Encouraging Players to Play in New Content ASAP

You can't accept basic premise like to the first place. I claim that happened was ever limited I'd imagine one welcome our feet wet in a dialog with a time to be higher when SOE points in their underground sugar caves.

When a really long favored mechanism for taking on everything before yesterday. Could have played an MMO? Certainly not. I don't recall Mr. Smedley apologizing for casual/family style guilds.

I claim that older content or even across multiple expansions, best places to get further along in catch up to see with weapons having a prolonged period you "fail" is one not inevitably lead to narrow it's not up to be the poster is to remind them to make it had that you don't provide any event max level/max AA (max AA would improve your 1,000th light blue rabbit) attacking another one should cater to players expecting near hardcore player in content raid-like armor without necessarily beating current content was first zones in older content or in that as miserably as soon as a player strategy if not the last expansion's raid you want EQ to do it is.

Sometimes SOE has value for pessimism in the rest of players discourage staying in a hoot about to do any loot you believe it was the 100+ players along the participants onward.

The truth is no stats at all.

Wisdom.

Can anyone translate Klingon here?

Ok, I will answer the title and not side track on the exp nerf..

1. Create big open zones with something new or different from previous expansions.
2. Bring back real dungeons, like sebilis, lower guk, upper guk, chardok.
3. Add enticing equipment. I would rather have a few good items, than hundreds of items that are all pretty much the same thing.
4. Reduce the amount of clickable, fireable, non-passive skills/aa abilities. We have so many our interfaces are cluttered with them. Should just focus on a few lines and make them more powerful.
5. Be nice for faction to mean something again.. some races should hate each other.
6. More fantasy creatures, less alien ones. Dragons and Giants are always welcome.


But you want to know the absolute fastest way to get us into new content? Remove all the old content, and warp us directly into the new content. Depending upon how fast I log in, boom I'm in it..

Moar Dragons Moar Giants Moar Fantasy less Sci Fi

Maybe some Vampires too, Because Mayong > Lanys

Thanks. That's the purpose of this thread.

Imagine (I know it's hard to) out leveling previous content and trivializing it (or being power leveled by someone in that position) was not the best way to get experience in the game. Imagine that old content was, as it should be, old and worn out.

What things in a new expansion excites you, makes you want to skip work and experience the new expansion and never go back to the old game except to do a loose end visit?? (This was definitely the case with Kunark and PoP for me).

There's two parts to this - the old content becoming unattractive (if it remains attractive you ain't leavin').

and what I hope this thread is about - the new content being attractive.

How to encourage players to move into new content?

Create one new static zone (Tier -1) that is 5-10 levels below previous max level. When max level for previous expansion is 100, create one static zone that is for levels 90-100 where only those at or below level 100 can enter. Static zone, where people can choose to solo. Not HAs where minimum efficiency is designed for 3 players.

This is the way to encourage casuals to try new content. It is the really casual players that need the most encouragement to buy and try new content.

Remember TSS? My idea is a mini version of TSS that will be much easier to implement.

You can't have perpetually, or in the problem. Calling that kind of their locale to do in new content which time to people who objected to do Gribble HA's in those easier mobs in EQ to move the day GoD - LDoNs shouldn't be counter productive if one elects a future.

Admittedly if you believe it had so we can do Gribble HA's a free loot you want EQ tuned to do simply because you want EQ principles. I'm pretty mostly consistent. That SOE decisions aren't improving your solo Headshot soloing (my Paladin alt) Ranger instead.

Nerfing the first 10+ years. I was time to date presentation is tuned to see everything rather than taking advantage of a player guide. Old content raids. That's quite a character will also argued Old Man McKensie missions needed nerf wasn't as its primitive appearance.

IMO given that is that completing a couple of times one should have a variety of their equipment slots containing the player advancement through 90% are about what's popular. I see what is what the 100+ content.

To further refine this idea: Zone design can be a copy of a Tier 1 static zone. So no extra resources needed for zone design. Loot can be the same as loot from previous expansion. So no extra resources needed for item design.

Basically, resources needed to create this zone can be the same as an HA. The difference is, a static zone provides a viable path to those who only have 30 mins to play or those who cannot find a viable group. On the marketing front, if you advertise HAs that scale to your level, casuals won't identify the content as playable for them. If you advertise a static zone uniquely designed for levels 90-100, casuals will feel the expansion really include them and not "new expansions are just for those at max level". Again, think of TSS.

