I'm not sure what the point is you are trying to make. I have played EQ for since 1999, so I wouldn't consider myself a new player. My main is a rogue. No rogue can molo current mobs without having a death wish. Am I supposed to be penalized because I chose a rogue rather than a necro or mage? My kids can only play every so often, so they are behind. Are they not supposed to get the same experience as the vanguard? They will and have often decided it isn't worth it, and they are tired of Daybreak catering to two types of players: 6Boxers and raiders. They play other online games, but they only play EQ because I am still here, as does my wife. Daybreak is killing the future with the decisions they are making now. It is short sighted, and it was really not needed to begin with. It wasn't a mistake either. A programming team doesn't take the time to program this by mistake. It is dedicated code meant to handicap old zones.
I feel like tol was built for the group player. Yes the mobs have more hit points. But they don't hit harder than cov mobs and players get 5 more levels and better group gear. Missions - the mobs hit less hard... But raiders still die because they make the challenge knowing the events and emotes. Excellent job overall just with there was another 4 zones in it
A lot of the arguments I see presented here suffer from a common human failing. We all tend to think that there are a lot more people who think and feel just like us in the world than there really are. One thing DBG has going for them is 20+ years of actually analytical data (which we arent privy to) showing exacting how many of each type of player is out there and just how much each of those types of players spends in actual cash on the game. This has led them to the design decisions they have made. I think one could successfully argue that, vocal critics not withstanding, the company has not only kept afloat an online game far longer than many of its competitors but has made that game attractive enough to attract a buyer interested in investing further into the franchise.Its a tough argument to make that a better outcome could have been achieved had they only made different decisions. Everquest at its heart has always been a group game. I was around when the first servers launched and I remember how for years you could only advance if you grouped or played one of only two viable solo classes, the druid and the necro. Over the years EQ has had a love hate relationship with soloers. But a couple of things have remained constant. Some classes have had an easier time of it then others. The changes only really expanded or contracted how many and which classes were viable soloers at any given time. And some things absolutely require a group to accomplish. Expecting every class to be able to molo their way to top level, or expecting the game to all moloers to accomplish all group content is fundamentally changing the game in ways that destroy the core concept of the game. While that may cater to a very small audience, it would surely repel many current players. We again come back to DBG having the numbers to know what that impact would be. The fact we are where we are is evidence if what those numbers are.
I think you give DayBreak too much credit. They are not gods. They make mistakes. Their knowledge if limited. I suspect that the ones designing the game know less than they should about the systems in the game and the players that play them. Even if they did have access to the data that you think they do, that would not invalidate the perspectives in this thread. You can run reports to find out about your customers, or you can talk to your customers to learn about them.
This anecdote right here is the biggest threat to EQ. There are too many amazing games out there now with compelling and challenging content that compete for our time. If they have changed the game to the point where it's no longer fun to hang out with friends and family and catch up your toons with meaningful upgrades then we are in big trouble. The social aspect of the game, getting together and playing dnd online, is getting washed away for some kind of horrible idler / afk type game that I do not find worth the money they charge.
Well, I have tons of accounts, silver, I pay $16 per account - not Krono, and I am considering taking a break after playing ToL. Why? *No cool clickies that anyone has seen yet, illusions that drop or stuff that the old world had *All raid items are almost identical to the CoV expansion (+10% to effects) *No cool items to chase, and the 'chase' items are just CoV T1 Raid Items *It's almost exactly like CoV Where are the items that we camp for? Where are the illusion items? Where are the cool clickies? Now, I also saw the plans for 2022, so this is why I say I am considering. It seems as if Daybrake is making changes to bring EQ back instead of using it as a corporate machine for money. So I am sure that all of us are on standby ***hoping*** this is the case.
The xp model is horrid and has been for some time. With a slow dps group it is painful to watch the experience bar. Instead of locking the xp maybe they should look at unlocking it as a player goes through the merc/partisan/mission progressions. So if you complete the merc quest in a zone it unlocks more xp per kill to the player/players that complete the mercenary quest (or the whole arc). They could also give gear to give xp bonus up to a certain percentage per xpac. Previous xpacs gears could give lower level players more xp bonus percentages based on their level and gear to help them catch up. They could have raids that if the server defeats the boss it opens up xp bonuses for the server for a week and a special xp bonuses for the players involved. I'm just throwing mud up against the wall but getting .0578 per kill will drive you nuts. Maybe I should just stop watching the xp bar.
One thing I am finding disappointing is the loot items from the ToL raids. The stats are only a tiny bit better than Claws of Veeshan raid gear. Barely even worth getting.
Or they could just get rid of the hell level idiocy (which is the real cause of the problem) and go back to the pre-ToV leveling curve with respect to how much xp each level takes. No need to brainstorm funky workarounds. Just fix the bad decision.
I've be very happy if they get rid of the anti-pet code for the group missions. Do they really need keep this anti-pet code in group missions? While playing (1) chanter and (4) mage + Merc Cleric, I've managed to get to the Mara... whatever end zone in TBL. Was hard battle but somehow got there. In ToV, I've managed to do one mission, Restless Assault, with few group wipes, less if keep refining it. Tried to do the Velk Lab but wiped 2x, so gave up. In CoV, tried the Godzilla looking mission, heard it was easy burn thru but got wiped... didn't bother again. In ToL, got wiped in Bloodfall mission, not trying that again. None of other ToL missions will be possible. I've got level 90 War and Cleric toons on other accounts but not sure if I feel like to level them up. Either being too lazy and/or don't want to spend that much time to go that far atm. Also, don't feel like complicating the box routines.
