STOP EQ2 Racism (kinda)

hello guys!
So I made a gnome warden as my 10th char. Mainly because they look kinda cute, and I didn't have one yet. I knew that they weren't designed to be healers, but I thought: what the heck, 70 wis less and a few tiny stat-boosts wont break a char. They probably don't... but I think it is still sad that they are all useless to this build.
These predefined racial skills also hurt variety in the game imo. Why not make a gnome tank? After all it's a game, and fun. So I would welcome it very much when SOE gave each race a pool of racial traits to pick from, or at least (to satisfy their Marketplace and not work against unlockable races) to buy a reset for racial traits (and select from a pool of versatile ones for all classes) with Station Cash in the Marketplace.
Another example of a wasted skill is my Halfling Ranger, because he has Tracking as a Halfling Ability, plus Tracking from being a Ranger... would be nice to change it around a bit ourselves.

My Ratonga bruiser has a similar pile of junk that he has no use for. The racial skills, traits, etc need an overhaul.

None of the traits matter that much. If you want to min/max, pick the race that works. If you want to play the race, don't pick such an absurd title to a thread on the forums to complain about the racial traits.

I believe the initial idea of these racial traits was to activly encourage players to pick from all available races so that Norrath isn't run over by mostly Dark Elves, Wood Elves, and the other races that many players naturally prefer.
So it may have been a good idea at the beginning when EQ2 came out, but as of now I feel they are more a hinderance to variety.
When SOE makes it possible to switch out unwanted traits, it will open the way to creat more funny combinations like a dwarfen Warlock, Gnome tanks, etc... and it wont hurt anybody (except maybe some fixed ideas of what certain races can do).
They could implement it with either quests. I.E. a gnome goes to study ancient literature and earns +WIS instead of +AGI... or they could sell replacements on the marketplace for SC and make some bucks from people who want to polish their weird combination of class and race.
Anyway, it would benefit the game, create some revenue, and not hurt anybody really imo.

Maybe i´m that noob, but i never looked onto those tiny stats, if you compare to the endstats a char normaly got.
I mean, does it realy make a significant change to have 30 agi + if your char got already beyond 3000? (Nowadays over 4000)?
I did understand the traits as given through the race, then the traits are all good Beside of, i do like the free repair on my nomes ^^

no, it doesnt make a significant difference. but it is like +80 at level 92, and some players (like me) simply would like to tune the character, even with these tiny traits that give you small benefits, and I would love to replace the redundant tracking on my Halfling Ranger with something useful, since he get's tracking anyway.I's really silly to have a gnome warden and see all these useless skills: AGI, INT, Poison trigger, Subjugation, Melee Multiattack, Ranged and Piercing...
I am thinking about buying a race change potion at level 92, but I'd prefer to keep the gnome and fix up the skills to suit the warden class.
Nobody gets hurt and SOE might make a few bucks from people like me.

Dont get me wrong, i can understand, it would even be cool if so.
But the traits a based on logical facts, based on the race, which i also dislike. But, to me at least, it gives some sort of racial feedback, that a gnome isnt trainded since birth in tracking, more like race given talent on repairing stuff

Zergosch wrote:

I agree, it makes sense for the masses of gnomes. BUT a gnome could also have a dream and train hard to aquire a different set of skills, right? They could add quests to reflect this, but of course that would take up more developer time, so a simple Marketplace sale might be more to their liking - or they could make a quest to meet up with the wise Master Wu , meditate for 2 minutes and gain WIS instead of AGI. ...
It's a fantasy game... a gnome could also develop an Exoskelet and gain STR for INT, or something like that - just as an example how you could "reason" it.

Nynaeve wrote:

A gnome could get trained in tracking, then we call him scout j/k ^^
Beside of, there some "usefull" stuff already in the marketslave, to get evac/tracking and so on.... one reason why they didnt put it out for free.
it is already on sale

swift swings is not useless for a warden at all. And if you are the type that believes healers shouldnt melee than hasty decisions is useful instead. They may not help your healing, but healers shouldnt just heal anyway.

Icculuss@Unrest_old wrote:

Most healer i meet lately did just heal or forget about healing and doing dps....

personally, I am not a huge fan of everyone can do everything equally. It makes your world more generic. Why should gnomes be as good of a Berserker as an ogre or a troll as good of a scout as a ratonga? It doesnt make sense.

I think EQ2 found a good compromise. Races are better at certain classes than others, but its not a large enough advantage to matter to someone who really wants an erudite guardian.

