Of course I was one of the people that played EQOA, EQ2, EQ, EQ Palm pilot, read a few of the novels, thus I kind of enjoy norrath a bit :>
Yep. The vendors with augs on them are huge, imo. Sure, I had just spent 8 hours camping 1 The Cleaner spawn point in Sep ( because moving a box group through that stupid tower maze makes me want to cry ) 2 weeks before they were released, but I still think they are amazing. Then throw in some rather easier HA options available giving you the currency to purchase the current high end group gear, and it is rather casual friendly.
You are looking at such a small aspect of CotF and ignoring the things that actually help casuals/non end gamers. If all "gear" was the same, and bigger mobs merely dropped more of it..EQ would die in a few months. Talk about a complete lack of RvR.
U*m actually, IMO, you don't have a "biggest argument", a "middlest argument", a "littlest argument", or in fact any argument at all. SOE provides a venue. IF one chooses to sit in PoK and chat in /general all day one can - so long as the highest expansion you purchased actually has a PoK. CoF/RoF isn't needed by PoK sitters? Then PoK sitters probably shouldn't buy CoF/RoF. You play 10 minutes a month? Gee you probably don't need anything beyond West Freeport. Rat killing moves your experience bar to the right in direct proportion to your effort. The fact that I and some others might go off to the hinterlands and come back riding ponies and looking like elven lordlings doesn't take away from someone else's choice to kill potato bugs. You get out what you put in. Heck, many will get out a heck of a lot more than they put in - AA grants, "Heroic" Characters, Defiant armor, ... EQ "needs" non-achieving player who expect the benefits rightfully reserved for achievers? LOL. I'm think OP will be happier in EQ next which afaik won't have things like level progression getting in the way of having "fun".
I spent hours trying to get the cacophonic shard then spent probably an hour to do HAs for the currency to buy it after the vendor came out. On a side note, the best thing about our community is that people who don't agree on some subjects can agree completely on others.
making it easier for those who cannot do indeed make it easier for those who can. despite being already easy. you did not solo even con as a paladin in kunark without major downtime. ( lvl 50+). I call on that. if you mean you solo'd in the dreadland as a lvl 50+ pally, then yes... if you molo in the ground as a lvl 92-93 toon, you'll chain 2-3 mob at once without downtime too! and I totally agree that no class in EQ require rocket science. I merely pull with slow, turn autoattack on, and spam spell with a Healing merc on reactive.. that's good enough to kill CoTF stuff with nothing but fear-touched gear.. why can't you? also, mission arn't heroic, it's 2 different thing. You also avoided the one major point: a game cannot cater to the most hardcore of hardcore player, it also cannot cater to the most casual of casual player ( wich seems to be you). you only have 1 hour per day to devote to Everquest? Well, too bad, you surely have a ton of other activities that take your time. However EQ is my hobby, and I actually like the fact that my hobby require me to put some time in it - that's why I play EQ, to relax and pass time. If dev balance the game around people who play 1 hour a week , they'll loose alot of people Point is, the group-game is already balanced around 3 player + 3 merc... if they are good player who actually maximize their class, then it's, 2 player + 2 merc. my group-geared wizzy can burn down names before they break arcane destruction rune. my lvl 92 beastlord could keep his pet up against CoTF names. between missions, CoTF heroics and tradeskill, the game literally throws gear at you, soo much that after a week at lvl 100, people are done... either start an alt, or go silver waiting for the next content patch. You also seems to spend alot of time on forums for someone who only play 1 hour a day?
Battleaxe. your destroying your own point. You want to have the lordling gear and no one else have it because you deserve it and they don't. There 3 years /played gives them as much entitlement as you do (imo). My fun does not determine your fun. RvR is a fallacy. Its time spent vs reward in these type of games. Time spent doing X task rewards Y loot. If X task is freeport rats the loot is less than current content dungeons, granted. A casual at lvl 100 with 10k AA is no different than the raider in lordling gear with his white pony, other than he doesn't run off to blah, he goes to ylah. Its not us versus them. Its finding ways to allow everyone to enjoy the world, so there will be people and a world to enjoy.
Vlerg, I did not say same level content. I said CURRENT content. As a 60 paladin I solod in Karnor's and Sebilis (I even solod my SEB KEY). Yes at 100 with 7k aa on the bst I can chain 2-3 mobs in 3 expansions back content (grounds). That's not current, nor my level. Sorry for using incorrect terminology, you are correct. I am going on people getting the jist of the idea instead of bothering with grammar, spelling, or typing it all out
I think I see where you are going and I can relate it too SWTOR. In that game the best gear in the game is extremely close to the gear you can get grouping or even being casual and just logging in every now and then. The game is designed to make everyone equal footing be they hardcore gamer or casual or kid. I did Raids with my guild on SWTOR and we had one of the best healers on the server in our Guild. The guy was amazing, and one day he got a microphone and we found out they were like 9. The kid was amazing though and was great at healing and doing his job. He could not play any other class well but he was great at Healing. We had other people in our guild that logged in once a week or less but who could still get the equipment and be able to join in on our raids. It was harder for them but they could do that solo or alone and playing 1 hour a week. Everquest doesnt have that ability... you will never be in top Raid.. if you can only play 1 hour week .. since you have no alternative way to get Raid gear... which is so much further removed from Group gear.
