EverQuest: Call of the Forsaken

In "a" MMO, sure. But EQ1 isnt just any MMO. Its old. Real old. People need to realize that the entire social dynamic has changed drastically in this game over the years. People are way too set in their ways in this game. The days of yore when that social magic was happening to get groups etc on a steady basis, is something that cannot be accomplished again on any real consistent basis within the confines of EQ1.

We'd already be seeing it if it was still happening. Fact is, we arent seeing it because its not happening. Now, all we have, are cliques, soloers, boxers and people that log in and cry because they have been sitting LFG for 8 hours etc. That stuff wont change.

If you force a 4-6 boxer to group, they wont group. If they cant box it, they'll just quit. Simple as that really. Same thing can be said with a soloer/moloer too. Cliques? They wont invite outsiders to their circle of friends. Too bad, your out in the cold.

^Its what the EQ of today is. Like it or not, that is reality.

Jeez, you got like every 'want' item in the game.

/jealous

I too was a big fan of the LDoN era. Until, that is, the popularity wore off and it became really tough to put a group together. Couldn't tell you how many nights got wasted because there was no tank and/or healer available. That should be much less of an issue with mercs, though.

I certainly wouldn't be surprised if this is true, but I'm not so sure. Of course, I wouldn't expect it to be at the same level, but if done in a similar way I could see some success.

I'll be looking to break this is beta..... wondering how it will handle a group of 6 wizzys......this maybe a way of getting back our caster AE groups from the past.

It will probably see your raid gear and give you mobs that hit little but have 40,000,000 hp each and give no exp.

.
Ummm no, EQ2 never was EQ1s future. EQ2 from its launch was an alternate timeline period. EQ1 and EQ2 did share a past up until the events of SoD tweaked EQ1's past (we actually stopped any changes that would be major enough to change our history); but the people in EQ2 have no real knowledge of any of their true past. They have what amounts to a 500 year long game of telephone that has so mangled their past and mixed up things that the EQ Atlas: Maps of Myrist book has more accurate lore for EQ1 and its past than what you would find in EQ2.

A stupid Dragon breaks out of Ethermere, fine; but I'm sorry that is absolutely not a viable "excuse" for ANY lore-breaking revamps in EQ1. It is just a viable reason or us to go kill another Dragon.

The Older vets were sick of having the content beaten, having mostly been completely geared up in it, and still having only that content to farm for 3-6 more months. So now we go to most of the guilds won't even be close to having geared up and the next expansion will be out and trivialize some or most of the gear in the older content.

See my above statement about EQ2 lore.

I have to agree with most of Kelefane's posts. I have said for quite a while that while PUGs are not dead, they are not anything that you can count on or expect to get unless you are making the group yourself. In today's EQ there are too many cynical people who simply got sick of bad players so they either box or have a clique.
I will say that for the first few weeks after it comes out that you will likely have LDoN like grouping potential but after people whatever achievements and "progression" their is it will drop to about nothing till the content update comes out.

I also want to repeat what MrGPAC stated, RoF's problem was not staggered release, but the way in which it was staggered. If it had been equally spread out in time (and content as someone else suggested), then it would have been fine; the 6/3/2 month gaps were horrible.

EQNext is going to have about a month, maybe 2, effect on EQ population. The newness wears off the people will be back by then. For those saying that the Sept release is to get people to buy it before EQNext steals people away; I have to think that you haven't been paying much attention these last few years. The people who are expecting EQNext to come out before the end of this year are not that likely to buy CotF regardless of when it comes out. The only people who will be buying it are those who don't plan to play EQNext or plan to play both. (Truth be told from what I've read it sounds more like what is going to be released this year is EQNext Landmark which is where you can make things that might get put into EQNext zones. Just going on how it has been explained.)

Late October/Early November launch for CotF is what they should be doing. Anything sooner is simply folly.

Nothing would surprise me they have hated wizzys since they gave us the M word, which shall never be spoken of again.

Maybe it is the way to gear up one toon, add in 5 toons in full raid gear and 1 in low level group gear then it will only drop group gear for the 1 toon!

The missions that require more than 2 toons...hate them...

