Insta-Level 85 (280 AA?) (Heroic Characters)

As dev's says: EQ2 begin with lv90 or something like that and i think it's a good thing.

Bah this is terrible. I was just about to sub to this game.

Levelling a character is extremely Fun. It takes you through various moods/accomplishments/ADVENTURE

Takes you through areas different scenery, lets you see areas and you feel memories associated with that

It's part of what makes mmos different and indulging.

Starting at 90 takes all this away and basically going Down the road of those trigger happy no brainer games like call of duty. Straight into the action type of mentality.

Takes away the adventure completly. Sigh what are they doing to there own MMO's. EQnext has been announced too with no levels.

I'm afraid MMOs from Sony are becoming console style games.

It's over I won't sub now. Back to lotro.

EQ2 is two games.

A solo tutorial from 1-92, and a solo/adv solo/group/ raid game from 93-95.

When I started playing in 2007, level 1-70 were relevant.

When I started playing in 2004 levels 1-50 were relevant. The levels are still relevant to the level 40 Beastlord that I have, and the level 70-ish Ranger. These guys are a fun distraction when I get bored with my level 95s.

Do I care about insta-level 85s?
No. Not really. But I think that you should have to level to 20 (picking a level at random) before getting the choice to upgrade to 85 at that point.
Why? Because, if this is to lure new players, I don't think it will work. Because there is no immediate reward. Sure, you get to assign all this stuff and -bing- you're level 85, but as soon as you start playing you might notice it's a long way to level 86. But at level 1, you get an almost insta-reward of level 2 as soon as you complete your first quest. Levelling 1-10 is super easy, and very rewarding for a new player. The new player gets to experience progress.
I just don't think that, once someone starts actually playing the game, the rewards will come quickly enough to keep them playing.

Since this has no bearing on my playstyle, or is a mere convenience for established players, I have no other qualms about it.
It's an interesting experiment for SOE, let's see whether they're right or if they misjudged slighty...

Then you're in luck. You will still be able to start a new toon at level 1 and go into the world and Adventure 'till you're heart's content. But EQ2 is a boring game without friends. This game is only fun if played with a group of real-life friends. It's a Co-operative multi-player game. And it's a million times more enjoyable if you play it for social reasons. If you approach this game as a single-player me-against-the-world console game, you'll get bored real quick.

I never played lotro but I would assume the same is true in that game as well.

They better get rid of the huge ability and AA bloat if they expect people to come from WoW and Rift and actually know what to do with over 3 hotbars of abilities. There is a reason those games are far more popular, simplicity.

As a striaght-up newbie to this game (but not to MMOs in general) I'd like to offer my contribution for the devs, just take it at face value, we don't have to agree.

This game world is beautiful. I've only experienced New Halas, Neriak, and a tiny bit of Kelethin so far - keep this in mind, there is so much I have yet to uncover and experience as I roam about.

I can honestly say that if I had been given the option of hitting an "I Win" button and taking the easy road, I probably would do/have done so. The path of least resistance & all that.

I can also honestly say that it would have been a huge mistake on my part, as I've had loads of fun so far just figuring out the basics and doing some of the newbie areas. Questing up my first mount felt very satisfying.

It's difficult for me (personally) to "get" where some of these players are coming from - it's as if the entire community has been stricken with ADD. Maybe it's my upbringing, maybe it's because I am from an older generation, but in my travels I've learned to understand (and sometimes appreciate) activities that "build character". Isn't that the central theme and goal for games like this? Building a character?

Yes, it can sometimes suck when you are the Johnny-come-lately to a game and all of the friends you want to play with have already reached max level and can't be arsed to group with you because you are too low.

Personally, I think that says more about the quality of your friends than it does about the quality of the game. So, a move like this seems rather drastic and makes me wonder if they should just do away with the whole leveling paradigm altogether.

It's almost as if some are saying they really want to play this game, but they really don't want to play this game.

Is the reason why so many are in favor of something like this because, for most of us anyways, this is not the first MMO we've ever played and, as gaming veterans, we feel like we've already "paid our dues" by being the noob somewhere else and would prefer to just skip all that and waltz right in near the end game?

If this is the case, then at least it makes some sense, though it's a pretty weak excuse.

Regardless of what is said here, the devs are going to do what they're going to do - for the most part I am neutral about it. If someone wants to roam around flaunting something that they have not earned, well, what can I say except art imitates life? (usually the other way around lol) There's not a day that goes by where I don't see this going on IRL and I'm pretty desensitized to it.

It just comes across to me as a very short-sighted solution focused on a very specific and quick payoff without much consideration to the long term effects it might have overall on the game - again, something I see every day IRL but what do I know, I'm just another newbie - just wait until I reach level x then try doing y and z and it will all magically become clear to me, right?

