Producer's Letter -- Looking Ahead!

Ceebia wrote:

i thought it was feerrot and LP because hate and fear are the two influences most closely tied to evil undead. i would think those would be hot spots in the mirrored afterlife, atleast for mischief and unrest.

Maergoth@Antonia Bayle wrote:

sleeper confirmed PQ

Yknow, after reading this, I realized that the Devs really do not play their own game. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the new content coming and I am excited to see the avatars ( Hope it will be instanced, certain "groups" having it perma locked is not what people would like). The reason I say that all devs play a level 33 toon is simply because of the level increase to level 95. Remember how with Skyshrine added, there was alot of new gear, easy to get stuff that really made all of the old raid/heroic stuff obsolete, there was not enough content in Skyshrine to make Drunder HM obsolete etc and as a result, you guys had to tweak it to be in line with Skyshrine. With the raise to level 95, all of the older "raid zones" especially Drunder HM + PoW ( mechanics aside) just became THAT much easier. Now, if you guys added a BUNCH of content with this new expac to afford to make all this stuff worthless, I understand. We all know that this expac will NOT have enough content to hold people at 95. All zones, including Skyshrine ( x4 that can ALREADY be done with 2 groups) will become EXTREMELY facerollable. It seems like SoE is just trying to attract players with the "Oh look, level 95" and they are not thinking of what will happen with content and general balance. So basically, once again, just like with skyshrine there will be no challenging content and the old challenging stuff like PoW/some encounters in Drunder HM are going to become pointless. I know that 3 levels wont let players suddenly kill Teku if they were not able to get past Berik but, there just will not be enough content for us to play in at 95. Stop adding levels without considering game balance. You guys did this with Skyshrine (and it was soooo easy even at 92) and are doing it again. The few people that level 95 attracts will not outweigh the good majority of players that will just say "I'm done". Personally, I feel another Skyshrine fail incoming and if this anything like Skyshrine, I will just have to hang up my hat. I am not the only person that feels this way about this. Sorry but, you say challenging raid zones and bring us UDx4 and Sevelak x4, if this expac is anything like that, alot of the players will just quit as soon as they are done with the new facerollable content. Devs - Please balance content the RIGHT way. Just because it sounds cool to raise the level cap doesn't mean it is going to be a good idea. Please do NOT give us another "smashurfaceonthekeyboardandwin" expansion like Skyshrine. Do something, I don't want to be stuck doing the same content over and over and over a month after release. TL;DR- Raising level cap to 95 is not thinking too hard about game mechanics and it WILL mess up current progression. Not enough content to raise level cap for.

Michayla@Najena wrote:

Skyshrine is considered part of DoV so to get Skyshrine you have to buy DoV in otherwords pay to get Skyshrine along with Great Divide, eastern wastes and the other content they are bringing out through 2013 that has to do with DoV

Maergoth@Antonia Bayle wrote:

no, its likerly giong ot be pplayer bestowed divinity. Hail Vinyard, Soluesks new Avatar of Flamer. he'll be busy with all teh neww jobs.

Soooo how do we ask for beta invite?? . I would really like to see how my hard earned t3 pvp gear is going to be replaced a few months after getting it.

With all due respect I'm sensing another skyshrine content fail...unless of course they actually unroll a multitude of new raid zones with you know more than 3 names (sevlak awakened for example) since the level cap raise (which past history has been every 2 expacs) now it seems is every 1 expac (I'm using the microxpac of aod and the rest of content from dov (skyshrine) as a basis)). Raising the level to 95 as far as raiding goes is essentially gonna nuke even pow to an empty zone. I hope these concerns as well as the long overdue routinely promised mechanics/class/gear fixes come out prior to this...otherwise you will lose more customers that bring in...I for one am close to ending seven years in this game for the never ending concentration on fluff over the meat of the game we have had last several years.

I only remember them saying that future Velious content would be free. (I could be wrong)
So once they give us whatever is coming with the sleepers tomb stuff, I think they are done with Velious.
Now this new exansion isn't velious, so expect to shell out $60 bucks for it.
I assume the new heroic/raid content is going to make all previous heroic/raid content gear obsolete just like skyshrine did. Excellent... Just watch, I bet the new heroic group gear is going to be on par with Skyshrine/Drunder HM raid stats, and the new raid stuff (if we get any) will be 220 or 250 range of stats (at least). Either it will be really easy like most of Skyshrine, or SOE will take the fact that players said Skyshrine was to easy, and make new raid stuff twice as hard and ridiculous as PoW with 5x more DT's, 5x more AoE's, instant AoE 100% power drain every 10 seconds, a raid wide elemental DoT where only 6 people need to be cured within 2 seconds or a wipe, mobs with triple/quadruple cast, and who knows what else. Maybe add in a mechanic that causes the raid to wipe when someone sneezes or blinks in real life (being watched by SoEmote).

