Originally posted by bahamut1

If you think EQ2 has been dumbed down and made easier over the years, you may be right. HOWEVER, come to some of the new 20 something dungeons in TSO. These dungeons are some of the most brutal dungeons I've ever played. These dungeons aren't for sissies any more. You better come with your A game, because these dungeons will chew you up and spit you out.

They've replaced death penalty, long travel times, time sinks, and boring gameplay with brutal, challenging, and unforgiving content. There are even a few threads on the main forum about how the new dungeons are made for raid toons, and that the only people that can get through them are raid geared toons. In actuality, the new dungeons just need a brain, and some planning. No more gathering three rooms full of mobs and blasting through dungeons any more.

At least for now...

I agree with about the TSO dungeons..they're brutal indeed i would say they're not much less than watered down raid zones..which is great if you like raiding..i dont (been there done that frankly)

TSO is by far the worst expansion yet for EQ2,for that reason alone

EQ3 would be a MT hell.

It would be casual lite solo virtual environment under a shell of EQ lore that people pay to exist in.

No thanks, my memories of EQ1 and early EQ2 have already been tainted enough by the roads that SOE have taken.

Enough damage has been done :(

It would be awesome to see them bring back some of the hardcore of the original game... from before PoP or Luclin, in fact the just the original world had so much content they could make a great remake for EQ3. 

A group based game like the original with player controlled travel via teleports etc.. Make it so people need to have cleric friends for high % exp rezzes, necros for corpse summons, a player made gathering/social/trading area, and non instanced dungeons where people can compete or make alliances or kill each other if on a pvp server.  

Force people to interact in the bulk of the game, not just on raid night or some "instance".  That is what is missing from pretty much every MMO now days.

They went the opposite way with EQ2, though, originally, it wasn't at all like it is now.  EQ2 at launch was a very unique game, though I didn't really like how restricting it was with the locked combat, no heals outside of the group etc... it was definately unique.  Nowdays it's just another ez mode WoW clone with player housing.  Solo up to 80 then grind out some instances and raid.  blah

The thing about SOE is they've completely ruined most of their games EXCEPT the EQ franchise - they seem to absolutely treasure it and tread carefully. Aside from this SOE Cash BS they have made all the right moves and are left with the strongest western fantasy mmo behind WoW and L2. Some of the stuff they have done recently is aimed at keeping EQ2 alive (1-70 faster, LON going free before easter). I much look forward to EQ3 but I'm still enjoying EQ2 and have seen not even a rumour about EQ3 til now.

A true EQIII will never happen. There was an (iirc) video interview with somebody from SoE who said that they made a huge mistake naming EQ2 because people went into it expecting alot of things from EQ1 when really it was a totally different game. So maybe another game in the EQ universe? Sure. A game named EQ3? Nope.

lol I'd say the opposite is also true - If I looked at EQ1 and thought that EQ2 was the sequel then i wouldnt even try EQ2 lol.

Originally posted by bluealien1

A true EQIII will never happen. There was an (iirc) video interview with somebody from SoE who said that they made a huge mistake naming EQ2 because people went into it expecting alot of things from EQ1 when really it was a totally different game. So maybe another game in the EQ universe? Sure. A game named EQ3? Nope.

It was Smed who said that about the mistake calling EQ2..

Originally posted by fozzie22

Originally posted by bahamut1

If you think EQ2 has been dumbed down and made easier over the years, you may be right. HOWEVER, come to some of the new 20 something dungeons in TSO. These dungeons are some of the most brutal dungeons I've ever played. These dungeons aren't for sissies any more. You better come with your A game, because these dungeons will chew you up and spit you out.

They've replaced death penalty, long travel times, time sinks, and boring gameplay with brutal, challenging, and unforgiving content. There are even a few threads on the main forum about how the new dungeons are made for raid toons, and that the only people that can get through them are raid geared toons. In actuality, the new dungeons just need a brain, and some planning. No more gathering three rooms full of mobs and blasting through dungeons any more.

At least for now...

 

I agree with about the TSO dungeons..they're brutal indeed i would say they're not much less than watered down raid zones..which is great if you like raiding..i dont (been there done that frankly)

 

TSO is by far the worst expansion yet for EQ2,for that reason alone

The TSO dungeons are fun.  I'm not sure why anyone would not feel they are fun.  They have interesting challenges and puzzles.  The fights are challenging and nicely scripted.

