No. Leave the old zones alone. Some of us still enjoy the nostalgia factor. It's bad enough what they did to poor freeport.
Yeah I don't want another free port revamp or the Nek Forest 1.0, I would like to see revamps like they did in common lands which just was mainly cosmetic.
I was at that panel and they did say that. As others have pointed out, they don't want people to be artificially limited by where they can go. (Flags may still apply, but no more 'I can't get to you because I don't have the expansion'). They didn't go into details, but given the theme of the panel, I believe it will mean something like this: * Zones and content will be released for free periodically. * You'll need to buy system upgrades as time goes on to handle that new content; for example you may need to buy the "L101-105" System boost. Or an AA Booster that makes a new tier of AA's or a new set of AA's available. (Spells probably won't be locked though; that would be part of the level increaser).
NO please never again. All those things did is made more lag and ruined the nostalgia. if I had to choose my least favorite zones it's pretty much anything that was revamped, freeport especially. Leave zones alone, if they really want to reuse them and in doing so want to update them make it a separate zone but leave the old stuff alone. I'm still angry they got rid of the Oasis of Marr... yeah yeah they kinda made it part of one of the zones but ugh i want it back.
I don't want level 100 let alone level 105.The future of raids worries me if they go for the selling levels and AA's.
Aye personally I hope lvl 105 is years away. So much work just to get the normal "required" upgrades. Seems like there could be better things done with that time. Lvl 100 is cool, and it's a nice even number. Someone high up needs to develop OCD so we can stay lvl 100 for a long time =b
Still doesn't make me want to see laggy zones just to have slightly better graphics. Getting eqclient crashes in new zones, honestly never had one in old zones....
Full expansions do not seem to gel well with SOE's new Free to Play format in all its games. Alot of new systems bleed out of the new expansions and make it difficult for SOE to limit those and not effect gameply between Bronze/Silver vs Gold accounts. Going to a DLC type format, with content free and systems alacarte/paid makes it much, much easier for SOE to define the lines between F2p and Paid. In turn this allows them to develop and roll out both content and systems/mechanics at a much faster pace and more efficiently since one will not always rely on the other to work.
I'm missing something, where is the incentive to pay a monthly subscription if everyone is getting the same content added for nothing?
the plan for the everquest franchise is to move to a sandbox , ftp , microtransactions , player controlled mmo emmergent gamming format for EQ. - the re-invisioned EQnext. hopefully they have the resources to make it happen, and soon , before there is a new style of gamming.
Honestly the way they described EQ2's change...I'm not so sure that'd be a bad thing.... IF done right. If it shaft's us on content well yeah it'd suck but... In fact it may be a good thing for content quantity, it may mean they can shift things around, fit more stuff in for content releases, won't have to rush to meet deadlines. And as for Classic zone revamps, I personally like ALL 3 graphic styles present in EQ, and imo the fact that they both fit side-by-side is one of EQ's unique qualities. We don't need to go back and revamp every zone and npc model, leave what is done as is and use new graphics on new content. I can see revamping a zone when needed to access a new expac (Steamfont, Toxxulia, Freeport, Deserts) or to enhance usability etc in a heavy traffic zone (Bazaar), but to revamp for the sake of revamps (Commonlands, Misty, Innothule) is stupid and pointless, please don't do that. As far as model go, by all means keep churning out revamps of models for new expacs, but please don't do what you did during DoDH where you went back and swapped over every single npc that uses that race to the new model (Orcs, Spiders, Rats, Bats etc). Let the old zones use the old model and the new ones use the new. Honestly if SoE devs stuck to the above setup, it'd be the perfect combination of modern and nostalgic classic to appease most everyone, especially since the "old lame triangle pixels" are all in old zones that most people never visit anymore anyway so how does it affect anyone other than those that go there for nostalgia? With the exception of Classic models used as illusions, which shouldn't be a big deal, and tbh with the addition of globalload_chr.txt we need more classic model illusions in game (I'm still waiting for my Qeynos Guard and Classic Gnoll illusions. I would seriously pay double the regular SC cost for polymorphs for those two, and I'm going to keep begging for them in every thread that has even the slightest semblance to a related topic until they are in lol).
