Originally posted by Asamof

those people are the ones in here defending SOE's greedy tactics. they're also the ones that have been keeping SOE barely alive ever since WoW launched lmao

 

SOE barely alive since wow? 

I am sorry, what are you talking about.  Soe never had a problem. Some games (like SWG) went offline, coz it was not profiteble for them. 

Planetside, and Eq2 were runing fine, with good player base.... 

then they startet all the "free to play" things... like DCU and Free realms... and such. 

SOE know what they are doing, and if EQ were not profiteble for them to run, they would shut it down. 

Originally posted by mysticaluna

I don't know why you all like pre luclin, I loved the vah shir beastlords and I loved the AA... it changed the game immensely to have AA and not be maxed out, but I'm just one of those people that hates to ever be capped on experience... I love earning xp for every kill, and I never want that to be maxed lol.

Now, Pre-PoP makes more sense as it destroyed traveling with druid/wizard teleports even worse than the Nexus Spire did in in Shadows of Luclin, but Plane of Time and Planes of Power were the best raids I had ever been on, and the music alone in Plane of Time was epic and made you feel like a super hero... Progressing through the Planes and doing the key access for Plane of Time and killing through the entire zone was the most fun I have ever had raiding, however, I can see how people didn't like it lore wise even though the time line is reversed and restored anyway... 

Always thought diety needed to play a bigger role, like the original cultural armor... all those spells to imbue different types of gems and all... Planes for peaceful tradeskilling and quest npcs for tradeskills and your dietys... making it up to Solosek Ro for killing him and his father Fenin, oops... sorry about that - please don't take away my magic , I'm a loyal followerer , honest... Lolz ) 

I dont thin kanyone had the problem with the content of SoL or PoP they just didnt like the faster travel that came with it, i didnt mind SoL but alot of people didnt like the introduction of the Nexus Portals and PoK just smashed it further with portals at every city. I beleive these were the major problem players had with these expansions not the Shar Vahs or AA's. Imo the game was at its best before the PoK books because the world felt so large and vast and great to travel, after PoK books boats were never used anymore and people just stopped traveling through the land.

Originally posted by strangiato2112

Originally posted by Zorgo

 

SOE has focused this game solely to those that didn't give up and kept playing. Essentially, they decided it was easier to focus on them and retain them then to re-work the whole game to entice new players.

 

So you are criticizing them for not changing the game in order to attract new people to a 14 year old game?  SoE did domething smart!  Lets give em hell for it!  They didnt NGE EQ?  The nerve!

 

And they really have made it somewhat doable to catch up, and it has greatly changed the low/mid game while keeping the high end game intact.  Which was pretty smart and it *has* helped them.  And they did release a couple rounds of progression servers so there is that too.

They even kept the EQMac server alive (at a loss) when there was a big community outcry when they were closing it.

SoE has handled their 14 year old dinosaur quite well.  But no, they didnt change what EQ is at its core: a group focused game with the best group mechanics in the entire genre.  Yes, they made 1-60+ very easily soloable because they had too, but once you get past that (or play on Vox or a progression server and group) its still EQ.

I'm not exactly criticizing them. I didn't place a value on the decision to focus on the high end; having 19 expansions, I'd say it was a good choice.  I'm simply saying there were consequences to that choice - and those consequences happen to impact people who have been gone a few years.

Anyone who says that they have put equal effort into anything but the top 5 levels of the game would be exagerating far more than I. 

I seemed to strike quite a nerve with several folks with that post.

To the one who says, "I had two buddies re-roll...." I say the key is the number 2. And in addition, it isn't solely the levelling that is prohibitive. There is also the AAs and the gear. 

I should stress the word 'prohibitive' - I don't think it is possible for me, as a player who has roughly 2 hours per evening, 5 days a week; maybe one weekend morning of play. Hence, I felt anyone who wanted to achieve this, would have to be more 'hardcore' than I. 

Prohibitive does not mean impossible, though I think as you stressed, at its core it is still EQ. And as we all know, EQ is an investment in time, patience and pure force of will. 