Now if you'll excuse me I heard there was a sale at the resale shop on used crossword puzzle books that have already been filled in. I mean, I've done one or two crossword puzzles already and they are so tedious, it would be so nice if they would just print them already done to spare me the aggravation and boredom from having to do it myself.

I'm not asking for a solo game. I'm saying starting from. 0 -90 lets u have adventure and on the way you start to find adventure with other players too

The problem is, that for the past year or three, the 0-90 zones have had virtually no players to find adventure with. It's a solo run to the end game, which is fine if you don't mind soloing and enjoying the lore, but frustrating for those who actually want to group and don't care about lore.

EQ2 has AA bloat? LOL EQ has over 10,000 AA points.

I love the fact that eq2 has a crap on of abilities, and the thing is it's not even complex, but that's just me. it's my main concern for eqnext (as they said eqnext is gonna be a 1 hotbar, 8 button system. 4 class 4 weapon)

I will ONLY support Insta-toons once said players has leveled a toon to 90 by him or her self... The idea of somebody who just bought the game and can then pop on to an 85 makes me want to punch a kitten

Why? Why do you care what someone else does with his/her time/money? It has zero impact on you. And don't give me that garbage about raiding or grouping with them. Raiders and groupers only allow those who will acquiesce to them to group or raid with them anyway. So most of us, whether we work our way up or get it instantly won't be "permitted" in your groups or raids anyway. ( which is fine with me, I have no use for egomania). So the reality is, that it will have zero impact on you other than to deny you the right to control how someone else plays. I personally believe it is a good idea for someone to do it the "hard way" the first time. However, it doesn't make a difference to me, so my thoughts are really irrelevant. But the concept that YOU have to "approve" of or "support" this is laughable unless you are one of the producers, writers, programmers, owners or investors. I'm not sure they really need your approval or support.

EQ2 devs should take a long look at what this did to DAOC. In DAOC they allowed old players to instantly get to level 20 I think when rolling an alt. By doing this they basically destroyed the level 1 to 20 game (what little there was) in DAOC and it had a huge negative effect. So much so that I think they took the system out after some time.

Does any one complaining about this topic ever even get in a PUG? If you are the typical EQ2 player that only groups with with guild mates...how could this even effect you? If your guild mate did it you would know and you would just be careful as they learned. Though I think any one who has played the game a little bit could probably sit behind the wheel of any other class and at least not suck horribly. I've never played a warden for example, but I've seen them be played a lot...I've been healed by their spells...I've seen them use AA abilities at certain times...I am quite sure I could pick it up fairly quick.

And word is that characters that are insta leveled will be a certain set of gear...a quick inspect and you will know if you are grouping at level 85.

And I think people are too quick to be worried that this will flood the end game with bad players. Sure there will be some, but there are already and if you're just doing SS xp groups...do they need to be experts for that? As long as they stay with the group and press a hot key every now and then they will be fine.

I always Pug group, and oh there are some people that Don't know what they are doing, I usually look it over on ACT alot. bards that don't cast VC (probably because it's not directly doing damage). no debuffs, not alot of things happen, I never complain in the group (most times) but it's just to note.
but there are some people that do pick up any class fairly easy, I would consider myself one. it's not to say I am breaking records with my steward geared SK or troub, but I can get in a group and push buttons on him and parse pretty high on comparison. it's why I don't care if they bring this in.

Now had I not given specific examples of the games I was talking about, this may be an acceptable response. However, I did give specific examples and yet you still brought up a game that had nothing to do with with what I said.

That does sound horribly simple, but you have to remember you'll be able to multi-class. You'll eventually have a large pool of abilities that will grant you a great deal of flexibility.

I am pretty sure they learned from ALL of their many mistakes this game. Smokejumper admitted they turned this game into a small "niche" game, and he is not happy about it. Although, they are releasing yet another class into a game which already has an excessive amount of classes which is not a good sign, and shows that I am probably wrong about saying they learned their lesson. Somebody needs to explain to them that more is not always better. They just pile on more AA points, abilities and classes and then wonder why most people don't give this game a first thought, let alone a second.

Atleast EQnext shows promise with a limited amount of classes and abilities, ya know, like games that are widely more successful then this one have. Too many classes to balance and ability/AA bloat have always been this games biggest turn off to players that are used to more popular titles. Well that, and the fact SOE took the name Everquest which was the most popular MMORPG ever and turned into a small "niche" game (SJ's words), but that is direct result of the other reasons I explained.

You never post but to say the game sucks.. so why do you keep posting?

I could be wrong, but I suspect that Arch is either being paid to try to drive players away from SOE products, or is primarily playing a different game and has had most of the people he/she groups/raids with leave that game for EQ2.

Either way, when someone states that "facts are fun, but they make for bad" or "poor arguments", they have pretty much lost any credibility that they may have possessed up to that point.

* This is in reference to the following posts: