Today's games with all the stat points per level and the talent points. Ya know what ever happened to the old Alternate Advancement points system Everquest had? In my opinion its by far the best system to strengthening your character at or even near the max level. For instance a lvl 70 character with the best gear in the game vs. a lvl 70 character with decent gear and 300 AA's the character with the AA's is going to win. Gear is/was and will allways be important but giving other ways to strengthen your character is never a bad idea.

Other games lock you into a certain role DPS or defensive warrior. Healing or DPS or nuking druid DPS or healing paladin and so on. In everquest you could eventually become really good at everything the class you chose does, not just some parts of the class.

For those who really played EQ1 you know the huge difference between a tank with Lightning Reflex 5 and Innate Defense 5 and one without it. While yes it did add to the grind but it was fun knowing you were actually developing your character as apposed to grinding some faction for some better gear or something.

Gear is fun and all but add in AA's and it gives the game so much content and makes killing stuff seem more worth it.

The point of this post is..I dont know ...I'm just wondering why so much has been copied from Everquest ..why not the best feature of it?

I know when I played when I reached max lvl on my Shadowknight I went pure DPS AA's. In WoW speak I would have been like a fury warrior and slowly after that I did the tanking AA's ..So I was a soild tank with decent melee dps huge spell/nuke crits decent DoT's and I had a pet (not a great pet but a pet none the less) I could use 1hders and a shield or a big 2hder. I loved my SK it was fun he was diverse and could fill many roles due to AA's.Tank/DPS/Pull ....Bring back high end character development without making it gear driven ....Vote yes for AA's!!

The main reason for this post is I was curious as to what other peoples thoughts were reguarding AA"s and todays games types of character development.

Hmm AAs always seemed a bit pointless to me, just another way of keeping players grinding until the devs can be bothered to add content for new levels. Alternative advancement is fine in a lvl-less game, but in a game such as EQ/WoW they add needless complication to the level system.

I agree with the above opster. AA's would just be another leveling heirarchy. IN a game as old as EQ1, it would be a good thing. DAOC also has a similar syetm in realm points and its ue in gaining new abilities. But in newer games, I think there is enough in the original content that you dont need "a grind on top of the grind' system.

Torrential

Originally posted by Runefan101

Hmm AAs always seemed a bit pointless to me, just another way of keeping players grinding until the devs can be bothered to add content for new levels. Alternative advancement is fine in a lvl-less game, but in a game such as EQ/WoW they add needless complication to the level system.

Alternative advancement in EQ was nothing but an end-game skill system.  I would like to see more games use this type of model.  If used and implemented properly, it can add a whole new dimension of character progression and custimization.

I think it is a great system since it lets the you customize your character and make it somewhat unique, I also like how EQ2 handles this. The talent system in WoW is also decent, but does not really fill the same function.

I agree...in EQ2 you can get AA's just by playing the game.  In LOTRO I remember having huge grinds for some of the titles/AA things.

EQ2 does it well.

AA's are great and are the perfect solution to people being able to continue soloing at the end cap. In WoW people are sort of restricted at the endgame.

You are so right.

People loved the EQ 1 AA point system.  It should be replicated.  It would work so well in a game such as Vanguard, in my view.

The one flaw was that it was too raid-focused.  You got AA points to be a better raider.  I want to see an EQ 1 AA point system that makes you a better soloer and grouper.

I loved the aa system, in most games you get to max lvl and all you have to look forward to is grinding for new gear.  In EQ you could go after that gear/faction and the AA lvled up very fast as well.  Which also allowed you to customize your character and gain some new fun stuff (loved my free holy steed as paladin!)

Originally posted by truenorthbg

You are so right.

 

People loved the EQ 1 AA point system.  It should be replicated.  It would work so well in a game such as Vanguard, in my view.

 

The one flaw was that it was too raid-focused.  You got AA points to be a better raider.  I want to see an EQ 1 AA point system that makes you a better soloer and grouper.

Vanguard is getting an AA system soon but what type it will resemble is still unknown, im hoping for an EQ1 system as well

Originally posted by BoWMyris

Originally posted by truenorthbg

You are so right.

 

People loved the EQ 1 AA point system.  It should be replicated.  It would work so well in a game such as Vanguard, in my view.

 

The one flaw was that it was too raid-focused.  You got AA points to be a better raider.  I want to see an EQ 1 AA point system that makes you a better soloer and grouper.

Vanguard is getting an AA system soon but what type it will resemble is still unknown, im hoping for an EQ1 system as well

I have heard that they are developing more character customization options, and I also heard that each class will have around 3 options or so like the Shaman:  Bear, Wolf, or Phoenix. 

I really look forward to this.

AA's were aweseome.

i agree it's the best advancement system yet for a level based game.

Makes ya wonder why so much was copied from Everquest just not the best part of it.

A game with these features

1: Smooth/fluid gameplay with the same type of gameplay speed as Worlds of Warcraft

2: Free open zone bosses (non-instanced) Everquest

3: Some instanced group play (just for a change sometimes) like LDoN EQ expansion or Wolds of Warcraft

4:PvP zones/areas/arenas on every server and 1 FFA open pvp server (for those who enjoy it).

5:The basic leveling system with multiple types of diverse quests (more for EXP then item rewards due to the open zone bosses/named mobs) endgame raids and 1 groupable content with the addition on Alternate advancement points.

6: A guildwar function..I played on Rallos Zek a FFA pvp server in Everquest there were pk's and non-pk's but due to the open zone bosses even the non-pk guilds got mad at eachother and fought eachother during a guildwar. I've seen guilds disband due to getting wiped out by other guilds. This adds a huge amount of drama to the gameplay and builds a tighter community in a sense.

7:Diverse and many classes/races like Everquest

So basically a Everquest with a much faster gameplay and more quests and funtions but this is only my idea for a perfect game.

AA's act in ways that a soft cap really should.  They take the exponential advacement of levels and break it down into smaller improvements while requiring more effort.  As a side benefit, they also offer much more choice in how to develop a character, compared to the level/class system that pretty much defines a character pre-AA.

AAs could also offer a nice way of delinearlizing advancement.  EQ2's AA happens at the same time as normal levelling, and acts as a distraction from the usual grind.