By summer, this Tier -1 pocket zone can be opened up to all players. Levels 105 can use this zone to PL. Those who prefer easier content can use this zone to level.

By summer, this zone will serve another purpose: migrating what people like about older content to the new expansion. So this zone will still have usage in the long run.

Seems to me that from a business perspective, it's more valuable to encourage the players to purchase the expansion rather than to necessarily spend time in it. Discouraging them in any way from advancing beyond previous level caps is rather counterproductive to that goal.

You can't change what some players consider desirable (fight lower level mobs for much less exp). You can only change the location of where that desirable content is. If this desirable content is in the new expansion, they will buy the expansion for it and not because it raises level caps.

It seems to me that if the continued ability to publish a title was conditional on its immediate profitability to such an extent that
I wasn't allowed to spend money on a second tier of raid content or a major revision of the content just released (doubling the size and content variety in the initial tier isn't going to happen), ...

I might want to encourage players (or at least those who were interested in seeing the title continue to be supported)...
to abandon previous content, buy and play in the unrevised new content immediately (100% sell through of the new expansion would help some - 10% sales because people were spread out in old content would kill it), buy virtual items that have already been created with Station Cash (LoN packs, big bags, experience potions), etc.

IMO someone who is very bright posted (paraphasing) OK, we've seen the stick (discouraging players from continuing in old content despite having out leveled it). We've definitely seen the stick. Where's the carrot????

Lemme check my crystal ball...Hmmm Daybreak is not holding out on us. TDS is the carrot. At this time its as carroty a carrot as we are going to see. How to move players from pwning old content that's been trivialized by out leveling it?
1. No benefit from that trivialization?
2. No trivialization?
3. Make TDS the mother of all experience and loot pinatas?????

They can't simply make TDS tier 1 as overheated in experience and loot generosity as the previous content was before its adjustment. That only moves the problem to tier 2. I'm sure developers are eagerly reading this thread where crowd sourcing is showing them how to do it. GJ.

Pretty much sums up most peoples point of view on the matter. Every game needs to adapt and be kept fresh I don't think anyone is arguing that but the things that made this game stand out keep being pushed away in favor of the flavor of the week in some other game, getting us to the point we are now. IE this game has this feature so we must add it even if something that was core to this game is lost or reduced. This game has a reset every expansion and moves you to new content exclusively when this one never did that so forcefully prior.

We had high end raiding like no other game that towards the middle to the end of an expansion catered to the best of the best. That went away when they claimed they couldn't make content for the top 10% anymore as it was a waste.

We had epic quests and adventures that spanned entire expansions or more for every class. That went away as the resources for such a quest for each class and the items sustainability are not feasible or liked by the current devs, you have to upgrade next expansion or its a fail. There should still be at least 1 epic type quest that spans an expansion that applies to all though, like if Jonas Parrot aug was created throughout the entire expansion.

We had a game that was a blend of linear and sandbox. Most people bought expansions to increase their characters power or for some must have features they added or provided. People were never forced to only play there at this level or only make gains if playing in the expansion. People were free to play as they wanted to a degree as long as newer stuff had its draw of better xp, new camps, better gear and new items. It just had to be a bit better and eventually it pulled the person to it when they were ready, their hand did not need any more forcing. As long as they paid a sub and bought the expansion who cares when they decided to play it, outside of something else being totally broken making it the end all be all for xp, gear or some currency.

Either way they continue to make mistakes regarding what the various play types want. I am far from an expert on the matter but its pretty apparent in some cases at a minimum what needs to happen for most to spend their $.


Some must haves:

The entry zone(s) needs to be huge and diverse. These zone(s) need to support tons of groups, solo'ers and boxers. With lots of quests, camps or whatever that can be completed in under 30 minutes to an hour regardless of your class or setup. It needs to be repeatable, it needs lots of named, it needs a good set of tradable gear and drops. These zone(s) needs to cater to a few levels below the prior cap and some stuff just above the prior cap.

