The Shadow Odysseyâ„¢

Rainmare@Oasis wrote:

You do know that for the rest of the gaming industry YOUR definition of Casual is consitered Hardcore, your definition of Hardcore is consitered Crazy Hardcore(for lack of a better term) and the definition of Casual is people who play Peggle.

Esmeroth@Valor wrote:

Where have casuals demaned access to raid zones? I have seen Hardcore insult and demean casuals, and I have seen them demand that SoE take content that was set aside for casuals and give it to Raiders, I have yet to see the reverse though.

BTW, consitering there will be like 20 group zones in this expainsion, I would guess atleast a few of them will be Nazera like in difficulty so while they are not "Raid Zones" they will definatly be "Hardcore" zones.

kela wrote:

Yay for broken quotes.....
Anywho... The only zones that I have seen raiders ask for was a revamp of old t5 raid zones since they are never used anymore.
....and I have seen casuals ask for raiding to be removed from the game since many think thats the reason the game is so unbalanced.

Also, there are 20 groups zones. What do raiders get this expansion....4 zones. So all you casual people saying SoE doesn't cater to you can go jump in a lake.

If I am recalling correctly...the devs mentioned a few times that they "overbalanced" ROK in making it a bit too geared towards soloers. This expasnion is geared towards groups and soloers...with a few zones for those who wish to raid.
Now, we can go around and around about OMGZOR @#$%#$%#% RAIDERS and then delve into the hardcore vs casual etc etc etc till we are blue in the face and it won't do us a lick of good.
Let's agree to disagree and wait to see exactly WHAT the expansion brings us. We have an idea already...so lets try to be civil and wait for more info before we all go off the deep end.
Now, personally...i think this wil be a great expansion. Why? Cos this one seems to have gotten it right. There are a few new things for the OMGZOR @#$%#@$% RAIDERS!!!, several huge overland zones for soloers and a tonne of things for groupers...heck even the crafters are getting some love New mobs, a great storyline, new gods, new dungeons....my god there will be a billion things to see and explore
Lets look at the positive stuff for a while...all this negativity creates headaches

Lady Shai wrote:

Woot finally someone who knows what they are talking about TY

Xanrn wrote:

Three SoH type zones and one single-boss zone. And one contested.

It's going to be a fast death for even relatively hardcore raiding, most likely.

Do keep in mind that those are just at launch. We have plans for post-launch expansion raid content as well.

Ilucide wrote:

Only 2 questions: How many? and How often?

Ilucide wrote:

No offense- but unless it's something other than the x2 raids you've mentioned, it's not likely to garner anything from that hardcore crowd, either.

Not that that hurts me any, as I'm not hardcore raiding anymore, but the point stands.

Sassinak wrote:

If you have to go afk every hr for 30 mins then why are you backing up this xpac at all considering it sounds like there is no solo content?
There is no way any group would take you after you go afk for 30mins not even a fraction of the way thru a dungeon so grouping is out of the question they would not want dead weight like you.
Raiding like you said would be hard
So that only leaves soloing and crafting so why are you saying anything about this expansion?
My very good guess would be because you are overexagurating your time 10 fold or so. I know other ppl in your situation where they have 3 small kids and they do fine altho they do have to take a few very very small breaks a hr to change diapers etc but not even nearly as bad as that.

And for the record this expansion already sounds like it is going to be a major dud for me considering the ONLY thing i do is raid.
If they do not add more than 3 (from what I heard rather small) raid zones then screw that I am done there is just no way it will keep me interested for a year and will just be forced to pick up WH. Ya we have a lot to raid for this tier but considering its stuff we have already completed a hundred times its not the same us raiders need more content and 3 small zones is NOT going to do it. They mentioned already that it wont be VP/EH size so i can tell right now that they will be beat in a month and then what? Why bother purchasing it....

bryldan wrote:

Where did you hear Small? For the 3 Fullsize Raid zones, yes one of the Three is going to be a Single Boss Raid, but the devs to my knowage have not stated anything about the size of the other 3 and being that atleast one of the group zones are rather large, I am willing to bet that at least 1 of the 3 will be Large as well. Besides I am shure just like they always have done, they will be releasing Raid zones after the expainsion launches as well.

