I agree that you can't play EQ without google, but that needlessly narrows the number of player candidates. I feel obligated to point out that the in-game help system describes Fellowships pretty well. The problem is that somebody who doesn't already know what a fellowship is won't know to look for it. That's not necessarily lazy. But I think assuming that anybody who takes the time to register and post on these forums is lazy is a disservice to the entire community. I think perhaps a tutorial 2.0 (for later levels) might be a good way to keep players sticking around once they get up in levels. Guilds (especially the ones with the more experience players) are cliques and they are difficult/daunting to join for a more casual player. I think it would be in everybody's interest to be more inviting to newer people. But this thread isn't even about lazy or dumb players....
Aginhem states that travel time in EQ is trivial. Some of us disagree. Spending 15 minutes watching the loading screen and praying I don't crash, then "traveling" through the same zones every day before I even get a chance to repeat the same task I do every single day, for what likely amounts to less exp per hour than grinding in a non-hotzone? That really does sound dumb to me. And if I was like the OP (i.e. not a lazy person), who only has an hour or two to play on a given night, why would I think it is fun to spend upwards of 25% of my time looking at loading screens and "traveling"? When the HZs were Grounds and Valley, it was one zone screen each if you had a wizzy or druid in your group, and no extraneous travel time. The OPs point is that the new zones require more and he doesn't like it (to the point where it was affecting his decision to play). You can respect his opinion and you can even disagree with it (you can do both at the same time). And it looks like you can even berate his opinion, but it makes you look like a jerk.
If you put forth a little time skimming these forums, you'll see fellowships and fires mentioned quite a bit. If you simply spend a couple minutes going through the menu in the client to see all the things available, you'll see a "Fellowship" entry. Regardless, fellowships and fires really are not much of a necessity anyhow. There is no place in the game I cannot get to in 2-3 minutes. Gone are the days of hitting num lock in West Karana and heading to the bathroom. I spend more time refreshing buffs when I log in than in traveling to where I want to go.
Agreed about more time refreshing buffs, but I don't think you can get ANYWHERE in the game in 2-3 minutes. Yes, most of the places we go, but certainly not all. Especially if see-invis mobs come into play. And not everybody zones fast, though, to be fair, that's on you (you, in general, not singling anyone out here), not DBG. In my experience with EQ over the years, if you have a reasonably good PC, zoning isn't too bad. A slow PC, or too many boxes on one PC, and it will slow down. Another point to consider is, you don't HAVE to do the Teek daily to get hot zone XP. And this goes double if you zone slowly. You can camp out in the hot zone, and then log in the next day and start to XP right away. You'll probably net more XP that way, too. And if you've got the better Vet rewards, you can pop the banker and or merchant, and clear your bags without even needing to leave the zone. The point is, the OP has a point. Maybe you agree, maybe you don't. But complaining about it won't help (DBG does what they want). The secret is to find the next best way to do things, and do that. Over the years, that "best thing" has constantly changed, and we've had to adapt. So can you So, one more bit of help for the OP. People, post your tips for fast travel. OP didn't know about Fellowships, he may not know travel secrets. I'll start: If one of your crew is a Druid, make good use of the Communion of Cheetah spell. The whole group gets to run at near bard speed, and the buff lasts longer than the cooldown, so you can keep the buff up permanently Tat
What we do in our games, and i know this is common in MOST games nowadays, is a kind of daily tip. I know some of these show in loading screen already I believe, but even, i hate to suggest this but, another popup when you enter the game with a daily tip. Something like: "Did you know about fellowships?" with a nice graphic with a few highlights about key things they do and link to external wiki page. Good point. DB should be maintaining an official wiki. The issue is there is so much content and knowledge in EQ it would be a massive job. I'd take that project on. You'd definately need alot of help from the community to do it in any meaningful time and keep it up to date without a large team. Just read Viper's post, i'll add: I think youre right viper, usually companies are far less able to maintain the level of quality of an informational site/wiki than community/players are. But one that is sponsored, hosted, and at least server costs paid for to ensure it's continuity but the community manages could be a start. I think some other game devs have done that to a moderate success. The problems still remains, anyone taking on the mammoth task of EQ information catalogueing is in for a challenge.
Problem is you need to know what to search for. An example of something i have needed but never found: an easy to read/printable list of all portal spells for my druid, where they port to (which zone) and where to buy them. That information is scattered everywhere and its tough to find what i have and what i'm missing. I normally use Allakazahams for spells but for some reason I believe not all ports are on that spell list. I think i found a list once, but it was badly outdated. This is just one example.
Thats a good idea. Look, I like researching stuff for EQ. I think we all do to some extent. Thats why we play, we know its an "advanced" MMO. Not for the faint of heart. But I cant research what I dont even know about. And fellowships never even made it across my screen even once. This is the first time i've heard of it at all. And i KNOW there are alot of other features like that too. Part of that is fun for me, because its cool to feel like you are learning more things and even more depth in the game. I actually dont feel bad at all that I didnt know about it before. Now I do, so i have something new to research. Cool! But no need to criticize and call me lazy or dumb because I never heard of them. Could DB do more to explain or at least mention these features? Sure. But I wasnt quitting because of this. I was quitting because one of the core forms of play for me was basically nerfed. And no i dont want easy travel either. I'm not asking to make every zone in the game bindable. I'm just asking for hotzones to be bindable. If you think thats weird or fail, or stupid. OK, swell, thats your opinion. I'm just stating mine. If it somehow goes against lore, then add in some special "bind stone" or bind portal or something that is temporary and only appears when the zone is turned into a hotzone. When its no longer a hotzone, take the stone away. To be clear i'm not saying add a portal to the zone, although that is also a possibility but maybe going too far. I'm just saying make it bindable.
EQ hasn't necessarily made things easier. They added heaps more stuff, most of which is rubbish at any point in time, and any ease they added is defeated by having to sort through 20 years of sediment of other things to find it. I started playing again about a year ago, and I learnt about Fellowships about a month ago, hah! You can put a magical room full of instant transportation portals at the bottom of the ocean and trivialize travel, but what if no one knows about it? Is it still trivializing travel?
It depends on what toons you play with in your group. A tank maybe required where a mage had some abilities to handle the tasks with only 1 merc or 2 for healing. A wiz merc might take argo over your group if you try to blast through the tasks. The nerf was primary hit to all classes. But since you haven't really experienced these, I would learn how to be the best boxer in the Tasks. I really think your going to enjoy doing all of these tasks and achievements. So much fun bro. Your welcome I only am non-constructive with the devs and asshats. You sure don't seem like one at all If you cant handle a task, try it with a tank. Sometimes to complete these hard tasks you need to find someone to help you out. Good luck and have fun is all I say
Oh oh, you just gave me an idea! Franklin Teek could give you a direct ride to hot zones. When they change, he can't do it anymore!
