Make all epic drop mobs non-kos and targetable only by a group/raid/solo that includes a person who has an active epic quest flag that lists that mob as targettable. Problem solved. Permacampers can't do anything to the mob. People who need epic pieces are free to continue to wait for days for a mob to appear and may still need to put a raid force together in order to kill it, and people flying through Fear won't be able to target something that drops an epic piece unless they are active on the epic. And no one will be able to complain that JoeTrader Permacamper of Venril Sathir's Remains prevented them from trying to get an epic drop for upwards of 3-6 months. (And, yes, I did take 6 months back in 2004 to get that drop. I participated in 4 other Wizards' epic runs/failures before my own run and my son woke me at 3:30am on a work day to let me know that rat Lizard was up. One of the best experiences I ever had in EQ, but if you can never get to the mob because JoeTrader is ALWAYS killing it, then what use is keeping the epic in EQ?)
Epic drop lockouts, 14 days! ...or just ask Tameron on Xegony as he has tons that he *GIVES AWAY FOR FREE*.
My main is a 96 bard. I have had my epics for a very long time, and have worked long and hard for them. I know exactly how hard is was to get our 1.0's during Kunark/Velious. I recently got my g/f to start playing EQ. She plays a magician, along side a necromancer alt of mine. We started from scratch, and I have decided that to show her how Everquest is, I don't want to use my main to PL us or twink us out. That includes using my main for obtaining "epics". I do think that 13 years is plenty long enough to have gotten your epic.. That is, if you have been playing that same character for 13 years... But since she started playing less than a year ago, that statement, in its self, can not be considered valid. Especially for the new/returning players, like my g/f. My problem isn't with the difficulty of the 1.0's. If anything, they ought to be harder. My problem is with the fact that even 13(ish) years later, the Epic 1.0 drops are still being sold *for greed*, by players who have these camps on *lock-down*. It may not be this way on every server, but on my server, when I go to the baz, there are about 30 AoNs for sale, by 3 or less players at any given time, which says plenty to me. I'm sorry that I have a job, and a family, and can not play Everquest at every waking moment. I can not help that Everquest's patch times, and Server Re-Sets, happen while I am out, working in the cold, to provide for my household. For those of you who think I live in "Easy Mode"... Get out of your parents basement, and into the real world.. You're 30+ years old now.. Act like it. All I am asking, is for Epics, to be Epic.. Content wise.. I don't want them to be *any* easier, content wise. All I want, is for them to be DOABLE, without having to purchase pieces. Without having to beg in general chat for . Without having to skip the epic part about the encounters. And I don't even care about all of this for myself. I can wait. I have played EQ long enough to know that the wait truly is, and has always been, a part of the game. I care because the family that slays together, stays together. And if she needs to wait for a spawn, or wait her turn, that's fine. But, she doesn't deserve to have these people keeping her from enjoying the content that the Devs have spent countless hours creating. And right now, although she is liking EQ, I can tell, that her major hang up, is the people pulling these kind of shenanigans. You want new and returning, paying, customers? Fix what is wrong with this Type of situation.
For those of you who are saying the Epic's are easy... I didn't say that Epic's were impossible to get, or even difficult in the slightest. What I said, is that it is completely the opposite of "Epic" to have to do your "epic quest", in any manner other than what was originally intended. Do the footwork yourself, at the appropriate level, without purchasing the pieces, or , or having to loot rots. I could buy epics all day long. But I have more integrity than that. And if you don't, then please don't put in your 2 cents about how easy the epics are.
I dont think I do get it, I accepted the fact back in the day obtaining my epic ment I had to spends weeks staring at a spawn point and even if I saw it up first did not mean I would get it killed first. I accepted that when I felt I was cleric enough to solo AoW i spent six month figuring out the spawns and being on at the right times to get my shot to solo it. I accept the fact that over the last two expansions I have missed out on alot of good group augs because I cannot dedicate the time it takes to get those. Out of all three instances I have given never once have I asked for an easier route to get whatever it was that I wanted, If I want something bad enough i know time would be involved.
To answer your first question. Yes. To answer your second question. You really did need a raid back then to take down some of the epic mobs. Yes it started with raiding guilds and then casual/family guilds. Then later on single groups and then eventually solo. I never said those mobs weren't killed as soon as they were spawned. I just said back in the old days they required a raid which was true. I think you need to get real and re-read my post. I am guessing that second half of your post wasn't directed at me. In any case I would go with the OP's first suggestion on how to fix the problem because so far it sounds better then everything else.
The Epics, especially the 1.0s, require dedication! If you are not dedicated to getting your 1.0 then you really don't deserve it. If the timesinks are too much for you, then give up and stop whining because you don't have the item. It isn't a matter of difficulty, but it is a matter of dedication and patience. People complaining about Epic mobs being permacamped, have you actually tried finding out who is permacamping them and asking them to check if you're on if the epic piece you need drops or if they have one and will multiquest it for you? My experience has always been that more times than not the people who are killing the mobs will do just that. And for about 40 days starting the 15/16th, it will become incredibly easier.