I have FOUR toons in my group...2 toons and 2 mercs yet I can't box the second SL mission because there needs to be a 3rd real toon to complete it...hate that...

I can't box CR2 easily because it requires more intelligent healing than a merc healer is capable of...same with PoS 2...annoying that a merc healer is full mana while chain pulling but on a mission suddenly they are so stupid they can't keep mana for healing.

Hate both of those missions.

Queen's Decree before the outcry for a nerf...not a chance of boxing that with the need of keeping the twins apart...but post-nerf it is nearly moloable. Talk about going too far.

Hated that mission.

Xorbb Return of King Xorbb? Forget it...having to run over and click on multiple toons...sure...can just ignore that mechanic and beat it but it is frustrating needed more than 2 real toons to do it the way it is designed.

Hate that mission.

Still, I don't really mind all these missions (other than SL) because they will be boxable when the levels move up...it is the ones that require more than 2 real toons that are a problem for me.

I need to have others in my group for those missions listed above (other than GP2 now) to complete them...and HoF 2 is the same way still....thus forcing me to actually have others in my group...the horror of that...actually having to type in group chat...yuck.

EQ is a solo game isn't it? (Most of this post is just being silly...but those that don't read will get all excited...)

What im seeing here, is just how far out of touch the dev team is with EQ1s player base. We have heard that saying a lot over the years, but it rings true this time. If it is an LDoN dynamic, meaning forcing us to group, then the devs are going by old social behaviors and not what is really happening currently with the game.

Someone needs to buy them a clue.

EQ Next is just a goober of a game that it could be like LoL or BL2 or Firefall...pop on for a few minutes...kill things....go back to EQ.

Two months? Sure...if that long...then it will be that 20 minute game to go beat the ground with a big hammer and make a hole.

And agree...EQ Next Landmark will be out this winter...but EQ Next won't be out until sometime next year....prediction is around fabled time for EQ...except it will be in "open beta" (soft release)...for a year...maybe even longer. So the 'official' game may not be out until 2015 really. Look for your EQ Casual (stop calling it EQ Next) "starter" packs (Firefall reference if you didn't catch that)...at only $100...for the free game in open beta.

Also agree...Oct would be better...but...just maybe...this short release window will set it up for that proper spread out plan going forward. So it might be (if they would just say it) that they are trying to setup the release cycles better going forward and this one release is too soon but going forward things will be better...

If they are doing 3 'game updates' a year...then it could be:

Late Sep - release
Oct - Jan = play
Late Jan - release
Feb - May = play
Late May - release
Jun - Sep = play

Mix in some minor 'game updates' and you could get:

Sep = game update
Oct = play
Nov = minor update
Dec = play
Jan = game update
Feb = play
Mar = minor update (for fabled period)
Apr = play
May = game update
Jun = play
Jul = minor update (prepping for Fan Faire?)
Aug = play
Sep = game update/expansion (why have new expansions to buy for a F2P game)

Oh right...it is F2Browse...not F2Play...

It is Freemium, you get the basics level 90 and up to HOT, then you pay for the extras, if you want total free to play, find some rope and go play jump rope, businesses have to have income to operate.
Personally, I think that folk could start a class, and play it to 75, and then do a different class. As casual gamers it could take years to cover them all.

If there are achievements for this "new" LDON you can bet money people will do them until they are done. Most of the 2nd missions for Hero tasks were not boxable, but pretty sure most of us that have guild mates that needed the achievements and most us did them multiple times to get them those achievements.The thing I remember about LDON was you needed so type of crowd control or a real puller and it was fun if you had a talented one of either and the "Holy Trinity" was king.

After a quick skim of your posts Kelefane, I wonder why you even play EQ anymore, you seem to dislike anything and everything without even have tried them yet. And please stop saying the "EQ1's playerbase" when it is your opinion. Change is a good thing, more content is a good thing, being pissed off about something that you can not control usually leads to early strokes or hemorrhages.

Would rather not wait another 4 months to farm T4 for 100 HP upgrades. That being said, an increase to number of Eye drops would not be a bad thing, just in case of bad RNG and your guild only gets 4 a week for 11 weeks.

Level increases and all current gear has not been a requirement for beating new content in quite a while, sure it helps, but skill and a little bit of digging into spell files and following Emotes/Scripts seems to be the key to victory nowadays.