Thankfully this looks to be the last expansion we're going to get for a long while, if ever. I'm being told of a HUMONGOUS wave hitting, larger than the last, and that's gonna clear at least half the subscriptions out of the game. C'est le vie.
Are you saying that if they remove the automated bot teams, aka cheaters, the game won't get any more expansions?
They let it get out of hand and became dependent on the cash flow. It’ll be interesting to see how many people cancel though.
That's the part of my post that I decided to leave off. I'm not sure how they intend to balance it at this point, but I don't see a short term action causing the game to stall and ultimately shut down as a result of banning blatant cheaters.
I can really resonate with this. I returned to the game about 3 months ago after seeing there was another expansion coming out and a lot of new content I haven't seen. The last time I played was around CoTF and I thought it would be fun to see what's changed. My 14 yr old son is also into gaming. We play League of Legends, Call of Duty, etc. together and he agreed to make a toon with me. He enjoyed the quests, but the grinding concept made no sense to him and he got bored with it quickly. I don't know what to tell him. It doesn't make sense to just pull & kill the same npcs 15,000 times to hit the next level. There's no other game like it anymore. This game mechanic died decades ago. He made it to about level 30 and I could tell he was stupidly bored so I decided to multibox. That's really the only option because there isn't a playable game experience below level 110. The zones are completely deserted. I ended up having more trouble finding people the higher content got. And fighting multiples became the norm very quickly. So I had to double back and make an enchanter for CC since there's no merc for this. Now, I'm totally over it. This was a great trist through nostalgia. But having to pay multiple subscriptions just to play an outdated game is just too much. I feel like I need more arms to play all the toons I need to get going. When someone logs in that isn't max level or AA and their looking for a group, I'm going "Thank GOD there's another player that can take over one of these roles!!" Add to that the insane amount of lag and server instability since I came back and It's just not a fun longterm experience. I loved experiencing the low hanging fruit in the new expansions. But I never made it into Kael, never got to experience the new crystal caverns or velk's lab. I didn't get to go into tower of frozen shadow or temple of veeshan or dragon necropolis. I was only able to have superficial experiences of the ToV and CoV expansions, which was really sad because getting to go back to those old zones and see the changes felt really great. But they weren't within reach. The worst part is to come to the forums and read players echoing the above concerns while watching them be shot down and pooped on by long-time high level players with lots of experience in raiding guilds saying things like, "They have 2 decades worth of content to experience." and being dismissive. The only irony is that dismissiveness and gatekeeping of "their" game that they don't wish to share with the rest of the noobs will ultimately be the reason the game is eventually retired. It's pretty obvious to tell that each expansion is becoming less polished or even complete. The server lag is persistent & unaddressed. The game is riddled with bugs. I've had to submit 4 petitions for game bugs for lost items & broken quests in just 3 months. I didn't even mention the fact that 97% of the game is completely undocumented and it's not profitable for the fan sites to operate and maintain anymore. I spent HOURS on dual monitors sitting still trying to find answers to my questions. The sites are outdated, erroneous and fragmented. Most of them have shut down. Tradeskill documentation that exists on them is outdated and has changed. If you're trying to figure out older quests, it's likely it involved a zone that has been revamped and isn't required anymore. It took me forever to figure out where the berserker Ancient: Cry of Chaos quest line went, if it was relevant or if the scroll was just sold in POK now like many of them are. So much has changed that POK itself is the land of story-telling NPCs that you have to visit to absorb 16,000 lines of changes that have been made to the game and how things are done now and even then, there's a LOT that you have to just try to find another player to explain to you. That was fun to explain to a 14 yr old also. Nope, the game doesn't tell you what abilities are available to you now. You have to check the vendor. Which vendor? I'm not sure, google it. How many skills/spells did you get this level? I'm not sure, google it. His exact comment was "Why didn't they just build a google window into the game? it would have been faster." LOL... I can't argue with his logic on that one!
Thumbs up guys, DBG need to recognize who is better customer based on business perspective. Maybe I should have started a new thread, but I don't feel like it. Business value comparison, Hard Core and Casual. Subscription fee = both groups equal. Server usage = Casual is better customer due to less online time. Kronos = I figure both sides probably have big spender, but Casual is most likely spend money on kronos to exchange for PP or equipment. Expansions, Bundle Expansions = Not too sure, but I can be sure the DBG need to pay attention to include the Casual /Returning players. DBG need to give them some reason for them to purchase the expansion. Also, I figure slew of casual that buys the expansion may spend money on Kronos to equip their toons. Either you entertain other side(s) or just keep this lingering death continue...
You are factually incorrect, the first ever Grow clicky. Also, the human illusion from VT drops in new VT. I like when fresh accts come in here with big claims about their value.
close! if you don't mind the posteffects, or have them disabled, Zavitar's Ale of Intimidation is around each anniversary it is the first GROUP Grow clicky
Wow how exciting a human illusion, lol the worst model in the game. Grow? I don't want my toons any bigger than they need to be, that's why they put the shrink items in to begin with. Both of those are fun I guess, but not very inventive. We need some new cool things, like manastones, Jboots, epics etc. were in the day. Exciting new items you could dream about getting. It's so boring now. All they do is take the same item, add a % and are done with it. Same with spells, AA. They can't come up with any new spells or AA lines that would make things more interesting and exciting? Get creative, have some fun with items and spells. Put in some OP items(remember the days of Artifacts given out by GM events?). That was cool stuff. Seeing the first Fiery Avenger epic, so cool! We need things like that again.