Most of my comments and ideas come from the fact that there are multiple. Turn lvl 1-85 zones into lvl 85+ zones. Skip itemization, just make them for exp. Keep a path from 1-85 for those who want it. You have now INSANE amounts of current content to spread out in. People using 2 mercs (oh the horror) won't encroach on your camps that you have the right to. Making all melee characters have a base level tanking ability (make it so they can last more than 1 round with CoTF T1 gear (everyone says they can I know I'm wrong). Now we have more tanks available to spread out in all this GLORIOUS EQ! Doesn't affect your raids, you can go have fun with your people. Doesn't dumb down the game or make it easier. Since people can have a tank/healer if they and their best bud want to both play enchanters, they can play how they want to! People just having fun in a world they love... imagine the idea! Every idea that disagrees does not equate to some other fact. You can have both and not affect each other. This is a fantasy world. The only thing keeping more people from enjoying it is parts of the community not wanting others to enjoy it.
If you are really worried about getting the best gear in the game, and you don't want to raid...EverQuest has not been the game for your..for a very very very very long time. You will not have much luck changing a fundamental core value of the game that has been around for more than a decade.
Tarrin, I dont think its been around for a decade. I think it's a misconception that raiders have had for over a decade that THEY deserve the best gear in the game. They want to have and others to NOT have. What I want is people to have FUN in EQ. "The Best" "End Game" have no meaning in this genre and need to be thrown out the window. You can not take 1 piece without the whole pie. Saying give everyone the "Best Gear" is just a piece of a solution and a very narrow scope of inspection. ALLOWING others to play and enjoy the game in a different manner does not equate to "pay to win" "dumb down" "ez mode" "Welfare gear" that people like to deride.
a lvl 60 solo'ing in karnor was NOT current content, that's light blue with maybe some blue here and there...and unless you were fighting the juggs , it wasn't in sebilis either. ( and I'll call on most of sebilis name, as hardly nothing came solo there, and everything ran... you had to be very meticulous, very slow, and had to regen your mana). Solo'ing in karnor castle at lvl 60 is the equivalent of killing in ground at lvl 95... or killing in valley at lvl 100. I also assume you'd get the idea, and not pick on the terminology at lvl 100 with 7k AA you can chain pull mob in coTF heroic. even 2 at a time. I don't know what to tell you if you cannot... you should be able to , but just like every single DPS class should be able to outdps a merc, alot of them don't... PEBCAK. Raids require better gear because they are harder. much harder. raid are also meant for people who LIKES large group and LIKES coordinating their effort to down something. You'll also notice raid gear is alot closer to group gear than it was in the past, you'll notice raid are alot shorter and don't require long key quest like VT-veeshan peak... raid become alot more casual-friendly but that's out of the subject... if dev catering to the super-casual player should't bother/affect the hardcore crowd, how does a raider gear affect you? Time VS reward. I love that. You put very very little time in EQ... And I have a feeling that time is poorly spent ( you didn't knew about the scaled-down CoTF heroic, you didn't knew about the missions, you didn't knew about the TS option to help you catch up in gear, you seems to perform poorly on your caracters...) so you should get very very little reward from EQ! that's logical. Now, you are able to molo stuff... slowly, but you are able to. you are able to kill names, even if they don't spawn often enough for you.. so you arn't really crusading for solo players, or to help the casual... what you really want is '' more xp, more loot, more spell, more stuff, faster, easier,now''.. or atleast that's the impression you give.
But the problem is the mentality of those who feel entitled. I played since Beta.. I could use the same arguments that the game is being dumbed down and made ez mode when they changed the exp you get per kill. Or when they removed the Heck levels. Or when they added cultural armor or when etc etc etc.. The game evolves and those who gripe because they feel they are not going to benefit directly or be rewarded for what they deem their struggle are a very vocal minority. The rest of us have fun in the game... i sit back with popcorn and watch the histeria all the time in general chat and on forums because its really captivating that some people feel the need to belittle and argue so much over things that dont even effect them. Its like they are ticked they are not the center of attention in the patch or update so they must scream the loudest to be so. They even go to great lengths like create new forum accounts to keep themselves safe from the bans and suspensions they get. its really quite interesting from an Anthropological view point.