Mixed feelings about this. Played since early 2000, and have done many quests/spawn camps/races to rares etc. etc. cleric one sticks in my mind as biggest pain, prior to moving the rare mob. I understand the frustration with having some mobs camped by sellers, but I also remember the frustration of convincing 50 other peeps to come help someone, especially when I was not in a raiding guild. Took me months of scheduling, and assisting others with THIER camps, before I got Venril done. Some claim that the "time sinks" of these mobs/drops are not "challenging". My opinion is that, honestly, the only challenge of EQ, or any online game, IS time. Its not like we are going to break a bone or loose an eye. If you can equip any item, it is because you took the TIME, to get it. (Suppose that even counts if you paid cash for it, as you had to spend the time to earn the cash.) I am not one to monopolise a quest mob, just to make plat. Really, there are many better ways to do that. But do you really want to proudly display your shiny epic, or ornament, if the process to get it is watered down? What would be the point then? Just my opinion, Luithien the Mighty NON-head-shoting Ranger of the 100th winter.
they already have this fix kinda on sk epic 1.5 you have to kill 4 sk those sk are not kill able unless you have are to the part and then you hail them to turn them into attackable, could do same across board and also shorten spawn timers. if a mob spawns he has the item, as well as for druids to have to kill days worth of tainteds to not see a corrupt spawn then to see a corrupt spawn without the item it kicks ya in the teeth
Yes, as a druid I am very well acquainted with the non-spawning corrupt mobs. It wasn't fun, but I got through it. I still remember the ridiculous excitement of zoning into Karnor's Castle, hitting Tracking, and screaming at my guildmates to please please please please come over and help me kill Venril Sathir's remains. On the way through the Dreadlands, I literally ran past a small raid forming up to kill him. We worked together to kill it, and unbelievably (for me, since I didn't know) he dropped not one but TWO epic pieces; one for each of us. That was a great day. But the spawn times still SUCK, and farmers suck even more. They are what is really cheapening the epic experience.
I frequently give this stuff away. If anyone is on drinal and looking for a PoFear or other obscure but pain in the epic drop, shoot me a tell and I'll try to help
Changes on spawn times of 1.0 mobs is long overdue. I know on my current server (Vox) the farming of 1.0 mobs by certain 95+ players is getting absurd, especially considering its done to exploit returning and new players. Plane of Fear is especially bad.
Easiest solution, imo, would be to just make 'spawned' versions that don't have any loot except the epic piece in question...or at least in the case of the golems they would spawn and only drop the epic pieces...and the things like slime blood in this case would be no trade, etc.
I would like to see all of the 1.0 raid-level mobs gain the banishment ability that Naggy and Vox possess. All the whiners will no longer have to worry about anyone stealin their loots. They can simply go back to raiding this content with a gang of level 50 toons, as was intended, and competing for loot rights with the other dozen members of their class present. Awwww, you can't manage to complete a thirteen year old quest, solo, with your gear-bloated toon with twice the levels? Cry me a river. EQ is hard.
Alternative quests might work well. Add some kind of zonewide drops to fear/hate/sky that can be collected and then turned in for the respective epic drops.
Better yet, have each mob check for your place in the epic quest, if anyone within range is not on the part where they need to kill this mob, death touch them for over a million hps. That will solve silly people with no lives farming epic mobs.
This is really an awesome solution that still maintains the integrity of the mobs dropping loot. You can't really lock people out from killing a loot dropping mob just because it also has an epic piece... Let's be honest here- one of the ONLY reasons people are making such a big deal about this now is because of the ornamentations. Maybe if you are OCD and want it for the achievement but really... there is no other purpose. If you want it for the satisfaction of completion, then yes, I think you should suffer like the rest of us did. The population was MUCH higher when epics were new/hot items so even before the mobs became permacamped by farmers... they were still permacamped. Deal with it. The sob story of "I shouldn't have to spend X amount of time because I work/go to school/have a family/the quest is X years old" is silly- I'm pretty sure people had to deal with all of those things back then as well. We can use examples of mobs that AREN'T farmed for plat if you like such as VT- still on a 6d repop to obtain highly contested items that are purely for convenience/novelty (AKA your Epic 1.0 now). I've been trying to get a water clicky for years. Very casually mind you, but I check the spawn regularly, keep track of the cycle and repop, and kill the mob if I'm lucky enough to catch it before someone else. Am I begging for an increased respawn rate or instance? No. I have no sense of entitlement for this item. If I really want it then I have to put in the effort. Go get your 1.5/2.0... those had lots of instances involved! Yeah, maybe I'm being selfish, but I don't want every single alt Ench running around with a snake stick because they made the quest 100000X easier. Why exactly do you feel entitled to the Epic 1.0/epic ornamentation anyway?