@Gragas
Im just not naive enough to think that the overall social dynamic is still the same today, as it was several years ago. You mention change is a good thing, well, the entire game and the people in it from a social standpoint have changed right along with the game itself. Some people are going by nostalgic feelings when discussing some of the things here in this thread and its a mistake. Like old LDoN and being able to easily find a group etc. That is not the reality anymore. Its not what modern day EQ1 is. Its really easy to get caught up in what EQ1 used to be. Or how the overall population and its social behaviors used to be. We all want those good times back. But reality is reality. Antiquated dynamics will not work in modern day EQ1, period. What worked several years ago, wont work today. The game is different. The people and how they act are different. The way people go about doing things in game are different. Its just a different era of EQ1 now.

People need to stop living in the past and accept the reality and start molding EQ1 around current day habits. Unless you like trying to put a squared peg into a round hole.

So as I said in another reply here:

^

I don't even know if this is even ideal to begin with, for some reason it just doesn't even feel right with the way I look at this, what the developers should rather consider is a "gap in between Leveling and Alternative Advancement" and the reason for that one is rather simple, the Level Cap is already at 100 and I personally think this is as far as it will go.

The idea that serves as the "in between Class Leveling & Alternative Advancement" would have to be none other but Title Leveling (or Prestige Leveling) which involves the very Class Titles that appear on the Left of the name of the Character's Class when doing a /who all (insert class name here) search.

The simple idea on how this can work is if the character has already reached to 100th Level and he/she gets the option to start Leveling Up as one of the Six Class Titles, say for one example a 100th Level Magician wants to start Leveling Up as an Elementalist, such a character can deal more damage to fire and ice spells or if a 100th Level Magician starts Leveling Up as a Summoner, it alone will allow the Magician to further enhance the power of his/her swarm pets.

Even more examples I can also point out, take for example a 100th Level Paladin who decides to Level up as a Cavalier, he/she can gain benefits that allow them to deal even more melee damage while on a Holy Steed, even to the point where they can summon a Holy Steed while Indoors, if a 100th Level Paladin starts Leveling Up as a Knight, he/she will gain melee damage migration benefits, even to the point where such a character will cause the Paladin's melee damage migration benefits to be "nearly as equal" as a Warrior.

This is just one of the ideas I have in mind.

What you call basics is what I would call useless...but that is just a difference in terms.

A crippled version of a game isn't F2P...it is F2Browse. It is a trail system...a test of the game to see if you are willing to pay for the game. In game purchases are what pay for other F2P games...and Founder Packs and Starter Packs that jump start your game play.

We are not talking about getting Hero's Forge with your subscription and not on the Free and Silver status. Or some titles or something special beyond the normal game. We are talking about crippled toons. Limited capabilities to trail the game...and if you like it enough then you pay for the actual full game.

That's garbage.

People don't group as much because:

1) Many current content missions require a relatively balanced group (healer, tank, etc) particularly if in group gear, meaning people either often have to wait way too long to make a group or preplan stuff out.

2) Much current content is centered around merc/partisan tasks versus real missions. Meaning people are at different stages of the same quests, can't request the same quest someone else is working on, or the quests require farming another set of drops for every person making some of the tasks take a lot longer.

3) Content that doesn't require a relatively balanced group are usually easy enough to solo/molo/duo/box anyway, and the issues with #2 make it a pain to deal with adding people just to fill a group.

4) There are so many different tasks/missions needed for progression or the merc/partisan/hero missions that everyone is working on different things, and if you are someone with limited play time then giving up your Saturday to work on 3 missions you don't need with a bunch of people having to afk and different ideas of what to do is often tiresome.

5) The same as always, people don't like dealing with afks or making others deal with afks, dealing with people not knowing how to get around etc.

LDoN was a cure for almost all of that. The camp based points meaning tanks wanted nro, etc was about the only major problem, but since points in any could be used for other camp items it was a minor issue. The fact was, the centralized gathering points of people able to move around (porting between camps was ingenious) doing the same missions, missions that took 25-60 minutes for most groups so they were short and sweet, no crazy mechanics that made people constantly wipe if they were poor players or inexperienced, just grab some people, grab a mission, grind through it, and finish. It was the best time for GROUPING ever in this game for the vast majority of the population.

