Changes with the February Update: Alternate Ability Grants for Gold Members and Ability Changes

Discussion in 'News and Announcements' started by Piestro, Feb 4, 2014.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Aegenor Journeyman

    I no longer like your updates.
  2. Cevil's Remains Master

    Lmao nice basis for comparison
  3. Aeonblade Very Hungry Vah Shir

    Then they should release the results of the poll, including the amount of votes for each option rather than referencing it and ticking people off who have never heard of it, which is a large segment of players apparently. It would be a quick fix to this PR blunder we currently have going on in this thread imo :D
    IhateSockPuppets likes this.
  4. Langya Augur

    Ok. Hey everyone gets that.Just don't expect everyone to place the same degree of emphasis on it.

    Just as an example for poops and grins, what if your spouse or child or a buddy want to join you in what you do and they have to make a new character? I am not going to imply that someone who just wants to play some game will play EQ out of the blue, but it is much more likely that people we call friends or family might want to join in. Would you rather have them able to get to where you are a little bit sooner or should they slog it out? There are merits to both but the later stinks of resentment in the flavor of:

    " I had to tough it out so you should too. Tough S. Now get off my lawn"

    If it came to that I would just try to discourage them from playing, but then again that sucks.

    Well, times do change and sometimes what used to be difficult becomes easier. Big deal. its why we have technology. I would rather have the company of the friend or family member that much sooner because that is what I enjoy and why I play this game. I could care less about AA. It just comes as a by product of what I was gonna do anyway. Your AA earned has the same value in that it is an achievement you cherish. I am sure someone will say I am wrong but whatever. Your opinion is one of the few things you are entitled to in life.
  5. Vanety New Member

    As a slight change of topic can we do away with AFK merc leveling groups as well:) They cause game disruption in some areas - mostly lower level zones I suspect - and it appears that if they get trained then that is against EULA but SOE supports their use even tough the player is AFK because the mercs are just doing what they were designed to do, so no one is exploiting :rolleyes:. Well if I was a hired merc and suddenly the rest of my team said "you just keep on fighting so we can get xp - we're off to watch the game" then I sure as hell would be keeping the rewards for myself. Or how about the mercs want their wages doubled for every 15 mins where no player fighting is sensed, then after 1 hour walk off and desert you :D - fine for going bio - making a cuppa but not going out to work for the day :p


    Pirouette and IhateSockPuppets like this.
  6. Kaenneth [You require Gold access to view this title]

    I'm pissed off at kids today, when I was their age, I had to play EQ on dial-up, new players should have their connections throttled to 28.8k bps, and if their mom picks up the phone they should go linkdead!

    EZ-MODE!
    code-zero, Morningdew, Ruvan and 5 others like this.
  7. Garshok Augur

    Short Version: If you want to stop SK swarming, simply eliminate the Mortal Coil AA line – or make THAT the effect that doesn’t work on ripostes. Lich Sting won’t last for more than 2.5 minutes, which pretty much negates swarming as a tool for AAing. Eliminating the use of Lich Sting on ripostes severely impacts the SK’s ability to tank in groups and off-tanking on raids, especially for those ‘oh ’ moments here an SK has to handle multiple mobs without crowd control or until crowd control can weigh in.

    Long Version: SK swarming as a tool for AAing/exping has been dramatically reduced with the mob inflation that has set beginning in Underfoot. Effectiveness is drastically reduced by level 97 or so. Speaking as an SK with 12k AA, I don’t know any SK who uses it for exping at 100.

    So what is it good for? For an SK working up in levels (i.e., up to mid-90s), or for PLing lower level toons – helping them level up. Is that bad? Well, I am sure that others have their opinions – I don’t see that as a major issue when the game essentially begins at level 100. Then again, I swarmed in instances or deserted zones, and haven’t used it for PLing my own alts, much less PLing others for plat or Krono. But SOE says that swarming causes server issues; so be it.

    Swarming, though, relies on getting Mortal Coil AA procs to be effective – when it takes 7-8 minutes to kill a good swarm, you either get a Mortal Coil proc to keep lifetapping after Lich Sting runs out, or you are dead. Eliminating the Mortal Coil AA effectively pretty much eliminates swarming.

    The Mortal Coil AA, though, is pretty useless in the group game. Unless you are swarm killing, you can’t rely on Mortal Coil proccing. It’s nice if you get the ‘kill shot,’ and it certainly makes it easier on the healer for a few minutes, but most of the time grouping you won’t get the kill shot and if you can’t exp there without Mortal Coil, you probably won’t be there after a couple of rezzes.

    If you are tanking, though, Lich Sting is very useful for those ‘oh ’ moments where more get pulled than expected, or in raids where you have to suddenly off-tank multiple mobs – click and you get additional riposte healing that might let you last long enough for the group (or raid) to get the situation under control.

    Taking away Lich Sting takes away that tool and significantly reducing the SK’s ability to tank multiple mobs in a group or raid setting.


    Don’t like SK swarming? Fine – take away the Mortal Coil AA. Taking away riposte capability for Lich Sting is a major hit to SK group and raid tanking ability, not just swarming.


    Nerf smarter, not harder.
    Villin likes this.
  8. Langya Augur

    GET OFF MY LAWN!!!

