Op Ed: EQ2 for Everyone?

Discussion in 'General Gameplay Discussion' started by Katzandra, Nov 25, 2018.

  1. Katzandra Well-Known Member

    First of all, I would like to commend the developers on the Chaos Descending Expansion in terms of the artistic content. I have enjoyed the solo adventures in this expansion more than I have in many years. I also commend the developers for trying to get a rein on the runaway DPS issues in the game. However, the mere rumors of the steep grade from solo to heroic content was fatiguing to just ponder and has been a chore to try and game around. I am a single retiree with disabilities that make long hours in EQ2 possible and even a welcome part of my routine. Although there do seem to be a lot of folks playing the game frantically trying to get that magical resolve for T1 heroics or, for the really avid and skillfull players, T1 raid, there are many folks who love this game and have played for years who have full lives outside the game. They have families and jobs and other interests. Yes, there are many who gave up the full content years ago and only showed up for raid who -- won't be able to do that this expansion. And there are folks who really don't want the stress of competitive raiding who would like to have a chance to group with friends and just have fun in a stimulating and relaxed environment.

    The current structure of the game is not going to hold back the hard core uber players for long. They will find a way to work around the obstacles and work together with their raid forces to conquer the content. My fear is that the obstacles will be enough to discourage casual players who would like to run content with other folks into giving up the game entirely. Yesterday I was thinking I would make a plea for: EQ2 for Lolly Gaggers........ the need for content in which folks that aren't trying to advance to the T4 raid zones in record time can just hang out and have fun. Right now I have friends who would like to group and do things, but there is no appropriate content. Two of us can do a solo zone. But there is no place in current content where three or more casual players can group and do things. I am saddened because I suspect that I have many friends who will just give up on trying to bridge the gap between solo and group content and quit playing. And for those trying to bridge the gap between raid content in the last expansion and raid content in Chaos Descending with just a few hours a day to play..........

    Unlocking gear was kinda fun for raid content. I am skeptical about how appropriate it is for heroic content, especially for folks with limited play time whose main interest is in gearing up for casual raiding. To add to the stress, we can't even preview the gear at the vendor to know what is in those boxes that are dropping. Now the rumor mill has some horrifying speculation about what it is going to take to unlock the T2 boxes. I am a player that loves serendipity in my game play. I would rather discover than plan ahead on most things. However, with this boxed armor and the T1 gear apparently being required in some manner (by the piece?, by the set?) to unlock the T2 gear, I really think some official clarification would be helpful. Let us know what we are working for and what parameters we have to meet to reach our goals!

    Developers: Please consider lightening up on the restrictions to the heroic content. Most of us figure you will eventually do this. I hope its before many casual and returning players get overwhelmed and move on to other distractions and entertainment venues. I understand that designing for content that the top players won't chomp through in a month is challenging. But there is also a need for accessible heroic and raid content for the less intense players. Some of us would like to have time to actually enjoy the game and the wonderful content without focusing on the requirements to ke

    Happy Holidays to all!
    Twinks, Sigrdrifa, Blazen and 3 others like this.
  2. Dude Well-Known Member

    This expansion is very friendly to the casual player. The resolve requirement for T1 Heroics is very easy to achieve by the casual player. I am a casual player and reached the requirement in the first week of the expansion by using the free gear and adorns in the chest, finishing the signature line, and doing the weekly quest. That's it. One week of pretty casual game play and I'm geared up for heroics. In week two I did another weekly and improved on where I was.
    Sigrdrifa, Breanna, Seefar and 4 others like this.
  3. Katzandra Well-Known Member

    My experience was a bit different. My main character is T2 heroic ready and it took a lot more than running a few weekly solo quests!
  4. Dude Well-Known Member

    Of course it did. For T2 heroics, you need to run T1 heroics. The expansion only launched two weeks ago. If you already have enough resolve for T2 heroics, then you are a perfect example of how friendly the expansion is to the casual player.
    Breanna, Blazen, Cyrrena and 2 others like this.
  5. Katzandra Well-Known Member

    There was nothing casual in the journey.
  6. Dude Well-Known Member

    Of course not. You're not a casual player. You pushed through and earned a lot. Congratulations!

    For the casual player, like me, I don't need to be ready for T2 heroics yet. I'll get there in time and it won't be a grind. It will be having fun grouping with friends, who are also casual players.

    Again, we're only two weeks into the expansion. If you want to push through the content that's great, but there is no reason to dumb down the requirements. They are imminently achievable by casual players. Will it take more time? Sure. That's the whole point of being a casual player. I can do the same things as people who rush through the content, but it takes more time. I'm ok with that and wouldn't want to disenfranchise the people who enjoy the challenge by dumbing it down so that I can achieve what they did, but do it with significantly less effort.
    Breanna, Praaji, Blazen and 3 others like this.
  7. Cyrrena Well-Known Member

    Dude and I hang out with the same group of like minded people. We will get there when we get there and we will help each other and have fun doing so, and we will help others as well. I don't know if I have ever been T2 ready for any expansion. I do not pay attention to stats, and merc gear and mount gear and all of the rest of the hullaballoo, I pay attention to fun. If we decide to group and run something, if I am not up to par, they can replace me with no hard feelings, they can make suggestions as to my gear or AAs with no hard feelings, the key is finding a group of friends and a guild that fits your playstyle and just play to have fun.
    Breanna, Cuelaen, Blazen and 5 others like this.
  8. Meneltel Well-Known Member

    Cyrrena, your gear is just fine for you to take dirtnaps… and that's all you really need!
    Breanna, Cyrrena, Siren and 3 others like this.
  9. ConcealFate Well-Known Member

    It's the same thing every time an expansion comes out. They can't make the zones too easy to gear for and run because the uber players with 20-30 hours (or more) a week to grind would be done with it almost instantly. They are the ones who spend the most money on the game.
  10. Dead Alt Account Well-Known Member

    The hardcore raid guild players already plow through the heroic content almost instantly.

