Norrath is heating up with GU 115: Reignite the Flames!

Discussion in 'News and Announcements' started by dreamweaver, Aug 18, 2020.

  1. dreamweaver Well-Known Member

    Hail Norrath,
    We've already seen some sneak peek images of where you're headed for GU 115: Reignite the Flames on August 25!

    Years ago, adventurers sought the help of Lord Nagafen, the notorious red dragon of Lavastorm, in exchange for a favor owed at some later date. It seems the time has come; dragon-scratched lava stones have appeared in Qeynos, Freeport, and The Blinding, demanding attention! Level 120 adventurers, answer the call and help defend Solusek's Eye from the mysterious attacks threatening the dragon lord's lair, but do not do so alone. The Heroic and Raid challenges are sure to be great, but the rewards even greater!

    A return to the Plane of War is upon us! But it is not for the faint of heart, it will take a formidable company to advance upon this fabled Celestial Realm to relive the death of Rallos Zek, and witness the ascension of the Hounds of War. The flames of war have been relit with level 120 raid challenges and rewards!


    [IMG]


    As Norrath heats up around you and the flames of War are reignited, You'll find yourselves taking on 4 new adventure quests and a new collection quest!


    [IMG]


    The two raid dungeons: Fabled Plane of War and Solusek's Eye
    and a new Heroic Dungeon tied to Solusek's Eye as well!


    [IMG]


    Stay tuned on Thursday, August 20, 2020 for a look at the new raid Solusek's Eye and possibly a peek at some items from Fabled Plane of War!
    SolarFaire, Cassta, Nazy and 3 others like this.
  2. Kotter Legendary Member

    looks hawt!
    Cassta likes this.
  3. Jaxyn Member

    Thank you for the information. Unfortunately, a game update geared entirely to 120 level adventurers does me no good whatsoever. Nor are my characters geared for raids or heroic groups. I prefer casual play, so it looks as if I'm sidelined for the update. Blood of Luclin was pretty oriented that way, but the zone art and carpenter recipes are fantastic. I do love the mount gear, merc gear and such; I only wish that levels other than 120 could use much.

    Is there any way to use the Dragon Attack! event scenario in place of the puppets for Heroes' Fest? I'm sure not this year, but maybe in the future? THAT was FUN. And the drops had mount gear that various levels could use.

    I do very much appreciate the work that devs do to help EQ2 evolve and be interesting. I just wish that not everything was geared to the top adventure levels and/or raiders/heroics. Not furious or flaming; just sad & disappointed.
  4. Cassta Well-Known Member

    ^^^ Ditto! ^^^ Very disappointed. I am angry but not entirely shocked. :(
  5. Sennetta Active Member

    so when are you going to give us casual players a update we CAN PLAY I pay to play this game as well as I guess many casual players do yet your always giving RAIDERS the updates why should casual players continue to pay for this game when you give us nothing in the updates make this update and all the past ones available to causal non raiders thank you or you might start seeing casual players start pulling their memberships back to free accounts why should we help pay to keep the servers up when all you do is give raiders everything?
  6. Juraiya Well-Known Member

    I agree. I have several level 120s, but I'm a casual player; my high level characters aren't geared the way many "serious" players will gear theirs.

    As Jaxyn said, the Dragon Attack! event was geared so that all levels of players could enjoy it; there were rewards and activities for both crafters and adventurers, and for every level. It would have been nice to see something more along those lines; that event got all players working together and helping one another out. This event will do nothing of that kind. Cassta said she is disappointed but not shocked, and I feel the same way.
  7. Timber Member

    I totally agree. Updates are always focused on raiders and very little content for casual players. Since WoW and other games became EQ2s competition and players started pulling out, it was the casual players who stayed loyal. Yet the content is focused on raiders and well groomed characters. You even take away our flight (BoL) as what? Punishment for being a casual player? Having access to solo instances doesn't impress me when I can't gear myself, I lose HP when I zone into The Blinding and I have no ability to fly at level 120. Completing the timelines is difficult even for someone using 2 accounts unless they are geared to the max. I've been with EQ2 since it's launch and was with EQ1 since it's launch yet until DB took over all rewards for being a loyal "casual" player is nothing more then a memory. You even took away our veteran rewards. Give the solo player the ability to see the end game without raiding or grouping. Some of us do not have the game time to raid and group.
  8. Ferrangie New Member

