What Do You Think Would Make EQ2 Popular Again?

Or even more popular than it ever was... Now, I am not going to express my own thoughts since I am actually not 100% sure what would work well for EQ2 and whatnot, but I am genuinely curious what you guys would think would. Like, for example, changes to graphical design, changes to/simplification of the UI, removal of mechanics, addition of new mechanics, remaking the game.. etc.

And I know some of you are aware that I am very passionate about this game and want to see it succeed again as well as I want to see all it's problems fixed or, at least, managed. It's depressing seeing absolutely no one throughout the entire base part of the game, and even throughout some/most of the expansions. I've been around (on and off) on EQ2 since it's release and I know it used to be much, much more populated and much better. So, honestly, I'd love to see it like that again one day instead of seeing it fade more and more into obscurity.

we can always dream

EQ2 is too far gone. There is no fixing it really. The only hope for the future of the franchise is an EQ3 where the thousands of lessons of the past are suddenly learned and acted upon. Also where Daybreak are not involved, where current Daybreak staff are not involved, where ex Daybreak staff are not involved. Where the business model is ethical but somehow still viable long term.. I'm sure there are lots of those sorts of things we could list.

Tbh though, MMORPG is a zombie genre now. There is very little quality left and a ever-dwindling number of players playing. You're dreaming if you think EQ2 will be fixed, or even that anyone has any interest in fixing it.

They stated they will only cater to the current player base, which can also be seen by the priorities when it comes to releasing new content. There is nothing they can do at this point, the game is too far gone from what it originally was when two hundred thousands played the game.

They still refuse to do stat squish despite the forum having threads about it monthly, they still refuse to merge servers despite most never reaching more than medium population on expansion launch days and they still refuse to make a LFG tool so people dont have to spam a LFG channel for half an hour just to maybe get a group going. The game looks dated and runs awful on modern hardware, networking issues plagued the game for a half a decade now. Class balance is a town in Siberia because system upon system is stacked on top of each other. They refuse most ideas and feedback if its not their own and have been doing so for a long time.

Only thing I look at when thinking about EQ3, if they could take a game as good as this one was and gut it.. why even waste time believing they could handle EQ3?

An attempt at Advertising. ANY ATTEMPT at advertising.

Geez, and I thought I was pessimistic. It's very possible to fix EQ2, there are devs that ARE passionate about this game, but the ones that aren't outnumber them and it's possible to re-light that fire of passion in them. Demoralizing the players will also demoralize the devs as well, it's not good hearing there's "no chance for the EQ series to improve/be successful" and whatnot, the devs probably hear countless pessimistic remarks like that on an hourly basis.

I do agree that it may be too late to fix EQ2, but I also believe it may still work, at least, until they decide to either remake EQ2 or release EQ3.

Advertising, alone, won't save EQ2, most new players I've met end up quitting before the week is over. It's more of just the problems inside EQ2, not outside of it.

It's an uphill battle, but putting some money into a TV commercial will bring in new players, which will provide more revenue for the game, which could lead to more developers being hired, which leads to a lessened workload on the developers, which will allow them to work on core issues and give them more time to go back on more varied zone developments, character animations, armor appearances, itemization and other details that existed more prevalently from before the Tears of Veeshan expansion. Imagine going back to contested dungeons like Sanctum of the Scaleborn and Sebilis, and not just solo/heroic/heroic 2 difficulties of the same dungeons which are just built from sealed-off sections of overland zones.

Yeah, I have noticed how understaffed EQ2's team was, it would be nice to see them become a full team again.

Hm.. I guess I'll just do my own feedback, then.

-- Remove Broker, Gear and Chat restrictions, it's outdated and unneeded, no new player is going to want to fork over $15 a month for a dying MMO, hell, even some Returning players like me don't want to fork over $15 a month just to remove dumb restrictions. I don't like being crippled for simply not wanting to go for sub fee. The restrictions are actually what's killing the game even faster because a new player is going to notice these things and immediately go "Nope." and uninstall the game.

-- Simplify the UI and skills, it's way too overwhelming, you really don't need over 100 skills for any class, using up to 10-12 hotbars for them and other stuff is absolutely ridiculous

-- Remove the redundant classes, classes that serve no purpose and don't get played often. Fuse Templar/Inquisitor to Cleric, Fuse Warden/Fury to Druid, fuse Troubador/Dirge to Bard, Fuse Monk/Bruiser to well... Monk or Martial Artist.. etc.