Really the big thing that stinks for Raiders is the fact that there will be no new REAL contested added. Though someone brought up splitting up the Avatar Spawn list, and the devs said that they would "Look into it" though they said that alot, even to some really bad ideas, so who knows what they think of that Idea... Personally I would split the Gods up into 3 spawn groups, Good, Evil and Neutral, and have it so at anytime upto one of each group can be up at a given time. That would add 2 more contesteds without having to write combate scripts for them(though changing the code so that more then one avatar can be up as once maybe just as hard)

kela wrote:

The word is that none of these zones are going to be as big as VP. Read the thread Pantz started over on flames.
So, basically, we have the same amount of instanced raid content going in at launch as we had in EoF, but are missing out on 2 contested. Raiders were complaining about a lack of raid content then, and will be with TSO. Basically, they need to add in 2 more full x4 zones on par with Mistmore Inner Sanctum, and a single encounter zone, set at an entry level difficulty (think Rognog from T5).
Do that, along with everything else in this expansion, and everyone will be happy.

bryldan wrote:

You're the one who said it was "wrong" that some people have schedules that are incompatible with raiding. Thank you for retracting your statement. With a 2-week-old baby plus two kids under 4, I was not exaggerating about my schedule - and yes, I probably won't get much out of this expansion until a few months after it's out. I don't mind having to group for most of an expansion, and I don't mind having to wait a few months until I can do so. I just think you did us a disservice by brushing aside the claims that some people can't raid.

Sassinak wrote:

The thing is if they cant raid they cant group up. Honestly most raids are basically the same as running a instance so that only leaves soloing or crafting.

kela wrote:
Where did you hear Small? For the 3 Fullsize Raid zones, yes one of the Three is going to be a Single Boss Raid, but the devs to my knowage have not stated anything about the size of the other 3 and being that atleast one of the group zones are rather large, I am willing to bet that at least 1 of the 3 will be Large as well. Besides I am shure just like they always have done, they will be releasing Raid zones after the expainsion launches as well.

Really the big thing that stinks for Raiders is the fact that there will be no new REAL contested added. Though someone brought up splitting up the Avatar Spawn list, and the devs said that they would "Look into it" though they said that alot, even to some really bad ideas, so who knows what they think of that Idea... Personally I would split the Gods up into 3 spawn groups, Good, Evil and Neutral, and have it so at anytime upto one of each group can be up at a given time. That would add 2 more contesteds without having to write combate scripts for them(though changing the code so that more then one avatar can be up as once maybe just as hard)





Like what was said it is being said that they are not that big. Heck its even worse if what you say is right another single boss raid zone thats just what we need something that takes 5 mins to kill and its cleared......
More raid zones? O you mean like how they added trak after release (one raid named only and was SUPPOSED to be released with the xpac) and hate which is rather small imho. BTW there will be one avatar added that supposidly will have to be unlocked. I would MUCH MUCH MUCH rather have large raid zones than stupid avatars that guilds that play 24/7 camp and call each other to force each other online to kill.