You do not get the same content for nothing. You still need to pay for alot of it no matter the way the deliver it. But the DLC or also mentioned SandBox method which SOE and most studios are migrating to, better defines the lines between paid and unpaid services. You can make all the zones you want for free, but in the end you will either be unable to hunt in them (level caps, systems mechanics, required items / flags etc) unless you buy the Mechanics and Systems that the new zones are built around. One example, the level cap for Free to Play is 85, Rain of Fear is level 100, a lvl 85 will not be able to untilize RoF zones, not realistically, even if he got the zones for free due to not purchasing the increase in the level cap.
i have played other game's where they had marketplace items map packs,dungeon's thing's like that..i didn't like it for those games and i am not sure how i will feel if/when this happens with eq
So, groupers finally get their wish of not having to pay for raids? Oh lord, please take what I say as a light hearted joke to show one of the possible benefits of the system and not start a grouper vs raider argument.
Planes of Hate and Fear were around kunark timing ... (I know hate was 2000-2001 somewhere (I remember they was out definately before Velious, as the velious planes were added so evil classes could have fun without chancing some of their deity factions as well on planar raids I want to say sky/hate and fear was before kunark but not by much, they was added without direct link to an expansion though...), and the revamped V2 of hate for groupable encounters was in 2003)... it was the two then sky a month or so later, but they was in there before the epics came out during the kunark expansion... Also on the "free" optional zones was the one for Veksar (the sunken city in the middle of Lake of Ill Omens)... Jagged pine started as an optional zone, but then they added Nedaria to it and then it became a definate zone for people to travel if they wanted to run the distance and not use the magus system to there... The warrens was the original test of the trivial loot code... still, it'd be nice to see some free zones on occasion, but an expansion or two wouldn't be bad, I'd just hate another level grind again for each one... maybe an alternate level grind, some other way to progress without raising the top level in the game... as without help, the climb to the top looks really steep for those starting over or coming back...
Interesting, they tried the mini adventuring packs in EQ2 before, and it didn't work out well so they stopped after releasing a few. It'll be interesting to see if they'll work now. While "free content" sounds good, people should realize nothing is free. Whatever move SOE is making, I can guarantee you it's not for you to pay less, it's a strategic move for you to pay more. Just look at the past, we've been paying more and more each year, as they put more and more on the marketplace. So whether you're pro this model or not, don't get too excited just yet. I also doubt they'll strip expansions from EQ1, because people are paying for them. SOE has been able to take more out of expansions to sell along side of the expansions themselves. People in EQ1 just keep paying for it so there's no reason for them to volunteer to lower their profits. Remember SOE had to pull a bait & switch with station cash subscription because supposedly their profit margins got hurt by it. So just saying, whatever move they make, it's not to make them less money. So expect to pay more while getting less.
Both Fear and Hate where mid to late summer 1999. I was there when we tested both including Sky on Test Server. When Ifurita (Jeff Butler) and Aradune (Brad McQuaid) along with Trueno (Jose Ariaza), Solist (Jeff Coyle) and Hobart (Todd Schmidt) would log in and start summoning us all to the "safe" (lol, sorta) spots and start puling mobs to us and have us die over and over again "testing" the content, fun times. Sky came later, January 2000, but all 3 came online as active and ready for play prior to Kunarks release. Here is a reference to the spell level changes after they brought the planes online to fix the issue of people running low level alts in to loot gear after they set teh minimum entry level to lvl 46+ September 13, 1999 —————————— Bug Fixes: - Players levitating should be easier for other PCs to see. - When charmed/feared and killed players should not be returned to the character selection screen. (snip) ... - The Mana cost on some Magician damage shields has been slightly reduced. - Alter Plane: Hate and Alter Plane: Sky have been changed into higher level spells. - Succor: Ro (Druid) is now a level 39 spell (previously a typo as a level 49 spell. - Curse of the Simple Mind (Enchanter) now lowers both Int AND Wis. - Selo`s Consonant Chain (Bard) should now work better. -... (snip)
