Jumpstart option - new toons level 65

Or how about just removing the XP-level gap altogether? A level 1 can group with a level 100 and get XP for example. /shrug, why not at this point in the game.

inb4 i had it rough so udo2.

Wasn't it 61 to get unrestricted buffs? Because it's higher than that to get max level buffs now.
Crap like that and the in group exp level cap, AA exp based on con to highest in group, and 15 level spread in missions need to just go away. Hopefully in a patch that also finally introduces autogranting of vital AAs. And somehow makes tank classes not impossible for a new or returning player. AND a bridge in the gear gap between defiant and HoT T1.

Yeah I thought it was kind of dumb that they increased the level requirement to get max level buffs, You can still get level 95 buffs at 61 but now you need 63 to get level 96ish single target buffs, and you need 65 to get level 100 buffs. Pretty minor change but annoying cause all it does is make it more of a pain for lower level toons to get buffed in the lobby / etc. I'd assume they plan to make it so you need to be level 70 to get max level buffs from level 105's too which makes it even more annoying.

Anyone returning to EQ probably already has one or more toons that are max level for their time with AAs, so any 51/50 thing or similar probably would not apply.

This is absolutely not true...complete ignorance. Thousands of people left the game November 4th, and then thousands more left the game November 23rd. Many of them weren't even close to "max at the time".

Regardless is they were in fact "max at the time" where is someone at if they left in 2004? Oh...that's right, they are in OoW gear. Hmm, I coulda swore remembering something about a mass exodus in the expansion before that...

I have to agree that the level restrictions for earning AAs in a group need to go. The idea that the mobs you have to kill have to give the highest level in the group experience for it to give you AA exp is stupid and should never have been put in.

I would think that their characters were at least 51/50. I have a few alts I haven't played for ten years from a 51 rogue with 12 AAs to a 65 bard with 200 AAs. I would come back an play those toons before I took advantage of a new 51/50 toon.

The part of the game I like the most is leveling 1-80. After that it slows down. 85-95 is very difficult during the week when people are playing their mains. But I don't even mind muscling through those levels. I just can't stand the AA grind. Nothing like grinding on monsters that do nothing for progression for weeks and for some months till they have a viable character. AA where meant to stretch out max level characters to keep them busy. Now it is just a roadblock to unlocking your characters potential.

I agree with the poster above. The double xp weekend last week brought back the fun to EQ for me. I to like the lower end leveling experience. I had been grinding AA's for months and was getting close to cancelling my account again before regaining the fun of EQ. Now though after leveling madly, I am faced with yet more months of grinding AA's to catch up again. Grinding AA's is not fun, it's not even a job, it's downright annoying at times.

You will never "catch up", if you miss some stuff, maybe there will be a repeat like revamped zones or anniversary stuff, but in general events are singular in nature. Weren't there for the Pre VOA release tasks, didn't get into ROF beta, haven't bought ROF yet- you missed out on the initial view. You can however, seek to advance in game level learn the zones, build AA count, make friends, but don't ever expect to win EQ. The closest any one can some to winning this game is if sometime in the future the decision is to shut it down, and you are there when the servers go offline for the final time. Otherwise have fun , relax, I mean relax let the world go its way for a while, possibly assist others to relax or get some project done.

Sebbina you missed the point. AA's define the classes now. You cannot just level up and be roaring to go into a group. Instead you have to stop and sit stagnant in zones below your level range but difficult to molo for months to be viable to play current content. I've seen a ton a players come back with the free to play but all of them end up quitting because they get board of the AA grind.

I have been running what I believe to be the largest casual play guild in Everquest and also one of the oldest. So about 14 years experience running a casual guild. Yes people have problems getting groups. Not as much in a guild my size but they still have problems. Especially at the lower levels. New players join (yes new players still try Everquest) and give up because there is little grouping at the lower levels. And yes every time I get a new low level player joining us I tell them that they won't find many of their level because people level quickly.

I do have to agree though that one thing to look at is how a "jumpstart" option would affect the games lower level players who want to progress through those lower levels. It would still be an option to do so but it is true that the population of lower level players would decrease significantly. That being said, if it would increase the health at the higher end of the game I think it would be better for the game as a whole. So this may be the real question..... is the damage that would be done to the lower level game worth the benefits it would bring to the higher level game?

New players ARE joining everquest. I see them all the time. Not a lot perhaps but they are there. And to get MORE new players we need the new players we do get to reccomend the game to others. Everquest is being advertised all over the place on the internet. I see ads for it all the time. But the ads dont do it all by themselves people need to suggest the game to their friends. If new players get hooked on the game then they will reccomend it to their friends. Right now they join the game and play by themselves. If they are lucky they get into a decent sized casual guild and at least can socialize through guild chat as they catch up in levels.