Please put the fun back into EQ2. Try playing the game at max level for a change Devs. Assemble your own 24 man raid and try and progress like the rest of us to get a true feeling of what EQ2 is really like now (without any of your GM power). Time to get back in touch with the roots of the game. The only way to really know what today's raiders go through, is to legitly raid for yourselves. (again, with no GM command help for gear, skills, or SC for research reducers to master yourself out instantly!)

You, you may say i'm a dreamer, but i'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world of norrath will be as one.

Windstalker wrote:

So releasing the first areas of Sleeper's Tomb in mid-September, and the expansion in November....
And not a word about TESTING this content? Honestly, part of Sleeper's Tomb in a couple of weeks? Have you people learned NOTHING over the last seven years? If not, let me lay it out for you:
No testing/limited testing=BROKEN, BUGGED CONTENT AT RELEASE, followed by multiple "emergency downtime" for hot-fixes that could have been prevented if you had actually tested the content in the first place.
/headdesk

/facepalm

CoLD MeTaL wrote:

1. You couldn't even get from level 90 to level 92 doing quests, exploring the new areas when they raised the cap. A massive departure from previous add-ons where you could level to max. simply playing the game through the story. This is because they decided to make levels (post 90) require 5 levels of pre-expac experience and didn't up the exp. from mobs/quests to compensate. Truly the definition of Hell levels and I can all but guarantee you will see that with 93-95 - which means .. grinding, a lot of grinding.
2. See above - but I think they even publically stated that all levels post 90 were going to be these massive experience holes. I know when the new levels were added last time that they eventually up'd the exp. on the new overland mobs claiming they were pushed too low, but even after that it was a nightmare to level in there. As above, you should be able to follow the quest lines to completion, run the dungeons and get max level WITHOUT grinding in other zones. I am not holding my breath on this.
3. Dunno about this one - my server (Unrest) seems to be populated just fine.

My major issue is the new enhanced focus of redundancy and grinding. I know that is the nature of MMO's to a degree but that doesn't make it right and make it even MORE required to hit level cap is going to turn off a lot of people. I don't want to kill 15 levels worth of content for three toon levels and a few Prestige points (Prestige just being AA's really - on a new page and called something else).
I'm .... underwhelmed ... as I stated earlier in the thread. I'll get the expac because I enjoy the people I play with and I enjoy have invested SO much time in SOE games over the years but it a sad corner to turn from being excited about a new Expac coming out to logging on just to make my friends happy.

Mohee wrote:

Spot on assessment...although tbh if they actually did this too many would have to learn a new class as I believe many devs play sk's....lulz doubt many have tried anything else and would pay good money to see them playing the classes that are less dps friendly less exciting...say a templar perhaps in a dev raid...I would allow them the 3 access quest items (boots/ranged/shoulders) and the skyshrine faction armor/weapons...then turn them lose on skyshrine and hm drunder. Hint: better learn to precure guys.

I have stopped and dropped to FTP, not logging in as I can't get groups for the required (?) access quests (still stuck on the first line, maybe 5th quest in for Skyshrine). I have general boredom with such a narrow content stream.

With Vanguard and World of Tanks FTP, Planetside 2 beta, along with my current Eve Online sub, I am ok for now somewhat.

Yes - I know they are different games with different demographics and systems BUT this is what our Everquest 1 friends have to look forward to. Pay attention to things like the number of zones, number of spells, AA's, item progression (so our new adornments, I guess), etc.
I still often wonder which EQ is really meant to be the flagship product of the line when I see such massive disparties like this.
I get more disenchanted hourly.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Expansion: Rain of Fear
Level cap increase from 95 to 100 – Achieve a new max level of 100 and set a new standard of gameplay.
Hunter System – Gain special rewards and titles for defeating large numbers of foes.
Aggro Meter – A brand new tool to help better manage your aggro. You can now see your aggro level relative to your group.
Collection System – Discover items throughout Norrath and collect sets for exciting rewards and titles.
Improved Brokering System – Sell items in the Bazaar while being offline! More flexibility as a buyer to search and purchase from anywhere in the world.
New Linear Item Progression – Stats on armor collected will increase as you move up from one tier to another.
Customization with non-visible armor – All non-visible armor in Rain of Fear can be worn by all. You'll be able to customize your stats for every encounter.
Class-specific stat distribution – Collect items that are designed specifically for each classes' abilities.
More than 1800 New Spells (Ranks 1, 2 & 3) – Exponentially add to your spell arsenal.
More than 550 AAs – Elevate your power and abilities like never before.
More than 3500 New Items – Create your own identity with thousands of new items.
More than 3000 New Tradeskill recipes – Increase your value across Norrath by creating items only available by your craftsmanship.
More than 110 Quests – Challenge your skills and gather useful loot.
13 Raids – Collect valuable rewards from all new adventures.
9 Zones – Be the first to discover untouched lands of Norrath.
19 Missions – Experience intriguing lore and immersive Missions.
Continued opportunity to kill off Halflings.
Legends of Norrath™ – 5 Digital Booster Packs.

