This game is too Raid Orientated

Everquest2 is a really great game and lots of fun
but the average subscriber doesn't really get to
experience the "End Game" content. The reason for
this is simple.For one to enjoy the "End Gane"
to it's fullest, one must be in a good raiding
guild. Not everyone can get into these guilds and
even if you are in one, the number of spots is limited
and the loot droped must be distributed. The distribution
method most guilds use favor the frequent raider because
the DKP used as currency, is issued per raid, and per kill,
etc. So you have to be in a raid to get the loot (End Game).
This system is not very fair and keeps most subscribers
from the "End Game" scenarios and gear.

The game has become
more raid oriented and less quest based over the years.
I propose a new, fairer method to achieve the "End Game"
results that everyone that plays this game is seeking.
This new method would not eliminate raiding, but would
provide players with another alternative to achieve their
goals. I suggest that players, that so choose, be allowed
to attain the same level of gear, adorns, etc. as the raider
through 21 different, intricate and challenging signature quests
series. One quest series for each equipment slot. Each quest
would be imitated after a player takes down the boss in an existing
zone. The loot chest would contain an item that opens a portal,
from within that zone, to new contain and would offer the
initial quest for that signature series. As the quest progress
new gear, adorns, etc. would be reward to help the questor get to the
next level of that quest series.These quests should be designed so that
any toon be able to reach the final prize. The introduction of
mercenarywas a great idea and would become a major part in helping

players throughout the quest lines.
Everquest will soon be toping off at level 100 and new expansions
could offer these new "End Game" alternatives. I can foresee at least 5
new expansions. Four new expansion could offer 5 different signature
quest lines, one for each item of top quality, gear being the ultimate
goal.The last and final signature line would reward the player with
a new,"Majestically" weapon and a flying mount never seen before with
awesome stats and procs. This last quest line would spit about half
way. One path leading to the mount and the other to the weapon. This
quest line would be longer and more difficult than the other 20
and can only be started after all the other signature quest lines
have been completed.

A letter from the queen or some such dignitary
would offer this final quest line once all conditions have been met.
Well that's my idea. I hope you will consider it. It has the potential
to open up a new subscriber base and get swing the emphasis back to
questing, which is after all, the name of the game.

Nope.

LOL oh wow I should not have come to the forums today!

Plenty of quests and solo stuff and group stuff I am VERY average, casual player I don't feel left out.
The last mastercrafted fabled robe I bought on the broker for my conji is as good as stuff I see in auction channel.
mmo's are not equal rights for all lol

If you are not raiding, you don't need top end raid gear. Heck, the questlines are already passing out Legendary that's better than the raid gear from the prior expansion. And now you can do the solo instances and get Primal equipment. If you need it easier than that, you just need to buy a roll of bubble wrap and pop the bubbles. Because when you have armor so uber that nothing is a challenge, why even play?

It's ridiculous to think you can't raid if you actually want to raid. There are lots of raid guilds out there. You don't have to have end game raid gear to join them, either: most raid guilds will work with a person who really knows their class and can play it well.

Who can't get into raids? Whiners!!! Also, people who cannot meet basic expectations. Some examples from recent application fails in my raid group, plus some memorable blasts from the past:

(1) If you ask to try out for a raid guild and don't show and don't give notice, they probably won't let you in after that. Not even if you try applying with a different toon. If you have been booted from a raid guild, we probably do not want your alts, either.

(2) New members of the raid that autofollow and then go AFK for hours will probably wake up from the bender to find they have no guild tag. Clue: we all have ACT running and can see that you are useless.

(3) Members who can't be bothered to fully read and understand the guild's rules and loot procedures don't deserve to be in the raid. Someone who pitches a giant fit during their first raid because they don't automagically get all the loot can expect to leave the guild with a big, dusty bootprint on their kiester.

(4) Persons getting into a new raidforce and then whining the whole time because their old guild did this mob in some other way can expect to leave the guild with a big, dusty bootprint on their kiester. Ditto for the person who pitches a fit because we are "wasting their time" killing trash.

(5) Drama horehound-candies of any variety, raids don't need you. It ain't about you! The raid mobs are as much drama as we can handle, natch.

