I've yet to understand how its old or recycled to someone who apparently has to do it now because they didn't before. So how its it old and recycled to them if its the first time they've experience it. If you're having to do it now, then its new to you because if you did it before its already done now. Makes my head hurt trying to figure that out. Whatever the case, sounds like a ;pt pf people are moving past that point now and I wonder did they have to go back or was most of that stuff already done by them. And those that flew through it, where did they fall?
I could write pages on what I believe EQNext should have been, but it would be pointless. What matters is what happened. Smed was not up to the task (he failed at his most recent task as well), and Smokejumper was nothing more than a Snake Oil Salesman that Smed deployed to string people along. I hope anyone who purchased EverQuest Next Landmark Founder Packs has learned a valuable lesson about buying into hype. EQ2 will not get a fresh coat of paint. The fate of EQ2 is to limp along with degrading resources, until it is no longer viable and put out to pasture.
So you believe that folks who pay money for an entertainment product are spoiled when they expect the entertainment that was hyped to be delivered? Based on the admission that you paid into a game, even after it was clear that the game in question was not receiving any support? I think that says more about you than it does the conscientious consumer. Not everyone is willing to figuratively light their money on fire.
It's like buying a ticket for Star Wars Episode 8 but before if plays in the theater, they force you to watch 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7... A week later you and a friend want to watch it again.. but again forced to watch all the others first, again... Okay not a perfect analogy.. but still.. First is for the Main character, then for each alternative character... and like with most On Demand shows, they disable the skip-ahead and/or fast-forward options..
For a lot of reasons (variety, grouping needs, shifting class balance, etc.), many people have played multiple toons over their time in Norrath, and have done those quests many, many times already. "New to the toon" does not always equal "new to the player". There is also the issue of current itemization making grey quests beyond trivial, even mentored down with no maintained spells and half naked. This removes challenge or strategy, underlining the "time killing/gating" aspect of requiring so many old quests and taking people out of the new content and into years-old areas they may have already seen many times before. As Mermut said, there is a fair amount of new content and new gear to be had, so having to do potentially hundreds of quests from the past was jarring for many people. (An observation: Originally, you had to have done the ToT signature line before you could start the KA signature quest. That was removed. When KA was in beta, you were required to do the "sneak off the boat" quest before you could start in Obulus Frontier. That was removed and the boat quest was moved to be an optional part of the timeline. People just wanted to get in and play the expansion they had purchased. After those "player satisfaction" changes, the many non-KA requirements for the epic came as a surprise and a frustration.)
Changes they shouldn't have made to begin with, pandering to the lowest denominator of the player base, is how we got where we are now.
Rolling a new toon to fill a raid slot because server pops or class balance dictate it is "lowest common denominator"? Using the Heroic Character Token purchased from Daybreak for $25, or using the Heroic Character Boost INCLUDED in the Kunark Ascending expansion is "lowest common denominator"? Sounds like you are trying to reject the reality that's right in front of you and substitute your own. A fundamental shift in how EQ2 content was designed happened around 2007-2008. We were no longer required to have done all the previous content to enjoy the new content. It became possible for people to jump into the game without doing all the old sig and HQ quests. Yes there were quests here and there that tied into old content, but it was not a requirement to have done everything prior. So now let's look at Kunark Ascending. Was Kunark Ascending designed for people who played in 2004-2007 and quit, or for the people who have been playing (and paying) through 2008-2015? If it's the former, how many of those 2004-2007 diehards are still around? I'm not making a statement, just asking questions. As we've been told, the forums are less than 1% of players and are a vocal minority that can be dismissed. Since Daybreak doesn't do any other surveys, polls, focus groups, or market research of any kind, they won't find out if the new approach is successful until they see trends in the number of subscription renewals.
Cut off some of your post but I agree with all of it is won't be buying the next xpac for any of my 6 accounts and going to sub using krono bought with plat if i don't look interest before convert my plat to krono and play eq1 instead. It's more rewarding than ka bya long shot... I've actually arrangedo to pay plat to have 3 of my accounts follow someone while they do do faction and old sigs for epic 2 because the thought frankly makes me want to do something else. It's almost as if the whole thing is an elaborate troll by dbg
I have been playing this game on and off since it's release in 2004. "Concerns about the game's future..." posts have been happening since then. And yet.. here we are. Content comes and goes, devs come and go, the population comes and goes. And yet, here we are. Stuff has been broken and fixed and broken again and fixed again and on and on it goes. And yet, here we are. Until there is a definitive "The servers are closing down permanently on (insert date here)", these posts are pointless. Yes, the game will end some day. However, we the little people, will be the last to know then. These posts are pointless and do not benefit anyone.
Requiring the last expac's signature quest was not a bad idea... nor was the frillk tide quest a bad way to introduce the players to the current expac. And I stand behind my statement that they should not have removed (or moved) those requirements for at least one toon of every player. Those who whined about it during beta and got it changed are my "lowest common denominators" And has nothing to do with epic 2.0 at all. The non epic 2.0 content was well done and a lot of fun, I liked the various new questlines both crafting and adventurer and think I got my moneys worth out of them alone. As far as gating the epic 2.0 behind a bunch of old content goes, sure its annoying and not worthy of the current player base, I however don't know how our current team could of done it differently (all new content) without delaying the expac until sometime next year. I'm not happy about it either (and I have 90% of the requirements done from when they were current content) but it is what it is. What I find even more annoying is the random horrible fights spread out throughout the various steps of the quests with mobs that have stuns, fears, disarms, weapon breakage and a ludicrous amount of hitpoints. I also find collecting RNG shinies instead of questing to be annoying. At least with the old content you can mentor down and get it done in a matter of a few hours.
The main thing that concerns me right now is pay to win. I could walk away from the game for 20 days right now and come back stronger than playing every day. Or I could pay 100 dollars and be even stronger than that right now. Ascension and to a lesser but still frustrating degree epic skills are so heavily slanted towards real life money it is sickening. I have seen 3 illegible scrolls drop this entire expansion. Journeyman scrolls are still selling for 500k plat. This is nonsense and will be the number one thing that eventually pushes me out if it continues.
So am I but we're talking many months vs instant gratification. I'm just thankful I'm in a casual raid guild. Edit and my point is actually PLAYING the game yields very little for many of us in terms of steady progression at a certain point. Waiting or paying will make me stronger than playing unless drop rates are magically improved.
I'm steadily advancing one ascension class at a time, I'm also making plat by playing everyday... so that the spells take so long doesn't bother me. I do however agree that the stupid scrolls needed to upgrade them with crafting need to be dropping a lot more often along with the broken green adorns.
Yes. Forever and always. The feelings of people who spend money to skip content, and are then upset about having skipped content, are feelings not worth considering. That's kinda axiomatic.
I WAS steadily advancing one ascension at a time until epic spells also required researching until you get lucky with a book.
Erm the expansion came with a level 100 token no need to pay anything but expansion cost. Im sorry for using what i paid for and beg your forgiveness oh masterful one. I will now disembowel my self honourably for committing such a grave transgression.