Where are the new raid zones?

Level 95 means new gear for Solo and instances which will in all probability be on par with HM drunder gear.

All current raid zones will be obsoloete and cleared what will be left to raid a x2? guys this is not going to work.

I am very concerned you guys want to remove end game content and you will use the last poll about what people prefer to do in game and use the numbers to justify it rather than understanding how and why people play each teir of the game!

Good luck finding anyone in Europe prepared to buy the expansion within weeks/days of their accounts being sold to P7S.1. At least this will save SOE some money distibuting boxed copies. No, wait, that hasn't happened for years...

I don't think this community knows what it really wants. It's a two way street, as much as I think SoE messes up on a lot of issues with the game, the community has no clear objective or rather a list of unrealistic expectations sometimes.
I hear people not wanting 'hell levels' like level 91-92, but will instantly post several threads the second SoE makes it easier to level in the game.
I don't really care if hell levels are included, it only took about 5 hours on the first day for me to get to level 92 solo along with breaks.

And those who are saying "why is soe reusing zones?", well take a look at KoS. That entire expansion was copy and pasted overlands. At least this time around, they're being slightly honest of recycled zones, where as with KoS over 6 years ago, they remained silent without informing the community. Nontheless lazy developer cookie cutting, lets hope the zones are impressive.
http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/...topic_id=446805

EverQuest II: Chains of Eternity!
Price Prediction:
Standard Edition:
$49.99
Collector's Edition:
$99.99

Loendar@Unrest wrote:

It does seem dev team for eq1 has time to you know design in depth their priced xpac while we get potluck....

Loendar@Unrest wrote:

if you played eq1, you'd know that 1800 new spells in ranks means this: each of thier classes got x spells, and then they simply counted rank 1 as a spell, rank 2 seperate, and rank 3 seperate. so you got 3 spells for every 1 you actually will get.
if you played eq1, you'd know that thier aa's are ranked like ours, except their rankings are usually like this:
Huge DPS NUKE rank 1 is 10aa rank two is 15aa rank three is 20aa rank four is 25aa and so on.
I know Slay Undead from PoP was 1 ability, and maxing it out was I believe darn near 30 aa just for it. like here's a better one. for a fighter there were certain thing you wanted. like improved block. to get improved block, you had to get rank 5 in strength bonus. to get that, you had to spend 25 aa (5 aa per rank, 5 ranks). then to get the block ability maxed, it would be like another 30aa and you needed that to get a temp death prevent, holy shield. to max it out and make it actually worth using, that's another 40 aa. see how it adds up?
and they do a lot of things like aa to increase your stats, aa to increase your crit, aa to increase your runspeed, aa to increase you mitigation..and you need these aa to get to those, adn these to get to that. usually you get 1 really nice aa ability, you gotta spend a ton of aa in stuff that is worthless to you, and then a ton more to make the super new ability actually powerful.
so yes, 550 aa point sounds like a lot, but I imainge it will only actually buy an eq1 toon like 3 or 4 new abilities. maybe. and those will probably be 'enhancements' to thier new spells rather then super nice powers.
look, the clerics new Cheal rank 3 can now cure! it only cost you 250 aas to make it do that.

9 new zones. you do note that EQ1 considers say, Sebilis it's own zone. so 9 new zones to them could literally be 2 new overlands, 2 new contested dungeons and 5 instances to us.
it's like the eq2 team saying that the Sleeper's Tomb update is going to give us 4 new zones to play in! (three instances and a raid)
just like in PoP. Bastion of Thunder, Crypt of Decay, Halls of Valor...in EQ2 we'd call those raid instances. in EQ1 they are just 2 more zones.