Raider fatigue

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Cicelee, Oct 13, 2020.

  1. Cicelee Augur

    Life has gotten in the way of Everquest over the past couple of years. Married, now a 5 year old daughter, family moved closer to be with us. Because of this, I just don't play like I used to. No longer in the 90+ percent for raid attendance, still have 2 of 4 TBL items on the final level to evolve, still 145% away from using Kael raid item for the earring, etc.

    But before all of that, I played. A lot. And raided. A lot. And I know a lot of you out there also do the same. And especially the raider, where many expectations happen on an expansion release that is not normally applied to groupers.

    Raiders generally spend a lot of time in Beta, including multiple nights of the week testing raids.

    When an expansion hits, there is an expectation to be a certain level by a certain day. To have certain quests and missions done by a certain day. The first 2-4 months could involve a raider playing non stop outside of their job to get all the currency from missions for type 5 augments. To camp those named augments. To grind out levels and AA. And then once the expansion raids are finished, there is the 1/2/3 nights a week of farming the raids to outfit your character.

    All of this represents a large time investment. It could also result in fatigue. Raid fatigue from farming and maintaining your RA, fatigue from getting your alts progression done, fatigue from EQ in general.

    So how do you (especially those raiders who are raiding weekly and who go through those first 2-4 months) combat game fatigue?
    minimind and Valdest like this.
  2. Monkman Augur

    This year I dabbled with Aradune and have to admit it was a fun experience, I did stop after about two months and haven’t logged on since kunark launched. From time to time the simplicity of old eq can actually be a welcomed break from the fast paced EQ most of us live players are used to. As long as you aren’t dead set on being the first to 50 or must have all the BIS gear, the first month or so of a TLP launch can be pretty enjoyable.

    Aside from that for me it’s usually the last 2-3 months of an expansion that are the hardest, I don’t play other mmos and my console is 8 years old so in terms of gaming EQ is about it for me. This year has been pretty lackluster in terms of patches (maybe that’s a good thing). I do wish there were more engaging events towards the end of the summer/early fall that would excite older players and keep them active. This aug sept so far october has basically been log in, check traders, set overseer, run 2-4 missions, set traders. I mostly skim the boards while waiting for lockouts/overseer to finish.
  3. Cadira Augur

    Neat question. I actually combated the general boredom with the game with MORE RAIDING believe it or not. Went from 2 days a week to 5-6 now.
    Proximoe and Sancus like this.
  4. Elyssanda Bardbrain

    I made another bard and have been catching her up on all the old expansion crap.. Finished Mercenary of Thuliasaur yesterday,.
    Celephane likes this.
  5. GoneFission Augur

    I took a hard look at the time I spent raiding when my oldest got ready to leave home for college, and I decided I had spent more time in EQ than I wished that I had. I quit raiding to have more family time. I miss the sense of accomplishment from beating a hard raid, and I wish I had a busier guild chat from time to time.

    On the other hand, having no one expecting you in game at any time is also liberating. No one cares if I take a couple days (or weeks) away. No one cares if I’m still working on my Empires progression while I get some AAs in ToV.
    Valdest likes this.
  6. Jumbur Improved Familiar

    Thats the beauty of casual raiding guilds! There is no expectation of having finished progression at a certain date, no requirement of beta testing, and we generally have a long time before max-level is a requirement for raiding.
    Currently, the only requirement is 200k HP(more for tanks though) and level 115, thats it!! We don't even have a raid attendance requirement.

    Otoh, we still have 2 raids left in Tov we haven't won yet... :)

    Ofc, if there is some group keying required for certain raids, then we require that too, but we generally have plenty of time for that, since we don't hunt "server firsts".
  7. Nniki Augur

    Our guild took a three-week break in the summer, and we've been taking a break this month until beta begins. I think that has helped a lot this expansion where it just seemed more repetitive and tedious than normal. It has honestly been a struggle for me this year more so than others, so I've definitely appreciated it. I'm sure those who handle loot have enjoyed it additionally so. Of course, we do have those who are disappointed and would love to continue raiding every week, but for the overall health of the guild, I think it's been beneficial.

    During the first few months, I usually feel pretty motivated to complete everything, so I can't say rushing to max level, AAs, type 5s, and achievements is that big of deal for me personally. I think something that helps significantly though is having a dedicated friend group to work on content with. We'll schedule plans offline and meet up to complete content. I imagine one would burn out faster without such support.

    I know not every group is equal, but mission challengers, partisans, and mercenaries can truthfully all be completed within a weekend with a dedicated, attentive group (at least, with people who know their way around). Hunters can take a little longer, but quite a few can usually be picked off while working on partisans and mercenaries if someone is keeping an eye out for them. Aside for a round of hunters, I find one doesn't typically need to do much camping with all the augments dropping from mission chests. Run through all the missions (takes ~1 hour or less with said group this expansion) before or after raids when you know everyone will be around, and it'll all be over before you know it: a set of type 5s and dropped augments both collected.

    I also usually just play one character anymore and, only on rare occasion, a couple alts on the side when my friend group is feeling like doing some alt groups for fun or something different. In the past, I have found managing multiple alts to be exhausting, but they can also be a nice change of pace if you haven't played them in some time. I don't usually focus on maxing them out like my main though.

    I find having something outside of EQ to look forward to (or are simply dedicated to) can be both a blessing and a curse. It gives you a break from the game, but if you're really into that activity, you won't want to or perhaps even have the time to play EQ as much. If I come across a book, game, or another activity that I'm interested in or am trying to learn something new, I find I want to get raids over with and get back to that other thing as fast as possible.
    sojero likes this.
  8. Yinla Ye Ol' Dragon

    This expansion was pretty easy going. Server launched and there was no rush to get anything done as nothing was required to raid. No raids over Christmas meant lots of time out with the family, but still enough time to get progression finished before the raids launched in January.

    With lockdown starting in March, I found myself playing whenever I was awake, this lasted 2 weeks! I then decided things needed to change and took up running, with the help of Couch to 5K I now run 3 times a week for around 30 minutes (roughly 5K). I feel more positive about life after a run. It gets me out of the house and away from the computor.

    This expansion unlike many others has been nice and relaxing and has given me time to polished off an old alt which I have once again fallen in love with, so I'm on her outside of raids. The alt has been working the last 8 expansions! ToV progression is done as is most of the other 7. I've recently also started looking at Heros Journey.She is 300 in all skills bar Research.

    We usually raid for 2 - 3 hours 4 times a week, recently dropping to 3 nights a week. So now on my 4th raid night I've been joining a social guild for some raiding. Also do a 5th raid night every other weekend doing older stuff.

    My daughter started playing EQ with me for a while when she got layed off so I have yet another rogue to play when she wishes to join me.

    I'm currently itching to get in the next expansion and find new ways and places to die!
  9. Jhenna_BB Proudly Prestigious Pointed Purveyor of Pincusions

    I don't just play EverQuest. Once I'm done all the stuff Raiders need to get done at an expansion's launch I just log in on raid nights. I have like 12 days played as Moze in Borderlands 3. EXPLOOOOOOOOOOOOOSIONSSSSSSSS!!
  10. Ibudin Augur



    This is exactly what I did too lol. Although I was spread across two servers in 2 different guilds. I have decided to turn it down a notch and backed off. Going to stick to two raid nights per week, too many RL things to get into at the moment that sitting at computer for that much time isn't in cards anymore.
    Cadira likes this.
  11. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    Back when I played on live I set myself certain days as raid/eq days, a couple as family days, 1 day for sports, only way to do it all without something being neglected is to have a schedule for everything, my children are all adults now so I have more time to dedicate to my own hobbies.