I just love how when a person posts about something they don't like with the game, someone else posts that the OP is wrong in thought or wrong in practice. I posted earlier this week that raiders would probably not be happy with the amount of raid content at launch, and what do you know, some have already expressed this same opinion. How are they "wrong" for stating how they feel?
Someone else posts about their schedule being hectic then gets flamed stating that hardcore raiders have the same schedules. Applying a generalization such as hardcore raiders having the same schedules as non-hardcore raiders to a specific person's account of their own scheduling is a losing battle. The fact is every player in the game has his/her own life experience and it varies down to the individual. No one can tell anyone else how they should schedule their personal and professional lives relative to a video game. However, if someone knows a raider (Person A) with a very similar schedule and responsibilities as the person (Person B) who says he/she cannot find time to do X raid activity, maybe get the two together to discuss ideas on how Person B can also do what Person A does. That's far more constuctive than suggesting that people are either liars or lazy.
There are many guilds in this game and they have varying attendance requirements. There is something for everyone to have the opportunity to raid, I'll give you that. However, there is not an opportunity for everyone to raid successfully and progress to endgame raiding. And there is nothing wrong with that either. Everyone can't be the best or have the best in life or in a video game. Everyone has to figure out what they can afford to do with their time and find a match, it's that simple. Even if you have the time to raid enough, it doesn't mean you even have the skill to be at endgame raiding. The majority of guilds do not successfully complete the hardest current tier raidzone before the next expansion is released. Typically, the majority of guilds master the previous expansion's highest level of raidzone within the first few months of the new expansion one either the level cap is raised and/or better gear is available in the new expansion to help with old progression. So, scheduling is only a part of the big picture when it comes down to seeing all the new raidzones. Scheduling simply affords the opportunity to earn the right to see the new zones. There are no guarantees, unless you're willing to pay plat to a highly successful guild and buy your way around.
As far as coming to the forums to express displeasure with an upcoming feature or the current state of the game, that's everyone's priviledge as long as they abide by the forum's policies. So, when people come here to express ideas about things they'd like to see differently in the game, instead of flaming or telling them they are wrong, how about entering into healthy discussion to explore possibilities? Sure, someone could come here with a complaint and someone else might have a solution that doesn't requrie a change to the game itself. However, that scenario doesn't playout as often as it should because so many people would rather respond with a flame than seek to genuinly help the person with the complaint.
And finally, the EQ2 team uses these forums as one of many sources for community feedback relevant to the conditions of the game. They want to see the complaints to see what players are generally unhappy about. The EQ2 team cannot find every bug, every design flaw, or every social problem in the development and internal QA stages. QA is an ongoing process that does extend to the customer in today's world. Just accept that as a fact. If you want to see more quality or quantity in EQ2, be constructive and consider what others are saying instead of being defensive as if EQ2 is your prized creation. Just because someone's issue doesn't apply to you doesn't mean they are doing something wrong to experience the issue.

bryldan wrote:

There will be 2 avatars one that will automatically go into the Avatar rotation(so it does not count as a contested) and another that will be "Differant then all other Avatars" that will have to be unlocked per server. What makes it "differant" other then having to be unlocked they did not say, though being that they did say no contested I doupt that is what makes it differant. Nor has anyone offically said what size the raid zones will be, at this point other then the one single boss raid zone I don't believe anyone that accually knows how big the raid zones will be, has accually stated thier size. And again being that at least one and more likly more of the Group Instances will be HUGE, I seriously doupt that the Raid zones will be comparitivly tiny, will they be as big as Varsher? Maybe not, but I doupt they will be small. Until the NDA is lifted and the "privilaged" raid guilds have run through these zones a few times, there is no way to say how big or small these zones will be, unless SoE accually anounces the comparitive sizes.

::EDIT::
Just to be clear though, I do think this expainsion based souly on dev statments WILL lack for raid content at launch, I just don't think it will be as bad as it is made out to be, and hopfully the stated addtional raid content that is slated for post-launch will make up for those defisancies. However, for anyone to state they know for a fact that there will be very little for raiders is premature... besides befor RoK launched and people where talking about Varsher as a Huge zone raiders scoffed at it's size too... until they started raiding it.

wow, im disgusted sony. this looks like an extremely weak expansion. now, maybe im getting ahead of myself here and other goodies will be announced closer to launch, but from what has been said so far its pretty weak.
no new city, no new race, no new class, only 60 aa (when rok gave 10 lvls AND 40 aa), the raiding seems week, only 1 overland zone, and it seems based on the eq1 expansion lost dungeons of norrath, which tanked pretty bad.
this seems more like an adventure pack to me, a big adventure pack, but still only an adventure pack. i really cant see it keeping people happy and busy for another year. they tried so hard to get more player and get people back to the game this summer and they just might lose more players then they regained.