Some of them are definitely harder then others and will require superior gear and good coordination but some of them are quite doable with just normal gear from questing and with the shards you get you can upgrade yourself to be able to handle the tougher ones.

I'm no raider and I'm using mostly quest and crafted gear.  I've done a few of the instances several times.  I've even done them with pickup groups.

So yeah they are challenging but they do not require a raid force level character to do them.  Well I'll say some of them don't.  Some ARE too hard for me and do require better equipment but if I could do them all I'd be kinda depressed that I had nothing to progress to....

I doubt there will be another fantasy based mmo from SOE for some time to come unless two things happen.

1. They just don't have the money right now.  Not enough subscribers in their current games to fund yet another project.  Maybe if they have success with some of their upcoming launches there will be more money to reinvest in fantasy games. The fantasy market for mmos is the hardest to crack and really is a risky investment.  One I do not think SOE can afford right now.
2. They feel they can again compete in a market with established competition.  Smedly has a massive hardon for micro transactions and that is an uphill battle against entrenched games that offer a flat fee for the same or more amount of content.  Plus they will be very busy managing games they release that have little to no competition in their respective areas.   

The only possible way I think SOE will make another fantasy game anytime soon is if Sony corporate decides the PS3 needs one. 

Honestly I would be interested to see what EQ3 might be like (whatever they call it), but I am fairly certain it would be some free to play cash mall game that is anything but an evolution to Everquest. 

Originally posted by eccoton

Originally posted by dimmit77

How did RoK change the core of EQ2?? Only real change from previous expansions was that you could level much faster by doing solo quests than by grinding zones. I can't thing of another major change.

 

ROK did not change the core EQ2 experience, it added to it. There are some that post here about the no group content solo only EQ2 game play in ROK. Bologna, those that continuely post this nonsense do not play EQ2 or have not done the many, many group/raid instances. There is more then enough group and raid content in EQ2 to keep you busy for years. Here are some from ROK, the expansion some claim killed group/raid play in EQ2.

 

Eccoton saying that the core of the game shifted from group to solo content, it doesn't mean that there is no group content............it only means that the solo content is predominant.
The point is that ROK gave such a boost to solo (which I thought was already good enough), that people weren't bothered too much to group up for the dungeons during the levelling.

Everybody was so busy grinding solo content that finding a group was virtually impossible, and in EQ2 has never been a big issue finding a group, since that was the main mean of leveling.
Also the community got worse, not in quality but in quantity, the chat channels started to look dead, not because people weren't playing but because they could not be bothered to be social anymore, after all they could achieve almost everything without other people help (well at least until they started to raid).
Also the Raid instances weren't near as good as the previous expansions and that caused lots of guilds to emigrate.

Now look at TSO, you guys say that I always talk rubbish when in truth I see things that other don't see (or don't want to see).
I always said that ROK was way too casual, and was driving away the core player base, and SoE gave me credit by producing TSO.
SoE realised how much they upset players with ROK, so in order to make amend they made an expansion which was the opposite, or heavily group oriented, this time possibly upsetting the people who liked ROK.

See my point with SoE is that they don't have any clear vision for their games and the company as a whole.
They keep yo-yoing back and forth with their game design, once upsetting the core players, the other time upsetting the casual ones, they don't look like they know which kind of audiance they want.
TSO could have been my kind of expansion, but my problem with SoE is this ramdom behaviour described above.
I invest in my characters and I want to play the same kind of game I started with, of course with more zones and equipment and more balance, but still the same design.

With SoE nobody knows what kind of monster the next expansion will be, and I believe they don't have a clue either, they just wait for the marketing briefing to tell them what direction the game should take, which is kinda sad.
SoE need consistency, a MMORPG is NOT a normal game, they need to keep the same feel throught the lifetime of the MMO, but they just don't get it.
That will keep almost all their player base, and in time more people will join by word of mouth.
Instead, because they don't know how to keep their subscribers and they don't have a clue how to get new ones, they introduce RMT to make more money.................brilliant.
Bill Gates move away................John Smedley is in the house.

Originally posted by ste2000

Originally posted by eccoton

Originally posted by dimmit77

How did RoK change the core of EQ2?? Only real change from previous expansions was that you could level much faster by doing solo quests than by grinding zones. I can't thing of another major change.

