BF. Everyday 100+ in PoK? No talking.

Most of these toons are probably boxed as you see little armies running all over, but none the less, it's a person playing. ZERO interaction with anyone else in the zone. All of these people and not one shout, ooc, emote, nothing.

General Chat on the servers I play on are helpful and somewhat talkative, but the majority of the time it's WTS/WTB spam.

Guilds can't grow because new people will never stay with a game they feel is dead. The grind doesn't bother most people.The only people this game attracts are people like me and you. Those who have known about this game from it's early years. We might come back, raid an xpac., disappear again, etc... Guilds just recycle the same players over and over.

Just joining a guild isn't going to solve the problem of being social. Some of my favorite people from in game I've never even guilded/raided with. I know this doesn't apply to everyone, but you may have some friends you like over your guildmates.

Just think about all the good times, it's not really about the time period, it's not about what you were doing, it's about who you were with. Those people made those memories possible and special.

Rush to level 110 to still find yourself not doing much. New players don't have the mindset of boxing, unless they come from the forums or Reddit. That's all most people on here suggest to fix the problem of slow leveling/no one around. Just box it! Most people would love to have 4-5 people in a group, but this community as a whole just doesn't want to do that anymore. Everyone judges everyone.

"This guy doesn't do enough DPS."
"Random person might mess up my pulls."
"I don't want to worry about another person."

Okay.