    /shakes cane in the air

    Oh ^&$%&^ my dentures fell out....
    Vanety, Elricvonclief and Sinestra like this.
  9. Izcurly Augur

  10. Beggly Augur

    Under the circumstances, I think most of the changes will not effect me one way or the other. The one that will is the AA change, and I have a few concerns in that area.

    First off, I do spend a lot of time on AA, and now it will be hardish to find something to do with that time other than level. Sigh. I'm not all that hot for leveling.

    Secondly, granting all those AA is a definite game changer. It will max me out for my level, and I really am not sure I like that. It will also give me access to a lot of AA I just never considered getting. Think of the huge number of hotkeys I'll have to make just to use the ones I consider viable, much less all the ones I don't care about.

    Thirdly, a lot of people will count this as another instance of "dumbing down" EQ. I'm not sure they will be wrong. It does make things a little too easy, taking away a large part of enjoying the achievement of gaining AA the old hard way.

    In closing, I'd like to suggest something I think might be a better way to deal with the situation...

    Don't grant ALL the AA gratis. Instead either decrease the amount of EXP needed to gain the AA or give a sliding scale grant of AA points to each player according to their level. For instance, L51 to 60 might get 100 AA per level, L61 to L70 might get 200 AA per level, L71 to L75 might get 300 per level, and L76 up might get 500 per level. This would be in addition to AA EXP gained by the player. It would also be far and away a better compromise than giving all of them or giving 100k AA points, or whatever.

    Well, good luck on this problem. You are bound to upset somebody no matter what option you follow. Sigh. The world of game design is never without it's drama, eh?
  11. Aeonblade Very Hungry Vah Shir

    IhateSockPuppets likes this.
  12. Sinestra Augur

    I'm not positive, but they might have released the percentages after the poll. They never have released raw numbers for any polls they have done. I won't be going through the archived forums to look for it as I am not into pain and suffering.
  13. Jent Elder

    I'm absolutely outraged that you no longer need a group to kill Dvinn. I had to go on a waiting list to get into that camp so you should, too! I had to run from Qeynos to Freeport to buy sharpening stones and now they're available in the PoK! I should be refunded my time and financial losses incurred while repeatedly dying on that run to those bandits in Highpass.

    Times change. Roll with them. Or don't. But you'll be missed. :rolleyes:
    McDougal and Sinestra like this.
  14. Meulas New Member

    Yeah, I get that part of the issue. But there are better ways, many being offered here, to help less-advanced players without diminishing the accomplishments of experienced players.
  15. IhateSockPuppets New Member

    So, an out-of-date, in-game poll on a less-populous server (I've been to those ghost-towns, bra) is now to represent the entire influx of returning players after the announcement of F2P 2 years ago? Wow. Just ... Wow.
    Fenthen likes this.
  16. Aeonblade Very Hungry Vah Shir


    Haha I don't blame you, the archived forum is a mess! :p
    Sinestra likes this.
  17. Beammeup New Member

    I would tell them to do the same thing I did. When I started in PoP, all of my friends were already raiding, some were progressing up to PoTime. I did everything I could, found every great xp spot, and did all the research necessary to completely understand my character, so when I did reach the position of being able to play with my friends, I was well prepared for it.

    You know what working hard for something builds?? CHARACTER (No pun intended)

    Half the people who complain about "oh it's so hard to level up, I just want my friends to be by my side so they can hold me and comfort me while they rock me back in forth and I hold onto my blankie." I would also contest that these are the same players that never do any research on their own character/class. How can you even pretend to be someone who hopes to uplift friends or family into a game, that you yourself, will not take the time to fully understand, even from your own classes' perspective.

    This game was never forgiving. It was not designed to be. It was made to be cruel and heartless, and sometimes downright aggravating. But over the years we have scaled back the difficulty, time and again.
    At this point, with buyable Heroic Characters starting at level 85 with ~4kAAs, we're going to have a giant surge of people who dont even know what an /assist button is.
    IhateSockPuppets likes this.
  18. Roxxanna Augur

    I would definately like to see more grouping incentives, and not with mercs, yes it will be abused by boxers, but you wont get rid of that, i wouldnt have to swarm if I could get a group.
  19. Cevil's Remains Master

    I have been playing nearly every single day for the past 5 months and never received anything about a poll, I'm banking your dont care tally is stemming from a lot of people like myself, who never had a poll option and would have ABSOLUTELY voted NO!
  20. TolkienBard New Member


    That's funny. I am the very definition of a new player. I started playing with this latest expansion. I'm a year-long gold player now, and even I hate the changes to the membership system and this idea about an AA grant. I did not pay for power leveling. I did not drop tons on station cash to assist me. I actually enjoyed the progression from lowly level 1 to level 86 where I am now. The only reason I am not level 100 already is because I took time to lock down and earn AAs. This gave me the opportunity to figure out how to play my wizard, which plays so differently from anything I would have expected.

    I am not a dedicated, hard-core player. I don't log numerous hours trying to "catch up". As a casual player, earning the distinction of being just where I am was easy enough. I don't need it spoon-fed to me. If I started out at level 85 with 4000 AA (about 1500) more than I have now, I would already be at end game, level 100, with all of my "useful" AA maxed out.

    If I reach the end the fast, I'm going to get bored and look elsewhere for a challenge. If I am looking elsewhere, I am not renewing my membership. I suspect I am not the only person thinking like this. Just a bad idea all around.
    Gildurath, Vanety and SteveTheDreamer like this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.