Will Kunark ZEMs be updated?

[Mirana]

Sorry if this has already been addressed. Would be nice to know if this was implemented already behind the scenes, on the horizon, etc etc. Kind of a bummer that Kunark outdoor ZEM's have not been overhauled. I really want to level there, but not if I'm getting twice the exp per kill in Upper Guk.

Again, apologies if this has been previously discussed. If so, please just provide me the link to the forum post. Thanks.

[Knuckle]

Sorry if this has already been addressed. Would be nice to know if this was implemented already behind the scenes, on the horizon, etc etc. Kind of a bummer that Kunark outdoor ZEM's have not been overhauled. I really want to level there, but not if I'm getting twice the exp per kill in Upper Guk.

Again, apologies if this has been previously discussed. If so, please just provide me the link to the forum post. Thanks.

*Nov 18th Patch*

Reduced XP in Upper Guk by 55%, this should incentivize leveling in more slow xp kunark zones.

[Gustoo]

Its sad that the solution was to nerf classic zones. Kunark on live was where everyone went. One because there just wasn't enough mobs in the few higher level dungeons in vanilla and two because it was newer and more exciting.

I always thought the EXP sucked but played there anyways because there was like 200 players each in LOIO , OT, FM so it was just what you did.

Anyways, good luck!

[Knuckle]

So I think it was great when I saw they raised the ZEM for some less popular classic zones, but then I saw they also took away ZEM bonuses from many popular zones. Which essentially is an XP nerf as neither change equaled the higher ZEMs of popular dungeons.

Not sure what approach if any is being taken on Kunark ZEMs. I will say I can never camp ogre or troll guards anymore probably because it's the only sane way for a casual to grind lol.

[Convict]

*Nov 18th Patch*

Reduced XP in Upper Guk by 55%, this should incentivize leveling in more slow xp kunark zones.

just dont mention kedge we dont want people knowing bout that ol' boy

[Knuckle]

just dont mention kedge we dont want people knowing bout that ol' boy

I mean maybe now that Kunark is out it's loosened up but I couldn't claim any good camps prior was pretty fkin busy in there.

[greatdane]

The good old world camps are still taken basically 24/7. Kunark mobs are tough, they tend to have high HP and resists and half the mobs run at SoW speed, they don't drop fine steel in your 20s and 30s, and the Kunark zones are fucking awful for soloing because you can't see shit and they haven't invented flat ground so line of sight will fuck half your casts if you're kiting. Also Kunark has very few actual camps, it's mostly huge zones with wandering mobs, so it's inconvenient because you end up spending 25% of your time pulling. Old world is way better even if you ignore ZEMs, until you're far enough into the 50s that you need to go to higher level content. The mid-level dungeons are suicide as well, who the fuck wants to grind in Dalnir? Kunark content is actually pretty bad aside from DL and the upper dungeons.

[Knuckle]

The good old world camps are still taken basically 24/7. Kunark mobs are tough, they tend to have high HP and resists and half the mobs run at SoW speed, they don't drop fine steel in your 20s and 30s, and the Kunark zones are fucking awful for soloing because you can't see shit and they haven't invented flat ground so line of sight will fuck half your casts if you're kiting. Also Kunark has very few actual camps, it's mostly huge zones with wandering mobs, so it's inconvenient because you end up spending 25% of your time pulling. Old world is way better even if you ignore ZEMs, until you're far enough into the 50s that you need to go to higher level content. The mid-level dungeons are suicide as well, who the fuck wants to grind in Dalnir? Kunark content is actually pretty bad aside from DL and the upper dungeons.

Yeah in hindsight most of my previous experience on Kunark launches involved me sitting in COM sick of the world lol.

[Drakoh8788]

hey, sorry I'm a newly returning player. Just hit level 10 and am trying to figure out my leveling plan. Did they really nerf classic zems like upper gun? I was trying to find the *nov 18th* patch notes mentioned above but they arent posted here?

[Drakoh8788]

Did they really just nerf classic zems? I can't find nov 18th patch notes

[Coridan]

I distinctly remember knowing as fact that Kunark had a +20% xp bonus across the whole expansion to get people to buy it. Sarnak fort was da bomb through 20s on live. Unrest and Upper Guk were totally ditched.

[chowdah555]

I remember the Overthere being a heavily used zone for grouping in the 30s. Chain pulling constantly but those red con sabertooth tigers were nasty!

[loramin]

I remember the Overthere being a heavily used zone for grouping in the 30s. Chain pulling constantly but those red con sabertooth tigers were nasty!

And yet for years here many players insisted that OT was full of swarm kiting bards in Classic ;) It's funny how people's memories of classic shift from reality when they want to justify something.

[chowdah555]

I remember seeing the odd swarm kite going on, but I think with so many groups it was hard for them to find pulls. FM and SF (ramp) zone lines I remember being popular and the braids being a nice addition for XP/faction for those that could use them. And I know it was in the 30s because I always remember it being the point where I could stop staring at the book medding. :D

[Zoolander]

anyone whos going to kunark exp pre 53 is doin it wrong.