Most raid guilds don't guild low level players or returning players nor would they be guilding "Jumpstart" toons until they had been playing a significant amount of time and learned their toons. This is really an issue for "casual play" or "real life first" guilds if you like.

The problem is it is hard for a new player to feel they "belong" when they have to level on their own for weeks or months depending on how often they play.

New players aren't always going to be playing many hours a day and therefore won't be levelling as fast as some of you think. If they never get hooked into the grouping game they may never work to get to the point to try it.

My opinion is The Company should cap one of the servers at Luclin or Pop and limit its featureset to that era. Its featureset doesn't have to be identical to that era, but it shouldn't have mercenaries or defiant armour or access to later expansions. I don't mind if players don't have to do corpse runs or there's faster experience. The major thing to get right is to find a middleground between classic/progression players and normal everyday players. This server could function as both a classic/progression server and as a new player server. New players would go there to level up and maybe even boost their AA's for a while. The big thing this does is it allows the normal servers to do whatever they want. I myself am a classic/progression type of player and prefer older content. As long as I have a server like this then I don't care what happens elsewhere. They can give players - on normal servers - level 85 and 1500 aa or level 90 and 5000 aa and I don't care, just so long as I have that one server to play on.

Here's a recap of the expansions included on this capped server:
1. Original everquest
2. Kunark
3. Velious
4. Shadows of Luclin
5. Planes of Power

Once the new players are happy with their progress on the capped server, they can /move for free to a normal server. If the server is capped at POP they could even cap the max level at 70, rather than 65, to give players an extra boost.

The popularity of POP on Fippy/Vulak backs this up in my opinion. Many players were voting to stay at POP. If I recall, The Company advanced to Gates of Discord on accident and many players - i'm told - abandoned ship. The sweet thing with POP is that it nicely rounds out the EQ experience as it pits you against the EQ gods whom rule norrath.

Just need one server where it's more classic/progression based. I think it should be capped at POP because I think there's more value in the older expansions in terms of their classic value. Later expansions change it too much. Now, we already have EQMac, but EQMac's codebase is extremely old and buggy. EQMac cannot serve even remotely as a new player hotspot.

For the newer people that're developers, you may shrug off the interest in older content or you may not see any value in the term "classic". I myself am an old eq player. I can attest that there're thousands of players out there who like the older content. Having a server capped at POP could allow them to re-experience some of their memories and to see areas that they never really got to appreciate. For new players it could be a place to level up IN A GROUP, as opposed to leveling up alone. It could shoot two birds with one shot. What's important is to make sure you actually shoot TWO birds with one shot, not just one.

I'm an old player and you'd be surprised how much of the EQ content I haven't played even now. And that's the thing about EQ. It has so much content. So many raids. EQ should find a way to use this better.

I don't understand why more (older) MMORPGs don't have classic/progression servers. One of the reasons might be because there're so many emulators out there. And developers are always focused on the future, unlike many players.

Yes, let everybody start at lv 90! With 5k AA! And cultural gear! Just don't be surprised to see a mass influx of players who have no idea how to play their class.

You all realize we are in this mess because the uncreative idiots who run this game think levels = content and keep hiking them with every expansion. What we should be doing is campaigning to stop level cap increases and if anything, LOWER them.

Of course, that would require an effort on SOE's part so I'm not holding my breath.

QFT- This is the reason why new players have such big hurdles to climb. Level cap increase used to be every other expansion. But now devs believe levels= more content which it does not. It just forces people out of old zones and into the new ones, which probably the is the idea. It also turns the game into easy mode. Compare the current expansion to underfoot which was the last non-level cap expansion and tell me if there is anything remotely challenging left since then.

Haha! It's just as funny the fourteenth time some says it in the same thread as it was the first time!

Perhaps, and this is just a wild idea, you should read the thread to see if your point's been addressed (let alone addressed multiple times) before jumping in? For someone who's dead-set on making people grind the long way through, you seem to be wanting thread instant-gratification and ez-mode, skipping to the last page instead of grinding through the previous eight levels... er... pages like the people who actually earned their posts here.

Sorry, I tried to read it, but couldn't make past the first page. So I just replied to the OP.

this is genius. i can think of 4 REAL PEOPLE i could get to play eq if this was the case. and i'd probably add a box or 2 for myself. just sayin' ...