What do you want to see in the next xpac? What mistakes should be avoided?

Per the subject really. I'm looking forward to the next xpac, I love going into an instance completely fresh; having no idea what's going to happen or what an encounter is going to do and then playing to our strengths (whether that's brute-forcing an encounter or tip-toeing around it).

That said, there were some issues with AoM upon release which took several months to be resolved. Most notably in my opinion was that the progression was out of whack. A lot of people found that it was easier to run Resonance of Malice than most of the zones that rewarded lesser gear. For a long time the named encounters in Bilgewater Falls actually hit harder than just about any encounter outside of raids and Inner Sanctum.. this scared a lot of people considering that a progression list was actually provided by the dev's.

I'm really hoping that there's a clear and straight-forward progression this time around or a lot of people will give up or stick solely to guild groups (which is exactly what happened in early AoM). That said, I definitely want to be challenged. There's a lot to be said for that joy when you finally nail an encounter (much like your first progression raid kill).

* I'd like to see some heroic and epic overland mobs again. These seemed to completely disappear in AoM.
* I'd like to see a variety of armors and weapons again, I know this is difficult but it does take some of the joy out of it when you see an item in the Adv Solo and then the exact same item mildly upgraded in the heroic etc. I guess I'm thinking back to the days of EoF where your class armor dropped in both contested and heroic instances etc.

I've actually read very little about the next xpac so I've got no idea what to expect. What are you looking forward to most? New Prestiges? AA's? Levels?

Calling it an Expansion will be the mistake. We have not seen what I believe to be an expansion in many years. This will be 1 overland zone with 3 Doors is what I am thinking. The cost will be more than what it is worth. The only good things that have come out of the expansions lately is the art. The DLC Rum Cellar was 1 Door and very little content with a hefty price tag. I will wait awhile to see just how big this expansion will be to see if it will be worth the overpriced tag that will come with it. I more than likely will skip buying it and wait for the next "Expansion" and then I may feel like I paid for an expansion as it will be an all in one.

Aren't you a ray of sunshine!

The team is so small compared to the big xpac days, you can't expect it.

This xpac will be roughly the size of ToV zone quantity wise, but made by half the staff.

I just want the good loot to be available and not gated behind really rare RNG or too hard/time consuming content.

I basically want ToV again with new monsters. I really liked ToV, compared to AoM anyway.

I'd like to see them get away from the one-path-only signature lines. Of all the max level characters I have, only ONE has done the signature line in AoM, and wouldn't have even done it that many times if the unattunement spell were not HEIRLOOM. I didn't like that approach in CoE although all my characters completed the line then, ToV, maybe half did, now it's so old and annoying I could only force myself to do it the once.

Have quests that have nothing to do with a signature line, please!!!

--Avoid single-track quest lines, past 3 expacs have handled signatures this way, although it was not AS bad in CoE -- there was some side-stuff, but not as much as say...RoK, or even DoV.

--More advanced upgrading (Which I believe was showcased already, if this is containing parts of the campainson that was announced earlier). I would like to get 15~20 DPS mod added to my jewelry WITHOUT needing to pray it's not a reforge-out option (See about 95% of the Scout pieces released in AoM lol).

--Massive tweaks to Procs and Combat Arts. Maybe make procs focused to where they are on fewer items. Rewarding players for essentially stacking Auto-Attack stats seems lame. We still have swashies running around this expac with 900+ Haste and 300~500 Multi for massive Flurry chance and proc triggering. A big part of this is that, for most classes, combat arts contribute almost nothing to our damage.

--Another section of LADs specifically tailored to 12 players as a sort of raid. Awards x2 equiv. gear for the tier ranking.

I would love to see 2 things.

1. A double status weekend (DBG has never done one)

2. DBG to finally admit we're all on the same server database and allow us to group with any player on any server, i'm tired of the artificial separation. (For those who try to tell me to provide proof of my claim I will only reply... "prove me wrong because you can't")

That sounds more like religious theology than technology.

Note that it's MONTHS too late to make suggestions about the coming release. You need to make suggestions for 6 months or a year out, development is not done in a day.

I want to see people. I want to see small hordes of players running around. I want general chat to be filled with questions and whining.

Also, I want these forums to light up with crying about how OP the Beastlord has become...

Dreadtalon, a Freetard of Freeport

I hope this new expansion has more breadth in quest content. While I support an involved signature quest line that leads through the main storyline of the expansion, it should not be "required" to unlock other side quests. Furthermore, there should be more than enough side quests if you choose not to do the sig quest line. It'd also be great if it was big enough to discover new quests/content on the 2nd or 3rd trip through.

Also hoping we see a heritage quest or three, some new and exciting crafting content, and YES, variation in armor appearance (AOM was horrible this way, considering how much the same armor set was used, just offered in red or blue variety).

Move the expansion development cycle to 18 months.

The polar opposite of AoM. That's what I want.

This is true but also keep in mind that the xpac is likely to be on test for a few weeks and some things like heroic instance progression balance can be tweaked and hopefully done right this time, the rest I'd love to think the devs can keep in mind for the next xpac, it would seem there are a few recurring themes (I don't personally know anyone that likes the way signatures have worked since CoE even if it doesn't bother me) and it would be nice to think that a smaller DBG team may notice that.

No squidheads.

Too bad, squid-heads confirmed.

We need another expac about cheese-head ratongs though.

<snipped to reply to this one point only>

I do miss finding some random/unexpected quest hub or some solo npc with just a few quests offered. Nothing relating to any one major quest line, just random NPCs doing things around Norrath, asking for help from folks that happen to run past them.

If not for this expansion, maybe in the future

What do I want to see ?, how about, some solid program code, some good QA and zero bugs.

I didn't buy the AoM: Booze Party supplement, so I have no problem extending that to EQ2: Rise of CthuluFace if needed. There's always TLE.

That would be a sure-fire money maker. Ratonga are the force that drive Everquest II.

I want to see massive rethink and rework of combat mechanic. All this things can't grow any further. Triple auto attack hit with mythical crit? Rly?

You run a Swash Schemer?

900+ Haste, 500+ Multi ATK, 50+ Flurry; we only need to do a total of +2% to cap AoE auto. Our clicky buffs also all proc off of Auto Attack, unlike some classes that proc primarily off CA's. My highest melee hit while BELOW those perfect stats I listed was like 8 hits or so in a single string, with one of the hits critting for 600k or so.

Swash is also not a good class. This is why we need to take a look at how stats are approached, and how procs on jewelry/weapons/charms are handled. It is hitting a point where it is getting out of hand, both because of Stat Bloat, and because of Auto-Attack/Proc reliance.

Neither did I, tbh the first time I even attempt to take a look at it will be if I am able to purchase the Expac coming up on schedule.

Lol, tbh an expac about Ratonga again would actually do some good. Maybe a lost island of Nihmm or something. XD