I'll start saying I just watched the "Death of EQ" video from 2018. It hit hard. Is there any chance the new Darkpaw will make the low level experience better? Smashing orange / red ^^^ mobs in a couple hits for heritage or to find a modicum of challenge makes the game super boring. I'd take a full revamp of ascension or removal all together. It's a terrible system of turning classes into generic long casting turrets. The lower level game would benefit from some difficulty and a slower leveling experience...and the end game needs a push away from rubberstamping skills between classes via ascension. My BL, SK, Monk want to be their classes, not Geo or whatever is further separated from the core class.I can't even Chrono down to find a challenge to fill the time between the easy and too mundane. I can get to 90 in a day or two, then stand in line for ascension classes to water down my core class. I can chrono down and try to enjoy mid-level content, but kill everything in 2-3 hits without a merc. The last option is grind ascension. There are no parts that seem fun anymore. With the switch to DPG, is there a chance at a return to fun, or are we locked in a collision course to planet Yawns-ville? My heart will shatter if I finally have to push the eject button because Norrath is just rotting on the vine.Without Brad at the helm of Pantheon, we're just going to end up here again.BFA from the other game is locked in orbit until the end of this year. Thoughts from those with EQ / EQ2 acumen? I guess I'm just trying to convince myself that all is not lost...I picked up the newest xpac, but can't bring myself to get to the ascension point, and make that leap. I can't level last xpac's max level toon to just go deeper into the ascension rabbit hole.. Tog.
For what it's worth, there is no new ascension levels in BoL, and class abilities are again the primary DPS mechanism. Ascension still contributes, but its not as vital.
and they made auto attack highly relevant again eq2 is probably the most complex mmo stat wise, how to get the most out of your character is not 1 way and then golden in current eq2
No its not. Not even close. Having big numbers doesn't make anything complex. There is very little variation in gearing. Reforging strikethrough from amod on your pants and some accuracy on other pieces and then amod into DPS is pretty much all there is. BLs wanting 3 pieces of WDB+cap, mages wanting double cast and some scout classes wanting 3 pieces of flurry pieces. On top of that most stats are completely irrelevant from just 1 piece of gear. Thats about the complexity you have in eq2 currently. If thats very complex in ur eyes, then okay im all for calling that complex.
Ascension is not a major focus anymore. You can now use Ascension Boost (Summer Panda) to catch up. Low level game has pretty much been eclipsed. They grant Level 110 Character Boosts with the basic expac. In terms of the health of EQ/EQ2, there is usually a 60-100 minute queue to play on EQ1's Aradune server. There are consistently 400+ players on each EQ1 Live Server. EQ2 servers are fairly good in health (due to pandemic and lack of progress on vaporware).
yeah you seem to have it all covered. i want to change my answer and i meant to say it is super easy and any noob coming in will have it down pat in 1 day
That's because the game design staggers the roll-out of higher class abilities, ascension spells, and any other character power enhancements that push shop revenue. Ascensions may not be the thing this year, but they will be back soon.
I couldn't find anything about the abandonment of ascensions either. No one seems to be talking about it. If it was a comment from a dev on discord, a screen would be nice.
I remember hearing something about that too with the ascensions... I wanna say it was one of their podcasts...
I also remember hearing about "moving away" from Ascensions or like admitting that it wasn't a good idea (not to be pursued/updated). It might have been on a AMA, podcast, or Discord and likely asked in the lead up to BoL release. Something to the effect: "Will we see updated Ascensions in BoL?" or "Will we need to level up Ascension in BoL?" Their answer was in the negative and something about class spells/abilities being the focus in the future.
I recall talk of doing a balance pass and making class abilities more impactful relative to ascensions. I do not recall (nor can I find any documentation) where anyone from DPG said that ascensions were a failure and being abandoned. I don't do discord, though.
Yes that's what I remember too... what you said... the balancing, I didnt hear about abandoning or failure, but soemthing about adjustment like you said... wish I could remember where... I just joined discord so it wasnt that... maybe it was one of the announcement letters...any who thank you thought I was losing my mind for a sec...
What they actually said about ascensions was that they added them because long cast times reduce game lag. That's all they said about ascensions. So in fact they acknowledge that game lag is because of the game itself and not their CDN as they tried to claim a month ago. btw raid encounters still lag darkpaw games.
Ascensions are pretty much central to the game. Not entirely sure who and why would they think otherwise. Your main big hits are either a direct result from ascension ability (e.g. ethershadow assassin) or an effect from it (e.g. terrene destruction). Geomancers are the new melee friendly ascension class in this expansion. Not an absolute requirement but those who use it or seen it being used properly in raids know how good it can be. Secondly, the stats are not complicated, they appear complex because the underlying core mechanics were never fully utilised in accordance with the content that was created. The most obvious sign of that is complete neglect of each individual classes and their AA setups which have been redundant for years. Even Kander mentioned it during one of his more productive early podcasts. You can't really expect to go anywhere with the game when the core is all but forgotten. When you fix that, only then you will see low level play become better. As it stands, low level/TLE game is intrinsically differernt from max level game in every respect. It is actually like playing two different games in terms of balance (or lack thereof). Where you have one game that relies on old methods of getting good gear, learnig the class and being efficent with the use of AAs and the content you engage with and then you have the other game at max level. Where inflating your stats through any way possible (rely on in-game RNG or buy boosters) to blast through caps and roll over on the content. I am afraid that from SOE to DBG to DPG one thing has remained the same and that is the mindset. So we cannot expect any real changes that will bring about the resurrection of this game.
and also completely undocumented. and you can't trust the tooltips. They're either incomplete, obsolete, or just plain wrong.
totally with you there, i have submitted feedback for the ui to be updated and have asked about it in the podcast question thread