Careful with that word entitlement... when you talk about players who want harder content, content that require more time, more effort per reward.. that's hardly entitlement. However the guy that play 1 hour a day and want all rk2 spell + superb gear... that's entitlement, in my opinion. You also have to consider what impact your proposed change would bring into the game. How does people having 2 merc per toon would impact the game? well, you can definatly see alot of people afk'ing everywhere, wizzy merc + healer merc... that's hardly healthy for a game. You can see even less grouping, because you no longer need other people to play with ( I guess that depend if you want your massive multiplayer game to be some form of co-op, or you like the solo RPG with random people running around you type) you can definatly expect newer people to not learn how to properly play their toon ( I bashed quite a bit on low DPS'er... but pugging in house of thule, you definatly see a ton of slow tank unable to pick up add, healers who don't know half of their CDs, druid-wizzy who can't kite... people won't learn if the game don't require you to learn). If you remember, merc were added to substitue a real healer/tank while you searched for another. they were not meant to completly replace a healer-tank... just allow you to do some stuff while looking for more. Then merc were made stronger in SoD, because people complained the merc weren't good enough. Then content was balanced around merc AI, so groups of 3 people + 3 merc could manage it ( CoTF heroics being balanced for 3+ 3) What's next? 2 merc per people, so the group-game have to be dumbed down a little more to cather to the 2+4 group? and since boxing is soo popular, it's not too far-fetched to assume it's a 1 + 4 group ( with a buff bot, or some afk-melody bard.. maybe a mage sending his pet in?). That's the point where such change, made for the super-casual people, impact my gameplay. and it's why I don't want to see it happen. I want more challenge, harder stuff. more complex stuff... not content made easier so merc can handle it ( and... what would be the point of playing, if content was doable by 4 merc? zone in, zone your box in... let the merc do the job, loot, zone out... what's the point of playing such a game, honestly?) Believe it or not, I actually enjoy doing stuff out of the 5 hours per week current CoTF raid content require. I actually enjoy playing my 100% group-gear beastlord but... even that toon face little to no challenge .
I feel that raid gear affects grouping because group content is tuned to it. Ala beta where ROF T4 Geared Warriors were being 1 rounded by WK mobs. Tharrg, the sociological view is more relevant to me. I think that is extends well beyond our game and or culture, its more of a world wide shifting in perceptions. I am by no means an anthropologist, but I believe the systematic change of desire versus willingness to do/accept has skewed badly. We are willing to accept things we do not like for political correctness, yet we will not accept others having something that we value. I can accept your criticism of me, just as long as I make more than you (roughly). If I have then you can't has replaced we all work and we all receive. That, at least to me, has been the current path for the past 20 years. What I want from EQ is simply what I want for EQ. I am crusading only for myself. Yes I only have 3 years /played in EQ. I quit playing after the COTF release (again) because nothing (that I was/am interested in) that was posted or talked about in beta was accepted by the developers. The only concerns (that were discussed where I was aware) were about which raid guilds being invited to beta versus who wasn't. Were the raids going to be good enough to keep the high end guilds happy. I will not disparage anyone that develops for the game, but some of the things that happened ("I haven't the scripts for that zone yet.. check back again in 30 mins") were kind of off-putting to me. Yes I feel that Karnor's (which was FREAKING HARD at 60) and sebilis (which was actually easier for me .. root stops runners great .. pacify made single pulling easy) were current content .. in the expansion they were released (you know.. current then). Lguk at 60 is equiv to ROF at 100 .. not HoT. Level 70 with 4k AA doing Karnors would be alot closer comparison :>.
Regardless of what you think, raid gear has been better than group gear for over a decade. You want to completely rewrite EQ into a different game Many of us enjoy this game.
Im glad you enjoy it Vlerg, and I appreciate the constructive criticisms. It is my view that the only thing keeping EQ alive today is EQN. If EQ were to "go down", then it would hurt the franchise and future profitability. In this light, my comments may (or may not) make more sense. I want to see people in EQ again. I have always been of the opinion that grouping was never forced in EQ. It became forced later in the game (GoD) to me, and it hurt the appeal of EQ (to me). The argument that if we have more stupid mercs (yes I use the word stupid on purpose), will they make the game "easier"? I don't believe they will. A player (even a bad player) is better than a good merc (minus wiz merc which needs to be toned WAY down). If you are worried people will afk with mercs then you should tell the ones doing it with boxes that its a bad idea. I realize that my ideas seem to be spreading EQ out rather than bringing it closer together. It is, my opinion, that without people to become close to (and allowing things to draw them in at this point in EQ's life), the game will not last (even in its current incarnation) much longer (after EQN launches). If EQN does well, I presume that EQ1/2 will be safe from the chopping block. If EQN does not meet expectations, I fully expect we will have seen the last of EQ1/2.
Tarrin, and many of us have not enjoyed that portion of it for 15 years. There are those of 1 opinion and those not of that opinion. As a modern person I validate your opinion .. :/
