Easy / Hard neither equate to fun. Fun equates to fun. What many people think of as "easy" is simply possible. Yes, if you have a dedicated group of 6 that you play with, many things are possible. The reality of EQ today is that often to get a group of 6, you have 2-3 mercs and/or bots .. not 6 players. If the game requires 6 people to do anything, and you can only get 2 people for weeks on end .. what do you have? Not a player base would be my summation. The lets get social etc. idea is great in theory, but who says I am not incredibly social as a solo player? I love EQ the game, the lore, the environment, and a handful of the people. I talk in guild/general (much to the dismay of general on Drinal). I have a great time helping others and having fun. I am social, even when I am soloing or boxing. I don't enjoy raiding therefore I lose that portion of the game. I have no issue with that, that's part of my play style. I want to do the group game (and alot of solo). EQ has always had the ability for me to do this, and it still does now, just not as much so. I am not an uber player by any means. That is why I promote casual ability improvements. Having 2 incredibly dumb mercs does not make the game easier, it simply lets me play the game (that lets face it.. is 99% empty) the way I prefer. I can play the _1 character_ that I enjoy when my friends are around as well as when they aren't. If I want to go solo HAs at 100 I can box them now, this will change nothing. I could solo / box in 99. I can solo / box now. I have spent many years of time played on a character and want to play him. Its simply a matter of in 99/2000 I was soloing current content (LGuk/MM -> Karnors/Sebilis) and now I am soloing some VOA->RoF or WEAK CoTF mobs. When I started Gortar the beastlord, we could pet tank and melee at the same time. This was nerfed back years ago such that pets can't tank for melees. So I had to stop letting my pet tank while I melee'd and start tanking myself. I had no issues soloing/playing my way up until GoD. It took a solid healer to keep bst/pal either one alive in the entry zones. When I was in a full group it was possible, when I wasn't in a full group (2-3 players or solo), it just wasn't doable for me. So I went from all group content of my level to group content an expansion back... no big deal. I could just roll a necro and rot dot, a bard and ae kite, a druid and quad kite current content then, .... but I played the character I wanted the way I wanted. I could still roll a mage/necro now and just roll through current content, but I prefer to play the class I enjoy which is a non tanking melee class. This severely limits what I can do by myself (or without other people who are the _APPROPRIATE_ classes). If the EQ community as a whole wants the game to be harder then make it harder! Lets make COTF mobs hit for triple what they do now (tanking them is already hard for me in COTF t1 gear, but that's just me), but still give me 2 mercs so I can play the way I want to play ;p.
As the OP, I never intended this to turn into a trash-n-bash on casual players. Nor did I intend to completely insult players who are more "hardcore, play more, whateverthehellyouwanttocallit". Please close this thread, it's serving no longer serving a purpose. Consider that everyone has their opinion, and the company, in this day and age, whether you like it or not, needs all forms of players to keep this game alive and in the black (at least). I love this game and will support whatever the majority of the community believes, but just because the voice is louder to bash this topic, that doesn't mean it isn't a valid concern. The more small increments of time I put into EQ and get nothing out of it, the more I consider quitting again - this being directly related to time put in vs rewards received. As someone else said, I'm paying just as much for this game as any of you (other gold members). I WANT to explore more content, I WANT to catch up, at least by an expansion, to where the game is today. This is in the interest of all, as it increases end game players, creates a more rewarding experience for casuals, and adds more money to the company's pocket (I have yet to buy the newest expansion, and I don't believe I will until it is justified to do so). I'm not coming back to this topic, so feel free to tear me a new one vets. On a side note - I simply cannot fathom how some of you play so much every week! I'm jealous!
what is the point of it? the game is set up for long time ever questing. The game is set up for peeps who can play more. Take avantage of the short cuts or not making the choice to take your play time of an hour and try to kill a place holder that might span a name ever 15/20 mins. or making PP in that hour and buying an upgrade in the baz. some hot zones have peeps /ooc rotts also as a way to upgrade. The game have been changed to allow peeps who have a short time play time. removed the time to get your body and the items on it. can sumon your body for a rez. hot zone quests - kill 5 mobs best EXP in game for normal exp and AA exp. Take that hour and work in PP. you can let others farm your gear T1 is tradable and buy it in the baz even buy augs. The hot zones have zone wide augs that have a faster drop rate. level 85 chars coming soon can use this toon to farm you faster PP for your normal toon.
