The amount of individuals that post in these forums is a very small percentage compared to the overall active population of the game. I wouldn't think the developers would make major changes based on the opinions of this small sample. Hopefully they are compiling data in another way which better represents the majority. Also, people that are happy playing the game are less likely to post about that very fact.
For me, there has been too much class balance and ability nerfing performed over the years. There were specific abilities that each class would excel in that made them tons of fun to play. The classes blurred too much over the years. That, coupled with the gear path that was taken years ago. Gear and abilities are essentially copy and pastes from previous expansions with a nominal increase in values. Unique items are not nearly as prevalent as the old days. There's a reason why people still farm VT for clickies or Anguish for epics. These items were unique in their effects and/or prestige to quest for them. The game is way too raw stat dependent these days and it shows. The community has eroded due to gradual loss, but also because of the stresses put upon them mentioned above. Head over to EQMac (stuck at PoP expansion) or P99 (Kunark) and you'll see a big difference in the community. I'm talking about the ingame community. I just don't see the same attitude that I remember 6 or more years ago and I personally believe this is mostly because of game design choices made along the way.
What truly drove this long-term change is the mudflation EQ and feature creep of complex mechanics. Abilities aren't being replaced and consolidated, everything is just 'tacked on'. Look at the modern UI - some players are rocking 100+ hotkeys, a half dozen text windows, statistic overlays and like 50 buff/debuff icons. Am I playing a fantasy game or working at NORAD? While log parsing isn't a problem, it's definitely an indicator that many of us "swallow the Red pill" at some point, from whence there is no return. I think the big nail in the coffin was mercenaries. Mercs have raised the bar on minimum contribution to a ridiculous standard that has left all of the "blue pill" players in the dust. Look at tank mercs pre-50 or high level wiz mercs to any random group-geared DPS toon that isn't max level. Death became faster/instant, group encounters have become complex scripted events, demands on players have gone WAY up. The "average" player has been set up to fail.
Maybe, but I've got no sympathy for the half-a**ed / afk players in a group that do the bare minimum to leach exp without being caught.
I'm still enjoying my Necromancer after all these years! As far as raiding goes, playtime and attitude is much more important to a vast majority of guilds than the technicalities of max dps. When you have empty slots you fill them with what you can get!
I strongly agree.... I basically had the same experience save for the fact it was 2 mains since 2002 instead of 3 since 2000. Problem is, it's way too hard to change mains in this game. Since flags for a new raid member aren't nearly as important as they used to be, any well geared/aa'd twink is quite viable nowadays.... so it has less to do with game mechanics than it has to do with guilds; I have never heard of a guild that was even remotely liberal about main changes.
Guilds don't want to re-gear a whole new character, for the most part. It's only when in desperate need of a class that it's actually encouraged.
After taking a two year break and starting again I have to say I have started to once again really enjoy the classes I play (SK, Mage, Cleric and Chanty) - I do this by sticking to group game and deliberately not getting too worried about parses, gear, class whinges etc. Yes I (really) do wish classes had not become quite so blurred, but now that I don't pay monthly and have the pressure to maximise the time on EQ that brings, I've paid out ~$150 on unlocks / mounts etc and am happy to progress at my own pace experiencing the content I want to (LDoN, seb, all the old stuff).
Been a number of parsing utilities in widespread use for many years before Gam released his wares. Attempts to blame anything on GamParse is ludicrous. Argument fail.
What if enjoying your class means, keeping fresh? I've played every class at some point or other. I started the game as a mage. I enjoyed it, and hit level 50 before Kunark came out. I then became a raid warrior, a raid shaman, a chanter, etc. I did what was best for my guild at the time. I was the warrior because we needed tanks and I made the shaman to help the warrior when no one else was around, etc. I made the chanter in 1999, and played him the entire time, but our guild had plenty of them so it was never a raid character. Does that mean I shouldn't play him now even though I enjoy him more than my original mage?
