live has become endgame content-players and a sub is required. TLP just needs a sub. there isn't really anything but free trial due to once someone manages to level past 50 they need better gear that is locked behind a paywall. EQ needs new/returning paying players, some changes are needed to make live the place to play again IMO. some clues as to what people will pay for is based on how they have liked the TLPs. they all start in the original zones (not crescent reach). IMO crescent reach should only be the starting zone for Drakin. i would start characters in their home cities with full level 1 gear, food, drink, bags and the first 20 levels of spells, and a merc of their choice with NO access to POK via portals. spend some time thinking about attracting new players and/or returning players to live. make EQ feel like EQ again (TLP suggests that is what people like). switch back to trial mode like wow (level 1-50 maybe). after that a sub is needed (or tokens). remove all the nickel-and-dime costs for gear slots (even in EQ2) and anything that gets turned on with the sub. please please remove AAs and create an achievement system (it already feels like that is the direction the game is going). AA was cool back in the day but after 10k points it becomes a nightmare lol. go ahead and sell instant endgame level tokens or remove the heroic 85 token. i'm looking forward to seeing what happens for the 20th anniversary, EQ is just as valid as wow and all the other MMOs that are requiring subs, so lets be honest and switch back to subs on all servers. we need to pay and DBG needs to keep this game dusted off.
Maybe some of what you wrote made sense. I don't know, I couldn't read it. Punctuation and grammar are your friends. It's almost like writing a note with a pen or pencil and your handwriting is completely illegible. Not a personal attack, just saying no. Just no. Conq
Sometimes it is hard to accurately define what EQ players truly like vs. what they will spend their time doing --case in point the time period where "fairy mission" was the most-played thing around. In-game metrics at the time would have suggested that all future content should be like that (and the game would be dead). Crescent Reach and the 1-75 grind isn't bad, it's some of the best-done content in EQ post Velious. Should the CR pok book dump you on the opposite side of the city? Yes. Should the Blightfire Moors PoK book be moved back to where it was (closer to Stonehive)? Yes. Would a third PoK book in Goru'kar be a reasonable thing to add? Yes. The only other thing TSS needs on progression is to not have defiant gear render most of the content obsolete so fast (defiant can come a few expacs later). On live... making people start at empty home cities near empty leveling zones (some of which aren't great or convenient to travel around in) isn't a win. They'd be better off revamping content (i.e., Goblins take over Butcherblock & Kaladim. BB is the group content zone level 110, Kaladim becomes two-tier raid zone). The more content that is obsolete on live, the more nostalgia sell there is for progression. As far as "make EQ more like EQ"... possibly a valid point. Lots of burst-smash games out there vs. the original more tactical EQ play. Less options/button but more thinking, more interplay... could be really good.
agreed. i know most MMOs dont have the budget to revamp the entire game every few years like wow does. ESO sets all zones level agnostic so to speak. there are people in every zone almost always. this would be nice if people could level 1-to-cap in crushbone but again that is a big change. an empty home city is better than CR (which is also empty often). it was to sweep all new players together at least at the beginning, but yet DBG has many servers with only endgame players raiding. so the empty zones are not the only issue (mostly idle servers). defiant gear was a quick fix too, a gateway to EQ2 and wow like games. i liked the original gear even cloth at the start. remove defiant gear/weps, clearly TLP shows people dont need it. a lot of the game is just confusing, paywall, AAs, and all the obsolete features added years ago. maybe i should have titled this thread as EQs confusing paywall and dust...
umm other than expansions and subbing once a year there's people playing free to play at max level. You definitly don't need to sub at all before 65 but then the aa count can start to become bothersome
Yeah I agree, EQ has a nasty pay wall for live servers. $35 for the expansion. $35 for a heroic character because, let's face it, every new player quits the game before they get to 85. And then $40 for a 3 month sub. That's quite a pay wall, and I'm sure eq's free to play model is scaring off more players than it attracts. Maybe part of the reason those new servers like coirnav are so popular. You're saving $75 by not playing on live.
100% disagree. TLP doesn't need it, because all the players are AT THE LEVEL where they're hunting the pre-defiant gear. Live servers need it, cause you're likely leveling the new alt by yourself, and you need a way to get gear by yourself. And the fact that it's tradable means you can get some in the Bazaar, or collect some with your main. I myself have a houseful of defiant ready for those alts I keep saying I'm going to level someday, LOL. The other reason defiant is a nice idea is that you can get it as soon as you're high enough level. With the original servers (and TLP now), it took longer to level through those 30s-50s levels, so camping gear for a while was no big deal. Now, you'd level through the levels where the gear you're camping would help you, and it'd likely be obsolete by the time you got it.
