Generation "MINE"

To clarify, in the past 48 hours we have seen on these very forums, threads and posts asking for the following...

• More Frequent Named Spawns
• More Frequent Spell Drops
• Easier Way To Attain Gear for Players, Namely Tanks.
• More Frequent Item Drops
• First 7 Veteran Rewards Handed Out For Free
• A Request For A 35 - 100 % Focus Item on All Types of Spell Damage
• Easier Missions
• Easier T3 / T4 Zones
• Easier Raids
• Instant Replies to Petitions
• Silver Account Unlock Plat Cap
• Silver Account Unlock Items
• Faster Experience
• More Experience from Missions
• Multitude of Krono / Station Cash Requests

As I sit here and shake my head, I am curious if I am the only one worried where this type of thinking will lead this game...

As I sit here and look at the game today compared with the old. I would have to say this thinking has been driving the game industry for a long time. When I first started playing EQ it was exciting, new, and nothing else to compare it to. I camped for months for a single drop, not because I wanted to, not because it made me a better person, but because there was nothing else on the market to try, that and I had extreme amounts of time to waste. Now, I no longer have the time nor desire to waste months on camping one item that will be made obsolete in a few months and you know what. The market is proving that the majority of gamers do not want to either.

I fear what the game will be like if it doesn't keep with the times. I mean if you really think about it, it's the very thinking that you're putting in a negative light that has kept the game alive and going. If Eq never changed and stayed stagnant how well do you think it would be doing now?

This is completely wrong.

MMO's know their demographics and EQ is older than average with the average player of WoW, etc, being around 30. Ours was placed at around 35 years of age years ago, which means we're on average probably pushing towards 40 now.

It's not generation NOW as you want to call it, it's people getting older and realizing that even if they walked both ways to school up hill with no socks on that was entirely stupid and no one should ever have to do that again.

Biggest issue I see is that players have changed their philosophy on how long content should last in an expansion, or in a game. Back in the day, a content would last months and months and months, even an entire year for some. Players could log in, and slowly achieve what they needed to- gear, levels, etc. Nowadays, an expansion comes out and players want to race to the finish line ASAP- whether it be getting to lvl 100 in a day, or completing all raids within a couple weeks... there is this sense of urgency that I don't think was prevalent when EQ first came out in 1999.

The secondary issue on this, of course, is that developers want to design content to last an entire expansion cycle. So that in December 2013 when the next expansion is released (assuming one is then), a player should have completed all tasks, missions, quests, AA, gear, augments, and raids in November- and now they are ready to move onto the next. But when you have players who want to complete all of this in January... there is the problem.

Developers want us to fully complete this expansion in Nov 2013. Players want to fully complete this expansion in January 2013. And there is a huge disconnect here. On the one hand, developers need to have enough content to fully last their "vision" of a year long expansion cycle. And players also need to realize that this is actually a year long expansion cycle, and that a player should be more focused on "enjoying the journey" than how quickly they can get to the final destination.

So the fault lies on both sides... developers for (a) believing that their content is going to last a full year and (b) not creating enough content to last a full year, and players for (a) wanting to rush to the finish line as quickly as possible to cause (b) discontent and anger that they are finished and want more when they realized from the very beginning that there is not going to be more until Dec 2013.

Speaking of expansions lasting a long time items use to as well. The item that you camped for back in the day had years of value, so it didn't seem as bad to spent excessive amounts of time obtaining it. Now by the time you rush to the end zone and get gear there's another expansion waiting to be released that will devalue your gear, for some classes, to the point of uselessness. I think this rush to get to the end has not only been created by the players but, more so, by the developers so they can push more expansions down peoples throat. Remember when a new expansion was every six months. Talk about feeling rushed to complete raids, I know my guild for sure felt it and many others fell way behind.

Great post cause you are correct its both sides pointing the fingers at each other. It is the mindset of the culture today tho, i mean look every electronic that came out 6 months ago has been replaced by 5 others that are bigger faster better in a sense(smartphones much?). I mean people want faster this, bigger that, culture has no patience at all. I mean i dont want to camp something for 5months but i dont want it to drop on the first kill. its a fine line that blurs.

I certainly do not blame the dev team. I think they are doing a really good job of late, in fact. They are taking lemons and making lemonade. You cannot blame the players for 'racing' either. If you are familiar with this half of an expansion, it gives out experience like never before in EQ. I was 100% into level 100 without once ever grinding or even using lesson. It was simply from completing partisans and missions. The raids also have 0 artificial blocks preventing you from doing the next target. This is the first time in ages that has been the case. Of course they fell quickly.

Let's be frank here. The combination of the decision to go with episodic design combined with the management decision to commit less and less resources to actual in-game content has resulted in EQ's one true advantage being mitigated. It's sheer size, and the sheer amount of old content it has.

Before episodic content was made the norm, all that old content was useful and rewarding, thus people still did it. Now, it's what have you done for me lately, and only the current expansion matters or sees much traffic. Decisions like making focus decay even more severe helped render old content moot even faster.

Combine this with the underlying problem: We get less real content each expansion. I mean, you do realize that this time around they even came right out and said it was not a full expansion, and the rest would be delivered later, right?

This is not on the players. This is not on the Dev team, who are doing great. What ails EQ is solely at the feet of management.

You are worried because your world may change, the only constant is change. Yes it's true the younger generations tend to instant gratification but I also think that life has put more pressure on the older generations so time is precious and the game has turned into work for some. Be flexible and wise and you can control the change for the better, or post like this and lose control.