(6) If the raid sets a basic gear requirement, it's usually that they require you to have gotten your epic weapon, then complete the quest Epic Repercussions to get the Ennervated version. The raid will almost certainly expect you to fully adorn everything, and with GOOD adorns. To be able to do anything useful, you will have to get your crit chance over a certain value, which most raid participation rules spell out for you, and until you get better gear you might should adorn for crit chance! If you can't make a minimal effort to help your stats as much as you can,why should we make any effort to gear you further?

(7) If the raid's participation guidelines say that you must use Ventrilo, Teamspeak, Skype, ACT, Guild Connect etc., you had better show up 30 minutes before raid time with whatever software installed and working.

(8) Every raider should expect to carry and USE the top end potions for curing elemental, noxious, trauma, and arcane. You should be carrying Overclocked Manastones and probably power potions. If you use thrown weapons or a bow, your quivers/bags should be full of ammo and if you use poison, have plenty on hand. You should go to the city merchant and purchase signets which will be useful as a raider. The ones that let you rez someone and which replenish power are very helpful. Those who consistently do not have these items, or mooch from others, can expect to leave the guild with a big, dusty bootprint on their kiester.

I'm sure I can think of more.

But to get in a raid isn't hard. Know your class, play it well, honor whatever raiding commitments to which you have agreed, show up on time, let people know if you won't be there, and you too can be a star raider.

Relative to when this game launched ....... The solo player is nothing short of a God.

Very well stated Sig. Reminds me actually to go make some Manastones to make up for those nights I have forgotten to bring an extra 10 (and had to ask a guild-mate for 5 replacement).

lets not feed the Troll you guys as someone who likes all aspects of the game with the exception of PvP I feel they have enough for all including crafters and decorators and that is all i'm saying on this non subject.

It's not as raid oriented, and is more solo oriented then it used to be, but that's not necessarily saying much; as it was very anti-solo when it launched.

The game has actually gotten much better. You can usually tell how much the game is improving in that regard by how much the raiders whine. They've been whining a lot lately. They don't like loosing their exclusivity.

Their usual excuse for getting the best gear in the game is you don't need raid gear if you're not raiding. Well that's just quest design issue. There could easily be heroic or even solo quests which WOULD require top end gear. The so-called advanced solo instances we've been seeing lately are a step (but only a step) in that direction. Of course it would be necessary to be able to get the gear those quests/instances require without raiding.

Actually the basic suggestion -- involved signature quests which result in a single top end raid item -- is a very good one. Just make sure there are no shortcuts or exploits. You have to put in a lot of work for that item.

I left a game and returned to this game because the other game had nothing but raiding at high levels. EQ2 has lots and lots of different things to do at high levels. So I am bewildered at your comment that there is too much raiding in this game.

So you judge a game by how much it breaks down it's tier system? Where coordinated work between 24-30 people goes less rewarded then the efforts of 1?

The reality of it is that Raid, Heroic and Solo should be viable levels of play however by design of MMO's unless the fundamental idea of "more players = harder challenge" is being debunked. Problems arise and I have heard plenty of people who used to exclusively do Heroic Content complain due to what Solo Zones have done to their gameplay. Raiding doesn't hurt the Heroic or Solo player because Raid-Gear is only attainable by a group of 12-24 people. But Solo-Zones currently on rare-occasions drop loot that eclipses Heroic (and I am not talking Ethereals those are fine).

There have been such Signature Lines and they have been called amazing since their use. The Peakcock line, the Prismatic, the RoK-Epic, Footsteps of Dartain/Tending to Toxicology, The Fallen Swords all have been Solo Quests that become Heroic Quests that become Epic Quests. This gives a sense of accomplishment, each tier of rewards is best suited for it's level. The Solo-Item is amazing by Solo Standards the Heroic Item is amazing by Group Standards and the Raid-Item is amazing by Raid Standards.