EQ has never been more casual than it is now. Back in the classic-kunark-velious days, you'd be LFG for an entire hour before finding a group. you'd sit for 5 minute after solo'ing a blue con mob. free AAs up to lvl 85? defiant gear from lvl 1 to 70? HoT group gear catching up on raid gear ( HoT group gear is alot closer to the raid gear than the SoD or SoF ones were), currency-based loot in SoD, underfoot and HoT allowing you to catch up on the non-visible piece ( assuming you do missions and quests) In today EQ, my group-geared beastlord molo CoTF mob without problem, and can even molo most name without problem ( pet tank, use wizzy merc, heal your pet). You admitted it yourself Gortar: your innability to molo current content is more likely due to your lack of skill than the game itself... And yes, for alot of us, easy = boring. I remember when CoTF 1B came out, a group of 3 ( sk, wiz, wiz + 3 cleric merc) went to the WK2 mission... pulled all mob at once, poped burn, poped deflection.. everything was dead within 45 second flat... The mission took 45 seconds, 0 risk of death... we stood there, idle, looking at eachother, asking '' that's it?''... this is not fun. For something to be fun for a long time, you need some challenge. I also wonder how many hours devs spent on that 1 minute-long mission... That being said, I believe Gortar brought up a valid issue: alot of player do not know what's available to them: - they do not know about CoTF heroic, who scale to your level, and provide gear from lvl 85 to 100, most underfoot-HoT-VoA aug and nice XP - they do not know about partisan- mission, who provide fantastic XP, lore/story/questing ( questing in everquest?) and have a garuanteed Rk2 spell at the end of it on top of loot ( you are in VoA? Sarith first mission ( T2), beast domain first mission ( T3), city of bronze first mission ( T4). all are pretty easy, definatly doable in less than an hour ( more like 30 min), and all have a rk 2 spell at the end of it) - lack of challenges in the early game, allowing people to learn their class? it's amazing how many DPS class cannot even match a wiz merc DPS yet, my lvl 95 beastlord could outDPS a lvl 100 merc while sleeping, or tanks unable to tank stuff my enchanter can? This is a PEBKAC ( problem exist between keyboard and chair). - cheap crafted gear at lvl 100 who is on par with.. RoF T2? RoF T3? ish I'm afraid alot of people would quit EQ if the game was brought down to your level Gortar, it may be annoying for you to die over and over, but alot of raider and grouper right now are fighting the toughess boss EQ ever created : the boredom boss ; watching your guildmate play less and less, and evantually stop playing all together because they completed all content RoF-CoTF have to offer... ( in coTF case, the first week it came out) Just like you cannot balance the game around the most hardcore of hardcore raiders, you cannot balance the game around the most casual of casual player.
I think other people have stated before. There is a difference between what some call casual and what others call casual. I play for about 10-15 hours a week every week. I consider myself casual as I do not Raid. To me Raids are what divides casuals from hardcore. Not the number of hours played a day or week.
In my opinion, that's not accurate at all. Casual is low number of hours played, hardcore are players who put in a lot of hours. I'm a casual player who raids, I have friends who are casual group players and hardcore group players. Casual has nothing to do with the content you take part in. You do a disservice to anyone who puts in a lot of time by calling them casuals just because they don't raid. 10-15 hours, yes, that is casual play.
No you get me wrong.... I was just pointing out that some posts and some people seem to get frustrated and call people who do not raid Casuals and that I for one call myself casual because I do not sit down and do Raids. Thats my own opinion however I have seen others do the same and shoot down anyone else who has an opinion just because they do not raid or do end game.