    In the older expansions, you were heroic-ready after doing the sig line and other available quests. Once the sig line was completed, you went straight into heroics... it was fun and the game was a lot more social. In AoM, I skipped the heroics altogether and went straight into T1 raiding with MC gear and adorns, no heroics necessary. It certainly shouldn't be that easy, but making heroic content difficult to access, let alone complete, is only going to drive away the more casual players that pay subs and occasionally sell a krono or two to buy gear and consumables. I don't raid anymore, but I'd sure like to log in and not spend hours trying to find a PUG because, 1) players still don't have the resolve, 2) players still don't have enough potency, or 3) the zones are such a PITA that people will only run them with friends or guildmates they know are skilled enough to get the zone completed in a reasonable amount of time.

    With a game this old, its understandable that the developers are going to cater to the playerbase that spends the most money. That's understandable. But to make basic heroic content a headache to gain access is just poor game design IMO. This game appears to be polarizing players to either be soloers or raiders with little in-between.
    ConcealFate and Seefar like this.
  11. Leed Active Member


    Unfortunately resolve is not the 'I'm now geared up for heroics' that you seem to be saying. You can get mastercrafted gear, and be up to the 1060 pretty fast. Then proceed to go in a heroic and get ripped to shreds. Or bang your head up against final named that heal constantly and the only way through it is overpowering DPS - at least 4k crit bonus and 65k potency THEN you are ready for a T1 heroic like Doomfire: The Enkindled Towers where the final named heals over and over or a T1 event heroic like Vengeance of Ro where the final name is Vengeance of Ro and he heals nearly 100 billion every 10-30 seconds. You go in there at only 55k potency and you aren't even going to be putting a dent in them past the point where their healing kicks in.
  12. Seefar Well-Known Member

    So when I see groups LFM and they specify a certain resolve number... you seem to be saying this isn't enough? Someone is confused (and that definitely includes me).
    Cyrrena likes this.
  13. Leed Active Member


    Resolve works like this - if you are under the mob's resolve by 10 (or 20 or 30), then everytime you attack the mob you are doing 10% (or 20% or 30%) less damage to the mob and the mob is doing 10% (or 20% or 30%) more damage to you.

    If you are OVER the mob's resolve - then there is no additional benefit to having more resolve for that mob.

    Once you meet the resolve of the mob however, you still have to beat the mob. That means having enough health to survive, and putting out enough DPS to overcome the mob's healing ability. Resolve doesn't always correlate with what is best to wear. You can have gear with 3.5k potency and only 35 resolve, while other gear has 3k potency and 60 resolve. If you're going to be at 1060 either way when fighting a mob that has 1060 resolve you are actually BETTER off with the 3.5k potency item - even though it only has 35 resolve since once you meet that resolve requirement there's no benefit to additional resolve against that mob.
    Gullveig, Conifur and Seefar like this.
  14. Dude Well-Known Member

    Yep, and that's the problem with MC gear this expansion. I may pick up a piece or two, but there is no way I'd give up the pot, cb, and ab mod on my current gear, just to get a higher resolve number. The MC gear is almost worthless.
    Breanna, Cyrrena and Seefar like this.
  15. Dead Alt Account Well-Known Member

    Grind, grind, grind those PQs for the infusers folks! And don't forget to visit the cash shop for some premium infusers as well. Soon, you will have what it takes to run HEROIC content!
    ConcealFate likes this.
  16. Dude Well-Known Member

    You really don't need to grind or visit the cash shop. I guess you could, if you wanted, but it's certainly not necessary.
    Breanna and Cyrrena like this.
  17. Arieva Well-Known Member

    The requirement to unlock t2 armor by having the same t1 pattern is what takes the resolve grind one step too far imho. If you can get into t2 and clear it you should not not not have to backtrack to t1 to get the damn thing made
    Seefar and Dude like this.
  18. Rubick Well-Known Member

    Yessssssss so much this. Thank you, this guy gets it. When I put in LFG chat "looking for a dps" then somebody responds with "1060 resolve Necro" they almost always have under 60k potency and you're just not able to contribute to the group with potency that low thanks to potency mitigation.
  19. Katzandra Well-Known Member

    One time when someone listed their resolve, I asked could we have an addendum for potency, crit bonus, hit points and ability modifier? I was ignored of course. ;)
    Seefar likes this.
  20. Dead Alt Account Well-Known Member

    Are you sure? I've run every quest and several PQs and I just can't get my potency and CB high enough. Of course, I don't have the orange adorns from prior expansions, so perhaps I'll have to wait until they are available. Then again, I could go grind PGs 200 times for them if I felt like grinding a zone from two expansions ago.