Guilds collectively tend to be about as change adverse as they come and tend to lean towards "No" as the default answer for most things. Well there is always a few facts that come along when guilds disapprove of someone who has grown tired of their class and wants to re-role: Guilds re-gear and re-flag every expac, regardless. It is kinda the point of the game. If someone quits the game because they are tired of playing class X or they leave to go to another guild to start over because of pigheaded behavior towards re-roling, you still lose them. Losing a player means having to recruit and gear someone else. You can either get a stranger or you can stick with someone who is a known personality. Yes, I do understand that the guild might need more of old class X than the re-roled class Y and that guilds do not have to be accommodating based just upon the requirements of the roster. Still, getting benched or put in a feeder beats having to guild remove which in many cases, guilds would rather see you leave then work with you. Always cracks me up that a guild would rather recruit and gear a stranger then accommodate someone who has been around for a while but has just grown tired of playing that class after what could be years. Still, no one should be allowed to change mains like people change clothes. There has to be some commitment and justifiable cause. My first main change during SoL followed a long away time from the game due to deployment. I switched from warrior to cleric because clerics were less gear dependent. I played a cleric for 10 years until I could not stand it anymore. The class got beyond tedious on raids and the group game died out to a certain extent (mercs). Ultimately I had to re-app to the guild I was in when I quit the cleric and prove myself as a rogue like any other stranger off the street. It was well worth it.
Depends on the guild. Raid focused guilds have rosters based off what the guild needs plus 1 or 2 of a given class. Unless your changing from a class your guild has a surplass of (or a meh class) to one that it is lacking (or more ideal class) the guild will have to recruit a stranger anyway to replace whatever class you had played to fill that need. If a surplass to need change isnt the case, your at best going to be in competition with other established toons of that class for a spot on raid. Now you've set the table for hurt feelings and drama, which most guilds try to avoid. Using your example, a great Cleric doesnt mean someone is even an Average Rogue. So you do indeed have to prove yourself all over again, especially if your putting someone else on the bench. If you prove better than one of the existing Rogues, then that Rogue will end up SoL with a regular spot on the bench. People dont tend to enjoy the bench, and your likely going to lose that person now. Hurt feelings and drama are likely to ensue.
It depends on the guild, their needs, people who have invested 5-10 years in a class rather than get geared up in one class and then expect to get geared up in another, etc. I've seen guilds beg people to raid with their Cleric, refuse to let a Necro switch to an Enchanter, etc. Many take the position that you applied and were accepted playing one class, if you switch without the guild wanting you to you are putting yourself before the guild (some players look at those attitudes and decide it's a guild putting itself before them and wave bye bye.) Some players silently tough it out. Some tough it out but speak up when there's a class issue, some switch classes, and some quit. It varies.
The problem is the genre, players, and developers have changed over the years. Certain things that used to be okay in MMOs, aren't okay and vice versa. I could go on a long philosophical discussion about it, but somehow I feel that it would still be a bit controversial here.
I used to play a cleric (tbh i still want to, but modern clerics ##### like $$$$ because devs listen only those who play clerics only on raids/in estabilished groups/as bots). I remember the times when cleric was able to go and solo an (old)raid mob, was demanded in group, etc. And now ? Raid geared cleric can do a $H!# alone, while a group geared almost any other class can do something. I often see in lfg window 2-4 clerics in prime time and noone wants them in group (AB server). Btw - killing T1 mobs isn't "something". Killing a mob in 10 minutes isn't "something". So i changed a main... and had to leave a guild because of this, staying there became too toxic.
Better to just quit the game or join another guild with the new class to avoid hurt feel bads/drama. Check. Not to be selfish (which means I am being selfish) but my guild does not pay my sub nor put in the time doing the character development and thus is not entitled to full jurisdiction over my character choices. They provide the construct for that, but it is still me getting out my credit card and paying the sub as well as making the free time to play. I don't go out of my way to hurt people's feelings but I am not gonna put my own enjoyment over keeping the easily offended/insulted placated. The flip side of that is guilds are well within their rights to tell anyone to go kick rocks. When I came back to my current guild, there was no special treatment. If they did not need rogues, I would have to go somewhere else, stay in a feeder until there was an opening or swallow my pride and begrudgingly go back to raiding with a class I hated. If I did not pass muster skill-wise with the rogue, then I would be voted out. Just like any other rogue app. If I proved to be a better rogue than some of those who were playing a rogue when I was a cleric then how is that my fault? They can either be insulted/hurt or step up their game. Thankfully it has all worked out.
Most top end guilds have twinks that are better geared/AA'd than their average app. The reason why it's discouraged is to avoid drama, and in certain cases, to prevent the loss of a needed class (read: to prevent bored clerics from changing.)