Couple things:

• Don't drag your ideological bovine feces into a discussion about a video game. Please see Fox News, CNN, Huffington Post etc if you want to post political or social commentary. There is plenty wrong with modern society and everyone has an opinion on how to undo the damage but here just isn't the spot for expressing it. We play EQ to escape that garbage, not to give it another means of manifesting itself.
• Second, EQ is open ended. The only thing SoE has to do is maintain the backdrop which entails keeping the game running and things somewhat balanced and tuned. That roughly translates to much of what goes on in EQ is up to the PLAYERS to solve. Seems many have forgotten that and instead choose to harass the game devs or post some referendum on whatever the Witch Hunt de jour might be when the same effort could be put into finding some solution amongst ourselves.
• Last, everyone still has the freedom to choose how to play this game but expecting the game to always conform to that individual freedom is 100% wrong. If you use up all the content in a month, well that is it. It is all gone. The well runs dry. Life is about decisions and consequences.

Totally agree with point 1. That should be a bannable offense from these board imo. So tired of hearing this crap from people.

I drove the chevy to the levy but the levy was dry.

And almost all of these have been present in the forums since the original forums opened years and years ago. This is nothing different.

Named mobs spawning more often, spells dropping more frequently, items dropping more frequently, easier gear attaining (which really had little to do with handouts as with archaic design), easier missions/quests, instant replies to petitions, and faster and more experience have been requested from day one really. Including in 1999.

As for things like silver account item and plat unlocks, they started being requested before F2P even opened. This also isn't new. Heck even Vet rewards have been asked to be handed out since they were put in place.

I guess players should just sit and take what their given and never have opinions or requests though since that's what customers always do...

I do notice you didn't include the moaning over having to upgrade focus items every expansion that happens every expansion.

I logged in just to quote this. Awesome!!

It is always interesting to read the usual excuses for not wanting to actually WORK to achieve something.

Not to blast OP or necromancers in general, but since being a necromancer, things just may seem less legitimate to you when you're able to accomplish things easier and faster than most other classes on your own. While you may think it's players pleading for this and that, several things you listed may very well be legitimate issues needing discussion.

Know how it feels to have a concern for your class, only to be told by Piestro that necros can kill 6 times faster than I and that I should just group instead? Heh.

This.

Hard work just for hard work's sake is a big J-O, IMNSHO. It should really have a purpose.

Other people must agree, I notice we're not banging rocks in caves anymore, instead we have all this cool technology rapidly evolving around us to enhance our quality of life and make things easier.

I have to agree that OP has it all wrong. This isn't a generation asking for handouts, it's a generation that's enjoyed a game for years being fed up with terrible decisions made beyond our control.

• More Frequent Named Spawns

Named spawn mechanics have changed. You have to get a lot more kills in a camp to make a named spawn than years past. This isn't asking for a handout, it's asking for a return to the way things were.

• Easier Way To Attain Gear for Players, Namely Tanks.

Group tanks have been made obsolete by mercenaries. Modern EQ mobs are more and more dangerous to tanks with every expansion and tanks are forced to cycle their gear at a faster rate than ever before. This is a terrible burden on player tanks and it keeps getting worse and bigger for a role that people can fill without them. This isn't asking for welfare, it's a plea to end the marginalization that goes hand-in-hand with cruel and unusual punishment.

• First 7 Veteran Rewards Handed Out For Free

I have full veteran rewards on 3 accounts and I would not be opposed to this. They are more than simply a convenience to many classes.

• A Request For A 35 - 100 % Focus Item on All Types of Spell Damage

This is part of a bigger problem that the devs keep obsoleting gear every expansion.

• Easier Missions

Missions have become more difficult only in the most stupid and annoying of mechanics. It used to be a straightforward "kill this mob" or "get this drop" or even "accomplish this goal". Nowadays we have "research and follow this script" or "bring the right classes" or better yet, "don't box"

• Easier T3 / T4 Zones

I'd propose something different. Easier T1 zones, T2 about the same and harder T3/T4 zones.

• Easier Raids

This is about gear resets, focus decay and other things that the devs have done to destroy what was previously a prosperous playstyle. These things killed the middle ground "casual raid" guilds that used to make EQ thrive.

• Instant Replies to Petitions

Considering SOE doesn't have to stock, build and ship expensive hardware across the country to solve it's customer's problems (like Sony Electronics would) this should be a no-brainer. Good customer service in an online video game is a matter of filling seats and giving your staff the tools they need to do their job. This is a management problem, not an unreasonable demand from players. It's not as if there's any shortage of people looking for jobs in this economy.

• Silver Account Unlock Plat Cap

• Silver Account Unlock Items

Free to play in EQ was not implemented with proper consideration for returning players. Very expensive opportunity cost by not doing it right from the beginning.

Not to derail but plat caps for free and silver are live on test and coming next patch.

Has nothing to do with being a necro... It is sickening to see people ask for easier and easier and easier. If td too easy the game dies...
I spend most of my play time with friends and guildies seems easy that way.
But hey let's blame the class.

Obviously you like life to be easier, you are using a computer

Life evolves, to include in the game, get over it or quit playing.

If you enjoy hard so much give up your computer, car, dishwasher, coffee maker,etc... You really want hard, go back to the life of our parents and grandparents from years ago.

I personally enjoy modern day conveniences that make tedious BS easier. And yes, that includes in game because a GAME should not be harder than real life. It is supposed to be an escape from real life.

I wouldn't say the developers expect their content to last a full year because they fully realize that there will be some people who just blow through content as fast as they can. The problem is that you have people who race through content as fast as they can but still expect there to be enough content to last them a full year. If you look at the numbers on the elite gamers lounge progression chart you will see that there are less then 10 guilds who have beaten all the raids in the expansion and there are 38 guilds who have at least one win in the expansion that does not even count the guilds who are still working on finishing the last expansion. So while members of some guilds may have finished all the group and raid content there are plenty more people who are still working on completing the content and will be working on it till the next expansion launches.