With the advent of "instances" EQ game I think the developers are missing an opportunity to use existing zones for new adventures and quest. EQ is a very large place with lots of History. Exploit that. (ask players for ideas for quest arc's if you need help.) Send adventurers to a city, talk to a guy, get a quest that takes you with friends into an instance. It could be a solo/molo quest or a version for 6 players or a version for 12 or even a raid version. Start a new story line. I suspect it would not be hard using the current gods or creatures. Create a set of quest events that once completed sends you to another city, go city by city and revitalize the whole world over time. If the instances scale from say 85 to 120 or higher the content stays current longer. The reward's would have to scale.... if there is a quest story line than when followed gets you a piece of gear at each level as part of the reward that too would be cool. -- just a thought. (If there is a place for Players to submit ideas for quest arcs it would be nice. If they get a reward like a game card for a free month of access or store credit $ for coming up with a usable idea that would also be nice but not a deal breaker for those of us a lot of imagination and a need to express ourselves). Example: First quest arc In the moors the blue dragon has eggs...Lots of wailing from the dragon draw attention. The dragons of CR are worried and a new quest arrives to one or all of them. First quest: The eggs are stolen by the Kobold (from the Mines of Gloomindeep - send adventures to a higher level of it ) You go steal one or more back depending on solo or group level Kill so many Kobolds Might also have a few side quests like in the tutorial for nostalgia. Rescue 1 egg You get a title "Dragon friend", a special cloak (chase gear - higher stats as you finish each quest in the arc) and get sent to the moors to return the egg. New quest: Return the egg. (CR and Moors) Talk to the dragon who gave you the first quest... get the 2nd quest at the end of the first and enter instance to head out from CR to Moors to return the egg. Level appropriate moors. Have to fight way to dragon Kill so many wolves Kill so many plants Kill so many witches When you get to where the dragon would normally live it is empty. A nearby elf informs you the dragon was taken back home by other dragons. As you stand their pondering... the egg starts to crack open. You pull it out of your backpack and put it back in the nesting spot but before you can run away... it hatches and fixates on you.. Dragon says one baby word "hungry". You quickly give it a piece of the meat you looted from the wolves, plants or witches. (or go get more) As you move away from it...it follows on wobbly legs. You hear the elf you were talking to earlier ask" are you going to take it home? You turn to the elf and ask "where is home?" The elf smiles and says 'It's a place beyond what we call the Wakening Lands but I would not go without talking to "someone" in Halas to make you a sling to carry that baby in . You "pick up" the baby dragon You get an update on your piece of gear You get a new title "Dragon Caretaker" the elf is glad to send you back to CR. Next Quest: Make the harness Next quest - Icefall Glacier Feed the baby Next quest - To big to carry and get your hands off my dragon (kobolds again) Next quest -Western Waste When did I lose control of this situation (Dragon is about pony size now and follows like a pet and makes comments about the players ability to get it back to mom safely since kobolds keep showing up to try and steal him back. Next quest - Kaesora Hatchery or you pick a zone, maybe somewhere with cliffs instead. How a dragon learns to fly Next quest how to gain admittance to the dragon city Make an illusion "dragon" (multiple zones - even multiple quest -, but common items, no fail combine) and walk into the city... take the baby ,now almost full size (which every color of egg the player originally choose, the dragon will be that color) and find the platform of the blue dragon from CR. Tearful reunion ensues. You must go back to original dragon in CR for final reward... he also brings to your attention to the need to go speak to XXXX in the city of XXXXX. ************************** Reward. AA dragon illusion (CR type dragons with a choice of color), a fully evolved piece of gear. Then add to store the option to buy a "change the color of your dragon token" for more fun and profit. ***************************** It would be a nice addition if your dragon friend could fly in and save you while on regular quest once in awhile, or just show up and make comments about how you are fighting, riding, walking, being foolish or being smart when you take a particular action but I suspect that would require a level of programming not possible in this game. I don't know if EQ could handle the game mechanics for this either, but I thought asking for a ride then falling off the dragon unexpectedly in the middle of an old zone like South Karana after he consents to allow you a lift would be funny.... also if you earned "points"for doing these quest which would allow you an AA Dragon Favor once a day, for a "ride" from your dragon friend (like dangling from his clawed foot, rather than riding which no self respecting dragon would allow) to a place you choose off a world map would also be fun. Anyway this is just one example that could take players back to many places using instances to scale the mobs and remove the need for yet another full set of zones in an already gigantic world. At least, no need other than what any quest arc requires.
I think the missing opportunity here is for EQ to be making cash off the microtransactions of speeding up overseer.
I asked a similar question back at the end of 2018. This is the response I got. I doubt anything has changed. Given the number of zones we got this time around, the resources available probably have.
I'm a big fan of doing the work to streamline that 1 month to much lower and then regularly putting out HH zones that just had hunter (no collections, no new gear, no new quests). You've got all these crazy amazing zones that much of the EQ population has either never spent much time in or haven't been to in years. It's hard to believe that boosting the stats on the mobs, throwing the last expansions spells/gear on them and adding a hunter achievement isn't the best content vs cost ratio task they can do. If DPG wanted to boost revenue during the quiet months of spring->fall, releasing a few HH zones during those months that are only available for a short period of time and including hunter + rewards that complete characters would want (heroic AAs, especially if they're boosted, or clickies like an upgraded miniature horn of unity)
I've always wanted just regular Secrets of Faydwer Hunter released-- it was on beta at one point. Or some of the other expansions missing a hunter feature--