The game is very old with a clunky engine that has been retrofitted with code updates. The graphic engine is well over a decade old. The average player in EQ is over the age of 35. People are also very mobile. I had this discussion with one person where a guild lost like 20 people to move around serverwide to other competitors. So there's really no staying people when you can see quickly 20 people from a server up and just move, either. That impacts the game quality for LFG.
Vanilla EQ had horrible, horrible itemization. There was bad transition going from Sebilis level 60 to Planes of Power level 65 for a casual. Halls of Testing armor was the base armor for back then and that still required a raid to get. Umbral Planes gear had some good patches but not overall the same quality that you had with HOT gear. Equally tank aggro weapons were next to non existent of any quality for warriors. LDON's require a lot of grouping to get gear, those prices should be lowered otherwise it was excellent design. It was the first expansion really since Kunark that had a clear set of gear paths for various levels. Luclin armor was too weird to camp, and UP armor had some serious issues with stats.
How will placing all new/returning players in their home city instead of a center hub like CR improve the largest complaint new/returning players have and that is a lack of groups? CR starts all of these players off in a central location for a reason. Apply the same logic to blocking POK.... is your goal less low level groups? I am curious how this will be better overall for the game. I cant support getting rid of ftp accounts post level 50 because these provide a steady income stream at the top end from boxers. Take for example someone like myself that has 3 buff bot accounts. These accounts purchase expansions during a level increase, money is spent on things like mounts and other micro transactions. Your system would require me to sub these guys basically to just buff me which is more money than I am willing to spend for buffs. I am sure there are plenty of others who have that ftp utility account that they spend some money on but if they were required to sub them they would just do without the account. At this point this might cause some people to quit the game all together due to the work put into these accounts or the loss of utility they provide. There are plenty of creative things that could and should be tried to help with player retention and trying to get more people to end game so they are more likely to sub, buy expansions, and spend money in the store but these ideas only bring more problems than actual solutions.
I follow your logic but it is flawed, just becuse TLP has limits and people does not mean limiting new players on live the same way will be positive. I play and Raid on TLP; I play on live quite casually so I will not try to post like someone whom knows what live players want. but I doubt its to pay for what TLP servers have on live. I would support people getting to choose the starting city if they want that, they can ignore the PoK book if they wish too. not loot defiant gear if you don't want it. but live should be about making it easier to get to the higher end game. Now the one thing I do think / wish Live would take from TLP is the Agents of Change. allow people for nestalga to take on these old raid mobs and zones; people kill this old content on live still, I suspect there is something fun about easily besting what you remember doing with a whole raid years before.
Crescent Reach has grown on me, but I was repulsed by it as a returning player. I'm not sure making this old EQ is the answer though. There is already P99. There is already TLP. Players can still skip the tutorial on live, as many do, and go kill in Crushbone or Blackburrow. The game has changed and would have a very hard time going against something like mercenaries or boxing. These have become core components of play. You could, however, add incentive to play in other ways. Boxers box and mercenaries exist to serve a function and to fill a gap. Close the gap and you don't have to piss off 1/2 the existing player base to change the way the game is being played. Some of the main complaints I had and have heard from new or returning players: Hard to group: A lot of people find it difficult to find a group or more comfortable not to extend themselves to put one together and just molo/box. The LFG tool is widely neglected and not entirely helpful in putting together groups. I've heard a suggestion to add a fellowship component to groups (e.g. port to group location, increased experience, buffs or other added incentives to group). Improving the LFG tool or function - or doing anything to provide more incentive and accessibility to grouping - could greatly revitalize the game. General chat is hit/miss and is behind paywall. Additionally, on my server at least, the general chat has a limit of 400 players and is often full: Players are split between multiple channels and a clunky/unused tool to find a group. It comes down to the players, and especially the group leaders, to make anything happen. Costs: The paywall does suck, but it keeps the game alive from what I gather. Perhaps the AA limit could be increased, quests or other options could be made available to have access to better mercs, augs, gear, etc - to reduce the gap between prestige and non prestige, especially if work has been put into the character and/or account. They could also change or beef up the benefits of being all access to make it more worthwhile and less of a maintenance thing you do just to keep your character from sucking/being unable to progress. In game costs can also a high