 

ROK did not change the core EQ2 experience, it added to it. There are some that post here about the no group content solo only EQ2 game play in ROK. Bologna, those that continuely post this nonsense do not play EQ2 or have not done the many, many group/raid instances. There is more then enough group and raid content in EQ2 to keep you busy for years. Here are some from ROK, the expansion some claim killed group/raid play in EQ2.

 

Eccoton saying that the core of the game shifted from group to solo content, it doesn't mean that there is no group content............it only means that the solo content is predominant.
The point is that ROK gave such a boost to solo (which I thought was already good enough), that people weren't bothered too much to group up for the dungeons during the levelling.

Everybody was so busy grinding solo content that finding a group was virtually impossible, and in EQ2 has never been a big issue finding a group, since that was the main mean of leveling.
Also the community got worse, not in quality but in quantity, the chat channels started to look dead, not because people weren't playing but because they could not be bothered to be social anymore, after all they could achieve almost everything without other people help (well at least until they started to raid).
Also the Raid instances weren't near as good as the previous expansions and that caused lots of guilds to emigrate.

Now look at TSO, you guys say that I always talk rubbish when in truth I see things that other don't see (or don't want to see).
I always said that ROK was way too casual, and was driving away the core player base, and SoE gave me credit by producing TSO.
SoE realised how much they upset players with ROK, so in order to make amend they made an expansion which was the opposite, or heavily group oriented, this time possibly upsetting the people who liked ROK.

See my point with SoE is that they don't have any clear vision for their games and the company as a whole.
They keep yo-yoing back and forth with their game design, once upsetting the core players, the other time upsetting the casual ones, they don't look like they know which kind of audiance they want.
TSO could have been my kind of expansion, but my problem with SoE is this ramdom behaviour described above.
I invest in my characters and I want to play the same kind of game I started with, of course with more zones and equipment and more balance, but still the same design.

With SoE nobody knows what kind of monster the next expansion will be, and I believe they don't have a clue either, they just wait for the marketing briefing to tell them what direction the game should take, which is kinda sad.
SoE need consistency, a MMORPG is NOT a normal game, they need to keep the same feel throught the lifetime of the MMO, but they just don't get it.
That will keep almost all their player base, and in time more people will join by word of mouth.
Instead, because they don't know how to keep their subscribers and they don't have a clue how to get new ones, they introduce RMT to make more money.................brilliant.
Bill Gates move away................John Smedley is in the house.

Good post with many,many valid points in it.

Originally posted by Daffid011

I doubt there will be another fantasy based mmo from SOE for some time to come unless two things happen.

1. They just don't have the money right now.  Not enough subscribers in their current games to fund yet another project.  Maybe if they have success with some of their upcoming launches there will be more money to reinvest in fantasy games. The fantasy market for mmos is the hardest to crack and really is a risky investment.  One I do not think SOE can afford right now.
2. They feel they can again compete in a market with established competition.  Smedly has a massive hardon for micro transactions and that is an uphill battle against entrenched games that offer a flat fee for the same or more amount of content.  Plus they will be very busy managing games they release that have little to no competition in their respective areas.   

 

The only possible way I think SOE will make another fantasy game anytime soon is if Sony corporate decides the PS3 needs one. 

Honestly I would be interested to see what EQ3 might be like (whatever they call it), but I am fairly certain it would be some free to play cash mall game that is anything but an evolution to Everquest. 

I like this post.

---

Originally posted by Xiliaro
I think Everquest 3 is a great idea that will never happen.  Everquest I had so many features that are honestly just gone in todays market.  Even EQ I itself has lost thoes features somewhere in those 20 expansions, and depending on how picky you are I owuld pin point it somewhere from Shadows of Luclin to Omens of War.  The game had so much content that you were welcome to ignore or embrace.  In EQ2 I feel required to do every quest to get achievement levels, whereas in modern MMOs like Warhammer or Warcraft you are nearly required to level alone because of how much more efficient it is.  I remeber when I first got WoW I thought you were supposed to group and just did instances over and over to level >_<.  Resultingly I was removed from my guild for leveling too slowly...  EQ also had dungeons in a way that is not embraced as much.  The everybody wins mentaility takes away the magic of Everquest.  When 10 groups are battling their way through The Hole, its truely amazing compared to the 8000 guilds that would down Ragnaros on any given week (and on top of that they make it easier and easier).  Everquest woulds till have this appeal in my mind if they undid at least every expansion since Gates of Discord, but a new realease would be even better.