The people that didn't like it were mostly raiders that only wanted the augs, that it was "too easy" for, people that dislike repeating the same missions over and over, etc.

If you have a set clique of friends you do every mission in the game together with, then sure, you probably prefer the UF/HoT/VoA/RoF group content mechanics.

If you are the average eq player that either doesn't have a set group, or is completely casual and wants to log on and either go LFG and get a group or check the LFG list and make a group, then a new LDoN type expansion is a godsend.

Depends on implementation just like everything else, but the core concept is something this game needs badly.

You and your guildies have the rest of your lives to enjoy the expansion. If you want to farm current content for another 4-6 weeks before heading into the new expansion then do so. The dev's are not holding a gun to your head and making you venture into new zones; they simply are adding things to the current game.

So onto the new expansion.

- Level Cap DOES NOT increase to 105 it stays at 100.
- New Spells and AA's
- Mercs are getting passive AA's and 4 armor slots
- New raid zones no announcement of how many although the developers said they designed whole bunch of new raids. Less complex than RT and more forgiving if one or two players screw up
- Undead in at least 2 zones (Neriak and Dead Hills)
-Lots of instanced content - think LDON on steroids- the instances have Also the content will change each time you zone in chosen by highest level player and class makeup. All made for level 95-100 players.

Fixes to look forward to......
- LLA and RAA's are going to be added to the game as passive skills for all players, and the old systems being removed from the game
- They are simplifying the Raid coinage systems
- They gonna fix issues with the quest/mission windows, Guild management and raid windows to ease functionality. possible asst. raid leader functionality incase the RL goes LD.

Besides the 4 armor slots and aa's for mercs, you will have a stats page for merc stats too. Yes you will be able to see the same merc stats as you do for your character.

Don't expect the new expansion's raid gear to be an improvement over the existing T4 RoF gear. They said that do to this expansion not having a level increase that the new raid gear will just be adding variety to the loot, in forms of appearance and effects, versus the real stat increases that previous expansions have. The intent is to keep T4 Raid gear as viable throughout the life of the new expansion so there will be very minor stat upgrades over RoF T4 raid and group gear.

"T4 raid gear will remain relevant without question"

What a wonderful list of reasons constructed for your position.

Your list is saying balanced content is stopping people from grouping...then that not balanced content is stopping people from grouping. And having too many tasks is bad because folks are not on the same step...and finally...people afk.

Having a "set clique of friends" would be a great thing for LDONs wouldn't it? And at this point in the game history, if you have played for any length of time (months?) having a "clique" shouldn't be too hard for people...any people.

And stop with the...um...garbage about "the average eq player" because the average eq player probably has a friends list or is in a guild...and may actually be able to put together a group to do something if they wanted without spending hours LFG.

Planning your time out is something folks that group regularly do...it makes sense. RL friends have a set group of players that they group with...and they actual discuss what they want to do on that Saturday. Sure...some Saturdays someone isn't getting all of what they want do completed but it isn't every single week that they have to do other things.

When I want something done...say a mission that is a bit more challenging...it is likely I will talk to folks and setup a day/time to get online to attempt the mission. And I even send in game mail if that will help people remember...and then we all get online and do the thing we planned. It is shocking.

The same thing would happen for LDONs...because we won't do just one...we would do as many as possible as fast as possible in the time we have just so we can get the points to buy the things we want...and after that...if the experience isn't worth the time...we would never go back...just like last time LDONs were the new hotness.

Calling Kelafane's post garbage is silly. He is right...most people don't group that way anymore...and trying to dig up the old LDON group process is out of touch with the current social dynamics in the game.

Great information...thanks for posting the information...now time to rip the information apart....lol

Not as complex as RT...and more forgiving...but as complex as CR? Will be interesting to see what a less complex than RT raid looks like...but sounds like EQ Casual is infecting all of the EQ lines.

This LDON by the toons in the group sounds nice but it is going to have problems. Level...so no more dragging lower level toons through for easy exp...maybe ok...but by class makeup...that will be interesting to see...