I have been highly addicted to Everquest and then Everquest 2 for the last, oh God 15 years... I even setup a second paid account and created a bunch of Heriocs (that I also paid for). My wife bought me an ASUS gaming laptop just for play EQ2. Then this expansion came out... This is where I want to thank you. With the requirements you created with the new expansion it caused me to spend so much time trying to do all the requirements, just to be able to use the $200 plus I spent on the two expansions. Forget the second account with all the heroics that you promoted to us and had us pay for, but now even on my main account with vet rewards for each additional char at 100, now I have a lot of work to do with those too because of how fast they leveled. Just to play this expansion was like trying to get my previous Epic too many hoops to jump through, which listening to others I wouldn't even bother going for this new Epic. Some raiders told me they wouldn't bother either. Then take into account acquiring one of the best robes a non-raider can get I now have to become a crafter, something I never wanted to be. I realized today that I no longer have an addiction for the game, I realized I have not even logged into the game in over 4 weeks and I don't miss it. I miss the friends I have made over the years and will log in once in a while for them. But you have broken my addiction, I no longer need to buy expansions and will probably stop my yearly payment. Thank You Daybreak for breaking my addiction and saving me hundreds a year in expansions and account payments. Hope it works out for you Daybreak, but I do have to admit the last time I logged in quite a few players I played with had stopped playing the game already. When you do the next release maybe you should let your members actually play the expansion they paid good money for without all the requirements. It's was supposed to be an expansion, not an Epic expansion. This wasn't meant to be a rant, just a thank you so no sense flaming me for this. I won't be checking back in. I wish you all good luck.
I hope somebody from DBG reads this, as its bang on the money, and done so without being over the top rude. I know lately I'm in the exact same situation as OP. I'm choosing to watch random stuff on TV instead of log in. Which for anybody who knows me, knows it takes a lot for me not to be logged in.
I'm almost there. I log in to harvest the rares off my plants, so that I can sell them. I haven't even bothered trying to level up any of the alts that I used to really enjoy. I'm in what I call "maintenance mode." I used to log in for hours every day. It's less and less each day. I'm thinking about going back to school with all my newly found free time.
I too cancelled my subscription. I actually like the new zones and the expansion i'll give them credit for that. Put simply i just can't make the expansion work for my type of game style. The game suits the unemployed, retired or person with hours and i mean hours to spend playing because that's what you need to do to get your ascension levels high, to grind your Tithe, get the points into diety etc. The bit that breaks me is going back to old content to grind faction, going back to do quests and timelines i never wanted to do. Crafting to 100 because you need it for your epic. My alts are all but dead and i use to like playing them and having the variety of options. I spend so much time doing the above i rarely see a zone and when i do i'm competing against lvl 9 ascension classes with epic 2.0 weapon completed. Hours upon Hours those players have put into those toons, and credit to them but the game punishes you if you haven't got the time to do this. Four groups now i've been asked to leave (heroic content i might add) where my dps wasn't 200k million i just thought screw it. The whole concept of community is dead, and even if you physically can go into any heroic content in Twark or legendary crafted gear, the mind set of the community has moved into this Elitist us and them, where by the simple fact you haven't had the hours to plough into 40 points of diety to give you 20K + potency makes your toon irrelevant to any group. It's no fun anymore, people don't even laugh it's all grind grind grind grind and lots of Potency. So i'm back playing Diablo III it's not perfect but i can get into the action quickly fight and loot gear. I think i get more rewarded playing an hour in Diablo III than i do in four weeks of EQ2. Of course they are different games i appreciate that. Four of my guild members left this week they liked the variety and options to play their alts but the amount of questing, crafting and pre-reqs they needed let alone ascension levels has made them reconsider and so they too have stopped raiding and cancelled subscriptions. i predict more from my guild will follow, but hey it's been 12 years of fun, of course people move on this expansion was just a bit too hardcore for me. To those remaining Enjoy, there are alot of good things but some not so good. Grinding PQ's for Ascension = not my idea of fun. Doing grey quests = not my idea of fun Griding Factions they know we beat the crap out of in previous expansion = Not fun Grinding old contested zones because they give more Tithe than current content = Not Fun Waiting AFK in a zone for a burnt key that is luck = Not fun Hitting content but already four months into expansion being so far behind others so asked to leave heroic zones due to poor stats dps = not fun Reforging options being limited = Not fun Alts being cast aside because who the hell wants to grind out so much to make them relevant = Not Fun. Crafting items dropping but no components being discovered anywhere = Not Fun Punishing those who don't want to craft to 100 = Not Fun Infact the more i think about it then more i'm done thankyou DBG. I wonder if behind closed doors some of the developers are beating their head against a brick wall telling the management but some narcissist ego maniac is running the show and he/she knows best because, at times it really feels like who ever is calling the shots is clueless.
