Plane of Knowledge is horrid to traverse. Gloomingdeep has an NPC that casts a buff on you, Rytan is the NPC name and casts a health buff. This info was provided to show that coding it is possible and already a component of the current game. It would likely reduce AFK lag piles of people just waiting for buffs, if instead, you could simply hail an NPC and say the name of the buff you need.
Maybe if DPG modified their stance on automated play and certain unnamed programs, some of us could create Buffing PCs to make Norrath a better place... instead of scripting them to automatically respond to tells with clever phrases to trick people into thinking they were at the keyboard, the scripts could be written to cast desirable buffs on the sender of the tell.
Scripting would be undesirable as it would add to lag that is unnecessary. The best option is to add NPCs or just 1 that has the ability to cast all buffs. You’d see a drastic reduction of people who go afk all day in POK.
From a business perspective, it's not necessarily a bad thing to have people logged in 24/7 waiting for buffs. This means they have an active EQ session going and are more likely to engage with the game more frequently and have a longer-lasting relationship with the game. If someone has an EQ session already running, they are more likely to hop in and start playing at random times during the day. If instead someone could just get buffs whenever they want, they would stay logged out unless they made an effort to play. They would have less engagement and may play other games or do something else rather than start up EQ. As an unashamed buff-soaker, I really like getting uber-buffed in the GL. And although I'm not at max level, while sitting around, I frequently cast single-target buffs on low-levels in the GL or PoK to pay forward the appreciation of the MGB buffs I've received. I certainly can see the convenience of having a buff vendor, but I would personally favor keeping the current system of community buffs.
Isn't there an npc that sells potions with various low-level buffs somewhere in pok, or do I remember wrong? They could also add level appropriate single-charge potions with various buffs, to the global drop table.
Around TSS Potions come in. Crescent Reach has Vorlig's Apothecary where enchanter, beastlord crack, druid regen, direct heals, heals over time and haste are all potion based.
Most of the higher end guilds I've seen have character buffers in guild halls to autobuff as it is. Just add the NPCs to cast all >legacy< level buffs (Three expansions behind live) Rank one spells only, base duration as max level caster (so DS is 30 minute and not 15) Eliminate all beneficial buff timers under 30 min. Sow, lev, at level 2 shouldn't be a 5 minute buff. This is stupid. Five minute timers? Really, who is the scrooge mcgrinch who though that ^%$# up? Potions give 30 minutes blanket regardless of type, but actual CASTERS can't.
Buffbots that could be purchased and put in guild halls would be good. Nobody likes getting irritated for buffs, it would help low level players, and regular PC buffs would still be necessary /wanted when out adventuring or after a death and rez. And we get rid of the GL lag blob. There is no reason not to do it.
Just play the game. Buffs aren't essential. Never understood the mentality of waiting around for buffs. Go play.
It's very low risk play. No fight. No risk of death. it's really just an overdeveloped sense of survival coming to the fore. Either that, or just laziness.
No but they are nice and make killing things and therefore progress much faster. There is a large portion of current content many people cannot kill effectively and this is one of the leading causes for people to quit. It also massively speeds up the completely irrelevant period of class development to modern EQ that is level 1-85. Buff NPCs would add a ton to the game and take absolutely nothing away from it.
The notion that people are quitting because they don't have buffs is quite a stretch. I'd wager far more people quit due to lack of content than inability to conquer content. EverQuest has become so easy it's no longer challenging, and therein feels less rewarding. Buffs are nice. Not saying otherwise. But reaching for the Easy button isn't always the best answer, either. Playing with a nod to social interaction to obtain buffs is a great method for adding a ton to the game also. I am not against some form of "Official" buff bots. But there needs to be some kind of cost. Maybe use Hero's Journey completion achievement as the unlocker, and then to pay the buff mercs we can use mission currency.
People are quitting due to lag. I'm all for anything progress, that reduces lag in everquest and given that the PoK is a non-combat zone...the lag in the zone is more likely related to numerous PCs and no /picks, from people AFKing for buffs when they come to play. I like the suggestion above about buff NPCs placeable in guild halls. I don't like it as the only option, maybe place a buff NPC in the lobby right next to the corpse summoner. Or, go the way of the click buffs from every item and make anything longer than 30 min duration, a permanent buff.
I'm someone who has been playing (and paying) since '99 - I find the endgame utterly irrelevant and never bother with it any more. I live in 1-85 and love it, please don't assume just because you don't find a use for something you can argue for its' abolition. On-topic. The 1-85 game is so easy now, buffs are nice but hardly essential. Keep your defiant gear up to date and you can pretty much go through any level-appropiate content.
Remember the old days when some players made their living by buffing others for plat? Now even if someone offers to pay then they don't follow thru. Now we have all come to feel mass MGB are something we are due without working or paying for them. And just cause your server's POK is a mess does not mean other server's have the same issue. Different server's have different areas where players congregate. Some use the lobby etc. Like others have said, yes you can play the game without buffs. I always start a new character with no buffs for many levels. And I also have made my own buff bots. Not hard with the f2p model. And there are potions, clickies and armor clicks etc. There is no need for more "easy play" features in this game. It was never meant to be a walk in the park and that Virginia is why people leave the game. Not because of lag, the UI, no groups, too hard at (insert level here), etc. But they leave because the game is too hard for them to play without all these crutches and they don't get their participation certificate or immediate gratification.
I despise the lag pile and everything it stands for! Buff bot NPC would work great imo but make them buyable to put in guild halls or you just have all the same people standing around the NPCs in PoK all day.
Buff bots will not reduce lag. Player will still gather round and go afk for hours and days at a time. Its a carry over from when certain advantages in the game were based on how long a player "played" - and that did not mean you had to go play but just be logged in. You can still see this on server merge rules. The other reason is because buff counters do not count down in Lobby, POK, Nexus and a few others You would be better off asking for the buff counters to only work in guild halls. Players would not hang out in POK or Lobby, Nexus if their buffs counted down.
There has never been an advantage to /play time. Ever. The only thing that was a thing were veteran benefits that came with subscribed time, and you could have been subscribed and NEVER log in the entire year and the time would go up.