    I too am a casual player. While higher level content can certainly be nice, only 1 of my 9 characters is above level 100, and only because I used the level up buffs. I'd love to see new content for lower end characters as I enjoy trying out new characters, but with so much repetition, it takes some of the fun away. New places, with new quests, for lower people, enlarging the world is more my idea of adventure. If I wanted to be the most powerful character in the game, there are plenty of other MMO's that I can do that on. These days, the only reason I play another MMO is to experience something new, not better.
    SolarFaire, Tierisch, Cassta and 3 others like this.
  9. Benito Ancient EQ2 Player: Lavastorm Server 2004.

    I appreciate the work of the devs.

    Though I am inclined to agree with the dearth of casual content in this update.

    The perception is compounded by the fact that this expansion was not casual friendly due to the lack of a hub. I felt like Chaos Descending struck the right balance with its hub allowing accessibility of various elemental planes as well as Wind/Water PQs.

    Valentine PQ 2019 and Dragon Attack were also major hits. I think mixing into one PQ and one Solo with future Heroic and Raid game updates might be prudent.

    In the long term, casual players tend to be new returnees, starters (new to EQ franchise), and cross-over players (from EQ1).
  10. Clintsat Well-Known Member

    Benito - I don't think you have any data to support your claim about casuals being returnees vs. other demographics. I'm also not sure why a hub zone makes the expansion more or less casual friendly. Seems like it would reduce the immersion of a casual player...

    Casual players have access to major gear upgrades in the daiku solo that will allow then to solo/duo/trio the heroic zones. That's 12 new zones for them to explore. The new heroic zone has mobs of various difficulties giving folks that want to grab a friend and duo a chance to try something new.

    Raiders and heroic folks are the big spenders in the game. They need new content on a consistent basis. The solo player still has the heroic content of last expansion to explore..and the raid content of the expansion before that...
    SolarFaire and Blazen like this.
  11. Victisa Active Member

    i give kudo's to the devs. but isn't there something that's not raid related for others to join in on the fun. I am not a raider and i know there's lots of people out there who don't raid... is there's something for the "little guys" besides the hardcore big spenders for the raiders?
    Cassta, SolarFaire, Tierisch and 2 others like this.
  12. Ootuko_Valor New Member

    If you add a heroic zone, why not add a solo, too? I guess, there are many players out there, still loving the Game, but like to play from time time solo. I pay for 3 accounts since 2004.
    Cassta, SolarFaire, Tierisch and 2 others like this.
  13. Benito Ancient EQ2 Player: Lavastorm Server 2004.


    Trust me. I'm the biggest Daybreak apologist on these forums.

    My baseline is any Raid or Heroic content is better than no new content. We agree on that point.

    I also understand that resources are limited. The dev team is shorthanded.

    The EQ2 team is signaling their willingness to gain more revenue from subscriptions with the daily crate quest. Therefore, the casual player base is a demographic of increasing concern since they add to the pool of players (possible subscribers). Casual players also have the ability to transition to the Heroic-Raid game; they become, in essence, new blood for raid guilds.

    With regard to hub-designed expansions, Azaliil (former EQ game developer) made an interesting remark about hubs and crowds enhancing the player experience. He cited the visual and sound effects of masses of players in the East Commonlands tunnel or North Freeport bank on EQ1 in creating a sort of synergistic but novel game environment. Azaliil basically made the point that hubs are a sort of game designer trick to create the ambiance of a burgeoning social experience. (Much like how RL nightclubs and bars consciously funnel people to create ambiance - you'll meet people by bumping into them).