Originally posted by Zorgo

Anyone who says that they have put equal effort into anything but the top 5 levels of the game would be exagerating far more than I.

i agree the endgame content gets the most focus

but ive seen EQ add more content to *all levels* moreso than any other mmo I've known

taking wow for example (because of its popularity)

in the first 6 years, for lower content,

- added a few starting areas w new content under level 25

- added Diremaul a mid40s dungeon

- replaced classic content with new content under 60 -- but only for the original game

EQ, among its 19 expansions, in the first 6 years

- added a few new starting areas

- Kunark, new content for all levels 1 - 60

-  Luclin, new content content for all levels 1-60

lost dungeons of norrath, added scaleable dungeons for levels 20-60

- The Serpents Spine, new content for all levels 1-75

Originally posted by Nadia

Originally posted by Zorgo

Anyone who says that they have put equal effort into anything but the top 5 levels of the game would be exagerating far more than I.

i agree the endgame content gets the most focus

but ive seen EQ add more content to *all levels* moreso than any other mmo I've known

 

taking wow for example (because of its popularity)

in the first 6 years, for lower content,

- added a few starting areas w new content under level 25

- added Diremaul a mid40s dungeon

- replaced classic content with new content under 60 -- but only for the original game

 

EQ, among its 19 expansions, in the first 6 years

- added a few new starting areas

- Kunark, new content for all levels 1 - 60

-  Luclin, new content content for all levels 1-60

lost dungeons of norrath, added scaleable dungeons for levels 20-60

- The Serpents Spine, new content for all levels 1-75

Dude just got obliterated. Poor guy.

Originally posted by Aeonblades

Originally posted by Nadia

Originally posted by Zorgo

Anyone who says that they have put equal effort into anything but the top 5 levels of the game would be exagerating far more than I.

i agree the endgame content gets the most focus

but ive seen EQ add more content to *all levels* moreso than any other mmo I've known

 

taking wow for example (because of its popularity)

in the first 6 years, for lower content,

- added a few starting areas w new content under level 25

- added Diremaul a mid40s dungeon

- replaced classic content with new content under 60 -- but only for the original game

 

EQ, among its 19 expansions, in the first 6 years

- added a few new starting areas

- Kunark, new content for all levels 1 - 60

-  Luclin, new content content for all levels 1-60

lost dungeons of norrath, added scaleable dungeons for levels 20-60

- The Serpents Spine, new content for all levels 1-75

Dude just got obliterated. Poor guy.

.....guys you really want to make me out as some sort of villain, and I am not your enemy or trying to say that EQ is a bad game. 

I'm trying to give people who want to start this up a realistic impression of what it takes to start from scratch now:

- social skills

- dedication

- lonely nights

- hard work

EQ is still my all time favorite game experience. I was hardcore from launch to EQ2 launch. I have often hoped for a game that would return me to that feeling. 

I returned for the first progression server. My life had changed considerably, I could only play EQ casually; a couple of hours a night and maybe a little more time on the weekend. 

I wasn't worried about being left behind, because, hey...lots of folks at newb levels right? Well, I had to skip a couple of nights play and when I returned, bb was a ghost town. Crushbone couldn't get any interest. Got to Blackburrow, same prob. 

I was a warrior, so what was I to do? Found some blue mobs to grind. Did that for 3 nights solid. After a week or so, I realize I had missed the wave, the groups were all a good 10 levels ahead of me.

Dammit. Try something else.

Fast forward to this year. 

Let's try again. Rolled an SK. Normal server (whatever Povar is now). Let's go to serpent's spine the 'solo to infinity' expansion (pardon my hyperbole). 

Wow. Soloing in this game is dull. No one around my level. Join a guild who takes newbs.....anyone? anyone? I got offered PK's like once...and bleh....the principle of the thing. I don't want to sit in Guk and watch someone else play.  I tried it with mercs. Hmmmm. not the same.

Where was the community I remembered?

At max level. 

You can join our guild, but realize, we are all at max level, and tend to focus on end game.....

Try a different game I guess.

And while those other games don't do in the long run what EQ can do; they simply are not as prohibitive in reaching then end, either by design or focus. It is really a night and day difference, and most of you know this.

------------------------------------------------------

 I am a casual gamer who, when I start a game fresh, I'm not with my friends, I'm not joining my old guild. I'm solo. 

EQ is by far the most difficult game I have experienced in your ability to start fresh and reach the end. Their development choices have really only given a cursory look at this issue, as it is quite obvious that their focus has been on the high end.

This is not a bad thing - 

EQ is great. EQ is my all-time favorite mmo experience. That doesn't mean it isn't prohibitive to start from scratch and get back to raid-worthiness. It is and you all know it. 

But it is one of the things we love about EQ isn't it? It doesn't hold your hand. It didn't speed the game up like WoW did. It is still, and rightly so, a hardcore gamers game. It takes time, dedication, hard work and it's development focus has done little to make that journey easier. 

If you start alone, and are a casual player,  it is rough. That's all I'm saying.

If you have the time, If you start with friends, it can be the most rewarding mmo experience of all time.

.......

Will you guys get off my back now? I am not an enemy to EQ.