---

In EQ2 that translates to level alone, because you will be doing solo questlines more than anything. Those get boring. With only 1/3 the quests the game has, and more XP from mobs (and AA from mobs), it would be loads funner TBH. People would actually group up and XP more instead of running solo quest lines with combat XP turned off.

Lol, I had never really heard of that before, until I played this game (I have heared of turning it off to level with friends while they catch up in other games, though).

Originally posted by grimboj

The thing about SOE is they've completely ruined most of their games EXCEPT the EQ franchise - they seem to absolutely treasure it and tread carefully. Aside from this SOE Cash BS they have made all the right moves and are left with the strongest western fantasy mmo behind WoW and L2. Some of the stuff they have done recently is aimed at keeping EQ2 alive (1-70 faster, LON going free before easter). I much look forward to EQ3 but I'm still enjoying EQ2 and have seen not even a rumour about EQ3 til now.

No! They had something good going with EQ2 (EQ I honestly don't know about...), but again with SOE doing what they do best they only manages to scare away their longtime loyal customers.

There have been several "waves" of totaly unwarranted changes and downgrades in EQ2's history, changes that I think few asked for and in the end it only sched of yet another segment of players. Needless to say those who left were not replaced by new players!

EQ2  has been in decline for quite some time now and that is a shame because it's a still a good game with potentials. The largest enemy EQ2 have is unfortunally SOE with their incompentence and greed!

Originally posted by Daffid011

I doubt there will be another fantasy based mmo from SOE for some time to come unless two things happen.

1. They just don't have the money right now.  Not enough subscribers in their current games to fund yet another project.  Maybe if they have success with some of their upcoming launches there will be more money to reinvest in fantasy games. The fantasy market for mmos is the hardest to crack and really is a risky investment.  One I do not think SOE can afford right now.
2. They feel they can again compete in a market with established competition.  Smedly has a massive hardon for micro transactions and that is an uphill battle against entrenched games that offer a flat fee for the same or more amount of content.  Plus they will be very busy managing games they release that have little to no competition in their respective areas.   

 

The only possible way I think SOE will make another fantasy game anytime soon is if Sony corporate decides the PS3 needs one. 

Honestly I would be interested to see what EQ3 might be like (whatever they call it), but I am fairly certain it would be some free to play cash mall game that is anything but an evolution to Everquest. 

Don't be to sure...

http://www.creativeheads.net/JobDetails.aspx?JobID=7215&jsOrigin=12&Blast=2108

This is not that DC Comic stuff or the other thing they have in the pipe, it would have been mentioned in that case. This is most likely yet another attempt at copying WOW.

EQ3- Yes please, i will take some of that.

But i would like it to be much more EQ1 then EQ2. I loved EQ and played it for 4+ years but i could never get into EQ2 for any length. I preordered and bought a new rig so i could play EQ2 with all the bells and wistles and was really disappointed. After a couple months of it i was back in good old EQ. I have gone back to EQ2 a few times and its the same thing. I play for a short while and meh. It just doesnt grab me like the original.

I would love it if they used the original EQ rule set (the trilogy), they can use the same races and classes (though a few tweeks would be nice) and put it all on a new world.

That is probably the only game i would pre-order ever again. And yes, i agree, get Brad McQuaid to design it.

Had to add some more. The only thing i found really lacking in original EQ was the Diety system, and i think EQ had the best Diety system of any game out. I would really like them to do more with it though. Your choice didnt do all that much for you, it did affect faction some but i would like more to it. Maybe an extra ability or spell specification. Maybe your choice makes you KOS with another gods worshippers. I think it would be awesome if you have a PVE game with concentual PVP but if there are two feuding gods their worshippers are automatically PVP enabled against each other. You dont have to fight but you can, and if you do and win you might get a small boon. I love this idea and wish i had the brains to develop my own game.

Hi

Maybe they will be doing the same as in vanguard with their models. The look and feel was amazing. The only concerns is the needed performace for the clients. Thats why vanguard reduced the model details :(

I would like to see SoE remake EQOA on ps3 with EQII graphics on high settings.

The biggest mistake Sony made with EQ2 was calling it EQ2.

I would love to see another game made that is a little more true to the spirit of Everquest.

EQ3 = Vanguard saga of Heroes.