EQ's 30th expansion expectations

For me, bar is high, this is the 30th, big deal
30th expansion deserves grueling hardcore raids
I'd say core EQ 2.0,
4 raids
easymode Vox and Naggy 2.0
medium tough is Phinny 2.0
very difficult, mystery raid, new raid boss, EQ2 raid boss
*As difficult as Diablo 4 Uber Lillith, only 1% of the playerbase can do. Everyone knows how to do it, but its TOUGH, as in tough tough.


Group content EASY, fun. Remember Old Man Mackenzie, fun like that everyone wins, good loot easy loot, participation loot.

big emphasis on story, Firona Vie, shes the main EQ character lets get a story going lets follow the EQ story.

Group meta events, its involving Firona Vie. Storyline of group meta events. Takes 12 people to do and scales up the more that show up. Participation loot, equivalent to OMM rewards.

Meta events involve taking a ship has cooldowns, you gotta be on the ship or wait certain areas for parts don't involve ship to be eligible for the meta event otherwise you miss out.

It's the 30th, they promised us ship to ship combat, this is perfect time to redeem yourselves.

Just remember, core EQ, not a lot of raids, people were very involved into the game, you don't need 5+ raid events. This is the 30th this nostalgia central. Big deal.

Events, weather. The mystery raid, the hardest one, actually hard. Weather involved, use graphics and audio instead of text based.
It's time to showoff that this game can compete in the modern era if that their goal, show it, prove it.
Audio, weather, visuals.
Ex. audio you can hear the thundering picking up, its time get under cover
Ex. Weather thundering outside, sunny, night, day. reduced movement, tornado
Ex. visuals you see a meteor coming down you, you see a big fireball going to an area
The raid boss is doing fireball its not "text big blast", you actually SEE the visuals, SEE the big blast. rampaging, you SEE the enemy rampage.

NEW ARMOR, EQ themed armor, modern games, if your cloth/leather/chain/plate you have 30+ different visuals. You want to show that EQ can still modern, prove it, lets see some new armors.
New expansions any game, come with new armor. It's not behind a paywall.
Prove you can do armor still.

Lastly, new race
Arasai

If your going to continue, you want this EQ to be in the modern era, let us see that the story is going continue, EQ2 isnt that far ahead into the future of the timeline EQ is in. It's time we start meeting these races. An actual story begins or continues where it off.
So lets see the Arasai.

The 30th expansion big one, the bar is set high for me.
A lot of stuff proven. You have all your updates now.
What can you do with it? EQ is still modern? Prove it. Show what EQ can do if you thing it has what it takes in this modern era.

30th expansion this is big. It's no 28th 29th, this is the 30th, expectations are HIGH.
No pressure if EQ3 is coming, but if this is their plan is EQ till its dead, this is the time to prove this is a good idea to go all in EQ. Is it capable???? The 30th expansion its proving time now. The bar is high, everyone is watching. Step up one way or another, EQ3 is coming, or this is the route see what we can do thats why staying EQ.

Its proving time, all eyes on you.

Man, are you going to be disappointed.

Did they add the 100 new staff members to accomplish this by magic?

Lol, I'd be happy with a level 115+ version of the original EQ.

If EQ is going to be the game they go with and go all in.
Lets get the story going,
quit just making raids raiders to do something.

Focus on the story, if you guys are fond the Arasai then how about the Ratonga what of them.
Show us that this game can hold its own the modern era, we need more choices we need more clothing armor. Been using the same defaults since decades ago.



EQ's greatest weakness lack of story lack of vision
See those options with character creation, thats another EQ weakness. EQ2 is outdated but EQ cannot do the things outdate EQ2 can do?
Or can it, show us, if this game can do well in the modern show us.

30th expansion this is big. It wont be until 10 more years until the 40th, and the pace of technology today, there is going to be other games left and right, EQ isn't even top 20.
New ideas new companies new brands poppping up.

Blockbuster
Lord & Taylor
Toys R Us

all it takes a netflix
all it takes a amazon
all it takes some really modern game MMO 10 years very possible high chance

Guild Wars launched a new expansion this week, not as many sold
Diablo 4
Zelda Tears of the Kingdom
many sold

data shows?
a brand new game sells well
hence GTA 6, not GTA 5 expansion
hence new Elder Scrolls
hence new Diablo, not Diablo 3 expansion
why does a brand new game sell well? Thats a good question. My thoughts, people are looking the next modern game. A lot of technology came out, there is a lot of potential in a new modern game. A really good modern game can come out anytime now and go viral.
Expansions, thats just extra fluff on an old system. People want new, modern, todays systems, todays technology.
No one is excited for extra fluff on old stuff, hence new games many copies sold, expansions not much.

big data don't lie
So looking forward to the 30th expansion, looking more forward to the roadmap the vision EQ series is taking.
30th expansion expectations are HIGH. BIG THIRTY

Hmmm with some changes, new mobs, and some kind of theme. Making it nostalgic but with a twist and some kind of overarching plot to tie it all together.
I could go for that.
EDIT: If it was done well

If you're expecting anything beyond another cut&paste expansion, your expection bar is set WAY too high.

