Cya Everquest

Devs need to make grouping more worthwhile. Decrease mission lockouts to 2 hours MAX, give group currency upon completing merc and partisan quests so people will repeat them, massively increase exp bonus for a FULL group of 6, stop with the summoning/non cc'able trash mobs to allow for other grouping tactics other than tank 'n' spank, etc. There are lots of things they can do to ENCOURAGE grouping, but apparently the devs look at us like we have corn in our ears when we make suggestions like this. Stop being so damn stubborn, and actually LISTEN to the frikking playerbase already.

if comparing yourself to other is the only way you get enjoyment out of Everquest you probably shouldnt be playing. If you joined a top raiding guild you would probably get what you want much faster....instead i bet you are fairly casual player. in that case you are angry at the rest of the population for having more than you....

Bot groups monopolizing camps disrupts play for honest, rule-abiding players.

A botter can leave his computer to automate and not suffer from the same effects of fatigue, time management, and other limitations. This allows them to monopolize camps as rule-abiding players are naturally limited by play time with real world factors.

These same rule-abiding players have no interest in training or DPS racing bots on camps they control/monopolize. Daybreak has made clear that training is not allowed and there's a risk that the botter will make a big scene on General Chat if you DPS race or otherwise interfere.

Generally speaking, I find groups with boxers - most probably using isntboxer or MQQ2. They are almost always willing to help out, even if the player sux. Granted there is always those rude people, but that's a convo for another day.

No.

Botters want power or wealth acquisition: typically, popular items, chase items, sets of Type 5/7 augments without competition (rolling).

Botting also gives players an advantage where rule-abiding players are limited by real world factors (fatigue, time management, social obligations, etc).

Having to play more than 1 character doesn't make a game "hard" -- it just makes it tedious and for a lot of people annoying due to poor game design and a dwindling population.

Baby girl, I box a full group in both WoW, EQ, and FFXIV (yet FFXIV isn't really my cup of tea) I'm actually a big fan of boxing. I never once mentioned anything about an "easy mode button".

But since you decided to compare EQ to WoW:

• Comparing the mechanics in mythic raiding or relatively "mid range" keys (lets say a +15) in WoW to the mechanics in anything I've done in EQ boxing a full group through CoV, ToV, or ToL is a laughable. You can't even compare the two regarding difficulty.
• EQ isn't "hard" -- it just lacks good design and QoL which is often the reason people think this game is remotely close to being "hard".
• The only difference worth discussing between the two games is what a class can do solo in WoW vs EQ -- which you failed to do.

I feel bad for people who can't box, can't find groups due to their play time, and/or don't like the idea of needing to supplement poor game design with additional characters. But I suppose you can cherry pick whatever you want after you've misread and misunderstood the post.

I'm not naive. I'm optimistic. There is a difference.

Cicelee is right. It is a naive worldview.

Your worldview is equivalent to saying gold miners will invite random backpackers for a tourist experience. Gold will be given based on the roll of a dice.

Botters want power and wealth acquisition without the competition of other players and the limitations of real world factors (fatigue). PERIOD.

From what you've seen in YouTube videos? your commenting here when you have little to no experience with the content? Yet some how you feel the need to comment how you would like the game to cater to you. You call it poor game design but that is what makes EQ unique. Compare to other games, like WOW, where you can solo everything outside of raids.

You can't just make a statement that generalizes a group of people then say "PERIOD" as if you are the authority on the matter.

Power and wealth? It is a videogame, and generally the "botting" community has the same view on afk play as the non-botting community.

If you play a 6 characters it takes 6 times as long to gear up as a single character, there is no shortcuts there unless you participate in afk play which most sensible people don't because it is so obvious to detect and someone who plays EQ for fun isn't going to risk their hard work to afk and be a sitting duck for a ban.

You can't seem to break the connection between people who use automation and people who afk farm. They are not the same, and making that generalization again just shows your inability to discuss this like an adult.

The people who exploit for profit have been there since the early days of EQ, and they will alway find a way just like most games that are profitable. I assume they are in the same group as people who scalp PS5s, making a living while contributing nothing to society.

What is the difference between "automation" and "afk farm"?

The automated player watches Netflix, sells his NFTs, and monopolizes an EQ camp for 12 hours?

The AFK farmer goes to the bar and monopolizes a camp for 24 hours?

Ive had no issues finding camps since pick zones became available, try again. Finding camps have been very easy. If that changes , perhaps reducing the threshold will alleviate some of the over flow pressure.

You seem upset that your krono isnt going as far as others. The grass is greener on the other side. If you stop looking at your neighbors lawn you wouldnt feel so bad about your own. I admit that botting is bad and i generally dont like it, BUT ive never had a bad experience with someone that was botting. Its never ruined my game experience and its odd to find you white knighting all over the board about it instead of playing EQ. Every single botter ive ran into were NOT bringing attention to themselves by camp hording and being toxic. Those types always got booted quickly.

How many pickzones of CoV Cobalt Scar (Morwenna) did we have 3 months after expansion drop?

Botting disrupts gameplay experience for rule-abiding players.

Rule-abiding players are not interested in training a botter and risking a suspension.

Rule-abiding players are not interested in jeopardizing their reputation on a DPS race that causes a botter to go nuclear on General Chat.

The big issue here and why im on the boards today .... programs that were publicly claimed to be allowed by members of the EQ franchise are now being flagged as cheating without an official announcement/warning of said policy change. IF and when that is announced the pro boxing community will be more silent. As i expect most of us will just quit.

Some of us have been boxing this way since Kunark without playing afk as robots. Botters are a small fraction of the community and its typically barely English speaking players that are gold farming. I dont see how some of you can use this as an excuse to why you cant get anywhere in EQ let alone progress on TLPs. Any one that joins a raiding guild 2 nights a week can keep up.....

Unless Daybreak should considers lifting the ban on training botters and other cheaters, the players' only recourse is to report botters (3rd party software) and other violators (pet/merc afk, warp, track).

Then your problem is less with the automation and more of the monopolizing camps. Because I remember days of sitting in the same camp with a group of 6 farming for days or doing old epic quests back in the day and apart from when I was asleep I was camping the named and had to turn many others away who were looking for the same drop. It sucks when the camp you want is taken but usually through tells, or a pick zone, or just time the camp will free up and give you a chance.

This is exactly right. Im not risking my accounts with automation afk software. There is a big difference between afk bots and MOST every player in EQ that boxes.

It takes a massive amount of dedication to level up 6 characters , gear them, and optimize my team. Botters dont typically raid, they stay away from the general public high traffic places, and are almost invisible to most people. Where as the rest of us are active participants in the community and do appreciate the software that was previously allowed that assist in boxing via keystrokes, mouse/keyboard macros and wouldnt want to play without it.

If a rule-abiding player can last 12 hours at a camp, kudos to him.

If an automated player consistently takes mobs (not just camps) over many hours and days and disrupts the gameplay experience for rule-abiding players, then that becomes a toxic environment.

Even if a botter hides in an instanced zone, static zone botters will point to the instanced botter and say, "Why does he get to cheat?"

No shame to any guilds in EQ and I'm not downplaying anyone's achievements but watch

Then watch

The two aren't even close in mechanics or difficulty.