Nynaeve wrote:

(( To respond to the thread title: "What a stupid thread (kinda)".
Gnomes are small and physically weak, and to add to that, they are not very wise, but despite their sometimes bumbling demeanour, they are extremely good at research, academic study and building gadgets and machines.
So, gnomes are excellent as mages, but are not so good as priests and especially not as fighters. This is pretty obvious, and it is the lore, the story background, and has been so for 12-13 years now! (In EQII and EQ1 before it).
>> From your comments, you knew this when you made the character <<
Unlike you, many players actually want real and meaningful differences to the game races, not have them all made exactly the same. The differences are fun, and personally, I would like the differences between races made ten or twenty times larger than they already are, not made even more meaningless just to stop people like you whining after making a choice you knew about before you even made it.
If you do not like your class/race choice, the only person to blame is yourself. If you want the "best" stats/choices for a fighter, choose a race that the lore has set up as a martial race, there are a list of them. If you want the "best" stats/choices for a healer, again, choose a race set up for that specifically.
However, if you want to make a non-conventional choice "for fun", then absolutely fine - except you should accept the consequences of that choice without complaining and without asking for the game to be modified to remove racial differences and make everything even more bland.
There is nothing wrong with playing a race you want to play, I mean, I play all high elves. But I don't whine about the fact that my high elf fighters are not well suited to their race, because it was MY OWN CHOICE and I realize that the racial differences add colour to the game. In this case, it was your choice too, so deal with it, or change your race. The options are right there in front of you. The option to just ask for the game to be changed to remove all racial differences is just the most selfish option possible ))

This belongs in the RP forum ... but it is funny that a friend of mine JUST this morning asked me the same question and I'll tell you what I told him. Play the race you like for whatever class you enjoy becasue the only time it would ever matter even a little bit was if you were raiding in one of the top 10 WW raiding guilds and you'd need to min/max to that extreme. Otherwise, its a zero issue.
I choose toons based on abilities and even though many, if not most, can be found in-game or bought for SC, that is how I choose; things like Slowfall/Glide (pegasus cloak), tracking (SC), stun-immunity (Signets / WarRunes) or inter-zone teleporting (Tinkering).

Felishanna@Antonia Bayle wrote:

I noticed you used the word "whine" 100 times in your rant. Actually it is you who is whining about change, because you are afraid of change. I on the other hand want to help SOE make some bucks from silly players like myself. Why do you want to keep SOE from making money and keep EQ2 funded? They depend on the small sales business model now, and it has proven to be the saviour of the formerly declining old game.
It's not all about gnomes. I used them as an example. Your idea about what individuals of certain races should be able to do is simply based on prejudice. A Dark Elf could be wise as well, nobody prevents him from aquiring wisdom. But seriously, who cares about your rant. I am 100% sure you screamed as much when f2p was proposed.

The traits they grant currently are pretty much a waste of time to even spec into. They should buff them up quite a bit, racial choices shouldn't be so shoddy. To be honest, the choices they present to you should be as difficult to decide over as some of the AA choices are. Every aspect of the game should be fun and seem like your choice is unique and has an impact on your characters progression.

Nynaeve wrote:

Whie the post did go a bit overboard, the general message is spot on.
Don't ruin the flavor of the game because your choice of fun combo is only 99% as effective as an ideal one.

The diffrences should be more then 10 times greater to even get a notice that there are diffrences ^^
Otherwise i just cant disagree, but to dislike the wish of other player, won´t make eq2 a roleplaying game again.... you see and you will see tanks that almost as tall as a pixel.....

Nynaeve wrote:

(( Wrong. I have no issue with F2P at all. But it is irrelevant to this thread so I have no idea why you link the subjects.
However, I do believe that as players we need more real choices between different paths that make an actual difference. Removing differences to make every choice the same only removes colour from the game, and is a bad move in general.
Character races are one example where there is still a (very small) difference between the options, and I support those differences existing, indeed, I would like to see the impact of racial choice made larger. I totally oppose any suggestion to remove all racial differences.
It is not that if a potion existed on the marketplace for $9.99 to make a gnome have the racial options of an ogre that I would overly care per se, but I don't consider it a valuable use of precious development effort just for you and the four other people worldwide who might use such a silly item. I think there are more important things to worry about.
But you and people like you, however, want all differences removed for your own "I demand everything" reasons, and it comes across as selfishly demanding that an existing facet of the game that is loved by many players is removed just for you.
If you want to play a gnome tank or gnome healer, do so, and accept the restrictions. They are extremely minor. If you want absolute min/max, choose the best race for your class and then use the illusion of your choice. Make a choice and live with the choice without whining for the game to be changed for your personal gripe ))

Felishanna@Antonia Bayle wrote:

+1
The traits are part of the lore of each race. It's good that they're different.
Yes a gnome can work hard, overcome his handicaps and become an excellent fighter. He can do that in-game the way it is now. I see no reason to change that. True he has a SLIGHT disadvantage with stats, but that's the disadvantage he has to overcome.
Also, I"m sorry but your thread title really got you off on the wrong foot with me. Due to RL connotations I consider it a charge not to be leveled lightly.
P.S. Not everyone wants to play an elf due to stats. I don't think I've ever rolled any sort of elf in EQ2. Ever. No interest. Rolled lots of Iksar though.