-- Fix the player economy, I don't care how you do it, just fix it, level 10 - 50 gear shouldn't cost up to 100,000 platinum.

-- Get rid of Kronos, they're rather redundant, just like the extra classes.

-- As Cusahorn stated, Advertise, please, for the love of all that is good, ADVERTISE.

-- Stop doing expansions every year, you don't have to do that, especially when the current content is so damn difficult that it would take a year or two to finish. (Also, some expansions feel very samey) Do expansions every 2-3 years.

-- Bring back the Gigglegibber Goblin Games, that stuff was fun and actually encouraged the usage of the cash shop in a good way.

==Very Optional Suggestions==

-- Make it to where we can dye and customize our armour

-- Shrink down Antonica and Commonlands, those two are waaaaay too massive for their own good.

-- More fur colours/patterns for Ratongas, Kerras and Vah Shirs, same for add hairstyles and facial hair for Ratongas, having 10 ratongan characters that look near identical to each other is dull

As much as I love the game, yes there needs to be less classes. Good grief. Like you said combine some. And ADVERTISE. I would also love to see them add in dye and new gear sets to the cash shop, we’ve had the same crap for years.

And the stat squish needs to be addressed. Badly. I’m not saying take away the lvls, just don’t let us be able to do BILLIONS of damage.

Yeah, although, I wouldn't want the dyes to be cash-shop related. Half because I am colourblind and that would make bothering with dyes rather pointless to me if I had to pay for them since I see way less colours than most people.

The chat restrictions are an anti-spam bot countermeasure. If F2P players could use general chat, the game would flood (again) with players named "Jdhwmcghxwy" constantly spamming about buying platinum from 3rd party websites. This became an issue back in Echoes of Faydwer back in the day.

The game was conceptualized with 24 classes, most of which were actually restricted to good or evil alignments. Players would start off as a level 1 Adventurer, choose their initial archetype on the Isle of Refuge, neutral races would pick whether they want to live in Qeynos or Freeport, then at level 10 you would pick a class. Priest classes would choose between being a Cleric, a Druid, or a Shaman. At level 20, you would advance to your final subclass. Clerics in Qeynos became Templars, and Clerics in Freeport became Inquisitors. Only Guardians and Berserkers, Troubadours and Dirges, Wardens and Furies, and Wizards and Warlocks were neutral and could start in both cities. Mechanically speaking, Monks are extremely different from Bruisers. You call them redundant, but every class actually is different from their counterpart.

Armor is actually too complex to actually apply dyeing methods to them. This has always been a discussion since the game launched. It's not just a one-and-done apply to all colors on the armor and call it good. I have armors with 4-8 different colors just on the chest piece itself.

Heh, If you think Antonica and Commonlands are too large, then you must not have explored Kylong Plains, Fens of Nathsar, Jarsath Wastes, Moors of Ykesha, Great Divide, or Eastern Wastes yet. Those zones are absolutely massive.

Okay no cash shop dye then.

Still, it would be NICE if they came out with some new appearance gear. And btw, did they just up and quit with the racial gear? It's stupid that we have gear for some races and not for others.

And I can understand how many classes differ from others, but I'm sorry, warden and fury play the exact same, I just like fury better because that's what I picked when I did the original priest class quest back in the day.

The only real difference is one has a pet. BUT, I suppose it's different for those of you who raid.

And just out of pure humor, this post reminds me of "Make America Great Again."

(Just the saying, not Trump or anything.)

One word............. Marketing. Research what other MMO's are doing and the one that is very successful right now. And it isn't WoW. In fact the other game has taken hundreds of thousands away from WoW.

Well please don't fry me but for years I've wondered what this game would be like if just one server was mechanically changed where all could be done with a single 1 full group of friends? Streamline the raids for full group content - I don't mean easy street. Same gear and class dependency treadmill. A pipe dream with 0 resources at hand with the company but you asked, lol.

Would I look forward to logging in and trying it if there was "way forward" mapped out without relying on raid guilds? Yes and *perhaps* others would if word got around through advertising. In my opinion keeping the best content for a select few has only resulted in empty servers and loss of income. Just my .02 no offense to any.

Agreed. Though, I hate their housing system. (Don't copy that housing system EQ and EQ2. Whatever you do.)

But that makes too much sense! Some people just don't comprehend that it all flows down hill just by doing 1 simple thing.