It is not good for any mode of gameplay to eclipse another based on difficulty which scales upward. Solo-Play is on the bottom of this scale while Raiding (usually contested raiding) is on the top. It gives everyone something to work towards. I know many players who look at endgame gear and go "man, wouldn't it be nice someday to get that" not "damn those greedy raiders and their super gear, it is ruining my gameplay." Conversely Solo-Fabled loot is not threatening Raiding and those who think it is are delusional. However Solo-Fabled is harming Heroic Play because it is better and more accessible, if Advanced Solo-Zones had say 3 Day Lockouts then people would Solo and Group, but the longer lockouts died in DoV when players didn't want to run anything more than the easiest zones for the best loot in the fastest time. See today when the only Solo-Zone ran is DC it seems.

So in your ideal game, a Quest Difficulty makes the rewards. However a Solo-quest that was Raid-Level hard would give an item that would be effective in ALL content without having to work with others in what is a Multiplayer game. I wouldn't have an issue with 1 person having to take on an Epic X4 by themselves, sure if they can do that then sure, give them end-game loot for Solo Play. If the person can't do that, well maybe they should find some help for that boss... oh wait that's Raiding.

TLDR: Raiding is just the top-end of play. Solo and Heroic should be ways to work up to said top-end play. Those who gloat about their gear are morons, they wouldn't be anything without their Guilds. A signature that goes from Solo to Heroic to Epic rewards is more than an amazing thing and should have been continued. I basically agree with 40% of your post, however I had to point out my own disagreement with you as to me it sounded like a "blame the raiders" post, which I hope it was not.

I don't understand why he has neither been banned and that people keep responding to him.

He starts a thread, people disagree with him and point out why... then some other topic gets started. I think that is why these threads continue, I know I ignore him but have responded to others.

The entire last expansion was 100% scaleable! As in you could do ALL the content from start to finish by yourself.

How the heck is that "too raid oriented"?

Believe it or not, some people don't feel comfortable even dedicating their full attention for one scheduled night of raiding a week. There aren't any ever any pick up raids on my server atleast. If you want to raid current content, you have to abide by a raid schedule. I know that doesn't seem like a big deal to some of you, but to others they feel their time is better spent not abiding by a schedule to play a video game. If there were more PUG raids going on, then yes, anybody could raid if they actually wanted to. Unfortunately though, scheduled raiding is the only means on my server atleast.

Now should these people that don't want to devote the time to scheduled raiding be complaining that they aren't getting raid gear, absolutely not.

While I can sympathize with the lack of PuR's and some having the inability to dedicate to a raid schedule I think that is more due to lack of players on a server. Really the weakest part of EQ2 to my vision is player-retention at lower levels, I see many join but not reach 95. AoA can be 2-grouped (to Borrodas) and Harrows can be 3-grouped (to Bastion or Fitzpitzle) so I know it can be done as a guild on Guk does so with Heroic Gear. Is it lack of players, or lack of interest I wonder.

You are right though, not following a raid scheduled is a choice. The drawback of that choice is you don't get Raid Gear. I have massively disagreed with you in the past but for once, we are in agreement.

nope , if it happens just shut down eq2 please

TBH if people follow scripts all of AoA and Harrows up to Fitz can be one grouped. No reason to not form a PuR instead of complaining there arent any.

This. Even we with a mix of EM / Drinal merchant gear can easily one group HE up to bastion with 1 healer. It just takes time as the trend is to make every raid mob have 10 billion hitpoints instead of having a real strat involved. God I miss Shadow Odyssey times.

Old days it was about paying attention 100% of the time, now you just need couple of people with like 1-1.5 mil dps and some random people who only have to stand there unless they get called to run away. The whole dps check is fine if you were allowed to compensate it with beast healers or utility who actually is doing something else than pressing couple buffs. alas no, if you have the dps the mob dies, no matter how much rest of the raid sucks.

I know this is not the right thread but the new x2 is prime example how ******** the hitpoints are. Easy version of that drops gear that is 170 stat, but you need at least 180 stat to burn through them without spending ages there. What is the point? I rather go one group HE to get better gear in less time. Airship x2 was the last x2 raid zone that was balanced accordingly, it even had interesting scripts with real rewards.

Yes agreed with OP, the game needs to be more HARDCORE PVP orientated

If you want to arbitrarily ban people for having a different view/opinion or harping on some issue more than you like.. go to EQ2Flames.

Oh.. that's right....