barrier to entry to new/returning players. Loot overload: There is so much loot and so little information about what it is and if it's useful or valuable to the player. We alternatively look up every item, hoard it, delete it, or just let it rot. There is no option to quick sell vendor loot, banking space and functionality is limited, and inventory space is a constant struggle. In addition to an option to highlight or sell all vendor loot, it'd be nice to autobank ALL stackable items from a bag to bank or home storage. So you visit vendor, sell off junk, go to bank and autobank your stacks & tradeskill items, then you're left to sort the remaining cream items from the junk instead of wading through full bags up to 40 slots each one item at a time. Bad graphics: I mostly hear this from new players. Some old players find it endearing (I like some of the old player models for instance), but it's an immediate turn off for some. I don't think this is a big issue for returning players, but it could well be the biggest for attracting new ones. This would probably be a big/expensive change, so I'm not sure how feasible it'd be to do, but it could work well with an expanded launch on other platforms if any long-term future remains for the game. EQ is a complicated game, but the basics of it can be bound to a controller (especially paired with macros) or likely even a touchscreen. UI: The UI is just bad. It's clunky and takes up most of the screen, and really, the game still looks good to my eyes when all the clutter isn't in the way. I tried to fix this by cranking the resolution up through the roof and/or streaming to a big screen TV, but customizing the UI scale is limited and difficult. Game mechanics complicated or poorly explained: The tutorial is a nice addition, but many people skip it (yes, their own fault) or are not exposed to information on many other helpful or even vital tips to playing the game without searching elsewhere to find it. A well crafted macro, for instance, can do wonders. Searching for your own answers is a vital skill to avoid floundering in EQ and often life in general, but training wheels help. It'd be nice to add a tutorial or demonstration for such mechanics. The player base is generally helpful, but it can also be trolly or unresponsive. I'll add better maps to this one because that's also a common complaint. Yes, you can just download user maps and it's easy/takes no time. It is another convenience hurdle. Time: Many players do not have the time they once did. Some do, and others still find time to raid, but those with slivers of time throughout the day rather than blocks of time end up playing the game in a very different way. It can take a long time to do anything in EQ, and sometimes it can take so long to find something to do or you're unsure as to if you can finish it, that that you end up doing basically nothing. Some potential solutions could be expanded fellowships, guild/group fellowship options, or perhaps more quick and easily-accessible 15-30m instanced content.
This is a reivew of EverQuest by 2 players who have millions of followers who have never played EQ and are going to play for a set time of 8 hours and give their opinions. VERY eye opening, (Some things are GREAT!, some things are HORRIBLE) If you have been in this game 20 years like me (in 5 months 20 years yay!) then you will want to listen to this. It also features the Original Trailer for EverQuest from March 16, 1999. Interesting listen. (First 20 seconds of the feed sucks, turn your volume down, it's their opening to their show): https://player.fm/series/podcasts-are-wonderful/power-warriorz-presents-part-time-job-01-everquest
There were a ton of items in the Daybreak store that were taken out of the cycle that are no longer offered. Frankly returning those items to the daybreak store would increase revenue. Having those items cycled on a quarterly basis would offer something in revenue for work that's already owned and in the game now. I never understood why some of those items were permanently removed. Increasing fellowship sizes and the like for alts and so forth would offer up better community support. People want a large social network of friends with characters. We are at a point in Everquest that bringing together people irregardless of things is a good support. When we limit the size of fellowships we limit the size of a pool of friends. While the argument against a second guild is valid, so does fragmenting a player base that is increasingly more fragmented. Having more forms of associations formal (guild) and informal (fellowship) creates the necessary bonds that people pay membership fees for to belong to country clubs and the like.
But the issue most of you are talking about is stuff only known to veterans. Want to know how people perceive everquest? Go out onto a street and find a random person and let them play EQ on your comp. That will be real feedback. REAL new players don't know what CR is, they don't know what Guilds are, they have no clue what 100% of the stuff you guys are talking about even is. Want to get real new players in EQ? You need a focus group, Then find the common theme (complaints, suggestions, likes, dislikes) amongst their reviews for this game...
They sounded like a couple of dumb- to me. I didn't even make it to their actual comments on the game. Why people would follow them I don't understand.
They are morons. I couldn't get past the first few minutes. The majority of The Magicians DPS comes from Auto attack? Yeah, ok...
That is a nice Quality of Life idea. Kudos! - Add a button to the bank page to autobank all stackable items that already have a stack started in the bank.