Amen! Canceled my 3 accounts too. I visit to see who's still on, but don't look to forward to play this game anymore. Good Hunting all. (eso now)
Cya all later - I rather like the new xpac - then again I won't go for the epic 2 because of the ridiculous grind fest. I'll still maintain my 2 paid accts But hey to each his own right? I guess you have to decide what is the best entertainment value you get for the money. For me, it's still EQ 2 - much cheaper than cable/satellite and going to the movies - not to mention there isn't a single better MMO out there LOL Feel free to send me your logins and pwords and I'll use the accounts - I know some people who would want them and play. Specially if they're vet accounts!
Retroactively - what killed for me EQ1? - turning gaming into second job. EQ2 comes dangerously close to that point Major problem with current x-pack - is fact that grouping is DEAD. To elaborate it a bit In EQ2 always existed 3 tier of play - solo, group, raid balance was not always good but it did existed What happened with current x-pack - game degrade to mostly solo and raid type with very case of grouping (for epic 2.0) In a large problem lies in Heroics design and implementation Original idea WAS great - you have clear progression from on-land (5 resolve) to Solo/AS (7 resolve) to T1 (9 resolve) to T2(11 resolve) to T3 heroic/T1 raiding (14 resolve) to T2 raid (14/17 resolve).... in very same time Pot mudflation came to play (just take a note for now) Itemization and risk/reward got screwed royally thou. To begin with doing T1 heroic had zero reasons - should you capable of doing it from resolve gating stand point of view gear was no upgrade but sheer time that was needed for group that been "just" qualified for T1 heroic to clear single zone was (and is) beyond horrible. On other hand group that capable of reasonably fast pace through the zone (reasonable in my eyes 15-20 minute) would find zero upgrade in that zone. More over zone not even worth to doing for experience grind (remember Tithe and Pot mudflation!). Moving to T2 (11 resolve gear drops) - this tier technically speaking "do" have something to look after - namely 1k jewels .... as an extremely rare loot but problem is the same - group that could use T2 heroic as an upgrade would struggle bad through such zone and group that capable of clearing zone reasonably fast ... have no interest of doing such zone. CH zone is something different - ppl who capable of doing this zone don't need anything from that zone either (except again ultra rare 17 resolve jewels loot from boss) but they at least able do this zone strictly for SLR (and God bless them for that!) Now ... what group activity left? well only certain steps on Epic 2.0 really. What MOST ppl do nowadays (even not hard cores) a) Epic 2.0 (what is possible) - hence this is biggest time sink and biggest goal in game (I have nothing against it if this would not involve doing gazillion grey quests that overwise you won't touch with 7 feet pole ... Rim faction is a good example) b) Key quests - chance for shadow quartz (1:300) that will net you T3 heroic/T1 raid level of gear plus theoretical chance to win a lotter jackpot - burnt key c) PQs - currency grind and chance to win jack pot (charm, sword, helm) d) Tithe grind (namely - doing old level 100 contested zones from ToV/AoM/ToT depending on taste and population Each of above activity produce MUCH bigger progression than regular grouping and dungeon crawl - sadly
So im trying to wrap my head around this post. You are quitting the game cause the new epics are out? lol did you not think that a BiS weapon would be easy to get? Does no one else rember how long of a grind it was for the first epic? The sense of entitlement for some people is just ********. Im sorry that your cannot get your epic on 24 toons in the same day lol. What made this game great and still great is its a marathon not a sprint. So you had to do some crafting big deal it was a total of 5 hours that you could do a small bit at a time and trust me I hate crafting. If your having a hard time finding groups get into a guild that helps people group I know plenty out there and im sorry but doing the epic time line gave everyone 5 pieces of BiS gear for there time and effort. For every faction grind and greyed out quest there was a BiS piece waiting for you at quest end. Doing a couple key quests a day rewarded everyone with 2 pieces of Myth gear. Tithe I get this point but in all honesty you don't need to grind 30 plus points in potency to compete and doing dailies and solo and even some heroics give enough to get you a decent 15 which is pretty good. How ever I have heard and it has been talked about the DEVS making tithe sharred for alts not sure how it will be done or when. You also said the community is dead this makes me laugh the most as I have never seen so many people come together to figure out the puzzle that was the EPIC2.0 it was fun and exciting but im guessing you just sat there on the side lines watching and waiting for everyone else to get. I think what im getting at the most is this you want to leave then leave don't have to post all this QQ for it. The DEVS and everyone else know this game isn't perfect and trying fix what they can with the work force they have. Hands down this game is still the best MMO out there and like every other EQ2 player over the years we all come back sooner or later! P.S if this expansion isn't for you go the TLE server for a bit and try it out back when the game was a bit more simple.
There is a difference between content being challenging and 'epic', vs being a grind of outdated and grey quests. The Epic 1.0 were the former, with Epic 2.0 being the latter. There is no sense of entitlement, just a sense of disappointment that instead of lots of challenges put in throughout KA, we are basically expected to run old content solo. Doing the actual quests for Epic 2.0, if you had all the Pre-Reqs would take near no time at all, other than artificial blockers such as Ascension, and Lockouts. The whole point of this thread was that it was constructive. When you leave any large company, they often ask for feedback of why you left. Because guess what, it usually helps companies improve and fix issues that caused those departures instead. Nothing in this thread has been QQ, it has all just been constructive and fair criticism which could be addressed.