Ah, I see. I apologize then, I misunderstood what you meant. Though you did say that you consider raiding to be the defining line between hardcore and casuals which I disagree with.
Vlerg, I'm quite a bit better at EQ than I am given credit for. My ideas and situations are deemed wrong by others, but that doesn't make them so. I accept others disagreeing with my ideas and stating that I am simply bad at the game. It doesn't make it true, but it's fine to happen. There are misconceptions in communication quite often, such as soloing == moloing. You took 5 mins to med in original EQ, I didn't :>. I chose mobs that let me fight constantly (minus bandage time). You can tank a mob (note I say you.. not your pet) that I can't. That obviously does make you better geared than me, but frankly how many skills can a beastlord use? I will not claim to be anywhere near the most skilled (or care to be) player in EQ, but it's a rather simple game. Attack/Cast Spell(s)/Use Damage Abilities/Use Disc and hoping a healer heals me isn't a terribly large skill set. This is a simplistic representation of the game, but is it not also rather accurate? :> I think you are quite good if you can handle a CoTF Heroic in 45 seconds. I wish the maxed AA CoTF geared groups that I have watched/been a part of could do that, without perfect class synergy and raid gear... Yes I would like my ideas to be brought to EQ. I am fine with people disagreeing. There are many other players who tend to agree with me and don't care to tread the SAW waters of the forums/general chats in EQ today.
Yes it is true.. Maybe I should have completed my thought a bit. I see most Hardcore players as those that do Raids and End game as their Primary playing time and or goals. As for Casuals they may Raid but that is not why they play. Others have pointed out they have Hardcore Raid friends that Raid like 2hours a week while they have Casual friends that play 10+hours a week. What seperates them is the goal these players seem to have... Not the amount of time they put in. I have more Played time on my Characters...Mains (top 3) than most have on every account and alt they have combined. But you look at my gear/levels and would think I am a casual that barely logs on. My main here is level 80.. he is my highest level character. But I have put alot of work into him. I just do not Raid on a standard basis. This is why I dont consider myself Hardcore.
I can see where you are coming from, and I agree a lot of people see end-game = hardcore. I can also see why that could be a good indicator, it takes time and energy to get to end-game. On the flip side, once you get to the end game it doesn't take much time and energy to stay there. That's the main problem with CoTF right now. The staggered release isn't providing enough to keep people busy who are end game *group or raid* because they are able to blast through the new small releases instantly.
and those who are not "end game" have no reason to purchase the expansion because of the _ disparity_ between the two.
and thus my biggest argument. Making it possible for those who currently cannot does not make it easier for those who can. It allows the devs to tune more toward those who can, since those who cannot might be able to now! (2 mercs 1 gort).
That's not true, there is plenty that is not end game in the expansion. The HAs are not end game by a long shot. Doing them actually allows you to close the gap very quickly by being able to buy the tier 1 CoTF gear as well as augments from previous expansions. You can also get merc gear and merc aas through the new expansion.
So basically, you want to remove the solo/group/raid dispersion of content and just turn it into solo/raid. You want group content easily "soloable" using our merc crew. You want to be able to easily get group gear through "soloing" with your merc crew. For this, I will always vote "no, thanks".
Very much agree with this statement. I think CoTF has done more to help people close the gap than any previous expansion. Perhaps a little too easily if you know which HAs to do
I played the beta and first month of COTF. It has changed a bit I hear, but the 15 minute boss fights are still 15 minute boss fights. A good crit round still drops a j5 merc tank in 1 round. Im sure 100 merc AA might keep him alive, but 1 J5 healer merc with 20 merc AA isn't :> and thank you for disagreeing.. there nothing wrong with that at all . As for me, I think solo/group/raid "gear" should all be the same. A small gnome drops 1, a manager gnome might drop 2, the king gnome might drop 10. I don't think enjoying grouping or enjoying raiding or enjoying solo should be a caste system in games.. but that's just me. I think games should be fun for everyone (and that doesn't mean dumbing down a game ala titanfall .. so much potential).