    Sure, Fordel Mist and Sanctus Seru Bar/Bank can feel busy at times but, for the most part, content is dispersed in BoL. I felt that Chaos Descending was very successful in creating atmosphere with the convenience of casual players joining in on Water/Wind PQs. Additionally, casual players were able to teleport between wizard spires to join in on Dragon Attack later in the year.
    SolarFaire likes this.
  14. Gharyn Well-Known Member

    Yes, I am so grateful for the new collection which is the only thing I will get from this update. I'm sure it will yield a lovely house item that I can pack away into a crate somewhere.

    Oh, wait. That's probably in the heroic zone. Never mind then. :<

    I need something new to do. How long until the next expansion?
  15. Emacia New Member

    I have played EQ2 for over 16 years and this is the first time I have felt the need to post on the forums. I, like many others, who have already posted am very disappointed with the content proposed with GU115. I am a casual player with 2 accounts, with a few level 120 toons. My main is relatively well geared through the help of long time guildies but, big BUT, I really would like to be more self sufficient in gearing my toons so that can enjoy the content. Not all people have the time or the inclination to raid or do heroics to get better gear. So my plea to the devs is please think about the little guys for the next expansion!!
    Cassta, SolarFaire, Tierisch and 3 others like this.
  16. Shimizu New Member

    Echo this much repeated sentiment
    New fabled dungeon and new heroic dungeon ...my brain just edited both of those things out and looked for something I'd actually be able to -do-.

    I wouldn't really say I am a casual player - 8 hours a day isn't a casual commitment - but I have no interest in the raid ratrace or standing around trying to get groups together for heroics most of the time. I just like to do my thing. I understand that its an MMO and grouping with others is a thing, and I have no problem with groupers and raiders getting nicer things -faster- but one of the appeals of this game is that as a solo or small-group player or crafter there's still good progression. This update ...shows me none of that. If I hadn't come to read the forums, I probably would have never realized an update happened, that is how little it is going to impact me.

    There's a lot of us "casuals" out there, and we are happy to throw money at ya'll for outfits, deco, house stuff, subscriptions, etc. But with BoL it became quickly evident that even levelling other chars to 120 they had the combat prowess of potatoes without going back and getting heroic fervor runes from previous scenes and such. I have no inclination whatsoever to try and gear up alts, it was difficult enough to schedule the first time. Hopefully the next expansion finds a way to make this unnecessary.
    Cassta, SolarFaire, Tierisch and 3 others like this.
  17. kerrianne Member

    Amen I am too a casual player, please add a solo zone so we all can do this zone/ I have been playing since EQand then EQ2 began. Thanks for all you guys do.
    Cassta, SolarFaire, Tierisch and 4 others like this.
  18. Renchen New Member

    hi, ich habe 2acc. und spiele täglich aber nur solo, aber ich werde mich mal nach anderen spielen umsehen, es gibt bestimmt auch spiele wo ich als solo spieler gewürdigt werde und neue zonen bekomme.
    eq2 ist wohl jetzt nur noch für hardcore raider und highend player.
    schade, ich habe seid 2004 beta gespielt.
    SolarFaire and Tierisch like this.
  19. Irley McGuillicuddy New Member

    I don't raid either. As much as I love this game, I hate that 120s get all the fun. I'd rather take my time getting to 120 and enjoying the ride. But as someone above said, I'm not shocked, but I am disappointed.
    Cassta, SolarFaire, Tierisch and 3 others like this.
  20. Rarkevan Active Member

    I could see Daybreak's reasoning being: players who aren't 120 yet still have tons of zones and content to complete and hard core players and 120 raiders have been there, done that and need something new at their level, or they'll depart. But for the players who ARE 120 and do NOT raid, it would have been nice to also have a solo dungeon they could do.

    My RL does not permit me to raid or even often group, I often need to leave the game at moment's notice to go deal with RL, and can play in short bursts only. So I am a super casual player, sadly. Perhaps next time, a small crumb of a dungeon for us, too?:)
    But it IS very good to see new content, it makes me hopeful the game will still be around for a while!! :)
    Cassta, SolarFaire, Tierisch and 3 others like this.