Your right and if that was the case there would be a forum created by DBG to post your feed back when you leave but there isn't. So we are going to agree to disagree
I hope DB will take this to heart because only a small percentage of those who are disappointed will post on forums. I realize they have to sift out what is the common complaint, and I can say that I have heard many more in-game who have expressed similar feelings. i.e: - The game is for the unemployed who can spend all day on it. - The old content prereqs and forced crafting makes the game a chore now. - It is no longer Alt friendly. - There is almost no more grouping. For me all the above has resulted in it being hard to find groups which is the most attractive part of the game (imo) and as we lose more people (or people play fewer alts) this is only getting worse.
There is a "thick" line between "challenging" and "time sink" But lets get fact straight here From level 9 to level 100 in TS take A LOT more than 5 hours grind - I use to be a PG (power gamer) and have all boosters (except for TS vet bonus because I disdain TS in 2004 and still do now) with 100% TS vitality, 110% draft of wise ALL THE TIME (and bear in mind hammer have reset time 3.5 days) its take 11-12 hours game play to get from 9 to 95. From 95 onward its really depend on many factors but lets say you start doing you AoM on Tuesday to finish by Wednesday so you hit 2 weekly/daily head by head with full vita and 110% exp boost at very least another 4-5 hours. So Technically speaking its 16 hours of developing carpal syndrome (pressing 1-2-3 ... 1-2-3 .... aren't in my life of having fun things) Nobody asking to get epic in 24 hours - lol gateway was set 89 days AT LEAST (that much time you need to grind you ascending). Again nobody mind of "sane" pre-req (like learning some odd language or doing some dungeon access quest) doing faction grind is also fine but compare to Epic 1.0 where faction grind was more or less relevant to content and progression in Epic 2.0 we doing some faction that NOONE in sane mind would even touch (Rim faction is a good example) About tithe you also very wrong - there is a HUGE gap in DPS between those who have 22K+ Pot and those who at 15K - how huge well if toss here ascending spells quality AND type of ascending class I'd safely can say about ratio 1:2-1:5 now you can say if tithe needed or not to be grinded past or at 30 points Personally I'd rather have SINGLE epic 2.0 quest for ALL classes (much like time line) but challenging and interesting then 4 archtype quests filled out with uncalled and un-necessary time sinks just to gate out date than Epic 2.0 should appears in game
It's not to late for daybreak to say, " we messed up, sorry guys " followed by undoing all the ridiculous stuff they have done this expansion. They should scrap the whole ascension class, scrap 95% of the pre-reqs for epics, drastically reduce tithe gains. There are a ton of other things, but basically completely undo the last 1.5 years of changes that have been made.
At this point I am only logging in to grab ascension scrolls until my sub runs out or something changes.
I feel its starting to get to the end of the road for me too, something drastically needs to happen and fast. Every week some ridiculous broken mechanics that ruining all the fun in the game. Class balances are so far out of whack its not funny, mechanics that have been broken for years still broken. As much as I USE to enjoy this game its starting to get hard to want to log into and play. Yes please scrap ascension!!!
You will be left behind because people will soon make it a requirement to get into their groups so they kill kill more faster. Unless you have a group of friends who are all not doing them then your grind of same old stuff will get old and end. There is nothing to do in KA long term, hence the going back and requiring all the old content just to move forward in this expansion.
At this point, I would be happy with: -Get rid of faction grind aspect of epic 2.0 -Get rid of scrolls and give everyone 1.1mil member ascension exp every 22 hours with a pool of 7.7mil weekly (to be increased once you hit level 10. Or whatever numbers work as long as they reflect what we currently have but eliminate the scroll hassle. edited the switching ascension classes thing, because really the scroll is the part of that which is most annoying. -Implement a purchasable ascension level booster of some type usable only by those who haven't yet maxed out an ascension class. I don't care if they wait a few months for this, but it should be a thing. Would greatly help towards bringing alts back into the game and perhaps pulling in new blood. -Increase current heroic dungeon xp to be on the same level as contested. Promote grouping, which is currently close to dead.
The kicker for me is even working full time, maintaining relationships, going to school, whatever, I've always managed to find the time to devote that sort of time to the game. I did it because it was fun, and I genuinely looked forward to logging in. I find that even though I could dedicate that sort of time, I really don't want to because most of the time is spent pissing away at crap that's makes me want to punch myself repeatedly in the face. I'd rather camp Gynok Moltor or the mushroom spores in Upper Guk for the Paw of Opalla in EQ1 every night for a month than play through the KA requirements. It's more rewarding. But since this is a thank you thread- Thank you Daybreak for not entirely screwing TSO up to the degree you did with DoF, KoS, and RoK.
What day is the DBG developer team meeting? I'm gonna guess it's a Wednesday. Please one of you Devs that reads this forum print this forum post off and show it to your boss. You might worry you'll loose your job but you might not have a job if the amount of people leaving the game in my guild is anything to go by. This week we've stopped raiding due to our three tanks calling it a day. ( no pun intended)