[NPC]

Is there a current list of ZEM by zone? Im pretty sure the wiki info is out of date since the last time they patched the ZEM's.
Also, I remember there being a patch that significantly upped group exp based on the number of people in your group, 2 in a group (Duo) +5 exp, 3 in a group (Trio) +7 exp, so that it became much more favorable to group and get XP. My mage on 51 can currently kill 1-3 mobs and get 1% exp. Then I grouped for almost 4 hours in the same zone, I was getting 1% xp every 11-12 kills. Group XP never used to suck that hard, we were all the same level too.
There are soo many classes that do not want to group because soloing is currently far superior, that definitely was never the case on live. I believe the group XP mods were added to off set certain class xp penalties, so if you had multiple group members with xp penalties, those penalties wouldn't pile up/stack and take the whole group down like it does.
You want to increase player interaction, this is something that needs addressing ASAP.

[Danth]

There are soo many classes that do not want to group because soloing is currently far superior, that definitely was never the case on live.

I think this may be a case where one server's culture may have differed from another's. My own recollection from the original game was that there were numerous classes that had a reputation for being able to level faster when solo compared to grouping. Necromancer, Druid, Magician, and to a lesser extent Wizard all come to mind. Enchanter is the big outlier on P1999 because charm was nowhere near as heavily-used in the original game as it is here. P1999 (well, at least Blue) did indeed use era-appropriate group bonuses, but those bonuses are much less than the group bonuses from later game eras.

Lake of Ill omen has never been a very popular grouping zone on P1999. I find that unfortunate given the zone's long-term popularity in the original game.

Danth

[Lizard1]

on retail it had 24 thousand times more mobs by the windmill , enough to support like 5 groups

[sedrie.bellamie]

in this thread, people who dont play green discussing where to level

[Lizard1]

there were no swarm kiting bards anywhere on classic / live because internet / computers couldnt handle it, you would die immediately

as for exp bonus, kunark was the latest expansion, people ran there because it was NEW

no one cared about ZEM or even knew it was a thing, sarnak fort was packed because it had tons of mobs and it was cool.

Same with lake of ill omen and other spots like karnors / dl even the warslicks woods giant fort and FM Giant fort was super cool and still is

[azxten]

ZEM didn't exist until later. It's discussed in bug forum. P99 is running almost 2x experience rates in some classic zones although that is known to not be classic.

[hannahgrams]

legalize kunark

[cornisthebest]

why is lake of ill omen have an xp penalty? cant it just have 75 like other kunark outdoor zones?

[Mirana]

why is lake of ill omen have an xp penalty? cant it just have 75 like other kunark outdoor zones?

Yeah it's really unfortunate. I would love to level there, but there's no way I can justify a zone with such a harsh penalty. Even if they just quickly gave all Kunark outdoor zones the classic treatment (100 baseline) that would go a long way. Feels bad :/

[cd288]

ZEM didn't exist until later. It's discussed in bug forum. P99 is running almost 2x experience rates in some classic zones although that is known to not be classic.

I mean sure we don’t know what every single ZEM was at every point in time so sometimes the ZEMs will be unclassic. However, IMO I think we are currently at a more classic state from a technical perspective because they rotated the ZEMs to try and encourage people to visit other zones, which is exactly what they used to do back in the day.

There’s also technically no way to prove when the first day ZEMs existed was is there? I think people have found patch notes talking about some ZEM related things and so they theorize that’s the first time ZEMs existed, but we also don’t know for sure that they didn’t exist before then (the ZEMs weren’t always disclosed when they were rotated anyway IIRC). But I also haven’t read all the evidence so if I’m wrong I apologize.

[azxten]

I mean sure we don’t know what every single ZEM was at every point in time so sometimes the ZEMs will be unclassic. However, IMO I think we are currently at a more classic state from a technical perspective because they rotated the ZEMs to try and encourage people to visit other zones, which is exactly what they used to do back in the day.

There’s also technically no way to prove when the first day ZEMs existed was is there? I think people have found patch notes talking about some ZEM related things and so they theorize that’s the first time ZEMs existed, but we also don’t know for sure that they didn’t exist before then (the ZEMs weren’t always disclosed when they were rotated anyway IIRC). But I also haven’t read all the evidence so if I’m wrong I apologize.

Hot zones didn't exist until later. ZEM was basically the same for every zone in classic. There is a complete list of classic zone ZEM in bug forum from mailing lists.

[Albane]

All cities should have their ZEM lowered back to 75 and all Kunark Dungeons should have their ZEM raised to 100.

[cd288]

Hot zones didn't exist until later. ZEM was basically the same for every zone in classic. There is a complete list of classic zone ZEM in bug forum from mailing lists.

Thanks. I didn't find the thread but I would be surprised if there is any evidence of a date when ZEMs were officially enacted. I.e. a statement to the effect of "Today we're instituting a new mechanic called ZEMs that we're going to periodically rotate and here they are."

[Lizard1]

Protip: 20 year old game, go to the zones you like and level / forget about it

See you in thurgadin

[BarnabusCollins]

What is ZEM? All I do is rare hunt solo.