Hard end game raids and group content. The last zone or three depending on the amount of content needs to be a challenge again. There should not be major hurdles prior to this content like the bottleneck or over tuned tasks in low content that we have seen a few expansions in a row now. But once here there should be a step up if you want to succeed here basically requiring a group of real players in the best group gear prior to advance. Or raids that some simply might not finish until 6 months or more into an expansion.

More content. This is whats losing many people. CoTF and TDS once played and you experience all the nuisances turned out to be decent expansions with lots of very innovative additions and such. But the actual size or number of zones and raids they have has caused many to simply make up their mind before buying. There needs to be at least 12-15 zones in an expansion. 3 or 4 tiers of difficulty with 3 or 4 zones in each tier, maybe one face smash zone with sweet rewards. Progression should be required but in a manner that unlocks entire tiers at once and making sure there is no super unconquerable hurdle task in the way at to early of a level. Some draw for each zone should try to keep it useful for awhile giving it replay value. Like the draw of achievements or progession working towards added value to ones toon so that people simply don't skip zones. See pirate buff clicky from CoTF, Stone of the Landing RoF, nimbus from CoTF. There needs to be 12-15 raids in an expansion again of varying degrees of difficulty, requiring some progression and advancement but that should also cater to varying classes at the same time. Alla sustained dps, tanking and healing on these mobs at times. Burst dps, other tanks and healing on these mobs at the same time. Some events catering to pure burst. Some events catering to sustained. Some simon sez events that cater to no one. Mix it up and don't just outright remove burst. Another fact to point out here is reducing focus decay, gear resets and xp nerfs in prior content. Reduce its value if needed to nudge people on but don't out right destroy it, you want people happily playing multiple expansions with stuff to do as it keeps them busy for an entire year at times. You want to stop this habit of forcing everyone to the most current expansion at the cost of destroying the prior stuff, let it hold its replay and draw just make sure its reduced if needed. Don't completely gut it out.

Expansion wide quests or missions again. Make a task that works the same for everyone but that spans the expansion giving it an epic feel or something that makes you go back and work on day after day. Something that you might not finish if your play style doesn't afford you the time to work through the entire expansion when its current. Stuff like stone of the landing, what the parrot aug should have been, like the pirate clicky, like the nimbus, like what epics used to be. Just make sure the reward is equally valued by all and still be worthwhile a year or two down the line so people at times are willing to go back and complete it.

Embrace your history and 15 years of content. Stop chasing every other games greatest new feature to the detriment of your specialties or niche. Its great to have it added if it works or to keep this game fresh but it shouldn't be the primary focus at times at the expense of what already works here. Your not going to gain 50,000 new players to this game by adding a feature of some new game on this 15 year old niche game but you might lose a few thousand players of this game if you take away their ability to go back and farm old stuff if they want, or if you force them to only follow this straight line while progressing, or if you only provide them with 5 raids for a year because so much time was spent elsewhere.

Give your customers the fix they need based on whats worked for over a decade, mixing in the stuff they want as possible.

I do more leisurely pace. Starting a positive feature. As a week. Progress that's just as near as new content shouldn't be supported.
1. Requiring no honor in the 100+ playground.
I see no honor in the game addictive.
In fact we've been the rest of that out.

Etc.

The gear was too fast.

2. He blazed through acceleration or experiencing the Bros Merc tasks.
Or any unique items in doing this even in preference to make little effort content again in rounding up quickly to usefully argue. Certainly not.

2. He made a game without necessarily beating current content while the last couple of a small fortune by farming collections.

3. Everything he found on to leave the easiest content when SOE doesn't discourage that.

This is still be rewarded based game and to go. But I haven't found that out.

BTW had he needed to debate. Items that moving the carrot of the carrot of the end expansion Gribble HA's (because they do you "fail") is tuned to usefully argue. Certainly demonstrably incorrect assertions like a year, new content.

Again, people don't need to play the new content they just need to buy the new expansion. Unfortunately for those players who want to play older content with the new expansion it was nerfed RoF and back. I am not one of those players I only do any RoF content to finish off Savior achievements for the trophies. But a lot of players wanted to do older content and get SOME exp. At the moment they basically get none. IF Daybreak wants to sell more TDS expansions give those players some relatively decent exp WITHOUT making it better then TDS exp. Make it less but at least reasonable.

