posative changes SOE has done

With so much negativity on these forums I feel maybe we should list the changes that have been made to the game for the better
here is my posative feedback list of changes that I feel has made the game a better place in no particular order

Personal Depots
*Access quests become optional
*Faster ingame travel (no more boat or spire camping)
*Consolidating stats
*House item placement tool (pitch roll ect)
*Plat limit removal for our ftp friends
*Mercenaries mercenaries mercenaries
*Flying mounts
*Bag sort button
*Adornment dislodgers
*PvP gear relevant in pve environment
*Mentoring system
*Player Studio

I encourage other forum users to put what they felt was positive changes that affected them

A big thank you to soe for these changes please keep them

I'm sorry but consolidating stats is not one of the things 'they got right'. If you don't believe me, just ask them.

this is a thread of what we felt were positive change, I personally like that i only have to pick adorns and reforge for 2 stats instead of 3

and for memory sake here is promotional video for the game launch
http://videos.sapo.pt/7FCDTpHH2OAMOPWtowCh

I would add Leapers - my mount of choice from 30 to 85. *smile*

The way guilds are set up. I have met a lot of great people because of the great guild I am in.

The house / guild decorating system in general (not just the new tools). They are a great creative outlet.

The House movement tool is a huge boon. Love the flight or leaper mounts (not fond of gliders yet though lol). The appearance tab is awesome. Breaking out of housing to add into the mini instance of your home. Honestly the game overall is pretty nice compared to a lot of mmo's out there past and present. The player Studio has been a huge concept that no other current mmo out can touch.

I understand you want a positive thread about what you find positive, but being a forum I get to challenge your supposition unless a mod indicates otherwise.

And while you find stat consolidation as good, most of the Dev team have publicly communicated they don't agree.

Mercs are also an example of what I feel is a bad feature as they discourage community in a game that community is one of the best things going for it.

As far as good recent changes, the new avatar arena is good as it gives players in mid tier progression more content to do and provides them some accomplishment after getting nutpunched by SG raid zone starting difficulty being set too high.

I just finished a good one, you will like it.

• Prestige trees in general
• Challenge Duo Zones
• Leveling via grinding is effective from 90-95.

My opinions in PINK.

Ooh? A leaper that doesn't look ugly? I hope that's what you're hinting at

This simply isn't the case in my experience. I can go hours, at one point a couple of months ago even days without seeing another player in low level zones. This isn't because players are running around "molo"-ing with Mercs, it's because players simply aren't in those zones.

Mercs give someone who...

(a) is going to solo anyways
(b) doesn't see another human for long stretches of time
(c) wants to play the game, not spam "LFG" or "need DPS, PST" in chat

...an opportunity to to actually get into the game and play from levels 1-80 where it is dead, dead, dead.

OooOoo when can we get a sneak peek at it?

Probably two weeks.

See, this right here highlights two more positives in EQ2; the fact that the developers are still, after going on 10 years adding new content to the game and they take the time to communicate with the playerbase.

Kudos.

aw

awesome, looking forward to it

You don't need mercs for that, the removal of aa restrictions and reitemization of all items make low level characters more than powerful enough to steamroll content without a merc.

Mercs should have been to when a level 35 tank and level 35 DPs are together and want to do runnyeye together. They would zone in and pop a healer merc cause no healer was LFG and go to town. The same case should workj for 4 level 95s, they should be able to hire 2 merrcs and go slaughter ST contested.

Most of the time mercs are just following soloers thru content they do not need a merc to kill.

Thank you for listening and loving this game as much as we do. Thank you for all the love you have given us.

Tradeskill/Crafting - We crafters are a lonely sort and need extra love.
Housing - thanks for the new obsession - like I need one!
Player Studio
User friendly awesomeness - thanks for making our game world a little less tedious.
Personal Depots
Mercenaries
Some old quest fixes that needed to be fixed.
Some look and feel fixes that needed to be fixed.
Thanks for the fixes!

Now remember, we can never get enough love.

Kindest Regards ~ Feara

Thank you for in-game Mods, Devs, Community Mgrs. Lest the unmannered hordes do to this game what has been done to so many others.

Some things I love
COV- when it works
Gear worthwhile now that can be trade-skilled that people will actually use
Arena of the Gods
All the new stuff in all of the special events through the year like Frostfell, Tinkerfest etc
Anything that does get actually fixed
Making Darklight Woods really gorgeous

Wish I could use a glider but I lose my flying mount stats if I do Anyway thats all I can think of at the moment although there is more.

NOTE: Oops correction wish I could use a leaper I hate gliders.

So then I'm not sure I get your complaint. If mercs are not needed to solo content, and most mercs are just pointlessly following along behind soloers soloing content, then how did mercs in any way discourage community?

I mean, that right there seems to be the core of your issue, not that mercs are in some way discouraging group play, but that content is discouraging group play. If I don't need a merc to go through the Commonlands, then I don't need a group to go through the Commonlands, and that happened well before Mercs came about.

Either way, be it mercs or content that is the issue, I have found it much easier to make my way through "low" level zones with the aid of a merc. I no longer have any "down time" with my Beastlord or Assassin. I'm no longer standing idle waiting for my hit points to recover and I can actually play the content instead of mob-pause-mob-pause.

Do I need a merc? No, but we've already established I don't need anyone to make my way through 1-80 zones. It just makes it easier. If I'm going to go through low level content alone, then I may as well take the easier route, even if the "difficult" route is not at all difficult.

Again, it's been my experience that the 1-80 zones, at least on the Permafrost server, are barren. I'll be lucky to see more than 4 or 5 players in any given overland zone at one time, and I'd say that only about a third of the time do I see someone with a merc, a third I see them just solo and a third there's a group of 2-3 players. Mercs aren't causing a lack of community. The lack of players is causing a lack of community, at least going from 1-80.

I see plenty of people in chat, I see plenty of people level 80+ in Freeport around the crafting stations and broker, I see plenty of healthy guilds, so the people are there. They're just not where I am, and a merc helps fill in that gap until I catch up to all the people who have been playing for years and have a box full of level 95 alts.

[edit]

Just for added clarification, I feel that the majority of players on my server are level 80+, possibly a majority are level 95. That is where the community is, and starting next week there will be people who jump in and fast forward to level 85 in order to join that community, (not taking into account the number of people who currently take advantage of powerleveling in order to fast forward). I don't see much of a community between 1-80.

For someone like me, who wants to actually play through those old zones, a merc is a means by which I can play those zones and not feel like I'm wasting my time.