No. Just no.

TBH, I couldn't care less about developer driven story elements in an MMO. The whole point of an MMO is that the PLAYERS make the story for themselves. We can't all be "the chosen one" hero protagonist in a game when every other player running around is also "the chosen one." That garbage only barely works in single player RPGs. If you try to make some NPC the protagonist (like FV) in a static storyline that the players can't affect, then I have trouble even giving a ratonga's rear-end about your story that is going to play out the same way regardless of player interaction.

Just give me a sandbox with some light world building for flavor and let me go full murder-hobo on some mobs.

Same, but you can do a story without being the main person, I never said you had to be the main person. I want to follow a storyline.
So you know whats coming in the next expansion rather. "any idea what the next expansion". There's no story its just a bunch fluff outta nowhere nowdays.
Really know Firona Vie because shes on the box cover, not really so much from in game.

People that have good story in characters in game, Guild Wars 2, they do that very well.
Rox, Braham, Logan Thackery, Zojja, Aurene

I have way more hours played EQ, and I hardly know story NPC. personality and all.
Just goes to show the things EQ lacks in, but the community here, they're so used to it, they don't even notice it because they just play EQ.

It's like a village, all you know is this village, when you goto Rome, Giza, Paris, New York City, San Francisco, Beijing. Whoa you go back to the village, this village is lacking this and that and this and that. There is soooooo much out there, there soooo much potential.
20 years went by, so much potential. 20 years, and this game has very weak if any story.

Hows the progress, hows the story Firona Vie, how was she 20 years ago, what did she do 10 years ago, whats she doing now?
What of her companions, names, personality?

What you thinking about EQ story now after thinking about that?

Did you not play the expansions she and her companions featured in 20 years ago and 10 years ago? What I'm thinking is that if your question means that you didn't, and haven't since then (not like the content goes away!), that you would somehow miss if she were central to another one

Yeah your right, but do you know? Who knows? What happened, lets hear it.
Is she partaking in the 30th expansion this big one? I'd hope so. It's big 30th.

The story of EQ is the friends you made along the way. I disagree with you that EQ doesn't have a story to it. But story doesn't need to be developer driven. We have the player created stories that are much more interesting. I'd rather not have them try to shoe-horn in some generic "good guy vs bad guy" narrative.

You have your head so far in the clouds you can't see what's happening on ground level. Come back to reality!

I dont post on these boards much, but , I had to ,, EVERY post you put up is just wishing the game was something else,, why dont you go play something else if you are that dissatisfied with what we have, you dont ever ask for minor , maybe , doable changes to game, you want broad sweeping changes , that the devs dont have the staff or time to implement. do us all a favor,, play something else.

you've been exposed to low bar expectations so long you forget what expectations and them delivering on them back 10+ years ago

you right, not enough staff
not enough staff on an ancient codebase engine
Some of you old enough to remember, maintaining IT systems, 30+ people.
Today? 1-3 people.
if it was a new engine UE5 they'd be able to make tons of progress like this guy

this is UE4

basically my expectations, pretty much TSS
1. tough raids 2. easy groups 3. meta events 4. new race 5. story
Do more for the 30th, raise that bar higher than usual, its the 30th expansion.

Would be something for the non-existant merchandise shop !

https://heromart.com/collections/sublimated-shirts

When was the last time you washed your armor ?...

Pretty kewl what this guy is doing since years. I do remember how much fun and adventurous ship traveling in OOT and TD was and the soundtracks from Jay Barbeau do still rock. Riding mounts became boring, especially without seeing their heads in 1st person camera mode, and there should be more alternatives. The griffon rides in TSS are also kewl but could had been animated flights instead, and not just translocations. One day EQ fans might create their own game.

Im hoping for a move away from missions. Not the popular vote, just my hope.

Which missions do you mean and do you have ideas about how that could be done ?

I would like to have more soloable quests with serious lore, like in classic EQ. Dunno if that is already the case in NoS and ToL as I have NoAccess. There is to much slapstick humor around in new quests (anniversary, events) and nobody seems to take the game serious anymore (my eyes are on YOU Pip, son of Bristlebane ! ). Epic quests are much to big and not really fun but something like the quest for the Burning Rapier or a bit smaller would have the right lenght.