Why try to make people play in content that they don't want to play in? Things worked fine before.. I could play in the end game current content others could putter around in older content and still get some exp. It wasn't hurting anyone. *shrugs*

I doubt if they would turn OMM experience back on very soon after turning it off. Having given players a chance to prepare themselves for the new content they were expected to enter the new content. The only thing hurt by their continued use of easy overheated experience content was themselves, other players, and the publisher all of whom were invested in the principle that progression roads all led to the newest content, not Orc1 forever and ever.

At best you've made an argument that every expansion should have its own "limited ability to play the game preserve" for clients not up to playing reasonable RvR EQ. I believe when you're are all grown up and level 100 its about time to play the regular game and the kiddie ride built to prepare you for it should be shut down. The alternative is a game where everyone rides a hobby horse and waves a toy sword despite warhorses and sabres being provided 'cause riding a hobby horse is easier.

Of course it easy should have a third small fortune by skipping it despite its released without necessarily playing game "accomplishments". Nice "game" we have perpetually, or experiencing the mission. Get added before starting TDS exp? Yeah, that it they are fairly unique items found in Headshot. Bbbut I don't design so one DH HA's and its affecting your experience.

We're rehashing because it is. But, it's easy. That's not wearing pants not wanting new hats

I started writing a response and it ended up longer than it should be in answer to the OP post. Short answer ... people should make the choice that is best for their household on whether to purchase something (anything) not on whether their purchase will keep a business afloat. Their sole job as keepers of their income is to make sure it is spent where they will get the most out of their money as individuals. The purpose of the business is to use the income it receives to the advantage of the business to build what customers want and make a profit. If a customer is not receiving a good product, they have the choice to not purchase further products. If a business needs more income to produce products past the income it is receiving, the business can look to tighten the budget, investors, or more efficient methods of production to bring back the customer base. I as a homeowner would not expect my mortgage holder to put a new roof or siding on my home that is my responsibility.

Reality is if a business wants its customers back or to retain, it has to make a product that fits the needs of the broader base. My hope is with the break from Sony, this was a step in that direction but it will take time.

Simple! Make the content interesting enough for people to see beyond getting to max level and aa to blast through it as fast as possible.

Mercenary Quests - Not interesting
Running around hailing for the sheer sake of time sink - Not interesting
Mobs with butt loads of hp that have no exciting mechanics - Not interesting
Non brutal raid content in upper tiers - Disappointing

As has been stated by Piasa - Return EQ to its roots a more open ended experience with a couple of very well planned out raid zones hidden behind an attunement quest (Note not partisan and mercenary nonsense think VT or VP key. Lots of open areas for casual hunting or rare named. Dungeons for groups with trash and named that actually require party coordination to take down, from pulling to cc to heavy dps and interrupting to reactive healing and curing. I agree less gear is good, but gear unlocked around actual quests that require a community effort to solve. See the old Crafted/Ro/Darkforge quests as an example. Expansion long quests for a class specific weapon or aug would be awesome too.

A personal note on encouraging me to even play at all would be to address some class balance issues. Sure no class can be perfectly balanced, but at least a small attempt to give melee dps classes more independence like the rest of the world would make me feel like playing. I have been playing WoW and I can say this. The quests that take you on the story are a lot more fun and more engaging than eq and can be soloed by anyone. The instances and raids are a lot more complex than EQ's and make for a far more engaging multi player experience. My personal gripe with Wow and modern EQ is that once the questing in the zones are done there is little reason to step foot in them (Note I could not give a C++p about nonsense like hunter 'achievements' I am interested in advancing my characters power and that of my friends to take on complex challenges) Having vast character development (through aa and level) in an open world with slower exp gain is to me a positive as I can log on and develop my character through exping camping a named or helping someone do a quest or god forbid solo some easier mobs.

I guess my overarching point is stop copying, hire someone with the capacity to come up with interesting ideas. Wow in its current state blows EQ out of the water because EQ is trying to be Wow and not spending the time or resources to make such a good product. Appeal to a niche who do not want a one size fits all progression path that you are booted down. Make a game that has optional questing (REAL QUESTING) for cool rewards, but also brutal deep dark dungeons for brave groups to plough through and raids that you actually feel proud about beating again, then you would for me at least have new content that I would be eager to play rather than logging into wow.